Core mechanic: The Vigilance bar fills as your allies take damage from the fish. The more your team gets hit, the faster you charge up.

Charging (bar filling): normal play — attack, watch the bar climb.
Armed (bar full, gold-glowing): a countdown starts. Your damage bonus grows the longer you wait without being hit. Base 1.75× → +0.1× per second, capped at 4× (uncapped with the Iaijutsu perk on Samurai Katana).
Counter (fish hits you while armed): Parry the incoming blow (block ALL damage) AND fire a Retaliation Strike for scaled damage. Vigilance bar resets to empty.

Paths: none — single-path balanced class.

Tip: Hold your retaliation for a scary incoming hit (an upcoming fish skill or crit), not the first basic attack. The longer you wait, the bigger the counter.

Core mechanic: Marks are diamond pips that build via your attacks. Normal attack adds 1 Mark; crit adds 2. At 8 Marks, you automatically fire Sneak Attack on your next swing — a 3× weapon-max burst that resets Marks back to 0.

Speed path: Each attack adds 2 Marks instead of 1. You fire Sneak Attacks roughly twice as often. Goal: as many Sneak Attacks per fight as possible.
Poison path: Every Mark also stacks poison on the fish (2 stacks on crits). Goal: stack poison until DoT ticks shred fish HP.

Iconic weapons: Shiv / Assassin's Dagger (Speed), Stiletto / Chakram (Poison), Void Scythe (hybrid).

Core mechanic: Each time you take damage, Rage stacks tick up (max 10). Each stack adds +6% damage to all your attacks.

At 5+ Rage (Blood Frenzy threshold): 20% chance per attack to heal yourself for 7% max HP. Sustains you while you ramp up.
At 10 Rage (BERSERK mode): 1.5× damage, +50% speed (your ATB fills MUCH faster). BUT — your DR drops to 0 (you take full damage) and healers can't heal you. Glass cannon mode.

Paths: none — pure DPS escalation. No tankiness, no support — the more hurt you get, the stronger you hit.

Tip: Best paired with Paladins/Clerics who keep you just-barely alive through BERSERK mode. Don't go solo — you're meant to be raging WHILE the team protects you.

Core mechanic: Your Devotion bar fills 18% each time you heal an ally. At 100% (about 6 heals): your next heal becomes Benediction — a massively-empowered heal that splashes onto more allies (AoE splash = some healing also lands on nearby teammates).

Guardian path: Single-target savior. Benediction = 2.5× heal on the lowest-HP ally, with smaller (20%) splash to others. Built to clutch-save the one dying.
Zealot path: Team recovery. Benediction = 1.8× heal on lowest-HP, with bigger (55%) splash to all. Full-team top-off.

Tip: The Regen 💧 HoT (heal-over-time effect on allies) only triggers when you save someone in critical danger (below 30% HP) — don't expect a permanent safety blanket. Save Benediction for the worst moments.

Core mechanic: Each of your attacks places 1 Corruption stack on the fish AND damages yourself for 2% max HP. Corruption stacks are permanent for the fight — they never expire. Scaling: your damage goes up +4% per Corruption stack on the fish. Threshold perks unlock at 5, 10, and 15 stacks. Self-damage can't kill you (min 1 HP).

Infernal path: DoT focus. At 10+ Corruption, your attacks burn 2% of fish max HP per tick (Hellfire). At 15+: your damage ignores fish DR entirely. Big late-fight scaling.
Void path: Self-preservation. Self-damage halved (1% per attack instead of 2%). Builds you personal DR at 5/10/15 Corruption thresholds.

Tip: Trade your HP for overwhelming damage. Pairs incredibly well with Clerics who keep you topped up while you burn yourself building Corruption.

Core mechanic: Each time you auto-block damage for a teammate (Cover), you earn 1 Aegis pip (max 3). Team-wide scaling: 1 pip = whole team gets +5% DR, 2 pips = +10% DR plus team takes -5% damage, 3 pips fires Invincible — a huge team-wide block + reflect burst.

Guardian path: 50% chance to Cover, 20% damage reflect (tanky, low offense). Soaks hits, protects team.
Crusader path: 30% chance to Cover, 45% damage reflect (counter-pressure, offensive). Punishes the fish for hitting you.

Tip: Cover triggers automatically when a fish attack would KO an ally — your Paladin intercepts. The Aegis benefits EVERYONE on the team, not just you, so a good Paladin makes the whole team tankier.

Core mechanic: You build 3 melody Notes per attack cycle. When Notes fill, a Song (a.k.a. Anthem) fires — a team-wide buff. Every 3rd Song is your FINALE — same Song, doubled effect, longer duration.

War Drummer 🥁: Team +9% damage AND +12% ATB speed per Song (17% / 20% on Finale). Offensive buff package.
Minstrel 🎶: Smaller damage buff, but adds team HoT (heal-over-time, +2-4 HP/turn on every teammate). Sustain buff.
Skald ⚔: Damage buff + applies a curse to the fish (fish takes extra damage from all sources). Offensive debuff hybrid.

Tip: Songs last 15 seconds (25s for Finale) regardless of attacks — they're time-based, not per-hit. Build Notes early so Finales fire on the hardest fights.

Core mechanic: Hex stacks build on the fish (max 5). The pool is shared — multiple Hexers stack onto the same fish, building faster together. Two threshold rewards: HEXED at 3 stacks (team gets +12% damage on the fish), MAX HEX / MAX HEX (5 stacks) at 5 stacks (+20% team damage plus your path's apex effect).

