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Bethesda has a great track record of RPGs that allow players to really build their characters tailored to how they want to play, andStarfieldfollows the same trend. If you want to be an upstanding citizen who helps everyone, you may. If you want to be an outlaw that plays by their own rules, no one is stopping you.
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One of the key components to some of the more stealthy builds is, well, stealth. In Starfield, it isn’t quite there at the start. There is a way to unlock stealth though, and plenty of ways to level it up to use it.
How To Unlock Stealth
Stealth is a skill that needs to be unlockedin Starfield to use it. It is one of thebeginner skills in the Physical skill tree, and justrequires one skill point to unlock. This will adda stealth meterto your screen any time you crouch.
Depending on whichcharacter background you choose, you can actuallystart the game with Stealth unlocked. Both theCyber Runner backgroundand theRonin backgroundhave Stealth as one of their starting skills.
How The Stealth Bar Works
Whichever way you unlock stealth,understanding the stealth meteris next on your to-do list. While you arecompletely stealthed, thestealth bar will be fully white with a “hidden” text indicator. As you get closer or farther from enemies, the stealth bar willslowly fill up with another colorto clue you in to who might be able to see you.
Unfortunately, it seems the detection ranges for actions can be finicky, but here is a goodrule of thumb to keep in mind with the stealth meter:
How To Level Up Stealth
All skills that you unlock can beranked up to increase the buffsthey give you. In order toincrease the rank of a skill, you will need tocomplete a specific challenge related to the use of the skill.
For the Stealth skill, it will beall about those sneak attacks. Once a challenge is complete, all it takes isanother skill point to then rank up a skill. Here is a breakdown ofall ranks and buffs for the Stealth ability:
There is a major skill also available in the Physical skill tree that will beessential to leveling up your stealthy capabilities laterin the game.Concealmentis aMaster level Physical skill, but will provide amazing buffs to your stealth as you rank it up.
There isn’t a single robust stealth skill tree in Starfield, but you canunlock additional skills other than Stealth and Concealmentdepending on what you like to do. These are some other skills to invest in that can beuseful for stealth-focused builds:
How To Use Stealth In Combat
Using stealth in combat is relatively straight forward. You’ll want tosneak up to enemies out of their sight, and you’ll often want tohide around corners or behind boxes.
Stealth at rangecan be useful, especially once youpick up decent rifles and maintain good aim. You can also putsuppressor mods on gunsto muffle the sound of them firing.
Stealth with amelee focus is going to be more difficult, as enemies will likely bespread out with good line-of-sight coverage. Especially with the stealth system’s finicky range, you might getspotted even when completely behind the enemyyou’re trying to kill.
You may also come across items that give skill buffs to your character as well. For example, theVa’Runn Scriptures 08note willincrease your sneak bonus and melee sneak attack bonus.
There are space suits that can have theChameleon augmenton them. This allows you to completelyblend in with the environment when you are sneakingand not moving. If you’re going a melee route, considerusing suits with the Chameleon augmentuntil you are able tounlock the Concealment skill at rank three.
How To Use Stealth In Space
Technically, you can also try tobe stealthy as you fly through space. You can do this after you go on yourfirst mission with Sarah. If you ever want toavoid detection by enemy ships, especially when you arearound the Crimson Fleet, there are a few things you need to do.
Stealth in space relies onreducing the system power of your ship. Power downall your individual systemsfor your ship, and only put acouple bars of energy into your engines, just so you can keep flying.Keep a distance from other ships, and you’ll likely be able to fly by undetected.
Systems such asweapons and your shield are more noticeable to opposing ships. ensure to power them down completely unless youengage in a space battle.
