Starfield Best Backgrounds [Tier List, All Ranked]

With around twenty-one backgrounds to choose from, you may feel bewildered, and rightly so. Each Background offers unique starting skills and different dialogues for your character. It’s important to note that not all 21 backgrounds will necessarily be the best fit; therefore, the player should carefully consider their options.

With so much riding on this decision, it’s crucial to make the right choice and choose the most fitting background. Continue reading to learn about the best Backgrounds in Starfield that are promising for the long run.

Starfield Backgrounds Tier List

Tier	Background	Starting Skills
S-Tier	Bounty Hunter	Piloting Targeting Control Systems Boost Pack Training
S-Tier	Space Scoundrel	Pistol Certification Piloting Persuasion
S-Tier	[File Not Found]	Wellness Ballistics Piloting
S-Tier	Diplomat	Persuasion Commerce Wellness
S-Tier	Cyber Runner	Stealth Security Theft
A-Tier	Soldier	Fitness Ballistics Boost Pack Training
A-Tier	Combat Medic	Pistol Certification Medicine Wellness
A-Tier	Industrialist	Persuasion Security Research Methods
A-Tier	Cyberneticist	Medicine Security Lasers
A-Tier	Ronin	Dueling Stealth Scavenging
B-Tier	Beast Hunter	Fitness Ballistics Gastronomy
B-Tier	Long Hauler	Weight Lifting Piloting Ballistic Weapon Systems
B-Tier	Xenobiologist	Lasers Surveying Fitness
B-Tier	Gangster	Shotgun Certification Boxing Theft
C-Tier	Professor	Astrodynamics Geology Research Methods
C-Tier	Sculptor	Medicine Geology Persuasion
C-Tier	Homesteader	Geology Surveying Weight Lifting
C-Tier	Chef	Gastronomy Dueling Scavenging
C-Tier	Explorer	Lasers Astrodynamics Surveying
C-Tier	Pilgrim	Scavenging Surveying Gastronomy
C-Tier	Bouncer	Boxing Security Fitness

Without a doubt, some starting skills offer greater benefits than others. So without further ado, let’s discuss the best Backgrounds in Starfield.

Bounty Hunter

• In-game Description: Wherever there are wanted individuals, there are those who profit from their capture. And your quarry knows that in the vastness of space, they can run… but they can’t hide.

Starting Skills

• Piloting: As more people journey into space, the number of those certified to effectively pilot various types of spacecraft has increased dramatically.

• Targeting Control System: Missile weapons are favored because they can lock onto an enemy ship, but an intimate knowledge of tracking systems can make them even more effective.

• Boost Pack Training: Specialized training and innovations in personal mobility systems have allowed for unfettered exploration on alien worlds.

Playstyle

Bounty Hunter is a perfect class for beginners. Not only do you obtain a Boost Pack (Jetpack) for better and safer exploration of various planets, but you also earn piloting and space combat skills early on. Both of them will prove their worth in an instant, especially in higher-difficulty settings. Even if you’re new to the entire RPG genre, these starting skills will make a difference in your playthrough.

Space Scoundrel

• In-game Description: Good? Bad? Whose right is it to say? If there’s anything you’ve learned while traipsing through the galaxy, it’s this: space may look black, but it’s really one big shade of grey.

Starting Skills

• Pistol Certification: Considering the popularity of the personal sidearm in the Settled Systems, familiarity with such weapons is often considered essential.

• Piloting: As more people journey into space, the number of those certified to effectively pilot various types of spacecraft has increased dramatically.

• Persuasion: In the Settled Systems, the nuanced ability to listen and discuss can often accomplish far more than simply shooting first and asking questions later.

Playstyle

For players who want to focus on having a better grip over their spacecraft along with convincing NPCs much easier for a greater benefit. Pistol Certification is another perk that’ll come in handy in mid-later gameplay. These three abilities are considered some of the strongest on their own, so if you’re confused or don’t have any specific playstyle in mind, choose Space Scoundrel.

[File Not Found]

• In-game Description: Oddly, there is no information on file about your past life. Clerical oversight? Deletion by some powerful unknown faction? Or was there just nothing of note to mention? Whatever the reason, your past is known only to you. What’s important is the here and now< and the path you’re about to forge…

Starting Skills

• Wellness: By embracing an active lifestyle and good nutrition habits, one may improve their overall sense of health and even gain prolonged life expectancy.

• Ballistics: Centuries of conflicts have proven that when it comes to threat elimination, few things stack up to the reliable power of high-speed projectiles.

• Piloting: As more people journey into space, the number of those certified to effectively pilot various types of spacecraft has increased dramatically.

Playstyle

This Background carries some of the most helpful starting skills, such as Wellness and Ballistics. Piloting is another incredible skill, but it’s quite common if we consider other 20 Backgrounds. Increase your maximum HP and Ballistics weapons damage output since the start. A perfect set of skills for players considering a combat-focused play style.

Diplomat

• In-game Description: The wars are over. Peace now reigns the Settled Systems. But only because there are those quietly fighting to keep it. Because of you, agreements were signed, words were headed… lives were spared.

Starting Skills

• Persuasion: In the Settled Systems, the nuanced ability to listen and discuss can often accomplish far more than simply shooting first and asking questions later.

• Commerce: In the Settled Systems’ free market economy, almost anyone with the right skill set can open and run a successful business.

• Wellness: By embracing an active lifestyle and good nutrition habits, one may improve their overall sense of health and even gain prolonged life expectancy.

Playstyle

With Diplomat as your Background, you mainly focus on improved and favorable conversations throughout the planets with different NPCs. Persuade others and enjoy benefits from it, whether it’s a part of your side quest or not. Other skills, such as Commerce and Wellness, will push you further toward quick advancement.

The Diplomat background is one of the best if your primary focus is to earn cash faster from the beginning. You’ll sell anything double the amount you purchased it in. Lastly, the Wellness skill will increase your maximum HP.

Cyber Runner

• In-game Description: From Neon to New Atlantis, the megacorps stand as monuments to power, prestige, and profit. You’ve worked both for and against them, on the inside and out, often sacrificing conscience for credits.

Starting Skills

• Stealth: For a combatant who values discretion above all else, the ability to approach a target while undetected and kill with a silenced weapon is as terrifying as it is effective.

• Security: While the standardized digital locking mechanism is renowned for its security, any code can be broken with proper training.

• Theft: While not entirely honorable and certainly not legal, it is nonetheless occasionally necessary to discreetly remove property from someone’s person.

Playstyle

If you prefer sneaking around pickpocketing NPCs for useless resources, then Cyber Runner is the exact Background you should go for. Though not much ethical, it’ll still help in many missions and side quests without being detected or locked behind a door.

Stealth will assist players in sneaking behind enemies and taking opponents down in a safer, undetectable way. With Theft, you can, of course, steal others’ belongings off of them. Quite a handy skill to carry in Starfield that goes perfectly well with its fellow skill, Stealth. Lastly, Security allows players to unlock any advanced locks without much hassle.

Though some people may suggest that Backgrounds don’t make any significant difference on your overall playthrough (they’re correct to an extent), the starting skills you obtain may seem highly significant, especially if you’re playing at a higher difficulty. If your main focus is to enjoy the game’s storyline, then your character’s backgrounds may not be as important to your overall experience.

Regardless, starting any game with a solid set of skills doesn’t sound so bad. So buckle up and have a fun space journey, gamers!