The best Stellar Blade skills & abilities to unlock

James Busby
Eve looking at the screen

The best Stellar Blade skills and abilities can give you a huge advantage in the game, so these are all the Attack, Burst, Beta, Survival, and Tachy skills you should add to your arsenal. 

The best Stellar Blade skills raise Eve’s DPS and survivability, giving the deadly android plenty of opportunities to melt through Naytiba health bars. However, with five different skill trees to choose from, knowing which skills to spend SP on can be tricky. This is especially true in the early parts of the game when you don’t have many resources. 

Fortunately, our best Stellar Blade skills guide has outlined every ability that you should be utilizing. Not only will this enable you to effortlessly take down every boss in the game, but it will also ensure you have the smoothest gameplay experience. 

Contents

Stellar Blade best skills

Eve sitting down with a Drone
The best Stellar Blade skills increase Eve’s DPS and survivability.

There are five skill trees in Stellar Blade for players to unlock abilities. These are Attack, Survival, Beta, Burst, and Tachy. By utilizing the best Stellar Blade skills below in coordination with the best Stellar Blade Expospines, you will have the most powerful build in the game. 

  • Ambush (best Attack skill)
  • Rush (best Attack skill)
  • Beta Chain (best Attack skill)
  • Beta Energy Recharge 1 & 2 (best Attack skill)
  • Repulse (best Survival skill)
  • Beta Energy Recharge 1 & 2 (best Survival skill)
  • Double Jump (best Survival skill)
  • Double Dodge (best Survival skill)
  • Shield Breaker (best Beta skill)
  • Crescent Slash (best Beta skill)
  • Cross Wave (best Beta skill)
  • Tempest (best Burst skill)
  • Descending Break (best Burst skill)
  • Judgment Time (best Tachy skill)

Best Attack skills in Stellar Blade

Ambush 

Ambush skill

As the name suggests, Ambush enables Eve to sneak behind her enemy to deliver an instant kill attack. Ambush is useful during all stages of the game, especially early on when more aggressive Naytiba can prove tricky to take down. The Beta Energy Theft skill, located on the left of Ambus is also a must, as it replenishes Eve’s Beta Energy, giving you more opportunities to unleash your most devastating skills. 

I also recommend you unlock the Chain Charge skill directly above Ambush, as it will allow you to charge at a nearby enemy once you’ve taken down your foe with a powerful sneak attack. 

Rush

Rush skill

Rush is the best gap closer move in Stellar Blade. It enables you to dash toward distant foes, before following up with a deadly strike. This can then be chained into a combo, which makes Rush the perfect move for initiating fights. 

To that end, I recommend maxing out the Rush skill tree by spending SP on Rush Chain 2, Lightning Rush, and Infinite Rush. These skills increase the charging distance and attack power of the default Rush. 

Beta Chain 

Beta Chain skill

Beta Chain enables you to charge the last blow of your attack by holding down square or triangle.  The charged strike not only deals increased damage, but also comes with the added bonus of stunning your opponent. 

Combos are extremely important in Stellar Blade and Beta Chain raises the damage of these attacks further.

Beta Energy Recharge 1 & 2

Beta Energy Recharge 1 skill

Unlike the other skills on this list, Beta Energy 1 & 2 are passive skills that don’t require any input from the player. They simply recharge more Beta Energy when Eve lands an attack. This is incredibly important as it enables you to unleash your most powerful Beta Skills more frequently. 

Best Survival skills in Stellar Blade

Repulse

Repulse skill

Repulse enables Eve to counter Fatal Attacks. When timed correctly, Eve will push her enemy away and reveal enemy weak points that can be targeted with ranged attacks. Your ranged attack power will also be increased. 

With both Blink and Repulse in your arsenal, you’ll be able to transform enemy attacks into perfect DPS opportunities. Consider purchasing Threat Detection to make it easier to use Blink and Repulse if you’re struggling to get the timings down. 

