With double the Spider-Men, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 packs a lot more skills and abilities to fight evil and save New York in spectacular fashion. Both Spider-Men are equipped with an arsenal of new combat skills, special abilities, and traversal mechanics to unlock as you progress through the story.
This time around, the game features three skill trees: one for Peter Parker, one for Miles Morales, and one shared skill tree for both Spider-Men. Having so many options can be rather overwhelming at first, but fret not.
We have listed the best skills in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 you can unlock early in the game to start on the right foot, enhance your experience, and fight evil with much more ease and pizzazz from the get-go.
The Best Skills in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 at a Glance:
The Best Shared Skills
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 lets you switch between Peter and Miles on the fly. One minute you’re fighting a boss as Peter, the next you’re across town helping the community as Miles. To make playing with either of the Spider-Men as smooth as possible, we recommend investing skill points into the shared skill tree early in the game.
The shared skill tree features combat and traversal skills that, once unlocked, both Spider-Men will acquire. These are the best skills in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 from the shared skill tree you should get early on.
Combo Resupply
Spider Gadgets are an invaluable asset that can help you manage swaths of enemies, deal with brutes, and defeat foes with more ease. They are, however, limited and only recharge slowly during combat.
Combo Resupply is therefore one of the best skills in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 that you can pick up quickly. With this skill unlocked, performing a 4-hit melee combo will occasionally allow you to fire one of your gadgets for free. You only have a short time to use the free gadget shot, though. An indicator and timer will pop up on the screen, so make sure you use it before the timer runs out.
Air Swap
Air combat is arguably one of the most essential fighting techniques in the game and a great way to defeat enemies when you’re surrounded. Uplift your air combat skills early on by unlocking Air Swap. It follows the Bounce Up skill, both of which help you keep yourself and your enemies in the air for longer.
After performing an air attack, press O while in the air to dodge incoming attacks and swing behind the enemy. As you don’t have to drop back to the ground to dodge, your air combo ticker will keep counting, allowing you to regain Focus faster. It’s an essential and one of the best skills in the shared skill tree, so make sure to pick this one up early.
Web Whip
Web Whip is really a two-in-one skill, as it doesn’t just let you disarm an enemy, but also use their own weapons against them. Attach your webs to an enemy’s weapon by holding △, then tap R1 to smack them with it and deal damage.
It’s especially useful to stop distant enemies from bombarding you with projectiles and to ward off enemies with melee weapons such as batons.
Parry Disarm
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 introduces a new fighting mechanic: the parry. Perfecting this skill early on will pay off throughout the game, especially when fighting brutes and during challenging boss fights.
Parry Disarm is a very handy skill in the shared tree that allows you to disarm light enemies carrying melee weapons by parrying their attacks. Press and hold L1 at just the right time to parry, causing the enemy to drop their weapon and leaving them vulnerable to a counterattack.
Perfect Dodge Recharge
With Peter’s Spider Arms and Miles’ bioelectric powers, both Spider-Men have a set of special abilities that can make all the difference in a fight. Once deployed, they take time to recharge. This is why the Perfect Dodge Recharge in the shared skill tree is one of the best skills in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 to get early in the game.
Perform a perfect dodge by pressing O just as your Spidey sense turns red during combat. With Perfect Dodge Recharge unlocked, every perfect dodge will partially recharge your abilities. Having these available faster can be extremely impactful during battles and boss fights, so make sure to grab this skill quickly.
Corner Tether
You might get tempted to put all your points into combat skills, but we recommend also checking out the traversal skills. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 lets you swing and glide through the vast map of New York, and improving traversal skills can make navigating the city much more seamless.
One of the best traversal skills to get early in the game is Corner Tether. It allows you to change directions instantly while swinging by holding O and moving the left thumb stick. This will also come in handy during fast-paced chase sequences.
The Best Skills for Peter
Peter’s personal skill tree is split into two sections. The skills on the left will unlock at a later stage in the game once Peter acquires a certain suit. Initially, you’ll therefore focus on the skills on the right, which upgrade his Spider Arm abilities.
Peter will only have a couple of those abilities available in the beginning, and you’ll have to invest skill points to unlock and upgrade all of them. Note that later in the story, once Peter has his new suit, you should focus on the left branch of skills.
Spider Rush
You’ll start Peter’s skill tree off with the Spider Whiplash ability. Next up is Spider Rush, an impactful ability that propels Peter forward, damaging all enemies in his path. When fully charged, press L1+△ to perform it and clear out swaths of enemies with more ease. Get this skill early in the game to tremendously enhance Peter’s fighting skills.
Spider Shock
Add a fourth Spider Arm ability to Peter’s arsenal by getting the Spider Shock skill. Press L1+O to shoot electrified webs to cause damage and stun your enemies, including Brutes, leaving them more vulnerable to counterattacks. It’s a great crowd-management tool to keep Peter from being overwhelmed.
The Best Skills for Miles
Miles’ skill tree is more straight-forward and linear than Peter’s, making it easier to select the first skills to unlock. His tree focuses on his Venom powers. Although they share the same name, his abilities have nothing to do with the symbiote. Instead, it refers to Miles’ bioelectric powers.
Just like Peter, Miles will learn new abilities at a later stage in the story. Initially, you’ll unlock his orange-colored Venom powers. These are the two best skills in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for Miles that you can unlock early on.
Venom Dash: Double Dash
The first skill you’ll unlock for Miles is Venom Dash, which adds a special ability to his arsenal. By pressing L1+△, Miles bursts towards an enemy, shocking them with his Venom powers. As with all special abilities, they need time to recharge.
That’s why it’s a good idea to get the Double Dash soon after. This skill lets you perform an additional free Venom Dash attack after performing the first one by pressing L1+△ again – without having to wait for it to recharge.
Venom Jump
After Venom Dash, get Venom Jump to unlock all four Venom abilities for Miles. This one is especially effective when surrounded by enemies. Press L1+X to lift enemies around you into the air and stun them with Miles’ bioelectric shock. This will stop incoming attacks from nearby enemies and make them more vulnerable.
If you want to get the most out of this ability, use the Web Grabber gadget first, which pulls in enemies from further away. Follow up with a Venom Jump to stun even more enemies at once.
Picking the best skills in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 right from the get-go can have a tremendous impact on your experience. Focus on getting these skills first, and you’ll start the game on the right foot.
If you could use some more handy tips and tricks, make sure to check out our other gaming guides as well.
Follow us for more entertainment coverage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
