Every class now carries four more layers beneath its abilities: a Stance you hold, Instincts that watch the fight for you, a Last Resort for the blow that would end you, and — for six classes — a Resource that builds as you fight. Five classes also gain a piece of utility that has nothing to do with combat at all.

None of it is on a nine-minute cooldown. Stances and Instincts are simply always there, which is the whole point: they shape how your class feels in the fights you actually have, not the one fight an hour where a long cooldown happens to be ready.

Stances

A stance is a toggle, not a cooldown. You hold one at a time and it lasts until you change it — there is no timer and nothing to re-apply. It is the one piece of your class that is present in every fight rather than one fight an hour.

Every stance is a genuine exchange, and there are two halves to it. The first is the damage trade: what a stance grants you in damage dealt it charges you in damage taken at exactly the same rate, and the reverse for the careful ones. The second is what actually separates the classes — each pair is built on the mechanic that belongs to that class. A Hexblade chooses how deep the hex gathers. A Tamer chooses whether the beast fights or they do. A Minstrel chooses whether the song lasts or lands all at once. A Runesmith chooses between a rune cut deep and a rune scratched in a hurry.

Because of that, the two stances of a class are not a safety dial with the numbers reversed. They are two ways to play the class, and neither is the beginner option.

What “damage dealt” covers. Everything you strike by hand: weapon swings, Weapon Artes, spells, fusions and ability strikes such as a Dive or a Smite. A pet, a Detonate and an echo answer to their own lines in a stance — that is why Pack Leader can lower your own damage and raise your pet’s — and what follows a blow on its own (follow-up strikes, weapon procs, counters, reactions and burns) is not moved by a stance. The careful half works exactly as the reckless one does: a stance that reads −12% damage dealt takes that 12% from every swing and every spell, and gives it back in every blow you take.

Instincts

Instincts need no button. They watch the state of the fight and pay out the moment their condition holds — no cooldown, nothing to remember. Each class has two, and no two classes share the same pairing of condition and reward. The first unlocks at Level 12, the second at Level 30.

Where an Instinct pays out. On your weapon swing. An Instinct that adds damage pays out on what you cast as well — your spells and your fusions — and it is judged as the cast begins, before the spell takes its price: cast from three quarters of your pool and Deep Reserves is with that spell, even though the spell itself takes you under the line. The other rewards (a sure critical, critical chance, ignored defence, TP, mending) belong to the swing. Weapon Artes and class abilities are techniques of their own and are not moved by an Instinct; an Instinct that lowers the damage you take works whatever you are doing.

Class Resources

Six classes had nothing that built up as they fought. Each now has a counter that fills through ordinary play and discharges by itself when it reaches its cap — there is no button to press and nothing to spend. The next action after it fills carries the payoff. Unlocks at Level 15.

Last Resorts

Gear lowers your chance of dying. A Last Resort changes what happens when you would have. Every class has one and no two work the same way — some refuse the blow, some answer it, some put you back on your feet. It fires by itself the moment a blow would kill you. Unlocks at Level 40.

Utility

Five classes gain something that has nothing to do with fighting at all. Unlocks at Level 20.

Notes

• Stances, Instincts and Resources apply everywhere you fight — the overworld, dungeons, raids, the Labyrinth and the Arena.
• A stance belongs to the class that learned it. Switch character and you are simply not holding one until you pick that class's own.
• A Resource resets if you change class; a Death Knight's Runes do not become a Minstrel's Verses.
• Your Last Resort fires on its own. There is nothing to activate and nothing to time.

Paths — the third slot

A stance is how you stand: a quick trade you change freely. A path is how you fight. It sits in the same panel, under your stances, from level 50, and it does three things: it asks for something in your hands, it charges a trade of its own — and it breaks one rule of the world.

• Worn, or dormant. A path is live only while what it needs is in your hands. Take the shield off and the path lies dormant: no trade is charged and no rule is broken until it is back.
• Free once, paid after. Your first path for a class is free. Leaving a path — for another, or for none — costs 1,000 gold per level. Each class remembers its own path.
• Your Support Class lends the rule — and only the rule. If the class behind you walks a path, you receive its rulebreak at the lower value in the last column, while what it needs is in your hands. You never receive its trade, and never its instinct.

