Best and worst, under- and overrated skills in your opinion
So, after many hours of gameplay, dozens of respecs, trying out and testing different skills and builds, reading here on forum and watching on Youtube other people's choices which skills invest points to, I decided to start this thread to discuss more specifically about available skills sharing my opinions and hoping for yours, and maybe providing some tips for others, especially for those who are new to the game.
I want to focus on the best and worst skills, worth or not investing points, but also talk about skills are under- or overrated in my opinion.
Best skills:
Acquired Tolerance (alchemy) - I think everyone agree this is one of the best skills in the game. The ability to boost maximum toxicity up to 240-250 which allows to use tons of potions or up to three decoctions is really useful at very cheap cost of just 3 points. Not worth getting right at the beginning of the game, but later after finding and crafting more potions. Personally one of my favorite and base skills.
Axii - Delusion (signs) - The most useful and cheap skill for story aspect, providing more dialogue options and rewarding with XP for every possible use. Really worth getting very early in the game. It also comes in handy during fights but from what I see it's not used for that very often.
Resolve (combat) - Many people underestimate adrenaline and often completely ignore this skill even when focusing on combat tree. I find +10% attack power per adrenaline point (up to +30% or +40% with potion) and no adrenaline loss for taking damage when this skill is maxed out much more useful than going for Muscle Memory and/or Strenght Training in the same tier which gives only +25% and only for one type of attacks. My another favorite and base skill.
Fleet Footed (combat) - Probably the best defensive skill in game, maxed out reduces damage taken while dodging to zero which gives some room for errors and allows more risky play. Even when you rely on Quen shield it still gives the advantage as the shield stays intact after getting hit and receiving zero damage.
Whirl (combat) - Powerful continuous special attack that wrecks everything and looks badass. What's not to love in it? Very useful against group of enemies and single strong enemies, especially when starting the fight with this attack which also can fill up adrenaline very fast. It's worth to put even 1 point into this skill for just the ability, many times using it in short bursts is enough.
Rend (combat) - I find it one of the best skills not because of it true purpose (which is very high damage based on stamina used and available adrenaline points) but for the ability to start the attack while in dodge, roll or counter animation and the fact this attack completely ignores enemy defense. And it's possible to spam it by holding the strong attack button shortly to just initiate the attack. It's the best supporting skill you can get for fast attack playstyle when fighting humans because some enemies can parry most of the fast attacks even when using whirl or worse, stagger you like those with long axes or spears, but they can't escape from rend. Basicaly instant rend is far more better than normal strong attack. It's not worth to max out the skill, 1/5 is enough as the further upgrades increase only critical hit chance which can be increased by potion.
Exploding Shield (signs) - Another very good and cheap defensive skill, most useful against groups. Pushing back enemies when shield breaks is really helpful and allow to immediately recast Quen. It doesn't matter against single strong enemies though.
Protective Coating (alchemy) - And yet another defensive skill, or more likely survival skill. +25% protection from oil targeted enemy type can make a big difference, especially later in game when enemies deal heavy damage and damage resistance become much more important than armor value. For longer fights it's good to have more than one pair of swords and put oil on both as you can't apply oil during fights (excluding PC where it's bugged when using mouse) so the sword can be changed when oil wears off, or use the skill for oils never wear off.
Fast Metabolism (alchemy) - This is the best skill when relying on potions and (when combined with Acquired Tolerance skill) decoctions. Toxicity drops so fast you can drink a potion and after 4-5 seconds it's zero again. No more worries you can't use potion because toxicity is too high. And this allows to drink potions even when three decoctions are active (in that case I'd recommend getting Heightened Tolerance to eliminate overdose). I'd say it's second best alchemy skill after Acquired Tolerance (or even better when not using decoctions). One of my favorite and base skills.
Worst skills:
Pretty much all crossbow related skills - Seriously, does anyone still uses crossbow except when underwater or on boat? Or for trophy? I even unequipped my crossbow and equip it only to fight enemies underwater.
Undying (combat) - The idea of this skill sounds great but it's executed very poorly. I tried different combinations (skill level and adrenaline points) and it's very unreliable skill. Even with 4 adrenaline points it doesn't restore the health to 50%. When fighting multiple high level enemies and they stun lock you this skill doesn't even matter as you get back about 20-40% of health and then receive 1-2 hits and you're dead. It could work against single powerful monsters with charge attacks. But in my opinion this skill is not worth investing into. Maybe if it would restore 100% health by using 1 adrenaline point when maxed out. Then the name Undying would be true and make sense, but also become overpowered, but on the other hand provide an alternative for heavy tank alchemy builds with high HP boost from alchemy skills and mutagens and much higher damage resistance from heavy armor.
Igni - Pyromaniac (signs) - Not even it's tier 4 skill it doesn't work like you would think it should. Maxed out increases chance to apply burning by 100% so you could think you have guarante burning from Igni no matter of enemy but it in fact depends on your sign intensity.
