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With one thousand planets to explore inStarfield, there are lots of opportunities to survey a planet. Surveying a planet will not only reward the player with XP while they complete the actual surveying but also with the completed survey data that can then be sold for credits.
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Surveying a planet will take players to the planet’s multiple biomes, along with making them greatly explore each biome as they go. While the game doesn’t tell you what exactly needs to be scanned and where to find it, there are a few useful tips that can point players in the right direction.
Total Survey Percentage
Whenever viewing a specific planet in the system menu, players will be given apercentage of how much of the planet has been surveyed.This can be seen both when flying in orbit over the planet or when on the planet. Also on this screen will be thebreakdown of what is on the planet in the menu on the left side of the screen.
Some of the entries in that menu willlist how many Flora, Fauna, Resources, and Traits need to be scannedon the planet to fully survey it. This breakdown will further help tell players what they need to keep an eye out for while exploring.
Completing Biomes
While the previous information gives you a breakdown of the whole planet,breaking the planet down biome by biome will help you quickly find everythingyou’re looking for. While some Fauna, Flora, Resources, and Traits can be found in multiple biomes,completing a biome before moving on to another will help make sure nothing is skipped over.After scanning all flora or fauna in a biome, your scanner willshow a “Biome Compelte” message next to either the Flora, Fauna, or both.
As you explore a biome, keep your scanner out andlook to the left side to see a survey breakdown of the planet with notes for the biome you’re in.You’ll also see the total percentage of the planet along with the numbers of all of the planet’s features to scan, but the “Biome Complete” message will still appear as long as everything in that biome has been scanned. After completing a biome,any scanned flora, fauna, resources, and traits of the planet will also be shown as complete in other biomesof that planet that they appear in, helping you know where you need to prioritize your search.
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Scanning Fauna and Flora
Fauna and Flora that need to be scanned will behighlighted in blue when looking through your scanner.Anything highlighted green has already been fully scanned.When getting within range of your scanner, you’ll see thename of whatever you are scanning, along with a percentage of completion for that specimen.You’ll need to scan everything multiple times to survey that species fully, and it will have to bemultiple different specimens of the species.For animals, it doesn’t matter if they are alive or dead, just that there are multiple scans.
Ultimately, there’s no way of knowing how many Flora or Fauna are in a single biomeother than scanningas you go and trying to guess using the planet’s percentage. Thismay require players to walk great distances to find some of the rare flora and faunawithin a biome, asthere’s always a chance this is the only biome they spawn in. You can travel to another biome hoping to find the missing link elsewhere, but be prepared to backtrack just in case.
