Skill points are the bread and butter of building a character in Starfield, but let's be real—they're not exactly raining from the sky. Every level up gives you one shiny point, sure, but aside from that, the well runs dry fast. Grinding XP can feel like a second job, and by 2026, even with all the expansions and updates Bethesda has thrown our way, that core progression loop hasn't changed much. Yet, as players have dug deeper into the game over the years, some slick little secrets have surfaced, and one New Game Plus trick in particular is the kind of thing that makes you go, "Wait, that actually works?"
New Game Plus in Starfield isn't just a lazy victory lap like in some other titles. It's woven into the narrative fabric, making it feel almost like the intended way to play. But here's where things get juicy: when you fire up a fresh NG+ run, your character's background doesn't just sit there collecting dust. A Reddit user named Zeroone199 stumbled onto a sneaky interaction a while back, and it's been low-key blowing minds ever since. The deal is, each time you start a New Game Plus, any background skills you haven't already maxed out get bumped up by one rank—for free. No skill points spent, no grind required. That's basically the game handing you a plate of cookies and calling it a balanced breakfast.
So, how do you milk this for all it's worth in 2026? The trick is counter-intuitive at first glance. Most folks pick a background like Combat Medic or Bounty Hunter because they want to lean into those starting skills right away, maxing them out before the credits even roll on the first playthrough. But if you're planning to loop through NG+ more than once—and trust me, with the wild alternate universes that can pop up, there's plenty of incentive—you're better off playing the long game. Choose a background that sounds cool for dialogue flavor, but deliberately don't invest points into its three associated skills. By the time you wrap up your first run, those skills will still be sitting at rank one. Then, when you step through the Unity and emerge reborn, they'll automatically advance to rank two. Rinse and repeat across two more NG+ cycles, and you've scored three free levels in each background skill without spending a single hard-earned point. That's nine extra skill points over three playthroughs. Nine! It's the ultimate "work smarter, not harder" move.
The practical upshot is massive. In a game with over 80 skills to play with, every point counts, especially if you're the type who wants to experiment with ship building, outpost management, and social manipulation all on one character. By the time you hit NG+3, you could have a skillset that looks absolutely cracked compared to someone who min-maxed from day one. The early-game grind becomes a breeze, too, because you're walking in with a leveled-up foundation that would normally take hours of side-questing to achieve. It's like starting a marathon with a five-mile head start.
Of course, there's a catch—because there's always a catch, right? Backgrounds aren't just mechanical stat blocks; they influence dialogue options and how certain factions react to you. A character with the Industrialist background might unlock corporate sweet-talk that a Ronin never even sees. So if you're a hardcore roleplayer who lives for every ounce of immersion, deliberately nerfing your background skills for mechanical gain might feel like selling your soul. But here's the beautiful thing about Starfield: it doesn't force you to choose. You can totally pick a background that fits your character's vibe, breeze through the main quest without touching those skills, and then let NG+ do the heavy lifting while still experiencing all the unique dialogue. It's a bit of mental gymnastics, but in a game that's all about exploring infinite possibilities, a little metagaming doesn't hurt.
By 2026, the Starfield community has turned this trick into an art form. Speedrunners, power-gamers, and even casual explorers who just want to see every corner of the settled systems have embraced it. Some folks even plan out which backgrounds to use across multiple alternate universes to maximize free skills, creating spreadsheets that would make a Constellation scientist proud. It's one of those discoveries that makes you wonder how many other little quirks are hiding in plain sight, waiting for someone with too much time and a keen eye to stumble upon.
Bottom line: if you're hopping back into Starfield after a hiatus or gearing up for another NG+ loop in 2026, don't sleep on this. It's dead simple, costs you nothing, and the payoff is an insanely versatile character. Just remember to leave those background skills untouched until the universe resets. Bethesda might not have meant for this to be the meta, but hey—in the vast expanse of space, a little cheeky advantage never hurt anyone.