A rule of the world	For everyone	What it means
Block chance cap	35%	No shield, however skilled the arm, blocks more often than this.
Lifesteal and mana steal limit per hit	2% of max HP/MP	One blow never restores more than this share of your life.
Two-handed weapon damage	x1.20	A weapon held in both hands strikes this much harder than one held in one.
Counter-attack chance when hit	0%	Nobody strikes back at the blow that hits them, unless an ability says so.
Dual wielding	not allowed	One weapon and an off-hand, or one weapon in both hands. Two weapons are for the classes born to them.
Damage to an elemental weakness	x1.35	An element the foe is weak to lands this much harder.
Lifesteal and mana steal recovery limit	75% of max HP/MP	Stolen life and mana stop flowing once the pool is this full. (The dark classes already stand at 90.)
Maximum evasion chance	50%	However quick you are, you avoid a foe's blows no more often than this. (A spell is not a blow: magic is resisted, not dodged, and keeps its own law.)
Extra strikes from Barrage and Hundred Fists	2 strikes	A Barrage or the Hundred Fists adds this many strikes to the round, and no more.
Extra stacks of Bleeding and Sundered on a foe	0 stacks	Bleeding and Sundered stack five deep, and no deeper.
Class resource maximum	x1.00	Momentum, Rage, Aegis, Marks, Combo, Chi and Fortune fill to the brim and stop.
Base maximum Hex Stacks	5 stacks	A blade holds five Hex Stacks.
Base echo absorption chance	15%	A fallen foe leaves an echo this often.
Base charge needed to Detonate	100 charge	The runes burst when the charge is full, and full is this much.
Extra Flintlock magazine rounds	0 rounds	A Flintlock holds what its make allows: two rounds in a common piece, eight in a masterwork.
Conjunction damage per active Star Sign	40%	Each Star Sign overhead adds this much to a Conjunction.
Grand Opus and Apotheosis Aria damage per active song	35%	Each song still playing adds this much to the Grand Opus.
Elementalist base bonus to reaction damage	25%	A reaction pays what it pays; an Elementalist draws a quarter more from it.
Cap on spell damage resisted by enemy level	50%	A foe past level 100 shrugs off half of every spell.
Fusion Spell MP cost	x1.00	A fusion costs the mana of both its spells, in full.
Pet damage	x1.00	A pet strikes as a pet: it never takes the premium a player's blow does.
Pet critical damage	x2.00	A pet's critical strike doubles its blow. Nothing more.
Dive damage	x1.00	A Dive lands as hard as the leap was high, and no harder.
Echo damage	x1.00	An echo is as loud as its quality, and never louder than the voice it came from.
Last Resort cooldown	x1.00	A Last Resort answers once, then sleeps its whole cooldown.

Gladiator

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Reaver One great weapon in both hands and nothing held back. It simply hurts, and the blood it draws keeps you standing.	a two-handed weapon	+15% damage taken · +25 crit damage · +3% lifesteal · -6% dodge	Two-handed weapon damage: x1.20 → x1.40	x1.30
Bloodletter A sword, and patience. Open them, keep them open, and drink from what runs out; the killing stroke comes when they are already dying.	a Sword or Hand Axe in the main hand	-10% damage dealt · +4% lifesteal · -25 crit damage · Open Vein: Against a foe that is already bleeding, every blow lands harder and what runs out is yours.	Lifesteal and mana steal limit per hit: 2% of max HP/MP → 4% of max HP/MP	3% of max HP/MP
Shieldbearer Shield first. Turn the blow, and answer it before they have their balance back.	a shield	-15% damage dealt · +15% TP gained · -6% crit chance	Counter-attack chance when hit: 0% → 100%	50%

Fighter

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Ironwall Nothing gets past the shield. Very little gets past you, either — in any direction.	a shield	-25% damage dealt · +15% DEF · -25% TP gained	Block chance cap: 35% → 75% and +40 points of block chance with it (no shield reaches the old cap on its own)	55% · +20 points of block chance
Weapon Master Every weapon in the yard, and a second one in the other hand. Two blades leave no room for a guard, or for mercy on yourself.	nothing	+15% damage taken · +15% TP gained · -6% dodge · -6% lifesteal	Dual wielding: not allowed → allowed	allowed
Spellblade A fighter who learned what the weapon is weak against, and had it answered in the steel. Not the hardest blow in the yard; the right one.	nothing	-10% damage dealt · +15% INT · -10% STR · −20% spell MP cost · you name the element your weapon strikes with (free, any time; an Elemental Oil still comes first)	Damage to an elemental weakness: x1.35 → x1.60	x1.47

