Starfield lets you loose pretty quickly, and it is tempting to just start planet hopping right away, but you will do yourself a favor by sticking to the main path for at least a few hours. Our suggestion is that you play at least enough Constellation missions to find a mysterious temple. It may feel restrictive to hold yourself back, but you will be grateful to give yourself the time to learn the game, find good weapons, and build up your inventory.

Starfield breaks away from the traditional Bethesda RPG formula by heavily relying on fast-travel right from the start. Unlike previous games where you could explore the entire world on foot, Starfield consists of disconnected locations that can only be accessed through fast travel. To navigate quickly, you can use the "set course" button on the star map in the pause menu, enter scanner mode to bring your ship into view and fast travel back to it, or set a course directly from the missions menu for specific missions.

The d-pad on a controller gives you access to a number of quick-select options, but it's not immediately clear that you must select what you want to appear in those quick-select slots. Your best bet is to fill it with various types of weapons to handle every situation so you'll be able to quickly jump to a different gun if you run out of ammo. In the inventory menu while looking at a weapon, you must press the favorite button (Y on an Xbox controller) to place it in one of those slots.

Ammo isn't the most scarce consumable in Starfield. The game is not in the survival horror genre, but running into enemies you are somewhat under-leveled for is not uncommon. What this means is you will be shooting a lot of bullets. The best way to be prepared for this situation is have different weapon types so you can take advantage of all available ammo.

The Distribution Center, resembling the building depicted above, is the most convenient place to sell a wide variety of items. Look out for street signs indicating its location in New Atlantis. When dealing with a shop that is interested in purchasing your items, you have the option to sell from either your personal inventory or your ship's inventory. However, it's important to note that you cannot sell anything that your companions are currently holding. If you have given someone a valuable gun that you wish to sell, ensure that you retrieve it from them before initiating a conversation with the merchant.

You have the option to rely on both your companions and your ship for assistance. By engaging in conversations with your companions and discussing item exchanges, you can provide them with useful items. This not only enhances their equipment but also allows for a change in their appearance. Sharing items with your ship, however, requires a slightly different approach. If you are aboard your ship and facing the cockpit, you will find the ship's inventory menu located on the wall to the left, slightly behind the pilot's seat. From there, you can transfer items by pressing X and switch to your own inventory by pressing the left bumper. This enables you to select the desired items to add to your ship's inventory.

Dozens of upgrades are available to your space adventurer at the start, but the three listed here –boost pack, steal, and persuasion – are particularly useful early on. The boost pack allows you to use your jetpack, which is great for combat, but also fun for just walking around. Why take the stairs when you can fly up to the second floor? You won't even be able to see a stealth meter without upgrading at least once and persuasion is just a particularly useful ability to have when you're not strong or confident enough to make every conversation devolve into a gunfight.

Aiming for the weak spots is shooter 101. It's not so much a tip as much as it is something every video game fan is born knowing. The wrinkle with Starfield, however, is the weak spot isn't always apparent. The game doesn't tell you where they are, but when you hit them, you'll see a critical hit marker on screen by the enemy. For the most part, they are where you'd expect: headshots on human enemies, but for robots, like the quadruped dog robots you will encounter, aiming at their legs is what results in critical hits.

One of the major selling points of Starfield is the ability to have a ship and customize it, build one from scratch, purchase a new one, or maybe just steal one. Unfortunately, the high-levels of ship customization do not really make themselves apparent until late in the game. Yes, you can customize a ship, but don't expect to be creating your masterpiece spaceship during the opening hours. It's going to take some time and a whole lot of credits.

The very first tip on this list is to take things slow. Stay on the main path. Play it safe... initially. Once you have a basic understanding of how things work, we highly suggest getting out of your comfort zone. The game is not really designed for you to find your favorites early and stick with them. You will be much better off if you are not precious about, well, basically anything, and move out of your comfort zone whenever the opportunity presents itself. Try new things constantly. Swap out your weapons, ships, companions, and even the types of missions you're doing. It will lead to a more rewarding experience.