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 Paladin is an agile front-line fighter, wielding blades and dual pistols. The deck revolves around using rapid focus attacks to set up a variety of damage-over-time effects. An effective Paladin will use run-and-gun techniques to rapidly inflict and exploit their damage-over-time abilities. Using both elite abilities, the Paladin can maintain battlefield mobility, while each successful attack builds towards inflicting damage-over-time on surrounding enemies.

The Soldier packs an assault rifle and pistols, but their chief weapon is mobility. The deck provides ranged snares and an up-close reactive root effect, as well as plenty of damage. This allows the Soldier to stay one step ahead of enemies while peppering them with constant fire. Passive abilities punish hindered enemies and add short-timer explosives, exploiting the speed difference between the Soldier and their targets.

The Preacher spreads the word of power through blood magic and by the blade. This deck is heavy on damage-over-time abilities, and encourages having as many of them running as possible. Supporting abilities give the Preacher additional methods of applying and empowering damage-over-time effects. The Preacher's two ranged stun abilities are useful both for defence and sustenance, as a passive ability recovers health when damage-over-time is applied to impaired enemies.

The Exorcist casts out sickness and wards against evil through blood magic and fist weapons. This is a healing deck, focusing on applying protective barriers to prevent damage. The deck promotes quick application of boosted heal and barrier effects, with rapid recovery of resources. An Exorcist's barriers apply additional protective buffs to their target. Upon depletion, barriers slightly heal the target and recover the Exorcist's resources.

The Gladiator is a heavy-duty combatant, wielding chaos magic and an assault rifle. This is a mass combat deck that utilises area-of-effect frenzy attacks. Controlling and grouping enemies for maximum area-of-effect damage is key, while passive abilities add a hit rating buff and health leech. The Gladiator is especially suited to delivering finishing blows. Both a normal and elite passive ability hit harder against enemies with less than 35% health.

The modern Magus supplements their elemental powers with a shotgun. This strike-focused deck is intended to deliver unrelenting damage to a single target. The Magus's passive elemental abilities focus on building critical hits, while shotgun abilities add debuffs and damage to strike attacks. The Magus also has group support potential, with a strong boost to group damage and a shared critical hit buff.

The Executioner gets their hands dirty with fist and chaos magic melee. This deck is built around delivering a flurry of damage, with many burst abilities that cascade damage over additional hits. Crowd control and fast movement abilities allow the Executioner to swiftly reprioritise targets and maintain the pressure. For maximum effectiveness with an Executioner, hit rating-boosting gear can be useful to ensure multiple attacks and avoid glances.

The Witch Hunter uses hammer and blade to drive darkness before them. This deck favours up-close combat and stacking debuffs on your opponents. It features stuns and knockdowns to neutralise dangerous enemies. Prolonging impairment effects is of great tactical benefit, as it can restore the Witch Hunter's resources and health. The Witch Hunter's elite passive ability increases the duration of impairment effects, allowing more time to exploit them.

The Warlock uses their battle hammer and chaos magic to form an impregnable bulwark. This is a deck intended for tanking, focusing on survivability and drawing attacks away from the group. The majority of the Warlock's survivability comes from blocking, with additional protection and evasion buffs. The elite abilities allow the Warlock to take even more punishment, providing multiple buffs and emergency health regeneration.

The Crusader's pistols and hammer chew through weakened targets. This deck involves debuffing a target then landing a string of critical hits, feeding into further debuffs and continuing the loop. The longer a Crusader stays focused on a target, the more damage they inflict with each attack. As the Crusader works best uninterrupted, pistol drone abilities offer extra damage and a root effect to allow repositioning.

The Puritan rebukes the darkness with shotgun and hammer. This deck focuses on strike attacks building up heavy single-target damage and debuffs. Managing the distance of opponents is a key facet of Puritan combat, as many abilities will trigger effects or additional damage based on range. Both of the elite abilities provide the Puritan with options for range control, with a pushback and a hindering effect.

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.