Starfield Shotgun Build Guide
Sep. 5, 2023Starfield Shotgun Build Guide
In this Starfield Shotgun Build Guide I’ll be teaching you how to create a fun, action-packed build that lets you stay highly mobile and charge into enemy camps with abandon. This Shotgun build will help you take down enemies quickly without even aiming, and is viable on Very Hard difficulty.
Please be mindful that this build contains unavoidable early game spoilers due to showing some combat mechanics you might not be aware of. If you want to avoid all spoilers, read our written guide and don’t go past the section labelled spoiler!
The Shotgun Sprinter is aStarfield Buildfocused on maximizing the damage output of shotguns and optimizing your equipment to be able to absorb attacks while you clear a camp.
This is a high-damage, high risk, high reward build, perfect for those wanting combat to feel challenging but who still want to be able to take out enemies with one or two hits. This build begins to come together early in the game and will shine when perfected over level 30, making it a good all-game loadout.
Your first decision will be to select a background and traits for your character. Since this is an in-your-face kind of build, I suggest you pick one of the following:
Industrialist:Gives you Persuasion, Security and Research Methods. The first two are must-haves for any character, and Research Methods is one of the skills we’ll invest into for this build, so this is a good option.
Long Hauler:Gives you Weight Lifting, Piloting and Ballistic Weapon Systems. Weight Lifting and Piloting are core needed skills for any player because of the quality of life they deliver, and you will be investing into weight lifting to unlock the second tier of skills on physical so this saves you a point. Ballistic Weapon Systems will make your space combat just a tad easier.
Soldier:Gives you Ballistics, Boostpack Training and Fitness. All of these skills work well with this build as we’ll be focusing on Ballistic weapons, and having more oxygen for sprinting is always a plus. Boostpack Training is a must on any character!
File Not Found:This unique background gives you Ballistics and Piloting, and adds Wellness which will increase your Health. More health can be very valuable when you’re playing a run-n-gun style of character, so its a decent option.
As I’ve mentioned on my previous guides, traits are a big decision because you have to opt for gameplay or roleplay. Some of the trait choices are story or quest focused, such as “Kid Stuff”, but I will focus on traits that benefit the build. If you want to pick roleplay traits you can and it won’t really affect your performance, these are just my suggestions for optimization.
ThisStarfield Buildis meant to completely come together at levels 30+, because you are aiming for two of the Master Skills that are only unlocked after spending 12 points in the combat skill tree. For this reason, your weapons and mods will have an impact on your performance as you level up, before things are completely fleshed out, and you should pay close attention to these.
Your first task will be to procure a Shotgun or Particle Beam Shotgun with some good quality perks. This can be done by visiting the vendors of the game. An early but very useful place to check out is Rowland Arms or Laredo Firearms in Akila City (Akila – Cheyenne), and the general vendor there as well.
You may get some drops or loot of good weapons as you go, but keep in mind that weapon rarity (the color) doesn’t always mean the weapon is better.The base damage of your weapon is its most important aspect, and that changes based on weapon LEVEL so you want to make sure to keep updating your weapon as you level up.
There are four different rarities inStarfield, and each is inherently related to the amount of Perks the weapon possesses. You will not be able to change, remove, or addPerksto your equipment so you need to make it work with what you find.
For the Shotgun Sprinter Build, you’ll want to find the following bonuses, which are available for Rifles:
Weapon Mods are also very important for this build, so you will want to spend points into Research Methods and Weapon Engineering to unlock all the mods available. My favorite mods to slot are:
Ballistic Shotguns
Particle Beam Shotguns
ArmorandApparelcan actually make a big difference on this build because you’ll be in the open very often. For Apparel, I would suggest trying to get one of the ECS uniforms, such asECS Captain Actionwearas they give you a small % increase to your reload speed.
For your Space Suit and Helmet, you will want to be on the lookout for mods that improve your resistance to damage, give you healing benefits, or optimize your oxygen for sprinting. I suggest the following perks:
Spacesuit Mods are also a factor with this Build because you can use them to further reduce the damage you take. Staying alive is much harder when you are constantly running up to enemies, and anything you can do to reduce damage is vital. I like the following Mods for your suit:
I have a tendency to ignore chems and foods in these kind of games, but for this build there are some specific items that make a very crucial difference. I was able to clear camps with enemies double my level (35 levels above me!) with a good combination of the skills and setup, and some assistance from chems.
