Persuasion is a skill in Starfield that lets you persuade people and change the outcome of a dialogue in your favor. This, however, is not going to be possible all the time because you have to be able to pass certain speech checks first.
For example, you can use Persuasion to get your hands on sensitive information, unlock new missions, obtain rare rewards, save yourself from falling into a messy situation, and such.
Dialogues that lead down the Persuasion route are generally tagged with “persuade” so you will know if the option is on the table.
The art of Persuasion is not only complex but will take some time getting used to. In this guide, we will talk about how you can unlock Persuasion in Starfield and cover the conversational nuances that stack the odds in your favor.
How to unlock Persuasion in Starfield
Persuasion can be unlocked in Starfield in two different ways. The first one is simply choosing your character’s Background that offers Persuasion in its Skill Set.
Backgrounds offering this skill are Industrialist, Sculptor, Space Scoundrel, and last but not least Diplomat. Selecting any one of these will equip you with Persuasion from the get-go.
If you haven’t chosen any of the Backgrounds mentioned earlier, don’t worry. You can still acquire this skill by unlocking it from the Skill Tree under “Social Skills.” However, you will need to upgrade your character and earn Skill Points first.
Persuasion in Starfield explained
The persuasion system in Starfield works similarly to how it has in past Bethesda titles. When the opportunity presents itself, you’ll see a dialogue option with [PERSUADE] next to it. Simply selecting that response will allow you to persuade who you’re talking to.
Note that right and wrong answers are arbitrary and it depends entirely on the situation which answer will lead to a successful outcome. If you feel unsure, you can save the game prior to the conversation so you can reload if it ends poorly.
The options within the responses menu will be color-coded with a number beside them. The color represents the difficulty of your choice: Green is easy, Yellow is medium and Red is the Hardest choice to select.
It will also denote the likelihood of a choice to succeed with easier ones having a higher success rate. The number denotes the points you will receive for each option, more points are rewarded for harder difficulties.
Points are important because a correct choice will add them to your Persuasion Bar present at the bottom left of the menu.
With each correct answer, the bar fills up and a full Persuasion Bar will lead to winning the conversation. It also denotes how many points you have and how much more you will need to win, if you fall short on the points, you will lose.
There is another number next to the Persuasion Bar that will denote Turns which are the chances you have left to earn points.
Failing to choose the right option will reduce the Turns by 1 but the good thing is that the opposite of this is also true meaning you can earn another chance if you choose right.
Another important bit to know here is that reaching zero (0) Turns while being unable to fill up the Persuasion Bar will result in failure.
How to use Auto-Persuade
In the bottom right of the Persuasion responses options, you will find the option to Auto-Persuade in Starfield. It is a rechargeable ability that gets energy from successful choices while you persuade, generally, 6 correct ones will do the job.
When Auto-Persuade is fully charged, you can select it to fill up the Persuasion Bar essentially decreasing the time and effort you would need otherwise.
It can also lead to a direct win if you are only a few points behind. Using it will also reset the charge back to zero so you would need to charge it again.
How to get a Critical Success
While choosing from Persuasion responses in Starfield, choosing the correct choice will lead to a successful outcome.
Once in a while, you will encounter a choice that will do the trick leading to a guaranteed win. This event is known as “Critical Success” which will basically max out the Persuasion Bar completely, winning you the challenge.
How to level up Persuasion in Starfield
While you will be able to persuade some characters with your basic persuasion skill, upgrading the persuasion skill will allow you to land a better chance of succeeding at it, especially during the late game.
Every time you rank up your persuasion skill in Starfield, you’ll become more proficient at it. As we discussed above, the persuasion skill can be unlocked under the Social Skills tree, if you choose not to go with a background that already has the skill unlocked. The ID for Persuasion is 0022EC82.
Since it is a Novice skill, you will be able to acquire it fairly early on in the game. To rank up your persuasion skill in Starfield you’ll need to complete speech challenges. Simply select the [PERSUASION] option every time it shows up.
| Rank | Effect | Challenge |
|---|---|---|
| Rank 1 | 10% increased chance of success when persuading someone | NA |
| Rank 2 | 20% increased chance of success when persuading someone | Successfully complete 3 speech challenges |
| Rank 3 | 30% increased chance of success when persuading someone | Successfully complete 3 speech challenges |
| Rank 4 | 40% increased chance of success when persuading someone | Successfully complete 3 speech challenges |
Upgrading the persuasion skill in Starfield is absolutely worth it if you want to avoid confrontations as much as possible. The persuasion skill is especially useful during the mission ‘Revelation’ where your choices affect the ending of the game.
How to temporarily increase Persuasion in Starfield
If your persuasion skill is not ranked all the way up or if you simply haven’t invested time in ranking it up, you can temporarily boost your persuasion in Starfield so you stand a better chance of succeeding during Persuasion checks.
Temporary items that increase persuasion include drinks and drugs. These are all the consumable items that temporarily increase your persuasion in Starfield.
| Item | Effect | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Sparkling Wine | +10% increase in persuasion | 5 minutes |
| Chandra Merlot | +12% increase in persuasion | 5 minutes |
| Supernova | +12% increase in persuasion | 5 minutes |
| Pinot Noir | +12% increase in persuasion | 5 minutes |
| Riesling | +12% increase in persuasion | 5 minutes |
| Velocity | +15% increase in persuasion | 3 minutes |
| Hippolyta | +20% increase in persuasion | 5 minutes |
| Paramour | +25% increase in persuasion | 10 minutes |
Certain Outfits will also grant you increased persuasion for a limited amount of time including the fitted business suit, which grants you a +10% persuasion chance, and the Corpo Sleek Suit which nets you an additional 5% persuasion chance.
You can also use console commands and mods to circumvent persuasion requirements in Starfield but doing so breaks the immersion the game offers.
Starfield Persuasion Build
If you want to take persuasion and the role-playing aspect of Starfield even further, it is possible to make a character solely centered around persuasion. This will allow you to weasel your way out of most situations in addition to avoiding gunfights where necessary.
A persuasion build is not only effective in dialogue but also in combat, though not in the traditional sense. To make a Persuasion build in Starfield, select the Diplomat background as it has a +10 chance to persuade someone from the get-go. They also have additional health which is pivotal for this build.
For your traits select Empath, Extrovert, and Taskmaster. As far as unlockable skills are concerned make sure to use ones that avoid confrontation and are centered around persuasion. These include Instigation, Diplomacy, Xenosociology, Manipulation, Intimidation, and Persuasion.
Additionally, make use of persuasion-increasing outfits as we’ve described above while also making a heavy usage of drinks and drugs that do the same.
Persuasion skill console command cheat
If you’re unable to persuade an NPC in Starfield and would rather not go through the alternative, you can use console commands to cheat your way through the encounter by giving yourself the Persuasion skill without spending any points on it
- First, open the console command dialogue using the ‘~’ key
- Next, type in ‘player.addperk 0022EC82’
- Close the console command dialogue and you should be good to go
Starfield Persuasion Mod
While using the console command function will give you the perk, you won’t be guaranteed a 100% success rate. In order to circumvent this problem, you can install mods that give you a 100% success rate during persuasion checks.
There are numerous Persuasion mods available on NexusMods. Choose whichever one you like and install it into the game’s directory.