Paladin

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Bastion The shield is the oath. Stand where the blow will land, and let it land on iron.	a shield	-20% damage dealt · +10% DEF · -15% TP gained	Block chance cap: 35% → 65% and +30 points of block chance with it (no shield reaches the old cap on its own)	50% · +15 points of block chance
Aegis Bearer Every blow you take is banked, and the vault is deeper than they told you. Let them fill it.	a Sword or Club in the main hand	+10% damage taken · +15% TP gained · -6% dodge	Class resource maximum: x1.00 → x1.50 (Aegis 100 to 150)	x1.20
Martyr You have fallen for them before and you will again. It comes back quicker every time, and it never stops hurting.	nothing	+15% damage taken · +10% SPI · Not Yet: Below a quarter of your life, a quarter of every blow is turned aside.	Last Resort cooldown: x1.00 → x0.50	x0.75

Lancer

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Dragoon The whole body behind one point. There is no guard in it, only the arrival.	a Spear in the main hand	+12% damage taken · +15% Weapon Arte damage · -6% dodge	Two-handed weapon damage: x1.20 → x1.38	x1.29
Spearwall Set the butt in the dirt and let them come. Whatever reaches you has already been answered.	a Spear in the main hand	-15% damage dealt · +10% DEF · -6% crit chance	Counter-attack chance when hit: 0% → 60%	30%
Cloudbreaker Higher than the others dare, and straight down. Between the leaps you are only someone holding a long stick.	a Spear in the main hand	-10% damage dealt · −10% ability cooldowns · -20 crit damage	Dive damage: x1.00 → x1.39	not lent

Rogue

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Ghost Never where the blow lands. It costs you the weight behind your own.	nothing	-15% damage dealt · +6% dodge · -20 crit damage	Maximum evasion chance: 50% → 65%	57%
Seven Moves Five moves ahead is for amateurs. Two knives, seven moves, and one very bad moment for somebody.	a weapon in each hand	+10% damage taken · +15 crit damage · -15% TP gained	Class resource maximum: x1.00 → x1.50 (Combo 5 to 7)	x1.20
Venomer The knife is only how the oil gets in. Know what the thing in front of you cannot stand, and coat the blade in it.	a Dagger in the main hand	-10% damage dealt · +20% buff & song duration · -4% crit chance	Damage to an elemental weakness: x1.35 → x1.60	x1.47

Archer

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Stormbow Three arrows on the string where the world allows two. None of them is the careful one.	a Bow in the main hand	-10% damage dealt · +15% TP gained · -20 crit damage	Extra strikes from Barrage and Hundred Fists: 2 strikes → 3 strikes	not lent
Sharpshooter Mark them, and mark them again, long past the point the others let fly. Standing still that long has a price.	a Bow in the main hand	+10% damage taken · +4% crit chance · -6% dodge · First Arrow: Against a foe nobody has touched yet, your blows are likelier to strike true.	Class resource maximum: x1.00 → x1.50 (Marks 5 to 7)	x1.20
Skirmisher Loose and move, loose and move. They hit where you were.	nothing	-12% damage dealt · +6% dodge · -10% Weapon Arte damage	Maximum evasion chance: 50% → 62%	56%

Pugilist

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Hundred Hands They said a hundred was a figure of speech. Count them.	a Knuckles in the main hand	-10% damage dealt · +15% TP gained · -20 crit damage	Extra strikes from Barrage and Hundred Fists: 2 strikes → 3 strikes	not lent
Counterpuncher Let them swing. The opening is inside the swing, and you live there.	a Knuckles in the main hand	-15% damage dealt · +4% dodge · -10% TP gained	Counter-attack chance when hit: 0% → 75%	40%
Long Breath The breath goes deeper than ten. Holding that much of it leaves the skin thin.	nothing	+10% damage taken · −10% ability cooldowns · -4% lifesteal	Class resource maximum: x1.00 → x1.50 (Chi 10 to 15)	x1.20

Magician

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Archmage The great beasts shrug off half of every spell. Half of yours, no longer. The mana it takes is not a small matter, and neither is the robe.	nothing	+15% damage taken · +20% spell MP cost	Cap on spell damage resisted by enemy level: 50% → 35%	42%
Weaver Two spells braided into one, for well under the price of two. The braid takes both hands and most of your attention.	nothing	-10% DEF · +15% buff & song duration · +10% ability cooldowns	Fusion Spell MP cost: x1.00 → x0.65	x0.80
Savant You read the foe before the first word is spoken. The right spell, not the large one.	nothing	+10% damage taken · −10% spell MP cost · -25 crit damage	Damage to an elemental weakness: x1.35 → x1.60	x1.47

