The Brain Map is Scarlet Nexus’ version of a branching skill tree, and it works pretty well for the most part. As far as Yuito Sumeragi and Kasane Randall are concerned, their Brain Maps are basically identical. They have almost all the same skills, the only thing that is vastly different between them is the placement of their skills. The same can't be said for their storylines, however, as those differ quite a lot more.
It's surprising how much that small chance can vastly affect how each character feels to play. That said, most of the skills on the Brian Map don’t give the main characters any brand new abilities, they just buff abilities they already have. But, in the early game, there are a few that players should grab as soon as possible.
For each skill, we'll let players know just how many BP or Brain Points they'll need to invest to get to their desired skill in the shortest possible path.
10 Item Attraction: 6 Brain Points
A lot of these are going to boil down to skills that make the game more convenient or streamlined, and the Item Attraction skill is the iconic example of that. Basically, it just sucks up all nearby dropped items right to Kasane, simple as that.
Anyway, with how often enemies drop items (thanks to the Brain Crush mechanic) this skill saves Kasane a ton of time in the long run since she won't have to run around gathering things after every confrontation anymore.
9 Psychokinesis Finish: 6 Brain Points
One of the crazy things about Kasane’s Brain Map is just how early she's able to unlock the Psychokinesis Finish skill. Obviously, the developers switched up the placement of skills on both Yuito’s and Kasane’s Brain Maps to more accurately balance their different playstyles, but Psychokinesis Finish feels like such a strong ability to have early on.
Prioritizing getting this skill early (which shouldn't be hard since it's only 3 skills in) makes fighting a lot of the early-game enemies much easier, especially the ones with shielded parts to them that non-pro players seem to be struggling a bit with.
8 Concurrent SAS Activation: 7 Brain Points
Unlocking this skill right here is when Scarlet Nexus really starts to open up mechanically. Sure there are other systems such as the Brain Field or Brain Drive later on in the game, but unlocking Concurrent SAS Activation is what clues people in that this might not be just some mindless simplistic anime action game (though the confusing story is very much typical for these sort of games).
Concurrent SAS Activation is exactly what it sounds like, Kasane can now use two different SAS abilities at once, such as Electrokinesis and Clairvoyance. And, as Kasane gathers more squadmates with diverse powers, finding new SAS synergies becomes such a fun part of the overall experience that will most likely heavily impact which Companions players will end up favoring.
7 Max Psy Gauge Boost 1: 7 Brain Points
Once players start to dive deep into the combat of Scarlet Nexus, they'll notice just how quickly they run out of the Psychokinesis Gauge in battle. One way to rectify this is to learn how to sprinkle heavy attacks into combos since they recover much more Psy Gauge when they connect with the enemy. But, the other method is just to get a bigger meter by unlocking the Psy Gauge Boost skill, which increases its size by a whole 50%.
And, there’s even another Gauge Boost skill to get on the Brain Map too that takes the Psy Gauge to 200% its original size, but getting both of these skills in the early hours of the game is rather difficult.
6 Follow Up Attack Expand 1: 10 Brain Points
In the early game, the Follow-Up Attack is the bread and butter tool for combat, which can be seen as both a positive and a negative to the design of Scarlet Nexus. And, while this skill looks to be at the far end of the Brain Map, remember, the Brain Map only gets bigger and bigger as the story progresses. Plus, in actuality, this Follow Up Attack Expand skill only requires unlocking 3 skills before it becomes available, making it an easy grab for the early game.
5 Psychokinesis Crush Effect Up: 11 Total To Obtain Both
While Yuito has some early-game skills called Weapon Crush Effect Up that increase the amount of Crush Gauge damage his standard attacks do, Kasane has these skills that are more targeted to her Psychokinetic abilities. And, quite honestly, even on Yuito, throwing objects with Psychokinesis is the more dependable and safer option.
So, Yuito pulled the short straw by getting the Weapon Crush Effect while Ms. Randall is cruising with her Psychokinesis Crush Effect that rewards her for chucking endless items at enemies whenever she can. Plus, both these buffs are right next to each other on the Brain Map, making it easy to get a hefty 10% increase.
4 Brain Crush Money Bonus: 7 Brain Points & Brain Crush EXP Bonus - 11 Brain Points
Something players will likely notice very early on in Scarlet Nexus is how often they'll be seeing those “Brain Crush” attacks. The first time Kasane gets a Brain Crush, the cinematic was a blast to watch, but eventually, they start to become a bit tiresome.
Thankfully, there's an option to force all Brain Crushes to play out as quickly as possible, even on new enemies.. Regardless, this mechanic is foundational to the combat of SN, and its almost entirely unavoidable. So, if players get these two skills as early as possible, then at the very least the number of rewards gained from watching these cinematics over and over will increase.
3 Quick Item: 12 Brain Points
Now, this next skill is honestly a pretty unique feature for a game like this, especially an RPG game. To put it simply, unlocking the Quick Item skill completely removes the animation that normally plays out whenever Kasane uses a consumable. Because of this, using an item no longer exposes Kasane to danger, and it even applies the effects quicker.
More often than not, games like to design combat with the idea of players having to "plan" when to heal. Think of the Estus Flask in Dark Souls, when to use Potion-type items in RPGs/JRPGs, or even when to heal in Battle Royale-style games. That's why it's so unique that Scarlet Nexus chose to include a skill that completely nullified this aspect of their gameplay loop. That said, they included it, so players should obviously take advantage of this immensely useful skill as early as they can.
2 4th Weapon Combo Attack Hit: 14 Brain Points
By default, both Yuito and Kasane have a three-hit combo that players can splice Follow Up Attacks and/or heavy attacks into. But, once they reach the end of that combo, they'll need to either wait a second for the combo to "reset". Usually, this is the most opportune moment to dodge backward or use an item, but there are also skills in the game that help reduce these moments where players are out of attacks.
There are two skills to grab here, the 4th Weapon Combo Attack Hit and the 5th one, but the 5th one doesn't show up until after the Brain Map has expanded once or twice. Now, it might seem like one or two extra hits in a combo wouldn't impact much, but it's sort of a domino effect, as it completely changes the way players will space out their Follow-Ups, SAS Activations, and more.
1 Auto Heal: 17 Brain Points
Lastly here’s the most expensive skill on the list, but just like all the others, it's a skill that’s available before Kasane even unlocks the Brain Drive or Brain Field. On Yuito’s Tree, the Auto Heal is right underneath the Quick Item skill, leading some people to believe it had something to do with auto-using items, but that isn’t the case.
Actually, all this skill does is heal Kasane's HP gradually outside of combat. But, with how hard enemies hit in this game, and the total lack of a healer-type ability, healing a bit in transit saves a lot more Consumables than people might think.