Plague Doctor ☠: Every attack adds poison. At 3 Hex stacks, also applies burn. At 5 Hex (MAX HEX), massive DoT burst fires. All poison ticks amplified — Plague pairs with anything else that DoTs.
Witch 🔇: 20% chance per attack + every crit silences the fish (fish can't use skills). At 3 Hex: double-debuff (slow + silence). At 5 Hex: long-duration lockdown.
Necromancer 👻: Builds a soul counter per attack. When an ally gets KO'd, spends 3 souls to summon a Shade — a phantom that ticks 0.5× your weapon damage on the fish for 6 seconds.

Tip: The Hexer is the team's damage amp — even when not dealing the highest direct damage, you multiply EVERYONE'S damage via Hex thresholds.

Core mechanic: Build 6 Rune pips (each Rune-gain is called a Manafont). Normal attack adds 1 Rune; crit adds 2. At 6 Runes, fire Flare (also called Release) — a path-specific spell finisher that consumes all Runes. Innate passive: Arcane Affinity automatically bypasses 25% of fish DR on every attack.

Elementalist 🔥: Flare deals 3× burst damage AND applies 3 Burn stacks to fish. Pairs with Warlock / Hexer DoTs for multiplicative DoT damage.
Chronomancer ❄: Flare deals 2.5× burst AND freezes the fish (slow + silence for several turns). Control specialist.
Arcanist 💥: Flare is a pure 5.5× nuke — the single biggest hit in the game. With Void Codex or Oblivion Tome: ignores all DR or deals true damage.

Tip: Mage is the answer to armored fish (the ones with DR). Stack Mage with Rogue Poison or Warlock Burn for multiplicative damage chains.

Epic gear isn't just stronger — it's a JOURNEY. Each piece you acquire and enchant brings you closer to unlocking the most powerful builds in the game. This guide walks you through every step from your first epic drop to a maxed-out Epic loadout.

Where you are right now → where you're going:

Every Epic weapon, armor, and accessory grants a Mastery Perk — a 3rd perk slot beyond your normal +1 and +2 perks.

• Weapons unlock at +3 enchant. Reach the max mastery level, then pick.
• Armor & accessories unlock the moment they're epic or legendary rarity.
• Mastery Perks only fire on Epic or Legendary fights — they're tier-locked rewards for engaging the hardest content.
• You commit to Path A or Path B per piece, in the Forge under the "⚡ MASTERY PERKS" card. The choice is free to change, but it persists across fights.

Example — Crystal Orb (Epic Mage) at +3 picks between:
Path A — Refraction Mastery: your double-hit chance jumps 30% → 50%, AND double-hits can crit.
Path B — Burst Cascade: Crystalline Burst fires every 3rd attack instead of 4th, and the first burst each fight is 3×.
Each makes a different Mage. Pick what fits your team.

When you have all 3 Epic pieces equipped + each at +3 enchant, you unlock the Class Set Bonus. Each class has 3 set bonuses — you commit to one. This is the climactic moment of the Epic journey.

Example — Berserker 3-piece picks between:
A. Endless Rage — your Rage stacks never decay (sustain matchups).
B. Endless Wrath — begin at 5 Rage; each Rage stack adds +1% lifesteal (caps +10%).
C. Final Stand — at lethal hit: BERSERK + KO-immune 10s + +50% damage + 15% lifesteal during the window. Earnable survival — keep landing hits and you live past it.

A 🌟 EPIC SET callout fires on your card whenever your Set Bonus activates in a fight.

To prevent maxed-Epic players from steamrolling sub-Epic fish, the Epic systems are TIER-GATED:

So your Epic gear still hits harder on a junk fish — you just don't get the magic until the fish actually deserves it.

Orbs slot into your armor. They have their own progression:

Example — Iron Orb path:
Common (+5% DR) → Epic + (+10% DR + reflects 5% blocked dmg) → Legendary ★ (+15% DR + reflected dmg also burns the fish).

Epic armor has 3 orb slots (vs 2 on rare). More slots = more loadout choices.

Class Affinity — some orbs synergize with specific classes. The Forge shows "★ Class affinity" tags so you know which orbs match your build.

Epic fish are coming soon as REAL fights. They'll be harder than rares but rewarding:

• Unique passives — not just "+3 ATK per turn". Each archetype has a distinct mechanic (adaptive resistance, time pressure, counter-attacker, healer-hater, phase shifter, etc.)
• Multiple actives — 2-3 skills firing on different conditions (every X attacks, at HP threshold, on team action)
• Designed for maxed Epic loadouts — winnable with rare gear + skilled team, but really built for full epic Mastery Perk + Set Bonus power
• Drop legendary orbs — the only way to get them, besides combining 3 epics

For now epic fish are dex-only (no fight triggered). Once epic mechanics + balance are tuned, the trigger rate will be enabled. Watch chat for the "Epic fight is live" announcement.

1. Reach player level ~6 (epic gear has level requirements)
2. Save ~75-150 fight coins (epic items cost 49-105 coins each)
3. Buy your first epic from the Shop tab — pick the piece that complements your class
4. Win fights to gather crystals + essence from rare/epic drops
5. Use the Forge → Enchant sub-tab to take that epic to +1 → +2 → +3
6. At +3, pick your Mastery Perk (Path A or Path B). This is your build commitment.
7. Repeat for armor + accessory. Each must reach +3 to unlock the Set Bonus.
8. Build orbs in the Forge → Orbs sub-tab. Combine 3 commons → 1 epic → eventually combine into legendaries.
9. When all 3 epic pieces are at +3, your Set Bonus activates. 🌟 EPIC SET callout fires on your card every Epic or Legendary fight.
10. Now go fight Epic fish. Then Legendary.

This is intentionally a multi-stream journey. Every fight matters. Every drop matters.