Start with the slot and field
A Normal skill can be offered when a Responder has a Ready skill slot. An Expert record belongs to the matching Normal family. It becomes available only after that Normal skill is assigned, and the upgrade still depends on availability and cost.
The default check is to read one record in this order: offer prerequisite, affected field, operation, magnitude, and tradeoff. Keep the offer when those fields support an action you expect to repeat. Pass on it when the name sounds useful but the actual field does not match your weapon, item, or survival need.
Use the Responder skills query to inspect all 47 current families and 94 tier records. The query answers what each record changes. This guide explains how those values apply together.
Read the operation before the percentage
Each current effect uses add or multiply. An additive value changes the baseline before multipliers apply. A multiplicative value scales the field. A multiplier above 1.00 raises the field; one below 1.00 lowers it. Whether that helps depends on the field.
Current add and multiply examples
| Skill record | Field | Operation | Calculated result |
|---|---|---|---|
| maximum health | multiply 1.1 | maximum health 1.1x (+10%) | |
| inventory capacity | add -2,000 | inventory capacity -2 kg | |
| spread growth per shot | multiply 0.75 | spread growth per shot 0.75x (-25%) | |
| starting spread direction | multiply 0.85 | starting spread direction 0.85x (-15%) |
For example, raises maximum health to 1.10x and removes 2 kg of inventory capacity. The health change and capacity cost are separate fields. lowers two spread fields to 0.75x and 0.85x. Do not turn a lower spread multiplier into lower weapon damage. The effect never targets damage.
The practical rule is simple: keep the sign, operation, and target attached to one another. A positive number can be a cost when the field is stamina cost. A multiplier below 1.00 can be a benefit when the field is weight, spread, noise, or drain.
Replace Normal with Expert
Normal and Expert are two tiers in one family, not two effects that apply together. When the slot is upgraded, the Expert effects replace the Normal effects.
One Expert tier after upgrading
After the Hitman family is upgraded, supplies the active effects. Its Normal effects are not added.
| Field | Active Expert value |
|---|---|
| Quick attack damage | quick attack damage 1.3x (+30%) |
| Quick attack stamina cost | quick attack stamina cost 1.15x (+15%) |
applies 1.30x one-handed damage and a 1.15x attack stamina cost after the family is upgraded. Use this Expert tier on its own. Do not add the matching Normal effects.
The default is to use the whole Expert tier, including every cost. Accept the upgrade when its effects support the next run. Keeping the assigned Normal tier is the alternative when the Expert effects do not justify the upgrade.
Combine only the same field
Effects from different families meet only when they modify the same attribute. Additive values sum first. Multipliers add each offset from 1.00x, then apply that combined multiplier after the additive total.
Worked maximum-health composition
| Applied records | Base health | Combined multiplier | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 1.10x | 110 | |
| 100 | 1.20x | 120 | |
| and | 100 | 1.30x | 130 |
The two different families add their offsets from 1.00x, so 1.10x and 1.20x become 1.30x. Multiplying them would give the wrong result, 1.32x.
With 100 base health, produces 110 and produces 120. Together they produce 130 because the two different families contribute +0.10 and +0.20 to the same maximum-health multiplier. Multiplying 1.10 by 1.20 would produce the wrong result, 132.
Do not combine unrelated fields. The 2 kg capacity cost on Deprived does not enter the maximum-health calculation. It stays a separate inventory result. Do not combine Normal and Expert from one family either; the replacement boundary rejects that pair before composition.
Convert rate into duration
A rate multiplier is not the same number as elapsed-time reduction. Divide the baseline duration by the rate multiplier. This preserves the distinction between work per unit time and time needed for the same work.
Reload rate converted to duration
| Skill record | Reload rate | Duration vs. baseline | Time reduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4x | 71.43% | 28.57% |
uses a 1.40x reload rate, so the same reload takes 71.43% of its baseline duration, a 28.57% reduction.
Use the same conversion only for a field that represents rate or speed. A 1.20x maximum-health modifier means 120% of the base value. It does not use the duration formula.
Make the next skill check
Start with the job the next run needs. Open that gameplay category in the Responder skills query, filter to Normal or Expert, and read the exact affected fields on one record. A weapon-specific offer should match the weapon family you plan to carry. A survival offer should match the failure state you are trying to protect against.
For a Normal offer, confirm that a Ready slot exists. For an Expert upgrade, open the Expert record and keep every listed cost in view. When two different families share a field, use the composition rule. When they affect different fields, read the results separately. If you already have the Normal tier and need one last upgrade for a defined role, use the finished Responder build guide to choose the matching Expert upgrade.
If the expected action changes, use another current family instead of forcing a good percentage onto the wrong field. The weapon combat mechanics guide is the next check when a skill changes weapon damage, stability, spread, or stamina and you need to see the base combat calculation it modifies.
Know what the rule does not answer
This rule covers the current Normal and Expert effects, their offer requirements, additive and multiplicative changes, same-family replacement, different-family changes to one stat, and rate-to-duration conversion.
It does not predict which offer appears next, the future upgrade price, weapon availability during a run, player accuracy, team composition, or the value of a field in every situation. It also does not merge separate mechanics into one number. Damage, stamina cost, inventory capacity, resistance, spread, and reload rate remain separate results.
These records and examples are current for Hotfix 1.0.4.0. The page was checked on September 2, 2026.