Adaptation (alchemy) - Yeah, right, increasing decoctions duration by 50% to make them last 2-3 hours would be very helpful. Total misunderstanding. You still need to meditate to refill bombs and potions and that cancels decoctions so what's the point? I don't believe someone would use the whole duration of decoction while normal play. I only once reached the point decoction expired by itself but it was about 40-50 minutes and I was collecting loot on the sea on Skellige.
Killing Spree (alchemy) - Totally useless, it's tier 4 skill and it also bugs DPS stats. Maxed out give 100% crit chance after 2nd kill and the same result you can get from potion.
Underrated skills:
Arrow Deflection (combat) - I only checked this skill some time ago, always thought it's not worth points but I quickly changed my mind after playing with it against 30-40 red skull guards. Also changed my playstyle to hold parry all the time when fighting humans. Never did that before. With this skill all fights with humans became easier when there were any archers. Now I get this skill every time when fighting humans.
Deadly Precision (combat) - Very expensive (tier 4, needs 30 points in the tree) but highly rewarding skill. At the beginning I thought "meh, only 1-2% instant kill chance? So low chance is like nothing, better go for guaranted bleeding", but it works very well for fast attack and adrenaline playstyle.
Overrated skills:
Muscle Memory and Strenght Training (combat) - Those two skills are good early skills, but later in game it's really waste of points which could be used for more useful skills. It's basically 10 points to get only 25% overall boost, 5 points when playing with only one type of attacks. And going for adrenaline and Resolve skill (which is the best choice to unlock next tier in my opinion) gives 10% boost per adrenaline point. And even bigger boost can give red mutagen. And there's a +5% rune too.
Crippling Strikes (combat) - The idea is pretty good, apply bleeding effect lasting 5 seconds by fast attack. But when focusing on fast attacks which is the most case when going for bleeding, it's very likely you land your next hit just right after the previous one and the bleeding damage doesn't cummulate. In most situations you won't hit and retreat with fast attack to wait bleeding stops. In my opinion this skill better suits strong attack playstyle. Wait for opportunity, main strong attack then fast attack to apply bleeding, dodge back.
Sign Intensity - the whole Tier 3 of sign tree - You need 5 points to get +25% intensity but just for one sign. I think it's waste, just one glyph can give +10%. You can get more from mutagen bonus.
Synergy (alchemy) - Getting 50% more from mutagen bonusses surely provide a nice boost for DPS and sign intensity, but I personally decided to get rid of it and choose skills which can provide advantage in different ways than just boosting stats. And since NG+ is out insane sign intensity or DPS is no longer required for the usual enemies.
What's your opinions? Which skills you find the best, worst or under- and overrated? What's your favorite skills?
So, after many hours of gameplay, dozens of respecs, trying out and testing different skills and builds, reading here on forum and watching on Youtube other people's choices which skills invest points to, I decided to start this thread to discuss more specifically about available skills sharing my opinions and hoping for yours, and maybe providing some tips for others, especially for those who are new to the game.
I want to focus on the best and worst skills, worth or not investing points, but also talk about skills are under- or overrated in my opinion.
Best skills:
Acquired Tolerance (alchemy) - I think everyone agree this is one of the best skills in the game. The ability to boost maximum toxicity up to 240-250 which allows to use tons of potions or up to three decoctions is really useful at very cheap cost of just 3 points. Not worth getting right at the beginning of the game, but later after finding and crafting more potions. Personally one of my favorite and base skills.
Axii - Delusion (signs) - The most useful and cheap skill for story aspect, providing more dialogue options and rewarding with XP for every possible use. Really worth getting very early in the game. It also comes in handy during fights but from what I see it's not used for that very often.
Resolve (combat) - Many people underestimate adrenaline and often completely ignore this skill even when focusing on combat tree. I find +10% attack power per adrenaline point (up to +30% or +40% with potion) and no adrenaline loss for taking damage when this skill is maxed out much more useful than going for Muscle Memory and/or Strenght Training in the same tier which gives only +25% and only for one type of attacks. My another favorite and base skill.
Fleet Footed (combat) - Probably the best defensive skill in game, maxed out reduces damage taken while dodging to zero which gives some room for errors and allows more risky play. Even when you rely on Quen shield it still gives the advantage as the shield stays intact after getting hit and receiving zero damage.
Whirl (combat) - Powerful continuous special attack that wrecks everything and looks badass. What's not to love in it? Very useful against group of enemies and single strong enemies, especially when starting the fight with this attack which also can fill up adrenaline very fast. It's worth to put even 1 point into this skill for just the ability, many times using it in short bursts is enough.
Rend (combat) - I find it one of the best skills not because of it true purpose (which is very high damage based on stamina used and available adrenaline points) but for the ability to start the attack while in dodge, roll or counter animation and the fact this attack completely ignores enemy defense. And it's possible to spam it by holding the strong attack button shortly to just initiate the attack. It's the best supporting skill you can get for fast attack playstyle when fighting humans because some enemies can parry most of the fast attacks even when using whirl or worse, stagger you like those with long axes or spears, but they can't escape from rend. Basicaly instant rend is far more better than normal strong attack. It's not worth to max out the skill, 1/5 is enough as the further upgrades increase only critical hit chance which can be increased by potion.
