Skills (Viking)

Skills are abilities which characters may learn by allocating skill points. Skills determine how effective the character is when in combat and during camping. Some skills require a minimum stat level in order to have skill points allocated to them. A character does not have to be present in the party to earn skill points whenever a quest, a battle or other task is completed which gives skill points as a reward. Since this game doesn't work with experience and levels, you can gain access to ranks 3, 4 and 5 by spending a certain amount of skill points. The thresholds for these ranks are 100, 175 and 250 skill points respectively. The five skill groups are :

• weapon;
• offensive;
• support;
• utility skills; and
• passive.

Weapon Skills

Weapon skills define how good a character is with specific weapons and unlock several abilities as you progress. Weapon skills have five available tiers. At every tier, a passive damage buff to that specific weapon type will be given for all attacks. A unique skill will be unlocked at tier one, three, and five.

Axe Skills

Skill Name	Required Actions	Description
Shield Hook	Attack	Pull the opponent's shield away, making them Exposed (Cannot block)
Cleave	Attack	Make an attack that is always blocked, but any damage not absorbed by the shield is dealt to the target's hitpoints.
Weapon Hook	Attack	Uses the axe to pull the opponent's weapon away, adding the status effect Disarmed (Cannot use weapon or switch weapons)

Sword Skills

Skill Name	Required Actions	Description
Ready	Attack	Automatically attacks the first enemy that enters melee range
Heavy Swing	Full Charges: 2	Ignores the target's Damage Reduction
Execute	Full Charges: 2	Marks the target for a killing blow on the next turn, which will instantly dismember them if it deals any damage

Spear Skills

Skill Name	Required Actions	Description
Extend	Attack	Attack a target 3 hexes away, but at 75% Damage
Smack	Full	Smack an adjacent target for 50% Damage, making them Concussed (Physical Resistance; Endurance -3), and then take 1 step back without incurring Attack of Opportunity
Distract	Free Charges: 2	Neutralise the Attack of Opportunity of an enemy who is exactly 2 hexes away

Dane Axe Skills

Skill Name	Required Actions	Description
Reckless Strike	Attack	Deals 25% extra damage, but makes you Unbalanced (Lose all moves at beginning of next turn)
Pull	Attack Charges: 2	Hooks the target's neck with the axe and pulls them into melee range
Swipe	Attack Charges: 2	Performs a wide-arced attack with no Armour Piercing Damage that simultaneously hits the target and any characters standing on either side of the target, but which cannot damage shields

Knife Skills

Skill Name	Required Actions	Description
Deathblow	Attack	Deals double damage but can only target immobilised enemies
Flurry	Attack Charges: 3	Makes 2 attacks at half damage, on the same target or on 2 different targets, that each attempts to cause Bleeding (Physical Resistance; -8-16 Hitpoints per turn)
Slice	Free Charges: 2	Makes a free attack at half damage

Bow Skills

Skill Name	Required Actions	Description
Ranging Shot	Free Charges: 1	All enemies adjacent to the target hex get the status effect Spotted (Cannot use low cover; ranged attacks vs. character have +25% Accuracy)
Quick Shot	Full	Make 2 ranged attacks at -30% accuracy each
Aimed Shot	Full	Negates distance penalties to hit chance and grants a 5 percent-point bonus to critical hit chance
Fire Arrow	Attack Charges: 1	Deals normal ranged damage but also sets the target hex on fire, applying the status effect Burning (-20-30 Hitpoints per turn) to anyone in the hex. Can also target flammable objects such as haystacks
Hailstorm	Full Charges: 2	Performs an Area of Effect attack in 3 random hexes in and around the target hex, at 50% Damage each

Sling Skills

Skill Name	Required Actions	Description
Puffball	Attack Charges: 3	Launches mushroom that explodes into a cloud of dust spores that covers the target hex and all adjacent hexes for 1 turn, treating them as full cover for purposes of ranged attacks
Scattershot	Attack Charges: 1	Any character within a 2-hex arc at a 6-hex distance or less have 75% chance to be Harried (Mental Resistance; Base DR is 0%), 50% chance to be Blinded (Mental Resistance; Perception -5), and 25% chance to be Concussed (Physical Resistance; Endurance -3). The attack deals no damage
Grenade	Attack Charges: 1	Launches a bladder which spreads oil across the target hex and all adjacent hexes. Any occupying character gets the status effect Flammable (Burning will last twice as long)

Shield Skills

Skill Name	Required Actions	Description
Brace	Attack Charges: 1	Restores your shield to mint condition
Defend	Attack	You get the status effect Defend (Shield is impervious to damage)
Shield Bash	Attack	Pushes the target 1 hex away and applies the status effect Knocked Down (Physical Resistance; Unable to act, cannot block, Base DR is 0%; recovering costs 2 moves). This ability is nearly the same as Rebuke with the passive skill Powerful Kick.

