With a game as big as Starfield, it’s quite easy to make mistakes. It doesn’t take long before the massive universe in play here reveals itself, allowing you to go pretty much anywhere you want right away. Sure, sometimes you’ll be under-leveled, or you might need a lockpick or a cooler weapon to overcome obstacles, but these are all part of the learning experience as you venture across the cosmos for dozens of hours. But with our Starfield tips, you can reduce the growing pains and get a head start on the big wide world to explore.

Several of us on the GameSpot team have collectively poured hundreds of hours into Starfield, which inevitably comes with some regrets, some course corrections, and some things we wish we knew sooner, so in this guide, we’ll reveal everything like that to you.

Whether you need help understanding how to build your own ship, or how to manage your inventory, or how to scan that neat-looking alien before it eats your face off, this guide covers many aspects of the enormous game.

And don’t forget, these tips are merely the beginning of your journey. In our Starfield guides hub, we’ve collected dozens of guides and put them in one spot for your convenience. In addition to going deeper on some topics you’ll see in this guide, you’ll find even more topics covered, such as romance options, companions, factions, and more.

Starfield is one of the biggest and best-reviewed games of the year, so it’s going to take over the zeitgeist in a way few games this year have. Join in on the conversation by getting ahead with our Starfield tips and many other guides.