Wow, tough question. But, in the end I would have to pick vocal abilities, mostly his range and power. To be able to let loose the screams Devin does on All Hail The New Flesh would have me smiling for eons. I have a lower register, much the same as Mikael Ã…kerfeldt. I have power and a good clean vocal, but I can't get nearly as high as Devin can with his screams. And his sustain is just unbelievable. I want that lung capacity, daamit.

Songwriting everytime!

My brother brings up a very good point, what about his production skillz?

Songwriting.

Bar none.

I can always find other musicians and I have a pretty good vocal range, but Devys songwriting skills...that's the real genius (not too mention his Production skills )

I'm happy with my songwriting ability.. more to the point, I want to write what I write, not what Devin writes I suck at the guitar and I think that's a more important starting point than vocals, so I chose instrument abilities.

Wow, that's a very difficult question...
Well, his songwriting abilities are amazing, but as has been said before, it's better to keep your own style and create your own stuff.
His vocals are very good, but his instrumental side is the one which attracts me the most. The creativity on guitar (who thinks up open C-tuning???), his total relaxed playing style, the technical knowledge of putting different pick-ups in different guitars just to find his own unique sound....
But... it's not only guitar; I know he's not the world's greatest synth player, but all the parts he programmes into his music sound amazing and sound exactly like they HAVE to be on that exact spot.

And by the way... where's "Production abilities"? ... If there's anything from Devin I'd like to learn the most, it's production. He's a God when it comes to producing, imho.

i said similar songwriting abilities, but i want to be unique in my own way. his songwriting abilities are amazing, and i can always learn to play the guitar, and can even find a singer if im good enough.

It was a really hard decision between vocals and songwriting though.

I need some, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.

I'd say songwriting, but then the trouble is that his songwriting style relies so heavily on harmonised vocals - often over relatively (some might say ingeniously) simple melodies, that you'd either have to get someone as good as Devin to sing in order to achieve your musical vision, or else you'd have to start learning to sing pretty damn quick!!

So really, although I've voted for songwriting, I don't think you could do as much with your songwriting in the first place if you can't sing along... which I can't really... so...hmph... bollocks...!

I can play. I can sing (quite well actually). But can I sing AND play together? HELL NO!!

And by the way... where's "Production abilities"? ... If there's anything from Devin I'd like to learn the most, it's production. He's a God when it comes to producing, imho.

Absolutely damm right there me laddo! You could earn a fortune with those skills... right Dev?

song/lyric writing for sure

songwriting

because i dont like to sing(i get nervous in front of people) and i play bass not guitar ^_^

Songwriting. Lyrics are very important part of artist's material and when I heard Devin's music for the first time, looking at lyrics at the same time...I was so impressed.

As I also write lyrics in my band and lots of poetry too, songwriting skill like Devin's would be awesome.

Songwriting. Making my own stuff is pretty cool, and playing skills come with enough practise.

Id like good songwriting abilities then i could write songs for talentless fucks that would be overplayed on the radio and I would be rich. But at least the songs would be better than what is currently poisoning the airwaves.