These Are South Of Midnight's Must-Have Skills

Importance Score: 10 / 100 🟠

Screenshot: Compulsion Games


In South of Midnight, players will navigate multiple skill trees that, while largely structured, still necessitate strategic choices regarding upgrade investments. Accumulating Floofs, the in-game upgrade points, to unlock new abilities requires dedicated playtime. Although players have the potential to eventually maximize all skill trees by discovering every Floof hidden within each level, prioritizing certain upgrades is crucial for a smoother combat experience. This guide highlights three essential South of Midnight skills to acquire early, ensuring more manageable and effective enemy engagements.

Stigma Bane: Enhanced Weave Damage

Screenshot: Compulsion Games / Billy Givens / Kotaku


The Stigma Bane skill amplifies damage inflicted on enemies affected by your Weave ability. Given that Weave incapacitates opponents and prevents attacks for a brief period, maximizing damage output during this vulnerability window is highly advantageous. As one of the initial South of Midnight skill upgrades available, acquiring Stigma Bane promptly is recommended to gain an early edge in combat.

Cleansing Rend: Area-of-Effect Strands

Screenshot: Compulsion Games / Billy Givens / Kotaku


Cleansing Rend allows players to unleash Strands in an Area of Effect (AOE) attack by holding the designated button. Despite its extended cooldown period, this potent skill can be critical in situations where players are confronted by numerous adversaries capable of overwhelming them. Activating Cleansing Rend enables dealing substantial damage to multiple foes simultaneously, turning the tide in crowded encounters.

Availability and Prerequisites

Becoming accessible relatively early within the game’s progression, acquiring Cleansing Rend requires players to first invest in several preceding abilities within the General skill tree. Fortunately, these prerequisite skills are also beneficial, ensuring a worthwhile progression path leading to this impactful combat maneuver.

Crouton Surge: Amplified Minion Damage

Screenshot: Compulsion Games / Billy Givens / Kotaku


Crouton Surge enhances the offensive capabilities of enemies controlled by Crouton, causing them to inflict greater damage. Utilizing Crouton to manipulate opponents already provides a valuable, albeit temporary, ally. Boosting Crouton’s damage output through this upgrade is particularly beneficial when facing numerous enemies, facilitating faster attrition of enemy health and thinning out battlefield presence.

Accessing Crouton Surge

Players gain access to Crouton Surge during the mid-game stages, approximately around Chapter 5. However, unlocking Crouton Surge necessitates prior acquisition of the Crouton Detonation skill. This preceding skill, Crouton Detonation, also presents considerable utility by generating a small AOE explosion when Crouton’s control effect concludes, providing an additional tactical advantage.


South of Midnight will be released on April 8 for Xbox Series S/X and Windows PCs.


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