Understanding the basic concept of sneaking around like a spy or ninja in a castle or armed base is easy, as you can just stay crouched and move behind furniture to stay out of sight, but in Starfield where you are traveling across galaxies and are not sure what you will find, stealth can be a bit confusing. Even though it is so, doesn’t mean that stealth is not a good option. This guide will look at how players can make a Stealth Build in Starfield.
Character setup for Starfield Stealth build
Starting with character creation, the following is the best background and traits players can pick for their stealth build.
Best Background
The best background for the Starfield Stealth build is the Cyber Runner background. The background has the starting skills of Stealth, Security, and Theft. All of these allow you to sneak around more safely, unlock doors and computers more easily, and steal from enemies without being detected.
Best starting traits for Stealth build
The first trait for our Stealth build is the Dream Home trait. This is important as you start with a safe base of operations early on in the game, where you can retreat and plan your next move and approach. You can also easily change your gear and stash your loot by visiting Dream Home so you don’t have to carry all that burden when attempting to sneak around.
Another trait we’d recommend is the Hero Worshipped trait, if you can handle the annoying Adoring Fan. The trait allows you to get a free companion who can carry your burdens for you and help you if your cover is broken and a fight breaks out.
The last trait we recommend is Kid Stuff. The trait gets you a cool free ship early on, and you get to visit your parents although you lose 2% of your credits every week.
Best skills for Stealth build in Starfield
We will look at all the perks we recommend in all the skill trees in Starfield, and a brief description of why.
Physical
- Stealth
- Weight Lifting
- Wellness
- Gymnastics
- Concealment
The first perk you want to invest in, and this is a no-brainer, is the Stealth perk in the Physical skill tree. The perk can be leveled up 4 times and make it 100% more difficult to detect you. All suppressed weapons also deal 20% additional damage and when you open doors under stealth, you won’t alert any enemies.
Next, we invest 4 points in Weight Lifting. This feat will allow players to carry 100 KG additional weight and you are 50% resistant to stagger per point investment in the perk. Helpful to move around when crouched and carry whatever you get without alerting anyone.
Invest 2 additional points in Wellness. Each point will increase your health by 30% of your total HP. With Wellness, we also have to invest 2 points in Gymnastics. This perk will allow you to take 15% less fall damage and you can also use combat slide, making it easier to move through covers without getting detected. We are making these two investments because we need to have invested 16 points in total before we get to the last perk we want. You can swap these perks for any other perk you might want.
Now that we have invested 16 points in total, we can focus on the last Physical skill we absolutely need, Concealment. The perk makes it so that as soon as you engage stealth, all enemies far away from you will lose you and your attacks, when in stealth, deal 4x additional damage and melee attacks deal 10x extra damage.
Social
- Persuasion
- Theft
- Isolation
The first Social skill we recommend is Persuasion. The perk makes it easier to persuade somewhen when you are talking to them and you can open many new ways to progress through diplomatic talks.
Next, we recommend Theft, as it allows you to pickpocket enemies who are unaware of your presence and every subsequent investment will increase your chances of a successful pickpocket.
If you decide that a companion will compromise your stealth and play solo, then we recommend investing further into Isolation, so you deal 10% additional damage and get 15 extra damage resistance.
Combat
- Ballistic
- Sniper Certification
- Rifle Certification
The main perk you should get early on is the Ballistic perk so your Ballistic weapon range is increased. Since you are limited to these weapons early on and since they always alert surrounding enemies, the perk will allow you to take shots from afar and have better chances of killing enemies without alerting their companions.
Next, we need to get the Sniper Certification perk, which helps you deal additional damage when attacking with weapons that are using scopes. Using sniper rifles helps you stay away and slowly take out your enemies one by one.
To further increase the effectiveness of your shots, we also recommend investing in Rifle Certification skill, so your sniper rifles deal more damage, making it easier to pick off unsuspecting targets. Both these perks together will also help compensate for the damage reduction your weapons get due to the suppressor.
Science
- Weapon Engineering
- Surveying
For the Science tree, our main pick is the Weapon Engineering perk. This perk allows players to craft master-level weapon mods. These mods will help increase the effectiveness of your weapons, making them quieter and more efficient at killing.
Players can also invest in Surveying where players get an additional zoom option to their hand scanner, and the range of your scanner is increased by 20 meters.
Tech
- Piloting
- Boost Pack Training
- Targeting Control Systems
- Starship Design
For Tech Tree, the first skill players want is Piloting. The longer time you spend with this perk, the better ships you can control and you will get the best ships earlier on.
Next, we invest 1 point in the Boost Pack Training perk at least so we have open access to Boost packs, making it easier to move and get through those tight spots in your journey.
We also can get the Targeting Control Systems so you can auto-lock on enemy ships during a fight, making it easier to land guaranteed shots.
Lastly invest in Starship Design perk, allowing you to install experimental modules in your ship. Most of these experimental modules are extremely powerful and not commonly found in other ships.
Gear setup for stealth
For spacesuits for our Starfield Stealth build, we have to point out that the weight of your spacesuit will affect how well you sneak. Wearing heavy space suits will make it difficult for your character to be quiet and light when moving around even in stealth.
We recommend that players focus on lightweight space suits at all times for a stealth playstyle in Starfield. When you enter a building, take off your helmet and spacesuit and just strip down to your basic apparel to make yourself quieter.
For weapons, the first thing players need to know is to make sure they have a suppressor attached at all times. No weapon of your choice, especially a ballistic weapon, should be without a suppressor.
We recommend using rifles and focusing on long-range battles to keep your cover as intact as possible. Using scopes and various mods will help increase your damage and range will help you kill enemies without blowing your cover.
We also recommend players carry one electromagnetic weapon to stun their enemies and move past them. Electromagnetic weapons have almost no sound and can be used even if other enemies are around.
