Ready to launch into the vast cosmos of Starfield but unsure where to begin? From mastering your first missions and joining powerful factions to upgrading your starship and unlocking essential skills like Boost Pack Training, this guide will steer you through the crucial first steps to become a legendary space explorer on PC and Xbox. Whether you want to dominate combat, build wealth, or uncover hidden planetary secrets, here’s how to start your epic journey across the stars with confidence and strategy.
Let me help you get started. Now that I’m roughly 40 hours in, I can look back and say I’d have played this game differently, knowing what I know now. Specifically, there are five things I would’ve gone out of my way to do earlier. Here’s what to do first in Starfield.
Play the first three missions
Starting Starfield, your first three missions set the foundation for your adventure. Begin with “One Small Step,” where you start at the Argos Extractors Mining Outpost on Vectera, learning the basics of mining, combat, and spaceflight while encountering the Crimson Fleet. After clearing the initial threats and meeting key characters like Barrett, you receive your ship, the Frontier, and a multifunctional watch that aids exploration and navigation. Next, you’ll travel to Kreet to confront the Crimson Fleet Captain, gaining experience in planetary scanning and landing. These missions introduce core gameplay mechanics such as combat, exploration, and story progression, preparing you for the vast universe ahead.
It’s antithetical to the way that many people prefer to play Bethesda games (i.e., by getting distracted every five seconds), but you should focus on the main quest line – at least for the first three missions. After you finish the “One Small Step” and “The Old Neighborhood” quests, you’ll unlock three missions at once: “Back to Vectera,” “The Empty Nest,” and “Into the Unknown.” Prioritize “Into the Unknown.” Completing that quest opens up an aspect of the game you could otherwise miss, and you get a chance to really see what the game is all about.
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Get a new ship
In Starfield, acquiring a new ship early on significantly enhances your gameplay experience. You can purchase ships from Ship Services Technicians located at spaceports in major cities like Cydonia, Jemison, and Neon. Each city offers a different selection of ships, so it’s worthwhile to browse multiple locations to find one that suits your style and needs. Ships come with ratings (A, B, or C), and piloting higher-rated ships requires upgrading your Piloting skill. Alternatively, you can steal ships through missions, but this comes with risks and consequences. Once you have a ship, regularly upgrading and customizing it is crucial to keep up with tougher challenges as you explore deeper into the solar systems.
Fun story: I spent my first 35 hours in Starfield saving up every penny (251,480 credits, but who’s counting?) to purchase a massive new spaceship. What I didn’t realize was, without the Piloting skill leveled up to its third rank, which would allow me to fly B-class ships, I couldn’t even captain it – even though I owned the damn thing. What’s more, to get the skill to the third rank, not only would I need to acquire four more skill points, I’d also need to destroy 20 enemy spaceships. All while captaining the shoddiest vessel in the game.
Yes, the Frontier – the spaceship you’re given in the tutorial – can reliably exit a planet’s gravitational pull, but that’s basically the extent of its spacefaring bona fides. (That’s to say nothing of its pittance of a cargo hold.) You’ll quickly want to swap it for something better. Instead of saving for a top-flight ship, invest in or steal a marginally better vessel to serve as a stopgap until you’re leveled up enough.
Join a faction
In Starfield, joining a faction is a key part of the gameplay that shapes your journey through the Settled Systems. You can join all major factions, including Constellation, United Colonies, Freestar Collective, Crimson Fleet, and Ryujin Industries, each offering unique missions, storylines, and rewards. Joining a faction often involves completing specific quests or tasks, such as attending the Constellation Lodge early in the main story or helping the Freestar Rangers in Akila City. Aligning with factions allows you to unlock specialized content and companions, but be aware that some factions have rivalries that may force tough choices later on. Faction missions are marked by their emblems in your mission log, making it easy to track your allegiances and progress.
As soon as you can, you should affiliate yourself with factions such as the United Colonies, the Freestar Collective, the Crimson Fleet, or Ryujin Industries. Not only are faction quests generally more interesting than most other side material (and the main story itself), they also tend to reward more credits than most missions. In some cases, you might get special dialogue options that open up unique narrative pathways; my association with Ryujin Industries opened up a route in the “Juno’s Gambit” side quest that I’d otherwise not have been able to take.
Do the Cydonia mining quest line
The Cydonia mining quest line in Starfield offers a rich and immersive experience set in the gritty underground mining colony on Mars. Starting with the “Red Tape Blues” mission, you meet Trevor, the mining foreman, who enlists your help to prove the miners’ worth by mining iron and securing better equipment for the crew. This quest line involves mining resources, navigating the multi-level city, and eventually applying for a job as the mining executive’s assistant at the Deimos Staryards space station. Along the way, you can explore various side missions that reveal the struggles and stories of the miners, making Cydonia a compelling place to visit early in your Starfield journey.
