Discover the complete list of Starfield skills from the Social skill tree, including challenges to improve your character’s negotiation skills and ability to play solo.
Social Skills
There are 16 skills in the Social skill tree in Starfield, they improve your ability to engage with NPCs, influencing and persuading them or even manipulating them to your liking. These capabilities enhance your trading and negotiation abilities, considerably increasing the process of earning credits. Another substantial benefit of this skill tree lies in its leadership abilities, which enhance the combat effectiveness of your companions and crew in outposts and on the ship. Lastly, this path is ideal for creating a character inclined towards non-combat solutions, opting for a more peaceful mission approach, or players who prefer to play alone without companions.
To take Skills from the second, third, and fourth row, you must first spend at least 4 skill points on the skills from the row before. Some skills are hard to level because they require you to do certain challenges in order to upgrade them. To overcome this, spend four skill points on more than one skill from the first row to quickly get to the second, and so on.
All Social Skills Listed
The following list presents all social skills in Starfield and their effects:
Novice – 1st Tier Social Skills
- Commerce: In the Settled Systems’ free market economy, almost anyone with the right skillset can open and run a successful business.
- Rank 1: Buy for 5% less and sell for 10% more.
- Rank 2: Buy for 10% less and sell for 15% more.
- Rank 3: Buy for 15% less and sell for 20% more.
- Rank 4: Buy for 20% less and sell for 25% more.
- Gastronomy: Access to brand new worlds means access to brand new ingredients, and there is almost no limit to the delicious foods and drinks a talented chef can prepare.
- Rank 1: You can craft specialty food and drinks, and research additional recipes at a Research Lab.
- Rank 2: You can research and craft gourmet food and drinks.
- Rank 3: You can research and craft food and drink delicacies.
- Rank 4: Crafting food and drinks occasionally doesn’t use up resources. You can research and craft exotic recipes.
- Persuasion: In the Settled Systems, the nuanced ability to listen and discuss can often accomplish far more than simply shooting first and asking questions later.
- Rank 1: 10% increased chance of success when persuading someone.
- Rank 2: 20% increased chance of success when persuading someone.
- Rank 3: 30% increased chance of success when persuading someone.
- Rank 4: 50% increased chance of success when persuading someone.
- Scavenging: There are those who can find just about anything, and their success is usually dependent on knowing how, and where, to look.
- Rank 1: There’s a chance you’ll find extra credits when searching containers.
- Rank 2: There’s a chance you’ll find extra ammo when searching containers.
- Rank 3: There’s a chance you’ll find extra aid items, like Med Packs or chems, when searching containers.
- Rank 4: Tracked resources will get highlighted when using the hand scanner.
- Theft: While not entirely honorable, and certainly not legal, it is nonetheless occasionally necessary to discreetly remove property from someone’s person.
- Rank 1: Unlock the ability to pickpocket targets.
- Rank 2: 10% greater chance to successfully pickpocket.
- Rank 3: 30% greater chance to successfully pickpocket.
- Rank 4: 50% greater chance to successfully pickpocket. Can now pickpocket holstered weapons.
Advanced – 2nd Tier Social Skills
- Negotiation: In certain, more challenging communications, skillfully supplementing words with credits may help achieve the desired results.
- Rank 1: You now have access to Bribery in speech challenges.
- Rank 2: Reduces bribery cost by 25%
- Rank 3: Reduces bribery cost by 50%
- Rank 4: Occasionally, bribery won’t cost any money.
- Isolation: By eschewing team tactics and embracing the advantages of “lone wolf” operations, one can vastly improve their combat effectiveness.
- Rank 1: Do +10% weapon damage and gain 15 Damage Resistance for each Spacesuit and Helmet equipped when you don’t have a companion or any crew.
- Rank 2: Do +20% weapon damage and gain 30 Damage Resistance for each Spacesuit and Helmet equipped when you don’t have a companion or any crew.
- Rank 3: Do +30% weapon damage and gain 45 Damage Resistance for each Spacesuit and Helmet equipped when you don’t have a companion or any crew.
- Rank 4: Do +40% weapon damage and gain 60 Damage Resistance for each Spacesuit and Helmet equipped when you don’t have a companion or any crew.
- Intimidation: The ability to strike fear into an opponent, causing them to flee so that you can escape or attack first, can prove critical in battle.
