Icarus is a brutal extra-terrestrial survival game, tasking the player with searching for rare exotics and returning them to orbit. To find these materials and complete missions, players will be spending a considerable amount of time on the perilous planet of Icarus, and will not only need to learn how to survive, but also gather resources to construct shelter, craft tools, and keep them sustained during their expedition.
Fortunately, there’s a grand total of 465 different talents to help players out, with each talent granting a special buff or perk. With such a wide variety to choose from, and limited talent points to spend, it can be difficult to know where to start. Here are the best talents to acquire in Icarus.
10 Building Talents
Composing the entirety of the Building tree, these talents make it easier to construct shelter and create a base of operations. Most of them, like Wood Hauling, are focused on reducing the weight of wood, stone, and concrete buildables in the player’s inventory.
Others, like Discount Wood, lower the cost of crafting said buildables, whereas Stoking The Flames increases furnace smelting speed. If players are running a construction-heavy build, these talents are essential to expanding their operations as quickly as possible. If not, it might be worth skipping these for better options.
9 Blade Talents
One of the four combat trees, Blade talents are centered around using knives and daggers. They can be handy when fighting off wolves and other hostile creatures, with talents such as Swift Stab increasing attack speed and Heavy Hand increasing attack damage.
Knives are also crucial in hunting, as they allow players to skin animals for meat, leather, and fur. Talents such as Trained Skinner reduce how quickly knives get worn down, whereas That Was Quick gives a small chance for players to skin an animal instantly. While all these are helpful, knives aren’t the best weapon choice in Icarus, so players might opt to spend their precious talent points in another combat tree instead.
8 Health & Stamina Talents
These talents are safe, reliable bets. Talents like Robust Explorer increases base health, giving the player a lot more survivability when out in the wilds. Meanwhile, Chase ‘Em Down increases base stamina, helping to prevent players from becoming exhausted while crafting, using tools, or fighting in battle.
Both of these talents are solid picks that players can’t really go wrong with. If nothing else, their effects will help the player fend off predators and endure severe storms, making it easier to stay alive in the harsh biomes of Icarus.
7 Carrying Capacity Talents
Especially useful for those focusing on crafting or building, these talents increase the amount of carrying capacity players have access to. Talents like Dense Packing I & II increase inventory capacity and lower the weight of stone, while Carry On reduces the encumbrance penalty, and Exotic Power lessens the weight of exotics.
Acquiring these talents makes it easier to transport materials around, and often allows the player to venture further without having to make routine stops back at base. It also increases the efficiency of construction, as it lets players collect more resources in one round trip.
6 Hunting Talents
Many of these talents make it easier to hunt down animals and gain more resources from them. Talents like Sense Medium Animals highlight creatures while aiming, and Without A Sound increases the player’s stealth capabilities, making it easier to locate and take down various fauna.
Players can also increase the yield they get from skinned animals by taking the Fine Butcher talent for a universal buff, or Bone Collector and Careful Skinner for buffs to bone and leather harvesting. These extra resources can vastly speed up the crafting process.
5 Solo Talents
A powerful talent tree that exists for the use of solo players only, these talents won’t work when playing with a group. Talents like Health Maverick and Marathon Runner massively increase health and stamina, while Fleet Footed increases movement speed and ‘Tis But A Scratch compensates for the lack of teammates by reducing damage from animals.
The main downside is that these talents won’t be active when playing co-op, so even someone that plays solo a lot might not get full value from these talents, and might be better off spending their limited talent points elsewhere.
4 Consumption Talents
These talents are particularly useful in the early game, focusing on lowering the player’s consumption of various core survival elements. Steady Breathing reduces the rate at which oxygen is consumed, while Water Retention reduces the player’s thirst rate, and Carbo Loaded reduces hunger.
These talents can be upgraded to a 25% reduction, which is highly significant when players are struggling to keep up with consumption. This can be massive when just starting out, and will remain rather convenient throughout the entire game, making them ideal choices for players to spend their early talent points on.
3 Storm Talents
As many will know, storms in Icarus can be absolutely devastating, destroying flimsy buildings and forcing players to take shelter. These talents aim to make storms more survivable, with Storm Chaser, Weathering The Storm, and Quick Refresh all working to increase stamina, resistance, and recovery from storm exposure.
This will become more useful over time, as more challenging missions result in harsher weather effects, making these talents more effective should players get caught out - they might just give enough time to make it to a cave or a shelter.
2 Movement Talents
In an exploration-heavy game where the primary mode of transportation is by foot, it’s no wonder that movement talents are some of the best in the game. Swift Survivor increases movement speed universally, while each combat tree has a talent that increases movement speed while carrying that particular type of weapon.
Aside from generally speeding up traversal across the map, these provide a number of benefits, including being able to flee from dangerous creatures, get out of storms faster, and cover more distance before needing to eat and hydrate. All in all, these talents will make the player’s mission a lot less troublesome.
1 Bow Talents
With the bow being by far the most practical and effective weapon in the game, these talents provide several powerful buffs that make hunting and ranged combat even stronger. Quick Load and Quick Draw increase the bow’s rate of fire, whereas Bullseye will increase accuracy and Soft Spot I & II will increase critical hit multiplier.
The Twice The Fun talent will have a chance to fire two arrows instead of one, and the Homing Instinct talent will even make arrows lock onto their targets. Acquiring these talents makes an already strong combat style even stronger, and can help immensely with resource gathering and defending against deadly creatures.
Icarus is available for Windows.