Skill books in Starfield allow you to improve your abilities and stats as you adventure across the galaxy. But where exactly can you find these skill books, and what effects do they grant?
In Starfield, building out your character is crucial to passing different skill checks and surviving dangerous combat encounters. But when you might not have the right amount of XP to level up with, skill books come in handy.
Skill books are located across the various planets and locations in Starfield’s galaxy, and they allow you to permanently improve your stats without the cost of skill points. These permanent buffs come with no downsides, though you do have to find them for yourself.
So, where is each skill book in Starfield, and what effect does each one grant?
Starfield skill book locations
The first thing to note is Starfield skill books do not appear in one set location across each playthrough. Many spawns seem to be tied to random locations, and so it might be different in your playthrough compared to mine. However, these are the areas we know of that are likely to drop skill books:
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- United Colonies stations
- Constellation stations
- Freestar locations
- Space stations
- Space ships
- Neon
- Mines
- Outposts
These are the locations we’ve found skill books so far. Since Starfield is still a new game, we’re still actively keeping an eye out for these magazines. Be sure to let us know if you find one in a location we haven’t listed yet.
Starfield skill book effects
When you pick up a skill book in Starfield, it will grant you a specific buff or skill increase. Each book type has its own unique buff, with some offering slightly different stat increases. Here are all the buffs listed below.
| Title | Number of issues | Effect |
| Combatech Catalog | Increases range and accuracy of Combatech weapons. | |
| Constellation Guide | Improves various trait stats | |
| Cyber Runner’s Cyphers | 5% damage increase by laser weapons | |
| Freestar Captain’s Log | 3 | 5kg carrying capacity increase |
| Grunt | 10 | 5% increase to critical damage by ballistic weapons |
| Gunslinger’s Guide | Draw and reload Laredo weapons faster | |
| Kryx’s Journal | 2% price drop and 2% sell price at vendors | |
| Mining Monthly | 10 | 2% increase to tool-grip weapon damage |
| Neon Nights | New chem recipes are unlocked | |
| New Atlantian | New food recipes are unlocked | |
| Nova Galactic | 10 | 1% reduction to grav jump fuel consumption |
| Peak Performance | Improves various skill stats | |
| Solomon Adventures | 5% weapon damage increase at night | |
| Tracker’s Prime | 5% EM weapon damage increase | |
| UC Defense | 5 | Magazine size and bash critical chance increase for all Allied Armament weapons |
| Va’Runn Scriptures | 10 | 1% sneak bonus and 5% melee sneak attack damage increase |
| Vanguard Space Tactics | 5% increase to ship weapon damage |
As Starfield is a massive game, and we still haven’t found everything yet. We will continue to add to this guide as we learn more, so be sure to check back. In the meantime, check out our other Starfield guides.
Starfield all main story missions | All skills | All factions | All console commands | All difficulty levels explained | All achievements | Level cap | How to remove bounty | How to fast travel | Easy XP | Easy credits | Best traits | How to get a house | How to mod weapons and equipment | How to find smuggling missions | How to add DLSS | How to pick locks | How to customize ship | How to dock ship
