This guide can be effectively combined with my early game walkthrough.
I added a new section that includes an infinite xp bug, so feel free to check it out.
https://cs2bus.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3197193926

What is the focus of this Skill Guide?

Quite simply, I will tell you the best thoughts/clothing to get all skills to a high enough level that they can pass "challenging" passive skill checks. Generally speaking, my goal is for you to get all skills to a functional level of 6. With an aspirational goal of getting as many skills as possible to a functional level of 8 (passing legendary passive skill checks).

If one was to say every skill needs to be 6, and every skill started at 3, then it would require 72 skill points. In addition, you need another 9 points from the thoughts you buy, for a total of 81.

This guide is going to make the recommendation of putting all skill categories at 3 points.

The reason for this is that the goal is to pass as many passive checks as possible.

Generally speaking, your goal should be to have have enough room that any skill can be raised to 8+ points. At 8 points, you can pass the legendary passive skill check. There is a small number of checks that go beyond that (they are rated as "impossible") but it's generally not worth the effort as you need a skill of 10+ to pass them.

Getting a skill to 8 points is difficult when your base is 3 points. There is a general cap on skill points that is limited double your starting skill points. That means that if the base skill is 3 points, the cap is 6 points. However, it is still achievable to get to a total of 8, it just requires careful selection of clothing and thoughts.

When talking about thoughts, every skill attribute has a thought that increases the cap by +1. Furthermore, PSY and FYS skills both have a thought that can lower the passive check difficulty by -1, meaning a skill of 7 counts as a skill of 8. Moreover, there are various bonuses that can increase the total above the skill cap.

When the proper thoughts are put in, INT/MOT skills can increase their caps by +1, while PSY/FYS can increase their caps by at least +2.

There is also the selection of the initial skil. The skill initially chosen will raise the cap for the entire attribute group by +1.

In addition, clothing can increase many different skills by +1, or more. After testing, the only method I found to allow every skill with a cap of 8+ points is to have the initial skill being given to a MOT skill, and relying on clothing/thoughts to make sure every attribute has a cap of at least 8 points.

RECOMMENDATION: Put all skills at 3 points, and your initial skill should be a MOT skill. If you wish a recommendation of which MOT skill to choose, this guide suggests picking Reaction Speed, as it's the only skill that doesn't get any early game bonuses or penalties.

There are a total of 12 thoughts that grant various bonuses to help achieve the goal of all skills to 8 points, and these are the most import ones you can get.

1. Actual Art Cop (1h 30): -1 Hand/Eye Coordination, Conceptualization passives heal +1 Morale and give +10 XP
   
2. Jamais Vu (3h 25): +1 XP for every orb clicked; +1 INT caps
   
3. Wompty-Dompty Dom Centre (42 min): Encyclopedia passives give +10 xp and +2 reál. However, it causes a -2 penalty to Suggestion.
   
4. Mazovian Socio-Economics (USELESS): Left-wing Dialogue options give +4 xp; -1 Visual Calculus/Authority

If you do not have these three thoughts, you have 0% chance to get all skills to 6, let alone getting them to 8. They give massive amounts of experience. Wompty Dompty also makes sure you have enough money during the game. It's the only money increasing thought you need.

Unfortunately, the Mazovian Socio-Economics thought is not useful. According to a guide, there are around 82 communist dialogues. This would make for a total of 328 bonus exp. That would make it the equivalent of a 3 skill thought, which would have made it a definate grab, except it lowers Visual Calculus and Authority by -1 point each, making it a net +1 skill thought that takes a LOT of work to get. There are far better options

RECOMMENDATION (3 of 12): Actual Art Cop, Jamais Vu, and Wompty-Dompty Dom Center.

Increasing skill caps raise the skill cap to be raised by +1 points, which means all skills can be raised to a maximum of 7 (3 base points + 4 skill cap).

1. Jamais Vu: +1 INT caps; +1 XP for every orb clicked (already added)
   
2. Waste Land of Reality (20h): +1 PSY attribute (which also gives +1 PSY caps), -1 to physical instrument, inland empire, and suggestion.
   
3. Guillaume le Million (4h 30): +1 PSY caps (don't need a second PSY increase)
   
4. Anti-Object Task Force (2h 15): +1 FYS caps; +1 pain threshhold.
   
5. MOT caps can be increased by one of two mutually exclusive thoughts, based on whether or not you read a note that was written to the MC.
   
