I saw another post where someone was asking about which abilities to level up first. Some reason, maybe due to being new to this subreddit, I couldn't submit my comment. But I felt like my advice was solid enough, that it would be a waste not to at least post it. As someone who has platinum on the game, and is playing through it for a second time, I'd like to think my advice could be somewhat helpful at least.

I tend to max things out in this order: Health, Energy, Levitate, Launch while getting the extended abilities asap, Ground Slam, Seize, Melee, and Shield stuff for last.

My reasoning for this order.

Health: You're fragile for the entire game, as most things especially later can outright kill you in 1-2 hits. I opt for at least one personal mod that boosts my actual health, and one that makes health orbs heal for more until I get the Aerobics mod. This makes a huge difference in my own personal play style. Getting max health asap makes the entire game easier to manage, especially in the early game and in tougher fights.

Energy: It's my next to max cause I feel Launch, Evasion, and later on Levitate are something of a bread and butter mix of abilities. I have a heck of a lot easier time, particularly in the early parts of the game when I can't Levitate, to try to move around a lot while taking cover. Effectively, the more you can use Evasion and throw rocks at things without a cooldown, the easier fights are. Plus, my third and final personal mod tends to be an energy recovery mod or maybe an energy boost mod. The more energy I have access to, the better.

Levitate while ignoring Ground Slam is next because this makes exploration a whole lot easier, which can end up being a ton of help getting to secret locations for more ability points early on. I feel this has a snowball effect to where you invest in maxing out Levitate, which makes it easier to get more ability points faster, which means upgrading your other abilities a lot faster. You can technically ignore upgrading Levitate earlier on, and instead maxing out Launch and the extra abilities first, but I personally like getting it just because of how helpful it is overall. Plus, it really mixes well with Evasion and mobility for combat. And, it's a lot of fun flying around everywhere.

Launch with the extended abilities comes next, because if I'm not shooting at things, I'm throwing big rocks or whatever else I can find at things. Combat for me in late game usually revolves around fly around and evade, grab and throw stuff, shoot when I can't throw things, grab heal orbs when needed, rinse and repeat. Early on you can get by with hiding behind stuff and not having to move around so much. But there comes a point where the enemies become too numerous and too tough for that to work. So getting used to being mobile and evasive while taking cover on occasion is something you'll wanna get in the habit of. Something I've come to find very useful is constantly using the Launch skill while moving around a lot. It's also why I tend to max out Levitate first so I already have that max mobility as early as possible. Like I said, you can max out Launch before Levitate, but I find maxing out Levitate first makes things a whole lot easier earlier on.

Also, as a little tip when it comes to Launch. I personally have it in my settings to where I have to push a button to throw things I grabbed with Launch instead of holding down the button. This makes things a whole lot easier to control things and move around if you ask me, especially once you can hold up to 3 objects.

Ground Slam is next cause it surprisingly does a whole lot of damage especially when maxed out. It's also a good finisher when you're about to run out of energy and wanna transition into using the Service Weapon. I'm a fan of using Shatter after Ground Slam. I feel Shatter is one of the best forms of the Service Weapon with it's high damage output and ability to stagger enemies. Couple that with Ground Slam makes it a good finisher for when transitioning into shooting with the Service Weapon.

My other go to form for the Service Weapon is Grip. It has a very early unique mod that's very strong, the Eternal Fire mod. If you can get a hold of a good damage boost weapon mod, and something like a reload efficiency weapon mod or maybe a rate of fire boost weapon mod, it turns Grip into a ridiculously strong form of the Service Weapon. Shatter I just throw on some increase projectile mods and a good projectile choke mod that decreases the spread of projectiles. Especially once you get the One-Way Track mod for Shatter, it becomes ridiculous.

Anyways, next I like to max out Seize. Now, other people might have differing opinions on when to max out Seize. I personally like to do it after all my bread and butter abilities are maxed out. Some people might not like Seize cause it's slow to utilize, and plus it does make you vulnerable. But, I argue that Seize is a lot stronger even without personal mods to make it faster, especially once you max it out.

