Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order puts players in a unique Jedi experience where they don’t have all their powers right from the start. Instead, you’ll have to progress through the game to reconnect Cal Kestis with the Force as he regains his powers and upgrades his arsenal. Part of those upgrades come from the abilities players spend their skill points on, and with so many to pick from in three different skill trees, it can be difficult at first to know which ones you should pick first.
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Any game that has branching skill trees also has abilities that stand out much more than others, and the same is true for Fallen Order. You don’t have all of the skills laid out for you right from the start and instead have them become available to you as you progress through the story and gain new powers, but you’ll still have to spend your skill points on them. The fact that you lose progress towards a skill point when you die and lose it permanently if you can’t hit the enemy that defeated you again means that you’ll need as many of these skills as possible to survive.
There’s also no respec option in Fallen Order, so don’t expect to be refunding your points if you mess something up. To help you make those decisions so you don’t have to worry about making a wrong move, we’ve put together a list of the 10 best abilities players should get as soon as they can.
Note that some of these skills may include story spoilers for powers you acquire later in the game, and not all of the skills will be unlockable from the very beginning.
Force Attunement – 1 Point
To succeed in Fallen Order, you’re going to have to use your Force powers a lot. This doesn’t just mean using them to navigate the world around you but also involves mixing them up with your lightsaber attacks to slow down enemies and use other powers. Your Force Meter depletes as you use anything that requires that resource, and the only way to replenish it from the start is to meditate or keep attacking enemies. With the Force Attunement ability, your Force Meter is increased so that you can keep the offensive and defensive mixups going for longer.
Survival Skills – 1 Point
Survival Skills is another ability players should probably get as soon as possible, perhaps even first. This skill increases Cal’s overall health, and while you’re learning to be a Jedi, you’re going to need as much of that as possible. Enemies hit hard while you’re trying to learn the timing for parries and how to manage your blocks, so you’ll need extra health for when you slip up. This kind of ability appears throughout the skill trees as you progress through the game, so it’s a smart idea to get its follow-up abilities when you can.
Improved Stims – 1 Point
Noticing a trend here? Skills like Improved Stims and the ones mentioned previously are the ones that’ll pay out more the earlier you get them, so it’s best to acquire them as soon as possible. This ability makes it so that the Stim Cannisters you use thanks to your trusty droid companion BD-1 will heal you for more health than it normally would. Like the other stat-boosting abilities, this one has more than one variant that should probably be acquired whenever it’s available. There’s even one later on that fully restores players’ Force Meters upon using a Stim which is a huge help when dealing with more challenging enemies.
Overhead Slash – 1 Point
When you’re trying to break an enemy’s guard to land a clean hit, you’ll need to wear down their stamina first. Repeated attacks will do the trick, but you can also acquire the Overhead Slash early on to help speed up that process. This ability is essentially a basic move once you’ve unlocked it and lets Cal perform a powerful, vertical slash that deals heavy damage. It can wipe out smaller enemies with one swing, but it’s not a move that works well against everyone. Faster enemies will find openings during your windup to land a hit and interrupt your move, and if you spam it too much, you’ll deplete your Force Meter quickly.
Dash Strike – 1 Point
For the enemies who aren’t standing close enough to strike down with an Overhead Slash, you’ll need ways to close the gap quickly so that you can be in range to continue your attack. The Dash Strike ability is essential for this and allows Cal to quickly jump forward and strike an enemy. It’s helpful for interrupting moves smaller foes were about to do, and when you start facing Stormtroopers and other ranged enemies who keep themselves at a distance, it’ll be one of your most valuable tools.
Superior Blocking – 1 Point
You can’t always be on the offensive though in Fallen Order. When you first encounter different types of enemies, you’ll have to spend some time learning their moves so you know what they can do and when you should counterattack. This means that you’re going to be blocking a lot of hits which will in turn wear down your own stamina bar. Grabbing the Superior Blocking ability means that you’ll lose less stamina each time you block an attack which is a superb skill to have when you inevitably fight people who can match a Jedi’s skills.
Agile Deflection – 1 Point
Agile Deflection is one of the first skills players can get that truly makes them feel more like a Jedi. This move makes it so that Cal automatically deflects blaster attacks whenever he’s sprinting or running on a wall. Certain enemies like to stand in groups far away from the player to pepper Cal with attacks, so having this ability means that you can sprint forward without delay to close the gap on enemies if they’re too far way to use your own ranged attacks. This doesn’t block everything like heavy attacks from certain ranged enemies, but it’s one of the essential skills to have if you want to fully live out your Jedi fantasy.
Empowered Slow – 1 Point
Force powers are rare, but one of Cal’s powers is even rarer still. He’s got the ability to slow down time which, like the Superior Blocking ability, is a great tool for learning enemies’ moves before you go in for the kill. Cal starts out with the ability to slow down enemies, but the effect doesn’t last very long. To make it last longer and give yourself more time to plan your next action, get the Empowered Slow ability early on to make the most of Cal’s unique Force ability.
Enhanced Force Recovery – 1 Point
Enhanced Force Recovery isn’t as important as the other skills you should get early on like ones that grant you more health and lengthen your Force Meter, but it’s still one worth having in the long run. This ability makes it so that Cal regains more Force when he strikes an enemy who’s blocking and when he defeats an enemy. If you ever find yourself running out of the Force in the middle of a fight and still have some weaker enemies left, this skill might just save you when you take out the lesser foes to regain the Force for the more dangerous targets.
Lightsaber Throw – 3 Point
Throwing a melee weapon is almost never a practical move, but that’s not the case in Star Wars when you can just pull your lightsaber right back into your hand. This ability doesn’t do a huge amount of damage and temporarily relieves you of your weapon, so it’s not quite as effective as other abilities, but it’s still pretty useful for hitting ranged enemies and interrupting their actions to give you time to move in closer. Like the Agile Deflection ability, it’s also one of the essential skills to have if you want to really call yourself a Jedi by the time you’re done with Fallen Order.
