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All The Last of Us 2 No Return Upgrade Paths

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Find out what Upgrade Path to pick in No Return when you have a choice

The Last Of Us 2 Upgrade Paths
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Picking the best The Last of Us 2 No Return Upgrade Path can make or break a run. These skills can be earned as rewards for completing certain encounters, or as starter abilities for some The Last of Us 2 No Return characters. They can have a huge impact on how far you get by enhancing stealth, certain weapons, crafting and more, so picking the right one when you see some options on the Planning Board, is vital. To help you do that, here are all the No Return Upgrade Paths in The Last of Us 2 No Return's roguelike mode I've encountered so far, along with some notes on what's best to use. I've also got some The Last of Us 2 No Return tips if you need some overall help staying alive.

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Generally you need an item or recipe to use an Upgrade Path that lists one, as the Path alone won't give you anything, just enhance your ability to use it. So the Double Craft Upgrade Path, for example, will let you turn Stun Bombs into Smoke Bombs but only if you have the Stun Bomb recipe to begin with. 

No Return Upgrade choice on planning board

(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

Generally, whenever you get a choice on the planning board it will include two Upgrade Path options. What's available could affect what route you end up taking, so check all the paths we have below using the list at the side and make sure you take the best one for your run. 

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Ally Upgrade Path

  1. Ally lethality - Lev fights harder and kills more
  2. Listen mode clarity - Listen mode is sharper
  3. Ally lethality+ - Lev fights even harder and kills even more

This is Yara's starting Upgrade Path to make use of her having Lev as a permanent Ally. As far as I've seen, it's unique to her. 

Archery Upgrade Path

  1. Craft more arrows - Craft more arrows from the same resources
  2. Craft explosive arrows - Unlocks craftable explosive arrows
  3. Craft more explosive arrows - Increases the amount of arrows made and what you can store in inventory

Lev's starter Upgrade Path helps him make use of his bow, but this option is available to other characters. 

The Last Of Us 2 No Return Brawler upgrades

(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

Brawler Upgrade Path

  1. Heal on Melee hit - Melee attacks restore health
  2. Momentum - Adds a short window where, after a high damage melee Strike, the next attack is an automatic Strike 
  3. Momentum duration - Increases the Momentum window length

Abby's starter Upgrade Path, which is available for other characters, focuses on melee attacks and its ability to heal from them is almost essential. 

Close Quarters Upgrade Path

  1. Craft melee upgrades - Upgrade melee weapons to restore durability and increase damage
  2. Improved melee upgrades - Craft extra durable upgrades
  3. Increased health - 25% more health

This is a general Upgrade Path available to all characters that, given how easy it is to end up in a melee fight, is a useful one to have. The health boost if you can max it out is also useful. 

The Last Of Us 2 No Return Covert Ops upgrades

(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

Covert Ops Upgrade Path

  1. Faster prone movement - Move 50% faster while lying prone
  2. Grabbed enemy movement speed - Move 50% faster with a hostage
  3. Faster stealth kills - Stealth kills are faster and less noticeable

This general Upgrade Path is a mixed bag: faster prone movement is of limited use, but the enemy movement speed and faster stealth kills make staying hidden a lot easier. 

Double Craft Upgrade Path

  1. Craft Smoke Bombs - Stun Bombs become Smoke bombs when crafted (needs Stun Bomb recipe)
  2. Craft more Smoke Bombs - Craft more Smoke Bombs from resources and store more in your inventory
  3. Improved Trap Mines - 50% increase to blast radius of Trap Mines crafted (requires recipe)
  4. Craft more Mine Traps - Craft more traps and hold more in your inventory

This is Dina's Starting Upgrade Path and its usefulness is all down to how much you're going to be laying traps and slinging bombs. 

Evasive Upgrade Path

  1. Craft smoke bombs - Craft Smoke bombs from Stun Bombs, requires Stun Bomb recipe
  2. Craft more arrows - Lets you craft more arrows once you have the recipe
  3. Craft more Smoke Bombs - Lets you craft more Smoke Bombs and hold more in your inventory

If you want to use a lot of smoke bombs then this is useful. You'll need to be able to craft arrows to get the best out of it as well so, realistically, it's only really good for a very specific playstyle. 

Firearms Upgrade Path

  • Craft Incendiary Shells - Let you craft incendiary shells for the double barreled shotgun if you have it
  • Craft more Incendiary Shells - Let's you make more shells at a time
  • Improved Trap Mines - Traps Mines have a 50% larger blast radius.

This is quite a specific Upgrade Path as you'll need the doubled barrelled shotgun to really get the best from it.

