How To Unlock Every Skill In Atomfall

Skills are the only way to make your character more powerful in Atomfall. Since there is no experience or leveling system, gaining new perks by spending the Training Stimulants that you find on your journey is the only way to improve your baseline capability.

a pair of raf helicopters seen from below at the beginning of atomfall.

Atomfall: Achievement/Trophy Guide

There’s a lot to explore in Atomfall. Have you seen it all?

At the start of the game, you only have access to a few Skills, and learning even those requires tracking down a lot of Training Stimulants. If you want to really have a fighting chance in the Zone, you’ll need to find Training Manuals. Reading them gives you the option to learn other skills with your hard-earned Stims.

Many Skill Manuals are available from Traders. If you don’t know where a specific trader is, check out our guide to get their exact coordinates!

Ranged Combat Skills

a masked soldier holds a rifle with inscrutable diagrams on the icon for the firearms handling skill in atomfall.

These skills deal with fighting enemies from afar, using each of the game’s three broad categories of ranged weapons.

Thrown Weapons

Skill	Cost	Effect
Throwables Radius	6	Thrown explosives have a larger blast area.
Throwables Damage	4	Thrown explosives deal more damage.
Weapon Throw Training	2	Melee weapons deal more damage when thrown.

Thrown Weapon Skills area available from the start of the game; you don’t need to find a Manual to unlock them.

Firearms

Skill	Cost	Effect
Firearms Focus	6	Guns deal more damage while your heart rate is low.
Firearms Handling	4	Reduces sway when aiming down sights.
Firearms Stability	2	Reduces recoil on all guns.

The Firearms Manual is in Skethermoor Prison. The easiest way in is to help Captain Sims arrest Iris the Baker; he’ll give you a pass that allows you entry if you agree to interrogate Doctor Garrow. At the bottom level, where Garrow is kept, climb through the vent in the far wall. Before using the Signal Redirector, enter the storeroom on the right side and look to your right to find the manual.

You can also fight your way into the prison, or sneak in through the Interchange by using the Crane Controls near Data Store Delta.

Alternately, you can buy a Firearms Manual from Bootsy in northwest Skethermoor.

Bows

Skill	Cost	Effect
Bow Focus	6	Lets you briefly enter Focus when your bow is fully drawn, slowing time.
Draw Control	4	You can maintain full draw for the maximum allowed time regardless of your heart rate.
Draw Speed	2	Reduces the time it takes to draw a bow.

Bows have the advantage of being completely silent, so an archery-focused build can make for a fun playthrough. You’ll need to fight druids in Casterfell Woods to get a bow and enough arrows, though.

The easiest way to get the Bow Manual is to buy it from Molly in Slatten Dale. If you’d rather not trade for it, go to the front door of the druids’ castle in southwestern Casterfell and turn right before actually going inside. You’ll find their copy and some archery supplies to get you started.

If Molly doesn’t have the guide in stock on your first visit, just come back later, after you’ve acquired a bow. She usually gets one by that point.

Melee Combat Skills

a masked soldier in a fighting stance, with two other soldiers recoiling from blows in the background, on the icon for the thick skin skill in atomfall.

These skills handle combat within arm’s reach, usually with a weapon in hand.

Hand-To-Hand

Skill	Cost	Effect
Thick Skin	5	You take less damage from melee attacks, including from weapons.
Kill Momentum	4	Defeating an enemy with a melee attack gives you a brief Melee Damage buff, similar to that granted by Combat Stims.
Kick Stun Duration	1	Enemies that you kick remain staggered for longer.

These Skills are available right from the start of the game.

Stealth

Skill	Cost	Effect
Surprise Attack	5	You deal more damage to enemies who don’t know you’re there.
Quiet Movement	5	Your footsteps are less likely to be heard by enemies, both standing and crouching.
Quiet Takedown	2	Takedowns are less noisy, making it less likely other enemies will notice.

You can get the Stealth Manual from inside the locked Conservatory at Datlow Hall, or by trading for a copy from Molly whenever she has one in stock.

Melee Combat

Skill	Cost	Effect
Heavy Melee Attack Power	7	Your heavy melee attacks (hold the attack button) deal more damage.
Seasoned Brawler	5	Reduces the amount by which making a melee attack increases your heart rate.
Melee Weapon Attack Power	2	Increases the damage you deal with melee weapons of all types.

The Melee Manual is one that you can’t trade for; you’ll have to raid the Outlaw Cave in eastern Slatten Dale if you want it. The cave is located at 24.4E, 75.3N, so if you stick to the left-hand road as you make your way north from the starting bunker, you can find it pretty easily.

