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Discover the complete list of Starfield skills from the Combat skill tree, including challenges to make your character proficient with different weapons.
Combat Skills
In Starfield, combat skills revolve around weapons and their enhancements, increasing the overall damage output for each weapon category across 17 available skills. Furthermore, this skill tree enhances your combat proficiency, accuracy, agility, reloading speed, and ammunition capacity. Embracing this skill tree empowers your character to become more lethal and engage in battles with greater ease.
To take Skills from the second, third, and fourth row, you must first spend at least 4 skill points on the skills from the row before. Some skills are hard to level because they require you to do certain challenges in order to upgrade them. To overcome this, spend four skill points on more than one skill from the first row to quickly get to the second, and so on.
All Combat Skills Listed
The following list presents all combat skills in Starfield and their effects:
Novice – 1st Tier Combat Skills
- Ballistics: Centuries of conflict have proven that when it comes to threat elimination, few things stack up to the reliable power of high-speed projectiles.
- Rank 1: Ballistic weapons do 10% more damage.
- Rank 2: Ballistic weapons do 20% more damage.
- Rank 3: Ballistic weapons do 30% more damage.
- Rank 4: Ballistic weapons range is increased by 30%.
- Dueling: Considered by many to be a lost art, close attacks with a melee weapon can often be deadlier than ranged combat when carried out by a skilled practitioner.
- Rank 1: Melee weapons do 25% more damage. Take 10% less damage while wielding a melee weapon.
- Rank 2: Melee kills make you run 20% faster for 10 seconds.
- Rank 3: Melee weapons do 50% more damage. Take 15% less damage while wielding a melee weapon.
- Rank 4: Melee kills heal you for 10% of your health.
- Lasers: Personal laser weapons are in widespread use across the Settled Systems, and specialized training can greatly increase their effectiveness.
- Rank 1: Laser weapons do 10% more damage.
- Rank 2: Laser weapons do 20% more damage.
- Rank 3: Laser weapons do 30% more damage.
- Rank 4: Laser weapons have a 5% chance to set a target on fire.
- Pistol Certification: Considering the popularity of the personal sidearm in the Settled Systems, familiarity with such weapons is often considered essential.
- Rank 1: Pistols do 10% more damage.
- Rank 2: Pistols do 25% more damage.
- Rank 3: Pistols do 50% more damage.
- Rank 4: Pistol kills grant +25% critical hit chance for 5 seconds.
- Shotgun Certification: The cornerstone of close-quarters combat, or CQC, the shotgun has proven a simple, deadly weapon for hundreds of years.
- Rank 1: Shotguns do 10% more damage.
- Rank 2: Shotguns do 20% more damage.
- Rank 3: Shotguns do 30% more damage.
- Rank 4: Shotgun kills grant a small chance to stun additional targets with shotguns for a limited time.
Advanced – 2nd Tier Combat Skills
- Demolitions: With the proper adjustment of chemical mixtures, coupled with modifications to the detonation mechanism, explosives can produce an even greater destructive yield.
- Rank 1: Throwing grenades now shows a trajectory arc. Explosions have a 25% larger radius.
- Rank 2: Explosives do 25% more damage.
- Rank 3: Reduce damage taken from explosives by 25%
- Rank 4: All previous bonuses are doubled.
- Heavy Weapons Certification: Oversized weapons may prove cumbersome to wield, but their excessive damage output can’t be ignored, especially in the hands of a trained combatant.
- Rank 1: Heavy weapons do 10% more damage.
- Rank 2: Heavy weapons do 20% more damage.
- Rank 3: Heavy weapons do 30% more damage.
- Rank 4: Gain 25% Physical resistance while aiming down sights with a heavy weapon.
- Incapacitation: EM weapons are generally employed to damage robots but can also be used to render human beings unconscious.
- Rank 1: EM weapons do 5% more damage.
- Rank 2: EM weapons do 10% more damage.
- Rank 3: EM weapons do 15% more damage.
- Rank 4: EM weapons have a 15% chance to do 300% EM damage.
- Particle Beams: While considered by some to be exotic, particle weapons can be a devastating combat option, subjecting a target to multiple forms of damage.
- Rank 1: Particle beam weapons do 10% more damage.
