Which talents to buy, and what the tree really costs

Open the talents list Every talent with the cost and wording of each separate level, sorted by what the first one asks. It opens on Trailblazer, the only talent in the tree that pays points back.

The permanent tree is 23 talents and 2,630 points to own outright. At the floor rate a day of surviving pays, that is 2,630 days, and 877 days with morale held at the top, which the daily log works out. So this is not a tree anybody completes. It is a tree you pick from, and the picking is shaped by one rule that holds everywhere in it: every level costs more than the last.

This page covers what each talent asks, why breadth is cheaper than depth, the one talent that hands points back, and how the in run perk pool prices things differently.

What the tree costs

The tree has only 2 entry prices. 3 talents open at 10 points and the other 20 open at 20. What separates them afterwards is depth rather than the door charge: a talent runs to 3 levels or 5, and the full price runs from 20 to 150.

One talent has a single level and no curve at all: Hoarder's Home at 20 points. There is no decision past taking it or not, and at 20 points it is the cheapest complete talent in the tree by a distance, against 90 for the next cheapest.

Breadth is cheaper than depth

The last level of a talent costs 2× to 3× what its first level did, and those are the only 2 ratios in the tree. A first level somewhere new is therefore cheaper than the next level of something you already own, right up until the cheap first levels run out.

Those are facts about the price curve rather than recommendations. The walk always strands some points, because the cheapest remaining step is a whole number and rarely matches what is left over. What to take still depends on which system is costing you runs.

One talent pays the points back

Trailblazer is the only talent in the tree whose effect returns the currency rather than spending it. Its wording at the top level is "Gain 15 Planning Points for each crisis successfully overcome.", which is 15 points a crisis, and getting there costs 90 points across 3 levels.

That repays after 6 crises and funds everything bought afterwards. Nothing else in the tree has that shape, so it is the one talent whose worth turns on how long the run in front of you lasts rather than on which system you are weakest at.

The one talent that undersells itself

Quick Fortification reads as "Fix windows and doors more efficiently." and says nothing about stats. Every one of its 5 levels also carries a Max Stamina figure of 50 that the wording never mentions. It is the only talent anywhere in the game, tree or in run pool, that moves a stat cap without saying so. Every other cap change in the data spells itself out in its own description.

The figure is the same on all 5 levels, and the wording is identical on all 5 too, so the tables do not say whether the levels stack that cap or restate one talent wide value. Take it as a reason to prefer Quick Fortification over a talent that looks equivalent, not as a number to add up.

The in run pool prices things differently

The 394 perks drawn during a run have exactly one level each, so none of them carries the tree’s rising curve. 22 of them are flagged repeatable; the other 372 are taken once.

What the pool does instead is ship several separate perks under one identical description. 62 descriptions are shared by more than one perk, and they split two ways.

53 of them are ladders, where each perk under the shared wording costs more than the one before it. The longest is "Enhanced search ability. Allows you to find previously overlooked supplies in the Deserted Supermarket.".

The other 9 are flat, every perk under the shared wording at one identical price, and all of them clear a furniture spot rather than stack an effect. The largest is bigger than any ladder in the pool: 6 perks at 40 points each.

So the tree’s rule does not carry over wholesale. Stacking an effect in the pool costs more each time, and opening another furniture spot costs the same every time.

What to do

1. Start with the 3 talents that open at 10 points: Early Riser, Savings Account, Light Sleeper. Nothing else in the tree costs less to try.
2. Take first levels before second ones. The last level of a talent costs at least 2× the first, so the same points go further spread out.
3. Buy Trailblazer whole or not at all. Part bought it pays less per crisis, and the full 90 only comes back after 6 crises.
4. Pick by the system that is costing you runs, not by price. The tree charges 10 or 20 to open a talent regardless of what the talent does.
5. Spend the Endless grant on breadth. 300 points opens 11 talents or finishes 2.
6. Read each level’s own wording in the talents list before you commit, because the cost of a level is in the tables and the strength of it is only in the sentence.

Quick reference

• Everything maxed: 2,630 points across 23 talents, 2,630 days of surviving at the floor rate.
• Two entry prices only: 10 for Early Riser, Savings Account, Light Sleeper, and 20 for the other 20.
• Depth premium: the last level is 2× or 3× the first, never less.
• Pays you back: Trailblazer, 15 points a crisis at the top, 90 to get there, 6 crises to break even.
• Cheapest complete talent: Hoarder's Home at 20 points, the only one with a single level.
• Undersold: Quick Fortification carries a Max Stamina figure of 50 its description never mentions.
• The in run pool: 394 perks, one level each, 22 repeatable. 53 shared descriptions rise in price and 9 do not.