   • Caustic Echo (10h): +1 MOT caps; +300 exp; -1 authority (must throw note away, but then think about the note afterwards)
     
   • White Mourning: +1 MOT caps; +20% zoom out distance (must read note). (inferior option)

As both skills increase the skill cap, and you can only choose one, I will lay out my reasoning as to why the first option should be chosen.

OPTION 1 (caustic echo): Getting the 300xp is a good early boost. Moreover, you gain the Ledger of Oblivion. This item, when held, grants a +1 authority/suggestion, and -1 Inland Empire. This item, along with the 'Cleaning Out the Rooms' thought, are your best options to counter the -2 penalty from taking Wompty Dompty. There is a penalty to Authority, but that can be dealt with by deleting the thought later on, after Composure and Reaction Speed have been raised to 8. When points are spent to buy a skill, that gain is permanent. Likewise, the xp gained by taking the thought can not be retroactively withdrawn.

OPTION 2 (white mourning): While this thought does not give any additional bonuses, unlike Caustic Echo, making this choice allows the possibility of gaining access the Bow Collector thought, which increases Shivers by +3. There are only three thoughts in the game that increase skills by a net +3 points, and you are definitely internalizing two of them. Unfortunately, it's less useful to get +3 when it's in a single skill, especially when option 1 has a lot of versatility. The accompanying Ledger of Hatred gives a net bonus of 0 points, so that also lowers the value of picking this thought over Caustic.

RECOMMENDATION (5 of 12): Pick Jamais Vu (already chosen), Waste Land of Reality, Anti-Object Task Force, and Caustic Echo.

After the xp increasing thoughts, these are the most useful thoughts in the game.

Lowering difficulty on passives is a massive boost. Getting the first two thoughts is basically +12 skill points (technically +11 points, since Remote Viewers lowers Drama). The third thought is a little less useful, as it only passes checks for a single skill, which actually has the lowest number of passive checks in the game, but it also means that you don't have to bother raising the skill to get all the passives. If you wish to choose between raising this skill to 18, or getting the thought, then getting the thought is the superior option.

1. Date of Birth Generator: -1 difficulty to all FYS passives; Learning Cap for Logic raised to 4
   
2. Remote Viewers Division: -1 difficulty for PSY passives; -1 Drama.
   
3. Bringing of the Law: Automatically succeed all Hand/Eye Coordination passives; Learning Cap for Hand/Eye Coordination raised to 6; -1 Rhetoric

RECOMMENDATION (8 out of 12): I don't need to explain anything here. All of the options are great. Lowering difficulty saves quite a few skill points for the goal of making all skills capable of passing challenging passive checks.

When I'm looking through the thoughts that increase skills, I would prefer a thought that gives at least +2 skills, that are not situational (such as a thought that only gives an empathy bonus to Kim), with no qualifiers (such as needing a to be shirtless, or to have a free hand), and don't lower a different skill. Exceptions can be made, if there is an important additional benefit.

With those qualifiers, we are left with these choices.

1. Advanced Race Theory (1h 40): Learning Cap for Rhetoric raised to 5; +1 Conceptualization. While sub-optimal from a skill bonus point of view, it has other aspects that make it a great choice. They are explained below.
   
   • Fun side note, the abbreviation for this thought is A.R.T. Given that it gives a boost to conceptualization, the artistic skill, I feel like this was deliberate.
2. Cleaning out the rooms (5h 35): +1 suggestion/ inland empire/ rhetoric. One of only three skills that allow a net 3 skills to be raised. Wasteland of Reality is already on the list, but Bow Collector is overly focused on Shivers to really be worth not getting Caustic instead.
   
3. Hardcore Aesthetic (1h 50): +1 volition/endurance
   
4. Apricot Chewing Gum Scented One (5h 5): +2 perception
   
5. Detective Costeau: +1 Savoir Faire/Esprit de Corpse (maybe with a necktie build...)
   
6. Searchlight Division: +2 perception (while it takes longer to get than Chewing Gum, and you don't need both thoughts, there are enough perception penalties that you can keep within the bonus range. Just switch out the boots for the empathy shoes)
   
7. The Bow Collector: +3 shivers. 1. (overly focused on a single skill, and picking it means not getting Caustic Echo, and the Ledger of Oblivion)
   
8. Torque Dork: +2 interfacing The best gloves in the game already give a +2 to this skill. You don't need more.
   
9. In addition to these, there are a few thoughts that give a skill bonus while internalizing. Eventually, your cabinet will be full, and you will not be able to use these, they can still be helpful before that point. Anything less than a 2 hour internalization time is skipped, since it will be hard to benefit from it.
   
