Surveying planets can be really tricky in Starfield. You might find some easy first encounters such as moons containing only minerals for you to identify, but even planets moderately populated with flora and fauna and a good distributions of biomes will stump even the most intrepid explorers. But the good news is: if the planet says you can find more, they exist somewhere, even if it’s hard to believe. Here’s how you can find all missing flora and fauna while surveying planets in Starfield.
Where You Can Find All Missing Flora and Fauna in Starfield
There are 3 major steps to finding all missing flora and fauna in Starfield:
- Double-check your planet map for all available biomes you can travel to, such as Coniferous Forest, Mountains, and more. Be sure to scan even the small creatures you see.
- Check the air. There can be some elusive critters flying above, and you don’t even have to be close to scan these.
- Land as close to the edge of the coast as possible. Keep your scanner out and check the nearby waters. There’s a reason the Ocean biome appears and has a 0% completion percentage.
Related: Where to Sell Survey Data in Starfield
The toughest part of any given planetary survey, at least in the case of planets supporting life, is the fauna. Flora typically sprouts from the ground and are easy to spot, and resources can be spotted before you land and scanned in virtually any biome.
What to Do When You Can’t Complete A Planet Survey, Using Akila As A Case Study
Akila, despite being accessible early on in the game, is a tricky planet to survey. It’s got some diverse biomes, with Coniferous Forest, Savannah, Frozen Plains, and Ocean as its primary biomes. There were some especially elusive critters in the forest like the Dropsalm that likes to burrow. While I was near the point of giving up, I decided to visit the Coniferous Forest (Coast) biome and saw the truth.
The Ocean biome can be completed from a distance here, identifying the aquatic life, and completing the survey once the traits were identified.
What Can You Do Once You Find the Missing Flora and Fauna in Starfield?
Beyond using the Zoologist perk to improve your outpost and add animal husbandry or botanical features, you should never forget to sell your survey data to Vladimir. At 10k credits for a good complete survey of individual planets, you can make some serious bank from planet surveying.
