Elemental Reactions
Elemental Reactions reward you for layering elements in a fight. Land an elemental hit and it can leave an affliction on the enemy; strike that already-afflicted foe with a different element and you detonate a Reaction — a burst of bonus damage on top of the hit that triggered it.
Afflictions
Each element leaves its own mark when it lands (from an elemental weapon, a spell, or an Elemental Oil):
| Element | Affliction | While afflicted |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | Burning | damage over time |
| Water / Ice | Chilled | −Dexterity |
| Earth | Sundered | −Defence |
| Wind | Dazed | −Accuracy |
| Dark | Cursed | −Intelligence |
| Light | Humbled | −Strength |
The Reactions
Hit an afflicted enemy with the listed element to trigger each one:
| Enemy is… | Hit with | Reaction | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chilled | Fire | Vaporize | Heavy burst (consumes the Chill) |
| Chilled | Lightning | Electrocute | Bonus + chance to Stun |
| Chilled | Earth | Permafrost | Bonus, deepens the Chill |
| Burning | Wind | Wildfire | Bonus, fans & refreshes the flames |
| Sundered | any weapon swing | Crush | Bonus through cracked armour |
| Sundered | Earth | Avalanche | Big bonus + chance to Stun |
| Dazed | Lightning | Concuss | Bonus + chance to Stun |
| Cursed | Light | Purge | Large holy burst |
| Humbled | Fire | Render | Bonus damage |
Reaction damage scales off the hit that set it off, and is capped so a lucky critical can never one-shot a boss. It rewards setup, not luck.
Stun
Several reactions can Stun — robbing the enemy of its very next action. Set up the right element, land the detonation, and you buy a free round.
Reading the enemy
The enemy panel shows the afflictions a foe is currently carrying as small icons, so you can see what's primed and plan the next element to chain.
Every class can play
Casters chain elements with their spells. Martial classes use Elemental Oils — a line of Alchemy recipes that coat your weapon with an element for two minutes, so any swing can apply an affliction and trigger reactions. See Alchemy.
Party Reactions
In raids and dungeons, Reactions now fire off afflictions placed by any party member on the shared enemy — not just your own. A Warlock's Chill primes a Fighter's Fire for a Vaporize; one player Sunders and another Crushes. Coordinating elements across a group is now real, deliberate teamwork, and the deepest way to burst a boss. (Solo play is unchanged — you still combo off your own afflictions.)
Elemental Shards
Slay an elemental enemy and it may shed Shards of its element — Fire Shard, Water Shard and so on — 35% of the time, one to five at once, shown as a coloured line in the loot. An enemy’s element is the one it resists, so the creature that is hardest to burn is the one that carries fire.
Shards are spent at the crafting bench to choose a crafted weapon’s element, and its Unleash. A crafted weapon is physical unless you pay for otherwise; there is no free random roll. The price follows the square root of the item level, so it stays payable at depth — 32 shards at level 1,000, 71 at level 5,000. The world Rare Monsters carry elements too, and the three endgame rares hold the scarce ones: Light, Lightning and Wind.