This guide focuses on the Best Starfield Stealth Build in Starfield, with skills, armor, and weapons to create a powerful character.
The Best Stealth Build in Starfield
In Starfield, a stealth build revolves around mastering the art of covert operations and remaining unseen in the vast expanse of space. It’s a playstyle that focuses on infiltrating enemy installations, extracting valuable resources, and completing objectives without raising alarms or engaging in direct combat.
| Stealth Build Pros | Stealth Build Cons |
|---|---|
| Undetected Movement | Weapon Dependent |
| The Most Damage | Requires Suppressor Mod |
| Far Range | Needs Many Skill Points |
Best Stealth Build Features & Mechanics
The following list presents all the essential Stealth Build Mechanics and Features in Starfield:
- Damage: Ballistic
- Range: 100+ Meters
- Primary Weapon: Magsniper Rifle
- Best Skill: Concealment
- Best Starborn Power: Void Form
- Mechanic: Sneak Attacks up to 4x.
- Throwable: Tesla Pylon
- Aid: Reconstim
The Stealth build is your prototypical burst damage dealer. The build focuses on Ballistic Weapons, Concealment skill for a damage multiplier, and stealth to complete your missions. You will use a combination of medium to long-range weapons with an emphasis on burst damage while hidden. This build will focus heavily on the Physical Skill line, along with Combat to help increase weapon damage, and the Science skill tree to aid in crafting.
Stealth in Starfield Explained
The stealth mechanic in Starfield works with a “hidden” bar on the top center of the screen. As you become detected or concealed, the bar moves back and forth. You can also get a sneak damage multiplier while stealth, including using silencers.
The idea behind stealth is to “crouch” outside of combat to enable the “HIDDEN” bar at the top of your screen. This will enable the Stealth and Concealment skills to activate and increase your damage. Then your goal is to move undetected without alerting enemies including melee or ranged damage while stealthed. For this build, it’s recommended to use a Pistol and Rifle with Suppressor. The suppressor is key to increasing damage and remaining undetected. You can craft that through the Weapon Engineering skill via the Science skill tree.
Background
The best background for a stealth build in Starfield is Cyber Runner because it gives you Stealth, Security, and Theft, skills at level 1. Here’s skills for the Cyber Runner in Starfield:
- Stealth: Adds a Stealth Meter. You are 25% more difficult to detect when sneaking. Suppressed weapons do an additional 5% sneak attack damage.
- Security: You can attempt to hack Advanced locks, and 2 auto attempts can be banked.
- Theft: Unlock the ability to pickpocket targets.
These skills are given to you at level 1, and progress by using the skill or some other function. The Stealth skill you can level by sneaking (crouching) and doing stealth attacks similar to Skyrim with a bow. Security just look for Digipick locks and complete that mechanic. Theft you will need to sneak then try to pickpock targets. When in doubt, read the skill on how to level it which most are quite easy.
Traits
The best trait for a Stealth build in Starfield is Neon Street Rat because it unlocks better rewards on Neon and fits the profile of a stealth player with a Cyber Runner background. Another option is Wanted, which will boost your damage the lower your health goes, but mercenaries show up. Terra Firma can help if you plan on playing on planets primarily. There are no traits that amplify or improve stealth and mostly are used for additional fun factor or story elements to add immersion.
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 Neon Street Rat is our suggestion for the Best Starfield Stealth Build Guide.
Skills
The best skill for a stealth build in Starfield is Concealment. This increases your stealth multiplier damage up to 4x with the base being 2x. You pair that with Sniper Certification from the Combat skill tree to increase scoped weapon damage even further. You will need to spread your skill points in Physical to reach Concealmement and Combat to reach Sniper Certification. Lastly, you will need a decent investment into Science in order to modify weapons which is very important because you need to use Suppersor to increase damage with Stealth skill.
Here is the list of the best and recommended skills for the Stealth Build in Starfield:
- Concealment
- Sniper Certification
- Stealth
- Weapon Engineering
- Ballistics
- Pistol Certification
- Boost Pack Training
- Rifle Certification
- Gymnastics
- Wellness
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.
Related:
Level Progression
At level one, you receive three free skills from your background selection. For this build, we recommend Cyber Runner background, which unlocks Stealth, Security, and Theft. 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 factor is the skill tree progression. Meaning, if you do not have Ballistics ranked 2 leveled at the suggested level, you can either save a skill point or use Pistol Certification. Moving further down the skill line to reach Concealment and Sniper Certification are the most important pieces of the build.
Here’s a list of level progression for the Best Starfield Stealth Build Guide:
- Level 1: Stealth, Security, and Theft
- Level 2: Boost Pack Training
- Level 3: Ballistics
- Level 4: Medicine
- Level 5: Astrodynamics
- Level 6: Fitness
- Level 7: Wellness
- Level 8: Stealth Rank 2
- Level 9: Medicine Rank 2
- Level 10: Astrodynamics Rank 2
- Level 11: Weapon Engineering
- Level 12: Spacesuit Design
- Level 13: Gymnastics
- Level 14: Stealth Rank 3
- Level 15: Wellness Rank 2
- Level 16: Fitness Rank 2
- Level 17: Weapon Engineering Rank 2
- Level 18: Ballstics Rank 2
- Level 19: Pistol Certification
- Level 20: Gymnastics Rank 2
- Level 21: Stealth Rank 4
- Level 22: Wellness Rank 3
- Level 23: Fitness Rank 4
- Level 24: Concealment
- Level 25: Pistol Certification Rank 2
- Level 26: Rifle Certification
- Level 27: Ballstics Rank 3
- Level 28: Pistol Certification Rank 3
- Level 29: Rifle Certification Rank 2
- Level 30: Sniper Certification
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 you can complete the progression in one encounter.
