Skills

Skills in Underrail represent your character's competence and knowledge in specific topics.

You gain 40 skill points every level, except at character creation where you have 120 points to spend. You cannot increase any given skill beyond its maximum for your current level, which is 10 + 5 per level. This means you can max 8 out of the 22 available skills each level, or split your skillpoints into more skills.

Related base abilities

Each skill is affected by one of your character's base ability scores, but the amount of points you may invest in any skill is not restricted by them. Every point in base ability above 4 increases the effective value of dependent skills by 10%, while every point below 4 decreases it by 8.5%.

Skill synergies

Some skills also benefit from others through skill synergy, increasing their effective skill level by a percentage of the synergistic skill. Synergies cannot boost skills beyond their maximum for your current level.

Offense

Offense skills, along with psi skills, define your character's primary means of attacking.

Guns

Guns skill includes all kinds of firearms and chemical/energy weapons as well. Crossbows have their own skill.

“ Increases your precision and damage with any type of pistol, SMG or rifle. This includes both firearms and energy weapons. Also, the higher your skill level, the more advanced weapons you can wield effectively. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Perception	None

Throwing

Throwing is a support skill, rather than a primary weapon skill you can rely on all the time. Also increases damage with throwing knives.

“ Increases your precision with all throwing weapons and utilities, including grenades. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Dexterity	None

Crossbows

Crossbows can fire various special bolts and their relatively low impact speed (compared to firearms and energy weapons) helps pierce energy shields.

“ Increases your precision and damage with crossbows. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Perception	None

Melee

Melee includes all sorts of close combat weapons — unarmed, fist weapons, knives and sledgehammers.

“ Increases damage with melee weapons and unarmed attacks and helps you overcome your target's dodge rating. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Strength or Dexterity (whichever is higher)	None

Defense

Defense skills are a part of your character's defensive abilities. They let you completely avoid some attacks. They can reduce chance to hit by up to 60% (if effective evasion/dodge skill is twice the attacker's effective attack skill)[1]

They are related to agility.

Dodge

Dodge skill primarily helps you avoid all sorts of melee attacks. The trap avoidance is not yet implemented.[2]

“ Increases your chance to avoid melee attacks and traps. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Agility	Evasion 10%

Evasion

Evasion skill helps you avoid most ranged attacks, except psionics. It also reduces damage from AoE attacks such as grenade/mine explosions and pyrokinesis.

“ Increases your chance to avoid a ranged attack. Reduces damage you receive from area of effect attacks. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Agility	Dodge 10%

Subterfuge

Subterfuge skills are skillset of a thief and a spy. They allow you break & enter into various secured areas and steal from NPCs. Stealth also plays a large part in combat with feats such as Ambush and Cut-Throat.

Stealth

Stealth skill allows you to successfully stay hidden from others in Stealth Mode.

“ Decreases the chance that you'll be spotted while in stealth mode. Also affects numerous aspects of stealth combat. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Agility	None

Hacking

Hacking skill is used to hack into computer terminals and open electronic locks with haxxors.

“ Allows you to hack all kinds of computer devices, such as electronic locks, cameras, sentry turrets, etc. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Intelligence	Electronics 10%

Lockpicking

Lockpicking skill is used to open mechanical locks with lockpicks and ventilation shafts with Omni-Tool.

“ Allows you to pick mechanical locks and dismantle other mechanical barriers such as ventilation shafts. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Dexterity	Mechanics 10% Traps 10%

Pickpocketing

Pickpocketing skill is used for the Pickpocket ability, stealing directly from someone's pockets. Stealth, lockpicking and hacking can be used to steal from (locked) containers.

“ Allows you to steal and plant items on other characters. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Dexterity	None

Traps

Traps skill allows you to both use traps as a weapon and spot/disarm enemy traps. See Traps for details.

“ Allows you to plant and disarm increasingly more powerful traps. The higher your skill is the harder your traps are to spot and disarm. Also increases your chance of spotting traps. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Dexterity	Lockpicking 10% Mechanics 10%

Technology

Technology skills are the crafting skills of Underrail. They also have varying uses outside of item crafting.

All of them are related to intelligence.

Mechanics

Mechanics skill represents your ability to understand and repair mechanical devices. Used in most crafting recipes that use metal and mechanical components, including metal armors and firearms.

“ Represents your knowledge of mechanics. This skill is primarily used in crafting various items, such as weapons, armors and traps. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Intelligence	None

Electronics

Electronics skill represents your ability to understand and repair electronic devices. Used in crafting recipes that use electronic components.

“ Represents your knowledge of electronics. This skill is primarily used in crafting various items, such as various electronic utilies and energy weapons. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Intelligence	None

Chemistry

Chemistry skill is used in crafting recipes related to chemistry, such as chemical weapons and explosives.

“ Represents your knowledge of chemistry. This skill is primarily used in crafting various items, such as explosives. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Intelligence	Biology 10%

Biology

Biology skill is for crafting medicine items and processing plants or animal remains into useful chemicals.

“ Represents your knowledge of biology. This skill is primarily used in crafting various items, such as healing and psi restoring concoctions. It also enables you to extract useful substances from plants and animals. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Intelligence	Chemistry 15%

Tailoring

Tailoring is used to craft various lightweight armor items from leather and cloth.

“ Represents your skill in tailoring leather and cloth materials into pieces of armor. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Intelligence	None

Psi

Various psionic powers your character can learn during the game.

All of them are related to will.

Thought Control

Thought Control psi abilities deal with crowd control and other ways to affect the minds of organic targets.

“ Ability to influence the minds of other living creatures through mental suggestion and domination. Also the ability to focus and enhance your own mental processes and to take greater control of your body. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Will	Psychokinesis 10% Metathermics 10%

Psychokinesis

Psychokinesis psi abilities deal with melee enhancement, electricity damage and other electromagnetic manipulation.

“ Ability of the mind to exert mechanical force, as well as to emit electric currents and project electromagnetic fields. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Will	Thought Control 10% Metathermics 10%

Metathermics

Metathermics psi abilities consist various ways to directly deal fire and cold damage to your enemies.

“ Ability of mind to initiate and control rapid temperature changes and harness exothermic and endothermic energies. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Will	Thought Control 10% Psychokinesis 10%

Social

Social skills affect your dialogue options and the quality of deals you can make with the various traders and other NPCs found in Underrail.

Persuasion and intimidation are related to will, which also unlocks some dialogue options. Mercantile is related to intelligence.

Persuasion

Persuasion is often used to resolve difficult situations with peaceful dialogue.

“ Your ability to convince the other party to see things your way through non-violent means. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Will	Mercantile 20%

Intimidation

Intimidation is the less friendly way to resolve situations by speech. Can be increased by wearing menacing looking gear like Bullet Strap Belts and Balaclavas.

“ Your ability to make someone act out of fear. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Will	Persuasion 10%

Mercantile

Mercantile is not only good for trading with merchants, but also for negotiating better quest rewards. See Traders for more information.

“ Your ability to work out favorable prices in a business transaction. ”

— In-game description

Related Base Ability	Skill Synergies
Intelligence	Persuasion 20%