Skills

As you progress through the story, you can purchase various upgrades to increase Lara's skills and abilities. The skills are bought with 'Skill Points', which you earn by collecting XP, either by completing story chapters, through kills and special kills, and by exploring. Once again, the skills are suited to three different play types: Brawler, Hunter and Survivor. You do not have to buy all skills in one single category during your playthrough; you are able to mix between categories to create unique playstyles. All skills cost 1 Skill Point each.

Brawler

Tier One
Dodge Counter
Incapacitate unarmoured enemies while dodging with a well timed button press.
Duelist Reflexes
Increased timing window available for a dodge counter and earn extra XP when successfully performing a dodge kill.
Efficient Killer
Enemies killed while in stealth will be automatically looted for treasures.
Fast Healer​
Bandage wounds faster. The effect is cumulative with Field Medic.

Obtained by opening a Codex inside a tomb.
Inner Strength​
Health is instantly restored once per combat encounter when Lara is critically injured.

Obtained when opening a Codex inside the Voice of God tomb.
Iron Hide​
Lara takes significantly less damage from explosions and fire.
Thick-Skinned
Lara takes less damage from enemy gunfire and melee attacks. This is cumulative with Heart of Stone.
Tier Two
Deadly Force
Stealth finishers are much faster and kill enemies with brutal force. Press the corresponding button to kill nearby, unaware enemies.
Death From Above
Knife kill foes instantly when leaping down on them from above.
​Dodge Kill
Kill unarmoured enemies during a dodge counter.
Field Medic
​Bandage wounds faster.
Stealth Landing
​Lara no longer generates noise when landing from jumps or drops.
Tier Three
Adrenaline
Resist damage from enemies for a short time after you score a successful stealth kill.
Dodge Kill Mastery
​Instantly kill armoured targets when dodging.
Heart of Stone​
​Lara takes significantly less damage from gunfire and melee attacks. This is cumulative with Thick Skinned.
Silent Killer
​Stealth kill enemies without alerting nearby foes.
Strong Medicine
​Resist damage for a short time after bandaging.

Hunter

Tier One
Anatomical Knowledge​
Use survival instinct to highlight animals hearts. Shoot those areas for greatly increased damage.

Obtained from reading a Codex in a tomb. Does not work on bears or big cats.
Animal Instincts​
Animals glow when using Survival Instincts. Larger animals leave footprints and blood trails that are easy to follow.
Arrow Retrieval​
Gain a chance at recovering arrows when looting enemies killed with a bow.
Breath Control​
Increases steady aim on bow charged shots.
Geologist​
Find more Magnesite from Ore veins and Lara sometimes harvests Chromite Ore.

Obtained from a Codex in a tomb.
Master of the Land​
Reveals when exotic animals are nearby.
Scavenger​
Increases the amount of ammunition looted from enemy corpses.
Tier Two
Ancient Abilities
Quickly fire two successive arrows without delay. Cannot be paired with Double/ Triple Shot.

Obtained from a Codex in a tomb.
Dead Eye
​Shows an icon over the target's head when you have aimed for a head shot.
Double Shot
​Fire up to 2 arrows at different targets when locked on.
Finesse
Earn bonus XP for successfully chaining headshots, stealth kills, or Death from above kills. Longer chains increase bonus multipliers.
Naturalist
Gain increased natural resources when harvesting.
Nerves of Steel
​Improves steady aim time.
​Survivalist
Gain increased man-made resources when searching. 
Tier Three
Bow Expert
Unlocks a bow finisher and increases your chance of looting special ammo for this weapon type.
Classically Trained
Allows you to shoot up to three arrows without pulling from the quiver.

Obtained from a Codex in a tomb. 
Pistol Expert
​Unlocks a Pistol finisher and increases your chance of looting special ammo for this weapon type.
Rifle Expert
Unlocks a Rifle finisher and increases your chance of looting special ammo for this weapon type.
Shotgun Expert
​Unlocks a Shotgun finisher and increases your chance of looting special ammo for this weapon type.
Triple Shot
Simultaneously fire up to 3 arrows against locked targets. Needs Double Shot to be purchased before it becomes available.
True Shot
​Locked targets are automatically hit in the head.

Survivor

Tier One
Avid Learner
Gain bonus experience from Survival Caches, Documents, Relics and Challenges.
Eye for Detail
Challenge objects show up in Survival Instincts.
Incendiary Bombs​
Learn how to craft throwable explosives with Gas Cans and Radios.
Iron Grip​
Lara is faster at climbing.

Obtained from a Codex in a tomb.
Lightfoot​
Use the scramble button to land safely from heights that may hurt Lara, but aren't outright fatal. 
Rapid Crafting​
Craft ammo and improvised weapons faster whilst on the run.
Resourceful Combatant​
Improvised weapons give you bonus experience when they kill an enemy.
Tier Two
Body Trap Specialist​
Place poison on corpses and wait for enemies to find their fallen ally.
Bright Eyes
Traps automatically glow when you're close to them.

​Obtained from reading a Codex in a tomb.
Crafting Mastery
​Allows Lara to make higher-capacity quivers and ammo pouches. It also improves the ammo quantities that you craft out in the field.
Demolitions Expert​
​Improvised weapons have a larger blast radius.
Dragonfire Shells
​Craft incendiary Shotgun shells.
Grenadier
​Craft explosive Grenades for the Rifle Grenade Launcher.
Hollow-Point Bullets
​Enables crafting of high-damage bullets for the pistol.
Natural Instincts
​Natural crafting sources are revealed on the map and through Survival Instincts. 
Tier Three
Arrow Climber
​Press the Y/Triangle button to use a climbable Arrow mid-jump.
Cluster Bomb Arrows
​Upgrade Grenade arrows to disperse additional explosives on impact.
Death Cloud Arrows
​Increase the size and duration of the poisonous cloud created by poison arrows.
Greek Fire
Fire Arrows and Molotov Cocktails do more damage and hurt armoured enemies.

Obtained from a Codex in a tomb.
Intuitive
​Survival Instincts highlights collectible items even through solid walls. Crypts show up on your map and are no longer hidden.
Napalm Arrows
​Upgrade fire arrows to increase the range of the fire burst that erupts on impact.