The Secret World

The Cage Master uses a mix of fists and blood magic to dominate opponents in-close. The abilities tend to focus on one opponent at a time and emphasise damage over time effects. Enemies will feel the blows long after they've been delivered. The Cage Master can also recover quickly in battle, making use of healing abilities to stay strong in the late rounds.

The Champion is no stranger to being outnumbered. A modern-day ronin, this skilled master of blades and fists relies on equal parts fury and control to deal damage in the middle of a crowd. Meanwhile, the Champion never loses sight of what is most important . survival. The abilities here focus on defence and self-healing, ensuring that for every swift and swirling blow, the Champion is constantly mindful of their own skin.

The Commando is going in with an assault rifle and a shotgun. Firing off a strong mix of single and multi-target abilities, the deck also makes use of leech and self-heal effects to ensure survivability. The Commando is most effective dealing area of effect damage at range. Enemies have a habit of exploding on death when everything goes to plan. Given the Commando's merciless attention to detail, everything usually does.

The Enforcer uses a mix of shotgun and chaos. The shotgun abilities focus on area of effect damage, meaning the Enforcer has no problem going after multiple targets at a time. Meanwhile, chaos is used to promote evasion. This way, the Enforcer has all the tools necessary to create an ugly situation without always having to worry about the consequences.

The Haruspex is a master of entrails and lightning. Through a mix of blood and elemental abilities, they are affliction incarnate. Enemies will not only suffer damage, but suffer it for a long time to come. The deck also has a strong focus on barrier abilities, meaning the Haruspex isn't likely to get caught up in the flow of blood.

The Maverick has never asked for anything from anybody. This is a well-rounded professional who primarily uses pistols to focus on one enemy at a time. The blade is there to finish the job, and for its strong defensive measures. If others get in the way of a one-on-one, the Maverick's strong blend of ground target effects and self supporting abilities ensures that things seldom get out of hand. And even if they do, there's a good dirty trick that allows for a rapid getaway.

The Polariser is a master of light and the innermost elements. They use a mix of elemental abilities to hinder targets and do damage from distance. The pistols are there to take advantage by dealing extra damage and adding a splash of healing. Critical hits are a key component of the deck. For example, a timely anima charge could be all that's needed to set up the big final blow. This isn't a deck for getting dirty. The Polariser is most comfortable at range.

The Punisher hits hard with a hammer and an assault rifle. This is an area of effect melee build, which means there's no nonsense and everybody pays. Tough and overly clever enemies will go down just like the rest of them. The Punisher is hard-hitting and makes effective use of the impair state. However, it's never all about offense. They also know how to block, heal, and most importantly, survive.

The Trickster uses a mix of chaos and fists to escalate situations and then undermine their opponents' will. The deck focuses on area of effect attacks that can also weaken, impair and knock down the targets. The Trickster is a master of stacking extra buffs to increase their damage. At the same time, they rely on illusions and probability, which allows them to evade danger.

The Mercenary uses an assault rifle and elemental powers to play the battlefield. This deck encourages spreading damage-over-time effects, which can be exploited by both grenade and magic attacks. As the Mercenary needs room to work, there are also options for controlling enemies that get close. The elite abilities provide a powerful sniper shot, or allow the Mercenary to punish hindered enemies with an explosive effect.

The Necromancer is a modern twist on an old art, stealing life with assault rifle and blood magic. This is an aggressive healing deck, focusing on leeching anima from enemies to restore allies. Leech abilities exploit hindering and damage-over-time effects on the Necromancer's enemies to provide beneficial buffs for allies. Supplementing the leech-based healing, the Necromancer can use area-of-effect heals and barriers to quickly support their group.

The Slayer brings an assault rifle to a blade fight, allowing punishing damage-over-time and area-of-effect attacks. Combat with this deck involves softening foes up with damage-over-time from the assault rifle, then rushing in with frenzy attacks. Area-of-effect damage features heavily in the Slayer's arsenal. The Frenzy-supporting passives in the Slayer deck provide staying power, both from further damage-over-time effects and a health leech.

The Goon, wielding blade and hammer, is the face that stopped a thousand punches. This is a deck intended for tanking, focusing on survivability and drawing attacks away from the group. With a variety of buffs that trigger when the Goon is struck with glancing blows, this deck welcomes a beating. A selection of self-heal effects prop up the Goon's survivability, including both of their elite abilities.

The Thaumaturge is a battle mage, armed with blood magic and fist weapons. This deck is built around delivering penetrating hits and damage-over-time effects. The Thaumaturge can wrack enemies with damage-over-time from a distance, and then get in close to take advantage of damage and penetration buffs. The elite blood magic abilities provide further damage-over-time potential, which can be exploited for damage boosts with the Thaumaturge's fist attack.

The Illusionist leads enemies to their death, picking off the weak with chaos magic and hammer. Best used to focus on a single enemy, this deck loads extra damage on targets with low health. Supporting effects help push enemies below the threshold faster, with mitigation debuffs and hit rating buffs. The Illusionist's impairment abilities assist with controlling enemies, and also trigger support buffs and debuffs from passive abilities.

The Grifter uses elemental powers and a shotgun, but that's only the opening gambit. This is a summoning deck, built around using a variety of manifestations and turrets to do the majority of the Grifter's work. While the Grifter fights with area-of-effect attacks, their summons provide chain, blast and impairment effects. Supporting abilities bolster the effectiveness of manifestations and turrets, while the elite passive inflicts damage at the point of summoning.

The Fixer uses fists and a backup assault rifle to solve sticky combat problems. The deck utilises multi-hit burst attacks from both fist weapons and rifle, with supporting damage-over-time effects. You can switch up area-of-effect attacks with focused assaults as the situation demands. The Fixer can rely on steadily increasing power the longer they are in combat, with passive abilities for stacking hit rating buffs and damage.

The Bodyguard, taking no chances, fields a hammer and shotgun. This deck supports dealing with many enemies at once, prioritising devastating blast attacks that reduce opponents' effectiveness. The Bodyguard is also built for survivability, with stacking protection buffs and a strong block ability. The elite abilities allow the Bodyguard to take even more punishment, providing multiple buffs and emergency health regeneration.

The Gunslinger is quick on the draw with pistols and elemental powers - Old West and New Magic. This deck specialises in inflicting and empowering chain attacks. A Gunslinger can quickly chain critical hits and damage-over-time effects across several targets. Supporting abilities encourage further chain reactions on each hit. As a Gunslinger works best outnumbered, they also need to work fast. Keeping up critical hits provides a small boost to speed.

The Bounty Hunter goes in for the killer combo with shotgun and pistols. This deck involves building up to an overwhelming attack with guaranteed critical hit and penetration. Hindered enemies are vulnerable to the bonus effects of the Bounty Hunter's pistol and shotgun attacks. With a passive ability set geared towards inflicting and exploiting debuffs, the Bounty Hunter works best focusing on a target and grinding it down.

The Panoptic Core is all-embracing. It allows one to see everything, take all elements into consideration. The select few who are plugged into the core cannot rest on their laurels. They are constantly adapting, evolving, breathing and buzzing as one with the world. This is not a type, or a style, or a strategy. This is everything.