Hel
Goddess of the Dead
Since there are many different skills in Raid Mode, the game's descriptions of them aren't always helpful, and I haven't found a complete list on the internet, I decided to start one myself. Thanks to our dear admin granting me the ability to always edit this post, the list will be continuously updated, so if you find any mistakes or would like to add something, let me know!
Every character except the ones you play as in the campaign (Claire, Barry, Moira) comes with a unique skill that is exclusive to them and can't be used by anyone else until maxed out and inherited. Those skills are marked with a star* and the respective character's name in (brackets).
I'll start with the active skills, scroll down for the passive ones, and even downer for some information on the characters. They are arranged in alphabetical order.
Active Skills
Bewilder* (Overseer)
"Confuses" nearby enemies, causing them to either fight each other, and in the meantime you can attack and stealth-kill them all you wish. Can be used for a limited amount of times every 30 seconds, but doesn't always work; for example, a zombie that is already coming at you with its arms reaching out, will often continue doing so. Also, keep in mind that you can still get hurt if you get between the fighting enemies. Upgrading the skill prolongs the duration of the confusion and lets you use it more often.
Coat of Armor* (Chris)
Turn into a silver statue (even though the game claims it's gold) that is completely impervious to any damage, including one-hit-kills, for 8 seconds. The only catch is that doing so will slow down your movement speed to 75%, but that no longer applies once the skill is maxed out. Can be used as often as you wish, with a cool-down timer that is affected by the level of the skill. Upgrading does not affect the duration of the invincibility, however.
Decoy Bottle
Throw a bottle that attracts nearby enemies with the scent it emits, causing them to ignore you completely, and explodes after 10 seconds. It can also explode immediately if thrown directly at an enemy, or simply earlier if it gets broken, which is likely to happen because your silly enemies will actually attack it. Upgrading this skill increases the power of the explosion as well as the amount of bottles you take with you. The Overseer and Jill start out with it, characters who can unlock it include Barry (level 41), Evgeny (13), Gina (30) and Hunk (49).
Drill Charge* (Pedro)
Use a drill to slaughter your way through enemy hordes. Your character automatically starts running and is a little difficult to control, but completely invulnerable for the duration of the drilling process. The drill overheats after each usage and has to cool down before you can use it again. Upgrading the skill reduces the cool-down time and also increases the damage enemies take from being hit. Killing four enemies at once with the drill unlocks a new gesture.
Electric Bottle
Throw a bottle that explodes into lightning. Enemies take more damage from your attacks until the effects wear off. The damage and the duration of the electrocuting process as well as the amount of bottles you take with you can be increased by upgrading the skill. Neil and Albert start out with it, other characters who can unlock it include the Overseer (level 41), Gina (27), Pedro (30), Gabe (45), Evgeny (37) and Hunk (41).
Exploding Bottle
Your basic grenades in the game, and the most powerful ones as well. Upgrading the skill increases the damage of the explosion and gives you more bottles. Useful for enemies with a shield, as the bottles fly right through it and often knock them down. Claire, Evgeny and Leon start out with it, Moira either does too or unlocks it very early on. Other characters who can unlock it include Barry (level 25), Pedro (37), Neil (8), Chris (25) and Hunk (52).
Firebomb Bottle
Throw a bottle that explodes into fire and leaves nearby enemies burning. Very useful against revenants to expose and continuously damage their weak spots. Upgrading the skill doesn't make the fire more damaging, but causes affected enemies to burn longer and gives you more bottles. Barry starts out with it, other characters who can unlock it include Moira (unknown level), Gabe (level 13), Neil (49), Evgeny (33) and Chris (20).
Ground Pound* (Gabe)
Hit the ground so violently it causes an earthquake that damages and sometimes even outright kills all enemies around you. Upgrading the skill makes the pound quite deadly, lets you use it more often and reduces the cool-down time.
Ice Bottle
Throw a bottle that freezes nearby enemies, heavily slowing them down for a few seconds. The ice itself doesn't really hurt, and upgrading the skill won't change that, but just like with the Firebomb, it freezes them for longer and gives you more bottles. Claire and Evgeny start out with it, Moira either does too or unlocks it very early on. Other characters who can unlock it include the Overseer (level 33), Pedro (27), Neil (33), Leon (49) and Chris (33).
