How to Survey Planets in Starfield

Are you someone who primarily focuses on progressing through quests? Do you prefer experiencing combat in different ways and collecting equipment? If you’re like me, you may enjoy exploration and getting 100% completion in games. If you plan on getting 100% in Starfield, one activity you’ll have to become very familiar with is surveying planets, so I’m here to help you learn exactly how to do this in Starfield.

Starfield Planet Survey Guide

To survey a planet, land on its surface and take out your scanner. Here, you’ll have to scan resources, flora, and fauna, which will appear as blue highlighted objects around the environment. Approach these objects and scan them to gain progress toward your planet survey and some EXP.

Related: How to Increase Ship Cargo Hold Space in Starfield

While some planets have all three objectives, some may only have two or even one if they’re small. At least fewer scan options will make it easier to 100% survey a planet. You’ll know you’ve scanned a resource type before when it appears highlighted in green instead of blue.

Depending on your chosen planet, you’ll usually have three different scan options:

• Resources – Ores and elements
• Flora – Plants
• Fauna – Animals and other life forms

Every once in a while, though, you may also find planet traits and anomalies.

While resources only require you to scan them once, flora and fauna require numerous scans. With each scan, you’ll learn their materials, biomes, and genetics, among other helpful information. Knowing this is helpful if you want to find a specific crafting resource in the future, as you can look for that particular resource, flora, or fauna and quickly collect the items you need.

You’ll also gain character EXP as you scan more items and progress through your planet survey bar. Completing a biome gives you a larger EXP boost while finishing a planet survey offers even more.

Starfield is available on PC and Xbox Series X|S. To learn more, check out how to get tetrafluorides in Starfield, or click the game tag below to explore our growing article collection.