Shamanism (skill)
Navigating the world of spirits is a daunting endeavor, one that may only be entrusted to those who have earned their place among soothsayers and prophets. The skill of Shamanism involves intense study of the unseen, and ways to discern their motives through portents and communication alike. A fully trained Shaman maintains a direct link to the plane of primal life, Dendara, and by swearing allegiance through blood oaths, gains a measure of control over the spirits themselves.
A Shaman is armed with a number of rituals, from simple bonecasting to track their foe's actions, to adorning protective masks of bone, to casting ill fate upon their victim through ominous premonitions and even omens of death. Alongside this, a Shaman learns of the various crafted fetishes they may string upon their staff, and how each fetish is more than a mere symbol. In the face of an empowered fetish, one's actions can rapidly alter their future and ensnare them in a painful and often inescapable trap.
Finally, the spirits themselves may come to the aid of a Shaman who beckons them, and fight alongside them as a testament to the primal, morphing bond they once shared. While independent of the Shaman's strikes, such a familiar can take on many shapes, ranging from a simple raven to a terrifying wyvern.
| Skill | Rank | Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonecasting | Inept | 0 % | Glance upon the life of your target. |
| Harrowing | Inept | 49 % | Lend your foe a vision of sheer terror. |
| Protection | Novice | 0 % | Deflect attacks using your quarterstaff. |
| Exorcise | Novice | 50 % | Banish unnatural spirits from the land. |
| Spiritmask | Adept | 0 % | Carve a spiritual mask from bone. |
| Warding | Adept | 33 % | Strengthen your guard with spiritual force. |
| Divination | Adept | 75 % | Divine meaning to gain foresight. |
| Spiritsight | Gifted | 25 % | Recognize the ailments that affect your foe. |
| Oaths | Gifted | 50 % | Invoke sworn oaths with the spirits of Dia'ruis. |
| Premonition | Expert | 50 % | Instill a fearful premonition into one's psyche. |
| Songlines | Fabled | 0 % | Memorize and recite songs of travel. |
| Lifevision | Fabled | 50 % | The ability to see the life force of others. |
| Voyage | Mythical | 33 % | Allow another to experience your songs. |
| Divulgence | Mythical | 50 % | Whisper a curse that will crush their sanity. |
| Omen | Transcendent | 0 % | Tamper with the threads of fate themselves. |
Familiars
| Skill | Rank | Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cougar | Apprentice | 0 % | A vicious cougar to shred your enemies. |
| Familiar | Apprentice | 0 % | Call upon nature to provide a spiritual familiar. |
| Invigorate | Apprentice | 50 % | Sacrifice your own health to heal your familiar. |
| Raven | Capable | 50 % | Disturb your foes with the cry of the raven. |
| Serpent | Skilled | 50 % | Poison your foes with a vicious serpent. |
| Tethering | Skilled | 75 % | Instantly return your familiar to your presence. |
| Glance | Gifted | 0 % | Extend your vision through your familiar. |
| Voice | Gifted | 0 % | Project your voice through your familiar. |
| Spider | Expert | 0 % | Summon a massive spider to entangle your foes. |
| Spiritbond | Virtuoso | 0 % | Order your familiar to guard you from harm. |
| Bear | Virtuoso | 33 % | The mighty bear will cripple your foe's limbs. |
| Wyvern | Fabled | 33 % | A mythical beast, incinerating any in its path. |
| Morph | Mythical | 0 % | Instantly transform the manifestation of your familiar. |
Fetishes
| Skill | Rank | Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fetishes | Capable | 99 % | Carve symbolic fetishes to invoke eldritch magic. |
| Horn | Capable | 0 % | Invigorate your mind as energy surges through you. |
| Attunement | Capable | 0 % | Link the power of your fetishes to a victim. |
| Stringing | Capable | 0 % | Quickly string crafted fetishes to your staff. |
| Ice | Adept | 33 % | As their vitality fades, their spirit suffers. |
| Tooth | Skilled | 0 % | Draw upon nature's might even when your body is broken. |
| Bone | Skilled | 25 % | Dark spirits punish those who cower behind barriers. |
| Claw | Gifted | 75 % | A bleeding victim proves unable to reject nature. |
| Eye | Expert | 25 % | A fetish made to draw power from their curiosity. |
| Bark | Expert | 75 % | A mystical fetish to imbue the flesh. |
| Stone | Virtuoso | 66 % | Occlude escape when one is bound. |
| Shell | Fabled | 66 % | Befuddle the harmony of body and mind. |
| Feather | Mythical | 66 % | Touch your opponent with the essence of the wild storm. |
