PVP Skill List (WIP)

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Primer

This is a list of the current(implemented) skills rated and explained of their usage in pvp, from what I've personally found and learned by other players over time. Everything shown is ultimately subjective; you may find other uses to these abilities that suit your playstyle- experiment with them with this as a suggestion in the end.

The rankings assume that the involving fights are in a 1v1/2v2/3v3 context, without usage of carrot cakes/item heals.

Novice

Recover

Way before early access, this was considered a necessity in every facet of PvP due to the sheer fact of not having it meaning you effectively had only what your max hp was, and not the effective hp of being able to refresh yourself with Recover during a fight.

This still is the case: without a way to heal, eventually your little mistakes will add up and kill you.

This combined with the fact that health/mana/stam pots aren't allowed in honor fights, creates an entire dynamic within PvP, that puts you in a situation where at times you have to evade your opponent to save yourself if you get low, and they to you- where you have to secure your kill or risk them healing back up.

Being hurt once, even by a little bit of damage, cancels the heal. Other healing skills like Divine, Siphon Leach and Restora don't have such a limitation, but only Recover is the skill that heals a straight % of your max hp every tick of it's short duration, meaning you will have to not only dodge your opponent(s) but survive till you can heal up: the results of which come very quickly, and almost always to max health provided you can do it.

This, or some other form of healing like Divine or Restora for mystics, needs to be on your bar when you plan your 6 slot list for fighting otherwise you'll very easily burn out against someone who does. Going only siphon leach is peak crashout but is possible if you only want quick, aggressive rambo fights.

Rock Toss

This skill is mostly relegated to one of the GOATS of pre class tome leveling due to it scaling massively off of strength until you get your good abilities, but after lots of stat and scale changes going into EA, it's a usable skill for anyone scaling strength. Raw damage and stamina draining contributes to winning fights, so being able to do either with a keybind press via a fast moving hitbox that comes out quick is good to have.

Fighters can use this well off the bat, and I recommend setting a new keybind that is easy on your hands to spam this with after dashes or mid stun combo. This is a very aim reliant skill and you'll have to flick this at times if someone's moving good, but it can do work provided you aren't replacing good skills with it.

Racials

Siphon Leech

Imp racial. Regardless of if this hits or misses with it's inital damage, it will give a dot that mirrors it's damage done to damage healed, scaling off mind for that. It's worth as a momentum stealing, life stealing skill so long as you have good magic power for it, so mystics/mind scaling builds will find use in it greatly, provided they can land it every 25 seconds. Otherwise, other skills can bring you more damage/healing.

Leg Up

Poon racial. A stat steroid for evasion and movement speed, unique in that it's the only source of extra movement speed and evasion aside from Bandit's Devious Signet giving extra evasion and crit. For anyone who isn't a bandit with that type of gear afforded to them, this is the most evasion you'll find and can become quickly lifesaving as there's a good chance that you'll dodge not only weapon attacks but abilities too.

Movement speed works like this: outside of your speed just moving, movement speed dictates the distance of your dashes, so more speed = longer traveling dashes, and less speed = shorter dashes.

This can help you chase people, but can also very very much help you escape people and counteract slows from say, Stomp. You might struggle finding a slot for it on some builds as it will often be replacing an class specific utility or other strong racial like Sturdy, although it does beat it out in terms of up-time: you'll have this available when you need it.

Alacrity

Kubold racial. Once cast, will make any ability you do cast instantly and without any cost needed for it. When at max rank, Alacrity itself is instant cast, meaning you can nearly instantly whip out very long cast time spells at a whim like Recover or Fluxbolt at someone. This can be a very scary ability for a multitude of reasons, instant Blood Gush, Payday/Shield Bash stuns, Fluxbolt and novice magic spells...

Another notable use is with Inner Focus, giving you an instant crit on any attack or ability you wish to use afterwards, just for 2 skill slots. This can be pulled off after stunning someone with a slight margin before they can be free and block again, and it's use case will vary between stuns/abilities finished with it.

The few uses it has are all very valid provided you can put it in, but it has to support those abilities past causing it to free for you for it to be worth.

Inner Focus

Byrdle racial. Gives you a guaranteed crit on any single attack or ability and then gets dispelled. Everyone wants damage, but not everyone entirely wants or needs to have crit to handle that. This can make sure you nuke people regardless of it, giving a threatening consistency that makes people keep their shield up until it's done.

