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Best early game Skills in Stellar Blade

The top early game Beta, Attack and Survival Skills for Eve.

stellar blade eve battling abaddon press image
Image credit: Shift Up

Picking the best early game Skills in Stellar Blade will help shape your first few hours with Eve and can determine how you tackle tough Naytibas, or more simply, how easy it is for you to survive in the brutal world you find yourself in.

During the first portion of Stellar Blade you will only have three skill trees available to you, Beta, Attack and Survival. You need to spend SP, collected through missions and battles, to unlock the skills in them.

Without further ado, here are the best early game skills in Stellar Blade.

Best early game Skills in Stellar Blade

Below, you can find our picks for the best early game skills in Stellar Blade. This list is based on several factors, how much we use the skill, how effective the skill is at giving you the upper hand against enemies, if the skill is easy to use and how much the overall skill improves your experience with Eve.

Before we get any further, this is a reminder that the choices in this list are subjective and may not be ones you agree with as everyone has different preferences.

stellar blade eve speaking to adam drone in eidos 7
Image credit: Eurogamer/Shift Up

Best early game Beta Skills

Our pick for the best early game Beta skill in Stellar Blade is Fragmentation. This skill is a booster for the Shield Breaker skill, and you'll find it on the bottom branch of the Beta skill tree.

The Fragmentation skill temporarily deals more damage to shields when attacking enemies after Shield Breaker. This is uesful across the board when fighting any enemy but it particularly shines when you're facing larger enemies with multiple shield bars or a big boss.

stellar blade beta skill tree fragmentation skill circled
Image credit: Eurogamer/Shift Up

Our second choice for the best early game Beta skill in Stellar Blade is Quadruplet and it's the fourth skill on the left branch on the Beta skil tree.

Quadruplet generates additional arcs to deal a final blow and stuns enemies. This Beta skill can easily take down larger Naytiba in a single blow and is especially easy to use if combine with a Beta charge boost skill from other trees. We found it particuarly useful in boss fights as it gives you more opportunities to damage them in a single swift motion.

stellar blade beta skill tree quadruplet skill circled
Image credit: Eurogamer/Shift Up

Best early game Attack Skills

Our first choice for the best early game Attack skill in Stellar Blade is Ambush. This is the second option on the top left branch of the Attack skill tree and it's one we highly advise spending SP on the moment it unlocks.

The Ambush skill allows you to, as the name suggests, ambush an unsuspecting enemy from behind and often allows Eve to kill them with that one attack. Be careful though, if the enemy you're attempting to use this on spots you or is on high-alert the prompt to use it won't appear. Also, the Camouflage-Type Exospine reduces the chance of being spotted before performing an Ambush.

stellar blade attack skill tree ambush skill circled
Image credit: Eurogamer/Shift Up

Our second choice for the best early game Attack skill in Stellar Blade is Infinite Rush. Now, this one can take a few hours to work towards, so Lightning Rush is a viable alternative if you want it. Infinite Rush is one of the last skills on the Attack branches at the bottom, but it's one well worth working towards.

Infinite Rush increases the charging distance and attack power of rush, which makes it more effective than Lightning Rush. The more areas you explore the more powerful the Naytiba and enemies become. Having this skill in your inventory coupled with Ambush will help you survive.

stellar blade attack skill tree infinite rush skill circled
Image credit: Eurogamer/Shift Up

Best early game Survival Skills

Finally, our first pick for the best early game Survival skill in Stellar Blade is Blink. This is a secondary choice on the bottom right branch of the Survival Skill tree. We cannot stress how much we recommend purchasing this skill as soon as it's available, it has gotten us out of trouble time and time again on our adventures. We actually found ourselves goading enemies into attacking us to use it.

Blink allows Eve to dodge an incoming attack and teleport behind the enemy, which then stuns the enemy. If Eve's attack lands Burst Energy will be charged. However, Blink can only be used when an enemy is attempting a fatal attack - when this happens Eve's blade will glow the same colour being shown by the enemy and this is the sign you can use Blink.

stellar blade survival skill tree blink skill circled
Image credit: Eurogamer/Shift Up

Our second choice for the best early game Attack skill in Stellar Blade is Repulse and it's from the same branch as Blink only it's a bit further along.

Repulse pushes the enemy away and makes Eve step back which temporarily increases her ranged attack power. Then, if the move is excecuted properly, an enemy's weakness will be highlighted for a short period of time. However, Repulse can only be used when an enemy is attempting a fatal attack. If you're going to be able to use the move the enemy will flash purple and Eve's blade will match it. The moment the blade goes, pull the move.

stellar blade survival skill tree repulse skill circled
Image credit: Eurogamer/Shift Up

We also have an honourable mention for this category and that's Focus Boost. This skill can be found as a second choice on the top branch of the Surival skill tree and it makes it easier to use Perfect Parry.

The reason we've mentioned this one to you is that using Parry is a crucial part of surviving in Stellar Blade. Many enemies you face will have attacks that you'll need to Parry to safely get away from and, if you struggle with your timing, this skill will help you out. If that wasn't enough, pulling off a Perfect Parry lets you knock an enemy off balance too.

stellar blade survival skill tree focus boost skill circled
Image credit: Eurogamer/Shift Up

That's it for now! If you're looking for more Stellar Blade content then check out our pages showing you how to fast travel and how to get Vitcoins. Also, we've got a page showing you the Simple Puzzle solution and a Plan to Clean the Earth walkthrough.

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