Weapons
One ability per weapon type, and the marks that change what it does.
Every weapon type grants an ability, and every weapon of that type grants the same one. Two things grow around it while you fight. The weapon in your hand gets familiar, and you get better with its whole type. This page covers both, then lists every mark each weapon can carry.
Familiarity
Every monster you kill with a weapon makes that weapon more familiar in your hands. Familiarity belongs to that one weapon. It does not move to another, and a copy that echoes to you starts without it.
A new weapon is Strange. Familiarity then climbs through named ranks: Known, Familiar, Trusted, Proven and Sworn. After Sworn come Sworn II, III and on, with no last rank.
Each rank makes the weapon's ability stronger. Known opens the weapon's first mark slot, and Familiar opens the second.
Kills in PvP do not count. In a PvP fight, familiarity counts only up to Familiar, however far past it the weapon is.
Weapon Mastery
Every monster you kill with a weapon also raises your mastery of its type. One mastery covers every weapon of that type you own, now and later. Elites and bosses give more than ordinary monsters, and deeper places give more than shallow ones. Breaking down a weapon that has opened a mark slot adds some too.
Mastery has no cap, and it gives three things:
- Marks. Each mark unlocks at a mastery level. Every weapon below lists them.
- A head start. Each level adds to the familiarity of every weapon of that type, including the ones you already carry. At mastery 100, every weapon of that type is at least Familiar.
- Cheaper marks. Once every mark of a type is unlocked, each further level lowers the fee for setting marks on that type, down to 50% of it.
Familiarity and mastery side by side
| Familiarity | Weapon Mastery | |
|---|---|---|
| Belongs to | One weapon | A whole weapon type |
| Grows from | Monster kills with that weapon | Monster kills with any weapon of the type, and breaking them down |
| Shown as | A rank name, such as Known | A level number |
| Gives | A stronger ability, mark slots | New marks, a head start on familiarity |
Marks
A mark changes what a weapon's ability does. It never makes the ability bigger. That is what familiarity and the lines on the item are for.
Helt sets marks at the Forge, for gold. A mark goes into an open slot, and only a mark your mastery has unlocked can go in. Each mark already on the weapon makes the next one cost more.
Removing a mark costs more than setting one. The price rises each time you remove a mark from the same weapon.
A few marks cannot share a weapon with each other. The lists below name them. Marks work in every fight, PvP included.
Dagger
Phantom Step
Every 4 attacks on you, the next hit misses you and you backstab. A very big hit still gets partly through.
Wary
Known from the start
Phantom Step waits up to 2 seconds for a wound-up hit, and makes it miss completely.
Lingering
Mastery 12
At the start of each fight, Phantom Step makes two hits miss instead of one.
Bloodletting
Mastery 28
When you backstab, you open a deep wound instead of hitting: it bleeds for more than the hit would have, over a few seconds.
Cannot share a weapon with Misdirection.
Certain
Mastery 40
After a hit misses you, your next hit can't be dodged or blocked.
Misdirection
Mastery 55
A hit that misses you lands on whoever threw it, instead of you backstabbing. Phantom Step needs 6 attacks on you to be ready again, not 4.
Cannot share a weapon with Bloodletting.
Keen
Mastery 58
While Phantom Step is recharging, each critical hit you land makes it ready again 1 attack sooner, instead of dealing extra damage.
Sword
Requital
Block a hit and you counter it hard. Ready again 4 seconds later, or at once if you block a critical hit.
Vigilant
Known from the start
You counter the first hit of every fight, whether or not you block it.
Scoring
Mastery 12
Your counter opens a wound that bleeds.
In Kind
Mastery 24
Every hit you block comes back at its full size, instead of your counter.
Cannot share a weapon with Exposed or Biding.
Exposed
Mastery 32
You counter critical hits against you instead of hits you block.
Cannot share a weapon with In Kind.
Biding
Mastery 45
Your next swing carries the counter, so it can crit, leech and set off your gear. It can also be dodged or blocked.
Cannot share a weapon with In Kind.
Steadfast
Mastery 58
After you counter, you block the next hit.
Axe
Berserker
Every 10 seconds, go berserk for 4 seconds: you hit faster and harder, but physical hits hurt you more.
Baying
Known from the start
You go berserk the moment the enemy falls under 33% of its health, without waiting for the recharge.
Provoked
Mastery 12
Once a fight, a critical hit against you sets you berserk at once, if you aren't already.
Daunting
Mastery 28
When you go berserk, the enemy stops swinging for a moment.
Bloodied
Mastery 40
Your frenzy lasts until you take 3 hits instead of 4 seconds.
Abandon
Mastery 48
You cannot block or dodge while berserk. In exchange you take no extra damage.
Ravening
Mastery 55
The first critical hit you land each time you go berserk opens a wound that bleeds.
Greatsword
Sanction
Every 8 seconds, a Sanction no one can dodge or block. Each that lands makes the next stronger, up to 3 times.
Executioner's
Known from the start
You also get a Sanction the moment the enemy drops below a third of its health.
Reeling
Mastery 12
When your Sanction lands, the enemy stops swinging for a moment.
Tireless
Mastery 28
Your Sanction comes every third hit you land instead of every 8 seconds.
Following
Mastery 40
The swing after your Sanction also can't be dodged or blocked, but hits no harder.
Momentum
Mastery 55
Your first Sanction each fight is already at its strongest.
Shearing
Mastery 58
Your Sanction ignores armor, but never leeches.
Wand
Reprise
Each bolt that lands may strike again, and each repeat may too. Your bolts can't be countered.
Rebound
Known from the start
When your bolt is dodged, it strikes again once anyway.
Tolling
Mastery 20
A critical bolt that strikes again strikes 4 times instead of stopping early.
Redoubling
Mastery 30
A bolt that strikes again always strikes at least twice.
Hailing
Mastery 40
Your first bolt each fight strikes again twice.
Smouldering
Mastery 50
When a critical bolt strikes again, it sets the enemy burning.
Hunting
Mastery 58
Against an elite or a boss, a bolt that strikes again strikes 4 times instead of stopping early.
Conduit
Arc
Every 5.6 seconds, releases part of the damage you dealt. It resets a Sanction and ends a berserk.
Scouring
Known from the start
Each release clears one burn or bleed on you.
Hastening
Mastery 12
Each release comes sooner than the last, down to one every 3 seconds. Your other release marks trigger more often.
Cannot share a weapon with Erratic.
Erratic
Mastery 25
You release on every fourth hit that lands on you, instead of every 5.6 seconds.
Cannot share a weapon with Hastening.
Choking
Mastery 40
Your critical hits don't land. They go into your stored damage whole and come back with your release.
Seizing
Mastery 55
Your release stops the enemy swinging for a moment.
Sinking
Mastery 58
Your release goes through shields instead of being soaked by them.
Staff
Bulwark
For up to 8 seconds, a shield takes half of each hit and strikes back. Back 12 seconds after it goes down.
Standing
Known from the start
Your shield lasts until it takes 6 hits instead of 8 seconds.
Cannot share a weapon with Bursting.
Bursting
Mastery 12
A shield that fades without breaking strikes the enemy with what it had left.
Cannot share a weapon with Standing.
Relit
Mastery 25
While your shield is down, each critical hit you land brings it back 2 seconds sooner.
Mending
Mastery 40
While you're under half health, your shield heals you when it strikes back, instead of hitting the enemy.
Recurrent
Mastery 55
The first time your shield goes down each fight, it comes back after 6 seconds instead of 12.
Shrouding
Mastery 58
Nothing burns or bleeds you while your shield holds.