Withered Knight Talents
The Withered Knight has 42 talents across 16 branches — and you will only ever spend 8 points. Below: what unlocks at each level, the picks that lock out an alternative, and which talents the game's own preset builds actually take.
The budget
- Branches
- 16
- Talents
- 42
- Points by level 12
- 8
- You get to pick
- 19%
- First branch
- Level 2
- Last branch
- Level 10
Every talent costs exactly one point and none of them rank up, so the whole build is 8 yes/no picks out of 42. That is the constraint the rest of this page is about.
Unlocks by level
Points arrive on eight of the eleven levels — 4, 7 and 10 grant none — while branches keep opening all the way to level 10. So what you can reach runs ahead of what you can afford from the very first level, and the gap only widens: at the cap you hold 8 points against 42 available talents.
| Lv | Gained | Points | Available | Branch unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | +1 | 1 | 11 | Core Archetype, Core Archetype |
| 3 | +1 | 2 | 15 | Radiant Retribution Enhancement, Breaker Shield Bash Enhancement |
| 4 | — | 2 | 19 | Parry Enhancement, Rainbow Piercer Enhancement |
| 5 | +1 | 3 | 24 | Weapon Specialization, Javelin Thrust Enhancement |
| 6 | +1 | 4 | 28 | Breakthrough Charge Enhancement, Spear Barrage Enhancement |
| 7 | — | 4 | 32 | Withering Mark Enhancement, Sacred Bulwark Enhancement |
| 8 | +1 | 5 | 34 | Martial Arts 2 |
| 9 | +1 | 6 | 37 | Martial Arts 1 |
| 10 | — | 6 | 42 | Thorn Guide Enhancement, Intervene Enhancement |
| 11 | +1 | 7 | 42 | nothing new |
| 12 | +1 | 8 | 42 | nothing new |
“Available” counts every talent in an unlocked branch, ignoring prerequisites — a talent behind another still needs its parent bought first, so the number you can genuinely reach is lower.
Choose one
Plan a build →3 branches force a choice: taking one of these talents locks out the others in its group for that character. Everything else on this page is just a question of points — these are the only picks that close a door.
Execute with a Greatsword no longer consumes Wither (but damage is slightly reduced) and extends the duration of Wither.
Taken by 19 of 68 preset builds
Wither no longer explodes immediately when executed by a Greatsword; instead, it triggers an area explosion after a brief delay with increased damage.
Taken by 19 of 68 preset builds
Allows up to 2 dodges while raising the shield during Charged Dash (consumes Dodge Energy). Each dodge executed during this time increases the charge level of Charged Dash by 1.
Taken by 15 of 68 preset builds
Casting a Polearm and Shield skill enhances the shield bash of the next Charged Dash. Upon hitting the first enemy, it triggers an energy explosion that damages nearby enemies.
Taken by 15 of 68 preset builds
When wielding a Greatsword, you can equip one additional skill, but the Polearm and Shield has one skill slot disabled.
Taken by 38 of 68 preset builds
Increases Skill Cooldown Speed.
When wielding a Polearm and Shield, you can equip one additional skill, but the Greatsword has one skill slot disabled.
Taken by 30 of 68 preset builds
Every branch
Withered Knight builds →All 16 branches in unlock order. 13 of the 42 talents are allocated by at least one of the game's 68 Withered Knight preset builds — the rest are unclaimed ground, not necessarily weak ones.
Core Archetype
Unlocks at level 2Choose oneExecute with a Greatsword no longer consumes Wither (but damage is slightly reduced) and extends the duration of Wither.
Locks out Reprieve
Allocated by 19 of 68 preset builds
Wither no longer explodes immediately when executed by a Greatsword; instead, it triggers an area explosion after a brief delay with increased damage.
Locks out Crime
Allocated by 19 of 68 preset builds
Wither applied by a Greatsword also inflicts a linked debuff. When Execute extends Wither's duration, additional linked debuffs are applied. Up to 3 linked debuffs can be applied, in order: slightly reduced Movement Speed; slightly increased Vulnerability; slight Health loss over time. When Wither is removed, all linked debuffs are removed as well.
Requires Crime
Allocated by 19 of 68 preset builds
The area explosion from Wither executed by a Greatsword reapplies Wither to all affected enemies.
Requires Reprieve
Allocated by 19 of 68 preset builds
When enemies affected by Wither die, you recover a small amount of Health. The recovery amount increases based on the number of debuffs linked to the target's Wither state, and is further increased if the target is a player. This effect does not apply when equipped with a Polearm and Shield.
Requires Bad Karma
Allocated by 19 of 68 preset builds
Wither applied by a Greatsword now automatically executes itself when its duration ends, and the Wither status can no longer be refreshed. However, the explosion from the automatic execution does not apply Wither to affected enemies.
Requires Collective Punishment
Allocated by 19 of 68 preset builds
Core Archetype
Unlocks at level 2Choose one
Casting a Polearm and Shield skill increases the charge level of Charged Dash by 1 for a short duration.