Rocket Launcher
Your very own one-hit-kill weapon. A rocket will seriously ravage whatever it hits and everything nearby while you take no damage at all, even if it explodes right in your face. Aiming is a little difficult, though, and the launcher needs to cool down for 30 seconds before you can use it again. You start out with only one rocket per stage, but upgrading the skill (which is the most expensive thing you'll ever do) gives you up to three and makes them more lethal, whereas it has no effect on the cool-down timer. Characters who can unlock this skill include Barry (level 65), Jill (49) and Chris (8).
Shockwave* (Leon)
Emits a shockwave that deals only minimum damage, but sends nearby enemies flying away from you and sets them up for melee attacks. Useful to kill a few of them quickly, or at least keep their hands off you when you're surrounded. Upgrading only seems to affect the radius.
Smokescreen Bottle
Deprive enemies of their sense of vision so you can kill them with stealth attacks for 15 seconds. Similar to Hunk's Stealth Cloak, just more realistic as you don't actually become invisible. Doesn't work on zombies, but makes glasps visible, and upgrading the skill gives you more bottles. Moira and Evgeny start out with it, other characters who can unlock it include the Overseer (level 27), Gina (25), Neil (25), Leon (33) and Hunk (13).
Stealth Cloak* (Hunk)
Turn yourself invisible for up to 13 seconds to attack enemies without them fighting back, or sneak up on them from behind and kill them with a stealth attack. Getting hit will make you visible again immediately (for example by getting too close to a skagdead; that saw is still spinning and dangerous, even when the monster is currently not attacking). Has to recharge for a while after each use, but you can reduce that recharging time as well as increase the time you spend invisible by upgrading the skill.
Taunt* (Cipher)
Attract enemies within a specific radius. Upgrading the skill extends that radius. Can be used every 30 seconds. It doesn't seem very useful to me because enemies, once they've noticed you, will immediately make their fastest way to you anyway.
Passive Skills
Armor Up* (Chris)
Reduce damage received from enemy attacks. What's special about this exclusive skill is that the one person who has it doesn't start out with it, but only unlocks it at level 41.
Auto Evade* (Neil)
Your character dodges enemy attacks automatically. Sounds like you will never get hit again, but there is one catch: It only works once every 30 to 120 seconds (depending on the level) and when your character is not currently busy with something else (like reloading). Upgrading the skill is very expensive and only affects the cool-down time, not the times your character auto-evades before that timer starts, so if you need help evading, better go for Can't Catch Me, Evade Cancel or Evade Extension.
Can't Catch Me
Makes you invulnerable for a short time while evading, and also gets rid of evade recovery, whatever that means. One of Jill's starting skills, other characters who can unlock it include Claire (level 65), Gabe (41), Neil (52), Leon (25) and Hunk (25).
Crouch Dodge
Crouching gives you invincibility for a very short time that can be prolonged slightly by upgrading the skill. Your timing still needs to be perfect, though. Characters who can unlock it include Pedro, Evgeny and Jill, all at level 41.
Crouch Power
Increases the power of your weapons up to 130% if you shoot while crouching. My advice: Don't waste your skill points on this, it's way too expensive for the little effect it has, and honestly, when do you ever shoot while crouching? In case you still want it, characters who unlock it include Barry (around level 18), Pedro (49), Neil (13) and Hunk (18).
Evade Cancel* (Albert)
Enables you to evade at any time, except while being grabbed by an enemy. Good for getting back up immediately after being thrown to the ground, and avoiding the recoil of magnums.
Evade Extension* (Jill)
Increases the distance you cover by evading. Extremely useful to get away from danger quickly, for example from enemies swinging big axes or exploding ones.
Extreme Healing
The title and the game's description of this skill are a little misleading; I thought it meant regenerating health, but it actually means you can use herbs under any circumstances, even while being grabbed by an enemy. Since that's all it does, there is no possibility to upgrade it. You can ignore this skill if you're going for completion medallions, as they require you not to use any herbs. Gina starts out with it, everyone else (except Cipher) unlocks it at level 20.
Gesticulating* (Gina)
Attack enemies with gestures. You have to be close enough to actually touch them with some part of your character's body. Be careful as you can still get hurt while performing gestures, and not every gesture is equally useful. However, with this skill equipped, pretty much everything you do (including reloading, evading and even falling) is considered a gesture and can actually hurt enemies or destroy boxes. Upgrading it increases the damage enemies take from being hit and makes it far more powerful than the knife. Since it is considered a melee attack, it will also become even stronger in combination with Melee Master.
Grenade Master
Increases the explosion blast radius of your bottles. Needless to say, equipping your character with this mastery only makes sense if you have also equipped at least one active bottle skill. Characters who can unlock it include Moira (late level), Gina (level 65), Evgeny (49) and Gabe (49).