   • Lonesome Long Way Home (6h 5): +1 encyclopedia
     
   • Aces Low (2h 45): +2 empathy towards Kim
     
   • Finger on the Eject Button (2h): +2 authority/suggestion. (NO! It may have the best benefit, but its not worth the risk of actually learning this thing. Even just getting access to the thought is messed up)
     
   • Inexplicable Feminist Agenda (3h 45): +2 authority vs males

I should explain why Advanced Race Theory is included. It's a little unique among the choices. While it only gives a +1 bonus, it's also the only thought that increases Conceptualization. Conceptualization is your most important exp generator, and you will probably want it (and Encyclopedia) at 8 points, rather than 6, in order to get the most exp you can. While there is clothing that can raise the skill, there are better options to pick instead.

If you want an 8 conceptualization, and the starting skill is 3, you either have to wear the Lounge Jacket, which only gives a +1 skill bonus, instead of a +2 bonus that other options provide, or pick Advanced Race Theory, which gives a +1 bonus, instead of a +2. Advanced Race Theory also increases the skill cap of Rhetoric, which counters the penalties that other thoughts cause to the skill.

However, what really pushes Adv. Race Theory over the edge is that it lets you start to internalize Wasteland of Reality on day 1. It's a 20 hour thought, the longest internalization of the game. There is a massive benefit if you can learn it on day 2, rather than on day 4 (probably day 5). If you are trying to get maximum xp (because you are waiting to get Wompty Dompty on day 3), you shouldn't even be doing anything during day 2, so it's the perfect time to internalize the thought.

Also worth noting is that there are two thoughts that increase perception. Having both would give a total bonus of +4. This can work, because there are a number of things that can lower perception, but is still sub-optimal, since the goal is to get everything to 6 first. Chewing Gum can be acquired on day 1, as opposed to Searchlight for which you would have to wait for day 3 to internalize.

To decide what is best, I considered how early you can gain the thought, along with how it pairs up with clothing.

RECOMMENDATIONS (13 of 12): Advanced Race Theory, Cleaning out the Rooms, Hardcore Aesthetic, and Apricot Chewing Gum Sented One. I also recommend picking up Lonesome Long Way Home for the encyclopedia bonus. There is an impossible passive that needs 11 points to achieve, and the +1 from Long way can really help to achieve it.

RECOMMENDATIONS #2 (12 of 12): Once all thoughts are filled, check to see if Composure and Reaction Speed are at 8 points. Once they are at 8 points, delete Caustic Echo, and replace it with whichever skill in the previous recommendations that was not selected.

In addition to picking thoughts, you also want to pick clothing that gives the biggest bang for the buck when all stats are at 3. The difference between being at 4, as opposed to 3, is massive (in regards to succeeding in passive checks). That is why it is better to wear clothing that gives a bonus, even if it also carries a penalty, as opposed to being naked.

1. Hat: FALN "Pipo" pipo (+2 Logic; -1 Perception).
   
   • Early game: Frog Visor (+1 perception).
2. Glasses: Mega Bino Perscription Lenses (+2 Ency, -1 perception).
   
   • Early game: Flip-Up Glasses (+1 logic; -1 Authority)
3. Neck: Bow Knot (+2 Drama)
   
   • Early game: Horrific Necktie (+1 Inland Island).
4. Jacket: RCM Commander Jacket (+1 Esprit de Corpse/Visual Calculation).
   
