This guide focuses on the Best Starfield Beast Hunter Build Guide, with skills, armor, and weapons to create a powerful character.
The Best Beast Hunter Build in Starfield
In the year 2330, humanity has spread to the stars, colonizing hundreds of planets. In Starfield, a Beast Hunter is a specialized character or profession focused on tracking, capturing, or eliminating exotic and dangerous creatures across the cosmos. As a beast hunter, players take on the role of a skilled and fearless individual who traverses alien landscapes, untamed planets, and treacherous environments to hunt down these elusive and often menacing creatures.
| Beast Hunter Build Pros | Beast Hunter Build Cons |
|---|---|
| Control Creatures | Weak in Space Fights |
| Craft Food & Drink | Favors Close Quarters |
| Great Solo Character | Lacks Tech Skills |
Best Beast Hunter Build Features & Mechanics
The following list presents all the essential Beast Hunter Build Mechanics and Features in Starfield:
- Damage: Ballistic & Laser
- Range: 20-40
- Primary Weapon: Big Bang
- Best Skill: Xenosociology
- Best Power: Alien Reanimation
- Mechanic: Control Alien Creature
- Throwable: Stun Mine
- Aid: Heart+
The Beast Hunters will excel at planetary exploration on the ground and controlling Alien creatures. The build focuses on Ballistic Weapons, Xenosociology for Alien Control, and close-range weapons and hunter armor to complete your missions. Your goal is to track down creatures and aliens and kill and collect their material. With that, you can craft and make food & drink to aid in your adventure as well as sell for credits.
Background
The Beast Hunter background in Starfield gives you Fitness, Ballistics, and Gastronomy skills at level 1. Here’s of the Beast Hunter’s Background skills in Starfield:
- Fitness: You have 10% more oxygen available.
- Ballistics: Ballistic weapons do 10% more damage.
- Gastronomy: You can craft specialty food and drinks, and research additional recipes at a Research Lab.
These skills are given to you at level 1, and progress by using the skill or some other function. Fitness levels by using up all Oxygen 20 times. Ballistics by killing enemies with Ballistic Weapons. Gastronomy by crafting food and drink. You should be using Ballistic Weapons while in combat and research various foods and drinks to level that skill. Additionally, you can run out of oxygen on purpose via sprinting to level up your Fitness. Scroll over each skill and check on how to progress it once unlocked.
Traits
The best trait for a Beast Hunter build in Starfield is Terra Firma. Health and oxygen are increased when on the surface but decreased when you’re in space. As a Beast Hunter who spends most time exploring planets, this will help you out. Keep in mind that traits are optional customization options in Character Creation. Players can select up to three attributes from a wide list of traits to further shape their protagonists. It’s advised to limit or not select traits if it’s your first playthrough, but Terra Firma is our suggestion for the Best Starfield Beast Hunter Build Guide.
Skills
Here is the list of the best and recommended skills for the Beast Hunter Build in Starfield:
- Xenosociology – Social skill line
- Isolation – Social skill line
- Instigation – Social skill line
- Boost Pack Training – Tech skill line
- Weapon Engineering – Science skill line
- Persuasion – Social skill line
- Wellness- Physical skill line
- Astrodynamics – Science
- Spacesuit Design – Science skill line
- Gastronomy – Social skill line
The best skill for a Beast Hunter is Xenosociology because it lets you control alien creatures and have them fight for you. The Starfield skill system includes multiple skills spread between 5 categories of skills: Social, Tech, Physical, Science, and Combat. Skills from every category will upgrade, customize, and enhance your Starfield character playstyle. Each skill unlock requires one skill point and then a condition in order to advance the skill ranks. Each rank requires another skill point, and each level of advancement requires four points in order to advance to another level.
For the Beast Hunter, you want to stick with the Social skill line in order to reach Isolation, Instigation, and Xenosociolgy. The Science skill tree is vital to crafting later in the game. You will need a few points in level one to progress this in order to get important crafting skills. Start the game early with one skill in each tree so you can progress and then unlock additional levels.
Related:
Level Progression
At level one, you receive three free skills from your background selection. For this build, we recommend Beast Hunter, which unlocks Ballistics, Fitness, and Gastronomy. Use the character creator and select any optional traits. Keep in mind that this is a template, and depending on your playstyle, you may not unlock additional ranks at the same level. The most important thing is to take a skill in the tree, this helps with progressing the skill line and advancing the path.
