Most planet surveys in Starfield require you to scan resources, flora and fauna. However, more often than not, you also must find a fourth feature: Traits. These are defining characteristics of a planet you must scan to progress toward 100% survey completion, so figuring out how to locate them is important. To learn more, continue reading to discover how to find planet traits in Starfield.
Starfield – How to Locate Planet Traits and Anomalies
When you select a planet on your map, you’ll find a list of resources and unknown traits. Land on the planet, turn on your scanner, and look for grey markers labeled “Unknown”. Move toward them and scan any nearby plants, rock formations, and other unusual features you encounter.
The exact feature you must scan differs from planet to planet. For example, in the image above, I found numerous snow-covered rocks in the middle of a tropical forest, with hive formations as the scan structure.
Related: How to 100% Survey Planets in Starfield
Be careful of which markers you follow, though. Occasionally, you’ll find ones for occupied caves, abandoned outposts, and other structures that do not count toward your planet’s traits. While these usually have markers different than pictured above, you’ll still want to be cautious of any nearby hostiles or hazards.
If you’re on a planet with multiple traits, you must follow each grey marker in your scanner and observe their respective points of interest. While some planets may not have any, others can have upwards of three. You may also have to land on a different part of the planet, as different biomes can reveal more trait locations and scan resources.
Scanning an anomaly for a planet trait will count toward your survey data progress, which you can sell later for credits.
Starfield is available on PC and Xbox Series X|S. To learn more, check out how to complete Delivering Devils in Starfield, or click the game tag below to explore our growing content collection.
