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Five rows, and no decision to make
Ability training is the RPG half of the growth system, and it is deliberately shaped like a ladder rather than a tree. There are 32 nodes. Three long rows hold eight each; two short rows hold four each. Every row fills from left to right, and nothing branches.
That removes the usual build anxiety. You are not choosing between mutually exclusive paths — you are choosing an order. The only question worth asking is which row pays out first, and the answer depends on which currency you have been picking up.
| Row | Nodes | Opened by | Pays for itself with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long row 1 | 8 | Sha-Chi amber | +10% Sha-Chi cap per set of 8 |
| Long row 2 | 8 | Complete Memory Flowers | +10% max health per set of 8 |
| Long row 3 | 8 | Blackstone | +10% attack and guard-break per set of 8 |
| Short row 1 | 4 | Partly gated behind the long rows | Mixed passives |
| Short row 2 | 4 | Partly gated behind the long rows | Mixed passives |
Each long row is fed by one collectible family, and the exchange rate is eight pickups for a ten percent bump. That is the same eight-to-ten ratio the collectible system uses everywhere, which is why a thorough sweep and a strong build are the same activity.
The short rows cost a different currency
The two four-node rows are gated twice: you need progress in the long rows before they open, and they charge Banyan Heart on top of mind dust.
That makes Banyan Heart the quiet bottleneck. Mind dust accumulates from ordinary play; Banyan Heart does not, and you need at least eight of them along with at least eight of each collectible family to finish the tree. Plan for the hearts early, because the short rows hold the passives that make a build feel finished.
Four accessory slots are buried in here
The most valuable nodes in the tree are not the ones with a percentage attached.
You start with 2 accessory slots and finish with 6, and the extra four come from ability training rather than from story progression. Nothing else in the growth system changes your loadout width.
That reframes the whole tree. A player who skips ability training is not just missing passives — they are running a build with two-thirds of its accessory capacity locked. Four extra slots is where the sixth accessory, the duplicate-limit workaround, and the resistance stack all live.
There is a cap inside the cap as well: no more than 3 copies of the same accessory. Six slots minus a three-of-a-kind limit means the ceiling is two full stacks plus flexibility, not one effect stacked six times.
Reset is free, so treat it as a lab
The tree resets without losing the resources you put in. Everything comes back, which turns the whole system into something you can test rather than commit to.
Use that. If a row’s payout is not doing anything for your current weapon, take the refund and move the dust. The only thing a reset costs is the time it takes to re-enter the menu.
The one caution: resets return resources, not patience. If you are mid-boss, finish the fight first.
A build order that survives contact
- Open the row whose currency you already have most of. Early on that is usually Sha-Chi amber, because the bar upgrade is the first pickup you notice.
- Push to the accessory slots. Four extra slots change more fights than any single percentage node.
- Take the two short rows before chasing the last long-row nodes. Their passives are rarer and they stop being available to plan around once you are spending dust elsewhere.
- Keep at least eight of each collectible family unspent until the tree is done. The gate is per-row, and a half-finished row is a wasted resource.
- Reset freely between weapons. The tree is not a character identity; it is a configuration.
What is not published
The names and individual effects of the 32 nodes are not documented. What is documented is the structure, the currencies, the ten-percent rows, the accessory-slot expansion, and the free reset.
Treat any list of “best abilities” as unverified until the game is out. Structure is knowable today; rankings are not.
FAQ
Can I max everything? The tree is 32 nodes with a refundable cost, so the limit is farming, not design.
Do the rows unlock in order? The two short rows need progress in the long rows first. The long rows themselves each have their own currency.
Is ability training required for the platinum? No achievement is tied to it as far as anything published states.
What should I skip first? Nothing, long-term. If you must skip, skip the percentage rows and take the accessory slots.
Last checked 23 Oct 2026.