Here’s a list of level progression for the Best Starfield Beast Hunter Build Guide:
- Level 1: Ballistics, Fitness, Gastronomy
- Level 2: Boost Pack Training
- Level 3: Medicine
- Level 4: Persuasion
- Level 5: Wellness
- Level 6: Astrodynamics
- Level 7: Security
- Level 8: Boost Pack Rank 2
- Level 9: Gastronomy Rank 2
- Level 10: Persuasion Rank 2
- Level 11: Commerce
- Level 12: Isolation
- Level 13: Ballistics Rank 2
- Level 14: Medicine Rank 2
- Level 15: Astrodynamics Rank 2
- Level 16: Spacesuit Design
- Level 17: Weapon Engineering
- Level 18: Boost Pack Training Rank 3
- Level 19: Isolation Rank 2
- Level 20: Diplomacy
- Level 21: Intimidation
- Level 22: Instigation
- Level 23: Commerce Rank 2
- Level 24: Gastronomy Rank 3
- Level 25: Isolation Rank 3
- Level 26: Xenosociology
- Level 27: Spacesuit Design Rank 2
- Level 28: Weapon Engineering Rank 2
- Level 29: Isolation Rank 4
- Level 30: Xenosociology Rank 2
It’s advised that you try to rank up skills by completing their requirements. For example, Boost Pack Training, simply hit Boost Pack constantly while in combat to level it up very easily. Leave one enemy alive, continually boost the pack as you have fuel, and complete the progression in one encounter.
Best Weapons for Beast Hunter Build
The best weapon for Beast Hunter Build is the Big Bang Shotgun because it has the most burst damage up close and can be heavily modified. The Big Bang is a later game weapon and the animation can be difficult to find, but it’s well worth it due to the damage. The weapon defaults to both ballistics and energy which helps if you take the skills in the Combat skill tree. Pick up the Breach shotgun early and use that until you level up and find a Big Bang. The secondary weapon is the AA-99 because you can modify it to fit medium or long-range with high damage and it’s ammunition is easier to obtain.
Weapons can have up to 8 modifications depending on the type. Each mod requires materials or resources along with the Weapon Engineering skill from the Science skill tree. You will also have to research mod upgrades via a research station and this can take some time to unlock the gun and weapons full potential.
Weapons come in four qualities, white, blue, purple, and legendary yellow. If a weapon is blue or great in rarity, it comes with a perk or a trait. These add additional effects in addition to modifications. An example of a perk is Hitman: +15% damage while aiming. Most of these are randomly given with the exception of quest-related items that come standard. It will be unlikely that you get all three recommended perks or traits on a given weapon, but we will list a few below. It’s also a good idea to save modifying weapons at blue or greater quality. This way, you don’t waste material on a non-perk weapon that is limited in overall power.
Primary Weapon
The following table lists the best mods for Big Bang Shotgun weapons:
| Weapon Slot | Mod |
|---|---|
| Barrel | Extended Barrel |
| Laser | Recon Laser Sight |
| Optic | Reflex Sight |
| Muzzle | Double Barrel |
| Grip & Stock | Ergonomic |
| Magazine & Battery | Annihilator Rounds |
| Internal | Overclocked |
| Skin | – |
Here are the best weapon traits and perks for the Big Bang Shotgun weapon in Starfield:
- Exterminator: +30% damage against aliens.
- Lacerate: Randomly applies a bleed effect to the target.
- Rapid: +25% increase in attack speed.
Look to get Extended Barrel modification straight away and work towards progressing your crafting. The most damage comes from Magazine and Battery with Annihilator Rounds then Internal with Overclocked. These two combined make the weapon incredible.
Secondary Weapon
The following table lists the best mods for AA-99 Rifle weapon:
| Weapon Slot | Mod |
|---|---|
| Barrel | Long Barrel |
| Laser | Recon Laser Sight |
| Optic | Recon Scope |
| Muzzle | Muzzle Brake |
| Grip & Stock | Stabilizing Stock |
| Magazine & Battery | Armor-Piercing Rounds |
| Internal | High Powered |
| Receiver | Semi-Automatic |
| Skin | – |
Here are the best weapon traits and perks for the AA-99 Rifle weapon in Starfield:
- Corrosive: Randomly deals corrosive damage and reduces the targets’ armor over 6 seconds
- Furious: Each consecutive hit deals more damage
- Incendiary: Randomly deals incendiary damage
This weapon is pretty simple but does great for levels 1 to 30. Later game options have more modification availability but you can get over 100 range with a scope and take advantage of all the skill passive boost to damage.
