When the skill tree opens up in Alabaster Dawn for the first time, it can be very daunting to pick the skill that can help you in the long run instead of just another damage increase. Prioritizing important upgrade nodes and skill nodes helps out in the early phase and at the endgame, too. Here are the best skill nodes you should invest early on in Alabaster Dawn.
Best Melee Skills To Pick First in Alabaster Dawn
Here we will take a strong look at both the offensive and defensive abilities, and help you pick the best early on, so you will be right on track.
#1. Breaker
While it may look simple, it raises the Break Accumulation amount to 10%. So what does that mean? You will see a bar below the HP bar on every common boss enemy in the game. The game refers to the bar as Break Bar. How it works is that the more hits you deal against the enemies, the faster the Break Bar will fill up. Once filled completely, the enemy will fall down, becoming vulnerable and defenseless. This state is referred to as the Break state, and you guessed it, it’s a perfect time to deal some damage.
Breaker will allow you to fill up the enemy’s Break bar quickly with a few melee hits, so that the enemies enter the Break state faster. A perfect move, as many enemies tend to transition quickly between attacks, leaving only a few seconds to hit back. With Breaker, your hits will matter more than the default attack rate.
#2. Double Trouble
Double Trouble deals a whopping 25% more damage to any enemy that has fallen down or been put in the Break State. This nicely complements the Breaker skill – you get the enemy enter the Break state faster, and Double Trouble helps you deal 25% more damage in that state.
Pro Tip: If this gameplay mechanic works for you, I would also recommend that you get the Riposte skill. Riposte gets you 25% more Break Accumulation (BA) after parrying. So we have 10% BA from Breaker and 25% BA from Riposte, and it all ends with 25% more damage dealing for Break state with Double Trouble.
You can even further enhance the damage on enemies in break state by getting the weapon (Weapon Name: Claio Solas) skill “Crashing Wave”, which will help you deal more damage to enemies in break state. To perform Crashing Wave, press Attack twice, then pause, and then Attack thrice. After you press attack twice, the weapon edge will shine, and you will get an audio cue; that’s when you press the attack thrice to perform the combo.
You can perform the move at any time, but it’s especially effective against enemies in a break state.
Also Read: Alabaster Dawn – All Chapter 1 Collectibles
#3. Affinity Up
Simple and straightforward, it will help you land more critical hits. While prioritizing simple damage increase is a good upgrade, critical hit chances are always a better option. You will find many Affinity Up nodes on the tree, helping you raise the overall critical hit chance.
#4. Bullseye
A perfect combo for Affinity Up: while Affinity Up raises your critical hit chance, Bullseye helps you deal more damage on your critical hits. Just like how Double Trouble goes well with Breaker, Bullseye will pair up perfectly with Affinity Up. After focusing on the Breaker nodes, you can prioritize Affinity Up and Bullseyes to build to carry your next upgrade interest.
Best Defense Skills to Pick First in Alabaster Dawn
#1. Tenacity
So far, I have only talked about offense. What about defense? Here it is, Tenacity, why this one? Well, it will lower your stamina cost for dashing and guarding, which is what you will be doing 90% of the time in the combat arena, and for traversal. If you want to make the most out of the limited stamina, then Tenacity will be a perfect upgrade.
#2. Deflect Up
It lowers the damage you take from blocking by 40%; your shield will absorb 40% incoming damage. But that is not even the best part about Deflect Up. This skill nullifies the enemy damage entirely after parrying. So if you are good at parrying, this skill node will serve you incredibly well. And even if you are bad at parrying, 40% damage absorption on shields also works out well.
Note: Once you are good at parrying, get the Tide Breaker Weapon (Weapon Name: Claio Solas) skill. It’s a fast counter-stab that you can perform after parrying. Simply pressing the LMB or attack button after parrying will help you perform this finisher. The best thing about Tide Breaker is that it is an AOE attack, so a simple parry to one enemy will result in damaging nearby enemies.
For Ranged Damage, get Sly Trapper, which will help you release 6 homing and piercing arrows after a successful parry. All the shots will land on the parried target.
#3. Armor Up/ Life Up
I will recommend the Armor Up upgrade if you are struggling to parry the attacks. They are straight and simple upgrades; more upgrades mean you are more resilient to enemy damage. The same goes for Life Up, as they are focused on increasing your overall HP. I will recommend saving the upgrades later, but if you are struggling with the parrying early on in the game, then get one or two upgrades, then save the rest for later.
Best Ranged Abilities to Pick First in Alabaster Dawn
#1. Hunter’s Spike and Perfect Charge
The bread and butter of range attack, this is basically a charged shot that hits enemies and also pierces anyone in a straight line. It does an incredible amount of damage, and once you pair that with Perfect Charge, it becomes something else! Perfect Charge amplifies the default damage of the Hunter’s Spike or charge shot to 25% more. Since the game throws enemies in group formation, charged shots will always hit more than a single enemy. Just time your shot to deal more damage.
#2. Sly Trapper
A perfect skill if you are parrying enemies and are more reliant on your ranged weapon than melee. After parrying, it will launch an auto shot, releasing 6 homing arrows piercing the parried enemy.
That’s about it. If you are starting in Alabaster Dawn, go through all the highlighted skills nodes mentioned in the article to breeze through the early chapters.
