Best Traits Tier List

This is a guide on the best starting Traits to choose in Starfield. Read on for a traits tier list, how traits affects gameplay, their pros and cons, what the recommended faction traits are and how to choose the best traits.

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Best Traits Tier List

Traits Tier List Ranking

Tier	Trait	Explanation
S Tier	Alien DNA	・Increases health and oxygen. ・Lowered healing effectiveness can be managed.
	Faction Traits	・Gives better rewards and more dialogue options. ・Greater bounty towards other factions.
A Tier
	Spaced/Terra Firma	・Increases health and oxygen under the right conditions. ・Decreased health and oxygen can be managed through other means.
	Empath	・Only needs to please companions to keep buff active.
	Kid Stuff	・Can interact with parents and get gifts. ・Must give up credits weekly.
B Tier	Extrovert / Introvert	・Easy to maintain but depends on human companions.
	Wanted	・High-risk, high-reward and may ruin plans.
	Hero Worshipped	・Free crew member that gives gifts but can be annoying.
C Tier	Dream Home	・Only drawback is the large mortgage which can be paid off.
	Taskmaster	・Automatically repairs your ship but crew members costs twice as much to hire.
	Religion Traits	・Offers exclusive items and dialogue but locks out other religions.

The best Starfield traits to choose are Alien DNA, Spaced or Terra Firma, and Faction Traits.

Alien DNA and Spaced or Terra Firma will boost your Health and Oxygen, which are valuable right from the start up until the end game. You can only choose one between Spaced and Terra Firma, so pick the one that synergizes with where you want to spend most of your time, either in space or on planet surfaces.

Tier List Criteria

S Tier	These traits can significantly make your playthrough a lot easier with minimal negative effects, regardless of your playstyle.
A Tier	Most of these traits are incompatible with each other, but they provide substantial rewards and benefits that can impact your playstyle.
B Tier	These traits are less significant than the others but can still be helpful in certain situations. Some might be worth picking up, depending on your playthrough.
C Tier	These traits are not very useful and are only viable if you have extra trait slots; you're better off picking up a different trait.

Alien DNA

Pros	Cons
・Increased health and oxygen.	・Decreased healing item effectiveness.

Alien DNA can be one of the best traits if you don't need to rely on healing. The bonuses to health and oxygen partially offset the lowered effectiveness of healing items for this trait.

Alien DNA Trait and Effects

Faction Traits

Pros	Cons
・Better rewards for faction missions. ・More dialogue options.	・Cannot join other factions. ・Increased crime bounty towards other factions

You can choose among the Freestar Collective Settler, Neon Street Rat, or United Colonies Native as a trait to set your allegiance to a faction. You'll gain exclusive dialogue options, and completing their missions can net better rewards.

However, these factions aren't on the best terms with each other, so you'll have a higher bounty from other factions by having this trait.

United Colonies Native

Freestar Collective Settler

Neon Street Rat

Spaced or Terra Firma

Pros	Cons
・Increased health and oxygen.	・Must decide if you will be in space or on foot more often. ・Decreased health and oxygen otherwise.

Spaced and Terra Firma are another set of opposing traits that can boost health and oxygen in the right conditions. These traits can be one of the best, depending on how you play. If you prefer sticking to the surface, Terra Firma should be ideal, while those who like space should pick Spaced.

Spaced Trait and Effects

Terra Firma Trait and Effects

Empath

Pros	Cons
・Increased combat effectiveness when companions like your actions.	・Lower combat effectiveness when they dislike your actions.

If you like having companions, the Empath trait may be one of the best traits to have. However, you need to know which actions are agreeable to them to boost your combat effectiveness.

Empath Trait and Effects

Kid Stuff

Pros	Cons
・Parents are alive and can be visited. ・Can receive gifts including a ship.	・Must pay them 2% of your credits weekly.

The Kid Stuff trait lets you visit your parents at home, which is best for those who want more character interactions. They'll also give the player weapons, gear, and even a ship. However, you must also give 2% of your credits weekly to keep supporting them.

Kid Stuff Trait and Effects

Extrovert or Introvert

Pros	Cons
・Exert less oxygen when adventuring.	・Must decide if you want to have human companions. ・Can use more oxygen than normal.

Both the Extrovert and Introvert traits decrease oxygen usage, giving you more stamina. However, this bonus is only granted if your trait aligns with the companions needed. Otherwise, you'll end up using more oxygen.

The Introvert trait is best if you choose to explore alone. The Extrovert trait will be best if you want a companion to tag along. This trait can also pair well with related traits like Empath or Hero Worshipped.

Introvert Trait and Effects

Extrovert Trait and Effects

Wanted

Pros	Cons
・Buffed damage at low health.	・Mercenaries may randomly hunt you down.

