Dying Light 2 best skills: What are the best parkour and combat skills to get first in Dying Light 2?

Making use of Dying Light 2 skills is the main thing standing between you and the gnashing teeth of hordes of infected.

Upgrades are divided into two main paths: Combat and Parkour. Deciphering the best skill upgrades in Dying Light 2 is going to take some work, especially when considering there are various play styles and boatloads of mechanics to take into account.

We'll be walking you through how to go about unlocking player-driven upgrades, the best skills to actually unlock in both the combat and parkour categories, and much more.

On this page:

Dying Light 2 Stay Human Skill Trees Reveal

How do skills in Dying Light 2 work?

Dying Light 2's skills are earned through gaining XP in both the Combat and Parkour categories. For example, if you smash the faces of a couple bandits in with a sledgehammer, you're going to gain a bunch of Combat-specific XP, whereas if you race back and forth along rooftops, somersaulting over infected and buildings alike, you'll accrue Parkour XP.

It's through this that you'll get Combat and Parkour upgrade points. The actual act of unlocking upgrades in Dying Light 2 only ever costs one upgrade point in either category. You're not going to come across a certain upgrade ability that costs two, three, or even four upgrade points to purchase in either category, for example.

Dying Light 2's upgrades are always active abilities that you can deliberately trigger. For example, the Combat upgrade path has an ability where you can jump into the air and slam down on a foe, while the Parkour upgrade path has an ability which lets you briefly run up walls to reach ledges and handholds that'd otherwise be out of your reach.

Now that you know all about how upgrades work, our how to get XP fast explainer can show the easiest way to start unlocking them.

Looking for more help? We have system explainers for crossplay and how to play co-op as well as how long it takes to beat Dying Light 2. For upgrades, there are factions to consider, our recommendations for the best skills and how to get XP fast. As for things to find, there are Inhibitor locations, Windmill locations and our explainer on how to unlock fast travel. Finally, we also explain how to complete the early meet the people of the Bazaar objective and the various Dying Light 2 endings.

Best parkour and combat skill upgrades in Dying Light 2

Identifying the best skills in Dying Light 2 can be a little tricky. This is chiefly because everyone will have their preferred way of playing Techland's sequel: one player might like to sneak around an encampment, taking enemies out with bows and knives, while others might like to bullrush the entire group with a massive two-handed weapon.

Nonetheless, there are a distinct few upgrades in Dying Light 2 that we really recommend, no matter how you prefer playing.

Best Parkour skills:

• Firm Grip - Grab onto a ledge and pull yourself up, if it's the first ledge you hit after running out of stamina.
• Stealth Movement - Move much faster while crouched in stealth.
• Wall Run - Briefly run up a wall to grab onto a ledge.
• Active Landing - Press a button just before landing to eliminate fall damage.

Best Combat skills:

• Air Kick - Deliver a massive kick to enemies when dropping onto them from above.
• Grapple - Throw attacking enemies off balance with a single button press.

We found that once you have the above, then exploration and fighting became much easier.

Best of luck with your upgrades of choice!