Chanter early game: skills, passives and stigmas

At a glance

What you have to spend

Expect roughly 230–250 skill points when you finish levelling. That's not many. It buys one well-built damage line and your core buffs, and nothing else.

Two things move the number:

• Feather collection feeds your total. Collect as you go.
• The monolith is assumed not maxed here. If yours is, you will have room for more of the boss block below.

The rule for the whole build: points spent on a skill you rarely press are points stolen from Dark Crush and Undefeated Mantra.

Core PvE skills

This is the set that carries solo play, quests and early dungeons.

Skill	What it does	Why
Dark CrushMax, with the critical hit modifier	Deals 215-215 damage to a target within 20m. 5 Stagger Gauge DamageActive5s cooldown	Your main damage skill. Take the crit modifier. It's the difference between a nuke and a poke.
Spinning StrikeTake it, cut the cooldown by 5s	Selects a target within 20m and deals 2347-2347 damage to up to 4 enemies nearby. Increases the caster's Critical Damage Boost by 15% for 30s on hit. Stacks up to 2 times. [Dark Crush] becomes available for 2s on skill use. 15 Stagger Gauge DamageActive30s cooldown250 MP	Highest damage per second in the kit. The cooldown reduction is the single best point-for-point buy in the build.
Rushing SmashLevel 8	Rushes at a target within 20m and deals 112-112 damage to up to 4 enemies and restores 100 MP. 10 Stagger Gauge DamageActive15s cooldown	Gap closer and filler.
Impactful CrushLevel 8	Deals 224-224 damage to a target within 20m. Has a 60% chance to inflict Stun for 3s. 100% chance to inflict Stun on NPC targets. [Dark Crush] becomes available for 2s on skill use. 10 Stagger Gauge DamageActive15s cooldown100 MP	Filler damage, cheap at this level.

Auto attack sits at 8 alongside them. It costs almost nothing and you fall back on it constantly while MP-starved.

Skip these

Tremor Crush, Wave Blow and Impact Hit. They are either low impact in PvE or PvP-only. Every point here is a point not in Dark Crush.

Boss-only block

These are worth points only if you're running boss content. If you're still questing and exploring, reset them and put the points back into the core set.

• Gust Rampage, boss fights only. Pick its modifier to match your party:
  • HP absorb when you're the one taking damage, or running without a healer.
  • MP recharge when you have a healer and your problem is MP, not survival.
• Some skills chain into combos that only matter on boss fights. They are dead points during open-world play.

Reset costs are low early. Treat this block as a switch you flip when you start running dungeons, not a permanent spend.

Passives

Skill	What it does	Why
Attack PreparationMax it	Increases the caster's PvE Damage Boost by 5.5%, PvP Damage Boost by 2.75%, Defense by 2%, and Accuracy by 100.Passive	No hesitation.
Wind's PromiseMax it	Increases the caster's Critical Damage Boost by 5.7% and has a 50% chance to deal 554-554 extra damage to the target on landing a Critical Hit. Extra Damage Cooldown: 1sPassive	Crit damage, and it feeds the rest of your damage.
Raging SpellOnly with Gust Rampage	Deals 146-146 extra damage to targets afflicted with Stagger or an Impact-type status. Cooldown: 1sPassive	Not running bosses? Reset it.
CrossguardSkip	Increases the caster's Block by 200 and restores 53-58 HP on Block. Cooldown: 1sPassive	Block is not what you are paid for.

Beyond those, favour the crit-boosting passives. Chanter's damage is smoother with crit than with flat adds, and crit pairs with Wind's Promise.

Stigmas

Skill	What it does	Why
Undefeated MantraLevel 5 early, +20 eventually	Increases PvE Damage Boost and PvE Damage Tolerance by 10.5% and PvP Damage Boost and PvP Damage Tolerance by 5.25% for the caster and nearby party members. Does not stack with the Damage Boost effect from the Cleric skill [Light of Protection] ; only the higher-level skill effect applies. If both skills are the same level, Undefeated Mantra takes precedence.Stigma5s cooldown	The most important stigma you own. Accuracy for you and value for the party.
Sprint MantraLevel 5, early	Increases Move Speed by 10.5% and grants a 15% chance to restore 127-140 HP on landing an attack to the caster and nearby party members. Healing Cooldown: 1sStigma5s cooldown	Quality of life that pays for itself in questing and conquest.
Marchutan's WrathTake it	Selects a target within 20m and deals 1384-1384 damage to up to 4 enemies within 4m. [Dark Crush] becomes available for 3s on skill use.Stigma30s cooldown	Synergises with Dark Crush for the ranged damage boost.
ObliterateOne point	Deals 1078-1078 damage to up to 4 enemies within 4m of the target, with a 50% chance to inflict Knockdown. 100% chance to land Knockdown on NPC targets. 50 Stagger Gauge DamageStigma60s cooldown200 MP	It exists for boss stagger phases.
Guardian BlessingSolo	Increases the caster's Max HP by 5.4% for 300s and immediately restores 5.4% HP. Not affected by buff dispel effects.Stigma300s cooldown	HP buff. Your default while questing alone.
Power of the StormParty	Increases Combat Speed by 20% and reduces skill cooldowns by 20% for 10s. Increases Combat Speed by 20% and reduces skill cooldowns by 10% for party members within 40m. Cannot receive effect of [Power of the Storm] if Cleric skill [Earth's Blessing] effect is active.Stigma120s cooldown	Swap to this for group DPS once you're in a party.

Solo versus group

The build barely changes. The stigma loadout does.

• Solo / questing: Guardian Blessing on for the HP buff. Boss block reset. Lean on Dark Crush and Spinning Strike.
• Group dungeons: Guardian Blessing out, Power Storm in. Boss block funded. Ghast Rampage modifier chosen from who else is in the party.

Where to go next

Dark Crush loses its cooldown at skill level 16, and the damage guide says which skills to push there first. Stat weights prices a point of each stat for a Chanter, and the optimised stats screen ranks them against the damage model. Enhancement order lives in gearing.