10 best Starfield food and items for ranged combat

Similar to other Bethesda titles, Starfield has a wide range of food items to choose from. Be it Korea's Chapaguri or the iconic Indian Tea, each is unique and has its own added benefits. While some offer health buffs or O2 buffs, there are some with unique effects, such as the Aurora, which slows down time, which we'll delve into deeper later in the article.

Food is extremely important to strategize and survive in Starfield. However, when you're engaged in high-octane combat, what are the food items you should use since you can't be glancing through your inventory in such a circumstance? In such a situation, it's good to know what items you should use beforehand. Here are the 10 best food items you should be using for ranged combat.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's views.

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10 best Starfield food items to enhance your ranged combat skills

1) Shepherd's Pie

Killing enemies in Starfield is one of the best ways to earn XP and level up. This is where the Shepherd's Pie comes in clutch, offering +2% XP gain for an hour.

You can use Beowulf, which is one of the best beginner weapons available in the game, to find cover and eliminate enemies from a distance. This will yield a constant flow of XP coupled with the Shepherd's Pie to ensure that your bullets don't go to waste.

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2) Boom Pop! Dynamite

Boom Pop Dynamite in Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

Another interesting food item to help you when you're stuck in high-octane combat scenarios, The Boom Pop! Dynamite offers +20% reload speed for one minute, +20% movement speed for three minutes, coupled with +25% O2 recovery for three minutes.

It might happen that when you've taken cover and you're faced with waves of enemies, it might prove overwhelming, and you might have to change cover and run around the area. This item is perfect for such a scenario, aiding in O2 recovery while also offering increased reload speed.

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3) Chai Latte

Chai Latte in Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

Chai Latte is yet another effective item for when you're stuck behind cover and need to move around. It restores 10 health and offers +15 O2 for five minutes, coupled with +20% O2 recovery for five minutes.

This is extremely beneficial if you have taken a lot of damage and need to change covers while also taking your O2 levels into account.

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4) Grandpa's Meatloaf

While this is an item only available to players with the Kid's Stuff trait, it offers benefits such as 25 health restoration, increased damage resistance by 125 for 10 minutes, and +2% XP gain for two hours.

This is an item meant for farming XP; just choose a comfy spot with a good cover and take down enemies with it equipped to gain a ton of XP for two hours straight. Damage resistance and health restoration are added perks.

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5) Aurora

Aurora is a unique drug in Starfield that allows you to slow down time by 40% for 10 seconds, and can be found in Neon City. This allows you to take long-range shots with increased focus, almost similar to the "hold breath" mechanic in the iconic Hitman series.

However, this drug also has some drawbacks, as it adds -5 health for 10 seconds. If taken too much, it can make your character addicted to this drug, which is a condition that leads to various other debuffs.

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6) Trilo Bites

Trilo Bites in Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

While the sound of alien antropods sauted sounds disgusting, Trilo Bites is a simple yet effective item that restores 15 health. You can buy and hoard it to use when low on health.

While it may not offer any other benefits when compared to other items on this list, you can horde Trilo Bites to use when low on health during combat.

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7) Lumberjack Julep

Lumberjack Julep in Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

Offering an increased +100 damage resistance for five minutes straight, this is yet another item meant for high-octane combat scenarios.

The +20% O2 recovery for 5 minutes coupled with the health restoration is just the cherry on top of the already beefy +100 damage resistance.

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8) Supermassive Black Heart

Supermassive Black Heart in Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

Similar to the Aurora, this item allows you to slow down time as well as increase movement speed. The +25% damage allows you to defeat a barrage of enemies in quick motion if you're stuck in a pickle.

The item description describes a "slow motion" sensation, which is accurate as using this item makes you feel like you've unleashed the sands of time from Prince of Persia.

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9) Alien Scramble

Alien Scramble in Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

The Alien Scramble offers damage resistance coupled with a small health buff. What sets it apart from the other items on this list is its cost, which is considerably lower compared to others.

The description states that the dish is made from alien eggs, which definitely prove to be helpful in combat scenarios.

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10) Red Trench

Red Trench in Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

The Red Trench offers +40% melee damage and +300 damage resistance for three minutes. While an item that buffs up your melee damage may sound weird when you're focusing on enhancing your ranged combat arsenal.

However, this combat is extremely effective to use when an enemy comes too close. Just take the Red Trench and kill the enemy with any melee weapon; you won't even have to worry about damage.

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From Aurora to Alien Scramble, Starfield's culinary world is as diverse as its interplanetary cosmos and fauna. It offers a plethora of food items to craft and recipes to find, making the world much more enjoyable.

When food items are used in synergy with combat, they can yield exceptional results, turning the tide in your favor. So don't sleep on these food items and get cooking.