The replayability in an ARPG like Lords Of Mayhem comes from trying out different builds, but Wolcen changes things up by letting you switch between skill types by swapping equipment. If you really want to change your build, you need to learn to navigate the Gate Of Fates skill tree, which is separate from the actual skills learned by using Enneracts that drop as loot.
While primordial affinity is used to level up your skills, the skill tree nodes can only be gained one at a time by leveling up. That means that (as of launch) you have 90 nodes to unlock in whatever path you want to take on the skill tree.
Let’s take a look at how to most effectively use those node points to distinguish your character class and build style.
How to Get Around the Wolcen Skill Tree
Unlike a typical class-dependent skill tree, the Wolcen skill tree lets you go in any direction you want and features three circular tiers. Each of the three tiers can rotate independently of the others, allowing for just about any combo of possible paths.
What happens if you rotate the skill tree after already unlocking part of that circle? Previously unlocked nodes are no longer active, but they will reactivate if you cycle back around to the original configuration.
Before picking a path, it’s important to note that many of these skills aren’t currently functioning as their description text would indicate, and several are already marked for fixing in an upcoming patch.
Did you take a path including a skill that doesn’t currently work properly, or just want to try out a different set of passive bonuses?
The Gate Of Fates nodes can be reset by spending primordial affinity; the more nodes you’ve unlocked, the more affinity it costs. Oddly, this option isn’t actually found on the skill tree but is instead found in the character attributes menu by pressing “C.”
Need more primordial affinity? Get this resource when you sell Enneracts in the Stormfall Palace or use Enneracts for skills you already possess. Enneracts drop randomly like any other type of loot. You can also buy them for 2,000 gold a pop (which isn’t a very cost-effective way to get primordial affinity).
Wolcen Gate Of Fates Skill Tree
The three circular tiers begin with the very basic concept of the mage build (skills used with staves or catalysts), ranger build (skills used with daggers, bows, or pistols), or warrior build (skills used with melee weapons).
Next, the second circle offers two further specializations for each of those basic “classes,” while the third and final circle offers a further four specializations for each type.
Since any character can take any skill, and all attributes and ailments end up being helpful for any build, those “classes” can be mixed and matched by rotating the skill tree. Soldier and Sentinel passives, for instance, can make excellent builds where a spell caster stays alive longer and casts spells faster.
Because the circles are mobile, there’s nothing stopping you from taking the Soldier circle first, then going with Cabalist in the second circle, and finally ending with the White Arrow on the third circle, effectively combining elements of warrior, mage, and ranger together.
Use the skill tree list below to plan out your preferred path.
For instance, if you want to frequently land ailments, Cabalist is a good path to take on the second circle (even if you aren’t going for a spell-focused build).
Over the course of your build, you might decide burning is the ailment you like to inflict best with your skills, so Child Of Fury could be a great third circle choice, even though its actually a warrior-focused skill set.
Want to know at a glance which path focuses on which type of build? The Gate Of Fates nodes follow this color scheme:
- Purple — spells
- Green — ranged attacks
- Red — melee
The full Wolcen skill tree breakdown below covers the basic passive abilities of each path on the tree, as well as the three to five special passive abilities that can be unlocked on that tier of the path. By knowing what’s available ahead of time, it’s easy to decide which option to take on each circle.
