The Best Skills to Level First in The Outer Worlds 2: Full Guide

Building a strong character in The Outer Worlds 2 isn’t just about grabbing whatever looks cool on the skills screen. Obsidian’s sequel leans harder into specialization, pushing you to commit early and shape your character around a few core strengths. Pick well, and the campaign opens up with better loot paths, smoother quest resolutions, and far fewer headaches in tough combat zones. Pick poorly, and you’ll feel that sting every time a locked chest or NPC check shuts you out of an opportunity.

This guide walks through the most important skills worth investing in, how they interact with perks, and why some underdogs can still shine depending on your preferred style.

S-Tier Skills: Core Power Picks You Shouldn’t Ignore

Some skills simply define your run. Whether you want easier access to gear, more dialogue control, or the ability to bypass entire encounters, these S-tier standouts make the game smoother from beginning to end.

Lockpick

Lockpick is a top-tier investment for one reason: The Outer Worlds 2 loves hiding its best loot behind locked containers. Raising this skill pays dividends from your very first hours. Even moderate skill ranks let you crack open restricted storage rooms, high-value safes, and shortcut routes through hostile areas. As an added bonus, Lockpick quietly boosts your evasion, making your character harder to hit during chaotic fights.

If you enjoy hoarding valuables, optimizing your gear loadout, or simply avoiding resource starvation early on, Lockpick remains a cornerstone pick for any build.

Hack

If Lockpick is your key to physical spaces, Hack is your passport to the digital side of the world. Terminals are everywhere in The Outer Worlds 2—controlling security systems, unlocking optional lore, and opening new infiltration routes across major hubs. Higher Hack ranks allow you to shut down auto-mechanicals or flip their allegiances, making tough outposts vastly more manageable.

With perks that amplify tech manipulation and a baked-in damage bonus against robotic enemies, Hack is one of the smartest long-term investments you can make.

Speech

Few skills have as much narrative weight as Speech. The more you invest, the more often you can redirect tense conversations, secure peaceful solutions, or take advantage of rival factions. Speech checks appear in major story missions, companion arcs, and faction negotiations, making this skill invaluable if you want a campaign full of alternate outcomes.

The built-in damage boost against human enemies is a nice touch, though the real reward is the flexibility it gives you in shaping story decisions.

A-Tier Skills: Strong Picks That Complement Most Builds

These skills might not shape your entire character fantasy, but they dramatically enhance specific playstyles and shore up weak points. They deliver reliable value throughout the campaign, making them excellent secondary investments once your core priorities are covered.

Guns

Ranged combat dominates many encounters in The Outer Worlds 2, so any build that leans on rifles, pistols, or assault weapons benefits directly from this skill line. Guns improves your base damage and adds useful armor penetration, helping you handle tougher humanoids and hardened mech plating.

Even non-combat-focused builds appreciate a few early points here for general survivability.

Science

Science supports elemental and gadget-based approaches to combat. By increasing gadget energy and enhancing status-effect stacks, this skill becomes incredibly potent if you rely on shock, plasma, corrosive, or bleed weapons. Science is also tightly intertwined with perk unlocks that upgrade experimental gear, making it a top secondary pick for long-range fighters.

Leadership

Companions play a significant role this time around, with improved combat abilities and more active battlefield contributions. Leadership amplifies their damage and durability, giving you stronger frontliners who can distract enemies or help burst down priority targets. If you’re traveling with a full squad, Leadership pays off immediately.

B-Tier Skills: Situational but Useful in the Right Hands

These skills aren’t essential for the average run, but they can shine if you build around their strengths. They often become far more impactful when paired with the right perks or companion abilities, allowing them to outperform expectations in focused builds.

Melee

A melee-focused build is absolutely viable, just not as universally reliable. Enemies often try to keep distance or focus on ranged suppression, which makes closing the gap tricky without perks or companion support. Still, if you enjoy high-risk, high-impact combat, the damage bump and block mitigation make Melee a solid specialization.

Medical

Medical offers incremental survivability boosts and some niche bonuses against creatures. The issue is simple: healing items are plentiful, and companions often bring support skills that fill the same gap. A few ranks can help, but it rarely deserves priority over more impactful choices.

C-Tier Skills: Low-Impact Picks Unless You Have a Niche Build

Players who enjoy experimentation might find value here, but for most builds these skills offer too little for the investment. These abilities often shine only in very specific scenarios, making them difficult to justify during a standard playthrough.

Explosives

Explosives increase grenade effectiveness and give minor resistance to blast damage. It’s fun but rarely optimal. Grenade drops are inconsistent, and perks tied to this tree don’t synergize as well as core offensive skills.

Engineering

Engineering lets you clear some mechanical issues and grants light damage resistance. The problem is overlap: Hack already covers a broad range of machine-based interactions. You’ll only feel Engineering’s value in very specific situations.

Sneak

Sneak sounds appealing, but stealth is demanding in The Outer Worlds 2. If you can’t kill an enemy in one strike—which is often the case early on—your entire plan collapses. The detection reduction helps, but not enough to make Sneak reliable without heavy perk investments or strong late-game gear.

Observation

Observation highlights hidden objects and marginally increases weakpoint damage. Most interactables are obvious once you get close, and companions can even reveal things you miss. Unless you’re committed to completionist-level exploration, this skill is easy to skip.

By understanding how each skill scales and where it fits into your playstyle, you can build a character that feels powerful and efficient throughout the entire story. Whether you want to sneak through restricted zones, melt robots with elemental weapons, or talk your way into faction strongholds, dialing in your skill choices early will set you up for a far smoother campaign.