Escape
"Escape" is an Agility skill in Dying Light.
Overview
It allows a much more faster escape if grabbed by a Biter and is very useful as without this skill, the time to get out of a Biter's grab is longer and thus the player will sustain more damage this way - Being grabbed by a Biter causes a QTE where the player must hit a button/key fast enough to escape the Biter's grab. With this base skill for Agility, it is very convenient and players won't have to avoid Biters as much as what they would have to early in the game (given the lack of skills and abilities/overall stats that players will have upon starting out in the game).
This can be extended upon with an upgrade to the Escape part of the Agility skill tree, which will grant the player an instant means of escape (such as pressing L2 to escape the Biter's grab - PS4) and upgraded further to ultimately add a stun effect, giving the player a window of time to execute/instantly kill the stunned Biter that grabbed them. It is worth noting that unless the player has the Instant Escape upgrade for this base skill, the player will always sustain damage from the Biter grabbing them - Having the Instant Escape upgrade means less than a second of being grabbed and not taking any damage during the grab at all.
The Escape skill only works if grabbed by a Biter. Other infected, such as Virals, Night Walkers, Gas Tanks etcetera cannot and will not be affected by this in anyway as they do not have a grab attack as such, instead hitting/punching and clawing the player. The only other infected apart from the Biter that can grab the player in a similar fashion would be the Volatile, and even then only this base skill works on them as Instant Escape is not available and as a result given how the Agility tree works for this skill and its subsequent upgrades, Volatiles will not be stunned after the player escapes their grab/tackle QTE.
Whilst the Night Hunter does physically grab hold of humans/players, this is for the Pounce attack that the Hunter has and is only interruptable via UV light, so the Escape skill also has no use against the Night Hunter either.
Hostile survivors/Rais' gang members also aren't affected by this attack - Whilst in some cases they will lunge attack at the player (and thus the grapple/grapple throw skill can be used against them), they do not grab the player either, thus Escape isn't valid in those combat scenarios either.
Tips/Pointers
- This skill is one of the first, if not one of the recommended skills of the Agility tree to try and level up on.
- Whilst Biters can easily be dispatched by traps and kicking them into spikes (earlier in the game), it is always useful to have this skill early on in the game and at later/higher levels.
- Even without the Stun upgrade effect on the Escape skill, players will have a second or two opportunity where the Biter that grabbed them will stay still - Use this to attack and take the fight to the Biter.
- If grabbed by a Biter in a massive group of Biters, escape as soon as possible and get up high/on higher ground for safety - Biters as a group/small horde are easy to underestimate in terms of threat level and danger if the player is too reckless/inconsiderate.
- Through use of the Instant Escape and Stun and Stun-Execution skills, this can be used to get easy kills/farming combat XP if taking on Biters one at a time and not as a whole group.