Exploding Shield (signs) - Another very good and cheap defensive skill, most useful against groups. Pushing back enemies when shield breaks is really helpful and allow to immediately recast Quen. It doesn't matter against single strong enemies though.
Protective Coating (alchemy) - And yet another defensive skill, or more likely survival skill. +25% protection from oil targeted enemy type can make a big difference, especially later in game when enemies deal heavy damage and damage resistance become much more important than armor value. For longer fights it's good to have more than one pair of swords and put oil on both as you can't apply oil during fights (excluding PC where it's bugged when using mouse) so the sword can be changed when oil wears off, or use the skill for oils never wear off.
Fast Metabolism (alchemy) - This is the best skill when relying on potions and (when combined with Acquired Tolerance skill) decoctions. Toxicity drops so fast you can drink a potion and after 4-5 seconds it's zero again. No more worries you can't use potion because toxicity is too high. And this allows to drink potions even when three decoctions are active (in that case I'd recommend getting Heightened Tolerance to eliminate overdose). I'd say it's second best alchemy skill after Acquired Tolerance (or even better when not using decoctions). One of my favorite and base skills.
Worst skills:
Pretty much all crossbow related skills - Seriously, does anyone still uses crossbow except when underwater or on boat? Or for trophy? I even unequipped my crossbow and equip it only to fight enemies underwater.
Undying (combat) - The idea of this skill sounds great but it's executed very poorly. I tried different combinations (skill level and adrenaline points) and it's very unreliable skill. Even with 4 adrenaline points it doesn't restore the health to 50%. When fighting multiple high level enemies and they stun lock you this skill doesn't even matter as you get back about 20-40% of health and then receive 1-2 hits and you're dead. It could work against single powerful monsters with charge attacks. But in my opinion this skill is not worth investing into. Maybe if it would restore 100% health by using 1 adrenaline point when maxed out. Then the name Undying would be true and make sense, but also become overpowered, but on the other hand provide an alternative for heavy tank alchemy builds with high HP boost from alchemy skills and mutagens and much higher damage resistance from heavy armor.
Igni - Pyromaniac (signs) - Not even it's tier 4 skill it doesn't work like you would think it should. Maxed out increases chance to apply burning by 100% so you could think you have guarante burning from Igni no matter of enemy but it in fact depends on your sign intensity.
Adaptation (alchemy) - Yeah, right, increasing decoctions duration by 50% to make them last 2-3 hours would be very helpful. Total misunderstanding. You still need to meditate to refill bombs and potions and that cancels decoctions so what's the point? I don't believe someone would use the whole duration of decoction while normal play. I only once reached the point decoction expired by itself but it was about 40-50 minutes and I was collecting loot on the sea on Skellige.
Killing Spree (alchemy) - Totally useless, it's tier 4 skill and it also bugs DPS stats. Maxed out give 100% crit chance after 2nd kill and the same result you can get from potion.
Underrated skills:
Arrow Deflection (combat) - I only checked this skill some time ago, always thought it's not worth points but I quickly changed my mind after playing with it against 30-40 red skull guards. Also changed my playstyle to hold parry all the time when fighting humans. Never did that before. With this skill all fights with humans became easier when there were any archers. Now I get this skill every time when fighting humans.
Deadly Precision (combat) - Very expensive (tier 4, needs 30 points in the tree) but highly rewarding skill. At the beginning I thought "meh, only 1-2% instant kill chance? So low chance is like nothing, better go for guaranted bleeding", but it works very well for fast attack and adrenaline playstyle.
Overrated skills:
Muscle Memory and Strenght Training (combat) - Those two skills are good early skills, but later in game it's really waste of points which could be used for more useful skills. It's basically 10 points to get only 25% overall boost, 5 points when playing with only one type of attacks. And going for adrenaline and Resolve skill (which is the best choice to unlock next tier in my opinion) gives 10% boost per adrenaline point. And even bigger boost can give red mutagen. And there's a +5% rune too.
Crippling Strikes (combat) - The idea is pretty good, apply bleeding effect lasting 5 seconds by fast attack. But when focusing on fast attacks which is the most case when going for bleeding, it's very likely you land your next hit just right after the previous one and the bleeding damage doesn't cummulate. In most situations you won't hit and retreat with fast attack to wait bleeding stops. In my opinion this skill better suits strong attack playstyle. Wait for opportunity, main strong attack then fast attack to apply bleeding, dodge back.
Sign Intensity - the whole Tier 3 of sign tree - You need 5 points to get +25% intensity but just for one sign. I think it's waste, just one glyph can give +10%. You can get more from mutagen bonus.
Synergy (alchemy) - Getting 50% more from mutagen bonusses surely provide a nice boost for DPS and sign intensity, but I personally decided to get rid of it and choose skills which can provide advantage in different ways than just boosting stats. And since NG+ is out insane sign intensity or DPS is no longer required for the usual enemies.
What's your opinions? Which skills you find the best, worst or under- and overrated? What's your favorite skills?
