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Abilities

The ability system lives in common/src/comp/skillset/mod.rs (SkillSet, SkillGroup) and common/src/comp/skillset/skills.rs (the Skill enum). A character doesn't have a single tree: it has several independent skill groups (SkillGroupKind), each with its own experience and its own skill points (SP).

For the class roster and its implementation status, see Classes. This page focuses on how points are earned and spent.

Character level: derived, not saved​

Character level is not persisted. SkillSet::character_level is always recomputed from lifetime total earned experience:

pub const MAX_CHARACTER_LEVEL: u16 = 60;
pub const LEVEL_XP_BASE: u32 = 250;

pub fn level_from_total_exp(total_exp: u32) -> u16 { /* ... */ }

level_from_total_exp uses LEVEL_XP_BASE * (L - 1)^2 as the cumulative XP required for level L, capped at MAX_CHARACTER_LEVEL = 60. The character_level field is marked #[serde(skip)] — it never goes over the wire and is never saved to the DB, so it can't desync: it's rebuilt on every deserialization (SkillSetMeta → SkillSet) by summing earned_exp across all SkillGroups.

Skill groups (SkillGroupKind)​

pub enum SkillGroupKind {
    General,
    Weapon(ToolKind),
    Class(ClassKind),
    Feats,
}
GroupHow it's unlockedHow it earns XP
GeneralAlways available from character creation (initial_skills())Every kill/activity that grants combat XP
Weapon(ToolKind)The player spends a General skill (UnlockGroup(Weapon(..))) to unlock itOnly while that weapon is equipped (mainhand/offhand, active or inactive)
Class(ClassKind)Granted directly at character creation / /set_class (unlock_skill_group)Always active, like General — it's the only source of SP for the class tree
FeatsGranted directly by level milestones (see below)Doesn't earn XP — SP is granted outright, no XP economy

Class and Feats are the two groups flagged is_directly_granted() — they're granted explicitly instead of being unlocked by spending a skill from another tree, which is why they need their UnlockGroup skill re-seeded when loading from the database (load_from_database, see Persistence).

Where combat XP comes from​

server/src/events/entity_manipulation.rs builds the set of XP "pools" to split each combat reward across:

  • General is always included.
  • Every equipped weapon (mainhand/offhand, active and inactive) that has an accessible SkillGroupKind::Weapon gets added to the pool.
  • The character's Class(_) group(s) count as a single slot, regardless of whether the character is multiclassed (two class groups split that slice 50/50 between them instead of diluting General and the weapons).

The XP reward is divided evenly across all active pools. Fighting with a sword equipped splits XP between General, Weapon(Sword), and the character's class(es) — there's no need to "train" the tree of a weapon you aren't using.

Skill points (SP): how they're earned and spent​

Each SkillGroup tracks earned_exp/available_exp (XP) and earned_sp/available_sp (points). add_experience on a group tries to convert XP into SP automatically in a loop (earn_skill_point), so a single large reward can grant several points at once.

The XP cost of the next point rises with how many points have already been earned in that group (skill_point_cost, a different curve for Weapon/Class than for General/Feats). Spending an SP on a specific skill goes through unlock_skill, which validates:

  • that the group has available SP,
  • that the skill isn't already at max level (SKILL_MAX_LEVEL),
  • that prerequisites are met (SKILL_PREREQUISITES, with All/Any variants).

Feats: points from level milestones, no XP​

Feats are the exception to the XP economy. SkillSet::grant_skill_point grants them directly, bypassing earn_skill_point:

// server/src/events/entity_manipulation.rs
for milestone in [15, 25, 35, 45] {
    if level_before < milestone && level_after >= milestone {
        skill_set.grant_skill_point(SkillGroupKind::Feats);
    }
}

One feat point per 10 character levels starting at 15, up to 4 total points at level 45. If a single XP gain crosses several milestones at once (e.g. a /set_level jump from 13 to 30), one point is granted per milestone crossed. Feats is class-agnostic: it's available to any character in parallel to General.

Since these points don't come from XP, they're stored in separate database columns (direct_earned_sp/direct_available_sp, migration V74__skill_group_direct_sp.sql) so they aren't lost on every reload — see Persistence.

Defined trees (skills_skill-groups_manifest.ron)​

The actual contents of each tree — which skills belong to which group — live in assets/common/skill_trees/skills_skill-groups_manifest.ron, not in Rust code. Here's what's in it today:

  • General: weapon unlocks (UnlockGroup(Weapon(Sword|Axe|Hammer|Bow|Staff|Sceptre))) plus traversal upgrades (Climb(Cost), Climb(Speed), Swim(Speed)).
  • Weapon(Sword) and equivalents for Axe, Hammer, Bow, Staff, Sceptre, Pick: full per-weapon combat trees (Heavy/Cleaving/Agile/Crippling/Defensive-style families depending on the weapon, e.g. Sword(HeavySweep), Sword(AgileFlurry), Sword(DefensiveRiposte)).
  • Class(Warrior), Class(Mage), Class(Cleric), Class(Rogue): 12 skills each (the 4 original classes, "BL-06 proof slice" wave). Example, Mage: FocusedMind, TrueAim, ArcaneSurge, SpellPotency, PyromanticAttunement, CryomanticAttunement, QuickCasting, PenetratingMagic, WardedSkin, ManaEfficiency, Overcharge, ArcaneMastery.
  • Class(Barbarian), Class(Sorcerer), Class(Warlock), Class(Bard), Class(Paladin), Class(Druid), Class(Ranger), Class(Monk), Class(Artificer), Class(BloodSlayer): empty lists ([]) in the manifest, explicitly commented as "Classes-wave (BL-04): empty trees now; populated per-class in BL-06". These 10 classes are playable and have their own starting kit and attributes (see Classes), but don't have a populated skill tree yet — the Class(_) group still exists and accumulates XP/SP, there just isn't anything to spend those points on yet.
  • Feats: a long, class-agnostic list, grouped by comments into thematic sections (Combat, Magic, and more — see the RON file directly for the full listing, not itemized here).

If you're implementing a new class tree (BL-06), this manifest is the entry point: adding the corresponding Skill(...) entries to Class(YourClass)'s list makes them automatically spendable there, as long as the Skill enum in skills.rs already has the needed variants.

SkillSetBuilder presets: not the player's tree​

common/src/skillset_builder.rs defines a SkillSetBuilder with a Preset enum (Rank1..Rank5) that loads RON from assets/common/skillset/preset/rank{1..5}/{general,sword,axe,hammer,bow,staff,sceptre,fullskill}.ron. This is not the player progression system — it's a full-skillset generator used to build NPCs and summoned entities (server/src/states/basic_summon.rs, spell summons) at a predefined combat power level.

The per-rank files scale up how many skills of that weapon's tree are unlocked: rank1/sword.ron only brings Group(Weapon(Sword)) (the group unlocked, no skills), while rank5/sword.ron brings almost the entire sword tree (HeavySweep, CleavingEarthSplitter, AgileFlurry, DefensiveDeflect, etc., all at level 1). fullskill.ron at each rank is a Tree(...) node that concatenates every weapon tree plus general for that same rank — useful for giving a summon a "full" kit at a given power level without listing every skill by hand.

See also​