Each of Dead Weight's four characters ships with a unique skill tree. The demo exposes dozens of abilities for Arn — Brute Force, Shield Bash, War Cry, Abyss Push, Iron Skin, and more. Berry's playtest tree includes Shadow Step, Backstab, Smoke Bomb, Fleet Foot, and Poison Blade. Leveling flows from combat XP and story milestones, with over 20 skills and items available in the prologue alone according to the Steam page.
Klukva Games structures trees so early choices shape your run identity without permanently locking you out of experimentation. Active demo players can sample multiple branches in one prologue if they engage every fight and reach enough level-ups before the finale.
Skills do not exist in isolation. A knockback weapon amplifies Abyss Push routes; Poison Blade without mobility skills leaves Berry exposed. Plan holistically alongside equipment covered on the items page and sample builds on the builds page. When in doubt, prioritize skills that interact with the environment — Dead Weight's designers clearly reward positioning over raw stat inflation in the demo balance pass.
Skill Points and Levels
Victories and quest milestones grant levels and skill points. Advanced abilities require prerequisites — you cannot grab Abyss Push without investing in earlier nodes. There is no universally optimal tree, only synergies with your tactics: environmental control, tanking, or burst damage.
Recommended Demo Paths for Arn
- Abyss Push + Shield Bash — maximum edge control against goblin groups.
- Brute Force + War Cry — direct damage when maps lack convenient Abyss angles.
- Iron Skin — insurance for players still learning positioning fundamentals.
For Berry in the playtest, Shadow Step into Backstab defines burst assassinations, while Fleet Foot and Smoke Bomb enable safer kiting against level 2 goblins and pirate squads in Region 2.
Tools and Launch Expectations
Use the build planner to allocate points before launching a run. At full release on July 16, 2026, all four character trees should be available, with potential balance changes after the action point combat overhaul.
Pair this guide with Arn, Berry, and the combat basics guide for a complete progression picture.
Level-ups arrive from combat participation and story milestones, so avoiding fights to rush the Berry finale leaves Arn under-skilled. Engage optional goblin packs when your fuel plan allows — each victory pushes you closer to the next skill point that might unlock Abyss Push or Iron Skin before the Aluza climax. If you are unsure where to spend the next point, open the build planner and mock two paths side by side; five minutes of theorycraft prevents costly in-game regret when a boss fight exposes your missing defensive layer.
At launch, four full skill trees will interact with the new action point economy — saved points might enable move-attack-push combos that the demo cannot demonstrate. Track Klukva Games patch notes so you are not theorycrafting obsolete trees on release week.