Guerilla Upgrade Path

The Last Of Us 2 Planning board choices

(Image credit: Naughty Dog)
  1. Improved Silencers - Makes silencers last longer
  2. Improved Pipe Bombs - Increase blast radius by 50%
  3. Craft more Pipe Bombs - Craft more Pipe Bombs from resources and store more in your inventory

Jesse's starting Upgrade Path, also available to other characters, is an odd mix of stealth and extreme loudness, making it contradictory in its usefulness. You'll also need the silencer recipe to get the best out of it (Jesse also gets that to start with).

Healing Upgrade Path

  1. Double Health Kits - Craft more Health Kits from the same resources and store more in your inventory
  2. Health Kit recycling - Get back 0.25 alcohol and 0.25 rag from using a Health Kit
  3. Increased Health - Get an extra 25% health

Mel's starting Upgrade Path (available to all) lets you really amp up your healing abilities and overall health. It's useful to have because of that, but you might be better off with a more offensive option. 

Marksman Upgrade Path

  1. Aim Stability Increase - 100% stability and accuracy
  2. Hold Breath - Click L3 to hold your breath and steady aim 
  3. Faster aim movement - Move 50% faster while aiming

Tommy's starting Upgrade Path appears to be a duplicate of the Precision Upgrade Path. It's not clear if the latter is for everyone and this is just for Tommy, but they both function the same way, giving you superior accuracy to target foes. 

Munitions Upgrade Path

  1. Craft Hunting Pistol ammo - Use explosive and Blade resources to make ammo
  2. Craft more Hunting Pistol ammo - Make more bullets from the same resources
  3. Craft Incendiary Shells - Make Incendiary ammo for the double barrelled shotgun
  4. Craft more Incendiary Shells - Make even more Incendiary ammo 

Manny's starting Upgrade Path is all about direct, loud combat. If you want every fight to be head on and don't care about stealth, this is an option. You'll need the Hunting Pistol and/or the double barrelled shotgun to get anything out of it though (Manny starts with the Hunting Pistol). 

The Last Of Us 2 Close Quarters upgrades reward

(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

Precision Upgrade Path

  1. Aim stability increase - Improve accuracy and stability while moving
  2. Hold breath - Click L3 to hold breath and steady aim
  3. Faster aim movement - Move 50% faster while aiming 

This appears to be a duplicate of Tommy's Marksman Upgrade Path but it's not clear if this is the version available to everyone, or just a mistake. As with Tommy's version, it makes you much more accurate.

Perseverance Upgrade Path

  1. Improved Molotovs - Increase flame radius of Molotovs by 50%
  2. Improved Health Kits - 50% more healing
  3. Endure - Cancel a lethal blow's damage to leave you at low health

Ellie always starts with this Upgrade Path, and one other random selection. Improving your molotovs and health kits is always useful, but that last chance to escape death is great if you can level it up to that point. 

The Last Of Us 2 No Return Covert Ups chest

(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

Shiv Upgrade Path

  1. Faster stealth kills - Faster kills that raise less suspicion
  2. Craft more Shivs - Craft more Shivs from resources and store more in your inventory 
  3. Grabbed enemy movement speed - Move 50% faster with a hostage 

Joel's Starting Upgrade Path has a great starter with its ability to pull off faster stealth kills - being seen while taking out enemies is a big issue that can quickly turn a run bad. The ability to craft more shivs and move faster with a grabbed enemy just builds on that initial bonus. 

Stealth Upgrade Path

  1. Craft silencers - Craft a silencer that lasts for a few shots
  2. Listen mode movement speed 2 - Move 100% faster in Listen mode
  3. Improved silencers - Increased silencer durability 

This is useful for stealth when you're not being hunted and generally you want to try and avoid direct combat whenever possible. 

Survival Upgrade Path

  1. Faster Crafting - Craft everything twice as fast
  2. Faster Health Kits - Use Health Kits faster
  3. Improved Health Kits - Restore 50% more health

Unstoppable Upgrade Path

  • Momentum - Killing an enemy with a Strike attack will make the next melee attack a strike for a short while
  • Momentum Duration - The window for a free Strike lasts longer
  • Increased Health - Health increased by 25%

This can come in handy considering how much melee fighting can happen the chaos, and the health boost is definitely a boon.

Vigilance Upgrade Path

  1. Listen mode movement speed 1 - Move faster in listen mode
  2. Listen mode clarity - Enemies show in more detail
  3. Listen mode range - Increase listening range by 50%

This might look unimpressive but being able to locate targets and plan accordingly can make or break a run so this is well worth grabbing. 

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Leon Hurley
Leon Hurley
Managing editor for guides

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website.