Sifu skills enhance combat significantly, which is why they should be permanently unlocked as quickly as possible. Players learn how to unlock skills early on in Sifu, but there is only one way to unlock skills permanently: buying them. Players must buy temporary skills at base prices, with the permanently unlocked version costing a total of six times the base amount. Once players buy the permanent version of a skill, they do not need to worry about losing it upon dying of old age.
Sifu puts players in the shoes of a warrior who is revived upon death at increasingly older ages. Sifu is a notoriously difficult game, so players will find themselves aging quite rapidly without a good beginner’s guide. Eventually, players will reach an age past 70 years old and ultimately die. When players respawn as a young warrior again, they will not have access to any previously unlocked skills. The only way to maintain an unlocked skill is by purchasing the permanent version of the skill. This allows Sifu players to retain a semblance of progress from their last run and have more powerful abilities from the start.
Players can unlock 24 different skills during their playthroughs of Sifu. Players unlock these skills by spending XP gained from fighting enemies. Nothing special is needed for collecting XP; players must simply progress through the story and defeat enemies to gain XP and unlock new skills. Each skill has a base price of anywhere from 500 XP to 1,500 XP. Purchasing the base level of a skill only unlocks it temporarily, albeit at a cheaper price. Unlocking the permanent version of a skill requires players to pay that amount five additional times. Unless players are masters at speedrunning Sifu, maintaining skills between runs is essential to success.
Permanently Unlocking Skills In Sifu
When players want to purchase the permanent version of a skill, they must first access the skill tree when near a Shrine, at the tree in the Wuguan, or upon death. The skill tree allows players to choose which skills they want to purchase with XP. Purchasing the skill once unlocks the skill until players restart a run. Purchasing it five more times allows players to keep that skill throughout different runs in Sifu.
Players do not have to purchase the skill six times simultaneously. Payments can be spread out over playthroughs, which means players can purchase a permanent skill one payment at a time. Since permanent skills require players to spend a significant amount of XP, spreading payments out over time allows for a smoother skill acquisition process. Once the skill has been purchased six times, it becomes part of the player’s starting kit permanently and can be used at any time. Maintaining powerful skills through playthroughs will streamline the process of unlocking the true ending to Sifu.
Sifu is available for PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