Beta Energy Recharge 1 & 2

Beta Energy recharge

Just like with the attacking skill tree Beta Recharge, the Survival branch rewards players with additional Beta Energy whenever they successfully parry an enemy. If you find yourself struggling to parry, then pick up the Focus Boost skill

Double Jump 

Double Jump skill

Double Jump may not provide you with any attack or defensive opportunities, but it does help with exploration. As you journey through the game’s environments, you will come across sections that you can’t reach with regular jumps.

Double Jump is necessary for collecting hard-to-reach treasure chests and cans, so I recommend every player purchases Double Jump as soon as it’s available. 

Double Dodge

Double Dodge skill

Who doesn’t like more opportunities to dodge incoming attacks? As the name suggests, Double Dodge gives Eve an extra spring in her step, which is useful when dashing out of the way of those pesky multi-hit combos. Double Dodge can also be used as a nice gap closer, for those moments when Rush is on cooldown. 

Best Beta skills in Stellar Blade 

Shield Breaker 

Shield Breaker skill

Every Stellar Blade boss comes packed with a meaty shied bar that must be broken so you can tear through their health. This can be tricky if you’re simply relying on normal combo attacks. Fortunately, Shield Breaker makes enemy shields feel like they are made out of paper, especially when you max it out and gain access to Infinite Breaker. 

It’s worth noting, that Shield Breaker also knocks your opponent down, giving you a few seconds to weave in attacks. 

Crescent Slash

Crescent Slash skill

Crescent Slash is the go-to skill for dealing with grouped enemies. Upon activation, Eve will unleash a deadly circular slash around her, damaging all enemies in the attack’s radius. Unlike the regular Slash skill, Crescent Slash enables you to attack twice, ensuring all nearby enemies stay down for good. 

The amount of times Crescent Slash saved me from hordes of grouped enemies, makes this skill worth unlocking alone. 

Cross Wave 

Cross Wave (unlocked after Shock Wave) is a little like Shield Breaker, in that it locks down enemies by stunning them. However, unlike the latter, Cross Wave can be used both in close-quarter and ranged scenarios. If that wasn’t enough, this skill deals great damage as well and is very spammable. 

Best Burst skills in Stellar Blade

Tempest 

Tempest skill

Tempest is by far the coolest-looking move in the game. This skill sees Eve crouch down before unleashing a deadly flurry of blades that hits all nearby enemies. Not only does it provide you with invulnerability, Tempest can heal missing health (with Life Steal) and even break enemy shields. 

Did we mention that Tempest hits like an absolute truck when you purchase the skills Pulse Storm and Damage Boost 2 upgrades? This is because Pulse Storm deals an additional attack to enemies, while also dealing even more damage to shields. If there’s one Burst Skill you want to unlock, it has to be Tempest. 

Descending Break 

Descending Break skill

Descending Break sees Eve launch herself into the skies, before plunging her blade into her enemy, unleashing Burst Energy that crushes those underfoot. This is a great way of reducing any enemy’s Balance meter, which then enables you to deliver a fatal Retribution Attack. 

Once you have more Burst Energy and unlocked Aftershock 1 & 2, you’ll also be able to spam this attack on bosses for some cheesy Retribution Attack plays. 

Best Tachy skills in Stellar Blade 

Judgment Time

Judgment Time skill

Judgment Time is the only Tachy skill you should unlock early on. This skill reduces the Tachy Energy consumption, giving you a little more time during this mode when it’s activated. 

I recommend spending SP on everything else on this list before you unlock additional Tachy skills. This is because the downtime and overall damage of this special mode make it more of a clutch play during boss fights. 

So, there you have it, these are the best skills in Stellar Blade that every player should purchase. Make sure you check out our Stellar Blade page for all the latest news and guides. 

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About The Author

James is Dexerto's Associate Games Editor who joined the website in 2020. He graduated from university with a degree in Journalism, before spending four years freelancing for GamesRadar+, PCGamesN, RPS, LoL Esports, Red Bull Gaming, and many more. You can find him covering everything from CoD, Apex Legends, Genshin Impact, and Monster Hunter. Need to get in touch? Email James at james.busby@dexerto.com.