First (Inner) Circle
- Scholar — The basic mage focused tier with increased spell damage, increased ailment damage, and reduced cooldown times
- Attrition Strategist — Every hit is more likely to land an ailment
- Purifier’s Will — Reduced damage when force shield is full
- Thirst For Knowledge — Health globes also recover force shield
- Sentinel — The basic ranger/rogue focused tier with increased stamina, attack speed, and overall damage
- Covert Operative — Increased dodge chance after being hit
- Backline Raider — Increased attack and spell speed
- Pinch Runner — Gain extra stamina for dodge rolling at low health
- Soldier — The basic warrior focused tier with increased health, resistances, and rage cooldown
- Wild Card — Increased critical change with weapons and spells
- Heat Of Battle — Taking damage provides you rage
- Second Wind — Gain health regen boost when under 2% health (has a cooldown)
Second (Middle) Circle
- Praetorian — The classic tank with big boosts to health and resistances
- Selfless Courage — Bonus to all resistances after blocking
- Retaliator — Reduced critical chance, but gain bonus damage for every point of physical resistance
- Kingless Aegis — Bonus block chance and can block with any weapon type
- Sacred Oath — Blocking applies stacks of the weakness ailment
- Blessed Manna — Health globes also provide increased resistance
- Warmonger — The berserker class with bonus melee damage and rage generation
- Gods Amongst Men — Big bonus to physical, toxic, and rend damage but can no longer deal any other damage types
- Bestial Frenzy — Bonus damage for every enemy within 4m
- Warmonger — Add life leach to all forms of damage
- Manic Slaughter — Bonus damage for every unspent rage point
- Blood Reaper — Converts half of all physical damage into rend damage
- Cabalist — A big focus on causing ailments, as well as buffing your force shield and spell damage
- Primordial Insights — Ailments causing damage over time effects can cause critical damage
- Insidious Decay — Always deal two extra stacks of any ailment, but non-ailment attacks deal less damage
- Grievous Afflictions — Any attack can deal two ailments at a time
- Immortal Offering — Gain bonus damage for every ailment stack on a killed enemy
- Power of the First Men — 50% chance to automatically double number of ailment stacks landed on an enemy
- Warlock — A straight spell caster with more damage, higher willpower, and better at draining health/force shield
- Duty To Exterminate — Increase max rage and willpower
- Residual Energy — Next basic attack deals bonus damage of the same type as your last spell
- Reining In The Darkness — Spells more likely to cause critical hits when above 2% willpower
- Faith Leech — Life Leach affects force shields instead of health
- Resilience To Corruption — Damage over time effects drain force shield before health
- Assassin — Big buffs to stamina, dodging, and landing critical hits
- Blessing of the Jade Legion — Half of physical damage converted to toxic damage
- Slipping Shadow — Dodge rolls can be activated through enemies
- Clandestine Execution — Deal increased damage when only a single enemy is within 7m
- Phantom Strike — Increased critical chance with dash attacks
- Merciless Lethality — Critical hits deal far more damage, but all other attacks deal less damage
- Ranger — Further increase attack speed, improve evasion, and give bonuses to ranged attack abilities
- Come What May — Projectiles pierce targets and hit other enemies
- Persistence Hunting — Enemies with impaired movement effects take bonus damage
- Archion’s Teachings — Attacks and spells launch extra projectiles, but each projectile deals less damage
- Meditative Focus —Deal extra damage when at least 6m away from an enemy
- Safe From Afar — Extreme bonus projectile damage when at least 15m away from an enemy
Third (Outer) Circle
- Arms Maester — Bonuses to one and two-handed weapons, as well as rend effects
- Virtuous Stance — 10% chance to deal double attack damage while reducing resistances by 25%; dodge rolling changes stance to increase block chance while lowering attack and spell damage
- Pugilist’s Momentum — Gain an alternate fourth attack in any attack combo based on the type of weapon currently equipped
- Proud Reprisal — Deal small amount of weapon damage back when blocking an attack
- Child of Fury — Bonus fire damage and attack speed, as well as spreading burn effects to other enemies
- Furious Appetite — Passively generate rage instead of willpower
- Flurrying Flames — Bonus attack speed and life leach, but reduced resistances for every successive attack
- Blistering Embrace — Chance to consume burn stacks and deal increased damage with every attack
- Eos — Add sacred damage, increase attack speed, and buff healing effects