Health Up
Increases your maximum health. This skill becomes available to every character (except Cipher) at level 2, so there is no need to inherit it. Combine it with the Shield and Armor Up skills and the Life Stealer weapon part to make your character nigh-invulnerable.
Herb Storage Up
Allows you to carry up to eleven herbs. It can be useful if you have trouble finishing missions with all your limbs still attached, but as with the Extreme Healing skill, forget this one if you're going for medallions. (And forget about Rape Mode completely if you actually need eleven herbs to finish one of those short missions.) Becomes available to everyone (except Cipher) at level 2, so don't bother inheriting it.
Hurler* (Evgeny)
Throw bottles faster and farther. Only makes sense when combined with active bottle skills, of course, and becomes useless if Land Mines is also equipped.
Land Mines
Instead of throwing exploding, electric and other bottles, place them on the ground for enemies to step on. The damage they take depends on the respective bottle and its level, which is why this skill cannot be upgraded. Don't equip it unless you're actually using bottles. Moira starts out with this skill, other characters who can unlock it include Gina (level 41), Pedro (65), Gabe (52), Evgeny (27) and Chris (30).
Magic Pixel
Allows you to barely survive otherwise fatal attacks (but not one-hit-kills) if your health is above 50% at the time the attack happens. The higher the level of the skill, the lower your health can be for it to work, and you become pretty much invincible once it's maxed out because nothing can kill you anymore as long as your health is at 1%. Barry, Gina and Chris start out with, everyone else (except Cipher) unlocks it at level 5.
Melee Master
Strengthens melee attacks and increases the knife attack speed. Upgrading only affects the latter, but it works with the katana too. Moira, Leon and Albert start out with this skill, other characters who can unlock it include Barry (33) and Hunk (27).
Powering Up
Physical attacks (the ones you perform on a stunned enemy) can be charged and made stronger by holding down the button, just like it was possible by default in Revelations 1. Keep in mind that you're not invulnerable while charging, so watch out for nearby enemies that could ruin your attack. Upgrading the skill makes the resulting attack stronger. Moira and Gabe start out with it, other characters who can unlock it include Barry (level 52) and Chris (37).
Quick Heal
Use herbs faster and faster the more you upgrade it. Gina starts out with the skill, everyone else (except Cipher) unlocks it at level 10.
Samurai Sword* (Cipher)
Your knife is replaced with a katana that does a lot more damage, has a wider reach and can easily set enemies up for physical attacks. Becomes especially powerful when combined with a high-level Melee Master. Having the katana equipped replaces every character's ground finisher with a stab, so you may not want to use it as Hunk, who has the most powerful ground finisher. Upgrading the skill increases the damage the sword does.
Savor the Moment* (Leon)
Makes your knife attacks faster and more powerful. Keep in mind that if you're using the katana instead of the knife, this skill only affects the speed, not the attack power.
Scavenger
Gain ammo by killing enemies. The ammo can be for any weapon you're currently carrying, it doesn't have to be for the one you killed the enemy with, but if your pockets are already full, you can't get any more. Upgrading increases the chance of it happening. Gabe starts out with the skill, other characters who can unlock it include the Overseer (level 45), Gina (52), Pedro (33), Evgeny (65), Jill (65) and Hunk (8).
Shield
Creates an invisible shield around your body to protect you from damage up to a certain point. Taking too much damage breaks the shield, but it repairs itself over time. Upgrading the skill increases the amount of damage the shield can take, but unfortunately it doesn't grow with the level of your character, so it becomes rather useless on missions with very powerful enemies. Pedro starts out with this skill, Claire unlocks it at level 18.
Stuck On You
Turn your bottles into sticky grenades that cling to enemies, making sure the explosion will hurt as much as it possibly can. As with Land Mines, the damage you'll cause completely depends on the bottle you're using, and if you don't bring any bottles, don't equip this skill either. Also, sticky bottles don't explode on impact; they will explode after a few seconds unless you shoot them first. The Overseer starts out with it, other characters who can unlock it include Claire (level 41), Neil (65), Evgeny (8) and Hunk (65).
