Description of the available skills | Skills Watch Dogs Guide
Last update: 02 February 2017
The Abilities Tree has been shown in the above screenshot. You can display it on the screen by selecting an appropriate item in the smartphone menu, or by pressing the appropriate key/button, after you see the message that you gained new abilities points.
Skills -Combat
THE NAME OF THE SKILL | DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTARY |
Focus | Unlocks focus, i.e. time slowing. It is a very helpful function, thanks to which you are going to be able to eliminate enemies more efficiently. The slowing-down effect also works in vehicles, which gives you more time to maneuver your car and hack the devices that you pass by (e.g. traffic lights).
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Stealth sprint | Decreases the risk of being spotted, while sprinting. It is not too helpful, because it is better to move between the neighboring covers slowly and with care.
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Critical Focus | Focus regenerates whenever Aiden is at the brink of dying. I recommend that you turn your interest to this skill, especially if you play at a higher difficulty level.
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Improved Focus | Extends the duration of Focus. Unlock this skill if you use Focus often, during combat or car chases.
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Slowed Focus | Strengthens the effect of slowing time, during Focus. This is not a priority although, with better effect of slowing time, you are capable of eliminating enemies, at a distance, with even more precision.
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Maximum Focus | Considerably extends the duration of Focus. |
Quick Switch | Speeds up the process of switching guns. Not too helpful, because it is best to switch weapons only in a safe place (e.g. behind a cover), i.e. when speed is not crucial.
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Pistol Expert | Increases the rate of fire of the automatic pistols. Not too useful, because assault rifles are much better. |
Shotgun Expert | Increases damage dealt to vehicles, with shotguns. Not too useful, because you first need to approach the vehicle, with the shotgun equipped, to start an effective fire. It is better to blow up the enemy cars with grenade launcher or frag grenades.
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Sniper Rifle Expert | Increases the stability of the scope, while using a sniper rifle. Buy this one, if you like playing around with sniper rifles.
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Auto-Weapon Expert | Decreases the spread of bullets, while firing an auto-weapon. I recommend that you buy this skill, because it increases the effectiveness of various carbines. |
Steady Aim | Decreases recoil, while conducting fire. It is a good idea to buy this one early into the game, especially that the bonus that it offers, concerns all types of firearms.
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Demolitionist | Increases the maximum number of charges that you can carry. |
Expert Demolitionist | Increases the maximum number of charges that you can carry. |
Enforcer Takedown | Unlocks combat takedown on Enforcers. This skill becomes useful later into the game, i.e. when you start to encounter the Enforcers on a regular basis. Thanks to this skill, you need neither to avoid, nor kill (firearms, explosives) Enforcers.
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Bullet Resist | Decreases damage that you take from bullets. I recommend that you take this one, especially if you play on one of the higher difficulty levels.
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Blast Resist | Decreases damage that you take from explosions. It is not as important, as Bullet Resist, although in some cases, this one also can help you escape with life.
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Quick Reload | Speeds up the process of reloading weapons. It is a quite useful skill, especially if you use various automatic weapons on a regular basis.
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Summary:
The most important skills in this category are Focus (thanks to the slowed-down time, you can fire more accurate shots) and Steady Aim (a versatile skill that improves aiming).
Skills - Crafted Items
THE NAME OF THE SKILL | DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTARY |
Jam Communications | Unlocks the option to jam phone communications and police scans. It is a good idea to unlock it quickly, because this gadget is useful nearly in each police pursuit.
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Blackout | Unlocks the option to craft the gadget that temporarily switches off the lights in a given area of the city. This is a skill of the second level, so wait for the moment at which it becomes available and buy it quickly.
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ctOS Scan | Unlocks the option of crafting a gadgets that scans the area and marks the enemy positions on the map. It is not too useful a skill, because you can scan the enemy positions for free, e.g. thanks to the cameras all around the city.
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Lure | Unlocks the option to craft a device that distracts opponents. It is one of the most useful gadgets and it is good to obtain it, at the very beginning of the game.
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Focus Boost | Unlocks the option of crafting a gadget that ensures immediate regeneration of Focus. I recommend that you unlock this skill only if you often take part in exchanges of fire.
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Frag Grenade | Unlocks the option of crafting frag grenades. Grenades are very useful at eliminating groups of enemies and blowing up vehicles but, if you intend to complete the game, while operating from shadows, you are not going to need them.
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IED | Unlocks the option to craft bombs. It is a much better option than the grenade described above, because you can detonate it on your own, at the moment at which you want it to explode.
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Proximity IED | Unlocks the option to craft bombs. The difference between this one and the one above (IED) is that the charge explodes at the moment at which it detects movement. |
Summary:
The most useful skills of this category are Jam Communications (a great aid, during police pursuits), Blackout ( very useful in missions in which you deal with big groups of opponents), Lure (perfect for distracting enemies) and the Frag Grenade (buy this one is you prefer the aggressive approach).
