Starfield Persuasion explained

Persuasion in Starfield is more than a conversational option, it's an entire challenge (though can be thought of as a mini-game) that can alter the results of the conversation you're currently having with another character. If your persuasion succeeds, you may get information you need, a new event, or get out of a sticky situation alive.

Interacting with other characters you meet in Starfield can be an interesting experience. You can make new friends or you can access well-paying jobs for your chosen background. However, not every interaction is easy and that's where you may need to whip out your persuasive skills to make the conversation end in your favour.

Without further ado, we're here to explain how Persuasion works in Starfield.

On this page:

If you’d like more help in your galactic adventures, visit our Starfield guides, tips and tricks page.

How Persuasion works in Starfield

When speaking with someone during your adventures in Starfield, a conversational option with the tag 'PERSUADE' may appear on your screen alongside the other options. Now, we recommend saving your game before going any further at this point - that way if your conversation fails or has an outcome you don't want, you can use the save file to try again.

Select this option to begin to 'Persuade' the character and the persuasion menu will then appear on your screen.

On this menu, you will be given several choices. The choices can range from kind words, to distractions, to outright threats. Also, each choice ranges from easy (green) to hard (red). The easy options are more likely to succeed, while the harder options are less likely to (though there's always a chance they will work).

Also, next to each option will be a number. This number indicates how many points the option is worth, with easy options being worth less points and harder options being worth more. Each time your choice is successful, the associated points will be added to your persuasion bar.

Your persuasion bar for the current conversation can be found in the bottom left corner of the persuasion menu. This bar shows you how many persuasion points you already have, and how many you need to get in order to win. You need to max out this bar to be able to win, anything short of that and you'll lose.

Next to the bar you should also see how many turns you have left. Each time one of your choices fails you will lose a turn, but you can never really lose if your previous choice succeeds. For example, if you're on your last turn but your choice succeeds, you will get another free turn. This will continue as long as you're winning.

Also, each time you make a choice that succeeds, 'Auto-Persuade' will begin to charge up. You should notice this option in the bottom right section of the persuasion menu.

The more successful choices you make, the more this will charge up and once it's full you can use it to automatically persuade the character you're talking to. This will increase your persuasion bar, or can help you win depending on how many points you have left to get.

Once you use 'Auto-Persuade' once, its charge will return to zero and you will need to charge it up before you can use it again.

Once you've filled your persuasion bar without running out of turns, or have used 'Auto-Persuade' to fill the last of it up, you'll win!

How to upgrade Persuasion in Starfield

After you get a taste of success with Persuasion, you may want to use it more and more. This is when we recommend upgrading the skill in your skill's menu. You can find 'Persuasion' under the Social section of this menu. It's in the top row in the middle.

You can spend the skill points you earn each time you level up to unlock this skill and then continue to spend skill points to climb the four ranks available. Each rank will improve your persuasive skills and your chances of success.

Here's a quick look at the ranks and the benefits they provide:

• Rank One - 10% increased chance of success when persuading someone.
• Rank Two - 20% increased chance of success when persuading someone.
• Rank Three - 30% increased chance of success when persuading someone.
• Rank Four - 50% increased chance of success when persuading someone.

However, to be able to spend your skill points on unlocking the next rank you need to fulfill the rank challenges. You can find these underneath the 'Persuasion' icon when you open up the rank menu.

If you're looking for more Starfield information, check out our how to change your appearance or our companions guides.