Best Nine Sols Skills to Prioritize First

Nine Sols is a 2D Action-RPG with two separate progression systems. Unlike the Jade Stones, which can be applied and removed at will, Nine Sols skills are permanent. Once bought, a skill can’t be traded back. Thankfully, you always have the option of farming experience points and getting a new ability. However, if you want to be extra safe, here are the skills you should prioritize first in Nine Sols.

The Best Skill to Prioritize in Nine Sols

Qi Boost

Qi Boost is an excellent first skill point, though it can be delayed for Bullet Deflect if you prefer. Either way, you’ll have to take this skill soon enough. Qi Boost allows you to store one additional talisman before applying it, either one at a time or all together. Before taking this skill, parrying two attacks in a row only creates one talisman, making the counterattack weaker than it could be.

Soon enough, you’ll be forced to parry two or three attacks in a row. That’s why spending a skill point on Qi Boosts should be one of your priorities.

Bullet Deflect

Bullet Deflect is a cool skill, but that’s not why you should take it. It allows you to send projectiles back to the attacker, but outside of specific circumstances, this isn’t very useful.

Arrows don’t do that much damage, and they can be parried even without this skill. They won’t fly back but they will generate a talisman, which hits harder than any arrow. No, the reason to take Bullet Deflect is that it unlocks another skill, Breathing Exercise.

Breathing Exercise

Breathing Exercise is pretty much essential, especially if you find yourself doing a lot of imperfect parries. In a few words, Breathing Exercise lets you recover some internal damage on every perfect parry. Internal damage is generated by doing imperfect parries and recovers over time. But what happens if you don’t have that time?

In boss fights and longer arena encounters, this skill becomes essential. It allows you to mix good and bad parries without seeing your health go down in the end. The game still requires a good amount of perfect parries while allowing for a lot more sloppiness than usual.

Shadow Strike

Shadow Strike is a weird ability, and the real reason you should prioritize it is because it’s a prerequisite for Qi Boost Two. It’s powerful, but it doesn’t trigger very consistently. In a nutshell, Shadow Strikes improves the damage of strong attacks. Strong attacks are actually quite common, as they include Talisman Explosions and the last blow of a three-hit combo. Hitting enemies from behind isn’t hard, either, though it depends on the enemy.

The problem is that the enemy in question might snap 180 degrees and take the third attack in a combo on its face instead of on its back. It’s also unclear when a Talisman Explosion qualifies for Shadow Strike, whether it’s the application or the explosion that counts. All those issues make it especially unpredictable when fighting a boss, just when it’s most important.

Qi Boost Two

Eventually, you’ll have to get a second Qi Boost. Chances are, you’ll need the second boost before dealing with Yingzhao, the centaur boss. Thankfully, we’ve just unlocked this skill by taking Shadow Strike. The increased space for talismans is great for inflicting more damage in just one blow, but it also helps with concentrating on defensive play. Parry to your heart’s content and strike back when it’s safe to do so.

These are the five skills to prioritize in Nine Sols. For more content about the game, visit our Nine Sols guide hub.