All characters in The Forever Winter (and their unlockable skills)

The Forever Winter early access comes with five characters, and one more soon to be released. These are scavengers with some variance in base health and movement speed, meaning your playstyle preference will decide the best character for you. On top of the base stats though, these characters can have up to 20 unlockable skills, and on occasion, unique passive effects.

In this guide, we'll list out all of these skills, and what makes each of these unique characters tick in The Forever Winter.

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All The Forever Winter characters and skills explained

The Forever Winter has five characters... so far (Image via Fun Dog Studios)

Here are the six The Forever Winter characters revealed so far:

• Old Man
• Scav Girl
• Mask Man
• Shaman
• Bag Man
• Gunhead (Coming Soon)

Gunhead is not yet in the early access version of The Forever Winter, unlike the others. Now, we'll go over each class (character) and what distinguishes them.

Old Man

Old Man is the guy you start with in The Forever Winter's tutorial, with 1000 base HP and 20 movement speed. This is the "safe" option of character due to a focus on sustainability through more healing from meds. Here are Old Man's skills:

• Medical Expert

1. Medical Expert v1: Medical consumables heal 5% more health - 2000XP
2. Medical Expert v2: Medical consumables heal 10% more health - 6500XP
3. Medical Expert v3: Medical consumables heal 15% more health - 14000XP
4. Medical Expert v4: Medical consumables heal 20% more health - 22500XP
5. Medical Expert v5: Medical consumables heal 25% more health - 34500XP

• Rifle Expert

1. RFL Expert v1: RFL (rifles) are 5% more accurate- 2000XP
2. RFL Expert v2: RFL (rifles) are 10% more accurate - 6500XP
3. RFL Expert v3: RFL (rifles) are 15% more accurate - 14000XP
4. RFL Expert v4: RFL (rifles) are 20% more accurate - 22500XP
5. RFL Expert v5: RFL (rifles) are 25% more accurate - 34500XP

• Heavy Rifle Expert

1. HRF Expert v1: HRF (heavy rifles) are 5% more accurate- 2000XP
2. HRF Expert v2: HRF (heavy rifles) are 10% more accurate - 6500XP
3. HRF Expert v3: HRF (heavy rifles) are 15% more accurate - 14000XP
4. HRF Expert v4: HRF (heavy rifles) are 20% more accurate - 22500XP
5. HRF Expert v5: HRF (heavy rifles) are 25% more accurate - 34500XP

• Rig options

1. Equipment Runner Rig - 2000 XP
2. Medium Equipment Gunrunner Rig - 6500 XP
3. Pack Mule Rig - 14,000 XP
4. Heavy Container Gunrunner Rig - 22500 XP

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Scav Girl

Scav Girl fits the fleet of foot class archetype in The Forever Winter. Her unique passive is the ability to open and loot containers from twice the normal distance. She has the lowest base health of all characters, but also the fastest movement speed to compensate. Here are her skills:

• Sprinting Expert

1. Sprinting Expert v1: Sprinting with this character is 2% faster - 2000XP
2. Sprinting Expert v2: Sprinting with this character is 4% faster - 6500XP
3. Sprinting Expert v3: Sprinting with this character is 6% faster - 14000XP
4. Sprinting Expert v4: Sprinting with this character is 8% faster - 22500XP
5. Sprinting Expert v5: Sprinting with this character is 10% faster - 34500XP

• Pistol Expert

1. PST Expert v1: PST (pistol weapons) are 5% more accurate- 2000XP
2. PST Expert v2: PST (pistol weapons) are 10% more accurate - 6500XP
3. PST Expert v3: PST (pistol weapons) are 15% more accurate - 14000XP
4. PST Expert v4: PST (pistol weapons) are 20% more accurate - 22500XP
5. PST Expert v5: PST (pistol weapons) are 25% more accurate - 34500XP

• Sub-machine Guns Expert

1. SMG Expert v1: SMG (submachine guns) are 5% more accurate- 2000XP
2. SMG Expert v2: SMG (submachine guns) are 10% more accurate - 6500XP
3. SMG Expert v3: SMG (submachine guns) are 15% more accurate - 14000XP
4. SMG Expert v4: SMG (submachine guns) are 20% more accurate - 22500XP
5. SMG Expert v5: SMG (submachine guns) are 25% more accurate - 34500XP

• Rig options

1. Enhanced Rig - 2000 XP
2. Enhanced Gunrunner Rig - 6500 XP
3. Equipment Runner Rig - 14,000 XP
4. Equipment Gunrunner Rig - 22500 XP

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Mask Man

Mask Man embraces the "looter shooter" aspect of The Forever Winter, as all of his skills focus on making specific weapon classes more effective.