Warlock

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Hemomancer What you drink from them fills you nearly to the brim, where others must stop at three parts in four. The thirst shows.	nothing	+12% damage taken · +4% lifesteal · +15% spell MP cost · Red Tide: Below a quarter of your life, every blow that lands gives a little of it back.	Lifesteal and mana steal recovery limit: 75% of max HP/MP → 95% of max HP/MP	85% of max HP/MP
Siphoner A deeper draught from every wound. It is a slow way to kill and a very good way not to die.	nothing	+3% lifesteal · -25 crit damage · +15% spell MP cost	Lifesteal and mana steal limit per hit: 2% of max HP/MP → 4% of max HP/MP	3% of max HP/MP
Voidcaller Size is no defence against what comes from nowhere. It is no friend of yours, either.	nothing	+15% damage taken · -4% lifesteal	Cap on spell damage resisted by enemy level: 50% → 36%	43%

Necromancer

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Lich There is no brim. What you take from them fills you to the top, and the flesh you keep it in grows thin.	nothing	+15% damage taken · +4% mana steal · -6% dodge	Lifesteal and mana steal recovery limit: 90% of max HP/MP → 100% of max HP/MP	85% of max HP/MP
Deathless Death is a door you have the key to. Using it this often leaves less of you on either side.	nothing	-10% DEF · −10% ability cooldowns	Last Resort cooldown: x1.00 → x0.50	x0.75
Rotcaller Everything living has the place where it has already begun to die. You can see it from here.	nothing	+10% damage taken · +3% mana steal · -20 crit damage	Damage to an elemental weakness: x1.35 → x1.60	x1.47

Death Knight

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Dreadblade The great sword, and the dead weight of it. You stopped stepping aside a long time ago.	a two-handed weapon	+12% damage taken · +20 crit damage · -6% dodge	Two-handed weapon damage: x1.20 → x1.40	x1.30
Blood Knight The blade drinks, and passes the cup. It is a poor weapon for finishing anything quickly.	nothing	-10% damage dealt · +4% lifesteal · -25 crit damage	Lifesteal and mana steal limit per hit: 2% of max HP/MP → 4% of max HP/MP	3% of max HP/MP
Festering Edge A cut from this blade does not close, and the next one lands beside it. Seven deep, where the world says five.	a Great Sword, Sword or Hand Axe in the main hand	-10% damage dealt · +10% Weapon Arte damage · -4% lifesteal · Rot Sets In: Against a foe that is already bleeding, every blow lands harder.	Extra stacks of Bleeding and Sundered on a foe: 0 stacks → 2 stacks	1 stack

Tamer

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Beastlord The beast is the weapon; you are the hand on its collar. Your own blows are an afterthought.	nothing	-15% damage dealt · +10% TP gained	Pet damage: x1.00 → x1.30	not lent
Red Fang You taught it where the throat is. A beast that goes for the throat does not come back to guard you.	nothing	+10% damage taken · +5% pet crit · -4% dodge	Pet critical damage: x2.00 → x2.75	not lent
Lasher The whip opens them, and opens them again in the same place. The beast learns to wait its turn.	a Whip in the main hand	-8% damage dealt · +10% Weapon Arte damage · -15% pet damage	Extra stacks of Bleeding and Sundered on a foe: 0 stacks → 2 stacks	1 stack

Minstrel

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Maestro Every song still in the air is an instrument, and the Opus is written for all of them at once. A conductor cannot also duck.	a Harp in the main hand	+10% damage taken · +15% buff & song duration · -4% dodge	Grand Opus and Apotheosis Aria damage per active song: 35% → 50%	not lent
Dissonance There is a note that big things cannot shrug off. Holding it is hard on the voice, and on the songs that come after.	nothing	+10% damage taken · -20% buff & song duration	Cap on spell damage resisted by enemy level: 50% → 38%	44%
Encore The crowd will not let you leave the stage. Neither, it turns out, will death; but the second performance is never as strong.	nothing	-10% damage dealt · +10% TP gained	Last Resort cooldown: x1.00 → x0.50	x0.75

