With the "Working From Home" Update that recently came out for Going Under that added a ton of new stuff, there are a total of 99 Skills in the game that Fizzle Intern Jackie Fiasco can acquire, as well as a whole slew of absurd weapons. Skills function similarly to abilities in most other Roguelike dungeon-crawler games such as Collectibles in Binding of Isaac or Boons in Hades. And, when combined with the Mentorship system Going Under has, each run in this game has the potential to feel completely unique.
All that said, the unique thing about Going Under is that Skills that Jackie has used enough become "Endorsed" meaning that she can then "Pin" this Skill to herself and start any future runs with it already equipped. It surprisingly changes up the formula a lot, making many encounters much easier. So, here are some Skills that helped us out the most in our journey to 100% the game.
Updated July 14th, 2021 by Jacob Buchalter: It’s been a bit since this guide first came out, and, in that time, Going Under has gone on sale quite a few times. The game is a corporate hell-based comedic roguelike (not to be confused with the other hell-like roguelike, Jupiter Hell). Sales have brought in more new players, all of which would probably be likely to know which are the best Skills to keep an eye out for, and why. So, we combed through the entire list of them one more time, found some more worth talking about, and decided to reformat our list a bit.
Disclaimer: We’re not going to explain every single Skill mentioned, but the Going Under Wiki does.
Disaster-Proof: The Perfect Foundation
Disaster-Proof is a godsend of a Skill that doesn’t sound all that good at first. But, the reason why it’s so good is that it’s a perfect foundational Skill to elevate the rest of your build in a run. For example, with Disaster Proof:
- The fire-based Skills are no longer "double-edged swords" that may hurt you as much as they help.
- Traps no longer mean anything (other than explosions), making the Windydink dungeon and boss a breeze.
- There’s no chance of accidentally dropping a weapon due to getting shocked anymore, then losing it or unintentionally breaking it by hitting it while it's on the ground.
People Person: Passive Damage That Counters A Mob's Advantage
People Person has earned a slot of its own simply because it's the best Skill to have that passively increases your damage in a run, even in boss fights. With this Skill, based on the number of enemies in the room, the damage of each of Jackie’s attacks will increase by the same number, halved. So, the more crowded a room is, the better, which tends to be most of the rooms in Going Under. Even the bosses all spawn mobs at some point in their boss fights, the final boss included.
Fail Forward: The Second Chance Skill
Fail Forward is the only Skill in the game that gives you a second chance after death. Essentially, it's the same as Hades' "Death Defiance" system, but you only get one of them. In the base game, you may think this Skill is unnecessary, but, thanks to the Imposter Mode added in the Working From Home update, things get a lot more difficult for Jackie in the post-game content.
This Skill is very simple; after you die, you get revived with one heart and get one more chance at survival. But, what the description of this Skill doesn’t tell you is that all of your attacks also get buffed by a flat 20% for the remainder of the run after your death too, making it an even more worthwhile Skill than it already was.
Skills That Trigger On Room Entry: Fantastic Skills For A Game About Exploring Rooms, After All
Now let's be fair, this game has almost 100 Skills to pick from, so it only makes sense to group the ones up that are incredibly similar in their usage. That way, you can make your own informed decision about which Skill in a "category" you think is the best one to Pin. First up are the Skills that trigger a variety of effects upon entering any new room. Some examples are:
- Fake It Till You Make It: Let's you position yourself in a room or completely explore it before starting combat.
- Aggro Crab’s Blessing: This "blessing" causes enemies to turn on each other and subsequently takes a lot of pressure off of you in return.
- Intimidating: Probably the most mundane effect out of them all, but it can also be the most useful one, depending on the situation.
- Self-Starter: Great for attack-speed-focused players that can clear the entire room out before the buff runs out.
Personally, Fake It Till You Make It is our favorite since it allows you to get a free hit and stops you from getting completely overwhelmed by some rooms that cram a swarm of enemies into like 5-feet of space.
Throwing-Type Skills: Perfect For Those Who Don't Want To Get Close
Next up are the Throw-centric Skills. It’s actually a pretty viable strategy in this game to run around the room and throw whatever's lying around at the enemies, especially since Jackie auto-grabs anything she rolls over when her hands are empty. But, with even one of these Skills, throwing actually becomes a much more viable choice than it already was:
- Yeet: The most "foundational" Skill that has Jackie chucking objects with full force.
- Cold Caller: Unlike Hot Shot, this freezing ability for thrown items is only a chance, but the trade-off is that there's no chance of hurting yourself on frozen enemies like you can with blazing ones.
- She Don’t Miss: A bit of a misleading description, these items don’t home-in on enemies, rather they just curve towards them in the air. But, it still makes a huge difference in the long run.
