Class record
Black Oath Style
Striker
- Tier
- 2
- Difficulty
- 3 / 5
- Main role
- Striker
- Secondary role
- —
Rules reference
Class mechanics
Entry requirements and the complete level-by-level advancement path.
Entry
Requirements
Cultivator or Martial Artist mastered.
Advancement
Progression
- UnlockKey ability
- Level 2Ability 1
- Level 3SkillsYou gain +5 skill points to spend on Athletics, Deception, Intimidation, Insight, Medicine or Common Knowledge. You can exchange any skill point for 2 expertise points, but must spend them in these skills.
- Level 4Ability 2
- Level 5HeartYou gain +1 Fitness or Presence.
- Level 6Ability 3
- Level 7SoulYou gain +1 Focus, Power or Toughness.
- Level 8Ultimate ability
Identity & lore
Class overview
Fordu D’ Nali stood, centered in the middle of the rough road. Behind her, a village was evacuating in the face of the incoming armies of Northi and Westria. Before her, a scouting party of Westrian Crusaders were dismounting, all shining silver armor and shields. At their head, a hulking brute of a man stomped forward, a massive greatsword already licking with holy light.
“I am Ser Kael, Paladin of the Church of Light. In Kari’s name, surrender so that you may be granted a peaceful end,” the man boomed.
Fordu scoffed and took a heavy stance, her fists clenched. “You want to get past me? You don’t have enough blood to pay that toll.”
The men behind Ser Kael shifted as if they could feel the weight of power gathering around her. The paladin leveled his sword at her, golden fire ripping down its length, casting an incandescent glow across the shadows of the canyon wall. He took first one step, the ground cracking slightly underneath his might, then another. Then he was running, his sword pointed to skewer her.
She took a slow, deep breath and released the power singing in her blood. Shadowy wings burst from her back and time seemed to slow. The onrushing paladin no longer barreled down at her like a charging horse. The pain and ache of her Divine Release was captured, channeled, stored. Licks of dark fire flickered around her fists as she waited and watched. Ser Kael closed the distance and she did nothing to stop him from plunging his sword directly through her chest. She barely felt the massive sword, but the holy light ate at her like acid. Even with every bit of her training, she couldn’t hold in the scream that ripped from her throat.
But she didn’t fall. Her wings stabilized her, her stance grounded her, and the pain was only fuel. Gathered, condensed, mixed, converted into a dark fire. As close as they were, she could see Ser Kael’s eyes widen in shock through the gap in his helmet. Then she struck back. Shadow Counter. Taking the pain of her Divine Release, the agony of being stabbed and burned by holy fire. Her mana flooded with the growing counter, empowering and bringing the potential to its height. Even the impact of her attack she reflected upon herself, amplified, and unleashed to join the rush of force and shadow.
Ser Kael ceased to exist from the waist up. Fordu stumbled forward a step without his weight holding her up and she pulled the sword still impaling her painfully out of her chest. It clattered loudly against the canyon floor. She took another step forward and the crusaders Ser Kael brought with him took a step back. She grinned and wiped the blood dripping from her mouth away. Her wings flexed, the Divinity of her blood sustaining her even through a devastating wound.
“You’re not getting away!” She rushed forward, dark fire gathering around her fists and the screams of the crusaders echoed off the walls.
Tactical guidance
Playing Black Oath Style
The Black Oath style is an unarmed fighting style that sacrifices its own health for extra damage.
Your main tool for this class is the Inexorable Shadow Stance. It lets you deal damage to yourself to boost your damage to enemies by the same amount. Enemies CAN still dodge attacks after you declare your HP loss, but because it would make your action invalid your HP would get refunded. It has some strong uses in overwhelming enemies with light attacks that can suddenly hit extremely hard or punching through his guard and block enemies with overwhelming force. And with Focused Power, you simply guarantee that you deal max extra damage. Dark Surge also synergizes with this, simply giving you a nice small accuracy bonus for using your stance.
Eclipse Breaker is a setup move that can deny an area from an enemy. It has no mana cost and and you can start charging it with 1 AP, simply canceling it if nobody is in it.
Shadow Counter is another setup move with multiple uses. As you get lower on HP, the damage of this ability increases drastically. This forces an enemy into uncomfortable choices of potentially spending a lot of actions to escape from your attack or risk taking a hard hitting move. You do become weaker defensively due to attacks getting trick attack against you, but if you survive your damage goes up even more.
Overall, the black oath style is a high risk/reward playstyle. Deciding on when to take your damage is key to staying alive.
FAQ:
Q: What happens when an enemy reacts to my attack after I use Inexorable Shadow Stance?
A: If an enemy decides to Dodge or take a similar sort of action to make your attack miss, that attack would no longer fulfill the ‘on hit’ condition and your HP would be refunded. If any enemy decides to Block however, you would still have spent your HP.
