Combat Skills

See also: Skills

There are 17 Skills in the Combat Skill tree. 5 Tier 1 (Novice) Skills, 5 Tier 2 (Advanced) Skills, 4 Tier 3 (Expert) Skills, and 3 Tier 4 (Master) Skills.

Skills

Overview

While the primary focus of Combat Skills caters to ranged combat, there's an outstanding outlier: Dueling. This unique skill enhances proficiency with melee weapons and occupies a singular place in the Combat skill tree. However, this doesn't suggest that melee combat within Starfield is lacking in potency. Rather, Dueling complements many abilities found in the Physical tree. Similar to the trio of skills constituting the unarmed combat system, every rank you unlock in Dueling unveils a breadth of capabilities.

Noteworthy skills from the Physical tree that synergize seamlessly with Dueling include Ascension (mentioned earlier), in tandem with Stealth and Concealment. These latter abilities empower you to navigate stealthily, setting you up to unleash up to 8.4x the standard damage with a melee weapon.

For those with a predilection for ranged combat, the Combat tree lays out a plethora of choices. Conventional weapon types are split into two primary subclasses: Ballistic Weapons (inflicting Physical damage) and Laser Weapons (yielding Energy damage). These are further divided into Pistols, Shotguns, Rifles, and Sniper Rifles.

Then, there's the more formidable classes: Mag Weapons (causing Physical damage) and Particle Beam Weapons (delivering Energy damage). Both of these can be tailored within a rifle frame, allowing variations like Shotgun, Rifle, and Sniper.

Rounding up, the game introduces standalone categories: Heavy Weapons (boasting either rapid fire or potent damage), Demolition (specializing in explosives), and Marksman (championing bows and crossbows). The damage potency for each weapon type varies based on its unique properties and the particular ammo or munition employed.

It's worth noting that mastering these primary weapon skills enhances your damage capacity, shooting range, and aimed precision. This progression permits you to hone in on your weapon preferences. Beyond the mentioned skills, the Combat tree offers additional abilities to amplify your prowess, be it shooting without direct aim, employing a scope, evading enemy damage protection, incapacitating limbs, or even causing catastrophic damage with precise headshots.