7 Best Single-Player FPS Games With Skill Trees, Ranked

FPS games with skill trees aren’t unheard of, but they tend to be either multiplayer, roguelites, or primarily RPGs. If you want a single-player first-person shooter that gives you meaningful progression options in a relatively traditional campaign, your pickings are so slim that they feel almost nonexistent. However, I’m happy to say that a couple of FPS titles exist that go against the grain and let you map your character’s skills and growth.

Look, I’m not the type of person that thinks every project needs RPG mechanics, and I prefer to focus exclusively on weapons in my FPS games; that said, when done correctly and not simply tacked on, a skill tree adds a great deal of replayability to a campaign, granting you the option to tweak your character’s performance in repeat playthroughs. These FPS games do that to different extents.

7

Rage 2 Amplifies Its Awesome Gunplay With Multiple Skill Trees

Not A Great Open-World FPS Game, But The Gameplay Hits The Mark

• Three different types of progression.
• Skill tree progression is paced awkwardly since, in the case of nanotrite abilities, you need to find the arks first.

Rage 2 is such a weird experience. On the one hand, it might have the most satisfying gunplay of any open-world shooter, largely thanks to the fact that it plays like Doom 2016. However, the action is spread across a barren and boring map that isn’t particularly fun to explore or traverse. While I recommend it, it comes with a few caveats and warnings.

Avalanche Studios didn’t exactly create an FPS RPG, but Rage 2 incorporates one of the more robust skill tree systems of any game in this article. You actually have three skill trees: Nanotrite abilities, Projects, and weapon upgrades.

• Nanotrite abilities – You unlock 11 abilities by finding them in arcs, all of which can be upgraded through three tiers (using Feltrite) and feature unlockable perks (using Nanotrite Boosters). While not exactly branching skill trees, you have to decide which abilities to prioritize.
• Projects – This is Rage 2‘s “traditional” skill tree system, although they are called perks. You have three trees, with each one tied to a faction leader. One prioritizes combat, the other engineering, and the last exploration.
• Weapon upgrades – You upgrade firearms by leveling them up using Feltrite, and you unlock weapon mods and perks along the way.

These systems directly impact the moment-to-moment shooting, and they act as tools that enhance the gunplay rather than replace it. Once you get used to the Nanotriete abilities, the combat becomes really enjoyable.

6

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Lets You Augment Jensen Until He Is Your Jensen

Skill Tree That Significantly Changes The Entire Game

• You pick skills depending on how you plan to play.
• Mankind Divided is only an FPS game if you really want it to be.

OK, this one is slightly difficult to rank.

Depending on your preferred playstyle, you might not consider Deus Ex: Mankind Divided to be an FPS game, at least not as its primary classification. Stealth runs are valid and rewarding, and you could easily complete the campaign and mostly not kill anybody. However, for those who decide to approach this like a lethal shooter, Jensen’s augmentations transform the game from a slow-paced crawler to an intense action blockbuster.

Praxis Points (via Praxis Kits) serve as the heart of Mankind Divided‘s progression system, and they are acquired by earning XP, from black-market vendors, or from an occasional high-security safe. You can upgrade Jensen’s cyberware across his entire body, from his eyes to his skin and legs, and the augmentations you pick directly impact your playstyle. You also have experimental augments that are downright empowering, and you need to manage them well in combat.

5

Prey Is Perfect For An Immersive Sci-Fi Shooter

You Decide If This Is An FPS Game

• 6 skill trees that actually matter.
• You feel very weak for the first few hours, and the wrench is a clumsy weapon.

I went back and forth on whether to include Prey, since an argument could be made that it is an immersive sim and not really an FPS game. However, the gunplay is fantastic and hardly a small part of the equation, even if you could technically treat guns as optional. Ultimately, its skill progression system is so extraordinary that I just needed to give it a mention; if nothing else, we need to have one Arkane game in this article.

Using Neuromods, you upgrade skills across 6 trees, although you initially only have half of those available.

Human Tree

• Security – If you want to play Prey as an FPS, this skill tree will be your backbone. It gives you bullet time, lets you upgrade weapons beyond their limits, and boosts critical hits.
• Engineer – Lets you repair your suit and recycle weapons, along with turret-related skills.
• Scientist – Improves healing and Psychoscope.

Typhon Tree

• Energy – Gives you superpowers! You can manipulate gravity, create plasma traps, or fire blasts.
• Morph – Great for a stealth playthrough.
• Telepathy – Good mix of defensive and offensive options, and lets you manipulate robots.

Want to play Prey as a gun-firing powerhouse who can use bullet-time and relies on pump-action shotguns? The Human Security tree will give you that experience. Want to play BioShock​​​​​​, kind of? Go for a Typhon build.

4

RoboCop: Rogue City’s Skill Tree Doesn’t Complicate Matters

You Walk Like A Tank, You Talk Like A Tank, And You Skill Like A Tank

• 8 categories with perks.
• Simple linear system and not a web.