Fire-Based Skills: Some Of The Most Overpowered & Risky Choices
Now, Going Under has three different elements you can use against your enemies, or that they can use against you. Those elements are fire, ice, and electricity. But, by far the most prevalent one you’ll come across is fire, as there are a lot of weapons that use fire, a lot of Skills-based around it, and there are even traps that use fire too. Here are the best of the best when it comes to fire-type Skills that can turn you into a walking inferno of death:
Worth-Noting: Having Disaster Proof significantly increases the usability of these Skills, but they’re still pretty strong even without it.
- Hot Shot: A throwing-type Skill where thrown items automatically ignite, meaning anything you throw at an enemy will light them on fire.
- Bridge Burner: Fire is twice as powerful with this Skill, as seen by how all the fire in the game goes from red to green in terms of color. Enemies take twice the damage from each tick of the burning status, but items also burn away to ashes twice as quickly. Luckily, even if Jackie gets lit up from using this, the damage she takes won’t be doubled.
- Hot Friends: Enemies who catch on fire are charmed by you. This is even more powerful when combined with Hot Shot, since it means that you can chuck a bunch of random items at enemies and make them all fight each other. But, charmed enemies aren't the same as allies, so just keep that in mind.
- Hot-Headed: Every successful charge attack lights nearby enemies on fire. Likely the least overpowered fire-based Skill, but still a good one.
Passive-Buff Skills: AKA Skills That Make You Feel Like You're Better At The Game
There are quite a few in this next category. These ones are for players who like to “discover” their build in a run since they just innately buff something about Jackie’s stats rather than cornering her into a targeted build.
These truly are the Skills that let players focus on the game without being pointed in a specific direction:
- Downsized: Jackie gets real small to avoid damage easier and move quicker. Be careful though, also makes it easier to lose track of her in a fight.
- Beggar Queen: Great once all the health upgrades have been obtained in the base game, or for real risk-takers.
- Upper Body Strength: Increases Jackies reach as well as giving her the ability to use Heavy Weapons much more efficiently. But, it also makes it easier to overswing and miss enemies entirely.
- Go-Getter: The most basic Skill on here — just a great little basic buff to damage and speed.
- Fragile Ego: A newly added Skill in the WFH update, this gives players more damage in exchange for breaking stuff quicker, actually pretty hefty when used in combination with Swomp Cubes.
Armor-Based Skills: For Players Who Like To Feel Invincible
Just like any roguelike (or rogue-lite? always get them confused) game these days, Going Under has a temporary health system. It's the same as the Soul Hearts in Isaac or even the Magic Health in Loop Hero, one of the more recent innovative roguelikes. Basically, Armor is a pickup found in-game that acts as extra health to Jackie until she gets hit, in which case it's gone forever. Now, as far as armor Skills go, they aren't all as close in terms of usefulness. Purchase Protection, the Skill that gives you armor whenever you buy from the cafe, is by far the best option. But, when you haven't used it enough to "Pin" it, or can't find it in a run, these other Skills do quite nicely as well:
- The Best Defense: Not a fantastic Skill, but decently useful. This is great for players who get hit as often as they hit enemies, since you need to be lacking armor in order to get some from this Skill.
- Defensive: Likely the second-best armor Skill, second only to Purchase Protection. Any healing gained after reaching full health is turned into armor instead. Depending on your money, apps, or items, this Skill can completely break a run and turn it into child's play.
- Over-Protective: Sort of like the opposite of Defensive where you turn healing into armor; Over-Protective gives you four pieces of armor at once, but only at the cost of permanently losing a heart container for the run. Very useful for confident players who only expect to be hit a few times at most.
App-Modifying Skills: Your Phone Truly Is Your Best Friend
The Apps are primarily buffed by Kara’s Mentor upgrades while Fern’s obsession with Flavor lets him buff the Fizzle Cans. There are pros and cons to both, but in general, the Apps are what players seem to prefer and are straight-up overpowered if used correctly. So, here are some Skills that can turn a run on its head depending on what Apps you happen to find:
- Beta Tester: Likely the most situational one to use, but the fact that enemies drop their items when shocked is what makes this Skill still worthwhile to Pin.
- Phone Addict: Useful, but because Apps turn into Bricked Phones if you leave them on the ground and go into a new room, this Skill isn't as good as it sounds.
- Digital Nomad: Pretty fantastic for players who don’t seem to get Apps to drop all too often, even better if Fern is your Mentor.
- Good Consumer: Actually gives Bricked Phones a purpose, which is why it's amazing when used in conjunction with Phone Addict.
- Power User: Probably the best App-based Skill to Pin, simply because of Apps like MobFlash or StyxRoad that were already absurdly good even with a single-use.
Health-Regain Skills: Sustainability Is Crucial
The most common thing players will find themselves desperate for in Going Under is a method of healing, especially if they're still leveling up all their Mentors. There are numerous ways to heal, but, like most of these types of games, when you actually need to heal is when you actually can't. Luckily, there are a couple of Skills to help alleviate that problem:
- Vindictive: Putting the Bloodborne Recovery mechanic into Going Under gives players an excuse to play extra-aggressively. Not as fine-tuned as Bloodborne's mechanic, so it doesn't always work as intended.
