Dirty Fighting
Offense
Swipe
ATTACK.
Cost: 10 Initiative
AOE 180 degree arc
You gain Adrenaline; this effect stacks up to 3 times.
Adrenaline: +2% offense, +2% damage
All of the Adrenaline attacks are most effective when you chain them three times within the duration of the buff, and then periodically refresh them. The buff lasts for 15 seconds, which gives 6 opportunities to do something other than refresh the buff before you need to use this skill again. Even without the buff, though, it is a significant improvement over both Thrust and Sweep with a very low initiative cost.
Foot Slash
ATTACK.
Cost: 20 Initiative
AOE 90 degree arc
Damage: +40%. Target gains Off-Balance (30s).
Off-Balance: -15% dodge, parry
Off-Balance is a significant reduction to an opponent's ability to defend. In even a moderately difficult fight, it is important to apply this debuff early and make sure it doesn't drop, as it will significantly increase your overall damage output.
Intensity
BUFF.
Cost: 20 Initiative
You gain Intensity (600s). This buff is twice as effective for the first 6 seconds.
Intensity: +10% damage
This buff should never be down while you're in combat. The 10 minute duration means that you're likely to be able to finish many swashbuckling missions before needing to re-apply it. Use it as soon as you enter a mission or boarding encounter. The burst is useful just before a major attack, as damage increases from attacks will stack with damage increases from effects; Foot Slash + Intensity Burst, for instance, gives a total damage increase of 68% (100% + 40% = 140%; 140% * 120% = 168%).
Stance: Berserk
STANCE.
Cost: 5 Initiative, 3/sec
Ongoing: +5% damage, +5 accuracy.
Much like the Defensive Stance, this skill comes with a tradeoff; you will be able to use fewer attacks while it's active. That said, +accuracy is a significant increase to your overall damage output.
Group Intensity
BUFF.
Cost: 30 Initiative
You and nearby allies gain Intensity (600s).
Intensity: +10% damage
There's no burst effect on this version of the Intensity skill. If you're the only one in your group with this, you should apply it as soon as your group arrives in the encounter, and then use your personal Intensity buff for the remainder of the duration for the burst effect.
Seize Opening
ATTACK.
Cost: 30 Initiative
AOE 90 degree arc
Damage: +60%. If target is Off-Balance, target gains Bleeding (1/s, 30s).
This is a chained skill; it is more effective if you're also using another skill in tandem with it. 60% additional damage is good, but the bleed effect is far more important because it directly damages a target's Health, bypassing their Guard. Unlike many chained skills, this one doesn't remove the required effect, so you don't have to make a tradeoff between the Off-Balance effect and the Bleed.
Twist the Blade
ATTACK.
Cost: 40 Initiative
AOE 90 degree arc
Damage: +80%. If target is Bleeding, target takes 20 health damage and Bleeding is removed.
This is a chained skill from Seize Opening. Because it does instant health damage and also removes the required effect, the best time to use it is after the bleed has had 10 seconds to tick down. If you're fighting minor enemies, of course, you probably won't have 10 seconds before you've killed them; against lieutenants and tougher opponents, however, you shouldn't use this until the Bleed effect has less than 20 damage left to inflict.
Overwhelm
ATTACK.
Cost: 60 Initiative
AOE 90 degree arc
Damage: +120%. Cannot be parried.
Parry is almost always half of an opponent's defenses, if not more. This skill will let you hit bosses and higher-level enemies for significant amounts of damage, regardless of their defenses, because bypassing Parry will generally increase your chance to hit by roughly 50%. If you could only hit half the time before, you're likely to be able to hit 3 in 4 times while using this skill. Combined with Off-Balance, this skill will let you penetrate almost anyone's defenses.
Defense
Fortitude
BUFF.
Cost: 20 Initiative
You gain Tough (600s). This buff is twice as effective for the first 15 seconds.
Tough: Maximum Guard increased by 15%, Guard recovery rate increased by 1/s
The Tough effect should, like Intensity, be applied as soon as you enter a mission or encounter, and kept active the entire time. The burst effect is mainly useful for a quick heal, but used just before a major attack lands on you, it can soak up the damage with extra 'free' Guard.
Crush the Weak
ATTACK.
Cost: 20 Initiative
AOE 90 degree arc
Damage: +20%. If target is Shaken, target takes 20 health damage and Shaken is removed.
When you first get this skill, you don't have access to any skills that apply Shaken. However, skills in other trees and other fighting schools can apply Shaken, so by coordinating with an ally you can gain the extra burst damage from this skill without needing to invest more skill points in this line.
Brutal Strike
ATTACK (TAUNT).
Cost: 20 Initiative
AOE 90 degree arc
Damage: +20%. Adds a large amount of hate to target. Target gains Shaken (30s).
Shaken: -10% offense
This skill is the Dirty Fighting school's Taunt. In a group, if you're acting as the tank, you'll want to use Brutal Strike frequently to ensure the enemies stay focused on you. The Shaken effect has the added bonus of making enemies less accurate, as well, which will keep them from doing as much damage to you while they're focused on you.
