When you jump into Days Gone, all the skills might seem a bit confusing at first. However, they are all vital in making Deacon St. John the ultimate survivalist in the zombie-filled world of Days Gone. Below, we’ll run through what it all means and what each skill does.
When you load up Days Gone, you can access the Skills Page by swiping down on your touchpad.
With each skill tree, to unlock the next level, you’ll need to spend skill points on two out of the three available skills in that level. So, if there’s something you’re not a fan of… That’s okay. It’s important to spend these wisely.
From here, you’ll find the Skills Page is divided up into three sections: Melee Combat, Ranged Combat, and Survival. Each of these contains a separate tree tied to that aspect of Days Gone‘s gameplay.
RELATED: Days Gone Tips & Tricks For New Drifters
If you favour Ranged Combat over Melee Combat, it’s of course advisable to invest more skill points in that tree… But, it’s important to look over your options and invest sensibly. Days Gone is unpredictable and being able to get out of a close-quarters situation is always beneficial.
Days Gone Melee Combat Skills
Level 1 – Escape Artist
Escape Artist is an extremely useful Skill to have in your locker. If you find yourself prone to getting caught in tight spots, chances are you’ll be at risk of being grappled. Smaller Enemies make up the majority of the hordes in Days Gone, so it’ll commonly be then. Escape Artist lets you kill them after escaping their grapple. It’s helpful if one gets the jump on you, for sure.
Level 1 – Field Repairs
Field Repairs is, perhaps, the best starting Skill in Days Gone. It allows you to repair your melee weapon with scrap. It seems like something you should be able to do anyway, really. Deacon’s Boot Knife, the default melee attack, is just incredibly weak in comparison. The later you get in Days Gone, the more and more hits it’ll take to kill nearly everything with the Boot Knife. A good melee weapon is the most important thing to have in Days Gone. Being able to keep it repaired seems like a no-brainer! (That was an intended Zombie-Pun, by the way.)
Level 1 – Juice Up
Juice Up is important if you’re a run-and-gun fighter in Days Gone. This skill improves the way Stamina Cocktails work by improving their duration and initial recovery speed. So, if you find yourself looking to Stamina Cocktails a lot in your gameplay… This one is perfect. Personally, I don’t use them enough… But, I can tell you for a fact there are a lot of times I wish I was.
Level 2 – Hard Hitter
Hard Hitter is another must-have skill in Days Gone. I may say that phrase a lot further down, but it’s genuine. Hard Hitter increases your melee damage with everything other than the Boot Knife. This, in turn, essentially means that each melee weapon is more durable. It takes less hits to kill Freakers, so… You can kill more with a melee weapon at 100%. Whether you intend to or not, you’ll find yourself in need of being able to dispatch enemies quickly in melee distance. So, this is wholly necessary.
Level 2 – Busted Lip
This skill is important, especially if you favour close-quarters combat in Days Gone. Sprinting, Dodge Rolling, Melee Attacks… They all use up Deacon’s stamina meter. Having enough stamina to break into a sprint is vital in escaping tight spots. Busted Lip regenerates a bit of stamina for every melee kill you make. This means, if you get caught out, you can easily hit-and-run. Literally.
Level 2 – Talk Shit, Get Hit
With each melee weapon, there is a combo of sorts. This chain of attacks means Deacon can swing at Freakers quickly for several hits, but when the combo ends he’ll need a short break. I’m talking seconds, if that, so it isn’t too detrimental to progress… However, in the thick of it, this can be enough time to be overrun with enemies. Talk Shit, Get Hit means you can land more melee hits before this break occurs.
Level 3 – Lightning Reflexes
Like anyone, Deacon needs a few moments if he gets knocked to his feet. As you progress, you’ll start coming up against Breakers. These Freakers are tough as shit and, to put it simply, huge. Aside from general debilitating swings, they can also charge you and knock you down. If you’re not careful, this can be fatal. Lighting Reflexes essentially cuts this risk, meaning that if you get knocked down… You can get right back up again and continue to run.
Level 3 – Bull Rush
Bull Rush is fantastic for initiating fights. Not everyone likes stealth, or sometimes there’s only three or four enemies left and you think you can take them. Bull Rush essentially adds a charge attack that Deacon can use to stun normal enemies, both human and Freaker. This can provide an important few seconds to kill that enemy, or deal with someone else.
