ICARUS Solo Build

Surviving alone, with no backup and nothing but an envirosuit to start with, was a calamitous experience for many prospectors during the Beta Era of missions to the surface of Icarus. As a result, the powers in control of the planet began recruiting prospectors with more effective talents that spanned multiple specializations.

The traits and abilities that benefit a lone prospector have been documented in the Solo Tree. If a whole share of untold riches tempt you to brave the erratic conditions, hostile fauna, and frenetic pace on your own, a solo build might just keep you alive long enough to earn them.

Best Single-Player Talents

Solo Tree talents can be combined with specialization talents as long as you remain alone on a prospect. The key talents for the solo build cost 18 Talent Points. You can save some talent points by choosing not to max out every key talent. However, one point in a solo talent often can take the place of several in the specialized trees. There are several useful optional talents from the solo and specialized trees which increase the total cost to 26 Talent Points. Some have prerequisites that cost additional talent points. The information in brackets [Tree – Tab] shows the location of the listed talent.

Note: This is a partial list from the beta version of ICARUS when the talent trees were not fully established. It will be expanded in future updates.

Key Solo Talents

1. Fleet Footed [Solo – Solo]: 2 points
   • +10/15% to movement speed. Cover ground and get to mission objectives singificantly faster with this perk.
2. ‘Tis But a Scratch [Solo – Solo]: 2 point
   • -10/15% resistance to physical damage. There is no one to pick you up when you fall unconscious. Since there is no one to tank for you, either, a thicker hide will help you survive a confrontation.
3. Low Maintenance [Solo – Solo]: 2 points
   • -10/20% to water, food, and oxygen consumption rate. When you have to provide all your own food, water, and oxite, it helps to be able to survive with less.
4. Healthy Maverick [Solo – Solo]: 2 points
   • +50/100 to base health. Like ‘Tis But a Scratch, this perk can mean the difference between recovery and respawn, and base health does not decrease over time like the buffs from food perks.
5. Marathon Runner[Solo — Solo]: 2 points
   • +20/50 to base stamina. Building and managing your own outposts involves a lot of running around and breaking things with other harder things. Push past the exhaustion with a permanent buff to max stamina that is not dependent on food.
6. Lightning Recovery [Solo – Solo]: 1 point
   1. +10/20% Stamina Regeneration. Stamina regen is useful, but not in a fight, so we won’t max this now. We want to get to Very, Very Quiet ASAP though, so we’ll put 1 point in this now and you can max it later.
7. Very, Very Quiet [Solo – Solo]: 1 point
   • -15% perceived threat while in stealth. There are only so many times you can roll the detection dice before they come up snake eyes. Or… bear eyes, in this case. Reduce the chances of accidentally starting a fight you can’t win with this perk.
8. The Big Three [Solo – Solo]: 1 point
   • +15% yield from logging, mining, and harvesting. Trees, ore nodes, and plants do not regrow within your prospecting window. Yield boosts are the only way to mitigate this fact, and for one talent point this is one of the most powerful combined perks in the game.
9. Lone Wolf [Solo – Solo]: 1 point
   • +10% Experience Gained. If youre playing solo, this is a no-brainer — 10% more xp significantly cuts down the time it will take you to reach max level.
10. Pack Horse [Solo – Solo]: 1 point
    • +25% carry weight capacity. On Earth, sherpas traditionally provided support for trekkers and climbers. This is Icarus, where you get to carry your own stuff. Everything is easier if it is harder to become encumbered.
11. Mobile Stockpile [Solo – Solo]: 1 point
    1. +20% Carry Weight of Wood, Stone, Ores. As with pack horse, being capable carrying more stuff makes life easier.
12. Basic Move [Solo – Solo]: 2 points
    • -15/30% carry weight of buildables. Learn from the Earth crustaceans and bring your house along with you. A ready-made place to sleep, weather storms, resist predators, and mount attacks. 50% more powerful than the specialized version at two-thirds the point cost.

Optional Solo Talents

8. Blueprint Boost I [Solo – Solo]: 1 point
   • Gives three Blueprint points. This isn’t listed as Key becuse, depending on your style or build, you may not lack for Blueprints, However, if at any point you level up and know you’ll need more Blueprints than you have points for, grab this.
9. Blueprint Boost II [Solo – Solo]: 1 point
   1. Gives three Blueprint points. As above — take this if you need more Blueprint points.
10. Running With Knives [Combat – Blades]: 3 points
    • +2/5/10% to movement speed with a knife equipped. On Icarus, you don’t step foot outside your shelter without a knife in your hand. Why not make that step faster and shave a few minutes off your mission time. This talent is easy to access and therefore a great choice.
11. Wood Breakdown [Construction – Resources]: 1 point
    • Make sticks from wood without a Carpentry Bench. As a solo prospector, you will want to find ways to finish missions with as few workbenches as possible. The carpentry bench is often only used to make sticks. Learning to split wood solves that dilemma.
12. Leather Breakdown [Survival – Hunting]: 1 point
    • Make rope from leather without a Textiles Bench. With a limited inventory, rope can take up a valuable inventory slot when on the move. Meanwhile, literally every Icarus land animal provides leather.
13. Food Pyramid [Survival – Cook/Farm]: 1 point
    • +1 extra active food buff. What do you do with all that Wheat? Make Flatbread and eat it. If you are able to give up an inventory slot while traveling, then this perk can provide a massive boost to health and stamina. With more advanced foods, this perk becomes even more powerful. Note that you’ll have to make your way far down the Cook/Farm tree to grab this one, which is why this one isn’t at the top of the Optional Talents list.

Talents Tree

Solo Talents Tree

We hope you are enjoying playing ICARUS in solo mode, and that you found this guide helpful. Please share your comments or questions below, and then get back to your mission and claim all the rewards for yourself!