I wanted to suggest a different approach to how we progress and grow our characters.
Honestly, all it needs is the Fluff stuff removed from the skill tree system it has now. And make the Skill Trees based on Job Paths… Right now in the game you have to grab skills from other trees, which is restrictive as hell and some very basic and odd things feel like a waste of a point that’s in the way of the building what you’re wanting to operate with.
Pick a Job Path upon Character Creation. Each one has everything you need to be effective in solo, and cuts out the chaff and allows you to focus on that specific style of play and makes you earn and progress differently.
Examples
1: SAPPER (Path should focus on explosives, sapper tasks, path denile, mechanical and electrical skills, basically all the gear-head and boomboom stuff.)
2: SERE School Medic (Path should focus on all things medical, response, rescue, combat survival and evasion.)
3: SWAT Marksman (Path should focus on all things long range, stealth, and intel Mark Targets.)
4: DF-Commando (Path should focus on being loud, gaining attention, taking punishment, and being the brick wall who can lay down a ton of hate on hostiles.)
For each Job, the Main Path nodes should unlock as you level up being allowed to fully max it out, with Unlock Branches on the bottom for maxing out on another character in a different job to unlock Perks and CrossTraining Passives. And Bonus Nodes above it for getting good as learned skills over time. Added Perks that can be unlocked could use the Prestige Points from completing Challenges
Passive Skills / Learned Skills
1: XP boost should be unlocked via story progression across all characters. So if you beat the game on one toon and get that sexy 200% Bonus XP, your other 3 chars will reap the benefits.
2: Lockpicking should be Unlocked via as a perk from either the SWAT or SAPPER paths, once that char is maxed, it’s unlocked for all your other chars as a passive bonus.
3: Loot/Ammo % increase should be tied to the progression of how often you loot. Passive Learning skill.
4: Running Speed, Health, Regen, etc should be universal unlocks that improve over time as you run, get hit, heal, etc. Once unlocked they do what the others do, they are unlocked for all characters once you max out on one char.
By doing this, a player can Max Out their specific job, and earn more by maxing out the other jobs for bonuses. On top of that, earning passive unlocks through playing adds more to the enjoyment. This way people will get a lot of game time and after maxing out all four Jobs (as separate characters), they can unlock a 5th Character Slot that can be a Universal Soldier with it’s own path and buffs. Slap in a Nightmare Difficulty or Terminator Difficulty and bam there ya go.