Weapon Masteries
There is a mastery for every type of firearm in the game. Upgrading these skills enables you to carry more ammo for the respective weapon type and slightly increases reloading speed on higher levels. Here's a list of all masteries and the characters who can unlock them:
Handgun – Claire, Barry, Gabe, Gina, Jill (27)
Machine Pistol – Claire, Moira (41), Overseer (50), Jill (1), Leon
Assault Rifle – Claire, Moira, Jill, Hunk (1)
Shotgun – Claire, Pedro (1), Gabe
Magnum – Barry, Albert, Hunk (37)
Sniper Rifle – Claire, Pedro, Neil (1), Jill (30), Hunk (33)
Characters
Even though every character can learn every skill, either by reaching the right level to unlock it or by inheriting it from someone else, you can tell by the skills they start out with that there are several different types of characters. Here's a list of all playable characters with their melee attacks, special skills, gestures (unlocked by getting that character to level 50), outfits (for those who have more than one) and unlock conditions.
Albert
Physical attack: Cobra strike
Ground finisher: Windfall
Special skill: Evade Cancel
Gesture: ?
How to unlock: DLC
Barry – Balance. He starts out with a weapon mastery and a health skill, and learns other skills of those kinds as well as melee skills over time.
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: None
Gesture: Point
Outfits: Default (available from the start), STARS (unlocked by finishing the campaign), Bonus (DLC)
How to unlock: Available from the start
Chris – Armor. He starts out with the Coat of Armor skill, which makes him completely impervious to any kind of damage for a limited time, and learns the Armor Up skill at level 41.
Physical attack: Uppercut
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Coat of Armor, Armor Up
Gesture: Ready for Action
How to unlock: Earn 30 completion medallions
Cipher – Skills... well, sort of. It starts out with no weapon slots at all, but all four active skills and four of the six passive skills are unlocked right from the start. Also comes with two unique skills instead of just one. Ironically, though, Cipher can't unlock anything by itself, even the Health Up and Herb Storage Up skills that usually become available at level 2 never appear in its list, so it can only acquire skills that have been inherited by others.
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Taunt, Samurai Sword
Gesture: I'm Not Worthy
Outfits: Default, Lottie (free update)
How to unlock: Earn 90 completion medallions
Claire – Weapons. She starts out with two weapon slots and unlocks the third as well as five of the six masteries early on.
Physical attack: Roundhouse kick
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: None
Gesture: Warm Up
Outfits: Default (available from the start), RE2 (unlocked by finishing the campaign), Sniper (unlocked by finishing the campaign and Rape Mode gauntlet 8 on any difficulty), Bonus (DLC), Terra Save (exclusive to Japan)
How to unlock: Available from the start
Evgeny – Bottles. Starts out with three of the six active bottle skills and one passive bottle skill that is exclusive to him, unlocks all other active and passive bottle skills before level 50. He is the only character to get them all without inheriting.
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Hurler
Gesture: ROTFLMAO
How to unlock: Finish bonus episode "The Struggle"
Gabe
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Ground Pound
Gesture: Come Here
How to unlock: Finish episode 2
Gina – Health. Her arsenal of active skills is rather limited, but she comes with several health-related passive skills, including one that doesn't become available to others until much later.
Physical attack: Roundhouse kick
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Gesticulating
Gesture: Moderate Thumbs Up
Outfits: Default, Blood (event reward), Rachael (free update), Lady Hunk (free update)
How to unlock: Finish episode 1
Hunk
Physical attack: Hidden knife
Ground finisher: Three shots
Special skill: Stealth Cloak
Gesture: Backflip
How to unlock: DLC
Jill – Evading. Starts out with two passive evading skills (one of which is exclusive to her until inherited) and one active skill that draws the enemies' attention away from her.
Physical attack: Spinning kick
Ground finisher: Knee drop
Special skill: Evade Extension
Gesture: I Dunno
How to unlock: Earn 10 completion medallions
Leon
Physical attack: Kick
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Shockwave, Savor the Moment
Gesture: Air Guitar
How to unlock: Earn 20 completion medallions
Moira – Melee. Since she hates firearms, she comes with only one weapon slot and doesn't get her third until level 45. But she makes up for it by starting out with the rare Melee Master and Powering Up skills, and can also throw Smokescreen bottles to blind enemies and stealth-kill them.
Physical attack: Roundhouse kick
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: None
Gesture: Catlike
Outfits: Default (available from the start), Other (unlocked by finishing the campaign and Rape Mode gauntlet 8 on Hard or higher), Bonus (DLC)
How to unlock: Finish episode 1
Neil
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Auto Evade
Gesture: ?
How to unlock: Finish episode 3
Overseer
Physical attack: Roundhouse kick
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Bewilder
Gesture: Applause
How to unlock: Finish the campaign and all Rape Mode stages
Pedro
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Drill Charge
Gesture: ?
