Playing The Last of Us Part II requires you to stay sharp and stay sneaky. During the course of the game, you’ll meet endless infected creatures, from stalkers to bloaters, and heavily-armed human enemies are fighting off against each other for a little part of the territory.
Whether you play with Abby or Ellie, these are some of the game’s best upgrades to go for to help you get through the chaotic, post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us. Although it’s up to your style of playing, whether it’s a sneaky kind or an aggressive kind, these upgrades will give you a big boost as you navigate through Ellie and Abby’s quests for vengeance. You can easily upgrade your characters by consuming supplements or unlocking the branch with Training Manuals that can be found throughout the city.
Updated February 19, 2022 by William Quick: When The Last Of Us came out, it completely redefined the level of game storytelling on top of being a solid zombie game. It was followed by The Last Of Us Part II which introduces more of its universe as well as a skill tree for two characters, each of which you should play close attention to.
15 Ellie: Craft Melee Upgrades
In a world dominated by zombies, survival is an everyday struggle. As it was in the previous game, the situation in The Last Of Us Part 2 hasn’t improved in any significant way. Ellie and Abby will constantly be at risk of running out of materials and resources. Of all of them, ammo is one the most valuable and scarce so you don’t want to depend on it.
Luckily, there are plenty of melee options to defend yourself and take down any infected you come across. Though the hordes can quickly wear your weapons down, this skill will allow you to upgrade them while crafting to restore their durability and make them even more effective.
14 Abby: Improved Silencers/Faster Crafting
First thing’s first, when you start your quest with Abby, a weapon silencer is a must to help you take down the infected or the Seraphites and the Wolfs that are fighting each other. To accomplish that, you need to obtain the Stealth Training Manual during your journey with Abby on Seattle Day 1: The Coast chapter. This manual can be found inside a vault in the boat’s top deck’s main control area. The safe code combination is 90-77-01.
Alternatively, still from the same Ordinance Branch, you can exchange 20 supplements for faster crafting. This will help Abby craft bombs and health kit faster, and it will be crucial, especially during your encounter with the Rat King at the hospital’s basement later on.
13 Ellie: Create More Explosive Arrows/Faster Stealth Kill
On the Seattle: Day 2 - The Seraphites chapter with Ellie, you’ll find a building on your right side before heading to Route 5. Make your way by going up on the truck to enter it. You have to use the Workbench, and then a Seraphite will ambush you. As you take him out, the locked room will be unlocked, and you’ll find the Explosive Training Manual on the bed.
With this training manual, you can explore a lot of possibilities to make your journey easier. One of them is to create more explosive arrows that will help you take down nearby enemies with one shot effectively. Alternatively, you can opt to upgrade for a faster stealth kill with 60 supplements, allowing Ellie to take down any enemies faster.
12 Abby/Ellie: Listen Mode Range
A truly interesting aspect of the Last Of Us universe is how the zombie infection works. Rather than simply being a viral infection, it takes the form of a parasitic fungus that dominates the host and grows out of its body over time. This gives it increased physical attributes but also blinds them so it needs to rely on sound to hunt.
As a result, Abby and Ellie need to rely on stealth in order to stay out of danger. However, they can also use sound to detect danger nearby through Listen Mode. This is an essential ability for getting around safely, especially in areas of low visibility. As such, it’s smart to invest in this skill and increase the range of your listening by 50 percent.
11 Ellie: Improved Molotovs
In a world where zombies rely heavily on sound in order to detect their prey, you really want to avoid using weapons that may as well be a giant dinner bell. Unfortunately, accidents happen and there will be times where hordes of infected will descend upon you and you’ll need a way to clear them out quickly and effectively.
Although explosives are Abby’s specialty, Ellie has a familiarity with an old classic known as the molotov. As far as explosives go, these fiery bottles aren’t as nosiy while having good splash damage and quickly draining enemy health. With this skill, Ellie will be able to increase the spread of the molotov’s flames by 50 percent.
10 Abby: Increased Health
An increased health bar is always a must. During your campaign with Abby, find at least 30 supplements to increase your health bar to 25 percent. It can be upgraded from the Field Tactics Branch as you start your campaign with the former Firefly without any Training Manual needed.
Add 50 supplements more for another 25 percent increase and 40 more for Listen Mode Clarity, and your Abby is twice as durable than ever before.
9 Abby/Ellie: Aim Stability Increase
As should be obvious, guns are very noisy and ammo is scarce. Though firearms can be effective in dealing with groups of infected and fighting back against bandits, you don’t want to be firing shots randomly in hopes of hitting your target. You’ll never know when you’ll run out of bullets so you’ll want to make every shot count.
