Starfield – Background Tier List

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Which backgrounds are best in Starfield? Bethesda has given players many options to choose from in character creation. Backgrounds give you starting skills such as stealth, piloting, persuasion, ballistics, theft, lasers, boost pack training, and more.

Depending on which background you choose, you could have an easier time with the game or a much more difficult time. After all, not all backgrounds are created equally. You want to make sure you have one of the best if you hope to survive in the dark reaches of space.

Pick a background that matches your playstyle and has the skills you care about. Do you want to be a pilot and reach all of the planets in the universe?

Background Tier List – Best Backgrounds in Starfield

S-Tier	Soldier, Gangster, Bounty Hunter, [FILE NOT FOUND], Diplomat
A-Tier	Bouncer, Beast Hunter, Ronin, Industrialist, Cyber Runner, Space Scoundrel, Combat Medic
B-Tier	Homesteader, Chef, Cyberneticist, Explorer,
C-Tier	Sculptor, Pilgrim, Professor, Long Hauler, Xenobiologist

S-Tier Backgrounds in Starfield

Soldier

Skills – Fitness, Ballistics, Boost Pack Training

Solder is for those who want to have an easier time in combat. Combat happens frequently in Starfield so having access to your Boost Pack right away and knowing how to use weapons is a nice bonus. The Fitness skill is also great since it increases your O2 allowing you to run more.

Gangster

Skills – Shotgun Certification, Boxing, Theft

Gangster is another great background to take for those who focus more on combat. With a dash of thievery added in, you can get some great early-game items and credits by pickpocketing citizens across the galaxy.

Bounty Hunter

Skills – Piloting, Targeting Control Systems, Boost Pack Training

Flying is something you will do often in Starfield and having the piloting skill and Target Control Systems skill will help you out in the early game. It will make dealing with the early-game space fights a breeze and keep things easy later on as well. You won’t need to invest in your ship skills and will instead be able to focus on others.

[FILE NOT FOUND]

Skills – Wellness, Ballistics, Piloting

Perhaps the best of the S-Tier backgrounds, the [FILE NOT FOUND] background gives you a nice mix of skills to help in different aspects of the game. You have Ballistics to help you with combat on the ground, Piloting to help with space travel, and Wellness which grants you more health.

Diplomat

Skills – Persuasion, Commerce, Wellness

Those who like to talk their way out of situations will love the Diplomat background. Another great choice, this background gives you early access to the Persuasion skill and Commerce skill. These skills will allow you to talk your way out of situations early on and get better prices when trading. Saving those credits early in the game can help you out a lot later on.

A-Tier Backgrounds in Starfield

Bouncer

Skills – Boxing, Security, Fitness

The Bouncer background is like a less-capable version of the Solder background. It gives you access to the Boxing skill which focuses on melee combat and the Security skill which allows you to open locked crates. It would be better to have something like the Wellness skill to round it out or maybe even another weapon skill.

Beast Hunter

Skills – Fitness, Ballistics, Gastronomy

The Beast Hunter starts off with great handling of ballistic weapons and increased O2 thanks to the Fitness perk. Where things start to fall short is with the Gastronomy skill. While this skill has its uses later on, you won’t be getting much use out of it in the early game.

Ronin

Skills – Dueling, Stealth, Scavenging

Ronin is probably the best of the A-Tier backgrounds thanks to its ability to sneak around the battlefield without drawing attention. Finish foes off with melee attacks that they didn’t see coming. The Scavenging skill also has its benefits because you can find additional resources when looting containers.

Industrialist

Skills – Persuasion, Security, Research Methods

If it wasn’t for the research methods skill, Industrialist would be an S-Tier background. The Persuasion and Security skills are great to have in the early game and will help you get ahead of others fairly quickly.

Cyber Runner

Skills – Stealth, Security, Theft

The Cyber Runner is the best when it comes to hiding in the shadows, picking locks, and stealing from unsuspecting foes. Thievery is a great way to get yourself set up early in the game. Unfortunately, the background doesn’t offer anything for survivability, making it fall slightly short.

Space Scoundrel

Skills – Pistol Certification, Piloting, Persuasion

The Piloting and Persuasion skills are great to have early in the game. These will help you avoid fights and travel around the galaxy. However, Pistol Certification could be replaced with Ballistics to make this background slightly better.

Combat Medic

Skills – Pistol Certification, Medicine, Wellness

There is nothing wrong with the Combat medic background. It offers a great way to create healing kits that are useful in the beginning and the Wellness skill will help you by increasing your health. The only downside is the focus on pistols.

B-Tier Backgrounds in Starfield

Homesteader

Skills – Geology, Surveying, Weight Lifting

You can carry more items which will probably end up being rocks because the Homesteader background focuses on collecting materials from planets. This is good for later on when you get into crafting but won’t help you that much at the start of the game.

Chef

Skills – Gastronomy, Dueling, Scavenging

The focus on creating food makes this background fall short. You can collect more resources in the beginning as the Chef background but that doesn’t help if you are always dying thanks to the lack of survivability. The bonus is that you take slightly less damage while wielding a melee weapon.

Cyberneticist

Skills – Medicine, Security, Lasers

Cyberneticist is a decent background but the focus on laser weapons and the lack of survivability skills make it fall short. You can craft your own medicine but that only goes so far. It would be nice to have this background focus on something like theft or sneaking to help avoid damage.

Explorer

Skills – Lasers, Astrodynamics, Surveying

Being able to scan planets better will help you when it comes to fast travel early in the game. You also get an increase in your ship’s grav drive which will help you reach farther distances. The focus on laser weapons makes this fall short and should be something that makes you more attuned to the environment.

C-Tier Backgrounds in Starfield

Sculptor

Skills – Medicine, Geology, Persuasion

The Sculptor background doesn’t feel like it has a focus on anything. The skills that you get are all over the place and don’t help toward a build type. Instead, it seems like this background is for those who can’t make up their mind.

Pilgrim

Skills – Scavenging, Surveying, Gastronomy

This whole background has a similar focus to the Chef background but with even less survivability because there is no damage reduction. The whole focus is finding items and if you get into a fight, you are probably going to die.

Professor

Skills – Astrodynamics, Geology, Research Methods

The Professor is for those who are playing the long game and really want to focus on collecting resources and researching different mods, attachments, and buildings. In the early game, this background doesn’t matter at all because all of the skills can easily be learned or aren’t needed.

Long Hauler

Skills – Weight Lifting, Piloting, Ballistic Weapon Systems

The Long Hauler background mainly focuses on your ability to fly around the galaxy. The Ballistic Weapon Systems skill will help you survive in space but the majority of combat happens on the ground. You can easily avoid space combat if you want thus making most of this background useless.

Xenobiologist

Skills – Lasers, Surveying, Fitness

The best of the C-Tier backgrounds is the Xenobiologist. With this background, you at least get the capability to travel farther distances on foot without running out of oxygen. On the other hand, surveying and lasers aren’t the greatest skills. Surveying will help you explore planets which comes in handy later on but you can easily get by without it.