   • Early game: Lounge Jacket (+1 conceptualization). Keep this until your Conceptualization is at base 6.
5. Shirt: White Tank Top (+1 Physical Instrument)
   
   • Early game: Satin Shirt (+1 conceptualization; -1 suggestion). This is not strictly correct, as the tank top is early game too. In truth, Satin shirt is only useful for a short period of time after internalizing art cop. You will soon want to put XP into raising Conceptualization, at which point you should drop the satin shirt, and switch back to the tank top.
6. Gloves: T-500 gloves (+2 interfacing)
   
   • Early Game: Gardening Gloves (+1 interfacing)
7. Pants: FALN track pants (+1 Savoir Faire/Physical instrument)
   
   • Early Game: Flair-Cut Trousers (+1 Electrochemestry; -1 Savoir Faire)
8. Shoes: Calvery Boots (+1 Perception)
   
   • Early Game: Green Snakeskin shoes (+1 composure; -1 Savoir Faire)
9. Hand: Ledger of Oblivon (+1 Authority/Suggestion; -1 Inland Empire)
   
   • The ledger is not, strictly speaking, an item of clothing, but will be included as such for the purposes of this guide.

Okay, lets total up all the bonuses gained from thoughts, and clothing. Since the initial goal is to pass challenging checks (5 or 6 points), while also being able to eventually pass legendary checks (7 or 8 points), no INT skill should have a bonus higher then +3 bonus, or lower than +1 (except Rhetoric), no PSY/FYS should have a bonus higher than +2, or lower than 0, and no MOT skill should have a bonus higher than +3, or lower than 0 (except hand/eye).

1. INT (skill bonus of 7)
   
   1. Logic: +2 (+2 FALN pipo)
      
   2. Encyclopedia: +2 (+2 perscription lenses)
      
   3. Rhetoric: +0 (+1 cleaning out rooms; -1 Bringing out the Law; skill cap increased to 6)
      
   4. Drama: +1 (+2 bow knot; -1 remote viewers)
      
   5. Conceptualization: +1 (+1 adv. race theory)
      
   6. Visual Calculus: +1 (+1 RCM commander jacket)
2. PSY (skill bonus of 7)
   
   1. Volition: +2 (+1 wasteland; +1 hardcore aesthetic)
      
   2. Inland Empire: +0 (+1 cleaning out rooms; -1 ledger of oblivion)
      
   3. Empathy: +1 (+1 wasteland)
      
   4. Authority: +2 (+1 wasteland & +1 ledger of oblivion; Caustic Echo gives a -1 penalty, but I'm not counting it because you should delete the thought eventually)
      
   5. Esprit de Corps: +2 (+1 RCM commander jacket & +1 wasteland)
      
   6. Suggestion: +0 (-2 wompty dompty; +1 cleaning out rooms & +1 ledger of oblivion)
3. FYS (skill bonus of 3)
   
   1. Endurance: +1 (+1 hardcore aesthetic)
      
   2. Pain Threshold: +1 (+1 anti-object)
      
   3. Physical Instrument: +1 (+1 FALN track pants & +1 White Tank Top; -1 wasteland)
      
   4. Electro-Chemistry: 0
      
   5. Shivers: 0
      
   6. Half Light: 0
4. MOT (skill bonus of 4)
   
   1. Hand/Eye Co-ordination: N/A (law jaw means you don't have to increase skill)
      
   2. Perception: +1 (-1 prescription lenses & -1 FALN pipo; +1 Calvary boots & +2 chewing gum scented one)
      
   3. Reaction Speed: 0
      
   4. Savoir Faire: +1 (+1 FALN track pants)
      
   5. Interfacing: +2 (+2 T-500 gloves)
      
   6. Composure: 0

Net benefit of +21 points.

INT: All skills get at least a +1 bonus to get to 8 points, except for Rhetoric. This is okay, however, because it has a raised cap due to having Advanced Race Theory. All INT skills can get to 8 points.

PSY/FYS: No skill is suffering a penalty. All skills benefit from a difficulty decrease of -1 to passive checks. Every skill can get to the goal of 7 points to pass legendary checks.

MOT: Hand/Eye is the only skill with a negative value, but it doesn't matter because the Law Jaw thought allows all passive checks for that skill to auto-succeed. In addition, there are two skills that don't get a clothing/thought bonus. This is acceptable, as long as the chosen initial skill is a MOT attribute.


Even though this guide recommends picking a MOT as your initial skill, doing this does lock you out of the horrific necktie content.

At the start of the game, if your Inland Empire is at 4 points, then your necktie can talk to you while equipped (it will not work unless you have a skill of 4 at the start of the game). If you don't mind having Reaction Speed, and Composure, below 8, then I would recommend putting your initial skill in Inland Empire instead, which will allow the tie to talk to you.