| Bonecasting | Glance upon the life of your target | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN BONECASTING <target> | |
| Details: | The seers within the depths of Dia'ruis speak highly of this art, passing it down from
one generation to the next as a means of tracking elusive quarry that would otherwise evade their senses. Using a bone from the corpses you carry upon you, you may question the bones as to the location of your target whether they be friend or foe. If they are within the area with you, you will be able to discern their current state of health. | |
| Harrowing | Lend your foe a vision of sheer terror | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN HARROW <target> | |
| Works against: | Both players and NPCs | |
| Details: | While many of the spirits of Dia'ruis can be beings of great benevolence, it is common to
encounter the gnarled spirits that care little for the mortal realms. In binding them to your will, you may turn their very visage against your foes. Even some of the greatest beasts cannot help but to be filled with fear by the creatures that await them for all eternity. It will force the target to immediately flee from the room, and afflict them with fear. | |
| Protection | Deflect attacks using your quarterstaff | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN PROTECTION | |
| Details: | Runes are a common sight in Dia'ruis; there are many scratched into the trees and stone
as a means of warding or protection against evil. One such rune, spoken as 'cethor', can be utilized by a shaman to protect themselves. By calling upon your latent energy, you may channel the protective spell through your quarterstaff and scribe it into the air before you. Your resistance to cutting and blunt damage will increase as long as you continue to wield your quarterstaff. If you cease to wield your quarterstaff, the defense shall stay upon you but no longer offer its protective boon. | |
| Exorcise | Banish unnatural spirits from the land | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN EXORCISE <target> | |
| Details: | The baleful creatures of Chaos stand outside the Rhythm of Dia'ruis, skirting the edge of
corruption and seething darkness. Cast dopplegangers or mirrormasks back to the abyss from whence they came by banishing them from the realm of mortals. | |
| Spiritmask | Carve a spiritual mask from bone | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN SPIRITMASK <element> | |
| Details: | By harvesting bone, horn, and other objects from your fallen prey, you may honor them in
death by using their leering visage as a spiritmask. Using a corpse and colourful inks, the shaman of Dia'ruis create wondrous displays to the fallen beasts and gain resistances to the elements as they utter a binding prayer over the mask. While anyone may wear the mask, the powerful magics within will only reflect upon the shaman who created it. Inks: Fire: 1 red ink, 1 yellow ink. Magic: 1 red ink, 1 green ink. Cold: 1 blue ink. Electric: 1 yellow ink. Poison: 1 green ink. Psychic: 1 purple ink. Asphyxiation: 1 gold ink. | |
| Warding | Strengthen your guard with spiritual force | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN WARDING [OFF] | |
| Details: | Spirits of the natural world can be encouraged to take on various forms for the whim of
the summoner. Utilizing a lesser spirit of lightning as a ward, you may command it take on the form of an orb that will encircle the limb you are currently parrying. It will drain your mana for as long as it is active. If an enemy moves to strike that limb, the spirit will electrocute the attacker, and if that limb is broken, then it will deliver a masked mental affliction. The afflictions mirroring, mental disruption, patterns and dread are excluded from warding. Look at HELP TYPES for more information on what is a mental affliction. Cooldown (on proc): 2 seconds | |
| Divination | Divine meaning to gain foresight | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN SLAUGHTER <corpse> SHAMAN DIVINE <bowl> | |
| Cooldown: | 1 hour | |
| Details: | Through the voices of Dia'ruis, you may divine meaning from the entrails of a slain
animal and see briefly into one of many possibilities that could arise in the future. In order to perform this feat, first you must obtain a woodcrafted bowl, a dagger, and the corpse of an animal. Once you have all three, slaughter the animal to the Dia'ruian spirits and then divine a future from the bowl, allowing the spirits to whisper to your mind. You may only perform divination once every so often, for your mind's eye will need time to rest. | |