Outfits: Default, Mutated (free update)
How to unlock: Finish episode 2
Use this list for reference. Thanks to everyone who contributed and added to it.
Every character except the ones you play as in the campaign (Claire, Barry, Moira) comes with a unique skill that is exclusive to them and can't be used by anyone else until maxed out and inherited. Those skills are marked with a star* and the respective character's name in (brackets).
I'll start with the active skills, scroll down for the passive ones, and even downer for some information on the characters. They are arranged in alphabetical order.
Active Skills
Bewilder* (Overseer)
"Confuses" nearby enemies, causing them to either fight each other, and in the meantime you can attack and stealth-kill them all you wish. Can be used for a limited amount of times every 30 seconds, but doesn't always work; for example, a zombie that is already coming at you with its arms reaching out, will often continue doing so. Also, keep in mind that you can still get hurt if you get between the fighting enemies. Upgrading the skill prolongs the duration of the confusion and lets you use it more often.
Coat of Armor* (Chris)
Turn into a silver statue (even though the game claims it's gold) that is completely impervious to any damage, including one-hit-kills, for 8 seconds. The only catch is that doing so will slow down your movement speed to 75%, but that no longer applies once the skill is maxed out. Can be used as often as you wish, with a cool-down timer that is affected by the level of the skill. Upgrading does not affect the duration of the invincibility, however.
Decoy Bottle
Throw a bottle that attracts nearby enemies with the scent it emits, causing them to ignore you completely, and explodes after 10 seconds. It can also explode immediately if thrown directly at an enemy, or simply earlier if it gets broken, which is likely to happen because your silly enemies will actually attack it. Upgrading this skill increases the power of the explosion as well as the amount of bottles you take with you. The Overseer and Jill start out with it, characters who can unlock it include Barry (level 41), Evgeny (13), Gina (30) and Hunk (49).
Drill Charge* (Pedro)
Use a drill to slaughter your way through enemy hordes. Your character automatically starts running and is a little difficult to control, but completely invulnerable for the duration of the drilling process. The drill overheats after each usage and has to cool down before you can use it again. Upgrading the skill reduces the cool-down time and also increases the damage enemies take from being hit. Killing four enemies at once with the drill unlocks a new gesture.
Electric Bottle
Throw a bottle that explodes into lightning. Enemies take more damage from your attacks until the effects wear off. The damage and the duration of the electrocuting process as well as the amount of bottles you take with you can be increased by upgrading the skill. Neil and Albert start out with it, other characters who can unlock it include the Overseer (level 41), Gina (27), Pedro (30), Gabe (45), Evgeny (37) and Hunk (41).
Exploding Bottle
Your basic grenades in the game, and the most powerful ones as well. Upgrading the skill increases the damage of the explosion and gives you more bottles. Useful for enemies with a shield, as the bottles fly right through it and often knock them down. Claire, Evgeny and Leon start out with it, Moira either does too or unlocks it very early on. Other characters who can unlock it include Barry (level 25), Pedro (37), Neil (8), Chris (25) and Hunk (52).
Firebomb Bottle
Throw a bottle that explodes into fire and leaves nearby enemies burning. Very useful against revenants to expose and continuously damage their weak spots. Upgrading the skill doesn't make the fire more damaging, but causes affected enemies to burn longer and gives you more bottles. Barry starts out with it, other characters who can unlock it include Moira (unknown level), Gabe (level 13), Neil (49), Evgeny (33) and Chris (20).
Ground Pound* (Gabe)
Hit the ground so violently it causes an earthquake that damages and sometimes even outright kills all enemies around you. Upgrading the skill makes the pound quite deadly, lets you use it more often and reduces the cool-down time.
Ice Bottle
Throw a bottle that freezes nearby enemies, heavily slowing them down for a few seconds. The ice itself doesn't really hurt, and upgrading the skill won't change that, but just like with the Firebomb, it freezes them for longer and gives you more bottles. Claire and Evgeny start out with it, Moira either does too or unlocks it very early on. Other characters who can unlock it include the Overseer (level 33), Pedro (27), Neil (33), Leon (49) and Chris (33).
Rocket Launcher
Your very own one-hit-kill weapon. A rocket will seriously ravage whatever it hits and everything nearby while you take no damage at all, even if it explodes right in your face. Aiming is a little difficult, though, and the launcher needs to cool down for 30 seconds before you can use it again. You start out with only one rocket per stage, but upgrading the skill (which is the most expensive thing you'll ever do) gives you up to three and makes them more lethal, whereas it has no effect on the cool-down timer. Characters who can unlock this skill include Barry (level 65), Jill (49) and Chris (8).
