Much like every other game released by Bethesda, Starfield allows players to customize their character in a lot of different ways by equipping different and customizable gear and learning different skills that improve some of the character's base abilities as well as unlock new options.

　　Starfield features five different Skill Trees - Physical, Social, Combat, Science, and Tech - which provide players with ample customization options. At the start of the game, however, you should focus on learning the following skills to make your time searching for the Artifact easier and ultimately more enjoyable.

　　

Best Skills to Learn First in Starfield

Physical Tree

The Physical Skill Tree in Starfield features some general-use skills that can be quite helpful, no matter your playstyle. To make your life a little easier at the beginning of the game during both exploration and combat, you should learn Fitness for additional Oxygen, which gets consumed every time you run or jump, Weight Lifting for additional carrying capacity, and Wellness for additional health.

　　

Social Tree

The skills in the Social tree are all useful in their own right, and a few of them can make your life easier at the start of your adventure in Starfield. Commerce, which allows you to buy for 5% less and sell for 10% more is a great one to learn at the start of the game, when Credits will be tight. The same goes for Theft, which unlocks pickpocketing and lets you get items for free, which can be sold to vendors for Credits in case you have no use for them.

　　

Combat Tree

The Combat Skill Tree features skills that improve your handling of every weapon in Starfield, so which skill you should learn first depends on the weapon you are going to use in the first few hours of the game. I wanted to make a short-range focused build, so I went with Dueling for additional damage and higher defense with melee weapons and Shotgun Certification, but any other options would have worked as nicely had I a different build in mind.

　　

Science Tree

Most of the skills in the Science tree can be quite useful, but at the start of the game, when you are still coming to grips with the game's mechanics, it's best to go with Medicine, which improves the efficacy and health restoration speed of Med Packs, Trauma Packs, and Emergency Kits. Surveying is a good skill to learn quickly as well, as it improves the range of your Scanner and adds a new zoom level, which helps quite a bit during exploration, of which you will be doing a lot right from the beginning of the adventure.

　　

Tech Tree

　　The skill you need to learn as quickly as you can in the Tech tree is the Boost Pack Training skill, as without it, you cannot use Boost Packs at all. Boost Packs are very useful during both exploration and combat, so you will want to learn the skill and rank it up to Rank 4 as quickly as possible for better mobility. Targeting Control System is another excellent skill to learn early, as it unlocks ship targeting functionality, which will give you an edge during space combat. Most of the other skills in the Tech tree improve your ship's handling and capabilities, but you are not likely to take advantage of them during the early game, so you can put off learning them until you have improved your ship or bought a new one, and start having trouble fighting off enemies in space.