As you progress through Dying Light: The Beast, you’ll unlock different skills that shape Kyle Crane’s abilities. These upgrades cover combat, parkour, survival, and even Beast-specific powers. Choosing the right skills early can make the game easier, especially when facing the undead in crowded streets or during nighttime chases.
Since skill points are limited in the beginning, it’s important to prioritize abilities that keep you alive and give you strong offensive options. While some games can remind you of what your summers used to feel like, Dying Light The Beast focuses on tense survival and horror moments that keep you alert at all times.
Dying LightL The Beast – Best Skills That You Should Get First

The skill system in Dying Light: The Beast works like a cross, with branches extending in different directions. You need to unlock skills in a sequence, which means your choices in the early game matter.
While you’ll eventually gain access to most skills, a few stand out as the best to unlock first. These provide mobility, survival boosts, and strong combat options that are helpful in the early hours.
Active Landing

Parkour is one of the safest ways to travel in the game, but constant rooftop jumps come with the risk of falling. Active Landing reduces fall damage, letting you survive drops that would otherwise be fatal.
You only need to press the button at the right time before hitting the ground. This skill has saved me several times during the tense chases at night when there is absolutely no time to plan your path. It also saves you from losing XP due to accidental falls.
Dash
Escaping dangerous situations quickly can save your life. Dash allows Crane to sprint for as long as his stamina lasts, instead of short bursts.
This comes in handy if you trigger a chase with Volatiles during nighttime. It gives you extra speed to put distance between yourself and enemies. Just keep an eye on your stamina bar, as the skill won’t work when it’s completely drained.
Enemy Jump
This agility skill lets you jump off enemies while sprinting. It’s useful when you’re surrounded with no objects nearby to climb or vault over. By jumping off an enemy, you can create space and reposition yourself. Combined with Dash, it makes escaping tight situations much easier.
Charged Kick

Charged Kick becomes available after unlocking Dropkick, but it’s more efficient in the early game. Holding the kick button lets you deal more damage and knock enemies further back.
It uses less stamina than Dropkick and doesn’t leave you vulnerable on the ground afterward. You can use it to push zombies off rooftops or clear space without losing mobility.
Power Shot

Ammo is scarce in the early game, which makes your bow a valuable weapon. Power Shot increases the bow’s damage and adds piercing effects.
This piercing effect allows you to hit multiple targets with a single arrow. It requires good timing, but once mastered, it’s one of the most reliable ranged options against both zombies and human enemies.
Stealth Expert

Sometimes, avoiding combat is the best option. Stealth Expert makes zombies slower to notice you, giving you time to line up takedowns or sneak past large groups. Since stealth kills eliminate enemies instantly, this also helps conserve weapons and healing items. It’s a strong survival skill when resources are limited.
At night, or in dark areas, Dying Light: The Beast also contains some haunting moments like the psychological horror game Luto, which makes stealth even more valuable in tense situations.
Flamethrower

The Flamethrower is one of the most powerful weapons you can unlock early. This skill provides the crafting blueprint, and the required resources are easy to find after a few hours of play.
With enough scraps, weights, oxidizers, and fuel, you can build it quickly. Once crafted, it becomes a crowd-control weapon that can burn groups of zombies in seconds.
Advanced Grenades

Later in the Survival branch, you’ll gain access to Advanced Grenades. This skill lets you craft Flash Grenades, Pipe Bombs, and Gas Grenades.
These tools are great for handling large enemy groups and are especially effective against human foes. Flash grenades, in particular, make it easier to deal with tougher enemies by stunning them.
Grenade Launcher

The Grenade Launcher is another powerful option for clearing crowds. Unlike the Flamethrower, it allows you to attack groups from a distance.
It also unlocks the ability to craft UV Grenades, which are effective against Volatiles and Virals. Having both the Flamethrower and Grenade Launcher covers you for both close and long-range crowd control.
The skill tree in Dying Light: The Beast doesn’t have a huge number of branching paths, but early decisions matter. As you continue unlocking abilities, you’ll eventually gain access to everything, but focusing on these skills first ensures a smoother start to your journey.