- Rank 1: You can force a target NPC at or below your level to flee for a limited time.
- Rank 2: You can force a target NPC up to 10 levels higher than you to flee for a limited time.
- Rank 3: You can force a target NPC up to 20 levels higher than you to flee for a limited time.
- Rank 4: Intimidated targets now flee for a substantial amount of time.
- Deception: Smuggling and piracy are both immoral and highly illegal, and considered plagues upon the Settled Systems. But certain undercover work may require a certain criminal skillset.
- Rank 1: Ships 10% stronger will automatically surrender to piracy demands. Enemy contraband scans are 10% less effective.
- Rank 2: Ships 20% stronger will automatically surrender to piracy demands. Enemy contraband scans are 20% less effective.
- Rank 3: Ships 30% stronger will automatically surrender to piracy demands. Enemy contraband scans are 30% less effective.
- Rank 4: Ships 50% stronger will automatically surrender to piracy demands. Enemy contraband scans are 50% less effective.
- Diplomacy: When a situation calls for words and not weapons, it’s best to rely on those trained in statecraft and de-escalation.
- Rank 1: You can force a target NPC at or below your level to stop fighting for a while.
- Rank 2: You can force a target NPC up to 10 levels higher than you to stop fighting for a while.
- Rank 3: You can force a target NPC up to 20 levels higher than you to stop fighting for a while.
- Rank 4: You can force target NPCs to permanently stop fighting (unless they’re attacked again).
Expert – 3rd Tier Social Skills
- Instigation: When combat is required, it can be advantageous to convince others to do the fighting for you.
- Rank 1: You can force a target NPC at or below your level to attack their allies for a time.
- Rank 2: You can force a target NPC up to 10 levels higher than you to attack their allies for a time.
- Rank 3: You can force a target NPC up to 20 levels higher than you to attack their allies for a time.
- Rank 4: Enemies affected by Instigation will attack their allies until they are dead.
- Leadership: Teamwork is the cornerstone of galactic survival, and nothing motivates a team more than a trained, decisive leader.
- Rank 1: Companions gain affinity 25% faster.
- Rank 2: Companions have 50 more health and 50kg more carrying capacity.
- Rank 3: Companions will occasionally heal you with you get low health.
- Rank 4: Doubles the bonuses of Combat and Physical Crew Skills on Companions. Companions have a chance to pick themselves up from a downed state.
- Outpost Management: While constructing an outpost offers its own challenges, properly managing that outpost takes a special personality type, and specialized training.
- Rank 1: Additional cargo links can be placed at outposts.
- Rank 2: Additional robots can be constructed at outposts.
- Rank 3: Additional crew can be assigned at outposts.
- Rank 4: Outpost extractors produce twice as fast.
4th Tier Social Skills
- Xenosociology: While sentient life has yet to be discovered, the galaxy’s alien species are generally intelligent enough to be susceptible to the power of suggestion.
- Rank 1: You can force a target alien creature up to 10 levels higher than you to stop fighting for a limited time.
- Rank 2: You can force a target alien creature up to 10 levels higher than you to flee for a limited time.
- Rank 3: You can force a target alien creature up to 10 levels higher than you to attack their allies for a limited time.
- Rank 4: You can force a target alien creature up to 10 levels higher than you to obey commands for a limited time.
- Manipulation: Recent studies have shown that suggestion is not an art but a science and, as such, can be weaponized to exert control over the susceptible.
- Rank 1: You can force a target NPC at or below your level to obey commands for a limited time.
- Rank 2: You can force a target NPC up to 10 levels higher than you to obey commands for a limited time.
- Rank 3: You can force a target NPC up to 20 levels higher than you to obey commands for a limited time.
- Rank 4: Manipulated targets now obey commands for a substantial amount of time.
- Ship Command: They say a ship is only as good as its crew, but that is contingent upon that crew having the right captain to lead them.
- Rank 1: You can have up to four active crew members.
- Rank 2: You can have up to five active crew members.
- Rank 3: You can have up to six active crew members.
- Rank 4: You can have up to eight active crew members.
What Are The Best Social Skills in Starfield?
In Starfield, social skills focus primarily on interactions with other NPC, and it’s too early to tell which skills we already know will be helpful. However, Xenosociology and Intimidation skills can prove useful in combat, and instead of engaging in a fight, you can try to avoid it.
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