Best Armor for Beast Hunter Build
The best armor for Beast Hunter Build is the Trackers Alliance gear. Trackers Alliance armor offers great resistance and is designed for beast hunters and trackers.
Armors are available in four distinct qualities: white, blue, purple, and the legendary yellow. If an armor piece holds the rarity of blue or higher, it boasts an accompanying perk or trait. These augmentations introduce supplementary effects alongside any modifications. For instance, the “Beast Hunter” perk reduces damage from Alien enemies by 15%. While most of these enhancements are bestowed randomly, noteworthy exceptions include quest-related items that possess standardized attributes. Optimal resource utilization suggests reserving modifications for blue or higher quality armors, preventing the squandering of materials on non-perk gear that ultimately holds limited potency.
Spacesuit
Here is a list of the best Spacesuit armor mods for the Beast Hunter Build in Starfield:
| Spacesuit Slot | Mod |
|---|---|
| Slot 1 | EM Shielding |
| Slot 2 | Optimized Servos |
| Slot 3 | Heavy Shielding |
| Slot 4 | Pocketed |
| Skin | – |
Pack
Here is a list of the best Pack armor mods for the Beast Hunter Build in Starfield:
| Pack Slot | Mod |
|---|---|
| Slot 1 | Hazard Protection |
| Slot 2 | Emergency Aid |
| Boost Pack | Balanced Boostpack |
| Skin | – |
Helmet
Here is a list of the best Helmet armor mods for the Beast Hunter Build in Starfield:
| Helmet Slot | Mod |
|---|---|
| Slot 1 | Ballistic Shielding |
| Slot 2 | Sensor Array |
| Slot 3 | Heavy Shielding |
| Slot 4 | Gravitic Composites |
| Skin | – |
Each of these armor pieces can come with additional perks or traits if they are blue quality or higher. Here are the recommended armor perks and traits for a Beast Hunter build in Starfield:
- Auto-Medic: Automatically use a Med Pack when hit and health is below 25%, once every 60 seconds.
- Beast Hunter: -15% damage from Alien enemies.
- Reactive: 10% chance to stagger nearby attackers.
Best Companion
The Beast Hunter is meant to play solo with the Isolation skill. The reason is, that while companions can be helpful they often interfere with both the Xenosociology skill and Alien Reanimation. Just when you find the perfect creature to mind control, your companion will destroy them with a shotgun blast and ruin your entire build premise. The downside of not using companions from a non-combat perspective is carrying capacity. Outside of this, I’d recommend sticking to solo with Isolation skills. If you are set on a companion, Vasco makes a great choice due to skills in the Tech tree that you most likely will lack.
Best Aid
The best aid items for a Beast Hunter build are Squall, Heart+, and Amp. These aids either increase your damage, reduce damage taken, and or increase movement speed. All of which are relevant on the battlefield for a combat-focused build. Here is a list of the best Aid items for a Beast Hunter in Starfield:
- Amp: +35% movement speed for 2m and 2x jump height for 2m.
- Heart+: +20% health for 2m, +200 damage resistance for 2m.
- Squall: +20% damage for 2m, 20% movement speed for 2m.
Best Powers
The best Starborn power for Beast Hunter Build is Alien Reanimation because it reanimates a dead alien creature that fights on your side. This power combined with Xenosolocialy allows for additional enemies to fight at your side and make the best Beast Hunter build in Starfield! Sense Star Stuff is another great Starborn power because it helps detect enemies and friendlies.
Starborn powers are earned through the main story campaign. You will encounter artifacts early on and acquire more of them as you progress. Using Vlad, located in the eye, and the Constellation group, located at the Lodge, to find more. Spend time finding and exploring Temples to progress this power.
Beast Hunter Build Summary Guide
Background – Beast Hunter
Traits – Terra Firma
Primary Weapon – Big Bang
Secondary Weapon – AA-99
Armor – Trackers Alliance
Aid – Heart+
Companion – None
- Xenosociology – Social skill line
- Isolation – Social skill line
- Instigation – Social skill line
- Boost Pack Training – Tech skill line
- Weapon Engineering – Science skill line
- Persuasion – Social skill line
- Wellness- Physical skill line
- Astrodynamics – Science skill line
- Spacesuit Design – Science skill line
- Gastronomy – Social skill line
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