Level 3 – The Reckoning
In a way, this skill helps with the durability of your melee weapons. Critical Takedown kills are, as you expect, a takedown that does critical damage to an enemy. This means it’s a one-hit kill. Increasing the chance of that means you’ll be able to hit more people with your weapon before repairs. It’s all about efficiency with Days Gone. The Reckoning is a skill you might not notice as clearly as the others, but undoubtedly helps out over the course of the game.
Level 4 – Just Roll With It
This one’s another important skill to have unlocked. Just Roll With It decreases the stamina cost from rolling. You’re going to be rolling a lot in Days Gone. Rolling is good for getting a bit of distance between Deacon and a group of Freakers, as well as dodging any incoming swings. It’s important in melee-based combat, but also as an escape tool.
Level 4 – Rock On
Let them know you’re there will a well placed ston-
Wait. Wrong game. Either way, Rock On is a great skill that can be used in a variety of situations. Want to initiate a fight? Stun an enemy from a distance with a rock. Need to take someone out quickly and cleanly? Stun with a rock. Want to stun someone with a rock? You get the idea…
Level 4 – Home Run
Home Run, when unlocked with Hard Hitter, makes Deacon a close-range machine. It doesn’t affect the Boot Knife, unfortunately, but you’ll find enough melee weaponry around that this wont be a problem. Even if you favour ranged combat, Home Run is well-worth having.
Level 5 – Retribution
Unlocking Retribution is where you really start to notice more critical takedowns and one-hit kills. It increases their chance by 25% and, in turn, makes your melee hits that little bit more efficient. Plus, takedowns look cool. There’s also that.
Level 5 – Switch It Up
What’s this? An upgrade for the Boot Knife? Preposterous! Switch It Up doubles the damage of Boot Knife combos. This can be very useful if your melee weapon breaks and you need to get out of a jam. Crafted and Found melee weapons are better, still, but this is a good last-ditch backup.
Level 5 – Executioner
Heavy Freakers, like Breakers, are a pain in the ass. They take a lot of damage and deal a lot of it back. Being able to stealth kill one is, perhaps, the best thing. It makes sense that it’s the final melee combat skill. Even if it starts a fight, eliminating the heavy Freaker before things get hairy makes all the difference.
Days Gone Ranged Combat Skills
Level 1 – Focused Shot
Focused Shot is a must-have skill in Days Gone. Focus essentially allows you to slow down time while you’re aiming a ranged weapon. It’s a common-enough feature in action-RPG games nowadays, but there’s a good reason for that. It helps a lot. With Freakers having erratic head movements and human enemies continually popping in and out of cover, Focused Shot is a useful skill to have.
Level 1 – Fight And Flight
This skill provides an important unseen bonus to players who enjoy a run-and-gun approach. It means you can strafe while aiming with greater accuracy. Although you may want to avoid this, sometimes the situation demands a little strafing. With Fight and Flight, you’ll be able to make sure you’re making every bullet count.
Level 1 – Vicious Cycle
This is an interesting skill that might take a hot minute to get used to using. However, when you can use it effectively… It’s well worth it. This gives Deacon the ability to deal massive ranged damage with his first ranged attack following a melee attack. This can be useful in taking down Breakers in a high-risk, high-reward attack strategy.
Level 2 – Suppressing Fire
This skill increases the efficiency of ranged attacks against weaker enemies when using Focus. So, the question is why wouldn’t you pick it? This can be particularly useful if you’re trying to mow down the remnants of a horde with a machine gun as it only affects the time Focus is active.
Level 2 – Crowd Control
Crowd Control is the perfect accompaniment to Suppressing Fire as it reduces the cooldown of Focus. Focus Cocktails are a thing and they work in a similar way to Stamina and Health Cocktails. However, reducing the natural cooldown of Focus is definitely worthwhile. You’ll find yourself using it a lot throughout. It is especially useful while using any Semi-Automatic Rifle or Sniper.
Level 2 – Hyperfocus
Much like Juice Up affects Stamina Cocktails, Hyperfocus improves the efficiency of Focus Cocktails. It does this by improving the initial recovery and duration of a Focus Cocktail. While these are perhaps less useful than Stamina and Health Cocktails, it’s always worth making sure any item is as efficient as it can be.
