Into The Depths Skills Guide: Abilities & Progression

Understanding the Skill System

Skills in Into The Depths are the backbone of your colony's progression. Unlike traditional RPGs, skills here are tied to both your colonists and your settlement's infrastructure. Each colonist you recruit or train comes with a unique set of innate abilities, but you can expand their potential through the game's deep skill tree system. Skills are divided into three primary categories: Survival, Crafting, and Combat. Mastering all three is essential for pushing deeper into the caverns and surviving the Roguelite elements that reset your progress upon death.

Your skill progression is influenced by the buildings you construct, the resources you gather, and the events you encounter. For a broader look at how skills interact with the game's core loops, check out our mechanics guide.

Survival Skills: Keeping Your Colony Alive

Survival skills are the first you'll need to develop. These abilities focus on resource gathering, food production, and environmental adaptation. Key survival skills include:

• Foraging: Increases the yield from wild plants and mushrooms in the caverns.
• Water Purification: Essential for turning contaminated underground water into drinkable supplies.
• Shelter Building: Reduces material costs and time when constructing housing and defensive walls.
• Medical Aid: Boosts the effectiveness of healing items and reduces recovery time for injured colonists.

Investing in Survival early ensures your colony can withstand the harsh underground environment. Without these skills, even a small cave-in or a contaminated water source can wipe out your progress. For more tips on getting started, read our beginner guide.

Crafting Skills: Tools, Weapons, and Upgrades

Crafting skills allow you to create better equipment, refine raw materials, and unlock advanced structures. This skill tree is vital for progressing past the early depths. Notable crafting abilities include:

• Tool Smithing: Unlocks the ability to craft iron and steel tools, which drastically improve mining and woodcutting speed.
• Alchemy: Allows you to brew potions that provide temporary buffs, such as increased strength or resistance to cave toxins.
• Mechanical Engineering: Grants access to automated machines, like ore crushers and water pumps, which boost efficiency.
• Jewelcrafting: A late-game skill that lets you embed gems into gear for powerful bonuses.

Crafting skills often require specific workstations. Build a dedicated workshop early to maximize your colony's output. Our upgrades guide covers the best order to unlock these stations.

Combat Skills: Defending Your Depths

While exploration is key, the underground is filled with hostile creatures and rival factions. Combat skills determine how well your colonists can defend the settlement and clear out dangerous areas. Key combat skills include:

• Swordsmanship: Increases melee damage and unlocks special attack combos.
• Archery: Boosts ranged accuracy and allows for stealth takedowns from a distance.
• Tactical Positioning: Improves your colonists' ability to use cover and reduces damage from area-of-effect attacks.
• Leadership: A unique skill that increases the morale and effectiveness of nearby allies during combat.

Combat skills are best paired with the right gear. For a breakdown of the best weapons and armor, see our gear guide.

Skill Trees and Unlock Conditions

Each skill is part of a larger tree that requires specific prerequisites and resource investments to unlock. Skills are not learned automatically; you must assign colonists to training facilities or use skill points earned through exploration and completing challenges. The game features a Prestige system that allows you to carry over a limited number of skill points after a run ends. This makes long-term planning crucial. For a complete breakdown of the prestige mechanics, visit our prestige guide.

Best Skill Builds for Early, Mid, and Late Game

Your skill build should adapt to your current depth and goals:

• Early Game (Depth 1-10): Prioritize Foraging and Tool Smithing. These ensure you have enough food and basic tools to establish a foothold.
• Mid Game (Depth 11-25): Invest in Mechanical Engineering and Tactical Positioning. Automation reduces manual labor, and combat skills become necessary as enemy density increases.
• Late Game (Depth 26+): Unlock Alchemy and Leadership. These provide the buffs and coordination needed to survive the final caverns and defeat the endgame bosses.

For a more detailed look at character specialization, check out our character builds guide.