• Rifle Expert

1. RFL Expert v1: RFL (rifles) are 5% more accurate- 2000XP
2. RFL Expert v2: RFL (rifles) are 10% more accurate - 6500XP
3. RFL Expert v3: RFL (rifles) are 15% more accurate - 14000XP
4. RFL Expert v4: RFL (rifles) are 20% more accurate - 22500XP
5. RFL Expert v5: RFL (rifles) are 25% more accurate - 34500XP

• Heavy Rifle Training

1. HRF training: Allow use of HRF (heavy rifles) - 2000XP
2. HRF Expert v1: HRF (heavy rifles) are 5% more accurate- 6500XP
3. HRF Expert v2: HRF (heavy rifles) are 10% more accurate -14000XP
4. HRF Expert v3: HRF (heavy rifles) are 15% more accurate -22500XP
5. HRF Expert v4: HRF (heavy rifles) are 20% more accurate - 34500XP

• Grenade Launcher Training

1. Allow use of GRL (Grenade Launchers) - 2000XP
2. GRL (grenade launchers) are 5% more accurate - 6500XP
3. GRL (grenade launchers) are 10% more accurate - 14000XP
4. GRL (grenade launchers) are 15% more accurate - 22500XP
5. GRL (grenade launchers) are 2o% more accurate - 34500XP

• Light Machineguns Training

1. LMG Training: Allow use of LMG (Light Machineguns) - 2000XP
2. LMG Expert v1: LMG (Light Machineguns) are 5% more accurate - 6500XP
3. LMG Expert v2: LMG (Light Machineguns) are 10% more accurate - 14000XP
4. LMG Expert v3: LMG (Light Machineguns) are 15% more accurate - 22500XP
5. LMG Expert v4: LMG (Light Machineguns) are 2o% more accurate - 34500XP

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Shaman

Shaman is the best option if you want a work horse to haul goods across entry points without much firefight. He boasts above average sprint speed and carry capacity, becoming more effective than Scav Girl if you invest enough skill points. If you're playing The Forever Winter solo, this spec is probably the right fit.

• SMG Expert

1. SMG (submachine guns) are 5% more accurate- 2000XP
2. SMG (submachine guns) are 10% more accurate - 6500XP
3. SMG (submachine guns) are 15% more accurate - 14000XP
4. SMG (submachine guns) are 20% more accurate - 22500XP
5. SMG (submachine guns) are 25% more accurate - 34500XP

• Shotgun Expert

1. 5% smaller scatter pattern for SHG (shotguns)- 2000XP
2. 10% smaller scatter pattern for SHG (shotguns) - 6500XP
3. 15% smaller scatter pattern for SHG (shotguns) - 14000XP
4. 20% smaller scatter pattern for SHG (shotguns) - 22500XP
5. 25% smaller scatter pattern for SHG (shotguns) - 34500XP

• Sprinting Expert

1. Sprinting with this character is 2% faster - 2000XP
2. Sprinting with this character is 4% faster - 6500XP
3. Sprinting with this character is 6% faster - 14000XP
4. Sprinting with this character is 8% faster - 22500XP

• Carry Capacity

1. Character's rig containers hold 5% more weight and volume -2000XP
2. Character's rig containers hold 10% more weight and volume -6500XP
3. Character's rig containers hold 15% more weight and volume -14000XP
4. Character's rig containers hold 20% more weight and volume -22500XP

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Bag Man

Bag Man boasts the highest carry capacity of all characters in The Forever Winter.

• Carry Capacity

1. Character's rig containers hold 5% more weight and volume -2000XP
2. Character's rig containers hold 10% more weight and volume -6500XP
3. Character's rig containers hold 15% more weight and volume -14000XP
4. Character's rig containers hold 20% more weight and volume -22500XP

• Light Machinegun Expert

1. LMG (Light Machineguns) are 5% more accurate- 2000XP
2. LMG (Light Machineguns) are 10% more accurate - 6500XP
3. LMG (Light Machineguns) are 15% more accurate - 14000XP
4. LMG (Light Machineguns) are 20% more accurate - 22500XP
5. LMG (Light Machineguns) are 25% more accurate - 34500XP

• Grenade Launcher Training

1. Allow use of GRL (Grenade Launchers) - 2000XP
2. GRL (grenade launchers) are 5% more accurate - 6500XP
3. GRL (grenade launchers) are 10% more accurate - 14000XP
4. GRL (grenade launchers) are 15% more accurate - 22500XP
5. GRL (grenade launchers) are 2o% more accurate - 34500XP

• Heavy Rifle Expert

1. HRF Expert v1: HRF (heavy rifles) are 5% more accurate- 2000XP
2. HRF Expert v2: HRF (heavy rifles) are 10% more accurate - 6500XP
3. HRF Expert v3: HRF (heavy rifles) are 15% more accurate - 14000XP
4. HRF Expert v4: HRF (heavy rifles) are 20% more accurate - 22500XP
5. HRF Expert v5: HRF (heavy rifles) are 25% more accurate - 34500XP

Character XP, progress, and prestige level persist through full failures and wipes such as Water Death. In other words, upskilling a character is the only form of permanent persistent growth in The Forever Winter.