Attacking the Outlaw Cave straight away at the start of a new game is risky, but if you can make it to the storeroom at the back and get the Melee Manual, learning Melee Weapon Attack Power as soon as you have two Training Stimulants can make you very powerful early on.

In addition to the Outlaws, watch out for tripwires throughout the cave, including at the entrance to the storeroom!

captain sims leads protocol troops at the beginning of atomfall.

Atomfall: 8 Best Skills To Learn First

Your skills will keep you alive in Atomfall.

Survival Skills

a diagram shows gun parts on the icon for the gunsmith skill in atomfall.

These skills make it easier to get new resources, or make the ones you already have stretch further.

Basic Survival

Skill	Cost	Effect
Scavenger	5	Searching bodies and opening containers takes less time.
Charisma	4	Traders offer you more value for items that you sell.
Disarm Traps	3	You can interact with tripwires to disarm them and salvage their components.

These Skills are available at the beginning of the game, no matter what.

Crafting

Skill	Cost	Effect
Gunsmith	7	Allows you to combine identical guns to upgrade them.
Deep Pockets	5	Increases your carrying capacity for ammunition and crafting materials.
Crafting Speed	1	Reduces the time it takes to craft all items.

These skills make it easier to craft the supplies that you need during your adventure. If you go to the Brewery Cellar on the hill overlooking the Mereview Hotel in Wyndham Village, you can find evidence connecting Morris at the Hardware Store to Maisie’s murder. Show it to Morris and agree to keep quiet, and he’ll give you the Crafting Manual.

If you’d rather turn Morris in, or would prefer not to get involved, go to Data Store Delta in the Interchange. Once it’s powered up, climb to the lower level and jump on the servers to avoid the electrified water and climb to the walkway above. Get the storeroom keycard from the dead scientist there, and use it to open the locked door back where you started jumping. There’s a copy of the Crafting Manual inside.

Consumables

Skill	Cost	Effect
Gut Health	6	Eating any food item grants you a brief Damage Resistance buff, similar to that granted by Painkillers.
Buff Duration	4	Buffs gained from using items have their duration increased.
Blue Fingers	2	Allows you to harvest Spores from infected plants. You do not need this skill to pick up loose Spores previously harvested by someone else.

When you investigate the Bakery for Captain Sims, you can find the Consumables Manual inside the locked bedroom where Iris’ infected husband is kept. Alternately, you can buy a copy from Billy Gorse at his camp just southwest of Casterfell Dam.

Conditioning Skills

a masked soldier in an armored security vest crosses their arms in the icon for the fortitude skill in atomfall.

These Skills make your character more resilient, and therefore more likely to survive the countless dangers of the Quarantine Zone.

Stamina

Skill	Cost	Effect
Endurance Training	5	Your heart rate rises slower and falls more quickly.
Recovery	5	When you’re at low health, you stabilize faster and get more health back when doing so.
Fortitude	5	Increases your maximum health.

These Skills are available from the start of the game.

Resistance

Skill	Cost	Effect
Poison Resistance	4	Increases your resistance to Poison, usually from swarms, gas, and some druid weapons.
Bleed Resistance	4	Increases your resistance to Bleeding, usually from bladed melee weapons and traps.
Burn Resistance	4	Increases your resistance to Burn gained from suffering fire damage.

Get the Church Cellar Key from the Interchange’s Medical Facility, then use it to meet Doctor Holder in his secret lab under the church in Wyndham Village. He’ll give you a keycard that will let you get deeper into Medical, and ask you to retrieve Sample One. When you do so, you’ll have to leave via the tunnels beyond the operating theater.

Immediately after transitioning from Medical to the Tunnels, look to your right to find the Resistances Manual. It’s the only one in the game, so don’t miss it!

Status Protection

Skill	Cost	Effect
Healing Boost	5	Items that restore your health are more effective.
Infection Resistance.	N/A	Increases your Infection Resistance. Automatically learned upon unlocking this Skill set.
Radiation Resistance	4	Increases your Radiation Resistance. Apart from a specific room in the Vehicle Depot Bunker, this is only relevant if an Atomic Battery is damaged and destroyed, usually while fighting a robot.

This set of Skills isn’t learned from a Manual at all; instead, you gain it when you use the Experimental Inoculation on Doctor Holder’s workbench. That means the only way to get it is to find the Church Cellar Key and meet him as described above.

Even if you don’t plan to get Doctor Holder’s ending, meeting him just for the free Infection Resistance Skill is a good idea, since you’ll need some kind of protection from spores if you want to survive the Windscale Plant at the end of the game.