| Spiritsight | Recognize the ailments that affect your foe | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN SPIRITSIGHT <ON/OFF> | |
| Details: | By altering your senses to discern subtle fluctuations in vital energies, you may allow
yourself to gather more detailed information on other people. While spiritsight is active, any loki effects that strike your target will report their afflictions to you, while keeping your victim unaware. In addition to this, any loki venom that you poison others with will no longer deliver effects that the target already has. | |
| Oaths | Invoke sworn oaths with the spirits of Dia'ruis | |
| Syntax: | OATHS OATH <oath> ACTIVATE OATH <oath> DISABLE OATH DISABLE ALL | |
| Details: | One of the ways a Shaman may unlock their potential is by binding their service to the
many totemic spirits of Dia'ruis. By taking individual oaths with the spirits within, you will gather numerous boons, ranging from protection from the elements, to immunity from certain mental afflictions, to the ability to resist forced action. There are seven oaths that you may swear, and once unlocked, each oath will remain with you permanently. You may activate or disable them at will - though each active oath presents a cumulative mana and willpower drain. Available oaths are: [Oath of the Forestwalker]: Grants forestwalking and health regeneration in overgrowth/forest rooms. [Oath of the Elder Shaman]: Grants foresight to the Shaman, giving them a 2% chance to resist mental afflictions. [Oath of Nature's Blade]: Enhances Primality, causing boost to have a 25% chance to not consume energy. [Oath of Tranquility]: Enhances healing, causing overgrowth/forest rooms to periodically heal an affliction providing you don't have paralysis. [Oath of the Primeval]: Enhances your spirit animal, causing them to strike more quickly. [Oath of the Rhythm]: Instills serene balance in the Shaman, preventing force abilities and effects. [Oath of the Durdalis]: Allows you to completely negate an elemental attack on a 20-90 second cooldown. | |
| Premonition | Instill a fearful premonition into one's psyche | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN PREMONITION <target> | |
| Details: | While a Shaman is incapable of true clairvoyance, their ability to alter destiny in the
most subtle of fashions can prove to be a powerful tool. With this simple hex, a Shaman may place dread deep within the psyche of their victim, foretelling future maledictions and inhibiting their victim's ability to shake off their effects. While affected by dread, a victim will find themselves unable to cure any infestation of spiritual parasites or the effects of blighted spines. The dread itself may only be removed by leaving the presence of the Shaman for a long enough time, or focusing one's mind while unaffected by any other mental affliction. | |
| Songlines | Memorize and recite songs of travel | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN SONGLINE ERECT SHAMAN SONGLINE DESTROY <area> SHAMAN SONGLINE LIST
SHAMAN SONGLINE TRAVEL <area> | |
| Details: | Upon your journey throughout the land, you will come across many places of wonder and joy,
hardship and sorrow. Remember your tales of the past in short verse and whispered song by erecting small totems of these journeys. It is often said that in the depths of Dia'ruis, the whispered song of ages long past still drifts upon the winds and can be heard as an echo of the ages. You may create up to three totems along your travels, binding thought and memory to the aged wood. Only one totem may stand within an area. | |
| Lifevision | The ability to see the life force of others | |
| Syntax: | LIFEVISION | |
| Details: | Your keen senses allow you to see all living things within your sight, regardless if they
are hidden or not. It will additionally provide some measure of protection against illusions, allowing you to occasionally tell if they are fake. | |
| Voyage | Allow another to experience your songs | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN VOYAGE <target> <area> | |
| Details: | One need not bear all hardships or joys alone as you travel the world throughout your
life. While songlines may only be crafted and bound by the singer, you may compel one to experience your travels by reciting to them your song of journey. Let them experience your journey through whispered song and voice. | |
| Divulgence | Whisper a curse that will crush their sanity | |
| Syntax: | SHAMAN DIVULGENCE <target> [phobia] | |
| Details: | Providing your foe has at least three mental afflictions, you can whisper a word of
