Struggling to decide which Dying Light 2 skills to choose? To fend off zombies in the virus-infested city of Villedor you need every boon you can get. Whether you prefer to keep to the quieter rooftops or drop right into the action, skills will make sure you're well prepared for whatever the game throws at you.
There are lots of skills to pick from, and as you don't get to choose new skills often, you should think carefully before deciding which to settle on. That said, here's a list of all the Dying Light 2 skills and which ones you should prioritise to get the greatest advantage in movement or combat with living and infected enemies alike.
Dying Light 2 skills: What to pick first
Your first combat skill has to be Vault Kick: it's the only available choice for beginners and needs to be unlocked before the rest of the skill tree becomes available. Luckily, it's a great one, letting you use a stunned enemy as a springboard to launch a two-footed kick at another enemy. If you kick stuns someone, you can vault right back over them and launch another kick, so it's a fun, damage-chaining skill to have.
Perfect Dodge makes a nice companion to it, since a well-timed dodge will stagger an enemy performing a light attack, letting you launch into a Vault Kick, so it's a nice pick for your second combat skill. Rather than going for Grapple or Grapple Throw as your next two picks, however, go for Air Kick, which lets you drop down on enemies from above with a power kick. More importantly, it opens up Dropkick for your next choice, the utterly awesome two-footed flying kick that sends bandits and zombies soaring off rooftops or flying into spiked walls. It's the best (or at least the most fun) combat skill in Dying Light 2.
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Unless you're heavily into stealth I'd hold off on picking Stab or Stab Followup for a while—you can already choke out unaware enemies from behind (yes, even zombies) and while stabbing them is a little quicker it requires you to have a throwing knife. Instead opt for Power Attack, great for big two-handed weapons aimed at stunned or slow enemies. Perfect Parry also staggers opponents with a well-timed block, but more importantly leads to Block Projectiles. In big fights, a few enemy bandits love hanging back and shooting arrows or throwing knives.
For Parkour skills, your first pick has to be High Jump, and you should spend your second on Firm Grip. It lets you make one last grab when your stamina is spent and lets you hold on when you land on a ledge after a long fall or jump. It's critical for avoiding a deadly plunge. With Active Landing you can tap Ctrl after a long fall to take less damage and roll through the landing, important when you're being chased. Far Jump will let you push off obstacles like they're springboards, so pick that next. Eventually spend a point on Dart, which lets you sprint (yes, sprinting requires its own skill), and Bash which lets you plow through enemies, scattering them like bowling pins, while Dart is active.
Sleek Runner speeds up your parkour, but it also leads to Slide, which isn't strictly necessary, but is extremely fun to do. Finally, you want to wall run, right? Nothing else makes you feel like a parkour expert like running along a wall. When you've raised your stamina enough, unlock Tic Tac (wall running), Wall Run (run up walls with no handholds) and Wall Run Jump (run up a smooth wall and leap). No building can stop you from climbing it now.
Dying Light 2 skills list
Combat
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Vault Kick | Jump over staggered enemies and follow up with a kick. |
| Perfect Dodge | Dodge at just the right time to Stagger an enemy. |
| Grapple | Use the momentum of attacking enemies to throw them to the side. |
| Grapple Throw | Increase the momentum of enemies thrown with Grapple to knock them to the ground. |
| Air Kick | When dropping onto enemies from above, nail them with a power kick. |
| Drop Kick | Perform a powerful kick while jumping. |
| Vault Power Kick | Add force to your Vault Kick and send enemies flying. |
| Head Stomp | Headstomp enemies that lay on the ground. |
| Perfect Parry | Perform a Perfect Block to Stagger your enemy for longer and trigger a slo-mo effect that allows additional follow-up actions to be executed more easily. |
| Block Charge | When blocking, charge at an enemy in front of you and knock them to the ground. |
| Block Projectiles | Block incoming projectiles like knives and arrows. |
| Deflect Projectiles | Deflect an incoming projectile and send it back to your attacker. |
| Power Attack | Perform a powerful attack that deals more damage, interrupts enemy attacks and blocks. |
| Windmill | Perform a powerful attack that hits all enemies around you. |
| Ground Pound | Perform a powerful attack while in mid-air. |
| Stab | Quickly take down an unaware enemy (requires a Knife). |
| Stab Followup | Automatically throw a knife at another enemy after performing Stab (requires a Knife). |
| Ledge Takedown | Quickly take down enemies by pulling them down from a Ledge. |
| Precise Aiming | Increase your aim with all ranged weapons. |
| Parkour Shot | Gain the ability to use ranged weapons while parkouring. |
| Power Shot | Adds piercing and weapon damage to all ranged weapon shots. |
| Serial Shot | Allows you to fire up to three projectiles at the same time. |
| Smash | Smash enemy heads while dropping onto them from above. |
| Smash Jump | Perform a jump right after Smash, giving you the opportunity to follow up with another aerial attack. |
Parkour
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| High Jump | Allows you to jump higher and reach higher ledges. |
| Active Landing | Reduce fall damage and keep your momentum. |
| Safe Landing | Increases the height from which you can land without taking any damage. |
| Landing Jump | Jump instantly from an Active Landing. |
| Firm Grip | Make the last climb on ledges even when your stamina is gone and briefly maintain your grip when you land on ledges from great heights. |
| Fast Climb | Move faster on ledges when moving up and to either side. |
| Ledge Jump | Jump while climbing on ledges to get higher more quickly. |
| Far Jump | Use any obstacle to spring from it and jump further. |
| Double Jump | Reach even greater heights while jumping off obstacles. |
| Rotate Jump | Turn 180 degrees during a jump. |
| Sleek Runner | Increase your speed while navigating tricky obstacles like slopes, balance boards, climbing pipes, wall openings, etc. |
| Stealth Movement | Increase your overall speed and mobility while sneaking. Gain the ability to perform a Crouch Jump. |
| Crowd Runner | Run through a group of enemies without losing any momentum and lowering the damage you receive. |
| Slide | Slide while running to pass through low holes in walls and other passages. |
| Slide Jump | Perform a jump directly from a Slide without losing any momentum. |
| Dart | Temporarily increases your movement speed, which allows you to jump across wider gaps, reach higher ledges or run longer on walls. |
| Dash | Dash for as long as your stamina lasts. |
| Afterboost | Gain a brief burst of speed after performing specific parkour moves. |
| Enemy Jump | Jump off enemies while in Dart/Dash. |
| Bash | Bash through obstacles and enemies without stopping. |
| Tic Tac | Run alongside vertical surfaces. |
| Wall Run | Run upwards on vertical surfaces. |
| Wall Combo | Combine Tic Tacs or Wall Runs into longer combos. |
| Wall Run Jump | Jump up while performing a Wall Run. |
