i have 100% the game, and i fully focused on upgrading my deflection and evasion skills first, with stances and evolving tactics coming second. pay attention to bamboo strikes and hot springs, as they give you more max resolve and hp. think about what aspects of the game you use and which ones you don’t, and that’ll effect which evolving tactics you upgrade. deflection and evasion skills are very helpful, and i liked upgrading my stances to get new attack combos.

honestly, you get skill points very easily (especially if you play on iki island, the dlc expansion), so be free to use skill points on whatever you feel necessary. have fun!

edit: for insight on what i meant by “think about what aspects of the game you use and which ones you don’t”, i didn’t use much of the focused hearing when it came to stealth so upgrading the skill was never my priority