One of the best early side quests in Starfield starts off as a fetch quest. The “Red Tape Blues” mission, which is found by speaking to Trevor in Cydonia on Mars, initially tasks you with collecting 10 iron. (“A whole galaxy, and this is what you’re choosing to do?” quips one of your in-game companions.) It quickly balloons into a multifaceted tale of corporate espionage, political machinations, and interstellar firefights. There’s also a gameplay incentive: You make a ton of money, for one thing, and you also get a tour of the key areas that comprise Starfield’s early-game region, opening up convenient fast travel spots in the opening hours.
Visit some planets off the beaten path
Starfield offers a vast galaxy filled with countless planets waiting to be explored beyond the main storyline. Venturing off the beaten path allows players to discover unique planets with diverse environments, hidden resources, and intriguing side quests. From vibrant cyberpunk cities like Neon on Volii Alpha to mysterious and hostile systems like Kryx, each planet offers its own atmosphere and challenges. Scanning planets before landing helps identify valuable resources, flora, fauna, and points of interest, making exploration both rewarding and strategic. Whether you’re hunting for rare materials, uncovering secrets, or simply enjoying the thrill of discovery, visiting these lesser-known worlds enriches your Starfield experience far beyond the critical path.
Most of Starfield’s early game funnels you through and around three cities: New Atlantis, Akila City, and Neon. All three locations are packed with activities, but you can find fascinating quests by going off the beaten path a bit. Here are three other places to check out:
- On Polvo, found in the Valo system, you’ll find Hopetown. It’s home to some interesting side quests – including one that sees you take on the identity of a smuggler to fend off bounty hunters – and you’ll also get a look at what a small town looks like in the Settled Systems.
- In the Tau Ceti system, you’ll find Lopez’s Farm, an otherwise nondescript little settlement where you start a series of missions about organizing a league of independent farmers against pirates. (For me, it was Tau Ceti IV, but it could be different in your game, thanks to how Starfield randomly seeds quests.) Prepare for a lot of space battles. All the more reason to get a new ship!
- Set course to Nesoi, in the Olympus system, and you’ll find yourself in the same orbit as the Almagest space station. Dock with it to engage in one of the early game’s most riveting firefights – and nab a small lottery’s worth of money in the process.
What’s the best way to kickstart my Starfield adventure on PC or Xbox
The best way to kickstart your Starfield adventure on PC or Xbox is to focus on building an efficient experience and money farm early on, which will rapidly boost your level and unlock powerful skills. Start by choosing a background that suits your preferred playstyle but know that initial choices matter less since you’ll level up quickly to around level 60 within the first hour of gameplay. Prioritize skills like stealth and lockpicking early for easier access to valuable loot and chests during the tutorial missions. After completing the newbie tutorial, head to New Atlantis to begin your main journey and consider adjusting gameplay settings to increase difficulty and vendor credits for faster progression. Additionally, learn to pilot a strong C-class ship that can dominate combat encounters, and focus on farming legendary gear and resources like Astra to craft powerful weapons and armor. Finally, regularly perform hard saves and fully close the game to avoid bugs and crashes, especially on Xbox. This approach will set you up to become a millionaire space hero with top-tier gear in no time.
Should I start on PC or Xbox for the best Starfield experience
For the best Starfield experience, starting on PC is generally recommended-provided you have a capable system. The PC version offers several key advantages:
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Mod Support: PC players have access to a vast library of mods that can enhance gameplay, fix bugs, and add new content, offering a much richer and customizable experience than currently possible on Xbox.
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Performance and Graphics: On a powerful PC, you can achieve higher frame rates, faster loading times, and superior graphics settings compared to consoles. For example, loading times on PC can be less than a third of those on Xbox Series X, making the experience much smoother and more responsive.
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Customization and Controls: PC allows for more control customization, including the use of console commands, and generally smoother ship building and space combat due to keyboard and mouse support.
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Future-Proofing: While Xbox is expected to receive mod support in the future, the PC community is already thriving, and the breadth of available mods is far greater.
However, if you prefer a plug-and-play experience or don’t have a high-end PC, the Xbox Series X version is still excellent and offers stable performance, though with longer load times and fewer customization options.
In summary: PC is the superior platform for Starfield if your hardware is up to the task, mainly due to mod support, better performance, and greater customization options.
