People have made countless stealth archer builds in Skyrim, and some players prefer to play the entire game while remaining in the shadows, mercilessly taking out enemies from afar. So, to keep the Bethesda RPG sniper tradition going, we have curated the ultimate stealth-focused sniper build in Starfield.
This detailed build guide will walk you through the entire build step-by-step and tell you which character backgrounds, traits, core skills, and weapons to choose for this sniper build.
Let us start with the character creator and move up to the build’s weapons, skills, and playstyle.
Background
Before diving into the other details, let’s decide on a suitable background for your character if you want to become a deadly sniper in Starfield.
For this build, we recommend using the Cyber Runner background. That’s mainly because of the perks on offer here.
- Stealth is one of the core skills you will need for this build. Without investing in this skill, you won’t be able to sneak around enemies and reach any vantage points for sniping.
- Security lets you break into rooms and open up locked routes by engaging the Digi-pick game. You’ll be utilizing this skill more often than you know. Investing in it early is a smart move.
- Theft lets you pickpocket enemies for keycards, ammo, and other valuables. The theme here is to become a stealthy sniper who can infiltrate enemy encampments, complete objectives, and get out without letting anyone know.
With the background out of the way, let’s move on to Traits.
Traits
Traits in Starfield can also give you a massive advantage during the early game. These passive abilities stick with you throughout the game and can immensely help in the playthrough’s starting hours.
For this stealth sniper build, we recommend the following traits based on the synergy their passives have with the rest of the kit:
- Alien DNA: grants you more health and oxygen while trading less potent healing via healing items and foods. Sniping requires you to always hold your breath, and the larger your oxygen reserve will be, the longer you can hold your breath.
- Terra Firma: grants you increased oxygen and health when you are on the ground but reduces them when you are in space. Same principle as before. We need all the oxygen we can get.
- Introvert: reduces the amount of oxygen you consume while performing actions like sprinting, holding your breath, etc., when you are alone. But increases the amount if you are with companions. Introvert is interchangeable with Extrovert if you plan to take your companions with you everywhere.
These are the most effective traits you can go for while going for a stealth sniper build in Starfield.
Skills
Now, we get to the part that requires some patience and grinding. Almost all of your builds in Starfield will be heavily influenced by the selection of skills you dump your points in.
For this build, our goal is to maximize single-shot crit damage with sniper rifles while remaining far away from enemies and having tons of oxygen for holding our breath. And if we are spotted, the jet pack skill will help us switch positions quickly.
We will assume that you selected Cyber Runner during background selection and have those skills already.
So, we suggest unlocking all of these skills first:
Physical
- Wellness
- Concealment
- Stealth (you will already have it unlocked)
Social
- Persuasion
- Theft (you will already have it unlocked)
Combat
- Ballistics
- Rifle Certification
- Sniper Certification
- Sharpshooter
Science
- Boost Pack Training
- Security (you will already have it unlocked)
Once you have these skills at Level 1, you can complete their challenges and start dumping more points into each of them. The higher each skill goes, the more potent your sniping experience will be in Starfield.
Of course, this is just a template; you can mix up other skills as you see fit. That’s the beauty of the game. Choose any additional skills you like and then build your character around that play style.
Best Weapons for The Stealth Sniper Build
A sniper build cannot be complete without…you guessed it, the sniper rifle. There are some pretty good ones to choose from in Starfield, but here are the two we have used most during our playthrough.
Magsniper
The Magsniper is our personal favorite sniper rifle in the game, and it hits like a truck. This rifle can be bought from New Atlantis, Neon, and Akila City weapons dealers. You can even mount a recon scope to make it even more deadly at longer ranges.
Here are the base stats for this weapon:
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Damage | 383 |
| Ammo Type | 6.5mm MI |
| Mag | 12 |
| Fire Rate | 17 |
| Range | 100 |
| Mass | 9.55 |
| Value | 27790 |
Marksman’s A-99
The second weapon recommendation we have for you is the AA-99. This ballistic rifle is an excellent choice for sniping and handles well in medium to close ranges as well because of its increased fire rate.
Think of it as an all-rounder weapon that can get early on in the game and is useful in case you get detected and have to fight the enemies up close.
Here are the base stats for this weapon:
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Damage | 17 |
| Ammo Type | 11mm caseless |
| Mag | 30 |
| Fire Rate | 112 |
| Range | 40 |
| Mass | 3 |
| Value | 7865 |
Recommended Playstyle
Now that you have a good grasp of all the skills, traits, and weapons you’ll need for the stealth-focused sniper build in Starfield, let’s talk about how everything works together and the preferred playstyle you should adopt.
Based on the background and traits we selected, it can be noticed that our goal was to have as much oxygen while being on the ground as possible.
Other than oxygen, the remaining focus of the build goes into being sneaky and having high single-shot crit damage. For this build to shine, you must find a vantage point around the enemy base or area you plan to navigate and pick targets from afar.
The high-powered sniper rifle paired with the sniper certification and crit damage skills will make that easy for you.
Once the single targets are down, you can rely on stealth and concealment to sneak into the camp, do whatever you must do, and get out unnoticed. A successful stealth raid requires patience, planning, and knowing the enemy’s patrol routes.
We hope this Starfield sniper build guide was easy for you to follow. Starfield has a lot of mechanics and gameplay aspects to take it, and it might feel a bit overwhelming to some. If you are a beginner, check out our beginner-focused tips guide for Starfield.
Keep checking WhatIfGaming daily for more on Starfield, other games, and tech in general!
