Best Combat Skills To Unlock First In Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is the sequel to Warhorse Studio’s hit Medieval RPG. Protagonist Henry of Skalitz has returned to give players another chance to live out their mid-century peasant fantasies. This RPG, which focuses on simulation and realism, asks a lot of its players at times, and combat is no exception. Henry is no action hero, and combat is a slow, deliberate, and weighty process. At the start of the game, players will have little skill in any area of combat, and the only way to get better is by training with each part of the combat system. Each weapon type comes with its own leveling progression and set of associated perks, and each level of these will also increase Henry’s Warfare skill, which represents his overall effectiveness in combat.

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While each combat skill has its own perks, there are also perks that Henry can learn by finding trainers in the world, and some of these are highly useful for augmenting the player’s combat skills. Sometimes, rushing to find these additional perks first can help Henry build up his skills in other areas. These are the best combat skills to learn first in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

6

Warfare Skills

Mastering The Art Of Combat

Best Perks in Category:

• Steadfast
• Furor Teutonicus
• Masterful Feint
• Unbreakable
• One Man Army

Since Warfare levels are based off of leveling other combat skills, it’s not really possible for players to rush this skill category. However, this is still a useful stat to level, as it offers benefits to attack speed and weapon durability, as well as making it harder for opponents to read the player’s attacks. There are perks in this tree that players will want to get as soon as they get access to them, as they’re highly useful combat skills.

Players will need level 6 in Warfare before they can unlock new perks, but once they get there, Steadfast is an easy first pick. This skill makes blocking take 20% less stamina while also increasing shield durability. Getting to level 16 of Warfare will take some time, but once players do, Furor Teutonicus will give them extra damage below 75% health, providing a truly powerful buff.

5

Heavy Weapons Skills

Two-Handed Mastery

Best Perks in Category:

• Hack and Slash
• Menacing Presence
• Shield Breaker
• Green Knight

Early on in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, players won’t have access to the Heavy Weapons category, which covers Maces, Axes, Clubs, and Warhammers. Once players have reached the Trosky region, though, these tools of war will start showing up at merchants or on enemies, and players can pick one up and start to level this skill. These weapons are adept at breaking heavier armor and shields, so they’re something that players should look to train as soon as possible.

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The first perk that players will probably want to pick up for this skill category is Shield Breaker. This unlocks at level 6 and makes it easier to break shields with heavy weapons, and having it means that it will take more stamina for enemies to block heavy weapon blows. This can help a lot in pitched battles that the player will occasionally get thrown into throughout the story, which feature a lot of armored and shield-bearing soldiers.

4

Unarmed Skills

Bare-Handed Brawling

Best Perks in Category:

• Sting Like A Bee
• No Pain, No Gain
• Sandman
• Jawbreaker

Unarmed skills are something that every Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 player will want to level. There are a lot of quests that call for some non-lethal brawling, and the unarmed tree has a useful perk that can help any player who wants to use stealth as an option. The Sandman perk, only available at Unarmed level 12, makes it easier to knock out or stealth kill enemies across the board. This can be immensely helpful if players want to take on side quests that call for stealth, even if they don’t want to focus on unarmed combat.

The first perk that players will likely want to pick from this category, though, is No Pain, No Gain. Taking this perk means that players get 15% more experience in Strength, Agility and Vitality when fighting unarmed. That’s great for raising Henry’s core stats while players level the Unarmed skill further.

3

Sword Skills

Specializing In The Blade

Best Perks in Category:

• Master Strike
• Slice and Dice
• Magister Dimicator
• Opening Strike
• Tendon Slicer

Swords are one of the most common weapon types in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Players can get a hold of one early, and they’ll be their primary means of lethal combat in the early game. That means that it’s fairly natural for players to raise this combat skill before others, even if they don’t want to focus on it for the long term.

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The most useful early perk to take for swords is Opening Strike. This perk means that if players hit an unguarded spot on an opponent, it becomes more difficult for them to guard against subsequent blows. This can make fights against armed opponents go a lot faster. One of the best Sword skills to learn out in the world rather than on the perk tree is Master Strike. This move is learned from Tomcat the swordsman, but players will have to pay him and defeat him in a duel to acquire it. It lets players automatically riposte after a perfect block, though, so it’s definitely worth getting early.

2

Marksman Skills

Ranged Specialization

Best Perks in Category:

• Crippling Shot
• Hal Shot First
• Salvo
• Forbidden Weapon
• Eagle Eye

When players first encounter bows and crossbows, Marksmanship can seem like a difficult skill to level. Aiming is shaky, and human enemies and even animals take multiple arrows to kill. However, there are two easy ways to raise Henry’s marksman skills that make this an easy category to rush perks in early if players want to focus on stealth and ranged damage.

Players can level their Marksmanship at any archery range, just by shooting the archery targets. This is virtually free, as it will only cost the occasional missed arrow and some durability on the player’s bow. There are also the archery competition side missions, which provide marksman experience and cost a small amount of money to enter. If players want to use the bow as a secondary weapon, then a good early perk to pick is Crippling Shot, as this lowers an enemy’s effectiveness in melee combat.

1

Polearm Skills

Extended Reach

Best Perks in Category:

• Keeping A Distance
• Long Reach
• Impaler
• Iron Harvest
• Artery Slasher

Polearm weapons like spears and halberds can feel like one of the most cumbersome weapons to use at early levels. This is arguably why players should focus on leveling them early, though, as they become much stronger combat tools at higher levels. Polearms deal piercing damage, which can help negate an enemy’s armor advantages. This only becomes more useful as the player progresses in the story of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

The first perk that players will want to pick for their Polearms is Keeping a Distance, as this makes blocking easier and lowers the stamina cost of blocks. This skill is basically required to make Polearms tolerable to level up further. By the time players reach the later levels of Polearms, they’ll be able to significantly reduce the stamina cost of repeated attacks, making combos much easier and massively increasing the effectiveness of these weapons. Leveling this skill category early will prevent later pain in the long run.

Game

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RPG

Action-Adventure

Open-World

Systems

Released

February 4, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity

Developer(s)

Warhorse Studios