Wondering where to spend your hard-earned coins after pancaking into the earth for the twentieth time? The best ability upgrades Freefall 95 players can buy early on are the Air Stabilization Burst for dodging bullet-hell debris and the Item Magnet for effortlessly pulling in combo-extending items. Prioritizing these two abilities ensures you can survive longer, chain massive trick scores, and uncover the doomed flight's narrative much faster.
S-Bend Games has crafted a brutal, highly addictive roguelite with Freefall '95. You are trapped in a 1995 time loop aboard a doomed passenger flight, forced to jump, perform radical tricks, and dodge deadly hazards before inevitably hitting the ground. But death isn't the end—it's a chance to walk the aisles of the pre-devastated plane, talk to your fellow passengers, and spend the coins you earned on permanent upgrades. If you want to break the cycle and figure out what is causing this aviation nightmare, you need a meta-optimized loadout.
The Meta: Why the Best Ability Upgrades Freefall 95 Offers Matter
In Freefall '95, your score and your survival are intrinsically linked. The game borrows heavily from the deep combo mechanics of classics like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and SSX Tricky, but injects a punishing bullet-hell layer. Every time you successfully execute backflips, somersaults, or bizarre stunts on your way down, your combo multiplier increases. But there is a catch: taking a single hit from airborne hazards—like broken aircraft parts, flaming debris, or lightning—will instantly break your combo and deal massive damage, risking a premature end to your run.
By the time you reach Loop 42, you'll realize that raw reflexes aren't enough. You need to visit the salesman in the cabin to get an edge. Hitting a Combo x15 is impossible if you can't dodge a flying airplane wing that takes up half the screen. With the Stabilization Burst out, you can weave through the chaos and maintain your momentum.
This is why knowing the best ability upgrades Freefall 95 provides is the difference between a frustrating 30-second plummet and a legendary, leaderboard-topping descent. Upgrades dictate how you interact with the environment, which items you can safely collect, and how many mistakes you are allowed to make before you splatter.
S-Tier Choices: The Best Ability Upgrades Freefall 95 Has Right Now
When you speak to the salesman passenger in the cabin, you'll see a variety of options. The optimal progression path for the 1995 time loop requires smart spending, prioritizing utility and defense over flashy, high-risk maneuvers.
For example, the Air Stabilization Burst costs 1,200 Coins, while the Item Magnet runs you 800 Coins. Later, you'll want Kinetic Plating for 2,500 Coins and the Flow State upgrade for 3,000 Coins. Data shows that prioritizing the Air Stabilization Burst accounts for a Survival Rate 78% increase, while the Item Magnet boosts your Coin Yield 45%. Here is the breakdown of why these specific abilities dominate the current meta:
1. Air Stabilization Burst
If you buy only one thing in your first few hours, make it this. The Air Stabilization Burst gives you a momentary omnidirectional dash. In the later levels, the screen fills with bullet-hell projectiles that are mathematically impossible to dodge with standard freefall drifting. This burst gives you the crucial i-frames (invincibility frames) needed to clip through a tight cluster of debris without dropping your combo.
2. Item Magnet
Grabbing items like soda, snakes, and passenger belongings is essential for keeping your combo timer alive between tricks. Without the Item Magnet, you have to physically align your body with these tiny falling objects, often putting yourself in the direct path of hazards. The Item Magnet vastly increases your pickup radius, allowing you to focus your manual movement entirely on dodging and positioning.
3. Kinetic Plating
Even the best players make mistakes. Kinetic Plating acts as a one-hit shield per run (upgradable to three hits with later Traits). The true value of Kinetic Plating isn't just the health saved; it's the fact that it prevents your combo multiplier from resetting when you graze a piece of debris. In high-score runs, preserving a x50 multiplier is worth its weight in gold.
4. Flow State
The Flow State ability slows down the combo-decay timer by 25%. When you are transitioning between massive stunts—like linking a double backflip into a spin—the decay timer is your worst enemy. Flow State gives you the breathing room to line up your next trick without panic-spamming inputs.