Sturdy

Chang racial. Makes you immune to any knockback causing attacks or abilities, and auto parries attacks and abilities. This is effectively god mode for the short few seconds it lasts. It will save you from everything when you can get it off, and let you do whatever you want to whoever. Your only choice facing this is to either use your own Sturdy, or back off until it's done as they can still very much deal damage while it's on. This and Recover, are two very important cooldowns to keep track of in PvP when it comes to finishing people off as both can reverse their game state entirely.

Of all the racials, this will have to be the best for every situation and build just off of the fact it's utter unCCable invulnerability that lasts long enough to jump on someone and back away.

Scroll Skills

Fireball

Shoots a fire projectile straight forward, and puts a orbiting projectile around you for a short time afterwards. It flies a little faster than fluxbolt without having the multihit properties and can leave a good bit of magic damage so long as there's magic power behind it. The other main use of this spell, is in the fact that it in essence puts a magic damage aura around you that can check people with even if you put your shield up at them. Checking their shield over and over like this can set you up to possibly shatter them if they block most of it's duration, and the damage buffer that gets reapplied over and over with this can cover your aggression.

Also only has a 3 second cooldown for spamming.

Spire

Shoots out a line of spikes from the ground that does a little more magic damage than Fireball or Cryo Needle. Can multihit like fluxbolt, but only if positioned to where the spike hitboxes overlap on your target. Theres a chance to apply a Blood Gash effect for extra damage, otherwise, unremarkable in comparison to other abilities.

Cryo Needle

From where it's casted, shoots out up to 5 projectiles with a generous hitbox with a chance to apply a movement slow via Cold debuff. Movement slows are nice but you may want to use a weapon that can apply the same debuff just by hitting instead of having a whole skill be responsible for it that deals good damage only if the target remains still. Comboing this with a stun may be it's best use so someone is slowed as the stun ends.

Spread Shot

This takes your bow and makes it shoot arrows in a shotgun spread in front of you, only dealing dex powered damage and hitting up to twice on a single target. Also, the cast point time is short, and the travel time is bullet-like to where you can quickly throw this out like Rock Toss and check shields/ get some extra damage in at whoever is close. The only malus of this ability I could find is that it really feels like a shotgun: it's range is wimpy. If you use a bow and have lots of dex power, consider it.

Novice, cont.

Execute

A strength powered, deceptively lengthy sized attack that has a 20% chance at max rank to instantly kill anything under 30% hp. Usable every 6 seconds and takes only 0.4 seconds to throw out.

One notable fact about this ability is that it moves you forward about the same amount as shield bash does, being very little. You'll have to use this with a dash to keep on someone. It's not easy to hit someone with this unless stunned or slowed, and if it's being used solely to finish people there is often better abilities that can be used in place of it. Use with alacrity and obtain a way to crit with this, and it's possible to finish people, otherwise just aim to secure kills with a better ability or quick weapon attack. Look at it's initial damage on a Fighter build/strength build, and decide if you want it over other strong racials.

Divine

Puts a small aoe field on the ground that continuously damages enemies and heals the caster and friendlies, all for the same amount dealt/healed via magic power. Outside of it's use as a awesome survivability for yourself, it can deny a small of space from someone if they need to pass through it to chase/escape and lets you heal not only yourself but any teammates with you. Perfect for supportive builds in teamplay, and can even be considered on Fighter or Bandit so long as you have a source of magic power to give it strength via gear or another Mystic's Imbue.

This and Restora on mystics can make a build where the user and their team can tank anything as long as the mystic has mana and timing to heal, and that they stay alive to do it. Up there with Sturdy in terms of general usefulness, especially for mystics.

Life Tap

Almost exclusively used by mystics due to them being the biggest eaters of mana. Effectively gives you a mana potion for a portion of your health depending on the rank, so you can keep the spells coming. With sources of healing, this can be near infinite. It's only downside is that it doesn't do anything else but keep your spells and blinks coming by making you more fragile when you cast it. If you use this, take a magic nuke like Fluxbolt and never stop using it and some way to heal yourself like Restora or Bless, via your own skill bar or a teammates.

Fighter

Stomp

Everyone wishes they had stomp. Bandits run killer jab to get close to it, and mystics weep in corners at being in its range even for a second. It rules PvP for fighters, and there's no build that should be missing out on it, at all.

It deals great damage that scales well with your power stat in a decently ranged area around your casting location in a dome, and those who are effected by the damage take a strong slow for about as long as a good stun from your shield bash.