Now that your initial skill it no longer from the MOT attribute, the best that Reaction Speed, and Composure, can achieve is 7 points. Without the bow tie, Drama is also capped at 7.

Given that it can be bothersome to keep Caustic Echo until you cap out on those skills, you may as well just drop Caustic Echo early.

All these changes means that Perception and Drama are capped at 7, while Reaction Speed and Composure are capped at 6. All other skills can still be raised high enough to pass legendary checks.

While it's unfortunate that these 4 skills can not get to 8 points, the truth is that there simply are not enough experience points to get every skill to 8 points (7 points for PSY/FYS) anyway.

With that said, if you still want to have either Drama or Perception at 8 points, here are some suggestions (Reaction Speed and Composure don't have a lot of options. Give up on those).

Given that the Date of Birth Generator thought raises the base cap of Logic from 3 to 4 (with Jamais Vu also giving an additional bonus), you can actually still raise it to 8 points without the FALN Pipo. I would personally recommend getting the RCM Lieutenant's Cap instead, just because I find it more professional looking, and having a +3 bonus is fine when the goal is to get a skill to 8. That said, any hat (that doesn't have a stat penalty) will work.

Equipping the Insane Mesh Tank Top, which replaces the White Tank Top, gives a needed point to drama at the cost of lowering the bonus for Physical Instrument.

With these changes, Perception, and Drama, can both be raised high enough so that they can pass Legendary checks, while Logic and Physical Instrument are still able to as well.

Personal Preference: I like equipping Interisolary Dress Shirt instead of the Mesh Top for the same reason I like the RCM Cap (seriously, the mesh top is absurd looking). I generally don't care about the necktie too much (aside from one particular interaction), so I don't bother having Inland Empire at 4 at the start of the game. If talking about choosing an INT attribute as an initial skill, I think Rhetoric is a decent choice. I don't think any FYS skills give much benefit for being an initial skill, but I'm open to the idea.

Adding it all up:

If you follow this guide. All skills have the possibility of succeeding with Legendary passive skill checks. During my latest playthrough, I managed to gain a thousand xp more than the previous game.

1. 1. INT: Every Skill was at 8 points.
   
2. 2. PSY: Every skill was at 7 points.
   
3. 3. FYS: Every skill was at 7 points.
   
4. 4. MOT: Two skills were at 8 points, three skills were at 6 points. Hand/Eye was at 4 points, and there were 3 unused points.

I was about 300xp away from having enough to get all skills capable of passing Legendary checks.

I could have gained another 100xp if I had looked at the stained glass. It triggers the final dream, which I count as a bad end so I don't do it, but I'd have to recommend it for min/maxing purposes.

There were a few things I did not do, so I feel it's possible to get anothr 200xp (not from taking drugs though, since I got the full 120xp from doing all four of the substances, once).


Final Totals

The original general goal was to work out the most efficient way to get all skills to 6, in terms of passing passive checks. A goal I managed to achieve.

• There are 24 skills, and each would need 3 points to get to 6. Total: 72
  
• Conceptualization, and Encyclopedia, should be worth 8 points, in order to maximize exp gain. That adds +4 points. Total: 76
  
• Hand/Eye does not need to be increased, cause all passives are auto-passed. That subtracts -3 points. Total: 73
  
• PSY, and FYS, have thoughts that lower the totals needed by -1. That lowers the total by -12 points. Total: 61
  
• You start with an initial skill. That substracts -1 point. Total: 60
  
• Total direct bonuses/penalties from thoughts/clothing substracts -21 points. Total: 39.
  
• Cost of 13 thoughts adds +10 points. Total: 49.

Finished. By following this guide, you will need to level up 49 times (get 4,900xp) to be able to pass all 'challenging' passive checks, and a total of 97 times for all skills to pass legendary checks.

EXTRA TIPS

I have a walkthrough that goes over how to maximize xp gain for the first 3 days, along with collecting 10 of the 13 listed thoughts, and all of the clothing items. If you need help, then please make use of that. It's posted on reddit, currently, but will probably be ported over in time.

Latest playthrough had me getting the Detective Cousteau thought option. That gives +1 savour/esprit. Esprit is already at +2, so would need another jacket... Silk Robes gives +1 Elec/Drama. Drama is low due to not having bowtie... Visual Calculus would be be short then though...