Shockwave* (Leon)
Emits a shockwave that deals only minimum damage, but sends nearby enemies flying away from you and sets them up for melee attacks. Useful to kill a few of them quickly, or at least keep their hands off you when you're surrounded. Upgrading only seems to affect the radius.
Smokescreen Bottle
Deprive enemies of their sense of vision so you can kill them with stealth attacks for 15 seconds. Similar to Hunk's Stealth Cloak, just more realistic as you don't actually become invisible. Doesn't work on zombies, but makes glasps visible, and upgrading the skill gives you more bottles. Moira and Evgeny start out with it, other characters who can unlock it include the Overseer (level 27), Gina (25), Neil (25), Leon (33) and Hunk (13).
Stealth Cloak* (Hunk)
Turn yourself invisible for up to 13 seconds to attack enemies without them fighting back, or sneak up on them from behind and kill them with a stealth attack. Getting hit will make you visible again immediately (for example by getting too close to a skagdead; that saw is still spinning and dangerous, even when the monster is currently not attacking). Has to recharge for a while after each use, but you can reduce that recharging time as well as increase the time you spend invisible by upgrading the skill.
Taunt* (Cipher)
Attract enemies within a specific radius. Upgrading the skill extends that radius. Can be used every 30 seconds. It doesn't seem very useful to me because enemies, once they've noticed you, will immediately make their fastest way to you anyway.
Passive Skills
Armor Up* (Chris)
Reduce damage received from enemy attacks. What's special about this exclusive skill is that the one person who has it doesn't start out with it, but only unlocks it at level 41.
Auto Evade* (Neil)
Your character dodges enemy attacks automatically. Sounds like you will never get hit again, but there is one catch: It only works once every 30 to 120 seconds (depending on the level) and when your character is not currently busy with something else (like reloading). Upgrading the skill is very expensive and only affects the cool-down time, not the times your character auto-evades before that timer starts, so if you need help evading, better go for Can't Catch Me, Evade Cancel or Evade Extension.
Can't Catch Me
Makes you invulnerable for a short time while evading, and also gets rid of evade recovery, whatever that means. One of Jill's starting skills, other characters who can unlock it include Claire (level 65), Gabe (41), Neil (52), Leon (25) and Hunk (25).
Crouch Dodge
Crouching gives you invincibility for a very short time that can be prolonged slightly by upgrading the skill. Your timing still needs to be perfect, though. Characters who can unlock it include Pedro, Evgeny and Jill, all at level 41.
Crouch Power
Increases the power of your weapons up to 130% if you shoot while crouching. My advice: Don't waste your skill points on this, it's way too expensive for the little effect it has, and honestly, when do you ever shoot while crouching? In case you still want it, characters who unlock it include Barry (around level 18), Pedro (49), Neil (13) and Hunk (18).
Evade Cancel* (Albert)
Enables you to evade at any time, except while being grabbed by an enemy. Good for getting back up immediately after being thrown to the ground, and avoiding the recoil of magnums.
Evade Extension* (Jill)
Increases the distance you cover by evading. Extremely useful to get away from danger quickly, for example from enemies swinging big axes or exploding ones.
Extreme Healing
The title and the game's description of this skill are a little misleading; I thought it meant regenerating health, but it actually means you can use herbs under any circumstances, even while being grabbed by an enemy. Since that's all it does, there is no possibility to upgrade it. You can ignore this skill if you're going for completion medallions, as they require you not to use any herbs. Gina starts out with it, everyone else (except Cipher) unlocks it at level 20.
Gesticulating* (Gina)
Attack enemies with gestures. You have to be close enough to actually touch them with some part of your character's body. Be careful as you can still get hurt while performing gestures, and not every gesture is equally useful. However, with this skill equipped, pretty much everything you do (including reloading, evading and even falling) is considered a gesture and can actually hurt enemies or destroy boxes. Upgrading it increases the damage enemies take from being hit and makes it far more powerful than the knife. Since it is considered a melee attack, it will also become even stronger in combination with Melee Master.
Grenade Master
Increases the explosion blast radius of your bottles. Needless to say, equipping your character with this mastery only makes sense if you have also equipped at least one active bottle skill. Characters who can unlock it include Moira (late level), Gina (level 65), Evgeny (49) and Gabe (49).
Health Up
Increases your maximum health. This skill becomes available to every character (except Cipher) at level 2, so there is no need to inherit it. Combine it with the Shield and Armor Up skills and the Life Stealer weapon part to make your character nigh-invulnerable.
