Days Gone's Deacon St. John's various unlockable perks are divided into three skill trees. These skills are devoted to melee combat, ranged combat, and survival. Survival Abilities allow the player to explore areas more efficiently. With 15 survival skills to choose from, this list will go over the ten most essential skills players should focus on first.

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At the end of Deacon's Freaker-infested day, it’s about making it out of any situation unscathed. The survival skill tree is one of the more important trees to focus on as this category allows the player to search for useful resources more effectively.

10 Thorn In Your Side

deacon reloading crossbow

Scavenging items is one of the key factors while exploring the abandoned streets of Oregon. The Thorn In Your Side skill will allow Deacon to retrieve used bolts while using the Crossbow and Drifter Crossbow collected later on.

If taking the quiet approach, this skill should be one of the first ones unlocked. Rather than having to spend the time crouched down, crafting more ammo, equipping the skill will aid to save time and put the player in less danger while stealthily hunting down freakers.

9 Catch Your Breath

deacon running from hoard of freakers

While being stocked up with massive weapons and remote bombs is nice, stamina is arguably the most crucial element when it comes to surviving in Days Gone. The biker will spend a lot of time and energy frantically escaping tight situations with dozens of flesh-eating monsters chasing him down.

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The Catch Your Breath skill will decrease the latency in stamina regeneration. This is one of the top skills to equip early on, especially being that it is incredibly easy to exhaust the focus bar almost instantly.

8 Six Feet Over

freaker attacking deacon

Continuing the focus on stamina, the Six Feet Over skill will regenerate a portion of the player's stamina after getting damaged. Getting swatted by freakers or smacked around with a baseball bat happens more often than Deacon would like.

That extra boost in stamina allowing a quick getaway could be the difference between survival or being left to the runners.

7 Ear To The Ground

deacon looking at enemy with vision

The Ear To The Ground skill is one of several on this list that enhances the player's survival vision. It will highlight any surrounding enemies while using the perk.

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Though it isn't as important as some of the other skills on this list, being able to see where each enemy is positioned waiting to attack the player, the skill will come to be quite beneficial while sneaking through certain areas.

6 Hawkeyed

deacon looking at plants

With the Hawkeyed skill equipped, any nearby barberry or lavender will now be displayed on the Drifter's minimap. This skill will make things much easier when scouting the area for more plants that result in replenishing stamina, health, and focus cocktails faster.

5 Shape Up

deacon running from another hoard

Another stamina-based skill, Shape Up will significantly speed up the player's stamina regeneration. The majority of the survival skills that focus on Deacon's stamina are must-haves as much of the time spent off of his motorcycle will be spent frantically rushing away from an angry hoard or enemy gunfire.

4 Carry That Weight

deacon looking at kerosene

The Carry That Weight skill focuses on increasing Deacon's inventory space which is usually full of various crafting materials, traps, and other throwables.

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This means that the player won't have to worry about emptying their collection of items each time they find a building overflowing with more resources and supplies.

3 Thief in the Night

deacon sneaking by motorcycle

While any skill focusing on enhancing the Drifter's stealth is important, this stealth-based skill might be a top contender that focuses on decreasing the noise made by Deacon while moving and falling. Silencing player movement, the most important stealth-related skill will decrease the risk of being discovered by the freakers who are more sensitive to sounds based on their surroundings.

2 Eagle-Eyed

deacon stalking enemy

Another skill focusing on survival vision, this next choice will increase the range of the Drifter's Survival Vision. Being able to scout items and enemies from further away while sneaking through areas will make things much easier for the player as they won't be short of supplies, especially when paired with the Ear To The Ground skill.

1 Eye For Detail

deacon looking at rag

The Eye For Detail skill is best utilized when combined with the Eagle-Eyed and Ear To The Ground skills. The final skill on this list will extend the amount of time that items are displayed on the screen while the player is using Survival Vision making it difficult to miss crucial items needed to craft that Spiked 2×4 or much needed Health Cocktail.

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