September 6 can’t come any sooner for Bethesda fans, as the recent Starfield gameplay deep-dive hyped up the game’s fresh features, like its intuitive skill system. The showcase expressed that players can acquire abilities with the usual methods found in previous Bethesda games. However, Starfield distinguishes itself with its skill rank system, which lets players improve their characters’ abilities further.
What’s great about the skill systems in popular Bethesda titles, like Skyrim and Fallout 4, is that they don’t restrict the player to a single class like most role-playing games would. These games offer perks, which are split into different skill trees. For example, Skyrim’s Smithing tree allows players to unlock perks that let them create items from specific materials like Dwarven Metal. Players have free rein over which perks they choose in different skill trees. They’re also rewarded with experience points every time they make use of their abilities. These philosophies are baked into Starfield’s skill system, letting players create an explorer that perfectly fits their playstyle.
How Starfield’s Skill Ranks Work
Players start honing their skills in Starfield as soon as they get into the character creation menu. They can select different archetypes, each with a set of three different starting perks. These are known in the game as the character’s background, which defines their profession before they joined Constellation to become an explorer. For example, the Chef background automatically unlocks the Gastronomy skill, which lets players craft food and drinks that improve their stats and abilities.
It’s important to note that backgrounds are just the starting point, and players are free to pick whichever skill they want to acquire as they level up. Starfield takes skills to a whole new level with its Skill Ranks system, which lets players improve the effectiveness of their skills when they go up a tier.
To do this, one will need to spend a skill point, which is similar to Fallout 4's perk system. But the player also needs to complete a challenge that makes use of the said skill. For instance, if a player wants to rank up their Intimidation, they’ll need to intimidate five different NPCs to get to Rank 1. If they want to move up to Rank 2, they’ll need to intimidate 25 different people. The challenges usually increase the quantity of the requirement, but it won’t be much of a grind as the player character gets more efficient at using the skill as they rank up.
Starfield’s Skill Ranks Make Perfect Sense for Player Progression
What’s great about Starfield’s Skill Rank system is that it pushes the player to hone the skill they want to rank up. This way, they can learn the intricacies of the skill and how to use it in the best way possible. This way, players need to kill a certain number of enemies every time they want to rank up their Ballistics skill.
They'll need to learn how to mow down opponents efficiently, which means using the right gun for different combat ranges and using utilities like grenades to whittle down enemy HP. They’ll also need to master Starfield's combat mechanics, so they can move through cover quickly and efficiently, and therefore die less frequently.
There are over five different skill trees in Starfield, which include classic perks like Lockpicking, but also new and creative ones like the Boost Pack. Bethesda has revealed that some skills can reach up to Rank 4, and it’s unclear whether it applies to all of them or if there are higher tiers. The skill rank system may seem repetitive, but it pushes players to learn the ins and outs of the game themselves through trial and error. Therefore, players feel like they’re actually getting better at the game every time they rank up.
Starfield is set to release on September 6, 2023, for PC and Xbox Series X/S.