Best Traits and Backgrounds in Starfield - Starfield Guide - IGN (2024)

After a relatively short introduction scene, you’ll be tasked with creating your Starfield character, where you’ll need to select three optional traits and a background. With each character background offering three starting skills, making the right decision can be crucial for your playing style, as each skill offers a unique benefit, whether it’s a new ability, increased weapon damage, or even more.

This comprehensive beginner’s guide will explain everything you need to know about selecting the best background and traits when creating your character in Starfield.

Character Creator Guide - Best Backgrounds and Traits to Select

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Don't forget to take future skill unlocks into consideration, so be sure to check out our comprehensive guide on the Best Skills to Unlock and Upgrade First.

Which Background Should You Choose in Starfield

Starfield offers 20 pre-generated Backgrounds to choose from, as well as the ability to customize your own and pick your three skills from the ground up. However, by selecting one of the pre-generated options, you’ll gain access to specific dialogue options and unique ways certain characters will reference your origin story based on what you choose, so we recommend picking one of the pre-generated options if you want that additional benefit.

Beyond Background-specific dialogue, though, it doesn’t matter too much which you choose because every skill can be purchased by any character down the road, and there’s nothing unique about your starting skills aside from the fact that you get them for free.

That said, though, here are the four best Backgrounds to select for every major playstyle and character build in Starfield.

Best Background for Hand-to-Hand Combat

For those that prefer to run into battle with nothing but your fists, we recommend the Bouncer background, which comes with Boxing to improve unarmed effectiveness, Fitness to increase your stamina, and Security to let you pick locks and doors to get into places you ought not – all incredibly useful for a melee berserker.

Best Background for Aspiring Starship Pilots

For those wanting to focus on starships and hanging out in space, we suggest picking the Long Hauler Background, which gives you Weight Lifting to increase your carrying capacity, Piloting to make you more effective in the co*ckpit, and Ballistic Weapon Systems, which provides some significant advantages on the ship weaponry front, giving you the upper hand in battles.

See also: How Space Combat Works

Best Background for Stealth

If stealth is your weapon of choice, you might be tempted to pick up Ronin, but we’d actually endorse selecting the Cyber Runner Background instead. While melee and stealth are useful, Ronin also gives the Scavenging skill, which merely gives you a chance at finding some extra loot in a game where that isn’t much of a problem.

Meanwhile, Cyber Runner provides some massive early advantages in the form of Stealth, Security to pick advanced locks, and Theft, which unlocks the pickpocketing ability, all three of which allow you to do things you can’t do without buying the first rank in those skills first.

See also: Lockpicking Explained - Best Tips for Success

Best Background for Cutthroat Combat

Finally, we highly recommend the Soldier Background if you’re simply looking to wreck everyone in combat. The Solider Background comes with Fitness for improved stamina, Ballistics, which makes you more deadly with non-laser weapons, and Boost Pack Training, which unlocks your ability to use a jetpack-like function during combat and exploration.

In the end, none of these Backgrounds really locks you into anything except the odd line of dialogue, so don’t stress too much about it.

See the complete list and explanations of All Backgrounds in Starfield

Traits Explained - Which Character Traits Should You Select in Starfield

With 17 traits to choose from but only three slots available, selecting the right trait for your character has never been more crucial, as once they're locked in, there's no turning back, as there will be no option to change them in the future, only remove them. Below are a selection of what we deem the best traits to play with in Starfield. If you want to see a complete list of the traits, visit the All Traits Explained page.

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Kid Stuff

The Kid Stuff Trait is one of the fun ones and is definitely among our favorites. The general gist of the Kids Stuff Trait is that your parents are still around and could really use some help with the rising cost of groceries. In exchange for having parents you can visit and hang out with, you’ll automatically lose 2% of your credits every week - a very minor cost if you ask us. In our playtime, we actually never saw it go above 500 Credits.

Not only are your parent's looks based on your own character's looks, but they also have some nifty perks that will see them randomly showing up through your journey, providing you with notes that eventually lead to unique and helpful gifts such as Tap to Reveal, Tap to Reveal, Tap to Reveal, as well as a nifty new Tap to Reveal.

There is an option to no longer have your parents around, should you wish to remove this Trait down the track.

Alien DNA

The Alien DNA Trait essentially makes you a freak of nature with increased health and oxygen but also makes healing and food items less effective. This trait isn't too bad of an option if you're looking for a more tanky-style build.

Dream Home

This trait is both really cool and awful. The Dream Home Trait will give you a massive, customizable house, with the drawback that you owe 125,000 Credits to Galbank that you’ll need to make weekly mortgage payments on – hurray for crushing debt. Honestly, though, if you're after a sweet pad to call your own, this trait might just be for you.

Taskmaster

Taskmaster is definitely one of the more useful Traits available in Starfield. Essentially, if you have hired crew members aboard your ship and one of your ship’s systems takes damage and falls below 50% of its health, there’s a chance it’ll be restored to full health immediately. This perk could be a massive advantage if you plan to cause havoc in space, and will definitely be a lifesaver when faced with a dogfight.

There is a small catch, though, as the crew will cost twice as much to employ. But, there are ways to make some hefty Credits, and quickly at that, so the trade-off for this Trait is well worth it.

Extrovert and Introvert

Do you plan on traveling with an NPC companion throughout Starfield, or will you be going it alone? If you don’t play well with others, Introvert is a good option as you’ll have more stamina when playing solo, while picking Extrovert will offer the same perk while accompanied by others.

Extrovert and Introvert are both particularly good traits, so whatever your preferred playstyle may be, that will likely be your deciding factor. Just know that playing alone means losing out on having someone else who can hold your stuff. And trust us, carry capacity is a big deal in Starfield.

Freestar Collective, Neon Street Rat, and United Colonies Native

Freestar Collective, Neon Street Rat, and United Colonies Native are Traits that will ultimately determine how your character grew up and will make specific dialogue options available throughout the story, depending on your choice, as well as making factions that you didn't select more critical of you if you cross them, such as increased crime bounties on your head if you break the law in their territory.

Freestar Collective will make you a part of the fringes of space outside settled planets, United Colonies Native will put you in the good graces of the core worlds of humanity and their central government, and Neon Street Rat will make you a veteran of the grizzly cyberpunk streets of Neon, one of Starfield’s seedier areas.

Any of these three traits is an excellent pick if you want to roleplay as a specific character throughout your Starfield journey.

Hero Worshipped

Are you looking to be annoyed to no end by that same guy who played the Adoring Fan in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? Well, you’re in luck because they brought him back, and he’s more than happy to worship the ground you walk on, shower you with praise, and occasionally give you gifts for the low, low price of putting you on a pedestal.

There's no doubt that Hero Worshipped is more of a gimmick, but if you're after one of the more humorously annoying traits, you can't go wrong with this trait. Adoring Fan comes with three skills (Scavenging, Concealment, and Weight Lifting -- more than some of the crew you can hire!) and can be left by the wayside if you choose not to travel with him.

See also: How to Get the Adoring Fan

Raised Enlightened, Raised Universal, and Serpent’s Embrace

Raised Enlightened, Raised Universal, and Serpent's Embrace will all determine your character's religious background. Enlightened and Universal are Starfield's two more mainstream religions, which you can learn more about during your visit to New Atlantis. Whereas Serpent’s Embrace will see your character brought up to worship the Great Serpent, which is a radical faction best known for killing anyone who disagrees with their cultish devotion to the Great Serpent.

While each will lend you unique options at various moments throughout Starfield, we've found Great Serpent has the most interesting options. It'll also allow you to get by certain interactions with Va'Ruun Zelots without violence.