Progression and Skills#
📈The progression system has two gates: manuals decide whether you can take a node, shrines decide whether you actually take it. Keep those two layers straight and progression will never stall.
1. The Two Main Progression Tracks#
| Source | Role |
|---|---|
| Skill manuals | Unlock nodes on the skill tree |
| Skill points | Learn the unlocked nodes at shrines |
On top of that, weapons, armor and the skills themselves also grant passive effects that speed up resource recharge or raise your caps.
2. The Three Skill Trees#
| Tree | Active period | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Witchcraft | Day | Herbal remedies, astral communication, offensive and defensive spells |
| Vampire | Night | Shadow Step, traversal, shapeshifting, blood abilities |
| Swordsmanship | Day and night | Blocking, counterattacks, weapon mastery, armor proficiency |
3. Manuals Must Be Read First#
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Get a manual from Ancient Circles, merchants, camp chests or enemies |
| 2 | Read it from your inventory, only then does the matching node light up on the tree |
| 3 | Spend a skill point at a shrine to actually learn the ability |
| 4 | Manuals you have read are marked complete and can be sold for carry weight |
Skipping step 2 is the most common early stumbling block: the whole skill tree looks greyed out when in fact you just never read the manual.
4. Why Skill Points Cannot Be Reset#
This restriction is deliberate. It turns “progression” into a decision you cannot walk back.
| Consequence | Notes |
|---|---|
| Invested wrong early | You have to wait for the next playthrough |
| You need to decide early | Whether your focus is day or night |
| Default best answer | Put your first points into Swordsmanship, which works around the clock |
5. Recommended Investment Order#
| Stage | Action |
|---|---|
| Step 1 | Build up the Swordsmanship trunk so you can fight at any hour |
| Step 2 | Decide whether you spend more of your time in day or night |
| Step 3 | Push the rest of your points into that one dedicated tree |
| Step 4 | Add one support line, such as Witchcraft scouting or Vampire traversal |
6. Where to Get Manuals Reliably#
| Source | Traits |
|---|---|
| Ancient Circles | 13 of them across the map, daytime only, steady source of Witchcraft manuals |
| Merchants | Fixed sale lists, with opening hours tied to a specific time of day |
| Camp chests | Looted from soldier camps and bandit camps |
| Enemy drops | Highly random, not something to rely on as a main source |
Chest gear scales with your level, so coming back to the same place later pays out better.
7. The Clash Between Progression and Time#
This is the most real trade-off in the game.
| What you want | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Fill out the whole skill tree | Needs heavy exploration and side content, which eats up actions |
| Focus on the main thread | Progression runs slow and late-game fights get rough |
A realistic rhythm is: gather essential map information and manuals early, invest points in the middle stretch, then come back and mop up at the end.
8. How Progression Connects to Depravity#
| Leaning | Connection |
|---|---|
| Going for the Vampire route | Usually means frequent blood drain, and Depravity rises with it |
| Trying to hold on to humanity | Vampire abilities unlock more slowly |
In other words, “build direction” and “story direction” are two sides of the same thing in this game.
9. Don’t Ignore Passive Effects#
A lot of progression comes from gear rather than skill points.
| Source | Typical effect |
|---|---|
| Weapons | Affects recharge and the cap on activation counts |
| Armor | Removes the stat penalties from medium and heavy armor |
| Skill passives | Changes ability cost or trigger conditions |
10. Common Mistakes#
| Mistake | Correction |
|---|---|
| Hoarding points for the optimal build | Points cannot be respecced, hoarding them means no progression at all |
| Picking manuals up but never reading them | The nodes will never light up |
| Spreading skill points everywhere | Every line stays shallow and you end up weaker later |
| Only looking at the dedicated trees | Swordsmanship is the trunk that works at all hours |
Closing#
The progression system looks complicated, but it comes down to one sentence: read the manual, invest in Swordsmanship, then pick a side based on the hours you keep. Do those three things and the system stops causing you trouble.
—龙追日, Editor-in-Chief at NTGame