Powers
Powers, also called Skills, or Spells, are the special actions a player can do to help in combat. A player casts a power, which requires a certain amount of mana, and takes a set amount of time (casting time). After being cast, each power has a certain cooldown time, during which the same power cannot be cast again.
Disciplines
Each basic class in the game has 4 disciplines of powers, and each discipline contains 10 powers. A character starts off with just the first power in each discipline, but as a he levels up, he gains access to higher-level powers and can add more from each discipline to his repertoire. When the character chooses a subclass, he gains an additional 2 disciplines of powers (or 3 for mages).
Attributes
Powers have these common attributes:
Type
There are 5 types of powers: Direct, Constant, Activable, Aura and Passive. They can be thought of like this:
- Active (not a type in itself, but all powers that can be cast)
- Passive (cannot be cast, simple having them gives some attribute bonus to the character)
Casting time
Casting is the time the character needs to focus before launching a power. Many powers have a casting time of 0s (displayed as Instant in-game) and the power with the longest casting time is ??? at 10s. Once the casting is over the power activates.
While casting, the character cannot move or do any other action. He can receive damage, but if he receives a crowd control effect, the casting will stop. The mana will be lost and the cooldown of the power will be triggered.
Casting speed
The mage power Arcane Devotion, the Goblin power Crippling Strike, and some items claim to affect casting speed. This however is incorrect, and it is the casting time that is affected inversely instead. For example, Arcane Devotion at level 5 claims a cast speed +50%, but the actual effect is casting time -50%, ie: cutting the casting time in half. Similarly the Gobin's Crippling Strike claims: cast speed -50%, but the actual effect is casting time +50%. So a spell with a normal casting time of 4s, would take only 2s to cast if the player was using L5 Arcane Devition, and would take 6s to cast if he'd been hit by L5 Crippling Strike.
Cooldown
After being used, all powers have a cooldown time before they can be cast again. This ranges from 3s for Synergy Bond to 360s for Stalker Surroundings. The cooldown time starts from the beginning of the casting period rather than the end, so a hypothetical power with casting 5s and cooldown 25s could be recast every 25 seconds, not 30. Cooldown is indicated on the button for the power.
Range
Powers that are cast on a selected target will have a certain range. This range is independent of the weapon range of the weapon the character is holding, so for example a mage's spell with 25m range would have the 25m range whether they are holding a range 30 or range 20 staff. The exceptions to this are the powers whose range is defined as that of the currently-equipped weapon. In-game these powers are displayed as having a range of 0.
Area
Some powers will affect multiple enemies or allies, and these powers have a certain area of effect. The value displayed in the power's description is the radius(?) of the affected area.
Failure
Like normal hits, offensive powers can be evaded, or blocked by warriors with shields. Additionally they can be resisted. This is a luck system decided by the game's calculator.