While aiming, both Ellie and Abby have a chance to shake while trying to take their shot and this can be all the difference between life and death when an enemy is barreling towards you. There’s a solution to this problem by upgrading this skill which will boost both the stability and accuracy of your shots by a whopping 100 percent.
8 Abby: Momentum
Whether you’re trying to sneak past some infected or trigger-happy bandits, it makes sense to take any opportunity you can to reduce the threat. You never know whe you might accidentally trip over something or be spotted while moving so it would be best to minimize the hostile forces you’ll have to deal with when the time comes.
When enemies are unaware, you can perform STRIKE attacks which can eliminate or at the very least heavily damage them. This is one of Abby’s specialties and with this skill, it will allow her to chain multiple STRIKE attacks between multiple enemies greatly weakening their numbers within seconds.
7 Ellie: Craft Smoke Bombs
During your Seattle: Day 1 - Downtown chapter with Ellie, head over to a rolled over truck below the bridge. Inside it, you’ll find a useful Training Manual for Crafting, allowing you to craft smoke bombs, melee upgrades, and better health kits.
For this list, our pick has to go to Craft Smoke Bombs for 30 supplements. It will be useful to stun infected and armed enemies and block their sight. After that, you’re free to either eliminate them with a Molotov or sneak your way past them. Another go-to from the same branch is Craft Improved Health Kits, as it gives you a possibility to create a 50 percent more effective health kit.
6 Abby: Craft Improved Health Kits
After Manny boosts Abby on the Hostile Territory chapter from Seattle: Day 1, head behind the houses and make your way to the kitchen to obtain the Close Quarters Training Manual.
To improve her healing, you’ll need at least 50 supplements to upgrade Abby’s health kit crafting ability from the Close Quarters skill tree. As you embark on her journey, you’ll run into tougher enemies, and, with health kits rarely come by, a 50 percent improved health kit will undoubtedly be your life-saver.
5 Ellie: Increased Health
To increase Ellie’s health bar up to 25 percent, all you need is to consume 60 supplements, allowing you to upgrade it from the Survival skill tree. Luckily, this skill tree does not require a Training Manual, so you’re free to improve it as you go.
After sweeping an area of infected and armed enemies, always make sure you make the most of your scavenging by exploring every building and every room. Scavenging is always rewarding!
4 Abby: Craft Shivs
Before going up to reach the latch with Abby on the Seattle: Day 1 - On Foot chapter, you’ll pass through a boat repair area. Head inside it, and you’ll find the Covert Ops Training Manual laying on a table.
Once you acquire that, you can now craft shivs in exchange for only 20 supplements. This will help you stealth kill any kind of enemies and break free from a deadly clicker. Add 50 supplements more, and you can create three shivs and increase your inventory.
3 Ellie: Craft Silencers
As we’ve mentioned before, silencers are a useful tool to take down your enemies effortlessly. For Ellie, you’ll have to find the Stealth Training Manual next to a typewriter in the Coffee House at the Capitol Hill section during the Seattle: Day 1 chapter.
The ability to craft silencers can be yours for only 20 supplements—upgradeable with 50. It can be crafted with a rag and a canister, and it only lasts for three shots, with a total of five in its upgrade, so be sure to make every single bullet count.
2 Complete The Survival Skill Branch
So, which skill tree should you invest in first? If you’re a new player and unfamiliar with The Last of Us’s environment, the best option is to complete the Survival Branch before any other branch. It doesn’t require you to find a Manual Training book, and the necessary supplements are pretty natural to come by during the earlier stages of the game.
You will need 220 supplements in total to complete all five upgrades: Listen Mode Movement Speed I (30), Faster Health Kits (30), Increased Health (60), Listen Mode, Movement Speed II (40), and Endure (60).
1 Complete The Stealth Branch
However, if you’re into chaos and hungry for kills, invest in the Stealth Branch instead. It gives you the freedom to craft & improve your silencers, be prone & stealth-kill faster, and listen to your surroundings better. The Stealth Training Manual is easy to find at the early stage of the game, so you’ll have a lot of time to roam around and scavenge for parts and supplements.
To complete all the upgrades, you’ll need 210 supplements: 20 for Craft Silencers, 40 for Listen Mode Clarity, 50 for Faster Prone Movement, 40 more for Improved Silencers, and the last 60 for Faster Stealth Kills.
NEXT: The Last Of Us 2: The Worst Things Ellie Does
