Traits

Traits are optional modifiers that can be selected during Character Customization in Starfield. The Spacefarer may select up to three different Traits at once, or none at all, if so desired. Traits can affect both character interactions and combat, and have both positive and negative effects. Some Traits cannot be combined with others.

After Character Customization, each active Trait has a corresponding mission or activity which, when completed, will permanently remove that Trait from the Spacefarer. This allows players to cancel out a Trait that they come to regret choosing without needing to forfeit their progress and start over.

List of Traits

Icon	Trait	Description	Incompatible with:
	Alien DNA	You volunteered for a controversial experiment that combines alien and human DNA. As a result, you start with increased health and oxygen, but healing and food items aren't as effective.	N/A
	Dream Home	You own a luxurious, customizable house on a peaceful planet! Unfortunately it comes with a 125,000 credit mortgage with GalBank that has to be paid weekly.	N/A
	Empath	You are deeply connected to the feelings of others. Performing actions your companion likes will result in a temporary increase in combat effectiveness. But, performing actions they don't like will have the precise opposite effect.	N/A
	Extrovert	You're a people person. Exerting yourself uses less oxygen when adventuring with human companions, but more when adventuring alone.	Introvert
	Freestar Collective Settler	You gain access to special Freestar Collective dialogue options, and better rewards from some missions given by the faction. But, crime bounty towards other factions is greatly increased.	Neon Street Rat, United Colonies Native
	Hero Worshipped	You've earned the attention of an annoying "Adoring Fan" who will show up randomly and jabber at you incessantly. On the plus side, he'll join your ship's crew and give you gifts...	N/A
	Introvert	You really need your alone time. Exerting yourself uses less oxygen when adventuring alone, but more when adventuring with other human companions.	Extrovert
	Kid Stuff	Your parents are alive and well, and you can visit them at their home. But you will automatically send 2% of your credits home to them every week.	N/A
	Neon Street Rat	You grew up on the mean streets of Neon. You gain access to special dialogue options, and better rewards from some missions on Neon. Crime bounty by other factions is greatly increased.	Freestar Collective Settler, United Colonies Native
	Raised Enlightened	You grew up as a member of the Enlightened. You gain access to a special chest full of items in the House of the Enlightened in New Atlantis, but lose access to the Sanctum Universum chest.	Raised Universal, Serpent's Embrace
	Raised Universal	You grew up as a member of the Sanctum Universum. You gain access to a special chest full of items in the Sanctum Universum in New Atlantis, but lose access to the House of the Enlightened chest.	Raised Enlightened, Serpent's Embrace
	Serpent's Embrace	You grew up worshiping the Great Serpent. Grav jumping provides a temporary boost to health and oxygen, but health and oxygen are lowered if you don't continue jumping regularly - like an addiction.	Raised Universal, Raised Enlightened
	Spaced	Your body has become acclimated to space. Health and oxygen are increased when in space, but decreased when on the surface.	Terra Firma
	Taskmaster	Occasionally, if you have crew trained in a certain ship system, that system will automatically repair itself to full health whenever it is damaged below 50%. However, all crew cost twice as much to hire.	N/A
	Terra Firma	You've never acclimated to space. Health and oxygen are increased when on the surface, but decreased when you're in space.	Spaced
	United Colonies Native	You gain access to special United Colonies dialogue options, and better rewards from some missions given by the faction. However, crime bounty by other factions is greatly increased.	Freestar Collective Settler, Neon Street Rat
	Wanted	Someone put a price on your head, and word has spread. Occasionally, armed mercenaries will show up and try to kill you, but being cornered gives you an edge - when your health is low, you do extra damage.	N/A

Removing Traits

Traits can be removed by speaking to the relevant NPCs:

• Neon Street Rat — Madame Sauvage
• Hero Worshipped — Adoring Fan
• Spaced — Reliant Medical Doctor
• Wanted — Trackers Alliance Agent
• Alien DNA — Reliant Medical Doctor
• Empath — Reliant Medical Doctor
• Dream Home — Landry Hollifeld
• Kid Stuff — Dad

