Defense Break
Defense Break is a Assassin passive skill learned at character level 21. It goes up to level 40; skill points buy levels up to 10 for 21 points in total and Daevanion nodes add 4 more. At level 10: Reduces the target's Defense by 30% and Status Effect Resist by 20% for 10s when landing an attack on a target afflicted with Stagger or an Impact-type status.
Description
Reduces the target's Defense by 30% and Status Effect Resist by 20% for 10s when landing an attack on a target afflicted with Stagger or an Impact-type status. Cooldown: 20s
Values by skill level
The numbers of the description that change with level, from SkillEffect / SkillAbnormalEffect and their level tables; column names come from the words around each number.
| Level | Defense % | Status Effect Resist % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | 11 |
| 5 | 20 | 15 |
| 10 | 30 | 20 |
| 15 | 40 | 25 |
| 20 | 50 | 30 |
| 25 | 60 | 35 |
| 30 | 70 | 40 |
| 35 | 80 | 45 |
| 40 | 90 | 50 |
All 40 levels
| Level | Defense % | Status Effect Resist % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | 11 |
| 2 | 14 | 12 |
| 3 | 16 | 13 |
| 4 | 18 | 14 |
| 5 | 20 | 15 |
| 6 | 22 | 16 |
| 7 | 24 | 17 |
| 8 | 26 | 18 |
| 9 | 28 | 19 |
| 10 | 30 | 20 |
| 11 | 32 | 21 |
| 12 | 34 | 22 |
| 13 | 36 | 23 |
| 14 | 38 | 24 |
| 15 | 40 | 25 |
| 16 | 42 | 26 |
| 17 | 44 | 27 |
| 18 | 46 | 28 |
| 19 | 48 | 29 |
| 20 | 50 | 30 |
| 21 | 52 | 31 |
| 22 | 54 | 32 |
| 23 | 56 | 33 |
| 24 | 58 | 34 |
| 25 | 60 | 35 |
| 26 | 62 | 36 |
| 27 | 64 | 37 |
| 28 | 66 | 38 |
| 29 | 68 | 39 |
| 30 | 70 | 40 |
| 31 | 72 | 41 |
| 32 | 74 | 42 |
| 33 | 76 | 43 |
| 34 | 78 | 44 |
| 35 | 80 | 45 |
| 36 | 82 | 46 |
| 37 | 84 | 47 |
| 38 | 86 | 48 |
| 39 | 88 | 49 |
| 40 | 90 | 50 |
Raising Defense Break above level 10
Points buy levels 1–10. Daevanion skill nodes and the skill effects soul binding adds to gear raise it further, up to level 40.
Daevanion nodes: +4 levels → level 14
| Board | Opens at | Node cost | Cheapest path from the start | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zikel | level 20 | 2 points | 4 points | +1 level |
| Zikel | level 20 | 2 points | 9 points | +1 level |
| Vaizel | level 30 | 2 points | 4 points | +1 level |
| Triniel | level 40 | 2 points | 11 points | +1 level |
From DaevanionNode: skill nodes add levels to one skill. The path cost counts every node on the cheapest way there from the board's start (our calculation, as in the planner).
Gear: soul-binding skill effects
Top, Legs, Helm, Pauldrons, Gloves, Shoes… (1,772 items): soul binding draws up to 3 skill effects, each landing with 20%; a landed effect picks Defense Break 1,000 times in 10,000 and adds +1 level.
Chance one item gets it: 5.88% — 1 − (1 − 20% × 10%)3, our calculation, assuming the draws are independent.
Arcana: skill effects by grade
| Arcana | Picks Defense Break | Levels | Common | Rare | Epic | Unique |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChaliceChalice of Vigor, Chalice of Magic | 4.55% | +1…+4 | 4.55%1 draw | 8.89%2 draws | 13.04%3 draws | 17%4 draws |
| MirrorMirror of Vigor, Mirror of Magic | 20% | +1…+4 | 20%1 draw | 36%2 draws | 48.8%3 draws | 59.04%4 draws |
ItemEquipSubstatSkill: each arcana grade draws a fixed number of skill effects; an effect adds +1 level and +1 per enhancement step, up to +4. Chance at least one draw picks Defense Break: our calculation, independent draws.
Skill point cost by level
SkillAcquireData: character level needed and points for each skill level.
| Skill level | Character level | Skill points | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 21 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 21 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 21 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | 21 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | 21 | 2 | 7 |
| 7 | 21 | 2 | 9 |
| 8 | 21 | 4 | 13 |
| 9 | 21 | 4 | 17 |
| 10 | 21 | 4 | 21 |
Other Assassin passive skills
Heightened Sixth SenseIncreases the caster's Evasion by 200 and HP by 1,500. Increases Max HP by an extra 15% and restores 562–674 HP on Evasion.From level 1
Exploit WeaknessIncreases caster's Critical Hit by 190. Has a 25% chance to increase Attack by 10% for 10s, and a 7% chance to summon up to 5 clones on landing a Critical Hit. Each clone deals 106 (+13.75% Attack) damage and inflicts Insignia that lasts for 10s (up to 5 Insignia stacks).From level 6
Apply PoisonHas a 15% chance to reduce the target's Incoming Heal by 30% and inflict Poison for 10s on landing an attack. Poison deals 1,167 (+138% Attack) Damage over Time every 1s.From level 9
Rear SmiteIncreases the caster's Back Attack Damage Boost by 7.5%, PvE Damage Boost by 7.5%, and PvP Damage Boost by 3.75%.From level 11
Assault StanceIncreases the caster's Critical Damage Boost by 15%.From level 13
Impact HitIncreases the caster's Impact-type Chance by 22% and Double Chance by 3%.From level 15
Ambush StanceGrants Ambush Stance for 10s when using skills that rush or involve movement.
Ambush Stance: Has a 50% chance to deal 387 (+39% Attack) damage on landing an attack.From level 17
Revitalization ContractIncreases the caster's Status Effect Resist by 35%. Increases Status Effect Resist by 10% for 5s when hit while afflicted with Stun, Knockdown, Airborne, Frost, or Fear (up to 10 stacks).
Immediately restores 44% Max HP when HP is 10% or less.From level 23Skill ID 13780000. From the game files: client 2.0.6.0 (Steam build 25767555, 2026-10-07).