The best Atomfall Skills and how to unlock them

The player reloading a revolver in Atomfall. — (Image credit: Rebellion)

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Gunsmith
Recovery
Healing Boost
Quiet Takedown
Radiation Resistance
All Atomfall Skills list

The best Atomfall Skills aren't acquired in the usual way, as despite being an action-survival RPG, there's no experience points to be earned or skill points to be spent. You could, in theory, go through the entirety of Atomfall without acquiring a single Skill. So how do Skills work in Atomfall, and what are the best Skills to get?

To get Skills, you must first find Training Stimulants, which are an item usually found in BARD crates, and sometimes as floor loot, on shelves and the like. Each one of these is essentially akin to a skill point, then they can be spent on any available Skills. However, to unlock those Skills in the first place, you must also find Training Manuals, which reveals three Skills each depending on which category it pertains to. Got the hang of it? Then here are the best Atomfall Skills, followed by a complete list of all of them.

Atomfall Skill - Gunsmith

The Crafting Training Manual on Morris Wick's desk in Atomfall. — (Image credit: Rebellion)

You likely won't get your hands on it for a little while because the training manual you need can be found in Wyndham village, but when you do grab the Crafting manual, which can be obtained from Morris Wick in the hardware shop in exchange for your silence on an... incident, you can unlock Gunsmith for the princely cost of six Training Stimulants.

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Gunsmith allows you to upgrade your weapons, which means you can finally be done with those rusty firearms you've been using until now. Any two identical guns can be combined together to improve the quality to stock, then do the same again to improve it to pristine. As you get further into the game, having more powerful weapons is going to be a huge help.

Atomfall Skill - Recovery

The player fighting Protocol soldiers while low on health in Atomfall. — (Image credit: Rebellion)

Recovery is a Skill available from the very start of the game, it'll just cost you five Training Stimulants. How it works is simple: your health will regenerate faster when your health is low. While Fortitude is also useful because it increases your maximum health, Recovery will help out in those tricky combat situations where you're fighting for your life.

Atomfall Skill - Healing Boost

The Experimental Inoculation on a desk in Atomfall. — (Image credit: Rebellion)

Along similar lines, Healing Boost is also a huge boon, especially on higher difficulties (or Playstyles, as Atomfall refers to them as). This makes it so healing consumables – bandages, food, etc. – restore more health over time.

However, this one requires two things: four Training Stimulants, and the Experimental Inoculation, which can be found in the Forgotten Cellar under St. Katherine's Church. How do you get into it? Well, you'll just have to read our guide on how to open the Forgotten Cellar door in Atomfall to find out.

Atomfall Skill - Quiet Takedown

Bartering with Molly Jowett in Atomfall for the Stealth Training Manual. — (Image credit: Rebellion)

As outlined in our top Atomfall tips, stealth is your friend, but without any Skills it's quite difficult to do effectively. Quiet Movement is a recommended Skill because it reduces the sound of your footsteps, but even more importantly, Quiet Takedown muffles the sound of your takedowns, which is when you sneak up behind an enemy and one-hit-KO them.

For both of these Skills, you'll need to get the Stealth Training Manual, which can be bought from Molly Jowett, the trader in Slatten Dale. If you haven't found her yet, orient yourself as if you're leaving Wyndham into the Slatten Dale region, then take a right-hand turn and hug the wall until you spot a cloud of smoke coming out of a ruined house. You'll find Molly inside.

Atomfall Skill - Radiation Resistance

The Radiation Resistance skill in the menu in Atomfall. — (Image credit: Rebellion)

Finally, another Skill that requires the Experimental Inoculation and four Training Stimulants is Radiation Resistance. Taking the Experimental Inoculation automatically grants you Infection Resistance, but you'll need to spend your hard-earned Training Stimulants to get Radiation Resistance.

This does exactly what it says on the tin: provides resistance to all sources of radiation. Radiation is found more often the further into Atomfall you get, so taking this as soon as possible is a no-brainer.

All Atomfall Skills list

Here are all of the Atomfall Skills and their effects:

Ranged Combat

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Skill	Effect
Weapon Throw Training	Thrown weapons travel faster and deal more damage. Throwing a weapon at a target will stun them, leaving them vulnerable to increased damage. Bladed weapons may also fatally impale enemies.
Throwables Damage	Throwables deal more damage.
Throwables Radius	Increases throwables area of effect.
Firearms Stability	Reduces weapon fire recoil.
Firearms Handling	Reduces firearm sway when aiming down sights.
Firearms Focus	Increases firearm damage when your heart rate is low.
Draw Speed	Increases bow draw speed.
Draw Control	Heart rate no longer has an impact on draw duration for bows.
Bow Focus	You can briefly slow time while the bow is fully drawn.

Melee Combat

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Skill	Effect
Kick Stun Duration	Increases the stagger duration when enemies are kicked.
Kill Momentum	Defeating an enemy in melee combat grants a melee damage buff.
Thick Skin	Reduces damage from melee attacks.
Quiet Takedown	Takedowns create less noise.
Quiet Movement	Reduces the sound of your footsteps, making it more difficult for enemies to hear you.
Surprise Attack	Deal more damage to unaware enemies.
Melee Weapon Attack Power	Increases damage caused by melee weapons.
Seasoned Brawler	Substantially reduces the heart rate cost of melee attacks.
Heavy Melee Attack Power	Increases damage caused by heavy melee attacks.

Survival

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Skill	Effect
Disarm Traps	Disarm traps and harvest their crafting supplies.
Charisma	Your items are worth more when bartering.
Scavenger	Search bodies and containers faster.
Crafting Speed	Crafting time is substantially reduced.
Deep Pockets	Carry more crafting supplies and weapon ammo.
Gunsmith	Unlock recipes to craft upgraded weapons.
Blue Fingers	Harvest young spores from heavily infected sources.
Buff Duration	Effects from consumables last longer.
Gut Health	Food consumables also grant a damage resistance buff.

Conditioning

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Skill	Effect
Fortitude	Increases maximum health.
Recovery	Low health regeneration is faster and restores more health.
Endurance Training	Heart rate rises slower and recovers faster.
Burn Resistance	Provides resistance to all sources of burn.
Bleed Resistance	Provides resistance to all sources of bleed.
Poison Resistance	Provides resistance to all sources of poison.
Radiation Resistance	Provides resistance to all sources of radiation.
Infection Resistance	Provides resistance to all sources of infection.
Healing Boost	Healing consumables restore more health over time.

Still looking for more help with this British survival RPG? Then check out our guide on where to find the Atomfall Signal Redirector, and our overall Atomfall tips for survival in this harsh environment.