2019-09-13T16:58:30 02:00

Gears 5 Skills: Upgrade guide to Jack's skills

In this guide to Gears 5 we explain to you:

What skills Robot Jack has in Gears 5 and what upgrades are available for them.
Where to find the ultimate upgrad es for Jack's skills.
Which skills are most useful in the battles of Gears 5.

In the action game Gears 5 () you are rarely alone. Most of the time, you'll have at least one human companion at your side, plus the flying robot Jack. It doesn't matter if you play in solo or co-op mode, your metal buddy will support you.

In this guide, we'll tell you which skills Jack gets during the campaign, how to improve them, and most importantly, where you can find the best skill upgrades. In addition, we'll give you tips on which of the robot's tricks are the most useful.

In other guides, we also explain the locations of all collectibles in Gears 5, give you an overview of all achievements in Gears 5 or help you master the campaign with our walkthrough for Gears 5.

Lightning

Stim

Shock Trap

Camouflage

Abduction

Barrier

Passive abilities

Core
Zapper
Camouflage
Health

The best abilities of Jack in Gears 5

Impulse

Impulse is the ability that Jack has from the beginning. Trigger it and Jack will send out a pulse that will scan your surroundings for enemies, among other things.

Improvements for impulse capability

Improvement	Cost	Effect
Range boost	1 components	Increases the range of the pulse by 50%.
Extended target matrix	3 components	Doubles the duration of the pulse.
Detection	5 components	The pulse also reveals weapons and ammunition.
Death mark	None	Enemies revealed by a pulse take 20% more damage from attacks.

Where to find the "Death Mark" upgrade

Unlike the regular upgrades, you can't unlock the "Death Mark" upgrade with components. That's why this one is also marked in gold. These ultimate internals, which are available for all skills, are hidden in the game world.

You can get the "Death Mark" upgrade in Act 2 of the campaign, in the fourth chapter called "The Source of All Evil". Go to the crash site of the Condor plane, which is located relatively centrally between the two radio towers on the map.

After you've killed all the enemy robots there, look for a safe in the back of the area, which you'll have Jack open. Inside it you will find the part you are looking for.

Lightning

The lightning skill blinds opponents, causing them to momentarily come out of cover and become motionless. You'll get this skill in the first act in chapter 2 called "Diplomacy" as part of Baird's story.

Improvements for the Lightning skill

Improvement	Cost	Effect
Faster charge	1 components	Lightning charges up to 25 percent faster.
Range boost	4 components	Flash's range is increased by 50 percent.
Concussion	6 components	Flash's use does moderate damage to enemies.
Flash	None	Freezes enemies, rendering them defenseless for longer.

Location of the "Flash Ice" upgrade

This ultimate upgrade is also available in the second act of the campaign, also in the fourth chapter called "The Source of All Evil". Here, look for train tracks in the northwest of the map that lead west into a tunnel. At the end of the cave there, you'll find a train car and also a carrier that will attack you. After you have killed the beast, take the note lying on the ground.

Now a side quest starts, in which you have to visit two areas with old drilling towers, which you can find south and southeast of the radio tower in the north. In both areas you can expect a fight, but at each of the dilapidated vehicles there is a panel that you can open. Inside you'll find two components, which together make the ultimate upgrade.

Stim

The Stim ability gives you a boost to your armor. This allows you to withstand more damage or walk through fire, poisonous gas or icing without losing health.

Improvements for the Stim skill

Improvement	Cost	Effect
Faster recharge	3 components	Stim ability recharges 25% faster after use.
Duration	5 components	The effect of the Stim ability lasts two seconds longer.
Revive	8 components	You can use the Stim ability to revive team members who have been knocked down.
Thug type	None	While you have the Stim skill activated, you deal triple damage in melee combat.

Where to find the "Thug" upgrade

You can get this ultimate upgrade in the second act and here in the fourth chapter of the campaign. Go to the crash site of a Condor in the north the map - go to the northern end of the large icy lake.

There you will have to deal with some enemies, but as a reward you will find a safe at the end, which contains the part you are looking for.

Shock Trap

You'll get this ability automatically in the second chapter of the campaign, right in the first chapter called "Recruitment Offensive". With it, Jack places a trap on the ground, which shocks and slows down enemies that pass by it.

You'll also need this skill from time to time to turn generators on or off.

Improvements to the Shock Trap skill

Improvement	Cost	Effect
Improved capacitor	5 components	Shock trap stays active 50 percent longer.
Multi-trap	8 components	You can lay a second trap without destroying the first one.
Trap	11 components	Enemies that fall into the shock trap are slowed down more.
Seeker	None	The shock trap releases shock bots that hunt their targets and do double damage.

Finding the "Seeker" upgrade

The hunt for this ultimate upgrade starts once again in the second act and in it fourth chapter of the campaign. Near the entrance to the New Hope Research Station, you'll pass an abandoned camp. Take the collectible there, which will start a side mission.

Two substations are on your list as targets after that. The first one is near the entrance to the radio tower in the east, where you will find a note. Then go to the radio tower in the north, where a substation is also waiting. Inside, a safe houses the upgrade you're looking for.

Note: It is important to visit the substation at the eastern radio tower first, because only then you will have the necessary information to enter the other one.

Camouflage

You'll automatically get the Camouflage skill in the fourth chapter of the second act. As the name suggests, this skill makes you and your teammates invisible for a short time. This allows you to sneak past guard towers or take out enemies from behind more easily.