terror to them, inflicting their mind with a phobia and draining it of some mana. You can inflict the following phobias: Fear, agoraphobia, claustrophobia, vertigo, loneliness, shyness, paranoia, or superstition. Additionally, the equilibrium cost for this skill is reduced for each mental affliction the target has. However, it will not obtain any further benefit after the fifth mental affliction. Look at HELP TYPES for more information on what is regarded as a mental affliction | |
| Omen | Tamper with the threads of fate themselves | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | Syntax: SHAMAN OMEN <target> [IN <6-12>]
Through primal magic of bone and blood, a Shaman may enact a binding hex upon their foe providing they have three fetishes stringed upon their quarterstaff. After the period of time specified by the caster (or six seconds if none is supplied), an omen of malevolence shall descend upon them, dealing unblockable damage and stunning them. If they are shielded, then it will annihilate it. Certain afflictions received from a Shaman will multiply the damage and stun from omen when it is initially cast, each of them greatly increasing its power, allowing it to reach a near lethal state when all of them are present. Curing or obtaining these afflictions after it is cast will not alter its potency. The following are the afflictions that will increase its potency: Paranoia, Infested, Blighted, and Stormtouched. | |
| Cougar | A vicious cougar to shred your enemies | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR SUMMON COUGAR | |
| Details: | The cougar spirit will deal cutting-based damage when ordered to attack your enemies.
Occasionally, one of its swipes will cause one of impairment, blurry vision, or clumsiness and will be masked from their view. | |
| Familiar | Call upon nature to provide a spiritual familiar | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR SUMMON <type> FAMILIAR DISMISS FAMILIAR RECALL | |
| Details: | Additional syntax: FAMILIAR HIDE and FAMILIAR REVEAL
Call upon nature to provide a spiritual familiar in your battles against those who would trample upon life. If you happen to lose sight of it, you may recall it back to your side. Additionally, you may ask your familiar to hide from sight, if such a thing would prove useful to you. Refer to HELP LOYALS for more information on leading your familiar, such as ordering it to attack and other useful commands. | |
| Invigorate | Sacrifice your own health to heal your familiar | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR INVIGORATE | |
| Details: | At a nominal cost to your own health, you may regenerate your familiar's physical form,
repairing any damage they may have taken in battle. | |
| Raven | Disturb your foes with the cry of the raven | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR SUMMON RAVEN | |
| Details: | The raven spirit will dive into action, either generating one primal energy for the
Shaman or dealing psychic-based damage to them as it swoops past. | |
| Serpent | Poison your foes with a vicious serpent | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR SUMMON SERPENT | |
| Details: | The form of a serpent will allow your familiar to either crush or bite your victim. If it
coils around your enemy and crushes them, it will caused asphyixation-based damage to them and inflict amnesia. If it bites them, it will deal poison damage and deliver the loki venom. | |
| Tethering | Instantly return your familiar to your presence | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR TETHER <ON/OFF> | |
| Details: | Tether your familiar to this realm, making it immune to the effects of orb sigils at the
cost of a small willpower drain to yourself. Furthermore, if the familiar is attacked when not within your presence, it will instantly return to your side. | |
| Glance | Extend your vision through your familiar | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR GLANCE | |
| Details: | You may quickly glance through the eyes of your familiar, allowing you discern all in
their location at no cost. | |
| Voice | Project your voice through your familiar | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR VOICE <message> | |
| Details: | With a simple link from your mind to your familiar, you may project your voice through
their form, regardless of your respective locations. | |
| Spider | Summon a massive spider to entangle your foes | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR SUMMON SPIDER | |
| Details: | By taking the form of a spider, your familiar will pierce your enemy with venomous fangs,