Hexblade

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Doomsayer The blade holds five curses. Yours holds eight, and hums with them, and the hum is not good for you.	a Crystal Blade in the main hand	+10% damage taken · +10% spell MP cost	Base maximum Hex Stacks: 5 stacks → 8 stacks	6 stacks
Cursed Edge The crystal takes the colour of what the foe fears. It is a narrow edge: against anything else it is only glass.	a Crystal Blade in the main hand	-10% damage dealt · +10% Weapon Arte damage · -20 crit damage	Damage to an elemental weakness: x1.35 → x1.60	x1.47
Hexguard A shield, and a ward cut into its face. The ward is paid for out of the blade.	a shield	-15% damage dealt · +10% DEF · -1 max Hex Stacks	Block chance cap: 35% → 60% and +25 points of block chance with it (no shield reaches the old cap on its own)	47% · +12 points of block chance

Mimic

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Archivist Most of what dies leaves nothing behind. For you, twice as often, it leaves its voice. Listening that closely is not fighting.	nothing	-10% damage dealt · +5% echo quality	Base echo absorption chance: 15% → 30%	not lent
Resounder What comes back from the glass is louder than what went in. Glass, however, is glass.	an Echo Shard in the main hand	+12% damage taken · -4% crit chance	Echo damage: x1.00 → x1.25	not lent
Changeling Never quite the shape they aimed at. Never quite any shape long enough to hit hard, either.	nothing	-12% damage dealt · +4% dodge · -5% echo absorption	Maximum evasion chance: 50% → 60%	55%

Runesmith

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Sapper A shorter fuse. The runes burst long before anyone sensible would call them full, and each burst is the smaller for it.	nothing	-5% damage dealt · -15% Detonate damage · +10% TP gained	Base charge needed to Detonate: 100 charge → 70 charge	not lent
Forgehammer Before it was a focus for runes it was a hammer. Swing it like one, and stand there like an anvil.	a Rune Hammer in the main hand	+12% damage taken · +15 crit damage · -6% dodge	Two-handed weapon damage: x1.20 → x1.38	x1.29
Keyed Runes A rune cut for the foe in front of you, not for every foe. When the key fits, the door comes off.	nothing	-10% damage dealt · +10% Detonate damage · -6% crit chance	Damage to an elemental weakness: x1.35 → x1.60	x1.47

Skypirate

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Gunslinger Three more rounds than the maker swore the piece could hold. You stand still to reload like everyone else.	a Flintlock in the main hand	+10% damage taken · +4% crit chance · -10% TP gained	Extra Flintlock magazine rounds: 0 rounds → 3 rounds	1 round
Corsair A blade in each hand and a deck that will not hold still. Nobody lands a clean blow on a Corsair, the Corsair included.	a weapon in each hand	-12% damage dealt · +6% dodge · -15 crit damage	Maximum evasion chance: 50% → 62%	56%
High Roller The table has a limit. You were never good with limits. Fortune this large draws attention.	nothing	+12% damage taken · +10% TP gained · -6% dodge	Class resource maximum: x1.00 → x1.50 (Fortune 100 to 150)	x1.20

Astromancer

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Convergence Four Signs overhead, and every one of them pulls harder for you. Keeping them all lit leaves nothing for haste.	an Astrolabe in the main hand	+10% damage taken · +15% buff & song duration · +10% ability cooldowns	Conjunction damage per active Star Sign: 40% → 55%	not lent
Eclipse When the light goes out, size protects nothing. It is dark for you as well.	nothing	+15% damage taken · +15% spell MP cost	Cap on spell damage resisted by enemy level: 50% → 35%	42%
Syzygy Two lights in one line. Two spells for the price of one and a little more, if you can stand still long enough to line them up.	nothing	−10% ability cooldowns · -6% dodge · +10% spell MP cost	Fusion Spell MP cost: x1.00 → x0.65	x0.80

Elementalist

Path	Needs	The trade	The rule it breaks	As your Support Class
Catalyst The spell is only the match. What you came for is what happens when it meets the thing already burning.	nothing	+12% damage taken · +10% buff & song duration	Elementalist base bonus to reaction damage: 25% → 45%	not lent
Prism Every foe is weak to one colour. You split the light until you find it, and the splitting is thirsty work.	nothing	+12% damage taken · +15% spell MP cost	Damage to an elemental weakness: x1.35 → x1.60	x1.47
Conflux Where two elements meet, you are standing. Fusions cost you far less than they cost anyone; standing there costs the rest.	nothing	-10% DEF · +10% ability cooldowns	Fusion Spell MP cost: x1.00 → x0.60	x0.80

Every class walks three paths of its own — 19 classes, 57 paths. The rules of the world are the same for everyone until a path breaks one.