Starfield has a bunch of secret features that it doesn’t tell the player about. There are a lot of systems and mechanics in play, many of which are presented to the player early on. With so much to learn, Starfield can be an overwhelming experience at times, and some information is bound to slip through the cracks as players get a grasp of the core mechanics. However, some details aren’t even explained, leaving Starfield’s most curious and discerning players to make discoveries that can completely change how they play the game. Many of Starfield’s hidden features can save players tons of time.
Starfield is so massive that it becomes easy to focus more on the high-level gameplay systems and entirely miss the tiny features that are incredibly helpful. It’s common for players to get dozens of hours into a playthrough and get caught in a particular habit that can be more efficient when using the somewhat hidden tools Starfield offers. One of the more persistent hangups players experience in Starfield is inventory management and running around over-encumbered. However, as more and more collective hours of playtime are logged, players have begun sharing tips and discoveries of hidden features to help others along their journey to Starfield‘s many planets.
10 Blow Up Asteroids To Farm Resources
Asteroids are more than just obstacles in Starfield’s piloting gameplay. They are an excellent way to farm resources players would otherwise have to land on planets to collect. A few laser or ballistics blasts with the ship’s weapons should be enough to blow up a targeted asteroid, and the debris can then be looted for valuable crafting resources, which are stored directly in the ship’s cargo hold, as opposed to taking up the player’s crucial inventory space.
9 Well-Rested XP Bonus
Sleeping in Starfield is more beneficial than players may realize. Sleeping in a bed for a few hours will grant players the Well-Rested status effect. This is more than an acknowledgment that the player slept—it enables a 10% experience boost for a full in-game day. This bonus is increased to 15% if the player sleeps with a romanced companion. Sleeping just before completing a questline can give just enough additional XP to send players to the next level.
8 The Cutter Can Open Doors
Starfield’s Cutter can easily be dismissed as a resource-mining machine, but it has a hidden feature that can open many doors for players, literally. Some doors are marked with the phrase “Emergency: Cuttable Wall,” with four orange bars in the corners, which can be broken using the Cutter’s laser.
Content creator SynthPotato took to Twitter to demonstrate the Cutter’s secret functionality of slicing the support bars on these doors, opening a new path through the area. Melee weapons and firearms can destroy the cuttable pins as well, but using the Cutter helps conserve ammo.
7 Jetpacks Can Be Favorited
Starfield’s favoriting system can be used for more than just weapons. The game has a variety of jetpacks with different traversal capabilities. SynthPotato offers the gameplay tip that several jetpack types can be favorited and quickly accessed, enabling an advanced traversal feature that combines all the jetpack functionalities in one movement. This can come in handy when navigating the wide-open spaces of Starfield’s explorable planets.
6 Ship Cargo Can Be Accessed Remotely
Many Starfield players may find themselves boarding their ship repeatedly to access their inventory in the cargo hold. However, there is an easily missable feature that allows for remote access to the cargo hold. When accessing the ship tab in the menu, players can press the Cargo Hold button to grab or store items directly into the ship’s storage.
Content creator Dansgaming took to Twitter to demonstrate this secret feature, which can only be used up to 500 meters away from the player’s ship. Especially for players who have built larger spaceships, this trick may cut down a significant amount of time going to and from the cockpit.
5 Ship Cockpits Can Be Decorated
Starfield’s shipbuilding system is impressive, but it hides the fact that the ship’s interior can also be decorated. Another discovery from SynthPotato reveals that items dropped and manually placed on the cockpit console will stay in place when piloting the ship. This feature extends to other areas of the ship as well. It may be a bit cumbersome to pull off, but being able to customize the ship’s interior is a great detail that adds another layer to Starfield’s role-playing mechanics.
4 Hiding Spacesuits in Settlements
Repeatedly removing and equipping spacesuits in Starfield can be a hassle, particularly for players who seek the immersion of wearing their casual clothing in cities. However, there is an easy-to-miss feature that will automatically do this. In the spacesuits section of the inventory menu, there is an option to hide or show spacesuits in settlements and hide helmets in breathable areas. This simple feature will end up saving players the hassle of opening the inventory every time for immersion’s sake.
3 Group Moving Ship Modules In Shipbuilder
Countless hours can be spent in Starfield’s shipbuilding feature, but one small trick can save players precious time when making the ship of their dreams. When dealing with many parts at once, especially when swapping in and out different parts, it’s common for the flight check to return the unattached modules issue. Then, finding the unattached part can be a massive headache. However, a select all button highlights each part of the ship to be moved at once, exposing the part(s) that weren’t attached.
2 The Cutter Can Be Charged
Starfield’s Cutter has a secret ability that makes it much stronger. SynthPotato again offers a tip that, before firing away at whatever resources are in sight, players should make a point of holding the aim button to focus the Cutter’s beam. Three white lines will converge in the crosshair, indicating the beam is charged. This will significantly reduce the time it takes to mine resources.
1 Infinite Storage In The Lodge
While it may be tempting to stow all crafting resources into the ship’s cargo hold, several storage options in The Lodge are much more convenient. The personal locker in the upstairs bedroom is perhaps the first place players may go to stow their resources, but it makes for a long haul whenever they need to be used for crafting. Fortunately, several storage containers with infinite capacity are located right next to The Lodge’s workshop benches in the basement. This makes it the perfect place to complete crafting projects and can save players a load of space in their ship’s cargo hold.
Features like convenient storage options and XP bonuses are easy to miss but offer considerable benefits to Starfield players. Awareness of these hidden features will significantly change the way some play the game or, at the very least, save players some precious time that can be devoted to experiencing Starfield’s great questlines. There are likely even more secret features and tips to discover in Starfield, so playing with keen attention to detail is a good idea and may help other explorers out in their journey.
Sources: SynthPotato/Twitter, Dansgaming/Twitter