Unarmed Skills

Skill Name	Required Actions	Description
Grapple	Attack	When flanking an enemy, grab hold of them to immobilise them until your next turn
Heavy Punch	Full	A heavier punch that deals +50% Damage
Headbutt	Attack	Attack at full damage and apply the status effect Stunned (Physical Resistance; Unable to act, cannot block, Base DR is 0%) if the attack isn't blocked. Provokes Attack of Opportunity and cannot be used against characters with helmets

Offensive Skills

Offensive Skills provide extra abilities to be used during combat that aren't tied to any specific weapon.

		SP	Skill Name	Description
		9	Anticipate Opening	The next attack will always be a critical.
		9	Charge	+5 damage for every hex moved before attacking
		6	Cripple	Ranged weapons only: 25% damage but takes away all movement in next turn.
			Hook and Slash	Dual Wielding (at Skill Points 3/6/9/12/15) Hook and Slash - an unblockable attack. Parry - increases the reduction of damage taken and allows you to take an occasional attack in the next turn. One-Two is an action that allows you to attack twice, or two different enemies. If you are being attacked on two sides, you will attack both of the opponents with an unblockable attack. Only knives and axes can be wielded off-hand.
			Parry
			OneTwo
		9	Feint	Move to the other side and make the opponent use his 'Attack of Opportunity'.
		Free	Interrupt	Postpone a ranged attack until you have at least a 75% chance to hit an enemy during the enemy turn, or until an enemy closes to within 6 hexes. Can be upgraded with the 'Passive Skill' called 'Steady Hands which makes interruption attacks have 100% hit chance.
		6	Rebuke	A kick that moves the target one hex away. Can be upgraded with the 'Passive Skill' called 'Powerful Kick' to make opponent 'Knocked Down' (Physical Resistance: Unable to act).
		12	Stun	A melee attack that applies the status 'Stunned' (Physical Resistance: Unable to act)
			Throw Rock	Throwing (at Skill Points 3/6/9/12/15). Throw Rock - It is difficult to be accurate with the stone, even after you have performed it after a regular attack. Toss - toss either your enemy or an ally into a field next to your position. Throw Axe - a ranged attack over short distance. They do not have to carry raneged weapons to attack a nearby enemy.
			Toss
			Throw Axe

Support Skills help allies by buffing, hindering enemies by debuffing, or provide tactical advantages without dealing direct damage. In addition, the support skill healing can be used to cure injured hirdmen and the witchcraft skill can be used at a camp to produce medicine which requires herbs as ingredient.

Benediction

This skill can only be used by Northumbrians, thus the only long time party member with access to this skill is Morcant.

	Skill Name	SP	Required Actions	Description
	Sacrament	9	Attack	Double physical and mental resistances.
	Damnation	12	Attack
	Supplication	15	Attack
	Condemnation	18	Attack
	Litany	21	Attack
	Total:	75

Galder

This skill can only be used by Norsemen and only Norsemen benefit from using the abilities. You need 4 Sense to have access to all skills.

	Skill Name	SP	Required Actions	Description
	Tyr's Favour	9	Attack Charge: 1	Raise damage reduction by 25% percent points for three turns.
	Balder's Favour	12	Attack Charge: 1	Sets Physical resistance to 100% for three turns, making warriors immune to status effects like fire and poison.
	Thor's Favour	15	Attack Charge: 1	Improves base melee damage by 20% for three turns.
	Odin's Favour	18	Attack Charge: 1	Sets Mental resistances to 100% for three turns, making warriors fearless
	Loki's Favour	21	Attack Charge: 1	Improves critical hit chances by 10 for three turns.
	Total:	75

Healing

This skill can be used by all characters with at least 6 Sense.

	Skill Name	SP	Required Actions	Description
	Heal (Restore)	9	Attack Charges: 3	Restore lost health to a character. Improves healing by 10.
		12		Improves healing by 20.
	Cure	15	Attack	Heals almost any negative status effect the character is inflicted with. Improves healing by 30.
		18		Improves healing by 40.
	Revive	21	Full action Charges: 2	Revives an incapacitated character with about 50% of his total hitpoints. Improves healing by 50.
	Total:	75

Leadership

This skill can be used by all characters with at least 4 Sense.