Herb Storage Up
Allows you to carry up to eleven herbs. It can be useful if you have trouble finishing missions with all your limbs still attached, but as with the Extreme Healing skill, forget this one if you're going for medallions. (And forget about Rape Mode completely if you actually need eleven herbs to finish one of those short missions.) Becomes available to everyone (except Cipher) at level 2, so don't bother inheriting it.
Hurler* (Evgeny)
Throw bottles faster and farther. Only makes sense when combined with active bottle skills, of course, and becomes useless if Land Mines is also equipped.
Land Mines
Instead of throwing exploding, electric and other bottles, place them on the ground for enemies to step on. The damage they take depends on the respective bottle and its level, which is why this skill cannot be upgraded. Don't equip it unless you're actually using bottles. Moira starts out with this skill, other characters who can unlock it include Gina (level 41), Pedro (65), Gabe (52), Evgeny (27) and Chris (30).
Magic Pixel
Allows you to barely survive otherwise fatal attacks (but not one-hit-kills) if your health is above 50% at the time the attack happens. The higher the level of the skill, the lower your health can be for it to work, and you become pretty much invincible once it's maxed out because nothing can kill you anymore as long as your health is at 1%. Barry, Gina and Chris start out with, everyone else (except Cipher) unlocks it at level 5.
Melee Master
Strengthens melee attacks and increases the knife attack speed. Upgrading only affects the latter, but it works with the katana too. Moira, Leon and Albert start out with this skill, other characters who can unlock it include Barry (33) and Hunk (27).
Powering Up
Physical attacks (the ones you perform on a stunned enemy) can be charged and made stronger by holding down the button, just like it was possible by default in Revelations 1. Keep in mind that you're not invulnerable while charging, so watch out for nearby enemies that could ruin your attack. Upgrading the skill makes the resulting attack stronger. Moira and Gabe start out with it, other characters who can unlock it include Barry (level 52) and Chris (37).
Quick Heal
Use herbs faster and faster the more you upgrade it. Gina starts out with the skill, everyone else (except Cipher) unlocks it at level 10.
Samurai Sword* (Cipher)
Your knife is replaced with a katana that does a lot more damage, has a wider reach and can easily set enemies up for physical attacks. Becomes especially powerful when combined with a high-level Melee Master. Having the katana equipped replaces every character's ground finisher with a stab, so you may not want to use it as Hunk, who has the most powerful ground finisher. Upgrading the skill increases the damage the sword does.
Savor the Moment* (Leon)
Makes your knife attacks faster and more powerful. Keep in mind that if you're using the katana instead of the knife, this skill only affects the speed, not the attack power.
Scavenger
Gain ammo by killing enemies. The ammo can be for any weapon you're currently carrying, it doesn't have to be for the one you killed the enemy with, but if your pockets are already full, you can't get any more. Upgrading increases the chance of it happening. Gabe starts out with the skill, other characters who can unlock it include the Overseer (level 45), Gina (52), Pedro (33), Evgeny (65), Jill (65) and Hunk (8).
Shield
Creates an invisible shield around your body to protect you from damage up to a certain point. Taking too much damage breaks the shield, but it repairs itself over time. Upgrading the skill increases the amount of damage the shield can take, but unfortunately it doesn't grow with the level of your character, so it becomes rather useless on missions with very powerful enemies. Pedro starts out with this skill, Claire unlocks it at level 18.
Stuck On You
Turn your bottles into sticky grenades that cling to enemies, making sure the explosion will hurt as much as it possibly can. As with Land Mines, the damage you'll cause completely depends on the bottle you're using, and if you don't bring any bottles, don't equip this skill either. Also, sticky bottles don't explode on impact; they will explode after a few seconds unless you shoot them first. The Overseer starts out with it, other characters who can unlock it include Claire (level 41), Neil (65), Evgeny (8) and Hunk (65).
Weapon Masteries
There is a mastery for every type of firearm in the game. Upgrading these skills enables you to carry more ammo for the respective weapon type and slightly increases reloading speed on higher levels. Here's a list of all masteries and the characters who can unlock them:
Handgun – Claire, Barry, Gabe, Gina, Jill (27)
Machine Pistol – Claire, Moira (41), Overseer (50), Jill (1), Leon
Assault Rifle – Claire, Moira, Jill, Hunk (1)
Shotgun – Claire, Pedro (1), Gabe
Magnum – Barry, Albert, Hunk (37)
Sniper Rifle – Claire, Pedro, Neil (1), Jill (30), Hunk (33)
Characters
Even though every character can learn every skill, either by reaching the right level to unlock it or by inheriting it from someone else, you can tell by the skills they start out with that there are several different types of characters. Here's a list of all playable characters with their melee attacks, special skills, gestures (unlocked by getting that character to level 50), outfits (for those who have more than one) and unlock conditions.
