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Which Traits should you choose in Starfield?

Here are the Traits that will serve you well, and some that you might want to take a hard pass on.

Bill Lavoy

August 31, 2023 1:45 PM

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When players first start playing Starfield, they will have to choose three starting Traits to take with them on their journey. These Traits cannot be reverted later and will stay with you for your entire playthrough. It’s a big decision, so here are the Traits you should consider taking with you, and few you might want to leave behind.

Which Traits should you choose?

Choosing the right Traits is going to be subjective, so my first piece of advice is to not approach this from the perspective of efficiency. Choose the Traits that best suit you if you know what they are. If you’re not sure, here’s what I’d suggest.

Extrovert / Introvert 

I would counsel players to consider the Extrovert Trait, as there are times you’re forced to adventure with a companion. If you enjoy having companions with you normally, Extrovert gets even better. At the same time, if you really want to adventure alone, Introvert is still a great option. Extrovert will cause you to use less oxygen when you are with human companions, but more when you’re alone. Introvert will cause you to use less oxygen when alone, but more when you’re with a companion. They are total opposites, so choose the one that suits your style of play the most.

Taskmaster 

Ship combat is challenging in Starfield, especially when you don’t build into that style of gameplay. This is where Taskmaster shines. If you assign crew members to your ship, and they are proficient in one of the ship systems, it will sometimes repair itself to full health when damaged below 50 percent. This is going to make a lot more sense when you play the game and get a feel for ship-to-ship combat, but it’s essentially erasing damage dealt to your ship occasionally and keeping you in the fight.

Wanted

 This may not seem like a good thing, but having played more than 70 hours of Starfield, I can tell you that what I want more of is XP so I can unlock more skill points, and whatever loot my fallen foes have. The Wanted Trait gives you a boost to damage when your health is low at the cost of being attacked by mercenaries. Personally, I see no drawback here. More XP, more loot, and more damage when I’m getting beaten up.

Which Traits should you avoid?

Not all Traits are created equal, so here are a few that I would toss in the bin. I’ll even mention where my colleagues disagree with me so that you can consider multiple perspectives.

Kid Stuff 

This Trait was one that I picked, and I would do anything to give it back for something else. While it was cool to visit my parents once, I found the dialogue lacking, and exploring my parents’ apartment was lackluster. What’s worse, I’m forced to send them Credits every week. This is particularly aggravating when you get thrown in jail for a week, and in addition to losing all your Contraband and stolen goods you have to send money to your space mom and dad. On the other hand, my colleague enjoyed the Trait because he liked the idea of playing an RPG where his parents weren’t dead, and he had a hilarious encounter with them later in the game.

Alien DNA

Alien DNA will give you more health and oxygen but will make food and healing items less effective. Yes, more health and oxygen are good, but you can get both of those in the skill trees as you play. You can also increase the effectiveness of your healing and food items in the skill tree. Health and food items are also all over the place, so you really don’t need a boost to your health or oxygen. I can’t think of a scenario where I’d want this Trait.

United Colonies Native

I thought this was a great Trait for a few reasons. First, more rewards from missions is great, and it sounds like I’m a citizen of the United Colonies. Unfortunately, that’s not how this works. Firstly, New Atlantis (the major United Colonies city in Starfield) is probably the least interesting city in the entire game. Secondly, being a United Colonies Native doesn’t make you a United Colonies citizen, which threw me off. If you’re thinking of a Trait in this ballpark, go for Neon Street Rat instead, as Neon is probably the most interesting city in the game.

There you have it, my picks for the best Traits and worst Traits you can start the game with. Again, play your style and be true to the character you create. Don’t worry about the gameplay implications if your character is an introvert; just take Introvert. What you should do, though, is browse through our best Backgrounds guide, and our Starfield Strategy Guide for more help.

Bill Lavoy

Managing Editor

Bill, who is also known as Rumpo, is a lifelong gamer and Toronto Maple Leafs fan. He made his mark early in his career through guide writing and a deep understanding of editorial SEO. He enjoys putting in the work to create a great content, be it a wild feature or grinding out an in-depth collectible guide. Tweet him @RumpoPlays if you have a question or comment about one of his articles.