The Basics
Every character has access to 110 skills grouped into 11 skill trees:
- Combat — melee, firearms, tactics, grenades
- Survival — hunger, thirst, cold resistance, stamina
- Medical — bandaging, diagnosis, surgery, pharmacology
- Crafting — carpentry, metalwork, tailoring, cooking
- Scouting — stealth, navigation, tracking, binoculars
- Engineering — vehicles, electronics, weapons smithing
- Social — negotiation, trading, intimidation, deception
- Hunting — tracking, butchering, fishing, trapping
- Farming — horticulture, animal husbandry, food preservation
- Looting — lockpicking, scavenging, disarming traps
- Leadership — crew buffs, morale, command presence
XP Sources
Every activity awards XP:
- Completing quests
- Killing infected / animals
- Harvesting resources
- Crafting items
- Healing allies
- Trading with NPCs
Unlocking Skills
- Press F6 in-game to open the skill tree
- Skills unlock at character levels (every 2 levels = 1 skill point)
- Type
/unlock <skill_id>or click in the skill tree UI - Some skills have prerequisite skills
Character Level
Character level is derived from total XP earned. Every level raises your effective combat rating and grants one skill point every other level.
See the Karma and Reputation pages for how your level and skill choices affect faction standing.