The world within Stellar Blade is highly treacherous, where we must carefully plan for each step we make as we traverse the new Earth under the rule of the Naytibas as EVE. Fortunately, the game provides us with so many incredible tools that will enable us to perform better combat and evasive maneuvers with more reliability and intensity, all of which are available through the Skill Trees system.
At the start of the game, we only have three Skill Trees available in EVE’s arsenal, these are the Survival, Attack, and Beta Skill Trees. As the names suggest, they can provide EVE with much-needed security while battling the Naytibas, or hand her new attacking methods that utilize the enemies’ weak points. The possibilities are vast, and you might find yourself being overwhelmed by which Skills to prioritize during the early parts of Stellar Blade.
With that in mind, this guide will help you understand which Skills are essential for your early game sessions to ensure that EVE can survive and, more importantly, dish out tons of damage against any enemies coming her way.
We have reviewed Stellar Blade on KeenGamer, and you can read it here through the link below:
Preparation is Key.
What Are the Skill Trees?
In Stellar Blade, there are five different Skill Trees that the players can utilize for their battles against the Naytibas. However, throughout the first few hours or so, the game only unlocks three of them, allowing EVE to navigate the terrains safely. As previously mentioned, these include the Attack, Beta, and Survival Skill Trees.
The Attack Skill Tree enhances EVE’s capability to use unique and complex Combo Skills. Fortunately, the game immediately unlocks the most usable Combo Skills right off the bat, thus giving us flexibility on how we can fight the enemies. There are two major Combo Skills available, which are Onslaught and Incursion, with different trigger mechanisms and combo strings that players can learn through the Training interface before facing off against the Naytibas in real time.
Attack Skill Tree.
Meanwhile, the Beta Skill Tree provides EVE with special abilities that can disrupt the enemies’ condition. There are four Beta Skills that are available for EVE, though at the start, the game only provides you with three of them and you must unlock the last one by using a Skill Point.
Lastly, the Survival Skill Tree allows EVE to have more durability and flexibility both inside and outside of combat. The main move sets that players can do in Stellar Blade come from this Skill Tree, with the main highlights being the Perfect Parry and Perfect Dodge mechanics.
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- Beta Skill Tree.
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- Survival Skill Tree.
Best Early Skills in Stellar Blade
Now that we’ve understood the basic principles behind Stellar Blade‘s Skill Trees, it’s time to select which Skills are the best and most useful for the early parts of the game. For this guide purpose, I’ve carefully curated five different Skills from all three available Skill Trees. These Skills will improve EVE’s ability at Parrying/Dodging and many more.
Focus Boost
The first major Skill that I recommend almost everyone who is currently playing Stellar Blade to unlock is Focus Boost, a Skill node from the Survival Skill Tree that grants the players more time window to use Perfect Parry.
There are a couple of reasons why I highlight this Skill, the first and foremost reason is that Perfect Parry is crucial to defending against most attacks from all different kinds of enemies, and having more time to use this move will be beneficial and make your days of playing Stellar Blade easier.
Another reason why I chose this Skill as one of the most important early Skills is that the regular Perfect Parry timing is very narrow, approximately only 0.5 seconds before the enemy’s attack lands, thus leaving you vulnerable if you fail to hit the right timing for it. This, in turn, means that you rely more on Guarding, which doesn’t give additional benefits like breaking the enemy’s balance and disrupting their attacking sequences, and although it’s fine to use Guard sometimes, it’s wise to strive for triggering Perfect Parry at any given time since you won’t be exposed to the enemies’ attack strings, and Focus Boost will help you achieve that goal easier and more reliably.
Focus Boost.
Ambush
The next Skill that should be in everyone’s arsenal during their early explorations of Stellar Blade is Ambush, an Attack Skill node that grants EVE the ability to execute most enemies from behind. This is basically an assassination skill that will help your explorations more easier and safer, as you can wait until the enemies turn their backs on you before stabbing them with Ambush.
I’ve tested this ability against a multitude of types of Naytibas, ranging from the smaller enemies such as Creepers to warriors like Guardians and Crickets, and the Ambush Skill works just fine against them. The only time you can’t use this Skill is during boss fights or scripted fight sequences, and as long as the enemies don’t notice you, then you can stealthily approach them from behind and assassinate them, giving you their loots without breaking a sweat.
Ambush.
Reflex Boost
Just like the previous Perfect Parry boost, the next Skill on this list will also help improve another important aspect of Stellar Blade‘s combat, and that Skill is Reflex Boost, which enhances the time window for enacting Perfect Dodge.
Similar to Focus Boost, the Reflex Boost Skill helps EVE be able to use evasive maneuvers against her enemies more easily by giving her more time to react against their attacks. A major reason why I recommend this Skill from the Survival Skill Tree is due to how unreliable the Dodge mechanic in this game can be.
I have tried powering through the early Eidos 7 sections with the basic Perfect Dodge, and let me tell you, it’s very harsh. The unreliable timings have made me either miss the Perfect Dodge completely, or the intended input becomes the regular Dodge instead. With Reflex Boost, there are considerable upgrades and differences that it’s hard to hold off from buying this Skill early.
Reflex Boost.
Shield Breaker
The fourth Skill that I will mention is the Shield Breaker, the fourth main Beta Skill Tree’s node that is initially locked but can be purchased from main Resting Camps for 1 Skill Point.
Shield Breaker enables EVE to tap into the fourth major Beta Skill and use it against enemies who have tough shields, particularly Barnacles, who can block all damages if you decide to face it head-on. Moreover, you can charge Shield Breaker by holding the L1 + X buttons to deal more Attack Power to the enemy who’s receiving this Beta Skill.
The first and foremost reason why I’m recommending this Skill is that you immediately gain a new Beta Skill that provides a new avenue and counter against a certain Naytiba type. Not only that but Shield Breaker can be a life-saver when you’re in a boss fight, since the boss will be disrupted for a moment, allowing you to reposition yourself to a better spot and initiate a new Combo Skill.
Shield Breaker.
Repulse
Lastly, for the fifth and final Skill in this Stellar Blade guide, we have Repulse, another Survival Skill that acts similarly to Blink, in which EVE will deflect and push away any enemy that tries to inflict a fatal attack on her.
The difference between Repulse and Blink is the situations we can use them. For instance, Blink is available whenever the fatal attack that is directed at us glows blue, while Repulse can trigger whenever the fatal attack glows purple. This Skill is highly important because there will be moments when the enemies’ attacks are undodgeable and cannot be countered by Blink, which means that you can only use Perfect Dodges during those moments.
The addition of Repulse into your arsenal, this Skill does more than just provide an additional means of evasion. It also equips you with the capability to counteract a move that was previously impossible to counter. This enhancement in your defensive capabilities makes EVE nimbler, thereby increasing her effectiveness in combat against the Naytibas. This incredible agility potential could very well be the difference between victory and defeat in Stellar Blade.
Repulse.
And that’s all the best early Skills that you should purchase to help your playthrough experience in Stellar Blade.
