Skip to main content

The best skills to buy first in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has improved upon the original game in almost every way, and that includes expanding main character Cal Kestis’ wide selection of skills and abilities. Whether it’s new stances to engage with or entirely new skill sets to acquire, you’ll find plenty to unravel throughout the game’s lengthy adventure. If you’re just getting started, though, you may find that your limited skill points leave you wondering which skills are worth your investment. Don’t fret, though, as we’ve got the best skills for you to buy first in this guide.

Before we get started, however, be aware that the decisions you make in your skill tree can be reversed by spending 1 skill point, giving you the option to try new builds as you play. Luckily, that shouldn’t generally be necessary – especially if you’re thorough with your exploration – as Jedi Survivor has no level cap. Because of this, you can continue to grind out infinite skill points whenever you wish. In other words, you can max out the entire skill tree by the end of the game. With that out of the way, here are the best skills to buy first.

Survival Skills

Survival Skills
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Survival Skills is located in the Resilience skill tree. This skill provides Cal with an upgrade to his overall health pool, granting him a bit of extra survivability. If you’re playing on Jedi Knight difficulty or above, this is even more vital to your build, as enemies hit pretty hard. You’ll also find health upgrades throughout your journey, but the boost you get from Survival Skills is nevertheless a meaningful one.

As soon as you can, you should also use some points to grab the Improved and Expert Survival Skills follow-ups above the initial skill to improve your health even further.

Improved Stim Formula

Improved Stim Formula
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Improved Stim Formula is also located in the Resilience skill tree. This skill allows Cal to recover additional health from stim packs that BD-1 tosses him during battle. This is an important skill to have early on, as your stim packs will be very limited during the opening hours of the game, so you’ll want to be sure each one is healing you as much as it possibly can.

When you have the extra skill points, make sure you also grab the Perfected follow-up skill right above the Improved Stim Formula, as this will further increase how much health BD-1’s Stims provide.

Attunement

Attunement
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Attunement is located in the Jedi Concentration skill tree. This skill grants Cal extra Force, allowing you to use your Force powers with more frequency, which is especially helpful early on if you tend to Force Pull or Force Push enemies with any regularity. Even though the increase to your Force isn’t necessarily significant, it’ll be enough to give you the extra edge you need.

When you get a chance, make sure you also grab the Lucid and Enlightened follow-ups above this skill t improve your Force even further.

Greater Hold

Greater Hold
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Greater Hold is in the Jedi Concentration skill tree. This skill will increase the amount of time your Slow effect remains on enemies. The Slow ability is a huge help against bosses or large groups of foes, giving you ample time to maneuver around the battlefield or get in some hits without having to worry so much about retaliation, so don’t pass up this opportunity to improve it.

Eventually, be sure you also grab the Extended Hold skill just beside Greater Hold, as this will make it so that your Slow effect no longer breaks after your first hit on an enemy.

Wrenching Pull

Wrenching Pull
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Wrenching Pull is in the Telekinesis skill tree. This skill will allow you to grab a group of enemies and pull them to you while also briefly staggering them. Considering how often the game attempts to overwhelm you with an onslaught of foes, this is an immensely powerful tool to have at your disposal, giving you the option to pull multiple baddies together and slice through them in one fell swoop.

Once you can afford to do so, don’t pass up the Radial Push skill just next to Wrenching Pull, as this will let you push enemies away and stagger them for a brief period so that you can reposition or heal.

Editors' Recommendations

Billy Givens
Billy Givens is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience writing gaming, film, and tech content. His work can be…
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the culmination of the series’ rocky gaming history
Jedi Cal Kestis.

I've played Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's Coruscant heist opening multiple times at this point, and every time I play it, I can't help but think about what could've been with Star Wars 1313, the franchise's most infamous canceled game. 
The idea of an Uncharted-like game about Boba Fett fighting throughout the Coruscant underworld is such an excellent pitch that I've grieved the loss of a game I never even had a chance to play for over a decade. Playing through Survivor's opening doesn't elicit feelings of disappointment about 1313, though. Instead, I feel happy that at least some fraction of that idea was able to be realized.

Survivor's Metroidanvia-like level design and Lightsaber-and-Force-based combat are much different than what was promised from 1313. However, the idea of cleverly climbing and fighting across a seedy-looking level of Coruscant during a heist was still realized. Reflecting on the lost project ahead of this year's Star Wars Day, I had a revelation about Respawn Entertainment's latest game. Despite technically being a sequel to just Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor feels like the culmination of over a decade of Star Wars games, both released and canceled, that came before.
A walk through Star Wars gaming history
Growing up, two of my favorite video games were the original Star Wars: Battlefront II and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. To this day, 2005's Battlefront II is my favorite game of all time, not only because of all the great memories that I had with it but also because it feels like an authentic Star Wars simulator where multiple eras, planets, and characters are preserved in incredible detail. Survivor feels like it has the same keen attention to detail.
Players may not visit as many planets as they do in Battlefront II, but each location in Survivor is densely packed with content and immaculately packed with detailed environments and characters that faithfully represent the High Republic, prequel, and Imperial eras. While the aesthetics feel as detailed as Battlefront, the gameplay fantasy pulls more from The Force Unleashed.

