Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Guides

The best traits to level first in Remnant 2

By
A man trying to saw another man in half with a circular blade.
Gearbox

Much of Remnant 2‘s leveling process is based around increasing the ranks of traits that you’ll discover throughout your journe. This will give you plenty of opportunities to build a character that best matches your playstyle. In the game’s opening hours, however, each character will begin with just a few traits that can be leveled, and your equally limited trait points can make deciding which of those you want to invest in somewhat of a challenge. In this guide, we’ll give you our opinion on which of these are best to focus on for optimizing the early part of your adventure. Here are the best traits to level first in Remnant 2

Best traits to level first in Remnant 2

When beginning the game with a new character, you’ll have only five traits – one archetype trait exclusive to the archetype you’ve chosen and four core traits that every character begins with. Your archetype trait will level automatically as you play with that archetype, so you don’t need to do anything with that trait. Instead, let’s take a look at the four other core traits and discuss which ones are best to invest in.

Recommended Videos

Vigor

Vigor improves your overall health, which means you can take more damage before dying. This is likely the most important trait to pump points into, especially when first setting out into the dangerous world of Remnant 2. Enemies hit hard (especially bosses) and you have limited healing options during these opening hours, so you’ll need every bit of extra health you can get. It wouldn’t hurt to prioritize this trait until you get it to level 10, actually, as you’ll be able to get plenty more points as the game progresses, and being able to take a few more hits against the game’s first few bosses is immensely helpful. This is even more true for Challengers in team compositions where they’ll be tanking and spending a lot of time in melee range.

Endurance

Endurance improves your overall stamina, which will allow you to run and roll more during combat. This is a great option to level up if you’re playing a character that is focused on melee, as it will allow you to run more when you get surrounded or roll out of the way of enemy attacks without worrying as much about your stamina meter. For primarily ranged players, though, it’s a bit less useful, so you’re probably better putting those points elsewhere early on. As with Vigor, though, Challengers will likely benefit most from the trait due to their tendency to be a group’s close-quarters combat specialist.

Spirit

Spirit improves your weapon mod power generation. This helps you to earn the ability to use your weapon mods more often in combat, meaning that its usefulness is entirely dependent on how useful your weapon mods are to your build. At the beginning of the game, your weapon mods will be most helpful during boss battles, and you’re likely to end them before generating a second use of your mod anyways. Because of this, Spirit is likely better saved for leveling later on so that you can focus on survivability first. Gunslingers, however, are likely to see this as a good option in group settings because they’re designed to be a DPS powerhouse.

Expertise

Expertise improves the cooldown speed of your archetype skills. This will aid you in using these skills more frequently, which can be a help against bosses and packs of deadly foes. However, like with Spirit, the usefulness of this trait in the initial few hours of the game is limited due to the already long cooldowns and the speed at which many bosses are likely to fall anyways. While Vigor should still be a priority for most classes, Expertise can be a particularly worthwhile trait for Medics who are playing with a group, as it’s vital to keep their healing capabilities available as much as possible.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Billy Givens
Billy Givens
Gaming Writer
Billy Givens is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience writing gaming, film, and tech content. His work can be…
Best PS5 deals: Console bundles, top games, and accessories
A person plays Crash Bandicoot using a PS5 DualSense controller.

If you've been holding off on buying a PlayStation 5 because it didn't have the best games and you wanted the library to be a bit stronger, then now is a solid time to invest in one, especially given that the most recent PS5 Slim has come out. While it doesn't add any performance, it does change the size and weight quite a bit, plus you get a slightly larger storage size to work with, which is a big plus. So, if you're ready to jump into the PS5 ecosystem, then be sure to check out the deals below, as we've gone out and scoured online retailers to bring the best PlayStation deals, including some of the best PS5 game deals and gaming headset deals you can take advantage of.
Best PS5 deals

The PlayStation 5 has recently seen a great revision with it now slightly slimmer than before and also offering more storage space with 1TB of internal space resulting in 842GB of it being usable. You still get the impressive DualSense controller along with all the benefits that the PS5 offers. With the arrival of the new revision, there are some great bundles around, including a free digital copy of Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

Read more
The best guns in XDefiant
XDefiant

XDefiant has a wide range of guns to pick from and customize, but they're not all created equally. That being said, here are our picks for the most well-rounded and lethal choices available right now.
Best assault rifle: ACR 6.8
The ACR 6.8 is a classic weapon seen in various other games, and it's almost always a standout. The same goes for this beloved firearm in XDefiant, offering top-tier damage for medium- to long-range shootouts. It also has minimal vertical recoil, making it easy to use during engagements that require perfect accuracy. And though it's not perfect for close range, it can hold its own against SMGs, so don't be terribly afraid of tight spaces.
Best SMG: MP7
If your primary goal is to run and gun, the MP7 is an absolute beast when you get right up on your opponents. Not only does it dish out some of the fastest damage in the entire game but it handles exceedingly well with very limited recoil at close-to-medium range. That being said, the damage falls off drastically at longer ranges, so we recommend staying in tighter spaces when possible to force your foes to face you up close and personal.
Best LMG: M60
LMGs are the kings of suppressive fire, making them awesome choices for sitting back and spraying at range in modes like Escort. The best you can choose for this is the M60, offering massive magazine size, shockingly mild recoil, and high damage. It's not going to win every close-range gunfight, but if you can find a place to set up, you'll be the bane of the other team's existence.

Best shotgun: M870
If you've played a few matches of XDefiant, you've no doubt been blasted in the face by someone using an M870. This insanely powerful shotgun can decimate foes at point-blank range, so moving around the map rapidly with it can turn you into a killing machine. As to be expected, however, you'll struggle once you get to medium- and long-range shootouts, so stick to interiors with plenty of cover and opportunities for surprise attacks.
Best marksman rifle: SVD
Marksman rifles are a good choice for players looking to excel in long-distance firefights without the considerably slower movement and aiming of a sniper. For this, go with the SVD's high-damage capability. Though it kicks a bit much, this downside is offset quite a lot by offering a consistent two-shot kill. This makes it extremely dangerous when popping enemies from afar while also working well enough in a pinch when you get caught in tighter spaces.
Best sniper: TAC-50
Sniping is the ultimate form of long-range engagement in XDefiant, and you'll want to go with the TAC-50 when you want to make sure your shots consistently lay someone flat. Though it's a bit slow, a body shot with the TAC-50 is a one-shot kill, so it rewards players with stable aim who find good hiding spots. Obviously, you'll be at a major disadvantage in hectic close-range gunfights, though, so pair this with a proximity mine to cover your flank.
Best sidearm: 686 Magnum
Sometimes you run out of ammo in a shootout and need to swap to your sidearm to secure a kill. That's where the 686 Magnum comes in. This hard-hitting secondary gun has a relatively slow rate of fire, but its incredible damage and ability to hit long-range targets make it a killer choice for finishing off opponents.

Read more
All XDefiant characters and how to unlock them
XDefiant

XDefiant is a free-to-play shooter from Ubisoft, which brings together multiple factions from the publisher's long list of franchises. Each of these factions have their own abilities and passives that make them suited for certain playstyles, so knowing which one works best for you should be an important part of your strategy. While individual characters within these factions share the same abilities, unlocking them all gives you access to more customization options via unique skins.

If you'd like to unlock every character in the game, you'll need to complete challenges that typically ask you to use one of their faction's two abilities on your foes or allies. These can take quite a while to finish, so an alternative method is to purchase a skin for that character in the shop, which will automatically unlock them for you to use. However, this costs real money, so we only recommend doing it if you already know you want the skin, too.

Read more