Albert
Physical attack: Cobra strike
Ground finisher: Windfall
Special skill: Evade Cancel
Gesture: ?
How to unlock: DLC
Barry – Balance. He starts out with a weapon mastery and a health skill, and learns other skills of those kinds as well as melee skills over time.
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: None
Gesture: Point
Outfits: Default (available from the start), STARS (unlocked by finishing the campaign), Bonus (DLC)
How to unlock: Available from the start
Chris – Armor. He starts out with the Coat of Armor skill, which makes him completely impervious to any kind of damage for a limited time, and learns the Armor Up skill at level 41.
Physical attack: Uppercut
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Coat of Armor, Armor Up
Gesture: Ready for Action
How to unlock: Earn 30 completion medallions
Cipher – Skills... well, sort of. It starts out with no weapon slots at all, but all four active skills and four of the six passive skills are unlocked right from the start. Also comes with two unique skills instead of just one. Ironically, though, Cipher can't unlock anything by itself, even the Health Up and Herb Storage Up skills that usually become available at level 2 never appear in its list, so it can only acquire skills that have been inherited by others.
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Taunt, Samurai Sword
Gesture: I'm Not Worthy
Outfits: Default, Lottie (free update)
How to unlock: Earn 90 completion medallions
Claire – Weapons. She starts out with two weapon slots and unlocks the third as well as five of the six masteries early on.
Physical attack: Roundhouse kick
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: None
Gesture: Warm Up
Outfits: Default (available from the start), RE2 (unlocked by finishing the campaign), Sniper (unlocked by finishing the campaign and Rape Mode gauntlet 8 on any difficulty), Bonus (DLC), Terra Save (exclusive to Japan)
How to unlock: Available from the start
Evgeny – Bottles. Starts out with three of the six active bottle skills and one passive bottle skill that is exclusive to him, unlocks all other active and passive bottle skills before level 50. He is the only character to get them all without inheriting.
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Hurler
Gesture: ROTFLMAO
How to unlock: Finish bonus episode "The Struggle"
Gabe
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Ground Pound
Gesture: Come Here
How to unlock: Finish episode 2
Gina – Health. Her arsenal of active skills is rather limited, but she comes with several health-related passive skills, including one that doesn't become available to others until much later.
Physical attack: Roundhouse kick
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Gesticulating
Gesture: Moderate Thumbs Up
Outfits: Default, Blood (event reward), Rachael (free update), Lady Hunk (free update)
How to unlock: Finish episode 1
Hunk
Physical attack: Hidden knife
Ground finisher: Three shots
Special skill: Stealth Cloak
Gesture: Backflip
How to unlock: DLC
Jill – Evading. Starts out with two passive evading skills (one of which is exclusive to her until inherited) and one active skill that draws the enemies' attention away from her.
Physical attack: Spinning kick
Ground finisher: Knee drop
Special skill: Evade Extension
Gesture: I Dunno
How to unlock: Earn 10 completion medallions
Leon
Physical attack: Kick
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Shockwave, Savor the Moment
Gesture: Air Guitar
How to unlock: Earn 20 completion medallions
Moira – Melee. Since she hates firearms, she comes with only one weapon slot and doesn't get her third until level 45. But she makes up for it by starting out with the rare Melee Master and Powering Up skills, and can also throw Smokescreen bottles to blind enemies and stealth-kill them.
Physical attack: Roundhouse kick
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: None
Gesture: Catlike
Outfits: Default (available from the start), Other (unlocked by finishing the campaign and Rape Mode gauntlet 8 on Hard or higher), Bonus (DLC)
How to unlock: Finish episode 1
Neil
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Auto Evade
Gesture: ?
How to unlock: Finish episode 3
Overseer
Physical attack: Roundhouse kick
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Bewilder
Gesture: Applause
How to unlock: Finish the campaign and all Rape Mode stages
Pedro
Physical attack: Haymaker punch
Ground finisher: Knife thrust
Special skill: Drill Charge
Gesture: ?
Outfits: Default, Mutated (free update)
How to unlock: Finish episode 2
Use this list for reference. Thanks to everyone who contributed and added to it.
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