Character Skills

Overview

In The Last of Us Part II, both Ellie and Abby have a skill tree system that allows you to unlock and upgrade abilities by spending supplement pills found throughout the world. Each character has three distinct skill trees: Stealth, Combat, and Survival. Each skill has multiple tiers that increase its effectiveness. The game does not have traditional spells, cooldowns, or combo systems—skills are passive or active improvements that enhance your core actions. Both characters share the same skill categories but have different specific skills tailored to their playstyles.

Skills are upgraded at any time from the pause menu. You can reset skills only by starting a New Game+ (skills carry over). There is no penalty for spreading points across trees, but focusing on one tree early can significantly alter your approach.

Ellie's Skills

Stealth Tree

Ellie’s Stealth tree focuses on remaining undetected, moving silently, and taking down enemies without alerting others.

Details:

• Hold Breath: Crucial for long-range shots. Tapping L2 while aiming slows your breathing and steadies the crosshair. Higher tiers allow you to hold longer, useful for headshots with the hunting pistol or rifle.


• Prone Stealth: Prone is a core mechanic for avoiding detection. Speeding up prone movement (Tier 1) lets you reposition quickly. Tier 2 makes you invisible in tall grass—enemies will not see you even if they look directly at your position. Essential for stealth runs.


• Listen Mode Distance: Listen mode (R1) highlights enemies and their sound cues. Expanded range gives you more situational awareness, especially when scouting large areas. Great for planning routes.


• Crouch Speed: A simple but massive quality-of-life upgrade. Crouch-walking faster reduces the time you spend in exposed positions.

Synergies & Usage:
Ellie’s Stealth tree is ideal for players who prefer avoiding direct firefights. Combine Prone Stealth Tier 2 with Crouch Speed to slip past enemies undetected. Listen Mode Distance helps you track patrols, while Hold Breath ensures one-shot kills from afar. Use stealth to conserve ammo and health.

Combat Tree

The Combat tree improves Ellie’s offensive capabilities—firearms, melee, and damage output.

Details:

• Weapon Sway: Reduces the natural wobble when aiming, making it easier to hit moving or distant targets. Maximizing this makes Ellie’s rifles and pistols extremely accurate.


• Faster Healing: Health packs (bandages) take time to apply. Faster healing lets you recover in the middle of combat without being interrupted as easily. Vital for aggressive play.


• Bottle/Brick Stun Duration: Thrown bottles or bricks can stun enemies briefly. Extended duration gives you time to run up for a melee kill or escape. Great for setting up stealth takedowns.


• Tackle Damage: Sprinting into an enemy with L1 knocks them down. Higher tiers deal damage and can break down wooden doors (saving time). Useful for closing distance and creating openings.

Synergies & Usage:
Combat skills suit players who fight head‑on. Max Weapon Sway first to improve gun accuracy. Tackle Damage combined with a machete or pipe can one‑hit kill many enemies. Bottle/Brick Stun pairs with Tackle to safely close in. Faster healing keeps you in the fight longer.

Survival Tree

The Survival tree focuses on resources, crafting, and health.

Details:

• Crafting Speed: Crafting (e.g., making medkits, shivs, smoke bombs, arrows) takes time. Faster crafting means less vulnerability in the open. A must for anyone who crafts often.


• Health Upgrade: Flat increase to your max HP. Particularly valuable on higher difficulties where damage is severe. Improves survivability.


• Scavenging: Every searchable container yields more supplies. This is a passive snowball effect—more resources mean more crafting, healing, and ammo. Prioritize early to build a stockpile.


• Medicine Crafting: Reduces the materials needed to craft a health kit (from 3 to 2 alcohol+rags). Excellent for conserving resources when healing is frequent.

Synergies & Usage:
Survival skills are universally useful. Scavenging pays dividends throughout the game. Combine with Health Upgrade to create a tankier Ellie. Crafting Speed is invaluable during frantic encounters—you can craft a medkit mid‑firefight. Medicine Crafting saves resources for other items.

Abby's Skills

Abby’s skill trees mirror Ellie’s in structure but have different names and effects, reflecting her stronger physique and different combat style.

Stealth Tree

Abby’s Stealth tree emphasizes her ability to remain hidden despite her larger frame.

Note: Abby’s Stealth skills are identical to Ellie’s. The same synergies apply.

Usage:
Abby is bigger and louder, making stealth harder without upgrades. Prioritize Prone Stealth Tier 2 as early as possible to compensate. Crouch Speed helps her reposition quickly.

Combat Tree (Abby)

Abby’s Combat tree focuses on her brute strength and heavy weapons.

Details:

• Knockout Punch replaces Ellie’s Tackle. Abby can punch instead of using a tackle. The punch is faster to execute and doesn’t require sprinting. It can stun or kill weak enemies outright. At Tier 3 it can smash locked doors (same utility as Ellie’s Tackle).

Synergies & Usage:
Abby excels at close-quarters combat. The Knockout Punch uses no stamina and can be chained with melee attacks. Bottle/Brick stun + Knockout Punch is a reliable one‑two combo. Weapon Sway helps with her heavier guns (rifle, shotgun). Faster Healing is crucial because Abby often finds herself in the thick of battle.

Survival Tree (Abby)

Abby’s Survival skills differ slightly.

Details:

• Craft More Ammo: Abby’s unique survival skill. Every time she crafts ammo (for pistols, rifles, shotguns, etc.), she produces an extra round per tier. Tier 2 yields +2 rounds. This is especially good for shotguns and rifles, where ammo is scarce.


Synergies & Usage:
Craft More Ammo synergizes with Scavenging to keep Abby’s guns fed. Combine with Health Upgrade to become a durable juggernaut. Crafting Speed lets you whip up ammo between fights. Prioritize Scavenging and Craft More Ammo to maintain combat effectiveness.



Recommended Builds & Upgrade Order





Stealth-Focused Ellie


1. Prone Stealth Tier 2 (90 pills) – Unlock invisibility.
2. Crouch Speed (40 pills) – Speed up stealth movement.
3. Listen Mode Distance max (180 pills) – Awareness.
4. Hold Breath max (180 pills) – Accurate kills.
5. Then invest in Combat (Weapon Sway) or Survival (Scavenging).



Aggressive Abby


1. Knockout Punch Tier 1 (40 pills) – Get the punch immediately.
2. Knockout Punch Tier 2 (80 pills) – More damage.
3. Craft More Ammo Tier 1 (50 pills) – Extra ammo.
4. Faster Healing Tier 1 (30 pills) – Sustain.
5. Scavenging max (240 pills) – Fund all other upgrades.
6. Later max Weapon Sway and Hold Breath for ranged fights.



Balanced (Both Characters)



• Prioritize Scavenging early to snowball resources.


• Get Crouch Speed and Prone Stealth Tier 1 for utility.


• One or two points in Faster Healing for survival.


• Then specialize based on your preferred encounters.




General Tips



• Pills are plentiful if you explore thoroughly. Check every drawer, desk, and corpse.


• In New Game+, all skills carry over, so you can max every tree if you collect enough pills.


• On higher difficulties (Survivor, Grounded), Listen Mode Distance and Prone Stealth are almost mandatory for avoiding detection.


• Abby’s Knockout Punch can destroy wooden doors, saving time and letting you surprise enemies from alternative routes.


• Medicine Crafting (Ellie) and Craft More Ammo (Abby) are permanent resource savings—invest in them mid‑game.

This guide covers every unlockable skill for both protagonists. Use the upgrade paths that match your playstyle, and remember that you can combine skills across trees for maximum effectiveness.