Select Language:
Before you set out on the harsh landscape of Scum‘s prison island, it’s essential to create your character. Although the character creation process may appear straightforward—with just four Attributes and a few Skills—it’s crucial to tailor your choices for early survival.
Since your character’s abilities improve based on usage, prioritizing skills that you will actively utilize in the beginning can greatly enhance your chances of survival before you expand into other areas.
How Does Character Creation Work in Scum?
Once you finalize your character’s looks, it’s time to assign their stats. Start by determining their Attributes, then continue to Skills.
Attributes
You have twelve points to allocate among four Attributes, with each starting at 3.0. Adjust the sliders to change these Attributes in increments of 0.1.
Note: The maximum for any Attribute is 5.0.
Besides influencing how many Skill points you can assign in each category, each Attribute has specific effects:
Attribute | Skill Category | Effects |
---|---|---|
Strength | Combat Skills | Increases maximum carry weight and melee damage. |
Constitution | Movement Skills | Boosts overall health, stamina, and resistances. |
Dexterity | Vehicle and Stealth Skills | Enhances speed and reduces action time. |
Intelligence | Crafting and Survival Skills | Accelerates Skill leveling and enables larger squad sizes. |
Tip: While Sniping and Camouflage fall under Intelligence, they align more with Skills from the other categories.
Skills
Skill points are assigned like Attribute points—you receive double the number of Skills for each relevant Attribute. However, Skills don’t just rely on their quantity; putting points into them helps progress toward their next experience level, which is essential.
For instance, as you slide the Archery point up, you’ll notice a bar filling up. Once it’s complete, Archery advances from No Skill to Basic. You won’t gain immediate benefits from Skills that haven’t reached their next level, but you can improve them in-game through practice, like shooting arrows with a bow.
Which Attributes Should You Focus On?
At character creation, it’s wise to reduce points in Constitution and Dexterity to bolster Strength and Intelligence. Early on, even a lone roaming Puppet can pose a serious danger. A higher Strength will increase your combat effectiveness, making it easier to fight, especially unarmed. Intelligence is key too, as it allows you to invest in crucial Skills and speeds up leveling for those that you couldn’t max out initially.
While Dexterity and Constitution hold value, they’re less critical at the start. You can compensate for losses in speed and stamina simply by enhancing the two Skills under Constitution: Running and Endurance.
Tip: With a high Intelligence, Skills will level up as you navigate the island, consequently boosting your Constitution score for better health.
Moving a point from Dexterity and Constitution to Strength and Intelligence results in a solid 4/3/3/4 stat line, providing numerous benefits without too many drawbacks.
Which Skills Should You Prioritize?
To make your Skills effective in Scum, it’s crucial to concentrate your points rather than spreading them thin. Choose the Skills you need immediately, ensuring they’re at least Basic. Key Skills can even reach Medium without severely impacting others.
Strength Skills
Focus on Brawling, Melee Weapons, and Archery. Firearms skills can wait—it’s likely to be a while until you come across a gun, and resources like ammunition will be scarce. It’s more sensible to be prepared to fight with improvised weapons.
Constitution Skills
Level up both Constitution Skills to at least Basic. If you have additional points, aim to increase Endurance. Getting it to Medium is beneficial; otherwise, you can capitalize on its slower leveling later.
Tip: Increasing Endurance in-game means moving while carrying heavy loads. Initially, it’s better to travel light, so you’ll likely find success in running while your Endurance builds up later.
Dexterity Skills
Dexterity Skills require advanced knowledge, and you probably won’t get a vehicle running for some time. However, investing in Stealth can be effective for avoiding detection. Thievery might also save valuable lockpicks.
Tip: Consider investing in vehicle Skills like Aviation, but only if you are more experienced, as early investments in complex Skills may not yield immediate benefits.
Intelligence Skills
Focus on Awareness and Survival. Awareness boosts your chances of finding items while searching, and Survival can reduce crafting costs. If you have leftover points, consider Engineering, which helps in constructing structures for your base.
By selectively investing in Attributes and Skills, you’ll set your character on a strong path to thrive in the dangerous world of Scum.