Best buffs in Starfield, ranked

There are a lot of buffs you can receive in Starfield and the best buffs are permanent boosts from magazines you find in the world. There are some that are far better than others, but a lot of these magazines do the same thing and just stack. So we have put together all of those that do the same thing as their own category. We’ll let you know where to find the best magazine buffs and which to go after first.

Starfield – Top Magainze buffs, ranked

6 – Tracker’s Primers 01 through 10

Locations:

• Va’ruun Scripture 01 – Alpha Centauri system, planet Jemison, New Atlantis spaceport. Go to the UC Security Office and head to the jail cells. Look under the bunkbed of the cell at the very end.

• Va’ruun Scripture 02 – Sol system, the moon of earth, Nova Galactic Staryard. Look around until you find the crew quarters and check the bunk beds. It’s sitting on one.

• Va’ruun Scripture 03 – The Cheyenne system, planet Akila, Akila City. Look around and you’ll eventually find a broken shack in The Stretch. It’s inside on the floor.

• Va’ruun Scripture 04 – Eridanii system, Eridanii planet, but in the Abandoned Orbital Station. This is normally found during Andreja’s companion mission on a table next to a weapons crate.

• Va’ruun Scripture 05 – The Narion system, Planet Deepala, The Clinic space station. It’s in the VIP section which you can only gain access to during the Deputized FC Ranger Quest when you’re looking for Maya.

• Va’ruun Scripture 06 – Alpha Centauri system, planet Jemison, New Atlantis, but inside the Va’ruun Embassy in MAST.

• Va’ruun Scripture 07 – Sol system, moon of earth, Nova Galactic Staryard. It’s on the top floor in a room with shelving units and boxes.

• Va’ruun Scripture 08 – Abandoned Hangar in Porrima II, in the Porrima system, Porrima II Planet, Abandoned Hanger. It’s going to be in a room on the second floor. It’s on a table next to a loot chest.

• Va’ruun Scripture 09 – Porrima system, Porrima II Planet, Red Mile, It’s on the bar.

• Va’ruun Scripture 10 – Sol system, Mars planet, Abandoned Mining Facility. While you’re taking out the spacers during the Vanguard missions, just go to the supervisor’s room and find it on the table.

Buff you receive: Increases the sneak damage bonus you receive with ranged weapons by 1%, and the sneak damage bonus you receive with melee weapons by 5%.

These are the most annoying to find, but if you’re going for a stealth archer build, they’re super helpful. A total boost to 10% in range as well as 50% increase in melee is crazy good, and this will quickly become overpowered. Grab them as you come by and eventually start hunting these down.

Related: Where To Find the Major Cities and Settlements in Starfield

5 – Tracker’s Primers 01 through 05

Locations:

• Tracker’s Primers 01 – Victor Compound on McClure II in the McClure system, McClure II planet, Victor Compound. You’ll find it through the course of Matters of the Hart companion quest.

• Tracker’s Primers 02 – Indum System, Indum II planet, Pilgrum’s Rest. Open the locked room through a digipick, it will be inside the room.

• Tracker’s Primers 03 – Porrima system, Porrima II Planet, Red Mile. Go to the upper floor of the bar to find this one.

• Tracker’s Primers 04 – Random drop in Abandoned Mining Outposts.

• Tracker’s Primers 05 – Narion System, Vectera planet, Argos Extractors Mining Outpost. Go to the bunk beds in the barracks type room and you’ll find it on a bed.

Buff you receive: EM weapon damage is permanently increased by 5%.

EM weapons are either a last resort or the first weapon grabbed depending on your playstyle. Either way, it’s really smart to have these as powerful as possible. A total of 25% more damage is no joke, so grab these as soon as you can.

4 – Solomon’s Adventures 01, 03, and 05

Locations:

• Solomon’s Adventures 01 – Cheyenne system, planet Akila, Akila city, inside Coe Estate. Go to Jacob’s bedroom and find it on the night stand.

• Solomon’s Adventures 03 – Random drop in Abandoned Mining Platforms. I found it near some lockers in what looked like a supply room.

• Solomon’s Adventures 05 – Eridani system, Eridani III planet, Helium-3 Extraction Site in an Abandoned Mineral Refinery. Before you finish clearing this place out, loot the chests that are locked with Master locks in the final room.