Teyon managed to do seemingly the impossible: create a fun shooter with a protagonist who walks two miles an hour and is essentially a tank. RoboCop: Rogue City doesn’t try to be something that it is not, instead opting to adhere to the source material and embrace the OP nature of the eponymous character. The skill tree isn’t overly complicated, but it perfectly matches the gameplay and vibe of the rest of the experience.

Throughout the campaign, you gain XP by solving crimes, winning gunfights, and other smaller activities, all of which combine for a total of 1000 points. That is the ceiling, and you allocate skill points across 8 categories, each of which ends at 10. Every single point gives you a passive stat boost, but you really want to improve them to unlock their perks (at Rank 2, 6, and 10), which gradually become more absurd until they reach broken territory. It’s great.

While they aren’t divided into brackets by Rogue City, the categories essentially fall under three tracks: combat, tactics, and role-playing. All have their uses, and you need to make choices to define the type of RoboCop you want to be.

Also, the game is just fun and way bigger than it needs to be.

3

​​​​​​​Far Cry 3 Wrote The Skill Tree Playbook For Modern Open-World FPS Games

The Best In Ubisoft’s Franchise In This Area

• Three animal-themed skill trees.
• You aren’t given full freedom to build Jason how you want, and you will most likely have every single one by the end of the campaign.

While not the first shooter to throw in skill trees, Far Cry 3 codified the progression loop for modern open-world shooters, something the franchise would continue to fine-tune before throwing it away for the 6th numbered game (to mixed results). Although Far Cry 5 is my favorite entry in the series, its predecessor handles progression better by having it represented physically on the protagonist’s left arm.

Whenever Jason buys a skill from Citra, his arm’s Tatau earns another stroke of ink, visually chronicling his journey from obnoxious frat boy to bloodthirsty killer. You have three paths available, each one represented by an animal.

• The Heron – Prioritizes mobility, long-range combat, and vertical takedowns.
• The Shark – Best for direct combat, as it improves Jason’s HP and his resistance to damage.
• The Spider – The stealth skill tree, although it also helps you acquire more resources.

Far Cry 3‘s skill trees don’t just give you passive boosts to damage and defense, but they increase your options for annihilating enemy outposts. You need to unlock takedown chains and improve Jason’s skills with a gun, and these upgrades make a notable difference.

Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.

Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)Permadeath (5s)


Start

Round 1

Which one doesn’t belong?

0/10

Results

0/5

Best: 0/5

—

2

Borderlands 3 Gets Its Skill Tree System Right

Ignore The Story, And You Cannot Go Wrong

• 4 skill trees per character (in Designer’s Cut)
• The lanes matter.

I mean, we obviously need to include Borderlands. Yes, these games are RPGs, but they are first-and-foremost first-person shooters, and the newer games actually have solid gunplay. BL4 might seem like the more natural pick, but I feel the third entry fits this topic just a little bit better. Ignore the terrible story, and Borderlands 3 is the best entry in the franchise.

Greatly expanding the progression system from the previous games, BL3 gives its four hunters distinct trees that significantly impact the way they play, and each character has their own rules, gains, and sacrifices. For instance, Zane can decide to sacrifice his grenade slot to equip two Action Skills, and he combines his kill skills and movement speed through the Hitman tree. Meanwhile, FL4K’s skills often prioritize his dynamic with his pet, evolving them physically.

As you descend a tree, you unlock new Action Skill Augments that fundamentally alter how a hunter’s base powers function. This offers far more incentive to experiment than simple stat boosts. Honestly, the only reason BL3 isn’t first is due to the story dragging down the campaign, giving players a weaker incentive to push forward.

1

Cyberpunk 2077’s Skill Tree Is RPG-Standard

The Game Doesn’t Neglect Its FPS Gameplay, Though

• 5 main skill trees (and 1 DLC)

Unlike something like Fallout 3, Cyberpunk 2077‘s gunplay is strong enough to justify describing the game as a first-person shooter, even if it shines brighter as an RPG. The 2.0 update completely gutted the original systems, rebuilding the talent trees to emphasize active combat, mobility tech, and cyberware. If you only played C2077 in its pre-redemption days, I recommend another playthrough, as it is quite a different experience nowadays.

V can be upgraded across five attributes:

• Reflexes – Focuses on mobility and firearms. If you want to play C2077 as a high-speed shooter, you will want to unlock skills like Dash.
• Body – Great for raw, unapologetic violence. Builds around the Adrenaline Rush mechanic.
• Cool – Good for stealth and precision.
• Technical Ability – The most important tree because it revolves around cyberware, controlling your capacity ceiling. Want to be absurdly OP by the end game? This skill tree gets you there.
• Intelligence – Smart weapons and netrunning.
• Relic (“Phantom Liberty” expansion) – Targets enemy weak points and unlocks combat augments for Arm Cyberware.

While you can focus on just one tree, C2077 really encourages you to mix and match, combine weapon augments with movement tech to create something truly destructive. By the end of a campaign, 5 people could have completely different Vs, each one of them great to use.