Sifu is a game about the arduous path of a martial artist. Every time the player dies, Sifu's nameless protagonist ages, losing some of their youthful vigor but building up experience and techniques, represented by the game's skill tree.
It's not a journey that can last forever, however. Every death in Sifu counts, and once the player hits 70, they die of old age, losing all of their progress.
But all hope is not lost. Sifu was designed for multiple playthroughs, and there's a way to permanently keep skills between lifetimes. That being said, it's costly to do so.
How to Unlock Permanent Skills
Banking Sifu's Experience
Sifu's upgrade system is, for the most part, mostly self-explanatory. The player earns experience points as they kill enemies, and they can spend them on new techniques in Sifu's skill tree, either at one of the game's shrines or immediately after a death.
Once a player has bought a skill, they can keep pouring experience into it to upgrade it. Each upgrade costs the same amount as the initial buying price. If a skill is bought for 1000 XP, then each upgrade will also cost 1000 XP. When a skill is upgraded five times, it becomes a permanent part of the player's repertoire, available at the start of each lifetime.
Making a skill permanent is an expensive endeavor, but thankfully the player doesn't have to earn it all at once. If a skill is partially upgraded, like having three out of five upgrades, then those upgrades also carry between lifetimes. That being said, the player still needs to re-buy a partially learned skill to use and further upgrade it again.
What to Prioritize
Like Sifu's fast yet methodical combat, the game's upgrade system requires a good amount of tactical thought. The player must consistently weigh spending their resources on skills that could help them now, versus investing in skills that will help across runs. It can be difficult to tell where to focus their efforts.
The specific skills will vary from player to player based on their play style, but in general, players should try to focus on making age-gated skills permanent. Every time the protagonist ages 10 years, they can no longer learn certain moves on the skill tree. The strongest skills are only accessible between 20 and 30, and every following decade the available pool of options gets smaller and weaker.
If a player can get their hands on an age-gated skill, they no longer need to worry about the metaphorical time limit. Instead, they can rely on powerful youth skills to carry them through earlier levels while exploring new branches on the skill tree.
Sifu is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
