Ready to engage in guerrilla warfare across the Montana wilderness? Your lone deputy character in Far Cry 5 will need to unlock new abilities to stay ahead of all those cultist enemies, and this iteration of the franchise includes the skill branches you’d expect — survivalist, assassin, renegade, prepper, and leadership — but with lots of changes to the standard formula.
Skills have been renamed to perks this time around, and how they are unlocked has undergone a makeover as well. As you might expect, stealth skills tend to be the most useful, but if you want to play as a machine gun-wielding bruiser instead, there’s no reason not to pick those kinds of perks in another playthrough.
Best Far Cry 5 Skills / Perks
Most of the worthwhile Far Cry 5 perks cost somewhere in the 6-8 perk point range, but there’s much less railroading by forcing you down a specific progression path, as many perks can be bought immediately without prerequisites.
To get points, you can pick up perk magazines found in prepper stashes around the map (or sometimes just sitting on countertops in inconspicuous locations). You can also farm a huge number of perk points quickly just by completing challenges, like catching different types of fish, harvesting skins from different animals, or getting kills with different weapon varieties.
Some skills are more useful than others. Auto Repair and Locksmith both let you unlock safes found in major locations, which are less useful than you might think since they typically just hide $250 in cash. Locksmith tends to be the more helpful of the two, as areas behind locked doors tend to have more money and perk magazines.
Below we cover all the best perks to get early if you want to dominate in combat through the end of the game.
Leadership
- Branch: Leader
- Cost: 6 Perk points
Hands down one of the most useful skills, Leadership lets you have two companions at a time in single-player mode, which means you are more likely to get revived when you go down, and it’s easier to take on large groups of cultists.
Besides the 6 points, this one has a special prerequisite: You have to unlock three separate specialist companions before it can be bought.
These specialists are located all over Hope County (the sniper specialist is made available by liberating the Lamb Of God Church at the southwest end of the map, for instance). If you want all the animal companions, then completing the three Fangs for Hire quests also qualifies as unlocking three specialist companions.
Far Cry 5 Leadership Perk
Health Boost
- Branch: Survivalist
- Cost: 6 Perk points
This one’s an obvious choice if you find you can’t effectively stealth your way through the game. Some of the missions also force large-scale confrontations without a ton of backup, so having more health is always a plus.
Far Cry 5 Health Boost Perk
Additional Holster
- Branch: Prepper
- Cost: 8 Perk points
To be best prepared for any situation, upgrading to the three-weapon holster is the way to go. Not only will you have more ammo on hand to keep fighting, but it lets you switch between sniping, close-range combat with a shotgun, and good mid-range heavy weapons like the assault rifle.
Far Cry 5 Additional Holster Perk
Journey Pack
- Branch: Prepper
- Cost: 7 Perk points
Being able to carry more health packs and inventory items makes the game much less of a chore to complete. This perk also works in Arcade mode, so it can make many of the custom maps less difficult.
Far Cry 5 Journey Pack Skill
Sneaky Sprint
- Branch: Assassin
- Cost: 4 Perk points
This is the quintessential quiet skill that should be bought as early as possible. This one lets you get up close to an enemy faster while staying crouched down, so you are more likely to get in a silent takedown before they turn around and notice you. From attacking compounds to just traversing the wilderness, this skill radically changes your ability to survive if you want to go the stealth route.
Far Cry 5 Sneaky Sprint Skill
Takedown Mastery
- Branch: Assassin
- Cost: 6 Perk points
This one is needed if you plan on taking down strongholds without alerting any guards to get the bonus cash. As an added bonus, it also leads to even more perk points as you complete the various takedown challenges.
Far Cry 5 Takedown Mastery Perk
Ghost
- Branch: Assassin
- Cost: 7 Perk points
An upgraded version of Sneaky Sprint, Ghost is perfect combined with Takedown Mastery. Guards will notice you less often, and as a bonus, you won’t take much falling damage if you aren’t able to deploy the parachute or wingsuit.
Far Cry 5 Ghost Skill
Harvest Master
- Branch: Survivalist
- Cost: 8 Perk points
Not only will you complete animal skin challenges faster with Harvest Master (meaning more perk points to spend), but you will accrue money much faster by selling those skins, so you can stay properly equipped at all times.
Likewise, the Fisher King perk will increase how much money you can make and also has the added benefit of letting you get more perk points by completing the heavier fish challenges.
Far Cry 5 Harvest Master Perk
Black Market
- Branch: Survivalist
- Cost: 6 Perk points
While resources for crafting items aren’t super scarce, if you have a ton of money from using Harvest Master or Fisher King, then this skill makes it super simple to always have a steady supply of explosives and special ammo. If you are more into the “big boom” style of playing instead of being a stealth ninja, you want this perk.
Far Cry 5 Black Market Perk
Those are all the perks I’ve found most useful in my playthrough of the game. What’s your favorite Far Cry 5 skill that didn’t make this list? Let us know in the comments section!
Still need help with the rest of the game? Be sure to check out our other Far Cry 5 guides here:
- Comic Book Collectibles Locations
- Fangs For Hire Locations Guide
- Far Cry 5 Secret Alternate Ending Guide