- Bloodsucker: Has a chance to heal you with every kill, and that chance seems to increase with every kill milestone you reach without healing, capping off at a guaranteed heal after 35 kills.
Damage-Response Skills: Don't Get Hit, But If You Do, These Can Help
Let’s be frank, Going Under is a great game, but it’s not perfect. To put it bluntly, the game has a bit of charming janky-ness to it. Because of this, Jackie is going to get hit a lot in this game, even in the hands of a pro. Luckily, these Skills help her even the playing field:
- Retaliatory: Turns the tides on a lot of fights throughout the game and is especially useful for boss fights.
- Cold Shoulder: The least useful simply because it's only focused on Armor Damage, but still great when combined with any of the armor-based Skills we mentioned earlier.
- Conflict Resolver: The "shocked" animation lasts a second or two, which is plenty of time to get up and kill most enemies or steal their dropped weapons.
- Clap Back: Better than Conflict Resolver even if being knocked down is basically the same as getting "shocked" because Clap Back also does damage to all enemies in the room as well.
Unapproachable & Thick Skin: An Introvert's Favorite Two Skills
By themselves, these two Skills are pretty good, but if you manage to find both of them in one run, you’re basically invincible.
- Unapproachable: The rotating sawblade around Jackie usually keeps enemies away. But, be warned, this saw can also hit weapons you drop or items on the ground, and is especially dangerous around explosive barrels.
- Thick Skin: All enemy projectiles bounce off Jackie, doing no damage. You wouldn't think this would impact the game a ton, but there are more enemies that use projectiles than you would likely expect.
Skills That Modify Weapon Size & Handling: Carry A Big Stick
Because each encounter in Going Under takes place in relatively small rooms, having gigantic weapons means that Jackie can hit almost everyone just by swinging once, and Going Under's size-modifying Skills can blow some weapons truly out of proportion in terms of size. Plus, the speed at which Jackie can swing these weapons matters greatly as well, which is why Item-based Skills like these are so useful:
- Large And In Charge: Extremely good as a Pinned Skill, since it affects whatever weapon Jackie is using. Plus, it has an innate Weapon Damage buff.
- Scaled Up: Almost the exact same as Large and In Charge, but also adds +1 to all weapon attacks. Also, these two skills stack, which is what leads to the laughably gigantic weapons in the image above.
- Free Hand: Also great as a Pinned Skill, simply because it lets players use giant clubs, hammers, and swords without worrying about wind-up time.
Focus Modifying Skills: Setting Enemies On Fire With A Mean Stare
We've almost made it to the end! Now, let’s talk about the Skills based on the Focus system. The Focus mechanic in Going Under is just a fancy word for saying it's how Jackie “Locks-On” to enemies. The ability to Lock-On to enemies might seem basic, but there are gigantic games that suffer without it too. And, honestly, Going Under's version isn't perfect either. Switching between targets isn’t easy, the camera gets a bit wonky when Jackie Focuses on occasion, and Jackie un-Focuses whenever the enemy knocks her down. But, with these Skills, Focusing is all players will be... focusing on:
- Thought Leader: Lets Jackie "charm" enemies just by looking their way. But, it's only temporary, so make sure to take out your charmed opponent after the room is cleared.
- Chilling Glare: Freezing an enemy locks them in place, defenseless, so this Skill is better than it sounds.
- Fiery Glare: Almost exactly the same as Chilling Glare, but with fire, making it a bit more useful overall in combination with the fire-type Skills mentioned above.
- Open-Minded: A great Skill to Pin for players who hate the Focus system in general, since they'll crit more often by ignoring it.
Friend-Making Skills: Because Who Doesn't Want More Friends?
Lastly, it might not seem like it at first, but Skills that grant you additional allies in Going Under are pretty amazing, especially if you manage to get a few of them in the same run. Without these skills, the only way you can naturally get allies is by succeeding at the Winkydink challenge rooms or the free ones you get as part of Swomp's Mentor benefits. On the other hand, these Skills give you the power to gather even more allies in a run:
- Friends In High Places: The first unique ally Skill on here. And, compared to the attacks of the other ones, the angle of the Cubicle Drone's weapons means that it rarely misses.
- The Cleaner: Spawns a friendly Roomba AI that has a knife taped to the top of it that damages anything it runs into. Funny, but likely the least useful in comparison to Friends In High Places or Chumpette.
- Win Friends and Influence Monsters: A fantastic skill with an 85% chance to turn the last living monster in the room into your ally. The only thing is that you can’t have more than one ally from this Skill at once. Still, it changes the way you approach combat since you'll likely try and save the hardest enemy for last in the hopes they get turned.
- Team Player: An odd one, as it's one of the best Skills you can get if you already have any of the other friend-making ones on here, but without them, this Skill is literally useless.
- Chumpette: This one spawns a tiny version of the Chain Chumps from Stxycoin that annoy players so often, but this one is attached for you, works for you, and is invincible as well.