Resolve
RECOVERY
Cost: 30 Initiative
Only usable if you are Weakened. Weakened is removed, and you gain +5% damage and +5% parry (15s).
Resolve is a counter-skill that essentially inverts the penalties from Weakened. It is primarily useful in PvP, where opponents using Fencing and Florentine are likely to apply the effect to you.
Tough it Out
RECOVERY
Cost: 30 Initiative
You instantly regain 50 health.
Dirty Fighting's defensive heal. Combined with Fortitude, this skill allows you to stay standing in a long fight, or a fight against many enemies. Its 30 second cooldown means that there is a limit to the rate of incoming damage for which this skill can compensate, though.
Steady Strike
ATTACK.
Cost: 30 Initiative
AOE 90 degree arc
Damage: +40%. You gain Balanced (15s).
Balanced: +20% parry
Steady Strike will apply the Balanced buff to you whether or not it hits. It's Dirty Fighting's only source for the Balanced buff, and the substantial increase to your defensive capabilities with it active means that while tanking you should try to use it every 15 seconds.
Perfect Dodge
BUFF
Cost: 40 Initiative
You gain +100% dodge (15s).
Perfect Dodge is a defensive panic button. While you have it active, your Dodge is doubled. Dodge is a less powerful defense than Parry, but particularly if you're waiting for Tough It Out to cool down, 15 seconds of near-invulnerability can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
Unbreakable
BUFF
Cost: 60 Initiative
You gain 28% damage resistance, +20% parry and +10% dodge (180s) but suffer a 38% damage penalty.
Unbreakable is the core defensive skill for Dirty Fighting. While you are tanking, you should have Unbreakable active at all times. Its large damage reduction and defensive bonuses will allow you to survive many enemies hitting you at once. The damage penalty means you'll want an ally to help with the actual killing, of course.
Control
Sudden Strike
ATTACK.
Cost: 20 Initiative
Single Target
Target gains Stunned (6s).
Stunned: Cannot move, attack, use skills, dodge or parry. Any damage inflicted on this target will break the stun.
Stuns allow you to take opponents out of the fight temporarily. Against a single opponent, this is of limited value, although if you need a breather to use a healing or buffing skill, or to recover some initiative, a stun will do the trick. Against multiple opponents, stuns allow you to reduce the number of enemies who are actively trying to kill you. Note that damage will break stuns, so ensure that you either move away from the stunned enemy or turn away from them before continuing your attacks.
Gut Kick
ATTACK.
Cost: 0 Initiative
AOE 90 degree arc
Damage: +20%. You instantly regain 50 initiative.
Even though this skill is only usable every 30 seconds, it still represents a substantial increase in your rate of initiative recovery, allowing you to use more of your high-end skills.
Eviscerate
ATTACK.
Cost: 20 Initiative
AOE 90 degree arc
Damage: +20%. If target is Stunned, target gains Bleeding (4/s, 6s).
Because stuns are removed when a target is damaged anyway, this is an ideal skill to use right at the end of an opponent's stun duration. As with all Bleed effects, this is damage directly to Health, making it particularly valuable.
Flash Powder
DEBUFF
Cost: 30 Initiative
AOE 360 degree arc
Targets gain Shaken (15s).
Shaken: -10% offense
Flash Powder affects every enemy within 12 yards of you. The offense penalty will immediately reduce incoming damage, so against large groups of enemies this skill should be used as often as it's available and you have the initiative to spend.
Cleave
ATTACK.
Cost: 30 Initiative
AOE 270 degree arc
Targets gain Bleeding (1/s, 30s).
This skill allows you to put a long-term Bleed effect on a large number of enemies. In most cases, minor enemies will die long before the full 30 points of damage is inflicted, but the constant damage directly to health will reduce the number of attacks you need to kill them. Every saved attack is less damage you take.
Firm Grip
RECOVERY
Cost: 30 Initiative
Only usable if you are Shaken. Shaken is removed from you and nearby allies. Each person losing Shaken gains +10% offense (15s).
Particularly nasty against other Dirty Fighters using Flash Powder, as it's a quick way to buff your entire group's offense as a counter. Firm Grip is the group version of the Fencing skill En Garde.
Maelstrom
ATTACK.
Cost: 50 Initiative
AOE 90 degree arc
Damage: +20%. Targets gain Stunned (6s).
Stunned: Cannot move, attack, use skills, dodge or parry. Any damage inflicted on this target will break the stun.
Maelstrom can easily make the difference between victory and smelling salts in a fight against many opponents. By stunning a group of enemies, you have two or three attacks in which to focus in on a single target and eliminate him with no opposition.
Blade Storm
ATTACK.
Cost: 60 Initiative
AOE 360 degree arc
Damage: +80%.
Blade Storm damages every single enemy you're fighting. Combined with Flash Powder and Cleave, Blade Storm will allow you to take on much larger numbers of enemies at once. Combined with another character tanking, Intensity and the Berserk stance, Blade Storm will cut through massive groups of minor enemies like a hot knife through butter.