You should stock up on:
As with any build that you’re making for Starfield, you will have to balance out the combat skills with the quality of life skills that you want for your gameplay.
I will assume that you can balance combat advancement with your own questing skills based on how you’re finding the combat and how important that is to you. I will not revisit here how the skill system works in full, you can check our Starfield Best Skills Guide to get the full picture.
You will not be able to refundskillpoints or respec your character, so make your choices wisely! You will need to consider a smart combination of combat and quality of life skills, and you will need to level up each skill challenge to progress as well. This means there’s no easy way to tell you “put 1 point here at this level” because your own progress will vary.
IMPORTANT! I will actually give you two builds at once in this guide: one focuses on ballistics (the normal shotguns) while the other gives you an option for playing with Particle Beam Shotguns. The Combat Skills distribution is different for each so I will divide them into two sections.
For the Ballistics Shotgun Sprinter Build:
Your first order of business will be to begin unlocking and spending 4 points into the “Basic” tier of skills. This means putting points into these Tier 1 Skills, and upgrading them
These skills set up your basic character with quality of life features, while enabling you to research a lot more efficiently. Combat-wise, ballistics and Shotgun Certification will buff your damage.
My preferred approach here was to max shotgun certification, weight lifting and ballistics ASAP, with piloting and research lagging behind based on what I needed. If you picked a background with persuasion or hacking just one level can be enough for those for now.
Once I unlocked the Advanced Skills (Tier 2, requires you spend 4 points on tier 1 skills), I put points into:
After Spending 8 points on a category, you will be able to put points into Expert Skills. Aim for:
Once you have spent 12 points on the Combat category, you will be able to unlock the master skills. These skills are very powerful and make the build fully come together. After maxing these out, I could take on level 74 legendary enemies at level 36 and kill them in 2 or 3 hits even on Very Hard.
Other Skills you should consider
For the Particle Beam Shotgun Sprinter Build
Your choice for physical and science skills will be the same, but your combat section will look a bit different. Put points into these skills:
Beware of mild story SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT!
After doing a couple of the main quest steps, you will arrive at a point where you visit a temple and discover your first Power. Powers are special abilities that you gain by completing special events inside Temples spread across the Galaxy. These can have a huge impact on your gameplay, so knowing to go get them early on can save a lot of frustration.
Powerscan be acquired in different orders and can be swapped on the fly, so you can adapt to situations and make the best use of them.
For this build, we will be aiming to get the power “Reactive Shield” as soon as possible. This power allows you to cast a shield in front of yourself to protect yourself from damage and even reflect enemy projectiles. Since you are playing a very forward build and will be in the line of fire constantly, this can be a life saver.
Another very useful power for any build is “Sense Star Stuff”. This power will allow you to cast a sensory net that makes living creatures shine in a special light, allowing you to see them through walls and from good distance. When playing a run ‘n’ gun character, knowing where enemies are is vitally important, so this is a fantastic power to pair with your style.
You can obtain “Sense Star Stuff” by completing Temple Chi in the planet Piazzi IV-C
The key to this build is to enter fights prepared with damage resistance and position yourself smartly as you charge so that you don’t take unnecessary damage on your way to the enemies. Using extra items that grant bonus movement speed can be useful in closing gaps quickly as well.
Leveling up does not take long if you maximize your scanning, crafting and questing, as discovering systems and locations also gives XP. You can also get an XP buff from sleeping in a bed, such as the one available on your ship.
Your general gameplay approach will be to cast “Protective Shield” and then quickly charge into the fray, aiming to take enemies down quickly with from-the-hip shotgun blasts. Keep on the move and be very aggressive, you want to kill everything before it has a chance to kill you! Looting can be done after combat.
There are some good fixed weapons like the particle beam shotgun “Big Bang” that players may find that work perfectly for this build, so I’d love to hear about what you have found in the comments, and I’ll add the notes to the written version of this guide for other players to check it out. Make sure you include where you found your loot!
Hopefully you found out Starfield Shotgun Build Guide useful. Check out more our guides inStarfield Beginner Guide – Best Tips Before You PlayandStarfield Skills Guide. For all your Constellation needs head to ourwiki.
Fexelea
MMO raider by day and guide writer by night, Fex enjoys multiplatform gaming, good books and animes, and streaming with a cold beer.