Read more
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor ending explained: What happens to Cal, Cere, and Bode?
Bode helps Cal up in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor finally launched on April 28, continuing the story of Jedi Knight Cal Kestis during the Reign of the Empire era. Its predecessor, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, ended with Kal, his mentor Cere, Nightsister Merrin, and Mantis pilot Greez destroying a Holocron with the locations of force-sensitive children on it. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor follows Cal five years after the events of that game as he struggles to balance his well-being with his fight against the Empire and uncovers a new threat linked to The High Republic and a mysterious planet.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a lengthy adventure as it takes over 20 hours to experience a story with quite a few twists and turns. Whether you’ve beaten the game and are looking for a recap or want to know how Cal Kestis’ adventures continue, this is a rundown of what happens in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and how it all coalesces into a somber ending.
This article contains spoilers for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
How does Star Wars Jedi: Survivor begin
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor begins with Cal Kestis seemingly captured on Coruscant. While it initially seems like he’s being turned over into the custody of a Utapauian senator, it turns out this is all part of an elaborate heist with a new crew that Cal has been running with since the Mantis crew from the first game disbanded. During this mission, Cal meets Bode Akuna, who tells Cal he’s fighting to protect his daughter Kata from the Empire.

They are eventually able to track down the Utapauian senator’s damaged ship, and all seems to be going well. Unfortunately, they are then ambushed by an Imperial Squad led by the Ninth Sister from the Fallen Order. Cal kills the Ninth Sister and escapes on the Mantis, but everyone but him and Bode is killed, and the Mantis is heavily damaged. With no other choice, he flies to the planet Koboh, where Greez is now living, and crash lands on the planet.
After fighting some of the Bedlam Raiders, led by a powerful Gen’Dai named Rayvis, Cal reunites with Greez. While Greez encourages Cal to settle down, Cal refuses and looks for a piece of technology in the caves beneath Greez’s Saloon. While doing this, he discovers an old ruin from The High Republic era, and frees a droid named ZN-A4 (or Zee) for short, who was sent on a mission by a Jedi Knight named Santari Khri during the High Republic era to find the “Key to Tanalorr.”
Cal investigates this, learning that Santari Khri and a Jedi named Dagan Gera found Tanalorr, a hidden planet beyond the dangerous Koboh Abyss, where they wanted to build a new Jedi base. Cal decides to free Dagan from his Bacta Tank, but he quickly betrays Cal after learning of the Jedi’s fall, adamant about retaking Tanalorr with the help of Rayvis, who owes him a life debt. Now, Cal, Bode, and Greez make it their duty to stop Dagan and potentially claim Tanalorr as a safe haven for themselves.
The quest to stop Dagan Gera
Following this encounter, Cal, Greez, and Bode, who found Cal on Koboh, decide to look for Tanalorr and make it their new home together. Looking for any existing information on Tanalorr, the group decides to go to Jedha, where Cal’s mentor Cere Junda is working with Jedi Master Edo Cordova to rebuild the Jedi Archives and support the Hidden Path, which protects force-sensitive people from the Empire.

Read more
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor offers a big glimpse into Disney’s High Republic era
star wars jedi survivor high republic facility

After Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, it will be impossible for Star Wars fans to ignore The High Republic era. Once limited to books, Disney is starting to make the fictional time period matter a lot more to the overarching narrative of Star Wars. If upcoming shows like The Acolyte weren’t already an indication of that to you, then The High Republic’s presence and relevance in Survivor will be. Although the game isn't set during The High Republic -- it takes place in the Reign of the Empire time period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope -- characters and locations heavily tied to that era play a major role in the game's narrative. 

For a significant chunk of Cal Kestis’ latest adventure, he’s going toe-to-toe with Dagan Gera, a Jedi from The High Republic era that was sustained in a Bacta Tank for hundreds of years after betraying the Jedi Order. Especially on Koboh and the Shattered Moon, players will explore a lot of High Republic facilities and learn more about how the Jedi Order functioned and trained new Jedi at its height, and be able to contrast that with Cal's current situation. 
So, what exactly is The High Repbulic, and why does it matter? This is what you need to know as the franchise looks to a new era.
What is The High Republic?
The High Republic is the third of nine Star Wars eras designated by Disney. It’s snuggled between The Old Republic, which we see in the aptly named Knights of the Old Republic, and the Fall of the Jedi era seen throughout the Star Wars prequel film saga. Disney first unveiled it in 2020, and Lucasfilm described it as “an era when the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order are at their zenith, about 200 years before Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" in a blog post.

Read more