Notes

Empath

This trait triggers whenever the Spacefarer performs an action or speaks certain dialogue that is liked by other people around them, including crew members and quest-givers. Doing so, will give the player a unique bonus called the “Self-Esteem” buff. This will improve their Combat Effectiveness, Critical Hit Chance and Persuasion Success Rate for 2 in-game hours. This trait can be seen as a double-edged sword, however, as performing certain actions which are disliked by other characters can also give the “Self-Doubt” debuff. Unlike the Self-Esteem buff, which is really useful, the Self-Doubt debuff does the exact opposite and weakens your Combat Effectiveness and Persuasion Success Rate for 2 hours instead.

To get the most advantage of the 2-hour time limit for the Empath trait and still get either the Well Rested or Emotional Security bonuses alongside the trait. It is possible for the player to simply travel into space on their ship and rest in their ship's bed. This ensures that only 1 hour passes. Alternatively, they can also go to a planet where time passes quicker than the intended 1-hour resting period. A good example of this is the planet Altair II in the Altair system, where time only passes by for exactly 20 minutes for every waited hour.

Dream Home

As the name of the trait suggests, the Dream Home is meant to be the biggest and fanciest player-owned home that the protagonist is able to have access to. The style of the home is very similar to Vlad's Villa. The quest for the Dream Home can be started by talking to a GalBank representative known as Landry Hollifeld. He will go over the details of the mortgage for the house, along with the location of the planet that it is found on (Nesoi). The player can either pay 125,000 credits to own the house outright, pay 5,000 credits to temporarily visit the house for a week or foreclose the Dream Home altogether to completely remove the trait. It is possible for the player to modify the interior of the home by using the Outpost Feature upon entering the building.

Hero Worshiped

This trait allows the player to have the Adoring Fan as a crew member and companion. He can not be romanced and can carry up to 165 kg in weight. His main weapon is a Sidestar pistol, but he can be given any weapon to equip and needs at least 1 of that weapon's ammunition to fire with. If the player has the Commerce skill unlocked, they can convince the Adoring Fan to “pay for his lifetime membership upfront” which usually consists of 50 credits and a random junk item. Despite the in-game description, he is not useful as a ship crew member and does not give the player any gifts.

Kid Stuff

This trait adds Spacefarer's parents to the game, who will interact with you and Constellation members in humorous ways and provide unique gifts that are significantly more valuable than the (capped) amount of money deducted on a weekly basis. It can even be a great help for starting characters.

Wanted

Bounty hunters will be added to the random encounters on planetary orbits or when landing at isolated locations. These are scaled with the system difficulty, so when keeping within “safe” systems, you do not need to worry about encounters with enemies on significantly higher levels. This trait will not prevent you from any quest line, including Trackers Alliance or law enforcement missions, in fact this trait may often provide extra dialogue options within quests that involve dealing with criminals and/or the law. If you are looking forward to the battles and resulting xp+spoils, there is effectively no drawback.

Taskmaster

To have the system fully repaired in the middle of a space battle can be a lifesaver, while the increased hiring cost isn't a major issue — 5 Constellation members that are arguably the best crew in the game join you for free, as well as several others. By the time you'll be hiring extra crew that actually costs something, you will likely be far enough in the game that the money will no longer present a problem. You can still negotiate the inflated cost to a half.

Trivia

• In earlier stages of development, the trait Dream Home was previously named “Starter Home”.
• In earlier stages of development, there was a trait named “Unwanted Hero”, but its effects were not shown, and it is unclear if it was renamed or removed completely.
• The description of the trait Dream Home was shown before launch to have the description “You own a small house on a peaceful little moon, but it comes with a 5,000 credit mortgage with GalBank”
• Kid Stuff's description states that the weekly payment is 2%, but it is fixed at 500 credits.
• If you can't find your parents in their home, check the building lobby or Constellation Lodge.
• The description for Empath only states that it increases combat effectiveness, however, receiving the positive effects of Empath will also increase your Critical Hit chance and Persuasion chance success rate for exactly 2 hours.