Fencing talents¶
Fencing is a per-weapon, offensive-only tree covering any weapon whose Skill == Fencing - kryss, spear, war fork, dagger, pitchfork, leafblade. Its whole game is Cripple, a 10% on-hit proc that hobbles the target and scales its damage straight off your hit chance.
No defensive lane
Fencing / Swords / Macing trees ship as offensive-only. See Melee Defensive for shared survivability nodes.
The Cripple baseline¶
Every hit from a Fencing-skill weapon against a creature has a 10% chance to proc Cripple:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Proc chance (baseline) | 10% per hit |
| Damage bonus on proc | +15% base + (your current hit chance %) as bonus damage |
| Cripple stack size | -8% to target's effective defense per stack |
| Cripple stack cap | 3 stacks (max -24% defense) |
| Stack decay | 10 s without a refresh |
Cripple proc damage bonus
proc_damage_multiplier = 1.0 + 0.15 + (hit_chance / 100)
At 75% hit chance: 1.0 + 0.15 + 0.75 = 1.90x (+90% damage) At 100% hit chance: 1.0 + 0.15 + 1.0 = 2.15x (+115% damage) At 50% hit chance: 1.0 + 0.15 + 0.50 = 1.65x (+65% damage)
Each Cripple stack drops the target's defense, so your next hit lands more often - and a higher hit chance feeds straight back into the next proc's damage. It snowballs.
Offensive path¶
T1 - Precise Strike¶
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Passive |
| Max ranks | 5 |
| Cost / rank | 1 pt |
| Effect / rank | +5% fencing damage vs creatures |
| Rank | Total bonus |
|---|---|
| 1 | +5% |
| 2 | +10% |
| 3 | +15% |
| 4 | +20% |
| 5 | +25% |
T2 - Adder Strike¶
Prereq: Precise Strike.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Passive |
| Max ranks | 5 |
| Cost / rank | 1 pt |
| Effect / rank | +4% Cripple proc chance AND +2% flat fencing damage |
| Rank | Cripple proc | Flat damage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14% | +2% |
| 2 | 18% | +4% |
| 3 | 22% | +6% |
| 4 | 26% | +8% |
| 5 | 30% | +10% |
T3 - Sanguine Pierce¶
Prereq: Adder Strike.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Passive (on Cripple proc) |
| Max ranks | 1 |
| Cost | 2 pt |
| Trigger | Cripple procs |
| Effect | Also applies a 5-tick bleed dealing 15% of the strike's damage per tick (75% over 15 s, one tick every 3 s). |
Tuned 2026-05-25: bleed bumped from 3 × 10% (30% total) → 5 × 15% (75% total) to match the bite of the Swords Lacerate bleed.
T4A - Lunge¶
Prereq: Sanguine Pierce. Branch-exclusive with Pirouette.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Active (primed) |
| Max ranks | 1 |
| Cost | 2 pt |
| Cooldown | 25 s (starts on consume) |
| Prime window | 12 s |
| Effect | Your next fencing strike deals 200% damage (2x base) AND applies a guaranteed Cripple stack to the target. |
| Hotbar verb | lunge |
Cooldown timing (updated 2026-05-25): the 25 s cooldown begins when the primed strike actually lands damage, not when you prime. If the 12 s prime window expires without a hit you've spent nothing and may re-prime immediately. Re-firing lunge during an active prime is a no-op.
T4B - Pirouette¶
Prereq: Sanguine Pierce. Branch-exclusive with Lunge.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Active - listening window |
| Command | [pirouette |
| Cooldown | 60 s |
| Max ranks | 1 |
| Cost | 2 pt |
| Listen window | 60 s after cast |
| Per-stack buff | +25 % swing speed for 5 s while a fencing weapon is wielded |
| Stack cap | 2 (max +50 %) |
Cast [pirouette to open a 60-second listening window. Every fencing critical strike during that window stamps a 5-second +25 % swing-speed buff. Stacks build to a hard cap of 2 (+50 % combined). Each stack's 5-second timer runs independently - crit at t=0 and t=2, and stack 1 drops at t=5 (back to +25 %) while stack 2 holds to t=7. Once both stacks are up, extra crits don't refresh them; wait for one to fall off, then bank the next crit.
The cooldown matches the listening window, so you can only re-cast [pirouette after the previous listen closes. Closing the window stops new stacks from forming, but in-flight stacks keep ticking out on their own 5-second timers.
The talent has a single rank - extra points buy nothing, this is the full effect at rank 1.
Combat chat lines you'll see:
- On cast: "You begin a Pirouette! Crits in the next 60s will accelerate you."
- On each new stack: "Pirouette stack N/2! +X% swing speed."
- On each stack expiring: "Pirouette stack falls off. (N/2)"
Tuned 2026-05-25: passive crit-window → active stacking buff. The old form auto-opened a 5-second +25 % swing + +20 % damage window on every fencing crit, no input required. The new form trades that auto-pop for control: you decide when to go fast by casting ahead of a burst window, then your crits over the next 60 s build to a +50 % swing-speed peak. Ceiling is higher (+50 % vs the old +25 %), but it's no longer free - the 60 s cooldown buys you roughly one Pirouette per fight.
T5 - Eviscerate¶
Prereq: Lunge OR Pirouette. Capstone.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Active (primed) |
| Max ranks | 1 |
| Cost | 3 pt |
| Cooldown | 60 s (starts on consume) |
| Prime window | 12 s |
| Effect | Primes your next fencing strike: |
| • If target is below 35% HP: instantly executed (HP set to 0). | |
| • Otherwise: deals +300% bonus damage on top of the swing (total = 4x your normal hit). | |
| • Either path also applies a guaranteed Cripple stack to the target. | |
| Hotbar verb | eviscerate |
Cooldown timing (updated 2026-05-25): the 60 s cooldown begins when the primed strike actually lands damage, not when you prime. If the 12 s prime window expires without a hit you've spent nothing and may re-prime immediately. Re-firing eviscerate during an active prime is a no-op.
Tuned 2026-05-25: bonus damage 200% → 300% (total 4x your normal hit). Even when the execute threshold isn't met, Eviscerate lands as a real finisher.
Tuned 2026-05-25: also applies a guaranteed Cripple stack on hit, whether it executes or just deals bonus damage. The capstone now feeds your Cripple chain even without Lunge - a fencer running Pirouette + Eviscerate still gets debuff progression.
Build notes¶
- Precise Strike + Adder Strike 5/5 + Sanguine Pierce is a 12-point spend that turns every proc into a 6-tick attack: one big hit plus 5 bleed ticks over 15 s.
- Lunge and Eviscerate work well together. Both are primed actives, but Lunge cycles every 25 s against Eviscerate's 60 s, so most fights run Lunge → standard swings → Eviscerate.
- Pirouette wants long fights. Cast it as a boss opens, land your first crit fast, and you'll sit between 1 and 2 stacks for most of the 60-second window. Trash pulls die before the second stack ever lands - save it for the named mob.