We’re not going to lie; Far Cry 5 is a truckload of fun despite its tonal shift between its story and gameplay. And despite being kind of the “same old, same old” we expect from a Ubisoft open world shooting game.

Now if you’ve just started the game after getting your first ending (i.e the one where you don’t do anything after 5 minutes in) and then replaying it to get to the actual game, you’re wondering about how much more powerful you can get. Well, there’s the Perks system in Far Cry 5 which can turn you into a superhuman stealth fighter or an all-out anarchist. By completing challenges and missions, you get skill perk points you can use to gain a skill and a trait.

But which ones are the perks worth investing and getting first? We’ll walk you through them while also suggesting which ones to pick first and focus on.

Unlock These Skills First!

Additional Holster (8 SP) – Carry a 3rd weapon of any type in your weapon wheel.

• You need to pack a lot of heat at the start of Far Cry 5. The general rule here is to equip one long-range weapon, one short-ranged weapon, and one silenced weapon. Unlocking this means you can get equipped easily. Once you unlock your fourth slot (after freeing one of the three regions in Hope County), you should use that for grenades or molotovs.

Parachute (1 SP) – Unlocks a parachute to deploy while falling.

• If you’re planning on using planes in the game, this is a must-get. If you plan to tailor your shooting style up to the skies, get the Wing Suit perk next.

Sneaky Sprint (4 SP) – Move much faster while crouched.

• If you plan on sneaking around a lot and saving bullets via stealth takedowns, you need this perk.

Takedown Mastery (6 SP) – Unlocks chain, melee throw, and sidearm takedowns.

• Chain takedown is a darn good skill to take when you’re in the early stages of the game. Ditto for chain takedowns when you’re jumping in on enemies while trying to keep quiet. Far Cry 5’s stealth game is still spot-on and fun, so having this move, as well as melee throws and sidearm takedowns, are nice bonuses.

Grapple (1 SP) – Unlocks the grapple tool. Find grapple spots in the world to climb.

• If you want to unlock prepper stashes while you’re exploring the hellish countryside, you need this perk to get around and across. Having a grappling hook helps with world exploration too, but really, if you want to hoard the best items early on, you need this to traverse easily to hidden prepper stashes.

Now that we’re done with that bit, let’s go through the rest of the perks. These are divided into five tiers: Survivalist, Renegade, Assassin, Prepper, & Leader.

Survivalist

• Human Fish (1 SP) – Swim faster, hold your breath for longer underwater.
• Fisher King (4 SP) – Fish will tire more quickly. Unlocks new flies for heavier fish.
• King of the Jungle (6 SP) – Reduced animal attack damage. Predators (except Judges) prioritize nearby enemies over you. Prey animals flee less from you.
• Black Market (6 SP) – Craftable explosives are available to buy at shops.
• Repair Torch (5 SP) – Repair cars and open safes
• Harvest Master (8 SP) – Double your loot reward from plants and animals
• Health Boost 1 (6 SP) – Increase max health by 150%
• Health Boost 2 (7 SP) – Increase max health by 200%
• Health Boost 3 (8 SP) – Increase max health by 250%
• Heath Boost 4 (9 SP) – Increase max health by 300%

Our Take: get the Repair Torch, Kick-Ass Binoculars, and Harvest Master. Half the time the cars you hijack will be close to scrap metal paperweight, so giving it some life with your Repair Torch is always a good skill to have.

Harvest Master lets you reap way more rewards for lesser time, meaning you can start creating more buffs via the Utility menu wheel.

Get Health Boost too because you’re going to get shot at a lot whether you’re running away or pushing forward. While you’re at it, getting more breathing time while swimming is a good perk to have since there’s a lot of water surrounding Hope County which helps with stealth ambushes & hiding.

Renegade

• Parachute (1 SP) – Unlocks a parachute to deploy while falling.
• Wingsuit (2 SP) – Unlocks the wingsuit for gliding fun.
• Vehicle Buster (7 SP) – Bullets do more damage to vehicles.
• Saboteur (7 SP) – Approach a vehicle’s hood and tamper to set it on fire and make it explode.
• Booby Trap (7 SP) – Approach a vehicle’s hood and tamper to make it explode on next collision.
• Auto Repair (6 SP) – All vehicles you drive will automatically repair themselves.
• Heavy Weapon Mastery (6 SP) – Reload, aim and switch LMGs, launchers, and the flamethrower faster. Sway and bullet spread reduced.
• Rifle Mastery (7 SP) – Reload, aim and switch rifles and sniper rifles faster. Swamp and bullet spread are reduced.
• Weapons Pro (6 SP) – Reload, aim and switch SMGs and shotguns faster. Sway and bullet spread reduced.

