Template:Weapon skills

Alpha-2 work-in-progress Greatsword weapon skill tree.^[1]

The intent here is to give you choices. Either I want to extend and improve my combo, or I want just passive benefits that increase my attack speed or crit chance.^[2] – Brian Ferguson

Weapon skills grant passive skills and proc effects and other status conditions, rather than usable skills on a player's action bar.^[3] The more skill points that are allocated to the weapon tree, the greater a player's weapon familiarity. This influences things like the number of attacks, attack speed, and increased chances of proc effects from carrying out basic attacks with that weapon. These procs may offer synergy with the player's active skills.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[3]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17] This synergy also applies to active skills from other characters.^[5]^[18]

Weapon skill trees are skill trees that you can unlock and invest points into as you continue to develop your experience with certain weapon types, certain weapon groups, like a dagger; and when you're doing your basic combo attack with those weapons, which is universal for all classes- anybody can use any type of weapon because stats can be changed on these weapon types through crafting and through drops- there will be certain proc effects that live on the weapon skill tree as you advance in them; and those proc effect effects will be able to interact with your archetype skills because they will have promotion type effects that occur when they synergize with one another.^[4] – Steven Sharif

The weapon combo system determines special effects that proc based on weapon progression.^[15]^[17]
- These procs may reduce or reset cooldowns on other skills on the player's hotbar.^[19]
- Certain rotations can ensure the best chance of triggering a weapon proc, but there is no reliable way to ensure that proc activates.^[20]
- Weapon progression such as set bonuses may change at what level any proc effects occur.^[11]

Our approach is not going to be providing skills through weapons. It's going to be providing skills through classes.^[7] – Steven Sharif

Players can spec into weapon skills on their weapon skill tree (also referred to as Combat skills^[13], and Combat tree^[14]) based on their preferred weapon types and the grade of the weapon.^[8]^[9]^[10]^[12]^[14]^[13]^[15]
- Dual wielded weapons count as a single weapon type on the weapon skill tree.^[20]^[21]

Let's say a dagger has some slashing effects that bleed the target or that cripple the target... Every time you attack you have a chance to proc that effect. That effect then can synergize with what your active skills tree has available to it. So let's say your backstab deals 30 additional damage to a bleeding target. If you attack with your main weapon first and the target gets the bleed proc off and you do your backstab skill then you're synergizing your effects.^[14] – Steven Sharif

Let's say backstab that you can apply to deals damage to the target and it'll have a conditional modifier on that damage if you're behind the target, and it'll have a conditional modifier deal additional 50 damage if the target is under a bleed effect. So you want to synergize essentially your weapon proc conditions with your active skills so that you're timing your certain active skills appropriately with the status conditions that the target has taken.^[13] – Steven Sharif

Certain higher-end weapons (and Armor) have active abilities, but the intention is that these abilities will not radically redefine the way an archetype is played.^[22]

↑ Video, March 29, 2024 (47:43).

↑ Video, December 19, 2023 (7:26).

↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Livestream, October 14, 2022 (18:34).

↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Livestream, January 31, 2024 (5:00).

↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Interview, July 9, 2023 (1:14:09).

↑ Livestream, December 2, 2022 (56:09).

↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 Livestream, June 30, 2022 (1:12:38).

↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 Livestream, September 30, 2022 (53:15).

↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 Livestream, September 30, 2022 (43:45).

↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 Video, September 30, 2022 (24:49).

↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 Podcast, September 29, 2021 (47:57).

↑ ^12.0 ^12.1 Interview, February 7, 2021 (49:18).