	Skill Name	SP	Required Actions	Description
	Movement	6	Attack Charges: 3	+5% physical and mental resistances. Gives every allied unit one extra movement in the current turn. In case they spend the attack on movement as well, they can move two spaces more in that turn.
		9		+5% physical and mental resistances.
	Inspire	12	Attack Charges: 3	+5% physical and mental resistances. Gives a chosen friendly unit one extra attack. The extra attack can only be spent by using a normal attack or a skill which requires an attack, can't be used for movement like a normal attack action.
		15		+5% physical and mental resistances.
	Ruse	18	Attack Charge: 1	+5% physical and mental resistances. Every enemy in a 2 hex radius from the centre must leave the area, unless they are engaged in melee combat.
	Total:	60

Protect

This ability can be used by character who have at least four Endurance.

	Skill Name	SP	Required Actions	Description
	Protect	9	Attack	Gives every allied unit adjacent to the user the same damage reductions as the user. In case one or two damage reduction are higher than the user, this skill doesn't lower them. Great skill for tanks and other units frequently found in the shieldwall.

Spot Traps

To being able to invest skill points in this skill, a character needs 4 Perpection.

	Skill Name	SP	Required Actions	Description
	Spot traps	6	Free	Whenever the character moves a hex, the hex where the unit walks to, will be checked on the presence of traps. In case there is a trap, the character will halt at the previous hex in the chosen route and the hex with a trap, has a red circle inside it.
		9		Increases the chance to spot non-combat traps. Whenever the character moves a hex with spot traps activated, all adjacent hexes will be checked on the presence of traps.
	Disarm	12	Attack	The character can disarm spotted traps. The disarmed trap is added to the inventory.

Tactical Move

	Skill Name	SP	Required Actions	Description
	Tactical Move	Free	Attack	Halves the user's moves, but allows him to move through traps and Attacks of Opportunity without triggering them.

Taunt

	Skill Name	SP	Required Actions	Description
	Taunt	10	Attack (Charges: 1)	Forces the target to move their full movement toward the user (Mental Resistance)

Witchcraft

This skill can be used by all characters with at least 4 Sense.

	Skill Name	SP	Required Actions	Description
	Demoralise	6	Attack	Makes from one herb, one medicine each shift at the campsite. If an enemy fails to pass a mental resistance check, he/she will be demoralised for one turn, which gives a -50 penalty to max. ranged accuracy.
	Poison	9	Attack	Makes from two herbs, two medicines each shift at the campsite. Gives the target the "Venomous" effect, which makes his attacks apply the "Poisoned" status on hit (character takes 15-30 damage at the end of the turn).
	Dust	12	Free Charges: 2	Makes from three herbs, three medicines each shift at the campsite. Gives the target the "Drugged" status to anyone occupying the 3 front facing hexes (-2 Finesse and -2 Perception).
	Talon	15	Free	Makes from four herbs, four medicines each shift at the campsite. Has a 50% chance to inflict Panicked (Mental Resistance; Character will behave erratically), 25% chance to inflict Frightened (Mental Resistance; Perception -1 and Sense -1), and 25% chance to inflict Terrified (Mental Resistance; Perception -3 and Sense -2).
	Suggestion	18	Attack Charge: 1	Makes from five herbs, five medicines each shift at the campsite. Target gets "Hypnotized" (Mental Resistance; Switches sides for 1 turn).
	Total	60

Utility Skills are useful for keeping the party equipped, happy, well fed and in general help the party to function as a whole. They are the skills used when you are at a campsite. These skills are used to guard the camp, keep your party well equipped, scout the area for resources or game and other tasks.

While visiting any camp site, the party can also use the support skills healing to cure injured hirdmen and witchcraft to produce medicine, which requires herbs.