Skills - Driving
THE NAME OF THE SKILL | DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTARY |
Car Unlock | Unlocks the option of opening the parked cars and disable their alarms. It is one of the most important skills available in the game, especially that you do not, then, need to worry about the attracting the police attention.
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Defensive Driver | Decreases damage to the car, after a collision. Also this skill is worth interest, early into the game, because the durability of many of the good, fast cars is low. |
Precision Driver | Decreases the risk of puncturing the tires. Tires are not too often punctured so, you do not need to bother with this too much.
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Escape Artist | Increases the effectiveness of hiding in cars, during police pursuits. It is a quite helpful skill, although you do not need to buy it, if you prefer finishing pursuits by driving outside of the search areas.
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Off-Road Driver | Improves handling of vehicles off-road. This skill is going to be useful only later into the game, because the initial missions are entirely, played in the urban areas. |
Offensive Driver | Increases damage that you deal during collisions. You do not need to unlock this one, at any cost, because it is much better to escape the chasing cars, than to attempt destroying them. |
Summary:
The most important skills in this category are Car unlock (this should be your first investment) and Defensive Driver (you do not need to worry that your car will be damaged that fast).
Skills - Hacking
THE NAME OF THE SKILL | DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTARY |
Hacker's Tool Kit | Adds new objects to hack into. NECESSARY to unlock at the beginning of the game, because you will be able to perform many new activities connected with hacking distracting enemies with phones, etc.).
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ATM hack boost | Increases the amount of money that you receive, as a result of hacking into ATM. It is a good idea to buy this skill at the beginning of the game, thanks to which you will be receiving more money, since the beginning of the game.
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Profiler Optimization | Unlocks the option of highlighting the NPCs that are in the possession of valuable rewards. It is a useful skill, of course, but you can do well without it.
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ATM Hack Boost + | Considerably increases the amount of money that you receive from the hacked ATMs
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Extra Battery | Adds a slot for the fourth battery. It is a good idea to buy this one, thanks to which you will be able to hack more often, e.g. during police pursuits.
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Extra Battery II | Adds a slot for the fifth battery. |
Extra Battery III | Adds a slot for the sixth battery. |
Utilities | Unlocks the option to hack into building systems . The systems that you hack into, always explode so, if you do not want to kill an individual enemy unnecessarily, you need to make sure that he stays out of the blast radius.
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Disrupt Enemy Comms | Unlocks the option to hack into the devices on the opponents. This way, you stun the opponent. I recommend that you had better rely on takedowns.
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Disable Reinforcements Calls | Deprives the opponents of the possibility to call for reinforcements. You are going to find it useful, if you prefer the aggressive approach and you take part in regular exchanges of fire.
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L-Train Control | Unlocks the option to stop the railway. It is not too useful, because it is easier to lose pursuit by driving the car flawlessly.
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Transformers | Unlocks the option to hack into transformers. An overloaded transformer explodes, which results in a break in power supply. Makes playing much easier but, the innocents may be caught within the blast radius. |
Traffic Lights |
Unlocks the option to hack into traffic lights. try to buy this skill early into the game, because hacking into traffic lights is useful, nearly, in the case of each police pursuit. |
Gates & Garages | Unlocks the option to hack into gates and garages. In certain situations, this may help you lose the pursuit but, there are better methods for a successful escape. |
Bridges | Unlocks the option to hack into drawbridges. Raising bridges is one of the best methods to lose a pursuit so, it is a good idea to get this skill. |
Steam Pipes | Unlocks the option to overload steam pipes. This skill is quite aggressive, in its character, because a police car or any other enemy vehicle can be damaged or destroyed as a result of a successful attack.
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Disable Helicopter | Unlocks the option to damage the helicopter temporarily. Unfortunately, the duration is mere 15 seconds. |
Improved Disable Helicopter | Unlocks the option to damage the helicopter for 30 seconds. |
Blockers | Unlocks the option to hack into bollards. This skill is quite aggressive, in its character, because a police car or any other enemy vehicle can be damaged or destroyed as a result of a successful attack. |
Road Spikes | This skill is quite aggressive, in its character, because a police car or any other enemy vehicle can be damaged or destroyed as a result of a successful attack. |
Summary:
Te most important skills in this category are Hacker's Tool Kit (lots of new hacking options), Extra Battery (especially useful during more demanding pursuits), Utilities (if you have nothing against killing enemies), Traffic Lights (one of the most frequently used actions during pursuits), Bridges (another boost to be used in pursuits) and Blockers (a good way to stop the other cars during pursuit).