Improvements to the Camouflage skill

Improvement	Cost	Effect
Agility	6 components	Cloaked team members move 15% faster.
Extend	9 components	Taking down enemies while cloaked will extend the duration of the cloak.
Faster recharge	12 components	The cloaking ability recharges 15 percent faster after use.
Butcher	None	You will remain cloaked until the ability is depleted, even if you use your firearms.

Where to find the "Butcher" upgrade

To get this ultimate upgrade, you will need to restore the water supply in Act 3 of the campaign, Chapter 2. To do this, first visit the water tower, then the pump station and the port facility. You will face resistance in all three places, but as a reward, an NPC will give you the upgrade at the end.

Kidnapping

Right at the beginning of the third act, you automatically get the kidnapping skill. With this you can take over an opponent for a short time, so that he fights for you and doesn't attack you anymore. However, you can't use the skill against carriers and henchmen.

Improvements for the Abduction skill

Improvement	Cost	Effect
Duration	7 components	You can take over opponents for a 30 percent longer period of time.
Stim target	10 components	The taken over opponent gets an additional armor thanks to Stim.
Faster recharge	13 components	The Abduction skill recharges faster after you use it.
Bomb implant	None	When a taken over enemy dies, it additionally explodes.

Finding the "Bomb Implant" Upgrade

For this ultimate upgrade, you'll need to visit three abandoned locations in Act 3 of the campaign, namely the ruins you'll find west of the pumping station, the artillery base south of the bridge, and the shipwreck east of the bridge. After surviving each of the battles, you'll plug in three circuits to unlock the upgrade.

Barrier

Finally, you'll get the Barrier skill in the third chapter of the third act as the story progresses. With it, you can instruct Jack to create a shield in front of you that you can shoot through, but enemy fire will be blocked.

Improvements to the Barrier Ability

Improvement	Cost	Effect
Duration	9 components	The protective shield lasts 50% longer.
Reflect bullets	12 components	Enemy fire is reflected by the shield.
Bulwark	15 components	Increases the size of the shield.
Deadly overload	None	When the shield is depleted, it explodes towards your enemies.

Where to find the "Deadly Overload" upgrade

You'll dust off this last ultimate upgrade in the first chapter of Act 4. Near a destroyed bar you'll have to deal with a Swarmak - you've already fought such a beast as a boss enemy at the end of Act 1 at the exit of the theater.

After the monster has been dealt with, go into the bar. In the back right corner, there is the upgrade.

Passive Skills

In addition to all these active skills of Jack, which you can swap and use tactically, the robot also has passive skills, which are always active quite useful. These can also be improved:

Core

Improvement	Cost	Effect
Heavy-duty transportation	4 components	Jack can now transport heavy weapons.
Sniper	8 components	When you take out enemies with a headshot, Jack's abilities recharge faster.
Executioner	12 components	Executions recharge Jack's abilities faster.
Savage	16 components	When you finish off an enemy, Jack's abilities recharge faster.

Zapper

Improvement	Cost	Effect
Improved capacitor	7 components	Jack can fire the zapper longer.
Bow booster	9 components	The effective range of the zapper is increased.
Energy cascade	11 components	The damage the zapper does increases the longer it hits an enemy.
Multiple zapper	13 components	Jack can zap multiple targets at once.

Camouflage

Improvement	Cost	Effect
Camouflaged drive	3 components	Jack remains cloaked while giving thrust.
Reactive camouflage	5 components	Jack's cloak reactivates faster after Jack performs an action.
Camouflage shield	7 components	Jack takes less damage while cloaked.
Camouflaged pick up	9 components	Jack remains cloaked while transporting weapons.

Health

Improvement	Cost	Effect
Repair Boost	1 components	Jack's life energy restores faster.
Osmium armor	3 components	Jack's maximum life energy is increased.
Self-resurrection	5 components	Jack can revive himself twice as fast.
Revive command	7 components	You can send Jack off to revive fallen teammates.

Jack's best skills in Gears 5

With so many skills Jack has in his repertoire, the question arises at the beginning which one you should focus on. Therefore, we will now give you some tips on how we have made life easier for ourselves.

Basically, we strongly recommend the abilities Stim, Abduction and Barrier, as they are extremely helpful in the battles. You get Stim relatively early in the campaign and especially in the battles against several opponents or snipers, the additional armor often saves your skin.

Abduction and Barrier, on the other hand, don't come along until the third act of the campaign, but even these two make fights much easier and allow for nasty tactics.

For example, briefly siccing Scions on your own troops via kidnapping and then finishing them off while they're still under your influence is a real joy. And, that a shield that can reflect projectiles in particular with the appropriate upgrades can be a great help is certainly readily apparent.

At the beginning of the campaign, however, some of the upgrades for passive abilities in particular are quite exciting. In the Zapper section, for example, you'll upgrade Jack's armament, because he'll support himself in combat.

Then he does more damage or can fire longer, which can definitely make a difference in tricky situations. The health area also deserves one or another component as an investment, so that Jack doesn't go down so quickly.

In the core area, the improvements that lead to Jack's skills recharging faster and thus being ready for use again are especially useful. However, you'll have to decide which you prefer here depending on your playstyle.

If you use executions frequently, it makes sense to focus on them, otherwise save up for the best upgrade, where every defeated enemy speeds up the recharge.

But: No matter how you upgrade Jack, if you're ever dissatisfied, you can reset the skills completely. To do this, simply open the skills menu and press the corresponding button. After that, everything will be back to square one and you can redistribute all the components you've collected or spent up to that point.

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