Level 3 – On The Move
On The Move is a vital skill for the run-and-gun Days Gone players out there. It adds the ability to reload a ranged weapon while sprinting. Taking on a horde with a Light Machine Gun? They take a ridiculous time to reload and Deacon can only run so fast without sprinting. Although Sprinting will still use up Stamina while doing this, it is incredibly useful in tight spots.
Level 3 – Iron Grip
This skill acts as a natural foregrip that affects every ranged weapon. It significantly reduces recoil across the board and is a must-have skill. Ranged weapons in Days Gone are inaccurate at the best of times and there isn’t any option to customise them. So, anything that can improve accuracy is well-worth having.
Level 3 – Nocked Up
This skill is only important if you use any Crossbows. That being said, if you do use a Crossbow, you need this skill. It simply increases the damage of crossbow bolts, making them all the more lethal. There are a few skills further up from this that help make the Crossbow a viable Special Weapon pick. What’s also handy is that they’re naturally silent, making them perfect for stealth-based combat.
Level 4 – Under Pressure
Under Pressure… Pushing down on Deacon, pushing down on you…
This skill is another that will make a huge difference in your ranged efficiency while playing. It removes Focus consumption while you’re reloading a weapon. This means that all your Focus can be used on landing ranged attacks and dealing damage. Combined with Focus Cocktails and other Focus-based skills, it’s hard to imagine you’ll ever miss a shot again!
Level 4 – Quick Reload
If you don’t have Under Pressure, this is vital. If you do have Under Pressure, this will make you all the more efficient. Quick Reload does exactly what you think it does. It makes reloading ranged weapons quicker. This means that you wont have to sprint as much when reloading heavier weapons and you can spend more of your time shooting your enemies!
Level 4 – Deadshot
This, when combined with Iron Grip, makes for the optimum ranged weapon stability and accuracy. Primarily, this will come in useful while using scoped ranged weapons, reducing sway. As you can imagine, this isn’t as affected when using Focus. However, out of Focus, it’s a good one to have.
Level 5 – Up The Ante
Find yourself always running out of ammo? Well, Up The Ante is for you! This increases the ammo capacity for all ranged weapons and is perfect for the player who is always on the go. It is time consuming to visit a camp and stockpile on ammo, so Up The Ante will make sure that you don’t have to do that as often. This is best coupled with increasing the Ammo Capacity on Deacon’s Motorcycle, too. That way you’ll never have to go back to Copeland!
Level 5 – Two Birds, One Bullet
Two Birds, One Bullet is the perfect skill for players who are about to go out hunting Hordes. This increases the projectile penetration for ranged weapons, meaning that you’ll be able to mow down more Freakers with your machine guns. It can also be useful when using Snipers and the Crossbow, if you’re looking to pull off a few collateral kills.
Level 5 – Head Rush
This skill is another must-have. It adds health recovery to headshot kills and, with ammo limited in Days Gone, you’ll find yourself getting quite a few of these. It improves Deacon’s survivability and can get you out of a tight spot if you’re low on health. It’s the final Ranged Skill, but one you should try to get as soon as you can.
Days Gone Survival Skills
Level 1 – Eye For Detail
This is the first entry in the Days Gone Survival skills tree and it is a handy one. It increases the time that icons appear in Survival Vision, making it a lot more effective. Coupled with Ear To The Ground and you’ll be able to plan your attacks with a lot more effectiveness.
Level 1 – Hawkeyed
Hawkeyed is useful for those Drifters among us who prefer to craft their Cocktails and enjoy foraging. It adds Plants to the Mini-map and means that you’ll be able to find the ingredients you need with a lot less searching. It might not be the most important Survival skill to have, but it can be useful if you don’t want to spend your time hunting plants.
Level 1 – Thorn In Your Side
This is a great skill if you are building on the Crossbow-related skills. It adds a chance factor to Crossbow shots that will enable you to retrieve some of the ones you have fired. If you’re not one to collect resources often, this is extremely useful. Even if you do forage often, it’s a good thing to have when using crossbow as it will save you valuable crafting time during a fight.