• Armoursmithing (4 ranks)- Skill to craft armour and helmets during camp.
• Crafting (5 ranks) - The skill to craft weapons (including shields) during camp.
• Artisan (3 ranks) - Skill to add special abilities to the items made by crafting and armoursmithing.
• Constitution (1 rank) - Halves the risk to deteriorate after being injured
• Cooking (5 ranks) - Gives the party a chance to get bonuses when camping
• Diplomacy (5 ranks) - Unlocks special dialogue options
• Guarding (5 ranks) - Increases security when camping
• Heavy sleeper (1 rank) - The ability to become fully rested in 1 shift during camping
• Hunting (5 ranks) - The skill of bringing meat back to during camp
• Preserving (5 ranks) - Meat brought back to the camp must be preserved into rations to prevent it from spoiling
• Repairing (5 ranks) - The skill to repair damaged equipment and to improve recycling gains when recycling items.
• Scouting (5 ranks) - Ability to find useful things when camping
• Tinkering (5 ranks) - Skill that allows you to create items from minor resources which can only be used during combat.

The crafting skill and the tinkering skill are explained in greater detail on their own page.

Skills table

In the table below, you can find in detail what the effects are per rank when you invest in a rank of an utility skills and how much skill points it cost per rank and in total for each skill.

	Skill	Rank 1	Rank 2	Rank 3	Rank 4	Rank 5
	Armour-smithing	Tier 1 armor	Tier 2 armor	Tier 3 armor	Tier 4 armor	Does not apply.
	Total: 44 SP	8 SP	10 SP	12 SP	14 SP
	Artisan	50%	75%	100%	Does not apply.
	Total: 21 SP	6 SP	6 SP	9 SP
	Crafting	Tier 1 weapons	Tier 2 weapons	Tier 3 weapons	Tier 4 weapons	Tier 5 weapons
	Total: 50 SP	6 SP	8 SP	10 SP	12 SP	14 SP
	Constitution	Halves deteriotation risk of wounds	Does not apply.
		3 SP
	Cooking	10% well fed, 10% chance you gain 1 ration.	20% well fed, 10% chance you gain 2 rations.	30% well fed, 10% chance you gain 3 rations.	40% well fed, 10% chance you gain 4 rations.	50% well fed, 10% chance you gain 5 rations.
	Total:	1 SP	2 SP	4 SP	6 SP
	Diplomacy	You gain access to additional conversation options as you upgrade this skill.
	Total: 45 SP.	3 SP	6 SP	9 SP	12 SP	15 SP
	Guarding	22% guarding	44% guarding	64% guarding	84% guarding	95% guarding
	Total:	2 SP	4 SP	6 SP
	Heavy Sleeper	Only one shift needed to fully restore stamina of a character with this skill.
		10 SP	Does not apply.
	Hunting	Bring back 2-3 meat	Bring back 3-5 meat.	Bring back 5-6 meat.	Bring back 6-8 meat.	Bring back 8-9 meat.
	Total:	2 SP	4 SP	6 SP	8 SP
	Preserving	Preserve 1 meat.	Preserve 2 meat.	Preserve 3 meat.	Preserve 4 meat.	Preserve 5 meat.
	Total: 21	1 SP	2 SP	4 SP	6 SP	8 SP
	Repairing	Character can repair items, 10% more from recycling.	10% less resources repairing, 20% more from recycling.	20% less resources repairing, 30% more from recycling.	30% less resources repairing, 40% more from recycling.	40% less resources repairing, 50% more from recycling.
	Total:	2 SP	4 SP	6 SP	8 SP
	Scouting	22% chance	44% chance	64% chance	84% chance	95% chance
	Total:	2 SP	4 SP	6 SP
	Tinkering	Rank 1 items	Rank 2 items	Rank 3 items	Rank 4 items	Rank 5 items
	Total:	4 SP	6 SP	8 SP	10 SP

Passive Skills provide small but permanent boosts to stats or give you an extra edge under specific conditions.

The 29 passive skills are skills which can improve the overall combat effectiveness of a character who possesses them, for example, by improving damage, increasing movement and lowering accuracy penalties which don't have to be or can be activated during battle. In the table below you can find out:

• Which passive skills there are.
• How much skill points (SP) they cost.
• What the potential requirements are for unlocking them.
• What they do.
• How they can be used in an effective way.

