If you wanna be OP, you gotta get EXP. With experience, you can unlock new skill points and spend them on new abilities. Starfield is a game where you can gain experience from doing pretty much anything and that’s exactly what we’ll be talking about today - the best ways of acquiring experience in Starfield!
10. 2% EXP bonus
That’s a lot... I guess…
It doesn’t seem like a lot at first but if you’re grinding opponents, it begins to stack up and it serves you well in the long term. This effect also stacks with the Meatloaf bonus, which is a 1% EXP boost that you can get from choosing the “Kid Stuff” trait.
How it works:
Your character gets this bonus from eating specific foods, such as:
- Shepherd’s Pie
- The Strip
- Alien Tea
- Tranquil Tea
Check this video on how to unlock the Tranquil Tea recipe:
https://youtu.be/0g0ZTmcjTXM?t=4
9. Well Rested
Just like in Skyrim!
You get this bonus from sleeping in your bed. This time it’s a 10% bonus to your experience gain, which makes that a significant change. Again, this applies to everything you do, whether it’s grinding mobs, discovering planets and other things.
How it works:
- Simply go to your bed and go to sleep for a couple of hours.
- Your character is gonna wake up “Well Rested”
8. Emotionally Secure
Take a nap with your lover.
“Emotionally Secure” works the same way as “Well Rested”, except that you sleep with your partner. You’re probably wondering if there’s a weird cutscene involved but no. I know, makes me sad as well…
But the bonus is 15% - it’s pretty OP and stacks with the bonuses that you get from the food as well.
How it works:
- Make sure that your partner is following you.
- Simply go to bed with them near you. You’ll wake up with the bonus.
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/VAFLzzmRvc0?t=1
7. Killing enemies
Pretty woman, walking down the street..
If you ever wanted to go on an alien Safari and kill a few funny-looking animals, here’s your chance. Habitable planets consist of fauna that you can hunt and kill, which in turn will reward you with experience.
There are also human beings that you can waste if you prefer that - keep in mind that the experience per creature/human depends on the target’s level.
How it works:
Find an opponent and kill them. ‘Nuff said!
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/G4NXZo9Cb98?t=3
6. Quests
The most obvious method.
This is also a method, although some people might not like it - some of the quests might be boring, maybe not that rewarding but if you manage to get into the lore of Starfield, you might level up super quickly without even taking notice.
Doing the main quests, such as:
- One Small Step
- The Old Neighborhood
- The Empty Nest
- Back to Vectera
- Into the Unknown
- All That Money Can Buy
- Starborn
- Further into the Unknown
can get you enormous amounts of experience but it takes time, depending on the difficulty that you’re playing on/your general knowledge of the game.
How it works:
Do the main quest lines, bounty missions, side quests, etc. Anything that grants you experience.
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/dluJmvHJV3Y?t=4
5. Discovering New Locations
Planets, outposts…
You can get experience from discovering new systems, planets, outposts, caves, and other locations - you will get some experience per place discovered. The amount of experience differs from location to location, but it’s important to be thorough with planets that you visit - they tend to have plenty of outposts, sometimes with enemies inside of them, so getting them killed will also get you bonus experience!
How it works:
- Get in your ship and visit new systems. Each system has different planets, some might be dead while the others will be habitable.
- There are also outposts, caves, landmarks, and many other locations that you can find while you’re on a planet
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/A9rfGKxhJfY?t=22
4. Boarding Enemy Ships
Yar-har!
When you engage in a dogfight in space, you can either disable the enemy ship’s shield and annihilate the ship or disable its engines - disabling the engines will result in the ship becoming stationary, and unable to fly away.
That allows you to dock to the ship and disband the squad boarding the ship. Destroying the ship itself will grant you less experience - you don’t get to sell the stolen ship, plus you’re not killing the crew boarding the ship.
How it works:
- Find an enemy ship
- Shoot it till the shield is disabled
- Disable the enemy engines
- Board the ship and kill the crew
- Sell the ship after registering it
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/V-80hdpULJ0?t=101
3. Survey Planets
Don’t get eaten!
Surveying planets is about visiting a specific planet and examining its flora, fauna, and resources. Once you examine every species of plant or animal, as well as resources, you’ll be rewarded with huge amounts of experience after successfully surveying each planet.
The hard part is surveying - not all animals like to be examined. They might politely ask you to stop taking pictures of them or just tear you limb from limb!
How it works:
- Land on a planet
- Open up your scanner
- Examine flora/fauna/resources
- Once you’ve examined all of them, you’re gonna get plenty of EXP
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/etq4HvNdBD4?t=111
2. Scanning Gas Giants
Insta experience!
Scanning planets doesn’t necessarily grant you instant experience unless you’re scanning a gas giant - the reason for that is that you can’t land on a planet that consists only of random gases, 800 mph winds, and no ground…
In Starfield, you can discover 166 gas giants in total - they’re scattered across different systems so you’re in for a very long ride…
How it works:
- Get to a new system
- Select a planet
- Hold the button to scan it
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/lCmB07Y48z8?t=62
1. Crafting
Many things to craft in Starfield!
Crafting is yet another way of farming experience but I believe that it’s one of the most successful methods currently. You can set up an outpost and build extractors, link them to storages, and use the resources for crafting.
One of my favorite methods is using Aluminium and Iron to craft adaptive frames - you can get over 1000 EXP per minute, assuming that you can afford an outpost - this also depends on how far you are into the game.
How it works:
- Find a planet with Aluminium&Iron deposits(this is optional, you can craft many things in Starfield)
- Set up an outpost
- Set up extractors
- Link the extractors to the storage boxes
- Craft adaptive frames
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/V2EyDu2tlco?t=154