First off, you don't have to stand still when using Seize. As long as you are close enough and start to use Seize, you can hold down the button and take cover. Also, Seize is really useful as a distraction, and once you can use it on larger enemies, it becomes a really useful ability. No joke, Seize is one of my go to abilities to use when trying to clear some of the toughest challenges like the Jukebox or the Arcade Machine. Being able to Seize some of the strongest enemies to help clear waves faster while drawing enemy fire away from me has literally helped save some runs at the toughest challenges.

Seize actually has something very useful specifically when it comes to either the one island with the Jukebox where you clear all the Hiss, or particularly the Deadline Challenge mode with Shum. You ever have trouble finding a Hiss that's hiding? If you have a Seized Hiss, the AI will always target the nearest enemy. This can save time and sometimes actually save the run. When literal seconds can matter in these tough challenges, having the AI tell you where to go can make a huge difference.

Melee comes next for me, usually cause I do sometimes use Melee to stagger enemies. The damage increase is just nice to have, but not that good if I'm honest. I'd rather just either use Launch or Shatter at close range. But sometimes, you hit a weird spot where you either are out of ammo or energy, and need to use Melee to stagger a foe. That extra damage can be nice cause it means anything you follow up with it will take up less time to kill the enemy you used Melee on. Honestly, if you max out all of the stuff for Shield before Melee, it's fine to do so.

Lastly, I save Shield for last. This might be a hot take, but I think Shield is a very niche ability useful for only very specific circumstances. Let me explain. In late game especially, I mentioned it's important to be mobile and to take cover on occasion. This means that you're either wanting to fly around with Levitate, Evade around, or run. And when you're not doing any of that, you're likely hiding behind a wall or a vehicle or something. When you do take cover, you don't typically need Shield.

The only time Shield is useful is outside of cover. But what about the times you maybe can't take cover and you need something to protect yourself? I have found that Evasion and moving around coupled with going around collecting health orbs sustains me plenty to the point where Shield isn't necessary.

Then, something very important to realize is when you are Shielded, you can either ram into enemies or throw your shield at stuff which removes the shield. Doing either usually requires more close range. But, let's compare that to a maxed out Launch where you can throw three objects at once. Which is better? Killing three potential enemies from a distance while keeping cover or maneuvering around and having those health orbs available for later on top of being able to immediately follow up with gun shots? Or putting up a shield and effectively limiting your choices to run up and ram into things or throwing your shield at something?

The very specific time I've found Shield to be useful is if I can't take cover in time to avoid the charged attacks of the enemies that fly around, or heavy fire from the heavier enemies when I got too close and need to disengage. A shield ram is sometimes better to use against the enemies that fly around and dodge your Launch attacks.

Something to keep in mind of, when enemies that fly around have a charged up attack and are about to throw their projectiles or charge at you. You can actually use Launch right before they do either and they typically can't dodge. Also, sometimes if you throw three objects at them, they can't dodge all 3. Sometimes that's enough to kill one. Or, sometimes if you Launch a larger object at them, they can't avoid it.

Also, ideally you shouldn't be in a position where heavier enemies somehow snuck up on you. With enough awareness, you typically can avoid getting too close to the heavier enemies. Also, the heavier enemies usually have slower attacks and are relatively simple to evade typically. I found though it's always way better to disengage and to take cover behind something, rather than rely on a Shield to protect me against Heavy attacks.

In short, I find the Shield too limiting in the majority of cases. I have found in almost every situation that Evasion and Levitating around, using Launch and taking cover as needed, and just generally moving around, is always preferable than relying on Shield. The game provides enough resources that you shouldn't find yourself needing to use Shield in almost all scenarios.

Even the idea of using Shield to recharge energy or to reload isn't that necessary. The game gives you enough things to take cover behind that you can just do so while you get your energy or ammo back. Plus, with mods that makes reloading faster or regenerating energy faster, you likely won't find any time where you can't either shoot with the Service Weapon or use Launch. The game encourages you heavily to move around a lot and to switch between the Service Weapon and abilities. Shield to me just kinda is awkward to use in the majority of cases whenever I play. Again, there's times that Shield is useful, I just think those times are pretty niche at best.