Skill trees decide how your character actually fights in VV Ultimatum, and with Skill Points always in short supply, the branch you commit to matters more than any single flashy move. There are eight trees in total — six combat branches and two utility branches — and they range from a 145 SP race tree to a 328 SP melee monster with nearly 60 nodes.
Quick answer: Hakuda and Speed are the two S-tier trees. Put early SP into Speed on every build, then anchor your damage with Hakuda for fists, Strength for weapons, or your race tree (Quincy, Shinigami, or Hollow).
Skill tree tier list, SP costs, and node counts
The ranking weighs combat impact, SP efficiency, and how well each tree holds up across PvE and PvP. Two trees are open to any race; the other four combat trees are locked behind a specific race.
| Tree | Tier | Full unlock | Skills | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hakuda | S | 328 SP | 58 | Melee / fists |
| Speed | S | 229 SP | 40 | Mobility / Shunpo |
| Shinigami (Kido) | A | 208 SP | 34 | Kido / binds / control |
| Quincy | A | 192 SP | 36 | Bow / Reishi |
| Strength | A | 185 SP | 34 | Weapons / posture |
| Hollow / Arrancar | B | 145 SP | 27 | Cero / Bala / defense |
The two utility trees sit outside the tier system because they support information and universal tools rather than direct damage. Sense has 4 nodes that improve how much you read about nearby targets, and Misc has 11 nodes covering rushdown, drop cancels, aura pressure, and clash counters that fit any build.
S tier: Hakuda and Speed
Hakuda (328 SP, 58 skills)
Hakuda is the deepest tree in the game and the strongest pure pressure package. It hands you fist access, scaling nodes, throws, launchers, finishers, and combo extensions, which makes it ideal for players who want to stay glued to a target instead of poking from range. It is also the heaviest investment on the list, so only max it if unarmed combat is genuinely the core of your build.
The picks worth pathing toward are Surge Fist, Burst Rush, Jaguar Rush, Suplex, Dragon Lash, and Death Fist. It pairs naturally with Speed for sticking to opponents and with Strength for extra posture damage.
Speed (229 SP, 40 skills)
Speed governs Shunpo, aerial control, recovery, and engage timing, which is why it earns value on every build and race. It will not win fights on its own — you still need a damage core — but it decides when trades happen and how hard you are to punish. Even if you never max it, the early mobility and recovery tools are usually a better use of SP than rushing damage skills.
High-priority picks include Aerial Ace, Clone Strike, Flash Surprise, Rapid Recovery, Hyperspeed, Afterimage Slash, and Light Feet. Note that Phantom Trifecta and High-Speed Movement require Speed 420 and are currently unobtainable in-game, so treat them as reference only.
A tier: Quincy, Shinigami, and Strength
Quincy (192 SP, 36 skills, Quincy only)
The Quincy tree builds a clear ranged identity through Spirit Bow pressure, Heilig Pfeil variants, and Blut forms. Blut Arterie and Blut Vene give it a useful split between offense and survivability, so it is less one-note than a pure projectile branch. It is at its best when you control distance, and it loses value fast if you keep getting dragged into close trades without Speed support.
Core picks are Conjure Weapon, Heilig Pfeil, Blut Arterie, Blut Vene, Impaling Arrows, Holy Arrows, and Fallzwang. Keep in mind the Heilig Pfeil Speed, Power, and Multi-shot variants are choice-locked against each other, as are Impaling Arrows and Holy Arrows.
Shinigami / Kido (208 SP, 34 skills, Shinigami only)
This is the most utility-heavy race tree, covering beams, binds, traps, barriers, lightning techniques, and reiatsu-stealing tools. It rewards players who understand spacing, timing, and follow-ups more than it rewards raw button-mashing, so the payoff is higher but the learning curve is steeper than Quincy or Hollow.
Prioritize Sai, Sho, Horin, Rikujokoro, Geki, Hainawa, Raikoho, and Goryu Tenmetsu. Lock in reliable binds and beams before chasing the expensive late-tree spells.
Strength (185 SP, 34 skills)
Strength is the tree for heavy physical trades, posture damage, knockback, and committal punishes. It shines on weapon-focused builds and rewards anyone who understands guard pressure and when to commit to a heavier swing. Several of its better tools are slow, so pairing it with Speed keeps you from getting kited.
Look toward Heavy Kick, Thrust, Cyclone, Fell Crescent, Overhead Strike, Piercing Draw, and Impale.
B tier: Hollow / Arrancar (145 SP, 27 skills, Hollow only)
Hollow is the cheapest tree to fully invest in, but it carries the fewest nodes and a narrower identity built around Cero, Bala, and Hierro defense. It feels powerful when you play around charged beams and burst windows, and it has more durability than it first looks thanks to Hierro, Cero Armor, Chaotic Barrier, and High Speed Regeneration. The trade-off is predictability — strong opponents can read Cero-style startups if you do not mix in mobility and cancel options.
Useful picks are a Cero variant that matches your style, Finger Cero, Bala Swarm, Hierro, Cero Armor, and High Speed Regeneration. The Cero Speed, Power, Ultra Power, and Rapid Fire upgrades are choice-locked, so plan your beam identity before spending. For any Hollow player this branch is essentially required investment regardless of its tier.
Recommended SP investment order by race
| Race | Priority order |
|---|---|
| Shinigami | Speed, then Hakuda or Kido, then Strength, then Misc tools |
| Quincy | Quincy, then Speed, then Strength or Hakuda, then Misc tools |
| Hollow | Hakuda, then Speed, then Hollow / Arrancar, then Strength |
The throughline is simple. Speed appears in every plan because movement and recovery improve melee, weapon, bow, Cero, and Kido play alike. From there, you commit to one real damage core and avoid spreading SP thinly across branches that your stats cannot support.
How Update 1 affects these rankings
VV Ultimatum Update 1 is expected this weekend, on June 20–21. New, reworked, or rebalanced skills can shift where each tree lands, so treat the current order as a strong starting point rather than a fixed law. The early meta still rewards fundamentals — clean parries, resource management, and one focused build — over chasing any single “broken” pick.
Tip: before respeccing or spending a large pool of SP after the patch lands, test whether your current build still clears the same fights, and only move tier labels in your head when a change actually affects a build decision.
