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Dying Light 2 is equal parts chopping off zombies heads and bounding across the city’s rooftops (with a little stealth mixed in). That’s reflected in the skill trees — there’s one for Combat and one for Parkour.
In this Dying Light 2 skills guide, we’ll explain how you gain XP to unlock new skills, explore the two skill trees, and give our recommendations for the best skills to unlock early.
Earning XP
You earn XP toward unlocking new skills in Dying Light 2 by doing associated activities. You’ll earn Combat XP for fighting zombies, and you’ll earn Parkour XP as you run and climb around the city.
And don’t forget that the Night Time Bonus means you’ll get some extra XP for everything you do after sunset.
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Every skill costs 1 Combat Point or 1 Parkour Point to unlock. You can track the XP you’ve earned toward each side by hovering over the appropriate icon on the skills tab of your menu.
Dying Light 2 skills — Combat and Parkour
Broadly speaking, Combat skills are all about new ways to deal damage to enemies like Infected (zombies) and Renegades, while Parkour skills are about improving your ability to run around the city.
You don’t have a choice in the first two skills you unlock. You’ll need to pick up Vault Kick on the Combat side and High Jump on the Parkour side to open up the rest of the skill trees.
Dying Light 2 Combat skills
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Skill | Description |
| Perfect Dodge | Dodge at just the right time to stagger your enemy |
| Grapple | Use the momentum of attacking enemies to throw them to the side |
| Grapple Throw | Increase the momentum of enemies thrown with Grapple to knock them to the ground |
| Air Kick | When dropping onto enemies from above, nail them them with a power kick |
| Vault Power Kick | Add force to your Vault Kick and send enemies flying |
| Head Stomp | Headstomp enemies that lay on the ground |
| Dropkick | Perform a powerful kick while jumping |
| Perfect Parry | Performant a perfect block to stagger your enemy for longer |
| Block Projectiles | Block incoming projectiles like knives and arrows |
| Deflect Projectiles | Deflect an incoming projectile and send it back to your attacker |
| Block Charge | When blocking, charge at an enemy in front of you and knock them to the ground |
| Power Attack | Perform a powerful attack that deals more damage, interrupts enemy attacks and blocks |
| Windmill | Perform a powerful attack that hits all enemies around you |
| Ground Pound | Perform a powerful attack while in mid-air |
| Stab | Quickly take down an unaware enemy (requires a knife) |
| Stab Followup | Automatically throw a knife at another enemy after performing a Stab |
| Ledge Takedown | Quickly take down enemies by pulling them down from a ledge |
| Smash | Smash enemy heads while dropping onto them from above |
| Smash Jump | Perform a jump right after Smash, giving you the opportunity to follow up with another aerial attack |
| Precise Aiming | Increase your aim with all ranged weapons |
| Power Shot | Adds Piercing and bonus Damage to all ranged weapons shots |
| Serial Shot | Allows you to fire up to 3 projectiles at the same time |
| Parkour Shot | Gain the ability to use ranged weapons while parkouring |
Dying Light 2 Parkour skills
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Skill | Description |
| Active Landing | Reduce fall damage and keep your momentum |
| Safe Landing | Increases the height from which you can land without taking any damage |
| Landing Jump | Jump instantly from an Active Landing |
| Firm Grip | Make the last climb on ledges even when your stamina is gone and briefly maintain your grip when you land on ledges from great heights |
| Fast Climb | Move faster on ledges when moving up and to either side |
| Ledge Jump | Jump while climbing on ledges to get higher more quickly |
| Far Jump | Use any obstacle to spring from it and jump further |
| Double Jump | Reach even greater heights while jumping off obstacles |
| Rotate Jump | Turn 180 degrees during a jump |
| Sleek Runner | Increase your speed while navigating tricky obstacles |
| Slide | Slide while running to pass through low holes in walls and other passages |
| Slide Jump | Perform a jump directly from a Slide without losing any momentum |
| Stealth Movement | Increase your overall speed and mobility while sneaking |
| Dart | Temporarily increases your movement speed |
| Dash | Dash for as long as your Stamina lasts |
| Afterboost | Gain a brief burst of speed after performing specific parkour moves |
| Enemy Jump | Jump off enemies while in Dart or Dash |
| Bash | Bash through obstacles and enemies without stopping |
| Tic Tac | Run alongside vertical surfaces |
| Wall Run | Run upwards on vertical surfaces |
| Wall Run Jump | Jump up while performing a Wall Run |
| Wall Combo | Combine Tic Tacs or Wall Runs into longer combos |
Dying Light 2 best skills
Every skill in Dying Light 2 is useful, and you’re probably going to unlock most of them by the time you reach the end of the game. But there are a few standouts that will make your life easier and turn you into an even deadlier zombie-slayer.
- Dropkick. Easily our favorite Combat skill in Dying Light 2, Dropkick lets you deliver a two-footed boot to an enemy just by jumping — you don’t even need to vault over a Staggered enemy or obstacle first.
- Perfect Dodge and Air Kick. The combination of Perfect Dodge, which staggers enemies, and Air Kick, which allows you to vault over a staggered enemy to deliver a kick to another, gives you a new way to deal damage beyond just swinging your weapon.
- Active Landing and Firm Grip. The first two skills on the Parkour side are basically necessary to navigate the city. Active Landing gives you a little more wiggle room on fall damage, and Firm Grip helps you grab those just-out-of-reach ledges.
- Wall Run and Wall Run Jump. These two skills are toward the bottom of the skill tree, but you can unlock them right away. Wall Run and Wall Run Jump make it so you can climb up just about any vertical surface in Old Villedor.
