Umamusume Pretty Derby Best Skills: Current meta

Skills are often the deciding factor in close races in Umamusume Pretty Derby. The best skills give burst speed, strong acceleration windows, or clutch position changes at critical sections like the final straight or corners. In the current meta, players prioritise skills that trigger reliably and align with their Uma Musume running style and race distance.

Top S tier skills to prioritise

While exact rankings shift with patches, several skills consistently sit at the top of community and guide tier lists. Meta favourites include straightaway acceleration and straightaway adept type skills for finishing speed, corner adept skills for tactical turns, and unique burst skills that trigger in the final stretch. Guides and tier lists highlight Swinging Maestro style burst skills, Gourmand and Hydrate utility skills for stamina management, and rare acceleration skills that chain with a Uma’s base stats to win races more reliably. If you can pick only a few skill pickups while breeding or picking support cards, aim for finishing accelerations, corner speed boosts, and gold recovery or stamina regen where distance demands it.

How to match skills to running style and distance

Choose skills based on both running style and race distance. Sprinters benefit most from short-window acceleration skills and early burst effects. Milers want balanced acceleration plus corner proficiency. Medium and long distance horses often need stamina recovery, gold recovery, and sustained straightaway speed to avoid fading. A Late Surger will often prioritise big final-stretch triggers while a Front Runner should lean into corner control and early pace skills. Tailor your support card builds so skill acquisition complements the stats you are training.

Obtaining and prioritising skills in training

Use support cards that offer the desired skills on their skill tree and pick events that increase the chance of those skill shards. When making breeding or inheritance decisions, prioritise parents that unlock rare or unique skills your target build needs. Community guides recommend prioritising skill reliability over raw magnitude; a smaller, consistent trigger is usually better than a rare, massive effect that rarely activates in real races. Keep an eye on patch notes and updated skill lists since the meta shifts with balance updates and new skill additions.

Quick meta tips

• Focus on skills that fit the final acceleration window for your Uma.
• Don’t ignore utility skills like gold recovery and stamina regen in longer races.
• Use community tier lists to check recent patch changes before committing gacha pulls.
• Test builds in PvE career runs before entering competitive modes.

Skills will always sit alongside stats and support cards as core pillars of a winning build. Use current tier lists and patch notes to keep your priorities aligned with the evolving meta, and concentrate on skills that trigger at the race moments most important to your Uma’s running style.