It's quiet- and fast, very, VERY fast, and everyone who knows you have it has to think about that every time they are close enough for you to drop it. Try your best not to have this just go into someone's shield as it's genuinely unreadable, and those who block it are often just trying to predict it out to try landing stuff on you. Combined with killer gear, you can often win fights just off of getting a crit with this alone if the opponent is flimsy enough.

Blood Gush

Stomp is the king and BG is the queen. Carrying you forward a little shorter than a Killer Jab, this skill puts out a aoe mostly in front of you that hits for strength damage and causes a bleed based also on your strength power for a few seconds.

This decimates everything with low hp just off of the bleed alone most times and it's easier to hit on the offensive compared to Stomp in some cases, due to the fact the skill alone propels you forwards without needing a dash. Also do not let this be tricked into being tossed into a shield like Stomp.

Lethal Strike

Cast and hold skill that makes you charge forwards as a big hitbox on release. When people are hit by it, they are knocked back in the direction of travel. It was introduced into the game around the time that fighters and mystics had a annoying matchup, where pre EA blink was a skill on the hotbar and was very spammable without requiring a dash, while fighters didn't have anything to catch them. This made it alot more managable to deal with as they could predict movement with it and nuke people now at a distance.

This is never really a bad ability to take, especially due to the knockback effect that it has. When someone gets knocked back, they effectively are stunned until they touch the ground again, meaning there is a slight opening for followup positioning or attacks with it so long as you're fast.

Shield Bash

Fighter's stun, very bad range and casting movement but a strong stun. It's use can decide fights, if it can be connected with in the first place. Try to bait into this or combo with a slow before using and you can potentially get kills with it for free.

Rage

A steroid that increases all power stats of the caster and nearby allies temporarily. If you're missing out on damage from gear, look to take this alongside a very tanky setup and just be a rolling ball of stats. There is some teamplay in it, in that the other classes also like getting extra free power, but outside of that it can only really have use as a damage buff if you really need it. Otherwise get a novice in it's place.

Bulwark

Must have passive that makes blocking things way way easier for you. Practically increases your effective stamina in a fight, which means less moments where you're out of guard and out of dashes, and able to defer more abilities.

Reflect

Situational at best. If you believe you really want to counter ranged builds with this despite everything in your kit, do so. Going bow for bow may make this worth as a Fighter, as you can parry shots, but otherwise put points into this if you run out of slots.

Mystic

Fluxbolt

A gravity bound shot that splashes multiple times where it lands on higher ranks. Bread and butter skill for mystics that want to kill people effectively, and very aim dependent. A good hit with this can bring down chunks of even Fighter hp levels, provided it has ample magic power.

It's one malus is it's cast time, and it's entirely possible to be stunlocked trying to cast it if your opponent reads you and keeps damaging you with anything they can, in order to interrupt you. Catching people with this will require constant action on your end between staying safe and keeping on pressure so that you give yourself a good chance of having it even land. Take it as your first option for dealing damage, especially if in a 1v1.

Fluxspear

Mystic stun. Of the three stuns, this one is the easiest to connect with due to the fact it's a close range railgun shot where you're aiming. Due to how easy it is to connect with, it's especially deadly in team scenarios due to the fact that 1 mystic can start a stun chain on someone and have them ganked til death, just off of one split second mistake. Alone, it gives enough time with 2 whole seconds to let you cast something like a max rank fluxbolt down at someone, and have all the multihits tick for free. Try and take this especially in a supportive build.

Nova

Bandit

[laslax]

Leg Up is stronger than you think. Did you know you can't fully look up, and some skills + melee attacks cant even hit you while you're in the air? Combine that with a Scepter or a Bow (which don't have jump attacks) while jumping around someones head, and it's insane.

[Remember]

heheh. slamming.

[Quackjack]

@Regiseal I'd say fighter easily due to how much sheer health they can have and still slam people in terms of damage, at their best gear. Other classes have to really play to avoid their skills while still trying to whittle them down, and I think bandit possibly has it the worst against them for that reason, especially melee minded builds

[biggest loser]

thanks for this, i didn't know some of these were skills even! do you know off the top of your head where skill scrolls for life tap are found? the wiki mentions its existence but not its location

[Quackjack]

Guide in middle of major rewrite

[MAXXimizer]

No mentions for Sturdy, or Life Tap?

[Regiseal]

Thoughts on best class for PvP?

[ariane]

Good Thread son cant wait to Fight u for the 500th Time