causing periodic poison damage and causing one of allergies, vomiting, or disfigurement which will be masked. After a set number of attacks, it will spot an opportunity to cover your unlucky foe in sticky webs instead, entangling them. | |
| Spiritbond | Order your familiar to guard you from harm | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR SPIRITBOND <ON/OFF> | |
| Details: | Mitigate a portion of the damage you receive and transfer it to your familiar. This
defence will cost willpower to maintain in the long term. | |
| Bear | The mighty bear will cripple your foe's limbs | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR SUMMON BEAR | |
| Details: | The bear spirit will lumber forth and maul a limb of your target, crippling it and
causing blunt-based damage. | |
| Wyvern | A mythical beast, incinerating any in its path | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR SUMMON WYVERN | |
| Details: | The wyvern spirit is perhaps the most fierce of all the familiars. Its attacks have a
chance to stun the opponent and set them ablaze, or simply deal extra fire-based damage. | |
| Morph | Instantly transform the manifestation of your familiar | |
| Syntax: | FAMILIAR MORPH <form> | |
| Cooldown: | 20 seconds | |
| Details: | This command will allow your familiar to quickly change forms, allowing you to alter its
physical body without dismissing it outright. It will also recover any missing health the familiar had. | |
| Fetishes | Carve symbolic fetishes to invoke eldritch magic | |
| Syntax: | FETISH CREATE <fetish> FETISH LIST | |
| Details: | You are now capable of creating mystic fetishes to invoke ancient magics upon your foe.
Once created, you must string the fetishes upon your quarterstaff and attune your target to unlock their potential. See AB SHAMANISM STRINGING and AB SHAMANISM ATTUNEMENT for more details. Fetishes are powerful tools that are activated by the specified target meeting a specific criteria, known as a trigger condition. When the condition is met, the fetish will become active, and will enact a persistent effect. When the same criteria is met a second time or the threshold no longer applies, the fetish will be rendered inactive. Careful consideration of fetish effects is important, as you are only capable of using three fetishes at a given time.
The list is as follows: Bark: Forest environments Shell: Beach environment Stone: Hills or mountains environment Feather: An eagle feather OR the corpse of an eagle Horn: A piece of stag's horn OR the corpse of a stag Ice: An elemental ice commodity Bone: Bone powder OR an animal corpse Tooth: A crocodile's tooth OR an animal corpse Claw: A lion's claw OR an animal corpse Eye: An animal corpse | |
| Horn | Invigorate your mind as energy surges through you | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | Activator: Self. Trigger condition:
The horn fetish is activated by passing the threshold of 3 natural energy - this can be done by gaining energy, or by depleting it past that mark. Target: Self. Activation effect: A portion of the energy around you will be converted into mental fortitude, restoring a small amount of mana and willpower to the user. | |
| Attunement | Link the power of your fetishes to a victim | |
| Syntax: | FETISH ATTUNE <target> and FETISH UNATTUNE | |
| Details: | To most observers, the rattling of fetishes proves to be little more than noise. By
attuning a target to the effects of your magic, you may draw out the true power of your fetishes - allowing their energies to affect your foe. | |
| Stringing | Quickly string crafted fetishes to your staff | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | Syntax: FETISH STRING <[fetish 1] [fetish 2] .. [fetish nth]> and FETISH REMOVE <fetish> and FETISH REMOVE ALL
With nimble fingers, you may string up to three fetishes on your quarterstaff at once. You can only string fetishes that you have personally created, and only one of a type of fetish can be on your quarterstaff at once. In some cases, it may be possible have more than three fetishes at once. Please refer to AB SHAMANISM <fetish> to learn more. | |
| Ice | As their vitality fades, their spirit suffers | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | Activator: Self. Trigger condition:
The ice fetish is activated by the Shaman dropping below 50% of their maximum health. This can be done both by being damaged or by causing self harm. Healing back up last 50% of your health will cause the effect to linger for a short period and then eventually fade. Target: Attuned target. Activation effect: The magics of the ice fetish will chill the very soul of your target - giving them the spiritbane affliction for as long as the fetish is active, and preventing natural passive health regeneration. Certain Primality attacks made against the target will heal you for a portion of the damage dealt, but will never heal you past 50% of your max health. | |