- Dawn’s Pious Striker — Dealing sacred damage instantly kills enemies below 15% health (doesn’t apply to bosses)
- Beacon For The Lost — Bonus spell damage when force shield is high or bonus attack damage when force shield is low
- Unflagging Prayer — Nearby allies are resurrected when health drops below 0; resurrected allies also gain boosts to resistances
- Siegebreaker — Increase resistances and increase damage based on your shield block chance
- Salvatory Anchor — Gain passive bonuses based on type of chest piece equipped
- Disallowing Vessel — Gain bonus damage while stationary, but take reduced move speed after then moving
- Belligerent Banner — Increased block chance the longer a combat goes on
- Abyss Shaper — Increase occult damage and buff status ailment chance
- Occult Affliction — Occult damage increased for every stack of curse
- Masochistic Effigy — Doubles maximum force shield, but health cannot exceed 5% of maximum force shield
- Fatal Pact — Gain 1 ailment stack whenever landing an ailment, but when hitting 10 stacks of any ailment, you automatically cleanse them all and gain a big buff based off the ailment type
- Plaguebringer — Buff health, damage, and speed of summons
- Undertaker — Enemies that die within 20m have a chance to drop a green globe that adds additional poison damage to attacks
- Sacrifice Of Flesh — Lose 20% of health and force shield, but all summons take 25% less damage from any source
- Toxic Emanations — All enemies within 7m gain a poison stack every 2 seconds
- Oracle Of The Trinity — Increase elemental damage and force shield regen while reducing willpower costs
- Ancient Fervor — Spells that inflict fire, frost, or lightning ailments gain various bonuses
- Omnitempest — Chance to cast a powerful spell for free whenever casting a fire, frost, or lightning spell (four-second cooldown between free casts)
- Elementary Destabilization — Chance to cause an explosion when below 25% willpower
- Time Weaver — Increase aether damage, status ailment chance, and force shield regen
- Which Time Cannot Heal — Enemies afflicted by stasis take damage again after a few seconds
- Dire Juncture — Only 1 damage is dealt when hit and the rest of the damage arrives a few seconds later, in exchange your max health and force shields are reduced
- Captured Velocity — Increased spell casting and attack speed when hitting an enemy in stasis with attacks or spells
- Alastor — Wolcen’s name for the ultimate assassin increases attack speed and critical damage, along with adding lightning effects
- Static Transferal — Increase damage of next skill based on number of basic attacks used first
- Sparking Dart — Deal increased lightning skill or device damage if you use at least four basic attacks first
- Intravenous Neural Cord — Greatly boost attack speed for a short time after landing a critical hit
- Duskglaive — Increase attack and spell speed, increase dodge, add shadow damage
- Tethered Shade —Dodge rolling now damages enemies and leaves a decoy version of the character for a short time
- Waltzing Smoke — Dodge roll turns you invisible, and your next skill after dodge rolling deals increased damage (has a cooldown)
- Life’s First Movement — When your number of successive attacks and spells are in equilibrium, gain bonuses to normal attacks based on spell damage; when attacks and spells are not in equilibrium instead lose attack power based on spell damage
- Exorcist — increase projectile and melee damage, material resistances, and character movement speed
- Branded Burst — Increased damage reduction the longer you go without being hit
- Academic Fieldwork — Increased material damage after killing a champion
- Blessed Silver — Bonus melee and projectile damage (amount of bonus damage time reduced when using skills, increased after dodge rolling)
- White Arrow — Add frost damage while increasing projectile damage, dodge chance, and force shield regen
- Hungry Stalactite — Deal 30% of the remaining amount of pierce on any projectile attack
- Acute Tracking — Gain bonus damage the longer combat goes on (resets every 10 seconds)
- Wintry Hail — Basic projectile attacks now bounce between enemies and deal Frost damage when bouncing
Ready to start building some different character types? Let us know what you want to create, and be sure to use the Wolcen Universe builder here to map out your planned skill tree path before playing!
Need more specific help with various builds or overcoming the many Wolcen launch bugs? Check out our full list of Wolcen tips and gameplay hints here:
- Don’t transmute items if you don’t want to get locked out of Wolcen!
- The absolute best Wolcen build — boss killer bleeding edge
- Online game creation bug fix