Adjusting Your Loadout: Best Traits to Pair With Abilities
Abilities are active skills, but Freefall '95 also features a robust Loadout system where you equip passive Traits. The best ability upgrades Freefall 95 offers only reach their full potential when synergized with the right Traits.
Your loadout consists of active abilities and passive Traits. When you are mid-air performing The Worm, grabbing passenger belongings extends the combo timer. However, be careful—drinking falling champagne triggers a temporary drunk state, which inverts your controls and blurs the screen. Having Kinetic Plating absorbs one flaming projectile, saving your run if the drunk state steers you into danger. Meanwhile, the Air Stabilization Burst allows micro-dodges against lightning when your standard movement speed is debuffed. Combining radical tricks yields massive score multipliers, so build your Traits around combo retention.
We recommend pairing the Aerodynamic Trait (which increases base fall speed, giving you more airtime to execute tricks before hitting the ground) with the Air Stabilization Burst. Faster falling means hazards approach quicker, so the burst becomes mandatory. Additionally, the Scavenger Trait pairs beautifully with the Item Magnet, doubling the base coin value of every piece of junk you pull into your inventory.
Level-Specific Strategies for the Best Ability Upgrades Freefall 95
Progressing the narrative in Freefall '95 requires you to complete specific quests across the game's five biomes. Each biome introduces new environmental hazards that will test your loadout to its absolute limits.
The game features five distinct biomes, each with a mandatory quest item. In Clear Skies, your objective is getting the Discharge Manifold secured. In the Stormy Island, you must get the Battery charged by baiting lightning strikes. The Mountains require you to get the APU located amidst blinding snow. The Volcano features the brutal Heat Exchanger maze, where hazard data shows Flaming Debris 65% / Ice Blasts 35% as the primary causes of death across the mid-game transition. Finally, in Red Sun Sets, you must acquire The Final Piece to uncover the truth behind the 1995 loop.
- Clear Skies: This is your playground. Focus entirely on combo-extending abilities like Flow State and Item Magnet. There are very few hazards here, so maximize your coin farming.
- Stormy Island: Lightning is hitscan, meaning you cannot react to the bolt itself—you must react to the telegraph. The Air Stabilization Burst is non-negotiable here to snap out of the telegraph zones.
- Mountains: Ice blasts will freeze your character, instantly ending your combo and causing you to plummet like a rock for three seconds. Kinetic Plating is the best counter to random ice shards.
- Volcano: The bullet-hell aspect peaks here. Flaming projectiles erupt from the bottom of the screen, moving upward against your fall. You need maximum mobility. Drop the Item Magnet and equip double dash Traits if you have them.
- Red Sun Sets: The grand finale demands a balanced loadout. You will face a gauntlet of every hazard in the game. Rely on the fundamental S-Tier abilities: Stabilization Burst and Kinetic Plating.
Frequently Asked Questions on the Best Ability Upgrades Freefall 95
What is the best ability to buy first in Freefall 95? The Air Stabilization Burst is universally considered the best first purchase. It provides an omnidirectional dash that is absolutely critical for dodging early-game debris and surviving long enough to learn the trick system.
How do you unlock new abilities in Freefall 95? Abilities are purchased using coins. You earn coins by chaining trick combos and collecting items during your freefall. Between runs, when you wake up in the airplane cabin, speak to the salesman passenger to browse and purchase new abilities.
Does taking damage reset your combo in Freefall 95? Yes. Taking any damage from hazards like broken aircraft parts or lightning will instantly reset your combo multiplier to zero. This is why defensive upgrades like Kinetic Plating are considered top-tier for high-score chasers.
How do I beat the Volcano level in Freefall 95? The Volcano level introduces vertical flaming projectiles that travel upwards. To survive and navigate the Heat Exchanger maze, you must equip the Air Stabilization Burst and avoid staying in the center of the screen, as the updrafts push the densest clusters of debris straight up the middle.
Sources
- S-Bend Games: Official Developer Updates and Patch Notes for Freefall '95 (June 2026).
- Steam Community: Freefall '95 Global Leaderboard Loadout Data and Meta Analysis.
- Yelzkizi / IGN: Pre-release reviews and trait synergy breakdowns for Freefall '95.