| Tooth | Draw upon nature's might even when your body is broken | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | Activator: Self. Trigger condition:
The tooth fetish is permanently activated once strung by the Shaman, providing you wield your quarterstaff. Target: Self. Activation effect: While active, the tooth fetish will empower the Shaman's connection to nature, allowing them to use any Primality abilities without the requirement of working arms. | |
| Bone | Dark spirits punish those who cower behind barriers | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | Activator: Attuned target. Trigger condition:
The bone fetish is activated by an attuned target using a shield tattoo or any other means of forming a temporary barrier. This does not apply to the prismatic barrier generated by using a lyre or other such means. Target: Attuned target. Activation effect: The next time your opponent attempts to form a shield, the fetish will lash out and destroy it, delivering a masked mental affliction from the antipsychotic tree in the process. The fetish will then go inactive once more. You can view HELP CURE ORDER for more information on afflictions in the antipsychotic cure tree. | |
| Claw | A bleeding victim proves unable to reject nature | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | Activator: Attuned target. Trigger condition:
The claw fetish is activated by an attuned foe who is greatly bleeding - achieving at least 200 bleeding will activate the effect. This effect can only be triggered once each time the opponent passes 200 bleeding, not if they continue to bleed. Target: Attuned target. Activation effect: While active, thorns from the Vinelash ability will hold with greater force - preventing them from being removed from your victim by any means. | |
| Eye | A fetish made to draw power from their curiosity | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | Activator: Attuned target. Trigger condition:
The eye fetish is activated whenever the attuned target uses the Diagnose ability to check their afflictions. You can view AB SURVIVAL DIAGNOSE for more information. Target: Self. Activation effect: Generate 1 primal energy when the fetish activates for use in Primality. | |
| Bark | A mystical fetish to imbue the flesh | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | Activator: Self. Trigger condition:
The bark fetish is activated by the Shaman receiving a cumulative amount of damage - roughly about 2000 damage. Once you past the threshold a second time, the fetish will deactivate. Target: Self. Activation effect: The protective magics of the bark fetish will envelop you in a shell, deflecting a portion of all damage received. | |
| Stone | Occlude escape when one is bound | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | Activator: Attuned target. Trigger condition:
The stone fetish has its activation state triggered when the Omen ability is cast on your attuned target. Target: Attuned target. Activation effect: The stone fetish will give your opponent the stoneheld affliction, and will occasionally prevent your victim from leaving the room - knocking them prone and off balance in the process. | |
| Shell | Befuddle the harmony of body and mind | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | Activator: Attuned target. Trigger condition:
The shell fetish is activated by an attuned target attempting to focus their mind to cure mental maladies. The condition will only be achieved if the opponent is both capable of focusing and consumes the proper balance. Target: Attuned target. Activation effect: While the shell fetish is active, your victim will find that the magics empowering their tree tattoo have been rendered inactive. | |
| Feather | Touch your opponent with the essence of the wild storm | |
| Syntax: | ||
| Details: | This fetish does not count towards your maximum allowed limit when strung.
Activator: Attuned target. Trigger condition: The activation state of the feather fetish is activated by an attuned target attempting to cure two afflictions from the same curing tree in a row through the use of curative pills. You can review HELP CURE ORDER to learn more about the various curative trees. Target: Attuned target. Activation effect: The might of the storm will be imposed upon your attuned target - after three seconds, they will be afflicted with the stormtouched affliction which nullifies the usefulness of their electrical resistance. | |