Starfield, the highly anticipated game from Bethesda, is set to offer a massive and expansive experience for players. However, the background you choose for your character during creation will greatly shape your gameplay. Each background comes with unique perks that can enhance different aspects of your playthrough, such as persuasion, cooking, or weapon proficiency.
How Do Backgrounds Affect Your Gameplay?
The background you select in Starfield has a significant impact on your character right from the start. It determines the perks you receive at the beginning of the game and provides various benefits within your chosen category. While Bethesda hasn’t fully revealed all the backgrounds, they have showcased many of them in gameplay previews. Here is a list of the available backgrounds:
- Beast Hunter
- Bouncer
- Bounty Hunter
- Chef
- Combat Medic
- Cyber Runner
- Cyberneticist
- Diplomat
- Explorer
- Gangster
- Homesteader
- Industrialist
- Long-Hauler
- Pilgrim
- Professor
- Ronin
What Perks Do You Get For Each Background?
While Bethesda hasn’t released a detailed list of all the perks for each background, they have provided information on some of the perks based on the gameplay footage. Here are the backgrounds and their corresponding perks that we know about:
Chef
The Chef background allows you to craft recipes for health and status buffs, making it useful for close-quarters combat. You also receive a boost to melee weapon damage.
- Gastronomy – Allows you to cook and research additional specialty recipes for yourself and your crew.
- Dueling – Melee weapons are 10% more powerful.
- Wellness – Gain 30 points of health right off the bat.
Combat Medic
The Combat Medic background focuses on taking care of others and yourself. You gain perks that make it easier to heal and carry more items.
- Pistol Certification – Provides a 10% increase in Pistol damage.
- Medicine – Provides 10% more healing from Med Packs.
- Weight Lifting – Allows you to carry 10 more kilograms than the default capacity.
Cyber Runner
The Cyber Runner background prioritizes personal gain and subterfuge. You excel at stealth, persuasion, and unlocking advanced locks.
- Pistol Certification – Provides a 10% increase in Pistol damage.
- Security – Allows you to unlock Advanced Locks and provides two Auto Attempts.
- Persuasion – Increases chances of success in Speech challenges.
Cyberneticist
The Cyberneticist background emphasizes technology and integration. Your perks focus on healing, dealing with robots, and using laser weapons.
- Medicine – Provides 10% more healing from Med Packs.
- Robotics – Deals an extra 10% damage against robots and turrets.
- Lasers – Deals 10% more damage when using laser weapons.
Diplomat
As a Diplomat, your conversational skills are your greatest weapons. You can avoid conflicts through persuasion, diplomacy, and bargaining.
- Persuasion – Increases chances of success in Speech challenges.
- Diplomacy – Temporarily convinces enemies not to fight.
- Bargaining – 5% discount on purchases and 10% bonus on sales.
Explorer
If exploration is your passion, the Explorer background is perfect for you. You gain bonuses for using advanced technology and interpreting new worlds.
- Lasers – Deals 10% more damage when using laser weapons.
- Astrodynamics – Maximizes your piloting skills.
- Surveying – Eases interpretation of new alien worlds and their data.
These are the confirmed perks showcased in pre-release gameplay. As more information becomes available, we will update this post with the latest details. In the meantime, check out our other guides to prepare yourself for the release of Starfield.
About the author: Nick Rivera graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2021 with a degree in Digital Media and joined Twinfinite as a Freelance Writer in early 2023. He has a diverse taste in games, ranging from Halo to Stardew Valley to Peggle, and is always drawn to captivating storytelling.