Level 2 – Eagle-Eyed
Eagle-Eyed, coupled with Focus, can take Deacon from an Average Marksman to a Long-Range Killing Machine. Okay, that and your skill but with Eagle-Eyed it’s a lot easier. This skill increases the range of Survival Vision and is one of the must-have Days Gone skills.
Level 2 – Thief In The Night
If you prefer a quieter approach to combat situations, which is advisable in Days Gone, Thief In the Night is the perfect skill for you. It doesn’t completely eliminate noise, but it does reduce the sounds Deacon makes while moving and dropping. You won’t be able to just sprint around, but it can help you get closer to people while lowering the risk of detection. This is especially handy when evading NERO Agents.
Level 2 – Green Thumb
Okay, so you’ve added plants to your Mini-map, right? Now, you can reduce the time spent foraging even more with Green Thumb. This is a simple one: Green Thumb doubles the resources you gather when collecting plants. This cuts your foraging time in half and means you’ll have more time to kill… By killing!
Level 3 – The Butcher
Much like Green Thumb helps Deacon maximise the efficiency of his plant-gathering, The Butcher increases the amount of meat Deacon gathers from animal carcasses. This is beyond helpful as hunting can often bring the attention of Freakers. You want to make sure you’re getting what you need before running for your life, right?
Level 3 – Catch Your Breath
Catch Your Breath is a must-have skill in Days Gone. As I’ve said before, Stamina is everything. It’s pivotal to your survival as Deacon in the Freaker-infested world of Days Gone. This reduces the cooldown on stamina recovery, meaning that Deacon will be able to get back to sprinting and rolling a lot sooner. Couple this with Just Roll With It, for example, and you should be able to keep a comfortable distance between you and the enemy.
Level 3 – Ear To The Ground
Ear To The Ground highlights enemies in Survival Vision and can be utilised in a number of situations. Need help picking enemies off from a distance? Well… Make them obvious targets. Sneaking through an area? Ear To The Ground will make sure you don’t turn a corner and come face-to-face with an opponent. It’s beyond useful and a must-have.
Level 4 – Monkey Wrench
Scrap is tough to come by out and about. Not only do you need it to repair weaponry, but also Deacon’s motorcycle. With Monkey Wrench, you can double the effectiveness of scrap while repairing the bike. This means you’ll be hunting for it less and you should run out of it a lot less. Can’t promise anything, so remember to keep an eye out for it, but this skill should definitely help.
Level 4 – Second Wind
Second Wind is important if you find yourself in tight spots a lot. It adds a degree of survivability that can turn a deadly situation into a close call. Second Wind gives Deacon an extra burst of adrenaline when he’s low on health. It won’t be enough to make you invincible but it will buy you enough time to regroup and heal-up.
Level 4 – Carry That Weight
I cannot recommend Carry That Weight enough. It’s one of the most useful skills in Days Gone purely for the fact that it means you don’t have to constantly watch your resources and supplies. It increases Deacon’s inventory space for crafting components, traps, and throwables. Not only does this mean you’ll have to stop and hut for them less… It also means you have more at your disposal to take on large groups and Freaker Hordes.
You can also craft on the go, so if you’re fully stocked with the right crafting components too…
Level 5 – The Alchemist
Much like Juice Up and Hyperfocus, The Alchemist improves the initial recovery and duration of the craft-able and find-able Health Cocktails. This improved effectiveness means you won’t need to use as many and will help see you through more fights than you could before. It can be especially useful in gunfights, as you can’t run away from them as easily as you can a few Freakers.
Level 5 – Shape Up
Shape Up is the perfect accompaniment to Catch Your Breath. It significantly increases Stamina regeneration rates and is beyond useful. I’m trying not to keep saying these are must-have skills, but this one definitely is. Stamina is important, as I’ve said before, and this makes sure Deacon has some at all times.
Level 5 – Six Feet Over
This is the final skill in the Days Gone Survival skill tree and it’s a pretty useful one if you find yourself always under fire. Six Feet Over adds stamina regen to damage-taking. It isn’t a lot, but it can be the difference between rolling away from a horde and being caught in the mixer. It also can be useful in melee combat as this drains Deacon’s stamina. So, if you’re in the thick of a fight this could help you keep swinging and, hopefully, come out on top.
Days Gone is coming to the PlayStation 5 with 60FPS and 4K Enhancements as a free upgrade for owners and as a part of the PS Plus Collection.
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