Choose Your Class
Each class has a distinct playstyle and a natural advantage over one other class — and a weakness against the third. No class is strictly better. A skilled Rogue can beat a Paladin with twice the steps.
The Paladin is built to endure. Slow, powerful strikes backed by holy magic and constant recovery. Where other classes burn fast, the Paladin grinds — absorbing damage, healing up, and outlasting opponents through sheer attrition. Divine Shield in particular is practically mandatory against hard-hitting bosses and Rogue burst damage.
| Skill | Cost | Effect | Eff. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleave | 100 | 200 damagePhysical | 2.00/step |
| Holy Bolt | 380 | 850 damageHoly | 2.24/step |
| Judgment | 550 | 1,350 damageHoly | 2.45/step |
| Heaven's Wrath | 950 | 2,400 damageHoly | 2.53/step |
| Divine Shield | 80 | Blocks the boss's next attack entirely | — |
| Lay on Hands | 250 | Restore 600 HP | — |
| Resurrection | 900 | Revive at 600 HP when knocked out | — |
Efficiency scales up with more expensive skills — Heaven's Wrath is your best damage per step, but you need the step budget for it. Use Cleave to spend spare steps that don't quite reach 380.
Divine Shield at just 80 steps is one of the best value plays in the game. Late-game bosses charge up attacks that exceed your max HP — shielding them is mandatory, not optional.
| Skill | Duels Effect |
|---|---|
| Judgment | Deals 1,000 Holy damage (reduced) and stuns the opponent — stun resets the Rogue's Combo Counter to zero. |
| Divine Shield | Absorbs up to 5,000 Physical and Holy damage before breaking. Heals 400 HP on activation. Recasting resets the pool — it does not stack. Elemental attacks (Battle Mage) bypass it entirely. |
| Lay on Hands | Heals 2% HP instantly, then 0.5% HP each time you take another action, for 4 more actions (4% total, ~2,000 HP). Also cleanses 3 Burn stacks from Battle Mage's Apocalypse. |
The Battle Mage plays the long game. Weak individual hits disguise what's coming — every Shock and Electrocute builds a charge, and when the charges are spent on Arcane Blast or Apocalypse, the damage is devastating. Patience is the class mechanic. The Restoration skill is your mid-combo recovery option, and it builds charges too.
Charges are accumulated by using Shock, Electrocute, and Restoration. They persist until you spend them with Arcane Blast or Apocalypse, which consume all your current charges. The max charge cap is 5.
The more charges you've saved when you unleash, the higher your damage. A 5-charge Arcane Blast deals 2,000 damage. A 5-charge Apocalypse deals 2,000 fire damage plus 1,250 burn damage over time.
| Skill | Cost | Effect | Eff. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shock | 100 | 150 damageLightning +1 charge | 1.50/step |
| Electrocute | 350 | 750 damageLightning +3 charges | 2.14/step |
| Arcane Blast | 550 | 1,000 damageArcane + 200 per charge (consumes all) | Varies |
| Apocalypse | 1,200 | 2,000 damagePhysical + 250 burnFire per charge (consumes all). Burn splits over 4 turns. Stacks. | Varies |
| Mirage | 80 | The next boss attack misses entirely | — |
| Restoration | 250 | Restore 400 HP +2 charges | — |
100 + 350 + 550 = 1,000 steps → 150 + 750 + 1,800 = 2,700 damage2.70/step
100 + 350 + 100 + 550 = 1,100 steps → 150 + 750 + 150 + 2,000 = 3,050 damage2.77/step
700 + 1,200 = 1,900 steps → 1,500 + 2,000 instant + 1,250 burn = 4,750 total2.50/step incl. burn
350 + 250 + 550 = 1,150 steps → 750 + 400 heal + 2,000 damage = 2,750 damage + 400 HP
| Skill | Duels Effect |
|---|---|
| Arcane Blast | Deals 1,000 Arcane damage, then removes one active opponent buff per charge consumed (targets Divine Shield absorption pool, Lay on Hands regen). When no buffs remain, deals 200 damage per charge instead. |
| Apocalypse | Deals 2,000 Physical damage + 250 burn per charge. The Physical hit is blocked by Divine Shield — strip it with Arcane Blast first. Burn is a debuff and bypasses Divine Shield entirely, applying regardless of the opponent's defensive state. Burn splits over the opponent's next 4 actions. Multiple Apocalypse casts stack independently. No stack cap. |
| Mirage | Costs 80 steps × number of charges available (charges are NOT consumed). Each charge spawns one illusion that absorbs a single incoming hit. Strong against Paladin's big single hits; fragile against Rogue's multi-hit attacks. |
| Restoration | Heals ~500 HP (1% of max HP) and gains 2 charges. Does not cleanse Burn. |
The Rogue rewards momentum. Every attack builds a Combo Counter, and each tier unlocks a stronger bonus. The longer you stay aggressive — avoiding heals, avoiding disruption — the more dangerous you become. Fragile against the Paladin's holy attacks (which Evasion can't dodge) but a nightmare for the Battle Mage, whose carefully stacked charges can be wiped out with a single Execute.
