Healing in Starfield is critical for survival. Your space adventures are likely going to see you getting hurt a lot, so knowing which items to use to heal yourself, how to heal, and how to improve your overall health capacity is key.
Want to know more? Read on for everything you need to know about healing in Starfield.
How to heal in Starfield
To heal in Starfield, you simply need to consume a healing item. This can be done in two ways. You can either find the item in your inventory and consume it by pressing ‘A’ on controller or ‘E’ on keyboard or consume it from your quickslot inventory.
I recommend using the quickslot option as it’s (unsurprisingly) quicker to access. I tend to quickslot all my top healing items in the bottom slots so I can easily access them by pressing down on my Xbox D-pad. You can quickslot items by finding them in your inventory and selecting ‘Favorite.’ You can then choose which slot to put the item in. Favorited items will have a heart icon beside their listing in your inventory.
Best healing items in Starfield
The best way to restore your health in Starfield is by using medical items like Emergency Kits, Med Packs, and Trauma Packs. You can find these while exploring or buy them from shops during your journey. They’re super handy and will give your health a quick boost.
But what if you’re in the mood for a snack? Eating food can also help you heal. While it might not heal as much as medical items, there’s a trick to it. If you gather all the ingredients for a special dish and cook it at an outpost, it’ll heal you even more. And if you started the game with the Chef background and the Gastronomy skill, it’ll have an extra kick.
It’s also worth studying Pharmacology at a Research Station, as each completed research project allows you to craft more aid items at Pharmaceutical Labs.
Below you’ll find out breakdown of the best healing items in Starfield and their effects:
| Item name | Effects |
| Trauma Pack | Restores eight percent Health/s for four seconds |
| Med Pack | Restores four percent Health/s for 10 seconds |
| Emergency Kit | TBC |
| Heart + | +20 percent Health for two minutes |
Best healing skills and perks in Starfield
If you want to take your healing to the next level then you should invest in certain skills and perks.
There are several skills in Starfield’s Physical Skill Tree that help you to heal more efficiently. For instance, higher ranks of Cellular Regeneration increase your chances of recovering from injuries naturally, each rank of Nutrition boosts the amount healing you get from food, and each rank of Rejuvenation lets you rejuvenate health more quickly outside of combat.
Here are the main skills I suggest investing in for more efficient healing in Starfield:
| Skill name | Description |
| Rejuvenation | Rank one: Slowly regenerate health outside of combat. Rank two: Regenerate health more quickly outside of combat. Rank three: Regenerate health much faster outside of combat. You can now slow regenerate health while in combat. Rank four: Regenerate health even faster outside of combat. You can now regenerate health quickly while in combat. |
| Cellular Regeneration | Rank one: Slightly increased chance to recover from injuries naturally. Rank two: Moderately increased chance to recover from injuries naturally. Rank three: Noticeably increased chance to recover from injuries naturally. Rank four: 20 percent chance of not gaining an injury when you otherwise would. |
| Nutrition | Rank one: Food and drink are 10 percent more effective. Rank two: Food and drink are 20 percent more effective. Rank three: Food and drink are 30 percent more effective. Rank four: Food and drink are 50 percent more effective. |
| Pain Tolerance | Rank one: Physical damage is reduced by five percent. Rank two: Physical damage is reduced by 10 percent. Rank three: Physical damage is reduced by 15 percent. Rank four: Five percent chance to ignore physical damage when your health is low. |
How to increase max health in Starfield
Increasing your maximum health can be done by leveling up the Wellness skill. The first rank provides a 10 percent health increase. As you progress, the second, third, and fourth ranks each add another 10 percent. By fully mastering this skill, you can achieve a total health boost of 40 percent.
Another option is available right at the beginning of your journey. When creating your character, you can opt for the Alien DNA trait. This unique trait grants additional health, but makes medical items and food restore less health than they typically would, so choose wisely.
