Top Skills for Outer Worlds 2

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Your Skills in The Outer Worlds 2 are a key part of how your character is built. They determine what kinds of checks you can pass and what dialogue options you have during conversations. With a total of 12 Skills to choose from, it can be tough to decide which ones to upgrade. The game tends to favor players who focus on a few specific talents to maximize their effectiveness. To make things easier, I’ve put together everything you need to know about Skills in TOW2, including which ones I think are most useful and how each benefits your gameplay and levels up.

All 12 Skills in The Outer Worlds 2 are useful, but some are more often helpful than others because the game frequently presents checks and interactions that rely on them. Based on that, I believe the top Skills to focus on are Engineering, Lockpick, Speech, and Sneak.

Engineering and Lockpick are great for accessing machinery and locked areas. This helps you gather extra loot and find important items or information for your quests. Speech is vital because the game has a lot of dialogue, and improving this skill gives you more ways to persuade or influence conversations. For combat players, investing in Sneak offers stealth options that let you take out enemies quickly with less hassle—an alternative to rushing in guns blazing. These Skills also unlock Perks, which can further tailor your approach and help you handle different situations.

That said, I wouldn’t recommend putting all your Skill Points into just these four. There are eight other Skills that provide valuable perks, especially with their unique traits and how they fit your playstyle. Sometimes, your chosen Background or Traits can also help, like if you don’t have a high Engineering level to open a door—maybe your Brawny trait allows you to rip it open instead.

Here’s a quick overview of the Skills and how they benefit you:

Engineering: Fix machinery and doors, plus gain minor damage resistance per level.
Explosives: Disarm traps, mines, and open certain doors, with increased damage and explosive resistance as you level up.
Guns: Boost your ranged damage and armor penetration.
Hack: Access terminals and systems, deal extra damage to certain enemies.
Leadership: Increase damage and health stats for your companions.
Lockpick: Pick locks and increase your evasion chance.
Melee: Improve close combat damage and damage reduction when blocking.
Medical: Extend your poison and toxin thresholds and deal more damage to creatures.
Observation: Find hidden objects and increase damage to weak spots.
Science!: Maximize gadget energy and enhance side effects caused by damage types.
Sneak: Increase sneak attack damage and reduce NPC detection.
Speech: Influence dialogue options and persuade with checks.

When leveling up, I recommend concentrating on three or four Skills, while occasionally adding points to others to unlock specific perks. The game doesn’t currently allow you to reset Skill Points later, so plan carefully. Spreading your points too thin will cause you to miss out on key opportunities, so avoid the mistake of trying to master everything at once—especially if a flaw like Easily Distracted pops up, as it can seriously weaken your build.

To sum up, your Skill choices shape how you experience the game, so pick those that match your preferred playstyle, whether sneaky, technical, or conversational. Just remember to prioritize a few Skills and use Traits and Backgrounds to fill in any gaps.