Starfield best Professor build guide: Starting skills, traits, and more

If you want to play Starfield and feel like a know-it-all, why not play a Professor? Channel your inner mad scientist like Hubert Farnsworth, and travel the stars with a smug, superior feeling of brilliance. They start with a series of skills that really play into that character archetype. There are lots of fun roleplaying possibilities as the professor. While they lack any combat skills right out of the gate, they’re certainly a fun class if you want to explore the stars.

Today, we’re going to look at their starting loadout, and useful traits/skills to focus on as you play a Professor in Starfield. Whether you want to use your knowledge of the cosmos for good or ill, that’s entirely up to you.

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Starfield Professor’s starting class skills

This background starts with some interesting options available to it (Image via Bethesda)

Starting skills:

• Astrodynamics: Increases Grav Jump range by 15%.
• Geology: More common/uncommon inorganic resources from surface objects.
• Research Methods: Completing items and research projects takes 10% fewer resources.

The Professor in Starfield begins with a trio of useful skills. While you lack combat skills, you can travel farther in space (Astrodynamics), and receive more inorganic resources when you’re rummaging around on a planet (Geology). The ability to travel farther and gather more will serve you well when you start crafting.

That’s where Research Methods come into play. It’s also a starting skill for the Industrialist background, and you can use it to make pretty good money. Using fewer resources, when combined with a skill like Commerce, can only increase profits.

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Best traits for a Professor in Starfield

Trait:	Pro:	Con:
Alien DNA	Starting Health/Oxygen increased	Healing items/foods are less effective
Empath	Actions your companion likes give a combat buff	Actions your companion dislikes give a combat debuff
Terra Firma	Health/Oxygen increased while on the ground	Health/Oxygen decreased in space

Empath is one of the better companion-focused traits. (Image via Bethesda)

Honestly, I was torn when it came to traits for a Professor. I can see a lot of good in Extrovert as a trait, but I think Alien DNA is much better. You’re likely going to try and talk your way out of trouble or avoid it altogether as this background in Starfield. Or, you’ll have your companion do the fighting, which leads to Empath. Why not give them an awesome combat buff?

While you will travel the stars some, you’re going to spend most of your time on the ground, exploring new places and learning things. So with that in mind, I picked Terra Firma. It’s important to note, though, that traits are optional. If you don’t want the side effects, you can skip these.

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Best skills to unlock first on Starfield’s Professor class

Social and Science skills go hand-in-hand. (Image via Bethesda)

• Persuasion
• Manipulation
• Astrodynamics
• Astrophysics
• Diplomacy
• Botany
• Chemistry
• Gastronomy
• Research Methods
• Scavenging
• Special Projects
• Surveying
• Geology

This Starfield background is going to take a lot of science-based skills, which makes sense. The class is built around learning new things, so Chemistry, Botany, and Geology are key. You want the Astro skills for travel, and Special Projects/Research Methods/Scavenging to help you when it comes to working on new projects.

Of course, Persuasion, Manipulation, and Diplomacy are incredibly important. I’d probably focus on Persuasion first before anything because you aren’t exactly a combat monster right out of the gate.

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Best weapons for a Professor in Starfield

You don't have to kill everyone you see (Image via Bethesda)

Most classes I’ve covered involve having a few lethal options to get out of situations. However, in this case, I like electromagnetic weapons, as they’re a non-lethal way to deal with a problem.

Professors aren’t a bad choice for a pacifist run. That said, I’d still recommend keeping a Combat Knife or Katana on hand, and perhaps one firearm. I like rifles myself, but pick whatever suits you.

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This background is primarily for players not looking to get into fights everywhere they go. However, you can certainly slot in a few combat skills if you’d like. Discover more about all Starfield Traits and find the best Starfield Traits to suit your gameplay.