Shadow of the Tomb Raider guide: The best skills and equipment

A Warrior’s Strength

The warrior section of the skill tree (the red area) focuses on combat and threats from the environment. Many of the skills in this area provide Lara with assistance in combat when stealth doesn’t go as planned.

An early perk to gain right off the bat is Howler’s Speed. This handy skill makes it to where Lara will never slip when grabbing ledges and gives her a longer reaction time when setting off traps. I found this especially useful when my bat eyes didn’t notice the tripwire in front of me in tombs.

Another skill to pick up early is Raposa’s Wit, which unlocks the next level of weapon upgrades. Upgrade weapons early and often so they can perform as efficiently as possible. The last early, but awesome perk to grab in this section is Raposa’s Threat. Raposa provides visual assistance to the player when aiming at the enemy’s heads.

For those of you who will not be taking the stealthy approach to combat, the following two skills will provide the most bang for your buck. Heart of the Jaguar is a fantastic and useful ability making endurance plants reduce the amount of damage from melee and ranged attacks. Several enemies throughout the game focus on ranged combat so this skill will reduce the threat of those enemies.

Lastly, picking up Kinich Ahau’s Boon will provide that last line of defense you are about to die. Kinich will restore Lara’s health instantly when she is near death in battle. This occurs only once during each encounter and will refresh between those, but still gives the player a much-needed guardian angel.