Navigating Starfields Traits and POIs
For me, one of the most annoying things in surveying a planet is finding the traits. It’s easy enough if a planet has a single trait, but what if you are on a planet with 3–5 traits? They are especially difficult because you will find yourself running all over the map simply to re-discover traits that you’ve already found on the planet, and get NO credit because it‘s a duplicate.
In this short guide I will show you how to greatly reduce your running around to find 3–5 unique traits. All it takes is a basic understanding of how these Points of Interest work (a Point of Interest or POI may be a trait or a structure or natural phenomena) and what all the related possibilities are. So open up your scanners; we’re going to navigate the planet like a pro!
Looking for Traits
If you are specifically looking for traits, they all start with one of these two icons:
Map Pin
Let’s start with the Map Pin icon and see where it may lead us:
The Map Pin icon will lead you to as many as 12 different types of traits (traits shown in red text). Just scan the map pin and it will show you a new icon for some natural phenomena. This already can save you time (and footsteps). If you have already discovered the Subsurface Seas trait on the planet, if you see that eruption icon on your scanner 800m away, you know there is no point in running out there because it’s just going to be another Subsurface Seas trait!
Most of the time the Map Pin will scan down to the Natural icon in the middle of the image. This is where you’ll find most of your duplicates since 7 of the 12 traits are found under that central icon. However, before you run off to get close enough to find out for sure it is a duplicate, scan all of the other icons in your vicinity to see if any one of them is different (like the big diamond icon) and head to it first.
Wave Form
The second most common location for traits is under the Wave Form icon. To date I have come across 3 different sub categories for it, all called Life Signs. This grouping holds 8 total trait types.
The Hazard Icon
There is one other icon that can lead to a trait, but it is so rare it’s barely worth mentioning. If you find the basic hazard icon, it will lead you to a trait.
Structures for Fun and Profit
The other major category of icon is for structures. There are tons of structures scattered around each world and you may prefer some over others. There are so many categories and types of structures that I had to break them down into 2 screenshots:
and:
The teal colored text indicates a point of interest. If they have a human presence, it will be “good guys”, so unless you’re playing a pirate, no shooting!
If you’re looking for bad guys, there is no shortage! Any structure with the name Abandoned or Deserted will likely be filled with Crimson Fleet or spacers.
All other structures may be inhabited by either “good” or “bad” guys.
Miscellaneous POIs
Conclusion
While this list is pretty big, I am not yet ready to declare it complete. Every day I explore new worlds and compare what I find to my list. It’s all part of the work I do to maintain my website, the Starfield Omnicron and keep it up to date. There you will find all sorts of information for the game that you will find handy when surveying (flora, fauna, biomes, resource drops, item recipes, etc).