Best Weapons for Stealth Build
The best weapon for Stealth Build is Magsniper because its damage and range once modified are second to none. The ammunition for this weapon is readily available and once you progress weapon engineering, the damage is staggering at range from stealth. An alternative is the Hard Target Rifle, Lawgiver or the Old Earth Hunting Rifle early in the game. The second option is a close-range weapon Urban Eagle Pistol. This is helpful when inside buildings or in close-quarters combat. The benefit of this Pistol is you can attach a suppressor and get the stealth damage bonus.
Your priority with our suggestion weapon loadout is to focus on adding a Suppressor for stealth damage bonus. Next, modify the Barrel which is low resources and research required. Work towards Magazine and Internal modification which adds the most damage. Make sure to attach a Scope to Hard Target and leave Urban Eagle without so it can help in tight fights without space.
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 Magsniper Rifle weapons:
| Magsniper Weapon Slot | Mod |
|---|---|
| Barrel | Fluted Barrel |
| Laser | Recon Laser Sight |
| Optic | Long Scope |
| Muzzle | Suppressor |
| Magazine and Battery | Penetrator Rounds |
| Internal | High Powered |
| Skin | – |
Here are the best weapon traits and perks for the Magsniper Rifle weapon in Starfield:
- Handloading: Volatile rounds that are designed to pack a bigger punch but aren’t as stable and can fail on occasion.
- Hitman: +15% damage while aiming
- Shattering: Breakthrough even the strongest armor.
Secondary Weapon
The following table lists the best mods for the Urban Eagle Pistol weapon:
| Urban Eagle Weapon Slot | Mod |
|---|---|
| Barrel | Long Barrel |
| Laser | Recon Laser Sight |
| Optic | Reflex Sight |
| Muzzle | Suppressor |
| Grip & Stock | Tactical Grip |
| Magazine and Battery | Penetrator Rounds |
| Internal | High Powered |
| Skin | – |
Here are the best weapon traits and perks for the Urban Eagle Pistol weapon in Starfield:
- Corrosive: Randomly deals corrosive damage and reduces the targets’ armor over 6 seconds.
- Crippling: Deals +30% damage on the next attack after hitting a target’s limbs.
- Furious: Each consecutive hit deals more damage.
Best Armor for Stealth Build
The best armor for Stealth Build is the Deepseeker, Spacesuit, and helmet. Deepseeker armor offers great resistance, is easily available, and is highly customizable. You will encounter additional armor types, including customized legendary armor. Keep progressing your armor selections and customize them with the below selections. The most important thing is to look for sound or noise reduction which helps with sneaking.
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 Stealth Build in Starfield:
| Spacesuit Slot | Mod |
|---|---|
| Slot 1 | Ballistic Shielding |
| Slot 2 | Optimized Servos |
| Slot 3 | Heavy Shielding |
| Slot 4 | Gravitic Composites |
| Skin | – |
Pack
Here is a list of the best Pack armor mods for the Stealth Build in Starfield:
| Pack Slot | Mod |
|---|---|
| Slot 1 | Hazard Protection |
| Slot 2 | Regeneration |
| Boost Pack | Skip Capacity Boostpack |
| Skin | – |
Helmet
Here is a list of the best Helmet armor mods for the Stealth 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 Stealth build in Starfield:
- Chameleon: Blend with the environment while sneaking and not moving.
- Headhunter: Deals +25% damage on the next attack after hitting a target’s head.
- Sentinel: 75% chance to reduce damage by 50% while standing still.
Best Companion
The best companion for the Stealth Build is Sam Coe because he plays at range with Rifle Certification along with two Tech skills you lack. Here’s a list of Sam Cole’s skills:
- Piloting: You can now utilize ship thrusters.
- Rifle Certification: Rifles do 10% more damage.
- Payloads: Ship cargo holds have 10% more capacity.
- Geology: Get more common and uncommon inorganic resources from surface objects.
Best Aid
The best aid for a Stealth build are Squall, Heart+, and Amp. The 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 Stealth build in Starfield:
- Amp: +35% movement speed for 2m and 2x jump height for 2m.
- Heart+: +20% health for 2m, +200 damage resistance for 2m.
- Reconstim: -30 movement noise for 2m.
Best Powers
The best Starborn power for Stealth Build is Void Form because it allows you to stealth. The cost is steep with 45 power and you won’t be able to use this frequently. Void Form is used when you get detected or cannot get in stealth due to close-quarters combat. Sense Star Stuff is another great Starborn power because it helps detect enemies and friendlies. You can use this prior to engagement and mark targets to kill in melee or range.
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.
Stealth Build Summary Guide
Background – Cyber Runner
Traits – Neon Street Rat
Primary Weapon – Magsniper Rifle
Secondary Weapon – Urban Eagle Pistol
Armor – Deep Seeker
Throwable – Tesla Pylon
Aid – Reconstim
- Concealment
- Sniper Certification
- Stealth
- Weapon Engineering
- Ballistics
- Pistol Certification
- Boost Pack Training
- Rifle Certification
- Gymnastics
- Wellness
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