There’s a lot to do inStarfield,yet some of its most interesting features like advanced ship and outpost building are locked behind skills that players need to invest in. This naturally means that only the highest level of explorers get to enjoy these parts of the game.
Leveling up inStarfieldtakes a lot of time, especially early on where there aren’t many good sources of XP. Still, there are some ways to make this process a bit less tedious and menial or, at the very least, less time-consuming. Here’s how.
9/15/23: After sinking more hours intoStarfield,this guide has been updated to reflect more ways on how to level up without spending much energy. Should XP gains be changed in future patches, then this article will once again be updated accordingly.
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Fastest Ways to Level Up in Starfield
There’s no sugarcoating it: the best (though not necessarily the fastest) way to level up inStarfieldis to do quests. This is because quests also reward a ton of good loot and Credits while giving players huge chunks of XP upon completion. These also feature the very best ofBethesda’s signature style of storytelling, making questing the most engaging and entertaining way to level up.
Doing quests is a given, though, and some players may want to get lost in the game’s many planets while doing their own things. For avid explorers like these, the best way to level up is to visit high-level planets. Find a place that’s about20 or even 30 levels higherwith amoderate or high fauna density. Land on it, thenstart culling the local wildlife. It’s not the prettiest thing to do, but it is hassle-free. Just be careful when running into spacers, pirates, or anything that can shoot back.
High-level herbivores and other non-aggressive animals yield upwards of 70 XP when killed. They don’t put up a fight either, so all players need to worry about is having enough ammo to shoot them with. Most predators can be dodged by using boost packs or by climbing up a big rock, so their threat can be mostly negated as well.
Before doing either of these, it’s best to sleep for eight standard in-game hours or longer to gain theWell Rested buff, which increases XP gains by 10%.If players haveromanced any of the viable Constellation members, then this bonus goes up to 15%. It’s not much, but the extra XP does add up in the long run, so attempt to make sleeping a habit before heading out on an adventure.
It’s worth noting thatgame difficulty has no effect on XP gains. Players who simply want to level up may want to consider toning the difficulty down so that they can face off against higher-level enemies more easily.
How to Level Up Fast With Crafting
If the above sounds like too much work, players can instead focus on creating an outpost with the sole purpose ofmass-producing industrial components. Every item that players craft grants a decent chunk of XP for almost zero effort. This is best done with components that are relatively cheap to make, thoughAdaptive Framesare arguably the best possible choice.
To start,find a resource-rich planetcontainingAluminumandIron.Andraphonin theSumati systemis one great example. Make sure to land with enough materials to place down several ore extractors and place them on top of Aluminum and Iron deposits. Players can start with just one or a couple of extractors for each resource, but it won’t hurt to have more.
Power up the outpost, place the extractors, and make sure to link them to solid storage containers. Aluminum and Iron are required to make Adaptive Frames, and Adaptive Frames are used to make storage containers together with the two metals. This gives players an infinite source of resources that they can convert into XP by crafting boatloads of Adaptive Frames.
Starfieldis available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
