Skills & Casting
Skills don't fire on their own. Covers unlocking them in the Talent tree, slots, mana, cooldowns, elements, and the rules for chaining Reactions.
Skills are the techniques you trigger by hand during combat.
🔴 Skills don't fire on their own
They only go off when you press them. During auto-progress, skills don't fire at all — which is why tough enemies are worth fighting yourself.
Skills unlock in the talent tree
Leveling up doesn't teach you skills automatically. You have to take that skill's node in the Talents tree before it's yours.
Each class has eight skills, and each node has a set level at which you can take it. Which skill you unlock first becomes your character's personality.
Slots
Unlocking a skill doesn't mean you can use it right away. Only skills placed in your Combat Slots appear on the combat screen.
You start with three slots, with one more at level 30 and another at level 50, for a maximum of five. You can't put the same skill in two slots.
Since you start with three, if you're going for reactions, it's best to first decide how to split your slots between Prime and Detonate.
Mana
Every skill costs mana. If you don't have enough, the button locks.
The cost isn't a fixed number but a percentage of your total mana. So even as your mana pool grows with levels, "how many casts per full pool" doesn't change much.
Mana regenerates a little between steps, and you can top it up with mana potions. Heavy skills can't be refilled by one step's regeneration, though, so you'll need to save up for two or three steps.
Cooldown
Once used, a skill can't be used again for a short while. The remaining time is shown on the button.
Skills don't depend on your basic-attack turn. As long as a skill is off cooldown and you have the mana, you can unload several back to back. Opening a fight by dumping every ready skill really is the strongest start.
Elements
Every skill has an element. Hitting with an element the enemy is weak to lands much harder. See Elements & Resistances for details.
Reactions
Some skills leave a mark on the enemy, and other skills set that mark off. To detonate, the element has to match. It's all laid out in Status Effects & Reactions.