The character creator in Starfield will be Bethesda’s “most flexible yet”, according to Todd Howard.
We’ve got our best look at the upcoming space game so far at Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022, with Todd Howard appearing to show off gameplay and other neat features. Naturally, one of those is the character creator. Alongside heaps of appearance customisation options, Howard confirms that you’ll kick things off by selecting Starfield backgrounds and starting skills, with three starting skills, as well as some Starfield traits, and that the overall system combines the best from previous Bethesda games. You’ll rank those Starfield skills up as you play and go from there.
From the footage shown, we see that starting with the Chef background gives you the starting skills of Gastronomy, Duelling, and Wellness, giving you more melee damage and health alongside the ability to create speciality foods. Meanwhile, the Cyber Runner gets Pistol Certification, Security, and Percussion, allowing anyone with the background to hack more advanced locks, deal more pistol damage, and talk their way out of challenging situations. Finally, the Diplomat comes with Percussion, Diplomacy, and Bargaining – as you imagine, these skills make this one ideal for all chattier type of player.
As for the skills you’ll get to select as you level up, they fall under combat, science, and more. Elsewhere, Howard also confirms that Starfield is getting a complex crafting system and that you’ll be able to build your outposts and spaceships – not only can you customise your look and décor, but you can pick your crew members, too. We also got a more general look at some No Man’s Sky-like gameplay, a lockpicking minigame, and more.
Head over to our Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase June 2022 Live Coverage report for a complete tracker of everything that's been announced from the presentation so far.
