I know that many of the skills available in game are down to playstyle but I've heard that training certain abilities, for example Swimming don't really provide much of a bonus and can prevent you from being powerful enough by the end of the game to perform some of the actions required (like hacking doors or lock picking) and can make the game more difficult near the end of the game.
Are there any of the other skills that I should avoid due to them being generally useless?
Are there any skills (other than my primary weapon skill, obviously) that I should definitely take?
Best Answer
The lovely thing about Deus Ex is that the answer to this (and many similar questions) is: "It depends on you."
That is, the usefulness (or lack thereof) of nearly any skill set is almost entirely dependent upon your play style and strategy. For most missions in Deus Ex, "TIMTOWTDI" is fully applicable.
So, you want to be a super-stealth sniper assassin whose enemies never see or hear him coming? Beef up on Weapons: Rifle, Weapons: Low-Tech, Lockpicking, Electronics, and Computer. Dump Weapons: Demolition, Weapons: Pistol, Weapons: Heavy, and Medicine. Even Swimming could be useful here, for finding unconventional paths to sneak around your enemies.
Wanna get up close and personal, watching the life drain out of your enemies eyes as you annihilate them? Load up Weapons: Heavy, Weapons: Pistol, Weapons: Low-Tech, Medicine, and Environmental Training. Stay away from things like Lockpicking and Weapons: Demolition.
By far, this has to be my favorite feature of the game - the fact that you are almost never railroaded and can, more often than not, choose your own way to beat the game.