	Name	SP	Requirements	Effect	Advise
	Adrenaline Junkie	3	None.	Increases melee damage by 30% when hitpoints are below 20% of total health.
	Avenger	3	None.	Enemies who take down a friendly unit will receive 10% more damage.
	Backstabber	4	None.	Inflict 20% extra damage to characters with the harried status.
	Blood Thirsty	4	None.	Upon taking down an opponent, inflict 10% extra damage the next turn.
	Dodge	9	None.	Halves the chance to receive a critical hit.
	Evade	6	None.	Increases ranged damage reduction by 5 percentage points.
	Fencer	3	None.	Flanking damage multiplier is reduced by 15%.
	Fortune Favoured	9	None.	Increases the chance for critical hits with 3 percent points.
	Good Patient	3	None.	Increases the amount of health restored with healing by 20%.
	Hardened	12	None.	Increases the amount of hitpoints by 10.
	Keen Eye	6	Perception rank 6.	Increases the armor piercing score by 50%.	Increases amount of damage against enemies with damage reduction. Combined with high armor piercing weapons, you can deal good damage, even vs. enemies with 70%+ DR. Useful for all damage dealers.
	Lone Wolf	3	None.	Grants 10% extra damage if the character is at least 8 hexes away from the nearest friendly unit.
	Low Profile	3	None.	Enemies will less likey attack a character with this skill.	A great passive skill for support units or characters with low endurance.
	Night Owl	6	None.	Improves mental resistance by 25% points during the night.
	Night Vision	4	Bow rank 1.	Removes the accuracy penalty during night battles.	Great ability for archers and other units who use ranged attacks frequently.
	Nimble	9	None.	Lower the movement penalty gained from armor by 1 point.	Useless if character is not wearing hide armor or better. If you want to improve movement no matter what armor the character wears, invest in Strider.
	Opportunist	6	None.	In case of attacks of opportunity, the enemy may be stunned as well.	Good for front line units. Can be combined with the panic ability of Morcant or the Ruse ability from Leadership. This forces enemy units to flee and might trigger attacks of opportunity.
	Point Blank	9	Bow rank 1.	Ranged attacks have 100% critical change when the target is in melee range.	Not recommended. Point blank shots can be missed, depending on accuracy. A ranged attack in melee range provokes an attack of opportunity. The enemy attack is dealt before the ranged attack, so you will suffer damage. Very dangerous if the target has the Opportunist skill, which stuns on hit.
	Powerful Kick	9	Requires Rebuke.	Rebuke will now also apply the knocked down effect.	The knock down effect knocks down the victim for 1 turn, which gives the party this and the next turn to attack the target, who can't block or move.
	Quick Feet	6	Finesse rank 4.	No attack of opportunity when moving around the enemy.	A nice substitute for the Feint skill, since this skill allows you to walk through the enemy lines without suffering an attack of opportunity, though the enemy won't lose the opportunity attack for the turn and you must stay in adjacent hex.
	Relentless	8	None.	Gives a 5% chance to deal an extra attack when using a normal attack.
	Sexist	6	None.	Attacks againt the opposite sex do 10% extra damage.	Since the male / female ratio is about equal, this passive skill increases damage output by 5% on average.
	Sharpshooter	3	Bow rank 3.	Halves the damage penalty when using the  Aimed Shot ability.
	Sneak Attack	6	None.	Increases the flanked multiplier with +10%	Great ability for damage dealers who also have the quick feet passive skill, because it allows the character to manouvre around the target and improve the odds of flanking
	Steady Hands	6	None.	Interruption attacks have 100% hit chance.	Since interruption is a free skill, this passive skill is also available for characters with no ranged skills. With this ability they can wield ranged weapons with good accuracy, but you can't choose your target with interruption.
	Stone Fists	6	Unarmed rank 1.	Gives unarmed attacks 10 armor piercing and they can kill enemies.
	Strider	12	None.	Improves movement by 1 point.	Recommended for melee units. Can also improve the amount of damage dealt when the unit uses the charge ability.
	Thick Skin	9	None.	Increases physical resistance by 10 percentage points.	Hirdman with access to the leadership skill, can gain better results by investing 6 more SP in the first two ranks of leadership, though it cost more LP.
	Walk Your Shots	12	Perception rank 6.	Reduces the distance penalty for ranged attacks from 6% per hex, to 5% per hex.	Great ability for archers and other units who use ranged attacks frequently.

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Character Unique Skills

These skills are unique to certain recruitable characters.

Aife

• Snaring

Morcant

• Benediction

Moving Skills

It is possible to change the location of all character skills on the bottom bar in game. Click the info button and then click again on the character whose skills you would like to change to select them. All available skills will now be shown, and it is simply an issue of dragging and dropping the desired skill to the desired location.

Since the skill bar has a maximum of 10 slots, it is sometimes necessary to use multiple skill bars for a character. To switch which skill bar is selected, click the up and down arrows directly to the left of the skill bar.

See main article: Controls