Our Take: My personal favourite perk to level up quick here is Rifle Mastery because almost every cult soldier here carries a rifle. You won’t run out of bullets and guns if you’re looting their dead bodies. Also, rifles are best at tagging targets if you’re looking through your scope. They’re versatile AF.

The first two perks in this tier are also obvious picks. Fall damage and instant death is a bitch, so having perks that let you land safely to continue the fight is always a plus in an open world like Far Cry 5’s Hope County.

Assassin

• Grapple (1 SP) – Unlocks the grapple tool. Find grapple spots in the world to climb.
• Nimble Fingers (4 SP) – It is now quicker to craft items, sabotage or booby trap vehicles, disable alarms and open safes.
• Sneaky Sprint (4 SP) – Move much faster while crouched.
• Master Blaster (5 SP) – Required components for explosives reduced by 50%.
• Takedown Mastery (6 SP) – Unlocks chain, melee throw and sidearm takedowns.
• Ghost (7 SP) – Make less noise when moving. Falling damage reduced.
• Throwback (7 SP) – Throws back incoming projectiles like grenades and dynamite.
• Locksmith (6 SP) – Lockpick safes and doors that do not require a keycard.
• Close combat mastery (6 SP) – Melee weapons are more sturdy. Reload, aim, and switch handguns and melee weapons faster. Sway and bullet spread reduced.
• Primal Mastery (6 SP) – Reload, aim and switch bows and slingshots faster.

Our Take: If you’re going stealth but not all the way, Sneaky Sprint and Grapple are a must because you can apply it to any kind of playstyle. After all, you want to run up to a guy undetected and just 1-hit KO him with a shovel, right? Or use a grappling hook to get to a high vantage point for rocket-launching, right?

If you want to go all the way with stealth-killing, Primal Master lets you use your hunting bow efficiently. Ditto for Locksmith, because if you’re going to ransack dead bodies, you might as well go for the lockers in the cultist’s bases and shelters.

Prepper

• Close Combat Gear Bag (1 SP) – Carry more handgun ammo and melee weapons.
• Journey Pack (7 SP) – Carry more items in your inventory, including up to 5 medkits.
• Tactical Ammo Bag (8 SP) – Carry more SMG and shotgun ammo.
• Quiver (8 SP) – Carry more normal, incendiary and explosive arrows.
• Rifle Ammo Bag (9 SP) – Carry more rifle and 50 cal ammo.
• Additional Holster (8 SP) – Carry a 3rd weapon of any type in your weapon wheel.
• Weapons Collector (9 SP) – Carry a 4th weapon of any type in your weapon wheel.
• Heavy Ammo Bag (9 SP) – Carry more LMG, flamethrower, rocket launcher and grenade launcher ammo.
• Special Ammo Bag (9 SP) – Carry more armor piercing, incendiary, and special rocket launcher ammo.
• Throwables Bag (9 SP) – Carry more explosives, throwing knives and bait.

Our Take: In every adventure game, having a ton of backpack space is essential, so Journey Pack and Additional Holster are must-get Perks. The former is good to have since more medkit packs equal a lower mortality rate when being gunned down by cultists. The rest of the upgrades are up to you; if you like blowing stuff up with heavy weapons, gowith the Heavy Ammo Bag perk.

Leader

• Boomer (4 SP) – Returns faster after being injured.
• Sharky (4 SP) – Returns faster after being injured.
• Peaches (4 SP) – Returns faster after being injured.
• Jess (4 SP) – Returns faster after being injured.
• Grace (4 SP) – Returns faster after being injured.
• Hurk (4 SP) – Returns faster after being injured.
• Nick Rye (4 SP) – Returns faster after being injured.
• Adelaide (4 SP) – Returns faster after being injured.
• Cheeseburger (4 SP) – Returns faster after being injured.
• Leadership (6 SP) – Unlock an additional slot in your squad to let you play with two Guns for Hire in single player.

Our Take: Get the extra slot first. More people/animals in your group equal a more well-armed group.

The rest of the Perks are dependant on your playing style. If you play stealth, having Boomer and Peaches can work out well for you. If you know that you’re going into well-armed vehicle-centric territories for the remainder of the game, save the Perk points for Hurk and Adelaide.

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But Wait! How Do You Earn Perk Points?

Simple: by doing the following challenges below. These usually involve killing things, fishing, shooting, driving like a boss, and getting your specialists to kill X amount of things. This encourages you to check out the whole of Hope County, be it for new fishing spots or new outposts to liberate.

Far Cry 5 World Challenges:

Far Cry 5 Guns for Hire Challenges:

Far Cry 5 Hunting Challenges: