Watch Dogs 2 sees the rogue security system, ctOS, pose another threat to the public, but this time you’re not just tackling it as a vigilante. Instead, you have the support of a Bay Area hacker organization called DedSec, and their Research app. The app houses a sizable seven-branch skill tree filled with some of the wildest hacking skills imaginable.
Some of these skills can make your life easier as you pursue your quest to derail ctOS, while others let your imagination run wild with destruction. So here are the most awesome skills you can unlock.
10/10 hijacker
Hijacker is a skill that becomes available once you start the first tier of the Vehicle Hacking branch. It takes only four research points and greatly improves the convenience of purchasing a car, which is extremely necessary to get around the distant locations on the map. Before you learn Hijacker, steal cars the old fashioned way through lock picking.
That creates the problem of taking longer to get in the car and potential witnesses seeing you breaking in, who then alert the police and cause you more trouble. Hijacker allows you to hack into the car’s electronic locking mechanisms and unlock it with the push of a button, completely undetected by pedestrians.
9/10 Proximity Scanner
This ability is tied to the Quadcopter drone, one of two new devices at your disposal in Watch Dogs 2. You can unlock the Quadcopter fairly early in the game using the 3D printer in a DedSec shelter during the second story mission, but it will cost you a lot of money. However, it is mostly worth it because when you get it and you can allocate the first upgrade of Proximity Scanner.
This ability essentially works like Assassin’s Creed eagle vision, providing a more detailed scan that highlights enemies and important objects hidden in the area. Stealth is a big part of the game, so this is hugely useful for those situations.
8/10 Improved Spring
The RC Jumper is a small remote-controlled machine that runs on wheels and is the second of two tools that you can equip from your inventory in this game. Its functions include hacking and distracting enemies, but its main use is to get into tight spaces like vents and windows to explore unreachable areas and collect items.
Enhanced Spring is an excellent skill upgrade for the Jumper as it allows greater jump distance, making it easier to reach larger gaps. Unlike the Quadcopter, the Jumper comes into play for free, but this skill will cost you six Research Points and Key Data from Palo Alto.
7/10 Traffic control exploit
Traffic Control Exploit is the third hub in the center of the City Disruption branch and a direct upgrade to Auto Takedown, the first ability you unlock. Auto Takedown lets you hack open gates and steam pipes to divert enemies, but Traffic Control Exploit goes even further and allows you to control the traffic light systems with one button.
By switching the lights from red to green, you can stop cars when you need a clear path and then stop pursuers by turning them back to green. It can also lead to car accidents, which would be a good distraction for the police or other enemies chasing you.
6/10 Vehicle Directional Hack
This vehicle hacking skill starts to bring fun car action into the gameplay experience, and it’s relatively inexpensive as it’s the base node for the Vehicle Hacking branch of the tree. It allows you to control all the directions in which other cars are traveling on the road, forward-backward or right-left.
It’s one of the earliest you could get, and very effective for pursuit missions to cause more instant accidents by getting random cars to ram enemies off the road, or when there are opportunities to kill enemies that are near vehicles stand out of cover. Another benefit is that it brings you one step closer to the Hijacker skill.
5/10 Huge communication failure
Hacking skills can cause a pandemic with vehicles and traffic, but they can also unleash cyber attacks on civilian electronic devices. Massive Communication Disruption sends an interconnected burst of hack to everyone around you, distracting them from making 911 calls if they see you doing something illegal. It’s a decent upgrade from Create Distraction, which is limited to just a select citizen’s phone.
It is the penultimate node in the upper part of the Social Engineering branch and costs six research points to acquire. Massive Communication Disruption is nice to have though as realizing your criminal activities for DedSec in public locations would be faster.
4/10 Huge Vehicle Hack
Massive Vehicle Hack is a recipe for pure chaos on the road and makes Vehicle Directional Hack child’s play. It is the third node at the bottom of the first upgrade and takes six studies and a Key Data point from the Chinatown district. It has different effects depending on whether you’re in a car or on the floor.
Using it on foot will hack vehicles in your area at once and send them in different directions. When you’re driving, the ability will distract other drivers and clear paths for you on the road, offering a bolder alternative to the Traffic Control Exploit.
3/10 gang war
Aside from hacking into just about anything to disrupt the natural order of things and evade combatants, gangs are another option to consider. There are three levels in the gang section of the Social Engineering branch, and Gang War is the best upgrade for it. It’s definitely a step up from the standard Gang Attack, where only two small members take out a target for you.
Gang War summons an entire group of strong gang members to take on their assigned target. It’s a welcome skill to save yourself from huge sticky situations as enemies will engage with the gang and you’ll be free to leave the scene.
2/10 System Crash Upgrade: Blackout
As established, stealth is going to be a crucial route in the world of Watch Dogs 2. However, sometimes things can go wrong using Quadcopters, RC Jumpers, silent takedowns, and non-lethal weapons to gently take out enemies. Guards can still detect you, and you could quickly get into trouble. The Blackout skill offers a perfect solution for this.
It is the last upgrade node above the Massive Crash System in the City Disruption branch and can shut off all power in the area keeping you hidden from enemies under cover of darkness.
1/10 External Gadgets
Remote Gadgets is one of the last skills you can unlock in the Remote CTRL branch, and it counts towards both the RC Jumper and Quadcopter devices. It gives you the ability to rebuild those machines into something more deadly by equipping them with explosives like zappers and IEDs.
This ability becomes especially powerful when you can use the quadcopter to drop an explosive on a helicopter, destroying it in the process to get it off your tail. Sure, you can use the Chopper Retreat Exploit for this, which is cheaper anyway, but an explosive drone sounds like a much more epic way to solve your helicopter problem.
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