Allocated by 30 of 68 preset builds
Allows up to 2 dodges while raising the shield during Charged Dash (consumes Dodge Energy). Each dodge executed during this time increases the charge level of Charged Dash by 1.
Requires Rising Morale
Locks out Counter-Impact
Allocated by 15 of 68 preset builds
Casting a Polearm and Shield skill enhances the shield bash of the next Charged Dash. Upon hitting the first enemy, it triggers an energy explosion that damages nearby enemies.
Requires Rising Morale
Locks out Momentum Shift
Allocated by 15 of 68 preset builds
Dodging forward while raising the shield during Charged Dash grants Super Armor, increases the dash distance, and deals damage, while also executing enemies affected by Wither.
Requires Momentum Shift
Allocated by 15 of 68 preset builds
Enhances the explosion triggered by Counter-Impact's shield bash, knocking back other units near the primary target and applying a Slow effect to all enemies within the area for a set duration.
Requires Counter-Impact
Allocated by 15 of 68 preset builds
Radiant Retribution Enhancement
Unlocks at level 3
Radiant Retribution's displacement distance is increased.
The final strike of Radiant Retribution can execute enemies affected by Wither.
Breaker Shield Bash Enhancement
Unlocks at level 3
Attacks from Breaker Shield Bash apply a Slow effect.
Compresses the attack width of Breaker Shield Bash while greatly increasing its range, additionally applying an effect that reduces the enemy's dodge distance.
Requires Off-Balance
Parry Enhancement
Unlocks at level 4
A successful parry greatly reduces this skill's remaining cooldown once.
Branched counterattacks after a successful parry grant Super Armor.
Rainbow Piercer Enhancement
Unlocks at level 4
Hitting an enemy with Rainbow Piercer grants Super Armor for a set duration. This effect triggers only once per cast.
Rainbow Piercer can continuously push a small-sized unit (player or mob) forward. The pushed unit cannot use Breakaway, though the Energy cost of the skill increases while pushing. Units in a special state (such as Super Armor or Frozen) cannot be pushed.
Requires Crushing Force
Weapon Specialization
Unlocks at level 5Choose oneWhen wielding a Greatsword, you can equip one additional skill, but the Polearm and Shield has one skill slot disabled.
Locks out Endless Flow, Polearm and Shield Specialization
Allocated by 38 of 68 preset builds
Increases Skill Cooldown Speed.
Locks out Greatsword Specialization, Polearm and Shield Specialization
When wielding a Polearm and Shield, you can equip one additional skill, but the Greatsword has one skill slot disabled.
Locks out Greatsword Specialization, Endless Flow
Allocated by 30 of 68 preset builds
Javelin Thrust Enhancement
Unlocks at level 5
The sweeping strike of Javelin Thrust is replaced with a heavy kick that knocks the enemy back a significant distance (allowing for camera adjustments during the animation to control the knockback direction). This effect only applies to small-sized units and players, and cannot affect units in a special state, such as Super Armor or Frozen.
Enemies knocked back by the heavy kick are stunned briefly if they collide with a wall. If they collide with another enemy, both units are stunned.
Requires Javelin: Heavy Kick
Breakthrough Charge Enhancement
Unlocks at level 6
The sweeping attack from Breakthrough Charge's second-stage branch grants brief Super Armor.
The sweeping attack from Breakthrough Charge's second-stage branch can immediately execute enemies affected by Wither.
Spear Barrage Enhancement
Unlocks at level 6
You can hold Spear Barrage to continuously consume Energy and increase the number of rapid thrusts.
Every two rounds of rapid thrusts from Spear Barrage increases the charge level of Charged Dash.
Requires Endless Flow
Withering Mark Enhancement
Unlocks at level 7
Withering Mark can immediately execute enemies affected by Wither. (If the target is not inflicted with Wither, Wither will be applied first.)
Withering Mark can pass through enemies to hit more targets, and its knockback effect is enhanced.
Sacred Bulwark Enhancement
Unlocks at level 7
During Sacred Bulwark, you can move and slowly turn.
Sacred Bulwark drastically increases the durability of the energy barrier, allowing it to withstand attacks with higher impact.
Martial Arts 2
Unlocks at level 8
After casting any Greatsword skill, press Major Action to branch into Pursuit.
Increases Magic Resistance.
Martial Arts 1
Unlocks at level 9
Greatly increases the duration for which the weapon remains fully charged with Judgment energy.
After Breakaway, the weapon is instantly fully charged with Judgment energy.
A successful execution briefly increases Physical Damage.
Thorn Guide Enhancement
Unlocks at level 10
Enemies pulled by Thorn Guide have reduced Movement Speed for a period of time.
Thorn Guide can interact with the environment (e.g., ground, walls) to pull yourself toward them for rapid movement.
Intervene Enhancement
Unlocks at level 10
The radius for Intervene to apply a Shield is increased.
Intervene also grants an additional boost to the ally's Movement Speed.
Requires Guardian
Targeting an ally in a downed state with Intervene applies a Redemption Mark. While marked, the target cannot be executed and will automatically be revived after a set duration. The mark breaks upon sustaining a certain amount of impact.
Requires Swift Vanguard