Best early skills to level up for beginners in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

Like most action-adventure games, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn offers players various skills that change how they play the game. But there are a few abilities you may want to level up early into your playthrough to make your journey around Kian a bit easier.

Here are all the skills we recommend prioritizing early into your Flintlock playthrough.

Recommended starting skills in Flintlock‘s early game

Charged Shot

Charged Shot is the second skill you can unlock in the Powder tree, and it has served me well throughout my playthrough. There are a ton of regular enemies that, depending on your difficulty and pistol levels, can go down with a single charged-up shot. It’s incredibly convenient for dealing with enemies you may hate fighting; simply target them, charge up a shot, and watch them fall before they ever even notice you. 

• Cost: 2,500 Reputation

Rend Spirit

Rend Spirit, the second Magic skill, is simply a must-have. Not only does it open the paths to all the other Magic abilities on this list, it’s also incredibly useful for players first getting their bearings about them in the world of Kian.

When you cast Rend Spirit, Enki launches into the air above your enemy, consuming two Enki charges and suspends them in the air. This prevents them from moving or attacking, allowing you to strike them with your melee weapon without fear of retaliation.

• Cost: 2,500 Reputation

Taunt

Occasionally, you’ll come across large groups of enemies, and it can be overwhelming when they’re all running your way. If you’ve unlocked Taunt, one of the third Magic skills, Enki will distract an enemy when you’re facing multiple foes, causing it to attack the fox god instead of Nor. This skill is helpful for players who may struggle with the targeting system or simply don’t want to deal with a full horde of enemies at a time.

It’s also just downright adorable the way Enki barks at enemies like a dog when he taunts them. What a good boi!

• Cost: 3,750 Reputation

Restrain

Restrain is one of the fourth Magic skills, just above Taunt. When you use Restrain, Enki climbs atop armored enemies to prevent their movement, adding to their Priming Gauge in the process. This stops enemies from attacking Nor and gets you closer to removing their armor—a win-win against those tougher, bulkier foes. 

Unlike Rend Spirit, the second Magic skill on the tree, Restrain won’t consume Enki’s charges, but it has a similar effect. At 7,000 Reputation, Restrain can be trickier to unlock for players just starting out on their journey through Kian, but it’s well worth the investment in the long term. I’d personally recommend prioritizing this skill over other abilities in the Powder or Steel trees, especially for those who aren’t as versed in Soulslike combat and need a bit of assistance from their godly ally.

Cost: 7,000 Reputation

If you need a bit of extra Reputation to unlock any of the skills on this list, you can defeat opponents in Sebo matches, exchange any Conscript’s Buttons or Plates from your inventory, or head back to previous areas to grind for the currency against easier enemies. You can also refund other skills if need be, although we wouldn’t recommend it since you get less Reputation than what you paid.