Swimming is a skill in Deus Ex that determines oxygen duration and swim speed while underwater. Like all skills, swimming can be leveled up by spending skill points.
Description[]
 SwimmingUnderwater operations require their own unique set of skills that must be developed by an agent with extreme physical dedication.
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| Level | Skill Points | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Untrained | N/A | An agent can swim normally. |
| Trained | 675 | The swimming speed and lung capacity of an agent increases slightly. |
| Advanced | 1350 | The swimming speed and lung capacity of an agent increases moderately. |
| Master | 2250 | An agent moves like a dolphin underwater. |
Effects[]
Each skill level increases oxygen duration and swimming speed.
Oxygen duration is increased by applying a multiplier to the base oxygen duration. The base oxygen duration without Aqualung is 20 seconds.
| Level | Oxygen Duration | Water Speed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiplier | Duration (without Aqualung) | ||
| Untrained | 1x | 20 seconds | 300 |
| Trained | 1.5x | 30 | 450 |
| Advanced | 2.0x | 40 | 600 |
| Master | 2.5x | 50 | 750 |
Aqualung changes the base oxygen duration to 30, 60, 120, and 240 seconds (from tech 1 to tech 4, respectively). The swimming skill multiplied is then applied to the oxygen duration modified by Aqualung. Therefore, the combination of tech 4 Aqualung active and master skill level results in a total oxygen duration of 600 seconds (10 minutes).
The swimming skill is the only means for increasing swimming speed. The actual movement velocity within a water zone is 30% of the "water speed" attribute listed above, i.e., 90, 135, 180, and 225, from untrained to master. For comparison, running on land has a default velocity of 320.
Notes[]
- The increased oxygen duration from swimming also enables the player to stay underwater for an extended duration before taking drowning damage. However, this benefit can be substituted (or complemented) by the rebreather, Aqualung, and Regeneration. Regeneration fully counteracts health loss due to drowning when upgraded to the third level.
- Due to its situational nature and the availability of alternative means for staying underwater, swimming is generally considered to be one of the game's least desirable skills. However, upgrading it once can be beneficial for convenience, especially in playthroughs that focus on exploration and alternate paths; for only 675 skill points, you more than double the amount of distance you can cover when swimming.
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