| Skill | Cost | Effect | Eff. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Stab | 100 | 75 + 75 = 150 damagePhysical (2 hits) +1 Combo | 1.50/step |
| Back Stab | 400 | 800 damagePhysical. 2% chance of double damage. From Behind (after Shadowstep): guaranteed 1,600 damage. +1 Combo | 2.00/step (4.00 from Behind) |
| Shadowstep | 320 | Evade the next attack. You move Behind the target. Your next hit has a 10% chance of double damage. +1 Combo | — |
| Execute | 1,000 | 500 × 5 = 2,500 damagePhysical. If the target's HP falls below 10%, they are instantly killed. Does not build Combo. | 2.50/step |
| Evasion | 80 | Evade the next incoming attack entirely | — |
| Healing Potion | 200 | Restore 450 HP. Resets Combo Counter to 0. | — |
The Combo Counter is a persistent number (0–5) that tracks your momentum. It builds each time you attack and unlocks bonuses at each tier. Healing Potion resets it — so every time you heal, you're trading your streak for HP.
Flurry
Double Stab lands a third hit for an additional 75 damage (total 225 at 100 steps).
Shadow's Edge
The 10% double-damage chance from Shadowstep upgrades to 30% on your next non-Back Stab attack.
Predator's Mark
Back Stab deals guaranteed double damage (1,600) even without using Shadowstep first.
Assassination
Execute's instakill threshold rises from 10% to 20% HP — a much easier condition to trigger.
320 + 400 = 720 steps → guaranteed 1,600 damage + 1 evade = 2.22/step
720 + 1,000 = 1,720 steps → 1,600 + 2,500 = 4,100 damage + 1 evade. Execute instakills if target is below 10% HP.
100 + 100 + 400 = 600 steps → 150 + 225 (Combo 2 bonus) + 1,600 (Combo 4 guaranteed double) = 1,975 damage3.29/step
| Skill | Duels Effect |
|---|---|
| Execute | Deals 250 × 10 = 2,500 Physical damage. Consumes all of the opponent's Battle Mage charges — wiping out their charge engine in one move. Does NOT reset your own Combo Counter. |
| Evasion | Evades the next incoming attack — except Holy damage. The Paladin's Holy Bolt, Judgment, and Heaven's Wrath cannot be dodged. |
| Healing Potion | Heals ~750 HP (1.5% of max HP). Removes 3 Burn stacks. Resets Combo Counter to 0. |
Class Interactions
These are the mechanics that make the matchups feel distinct. Knowing them is the difference between a lucky win and a decisive one.
Arcane Blast strips the shield for Apocalypse
Arcane Blast removes one Paladin buff per charge — stripping Divine Shield. This is the setup move: once the shield is gone, Apocalypse's 2,000 Physical hit lands in full. Strip first, then unleash.
Lightning chips through; Apocalypse burn always sticks
Shock and Electrocute are Lightning (elemental) — they bypass Divine Shield entirely. Apocalypse's Physical hit is blocked by the shield, but the burn is a debuff and bypasses all defenses regardless. The Paladin can't shield out of a burn stack.
Divine Shield absorbs all Rogue hits
Rogue attacks are purely Physical. Divine Shield blocks Physical damage in Duels — and since the Rogue relies on multi-hit skills, a single shield can absorb the entire combo.
Holy damage can't be dodged
Rogue Evasion only blocks non-Holy attacks. Holy Bolt, Judgment, and Heaven's Wrath all bypass Evasion — the Rogue cannot rely on evasion against a Paladin.
Judgment erases Combo
Paladin's Judgment stun resets the Rogue's Combo Counter to zero. Dropping a Rogue from Combo 5 back to 0 right before they execute a finisher is the Paladin's best counter-play.
Execute wipes Battle Mage charges
Execute's Duels version consumes all of the opponent's Battle Mage charges. Wait until the Battle Mage has a full 5-charge stack, then Execute — their Apocalypse is gone before it fires.
Multi-hit burns through Mirage
Battle Mage Mirage creates one illusion per charge. Double Stab hits twice per cast, and Execute hits ten times. These shred Mirage illusions far faster than single-hit Paladin skills.
Evasion wastes charge-spenders
If the Rogue evades an Arcane Blast or Apocalypse, all the charges the Battle Mage spent to fire it are consumed for zero damage. One Evasion at the right moment resets the entire charge cycle.
Lay on Hands cleanses Burn
Each use of Lay on Hands in Duels removes 3 Burn stacks. The Paladin can partially hold back Apocalypse's damage-over-time, but the Battle Mage can keep stacking faster than the Paladin can cleanse.