Solo Leveling: Arise – 11 Best Skills For Sung Jinwoo

Summary

• Customize your character's skills with elements and strategic enhancements for optimal damage and utility.
• Master key skills like Multistrike, Death's Dance, and Crushing Blow to effectively take down enemies in various situations.

Solo Leveling Arise allows you to experience the story of Sung Jinwoo on a journey from being the lowest-ranked hunter to becoming an unrivaled hero. You can challenge yourself in various game modes beyond the main story, including raids and PvP battles, all as you level up your characters' attributes.

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Raise your own Army of Shadows.

But beyond the captivating gameplay, the game also offers a robust combat system with skills-based progression for your character, which you can customize to your playstyle. The skills fall into two primary categories: basic skills (which you can equip up to two at once) and ultimate skills. Here are the most effective skills you can use with Sung Jinwoo, each categorized by strength and functionality.

Updated on May 18, 2025, by William Quick: Solo Leveling quickly became one of the most popular new animes, if only because it presented the ideal power fantasy: Level up in real life and actually feel yourself get stronger. While most of us eagerly await the show's next season, we must make do with the current episodes and play through Solo Leveling: Arise. It lets you experience protagonist Sun Jinwoo's journey from nobody to the biggest somebody everyone wants to be around. Like in the show, Sung levels up, gets new gear, and learns new Skills to unleash in battle. Here are some of the best ones he can equip.

11 Armor Break

When Sung begins his journey, one of the first mechanics he learns is Breaking. When enemies are hit enough times with strong attacks, they enter a Broken state where they become much more vulnerable to damage. The Armor Break skill is specifically made to make that happen faster and then some.

Armor Break breaks enemies efficiently and applies damage buffs to Sung or any other Hunters alongside him. Each elemental rune flavors the skill in lovely ways, but the Light rune is a highly recommended option: It applies the multipliers between Attack and Defense, makes Sung invulnerable while the Skill is active, and then tops it off with a 30-second Defense boost.

10 Dagger Rush

Both in the show and the game, the Dagger is one of the earliest weapons Sung found, and it became one of his trademarks. It's a low-damage, high-agility weapon that lets Sung stay extremely mobile and stack up those combos. With Dagger Rush, your daggers can become even more deadly as they deal "Almighty" Break damage to their targets.

It's a versatile skill tailored for maximum damage or support with all the buffs and debuffs it can apply. Since the daggers require you to stick very close to your enemies, the Fire rune is an excellent choice since it lets the Skill shield Sung from harm. Even though it only lasts a few seconds, it benefits from Shield buffs, lets Sung tank massive attacks, and enables him to unleash a powerful AoE attack.

9 Sonic Stream

As one of the newer skills added to the selection, Sonic Stream is an interesting choice that makes Sung more balanced. Even as just an offensive skill, it's strong enough to make the other skills look unnecessary by comparison. Still, it has a lot of potential, and experimenting can help it fit into plenty of strategies.

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Besides Sung Jinwoo, of course.

All the elements affect its damage in one way or another, but Wind is notable for turning it into a charge and stack ability. By landing combos, you'll build up a lot of power that will all be unleashed when you land your final hit. As a bonus, every successful attack will increase Sung's Attack stat and strengthen each hit.

8 Multistrike

This is one of the basic skills that can be combined with a rune to modify its damage output. When equipped, Jinwoo continuously punches an enemy with increased speed to deal additional damage. You can use this skill to close the distance, deal some initial damage, and activate its buffs before following up with other powerful attacks.

It has different elemental variants, each with unique benefits: the water elemental increases the Break power damage by ten percent for ten seconds, the fire version boosts damage dealt to bosses and elite monsters, and the dark rune grants you invincibility during the entire Multistrike animation.

7 Death’s Dance

This skill has a two-part effect: a swift AOE attack that hits all enemies around Jinwoo while dealing significant damage and a second mighty blow that can knock down an enemy and inflict heavy Break damage, making it one of the most powerful skills in terms of disrupting an enemy’s defenses.

Similar to Multistrike, this skill offers different elements with unique benefits. The light version increases critical hit damage by 30 percent for ten seconds, while the wind variant grants a movement speed buff and charges your skill gauge by one percent every time you are hit. The dark element makes the final attack airborne, launching the enemy into the air.

Activating this skill is relatively slow, and the animation that follows the attack could leave Jinwoo open to attacks, so you should use it strategically and time your attacks appropriately.

6 Crushing Blow

This is one of the best skills you can use, especially early on in the game when Jinwoo might not have the ability or weapons to overwhelm more powerful enemies. The skill focuses on inflicting Break damage on a single target through air-bone attacks, effectively breaking an enemy’s guard. It offers rune enhancements, such as the wind rune, which adds a guaranteed knockdown effect to the skill, while the light rune gives Jinwoo a temporary shield upon using the skill.

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You have two hands, don't you?

The dark rune increases the attack power and allows for a decisive counterattack, which stuns the enemy while dealing Break damage. You can also use the fire rune, which can knock down an enemy, charge the power gauge by 30 percent, and reduce the cooldown of Jinwoo's ultimate skill by 30 seconds to prioritize faster ultimate usage for high burst damage.

5 Mutilate

Mutilate offers a significantly higher damage increase at its base level, which elevates Jinwoo's overall damage output. When activated, it enables Jinwoo to deliver a series of continuous, rapid slashes toward an enemy. It has a short animation compared to other skills, allowing quicker execution and better integration into combos.

Unlike other skills, Mutilate does not explicitly change its core functionality by adding runes. However, the runes give it strategic enhancements, such as the addition of a frostbite effect to immobilize enemies or a brief amplification of the damage output based on Jinwoo’s HP, which can all be used strategically to take down different enemies depending on their attacking sequence or damage tolerance.

4 Vertical Arts

This skill is designed to be chained together into a devastating combo. So, mastering their sequence and timing allows you to unleash a continuous flow of attacks, maximizing damage output. It can be enhanced with different Runes, which grant it elemental properties and additional effects. These Runes can change the element to Water, Fire, Dark, or Wind.

The Fire and Dark Runes often focus on maximizing damage output. The water rune can enhance break damage, making it easier to break enemy defenses, and the wind rune can create knockback effects, helping with crowd control.

Some runes might consume more MP than others, so you should be mindful of your MP usage to avoid running out of power during a fight.

3 Vital Strike

Vital Strike is a perfect choice for boss fights. It has a high base damage, a boss damage bonus, and a short cooldown when you are attacking against enemies with high HP. You can choose between the Decimate Rune for increased overall damage or the Internal Wound rune to weaken enemies further.

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Reach newfound levels of damage.

The skill also allows you to use the Hone In rune for more boss slaying power and the On Point rune, which offers a defensive boost against strong enemies. The Vital Strike can also be used as a finisher or a mid-combo attack. As a finisher, it can deliver the final blow, while in a combo, it can deal damage before following up with other skills.

2 The Commander’s Touch

While it has no element attached to it, this is one of the most devastating utility skills in the game. It offers the Black Hole, which prioritizes crowd control by creating a suction area where enemies are pulled into one spot. The Finisher emphasizes damage output, increasing the damage dealt by the final knockdown attack, which increases your attack for 12 seconds.

After suction into the area, it sends enemies airborne, and you recover three percent of your mana points and three percent of the power gauge for a maximum of three times if it hits. Additionally, the Commander's Touch gives more than crowd control; each successful hit with the skill contributes to charging the Power Gauge, which fuels Jinwoo's ultimate skills.