Buff you receive: Your weapon damage at night is permanently increased by 5%

Only three of these are worth going for because it’s an increase to taking down enemies at night basically. Most players are just going to each area trying to play through so a 15% boost won’t be actively noticed, but it helps a lot.

Related: How To Complete the on the Run Mission in Starfield

3 – Peak Performance 01 through 05

Locations:

• Peak Performance 01 – Alpha Centauri system, The Eye space station. To the right of Vladimir.

• Peak Performance 02 – Random drop in Deserted UC Listening Posts.

• Peak Performance 03 – Random drop in Abandoned Military Complexes. I found mine near some dumbells in the barracks.

• Peak Performance 04 – Maheo system, Maheo I planet, Sonny Di Falcos’ Estate. It’s in the room Sonny hangs out in.

• Peak Performance 05 – Kryx system, The Key space station. Next to Suvorov on top of a table in the kitchen.

Buff you receive: The weight of your carry bag is increased by 5 kilograms permanently.

You can now tell people that your body is what peak performance looks like. In all seriousness, this is a lifesaver, because 25 total points added to your carry weight is a huge difference, and is basically what a skill point into fitness gets you. It’s definitely worth taking the time to find and most of these are easy to get to.

2 – GRUNT 01 through 10

Locations:

• GRUNT 01 – Porrima system, Porrima III planet. Do the Red Mile quest and get all the way to the tower. The dead spacer next to the button has the magazine.

• GRUNT 02 – Volii system, Voli Alpha planet, Neon. Go to the Seokguh Syndicate hideout, and head to the center of the lounge. The magazine is sitting on the table.

• GRUNT 03 – Cheyenne system, planet Montara, Waggoner Farm. Go to the canyon to the east and you’ll find it on the trail. You also can find it through a regular playthrough of the Freestar Rangers mission Deputized.

• GRUNT 04 – Kryx system, The Key space station. Go to the bar and head past the ping-pong table to a table by itself next to the windows. It’s sitting there waiting for you.

• GRUNT 05 – Random drop found in Deserted UC Garrisons. I found mine in a control room next to a computer.

• GRUNT 06 – This is a random drop found in Deserted Ecliptic Garrisons. You can normally find this one around the safe in the armory.

• GRUNT 07 – A random drop found in Abandoned Cryo Labs. I found mine super easily on a desk at the main entrance.

• GRUNT 08 – Altair system, Altair IV planet, Abandoned Station. At one point, you’ll come across the control room during the Failure to Communicate side quest. The magazine is sitting on the navigation table in the middle of the room.

• GRUNT 09 – Sol system, planet Mars, Cydonia. Head to the UC Barracks and look at the table after you enter through the door. It’s sitting there waiting for you.

• GRUNT 10 – Random drop in Abandoned Military Facilities. You can normally find this one near a safe.

Related: How to find all 13 snow globes in Starfield

Buff you receive: Increase the crit damage of your ballistic weapons by 5% permanently.

This one is really hard to beat because you use ballistic weapons to get a lot of shots in. This makes it more likely to get crit shots, and if you stack them all it’s a 50% increase in damage. It’s hard to pass these up. The only issue is that a lot of these are random, so I suggest going for those we know where to find.

1 – Constellation Guide 02 and Constellation Guide 04

Locations:

• Constellation Guide 04 – The Narion system, Planet Deepala, The Clinic space station. When you enter the lobby to the clinic, head to the couch on the left and it will be on a seat.

• Constellation Guide 02 – Random drop found in Abandoned Research Outposts. I found mine on a counter next to a locker in some sort of break room.

Buff you receive: While moving over-encumbered, you’ll use 15% less oxygen.

There are two of these magazines, and they are the most important ones. We’ve all carried too much at one point, leaving you running out of energy super quickly. Unfortunately, your companion will only carry so much so everyone has to make the half-walk and half-sprint of shame back to their starship.

Essentially, you sprint for a short period of time before walking again. If you stack these magazine buffs, you will be able to sprint for a longer period before you need to take a break. Other magazines are nice, but they aren’t as loved as this one because when you need it, you feel how helpful it is.

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