Stances

Depending on your starting class, you must choose Intensity (Water Dancer), Assassination (Sellsword), or Dexterity (Archer) for your initial stance. At Level 7, you earn a secondary stance. You can choose Water Dancer’s secondary stance from Master Water Dancer, Dexterity, or Frenzy. Sellsword has access to Hardened Killer, Frenzy, or Defense. Archer can choose from Elite Archer, Intensity, or Assassination.

Intensity (Water Dancer Starting Stance)

Your smooth and swift maneuvers set you up to counterattack with precision or capitalize on effects like knockdown and Bleeding. If you like to adjust on the fly and react to what the enemy throws at you, Intensity offers a lot for you.

Assassination (Sellsword Starting Stance)

You’ll use any tactics necessary to survive, including poisoning, blinding an enemy with dust, and stabbing someone in the back. Your attacks are deadly if you can keep opponents from focusing on you. If you like to sneak into combat and deal the killing blow with your enemy’s back turned to you, pick up the Assassination stance.

Dexterity (Archer Starting Stance)

Your projectiles are deadly attacks at range. Because you want enemies to stay at a distance, you have various Immobilization and stun effects to make sure foes don’t close on you. If you like slinging arrows and causing carnage from the perimeter, the Dexterity stance is definitely for you.

Defense (Secondary Stance)

Three-quarters of the skill tree concentrates on building up defense. The other quarters works in some attacks, generally focusing on disrupting your opponents’ actions. If you want to be the one who takes a pounding from the enemy, pick up this stance.

Elite Archer (Mastery)

For anyone specializing in Dexterity, Elite Archer is the natural extension. Your first ability, Point Blank, increases your effectiveness against melee enemies, and your last gives you a little bit of everything: increased critical damage, hit chance, deflection, and energy recovery. In between, you can learn how to fire faster or more accurately.

Frenzy (Secondary Stance)

The Frenzy stance also focuses on offense, but it’s the two-handed variety and relies more on speed and precision than massive blows. Many abilities deal extra damage and trigger an effect (Bleeding, increased Attack Speed, stunning, etc.), but you have to set up a lot of combos (which takes valuable time in combat) or risk going Berserk and losing control of your character.

Hardened Killer (Mastery)

The talents of slaying your opponents come naturally to you. You can become an expert in poisoning or learn how to gain the early advantage over your foe in combat. You can enhance your energy reserves, your damage, and even your intelligence. At the higher levels, you become brutally efficient and master the ultimate survival techniques.

Master Water Dancer (Mastery)

You react and respond to your opponents even better as a Master Water Dancer. It starts with a bonus to agility, and you can go on to gain improvements to your dodge ability and energy reserve. You can also specialize with extra effects on certain abilities, such as adding damage and increased Bleeding to Sting of the Manticore.