- Rank 2: Particle beam weapons do 20% more damage.
- Rank 3: Particle beam weapons do 30% more damage.
- Rank 4: Particle beam weapons have a +5% crit chance.
- Rifle Certification
- Rank 1: Rifles do 10% more damage.
- Rank 2: Rifles do 20% more damage.
- Rank 3: Rifles do 30% more damage.
- Rank 4: Reload rifles 30% faster while you’re standing still.
Expert – 3rd Tier Combat Skills
- Marksmanship: Perhaps no combat scenario is more frightening or lethal, as a single-shot weapon wielded by someone skilled in critical shot placement.
- Rank 1: Increase critical hit chance with non-automatic ranged weapons by 3%.
- Rank 2: Increase critical hit chance with non-automatic ranged weapons by 8%.
- Rank 3: Increase critical hit chance with non-automatic ranged weapons by 15%.
- Rank 4: Critical hits using a non-automatic ranged weapon without a scope do double damage and those with scopes knock down enemies on the next shot.
- Rapid Reloading: In the chaos of combat, the seconds needed to reload your weapon could be the difference between life and death.
- Rank 1: Reload Ballistic weapons 30% faster.
- Rank 2: Reload Energy and EM weapons 30% faster.
- Rank 3: Reload Particle Beam weapons 30% faster. 50% chance to avoid getting interrupted while reloading.
- Rank 4: Chance on hitting enemies to increase reload speed for all weapons by 50% for 15 seconds.
- Sniper Certification: Only a trained sniper truly understands all the elements necessary to patiently and effectively neutralize a target at excessive range.
- Rank 1: Scoped weapons are steadier and have less sway.
- Rank 2: You can hold your breath longer with scoped weapons.
- Rank 3: Headshots while aiming with a scoped weapon have a +25% critical hit chance.
- Rank 4: Scoped weapons do 50% more damage while using the scope.
- Targeting: While carefully aiming is generally preferred in combat, “shooting from the hip” can prove a fast and deadly alternative with sufficient training.
- Rank 1: Increased accuracy and range when shooting without aiming. Marks up one enemy within 25m that damages you.
- Rank 2: Notably increased accuracy and range when shooting without aiming. Marks up to two enemies within 50m that damage you.
- Rank 3: Greatly increased accuracy and range when shooting without aiming. Marks up to three enemies within 75m that damage you.
- Rank 4: 10% chance to disarm targets hit when shooting without aiming. Marks up to four enemies within 100m that damage you.
4th Tier Combat Skills
- Armor Penetration: By identifying gaps or weak points in body armor, an attacker can often gain a tactical advantage in combat
- Rank 1: Attacks ignore 15% of a target’s armor.
- Rank 2: Attacks ignore 30% of a target’s armor.
- Rank 3: Attacks ignore 50% of a target’s armor.
- Rank 4: Enemy armor is decreased by 25% for 6 seconds after a critical hit.
- Crippling: Specifically targeting the pressure points and nerves of various limbs can disable an opponent, limiting their combat effectiveness.
- Rank 1: Human enemies have a 30% increased chance to enter a downed state after taking enough damage.
- Rank 2: Humanoid enemies have a 50% increased chance to not naturally recover from a downed state.
- Rank 3: Human enemies now can enter a downed state earlier.
- Rank 4: Previous ranks now apply to all enemy types. You now do 100% more damage to downed enemies.
- Sharpshooting: For those who specialize in precise targeting that maximizes damage, combat is often a quickly efficient affair.
- Rank 1: Increase headshot critical damage by 50% with ranged weapons.
- Rank 2: Increase critical damage to enemy legs by 50% with ranged weapons.
- Rank 3: Increase all critical damage to enemies by 50% with ranged weapons.
- Rank 4: Ranged critical kills increase your critical hit chance with all ranged weapons by 25% for 20 seconds.
What Are The Best Combat Skills in Starfield?
Best skills will be defined by what playstyle you choose. More close and personal setups will use shotgun Certification, Armor Penetration, and Rapid reloading to eliminate enemies quickly. Sniper certification and targeting will be your primary focus if you like to sneak behind or eliminate enemies from a distance. Ensure to take Rifle certification because it’s the most common weapon type in the game, and you will find yourself using them a lot.
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