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How to Become a Starfield Surveyor: Mastering Planet and Resource Scans

So, you’re setting out to map the galaxy in Starfield and want to know how to gather vital survey data? The process is straightforward, but understanding the nuances will make you a more efficient and profitable explorer. Simply put, you need a scanner, a ship that can reach various planets, and the patience to thoroughly scan the surface of each planet. The more detailed the survey, the more you can sell it for! Let’s delve into the specifics.

The Essentials: Scanning and Your Ship

The primary tool for gathering survey data is your trusty scanner. This isn’t a separate piece of equipment; it’s integrated into your character’s interface. You access it by pressing the ‘F’ key on PC, holding the ‘LB’ button on Xbox, or using the equivalent button on your chosen platform.

Scanning from Orbit

The first step is scanning from orbit. Approach a planet or moon, target it, and use your ship’s scanning system (usually by pressing ‘E’ on PC or ‘A’ on Xbox). This initial scan reveals basic information: atmosphere, temperature, flora, fauna, resources, and any prominent points of interest. It also gives you an overall survey percentage to indicate how much you still need to explore.

Surface Scanning: Unveiling the Details

Once you’ve landed on the planet’s surface, activate your handheld scanner. Now, the real work begins. Your scanner displays a circular reticule. As you move around, this reticule will identify plants, animals, and resources within range.

Flora and Fauna: For plants and animals, you need to scan them multiple times until you’ve fully completed their data profile. The scanner indicates your progress with a percentage. Keep an eye out for unique variations! Scanning these variations will give you a massive boost to your completion.
Resources: Resources are identified through the scanner and visually represented in the environment. You need to locate and scan multiple deposits of each resource to complete their scan.
Traits: Planets often have Traits. These can be geological features, unique environments, or even hidden settlements. You identify these through scanning anomalies on the planet from orbit, which will then mark a landing location that will need to be explored on foot. Completing planet traits offers significant progress towards a full survey.

Maximizing Efficiency: Skills and Equipment

While basic scanning is accessible to all players, investing in specific skills and equipment will significantly boost your efficiency and earnings.

Essential Skills

Scanning: This skill improves the range and accuracy of your scanner. It also unlocks the ability to detect more information from orbit and identify traits.
Surveying: This skill increases the distance at which you can scan flora, fauna, and resources. Crucially, it also reduces the number of scans required to fully analyze a plant, animal, or resource. This dramatically speeds up the survey process.
Botany/Zoology: Understanding the biology of plants and animals allows you to harvest more resources from them. This can indirectly increase your earnings as you explore.
Geology: Improve your extraction yield from inorganic resources. More resources extracted means more profit from selling them later.

Ship Upgrades

While not directly related to scanning, ship upgrades are crucial for reaching remote systems and carrying larger quantities of survey data and resources.

Grav Drive: A powerful grav drive allows you to jump to systems further away, opening up new planets to survey.
Fuel Capacity: Increased fuel capacity lets you travel longer distances without refueling, saving time and resources.
Cargo Capacity: A larger cargo hold allows you to store more survey data and resources, maximizing your profits.

Selling Your Data: Who Wants What You’ve Found?

Once you’ve completed a survey, you’ll want to sell your hard-earned data. Several vendors are eager to purchase your findings.

Vladimir Sall (The Eye): Vladimir, located at The Eye orbiting Jemison in the Alpha Centauri system, is a primary buyer of survey data. He offers a good price and is generally accessible early in the game.
Trade Authority: Trade Authority vendors located in major settlements will also purchase survey data.
Mission Boards: Keep an eye on mission boards in settlements and space stations. Sometimes, specific factions or individuals will post missions requesting survey data from particular planets or systems. These missions often offer higher rewards than selling the data to a general vendor.

Pro Tips for the Aspiring Surveyor

Prioritize Skills: Focus on leveling up the Scanning and Surveying skills early in your playthrough. This will dramatically improve your surveying efficiency.
Explore Varied Biomes: Different biomes within the same planet will have different flora, fauna, and resources. Make sure to explore as many biomes as possible to complete your survey.
Look for Landmarks: Interesting landmarks often indicate the presence of unique resources or creatures. Pay attention to the environment and explore thoroughly.
Use Environmental Mods: Consider using mods (if you are on PC) that enhance the scanner interface or provide additional information about planets.

By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a master surveyor in Starfield, mapping the galaxy and reaping the rewards of your discoveries!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How do I know if I’ve fully surveyed a planet?

When you open the planet’s information panel from your ship, it will display “Surveyed” along with a completion percentage of 100%. Furthermore, Vladimir will confirm the completion when you sell the data.

2. Can I survey planets from my ship without landing?

Yes, you can perform an initial scan from orbit, which reveals basic information and helps you identify landing locations. However, to fully survey a planet, you must land and scan flora, fauna, and resources on the surface.

3. What happens if I sell incomplete survey data?

You’ll receive a reduced price compared to selling a complete survey. You can return to the planet later to finish the survey and sell the remaining data.

4. Are some planets easier to survey than others?

Yes. Planets with fewer biomes, fewer flora and fauna species, and fewer resources are generally easier and faster to survey. Moons often tend to be quicker to survey than large planets.

5. Do planets respawn with new flora and fauna after a certain time?

No, the flora, fauna, and resources on a planet are fixed. Once you’ve fully surveyed a planet, the data remains complete. However, the number of resources may replenish over time in certain instances.

6. Can I get survey data for stars or space stations?

No, survey data is specifically for planets and moons. You gather information about space stations and star systems through other means, such as interacting with NPCs or completing missions.

7. How do I find rare flora and fauna?

Rare flora and fauna often appear in specific biomes or at particular times of day. Pay attention to the environment and explore thoroughly. Utilizing skills that improve your scanning range will make it easier to spot rare finds.

8. What’s the difference between scanning and surveying?

Scanning is the act of using your scanner to identify and analyze objects. Surveying is the broader process of systematically scanning a planet to gather comprehensive data for a complete survey.

9. Is there a limit to how much survey data I can carry?

No, there isn’t a specific limit to the amount of survey data you can carry. However, completed survey slates add to your total inventory weight, so be mindful of your cargo capacity.

10. Can I use a companion to help with surveying?

While companions can’t directly scan for you, some companions have skills that can indirectly benefit your surveying efforts, such as increased carrying capacity or bonuses to resource gathering.

11. Are there any hidden benefits to fully surveying a planet?

Beyond the monetary reward, fully surveying a planet contributes to your overall exploration progress and unlocks achievements. You might also discover unique locations or items while exploring.

12. How do I identify and complete planet traits?

From orbit, you may scan the planet and notice anomalies. These anomalies mark a landing location. Land in those location and you will find the trait. Then scan it to complete. These are typically unique geological or biological features.