Wanted is a high-risk, high-reward trait that will be best for those who can survive firefights easily. The increased damage should help beat enemies faster, but you need to stay at low health. You'll also need to stay alert for bounty hunters that may randomly appear to take advantage of your near-death state.

Wanted Trait and Effects

Hero Worshipped

Pros	Cons
・Get an Adoring Fan who joins your crew and gifts you.	・Fan may be more annoying than adoring.

The Hero Worshipped trait can be one of the best traits to have if you can put up with the Adoring Fan's constant annoyances. He is basically a free human companion with decent skills, which should benefit Extroverts, and he'll give you gifts too. Just be ready to hear him a lot during your adventures unless you get rid of him somehow.

Hero Worshipped Trait and Effects

Dream Home

Pros	Cons
・Own a house on a peaceful moon.	・Start with a 125,000 credit mortgage.

The Dream Home trait is best if you want to take things more slowly. You can live a peaceful life, but you'll also need to pay off the large mortgage eventually. Once you earn all those credits, this trait should no longer have drawbacks.

Dream Home Trait and Effects

Taskmaster

Pros	Cons
・Automatically repairs a part of your ship.	・Crew cost twice as much to hire.

The Taskmaster trait allows your trained crew members to automatically repair the ship to full health if it is damaged below 50%, but hiring crew members will cost twice as much.

Taskmaster Trait and Effects

Religion Traits

Pros	Cons
・Gain exclusive items or stat bonuses. ・More dialogue options.	・Cannot join other religions. ・Must grav jump regularly. (Serpent's Embrace)

If you like free stuff and unique dialogue, picking any one of Raised Enlightened, Raised Universal, or Serpent's Embrace will help you. However, you can't just change religions freely, so you can't take advantage of all of their benefits.

Serpent's Embrace believers must also grav jump often if they don't want reduced health and oxygen, which shouldn't be an issue if you're exploring often.

Raised Enlightened

Serpent's Embrace

Raised Universal

Faction Traits Ranked

Rank	Faction Trait
1	United Colonies Native
2	Freestar Collective Settler
3	Neon Street Rat

United Colonies Native

The United Colonies Native trait is the best of the three traits since this is where the Lodge is located. This trait ensures you won't get a higher bounty for the UC, so it can be paid off easily. Since you'll frequently return to Constellation during the main quest, it's best to avoid getting large bounties for this faction.

The United Colonies faction is also one of the best factions to join for their rewards, so this trait is worth picking.

United Colonies Native Trait

Freestar Collective Settler

The Freestar Collective Settler trait is also a good pick, especially if you're a fan of their Space Cowboy aesthetic and dialogue. The Freestar Rangers missions also give good rewards, although you'll risk getting higher bounties toward the other factions.

What makes this trait notable is that it can make romancing Sam Coe easier, as he also hails from the Freestar Collective.

Freestar Collective Settler Trait

Neon Street Rat

The Neon Street Rat is the trait to choose if you want your character to have history in the dangerous streets of Neon. You'll also gain exclusive dialogue and better mission rewards like the other two but Neon isn't as relevant to Constellation as the other two.

Neon Street Rat Trait

Religion Traits Ranked

Rank	Religion Trait
1	Serpent's Embrace
2	Enlightened vs Universal

Serpent's Embrace

The Serpent's Embrace trait stands out over the others as it provides a health and oxygen boost that the other religions don't have. It's also fairly easy to maintain its requirements since most of your travels will be done by Grav Jumping and fast traveling.

For players looking to romance Andreja, this should be the trait to pick since she also worships the Great Serpent. This trait's unique dialogue options should make it easier to raise affinity with her.

Serpent's Embrace Trait

Enlightened vs Universal

Raised Universal is More Story-Relevant

Raised Enlightened and Raised Universal have fairly similar benefits. Both offer a chest containing scriptures, various recovery items, and unique apparel. Ultimately, they're virtually identical, but Raised Universal may be more interesting as Keeper Aquilus has more story significance than his counterpart.

Raised Universal Trait

How to Choose Best Traits

Pick Traits That Fit Your Playstyle

All the traits in Starfield will give different bonuses and penalties, so what works best for some players may not apply to others. The best traits will be the ones where you can manage their drawbacks, since these will surely help you as you explore different worlds. If you end up not liking a trait, you can remove traits later.

List of All Traits

Starfield Related Guides

List of All Traits

All Traits Guides

Traits Guides
Best Traits	How to Remove Traits

List of Traits

Alien DNA	Dream Home	Empath
Extrovert	Freestar Collective Settler	Hero Worshipped
Introvert	Kid Stuff	Neon Street Rat
Raised Enlightened	Raised Universal	Serpent's Embrace
Spaced	Taskmaster	Terra Firma
United Colonies Native	Wanted