Starfield best Diplomat build guide; starting skills, traits, and more

When it comes to Starfield, the Diplomat is one of the best classes in the game. You start with some of the best skills and advantages that no other class has as a result. They might be the best at talking their way out of situations, and what could be better than that? They may not excel at combat from the start, but you can change that as you go by unlocking other skills that make up for the few downsides the class has.

If you want to take charge of situations and make sure things are always going your way, play Starfield as a Diplomat. It’s an amazing background to start with. Here’s what you need to know about them, from the skills, traits, and important things to unlock for this class.

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Starfield Diplomat class starting skills

This class starts with an amazing skill spread (Image via Bethesda)

One of the best things about Diplomat playthroughs is that you can easily do things like Pacifist runs. You don’t have to play that way, though. It cannot be overstated how useful the Diplomat starting skills are, though. You can make people stop fighting or side with you. You can even potentially avoid important fights from ever occurring in the first place.

Starting skills

• Persuasion: Increases persuasion success chance
• Commerce: Buy items for less, sell items for more
• Wellness: Increases maximum Health

This background's abilities are very straightforward. You have more health (Wellness) and have a better chance of persuading people (Persuasion). This background is also the only one in the game that begins with Commerce. You can make a decent profit from items bought. This leaves you with more credits for other things in the game.

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Best Traits for Diplomat class in Starfield

It's not hard to pay off the Dream Home as this background (Image via Bethesda)

Trait	Pro	Con
Dream Home	You begin with a customizable, luxurious house on a peaceful planet	You have a 1250,000 mortgage to pay off. Must be paid weekly
Empath	Actions your companion approves of give them a temporary combat effectiveness buff	Actions your companion disapproves of give temporary combat effectiveness debuff
Extrovert	Actions that use Oxygen consume less when you have a companion	Actions that use Oxygen consume more when you're alone

Diplomats aren’t exactly combat monsters. With that in mind, you should always be traveling with an ally who specializes in defeating enemies. That’s why this build uses Extrovert and Empath. You can give your ally a buff in combat as long as you aren’t doing things they're against.

On top of that, you use less Oxygen when you have a friend with you. Extrovert is a very popular trait for other classes like the Bouncer. You don’t have to take Dream House, but it fits the character archetype, and money isn’t going to be difficult to come across.

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Best skills to unlock first for Starfield’s Diplomat class

Social skills can be incredibly useful in this background (Image via Bethesda)

Here are the skills to choose in this class:

• Security
• Commerce
• Diplomacy
• Dueling
• Instigation
• Intimidation
• Leadership
• Manipulation
• Negotiation
• Persuasion
• Wellness

If you want to go a Pacifist route in Starfield, this class is the best choice. You have a head start on Persuasion, and leveling it up shouldn’t be difficult. You can also stack the other useful social/charisma skills, like Manipulation, Negotiation, Instigation, and Intimidation, to make things easier.

Having at least one combat skill helps, like Dueling. Security is also a noteworthy character build for this class in Starfield. This build increases your lockpicking skills, which can, in turn, give you free items to sell with Commerce.

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Best Weapons for Starfield’s Diplomat class

Combat Knives are a useful backup in case peace talks don't work (Image via Bethesda)

Even if you’re going for a Pacifist run, you should have something on hand. For that, having a Combat Knife is recommended. Occasionally, you won’t be able to talk your way out of a problem, so you’ll need something to defend yourself with. So, pick up a knife.

It also couldn’t hurt to have a long-range weapon, just in case. If you aren’t concerned with pacifism, choose whatever flavor of long-range rifle you want—a personal recommendation includes laser rifles like the Kodama.

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The Diplomat is an incredibly fun class, no matter how you want to play it. If you aren’t going for Pacifism, you can easily slot a few combat skills—just in case. If you want to know more about other classes, like the Bounty Hunter, we have a guide for them as well. Check out our Starfield lockpicking guide & get to know about how to Digipick locks in Starfield.