Perks are bought with experience points. Each perk has a base cost, and most require at least one other perk to already be owned before they become available, forming a branching tree that rewards specialisation. You cannot skip to the expensive end of a chain without walking through what comes before it.
Some perks sit at the root of the tree with no prerequisite at all. These are available from the start of the run and define your initial direction. Others are buried several links deep, accessible only to a character who has committed meaningfully to a particular approach.
Every perk you already own makes the next one more expensive. For each perk already in your possession, a penalty equal to one tenth of the new perk's base cost is added to what you must pay. A character with many perks will find each additional unlock notably more expensive than the last.
This means early perks are cheap and easy to accumulate, but late-run unlocks carry the compounded weight of everything bought before them. A seeker who spread widely early may find focused late unlocks difficult to afford. One who focused narrowly may find their preferred next step surprisingly reachable.
Some perks permanently raise a base stat the moment they are unlocked. Thick Skinned adds 1 to base defense; Stone Skinned adds 3 more. Scholar adds 10 to maximum mana. Witch increases mana regeneration. Enduring increases stamina regeneration. Pack Mule expands carry weight by 100. Good Metabolism extends the hunger interval. Retainer extends the thirst interval. These bonuses are applied once, on unlock, and do not require any further condition.
Perks gate more than stat bonuses. Certain event options in the world are locked behind specific perks and cannot be chosen without them. Without the perk, the option does not appear. Recipes in the crafting system are similarly gated: some preparations require a specific perk to attempt. This means your perk choices quietly shape which parts of the world are accessible to your particular character.
Perks, once unlocked, are permanent for the run. There is no way to refund a perk or reclaim the XP spent on it. A few perks also exclude each other: the six magic canons are mutually exclusive, so swearing to one greys the other five out for good. Choosing a perk is a long-term commitment, and a branch of the tree entered early tends to pull subsequent choices toward its own continuation. Plan accordingly, or embrace where the tree takes you.
All 72 perks listed by tree group. The cost shown is the perk's base XP cost before scaling. A "requires" badge indicates the perk that must be owned first.
Soldier
+10% melee skill.
Veteran
+1 damage during melee fights.
Sword Master
+1 damage and +10% melee with short and long blade weapons.
Knight
Armour never costs Comfort. Dirt, smells and weight still do, and so does everything worn that is not armour.
Wrestler
Grants the Knockdown skill.
Martial Artist
+3 damage when fighting unarmed.
Ambidextrous
A second one-handed melee weapon can be held in place of a shield. The off-hand weapon grants half of everything it offers.
Critic
+1% critical chance in melee combat.
Killer
+1% critical chance in melee combat.
Scout
Can see enemies on your map.
Shadow
+10% Sneak.
Thief
Can attempt to steal from merchants.
Hunter
10% chance to recover a projectile after firing.
Archer
25% chance to recover a projectile after firing.
Point Blank Shot
Can perform ranged attacks at melee distance.
Sharpshooter
+1 damage with all projectiles.
Bullseye
+10% ranged damage with all projectiles.
Leatherworking
You know your way around the production of leather goods.
Quick Healer
10% reduced recovery time from inflictions.
Thick Skinned
+1 base defense (applied on unlock).
Stone Skinned
+3 base defense (applied on unlock).
Caster
10% chance not to consume a scroll when casting from it.
Witch
+1 mana regeneration (applied on unlock).
Warlock
50% reduction in spellcraft penalty imposed by wearing weapons and armour.
Arcane Reflex
One extra Action Point each turn, spendable only on a learned spell or a scroll. It must be used before the last ordinary point ends the turn.
Scholar
+10 base mana points (applied on unlock).
Bookworm
1% chance that any scroll found becomes a book or tome instead.
A caster may swear to one canon and only one. Taking any of the six closes the other five off for the rest of the run. Spells of the sworn canon are cast at 150% strength, duration and elemental defence; spells of another canon are cast at 50%. A spell belonging to no canon is unaffected. Magic Missiles, Fist of the Mountain and most Druidic and Invocation work are cast the same by everyone.
A spell's canon comes from its school where the school claims one: Necromancy is Dark, Clerical is Light, Illusion is Mind. Elemental, Druidic and Invocation spells are claimed by the element they deal, so Fireball and Ice Spikes answer to different canons, and an Invocation Poison answers to the Venom Mage. A ward that protects against every element equally belongs to no canon: its duration is unchanged, but it still raises the sworn element's defence and lowers the other four.
The canon multiplies what the spell itself brings. Your proficiency in the school is added afterwards, so training an off-canon school is weakened, never wasted.
Fire Mage
The canon of Fire.
Ice Mage
The canon of Ice.
Venom Mage
The canon of Venom: acid and poison.
Dark Mage
The canon of Darkness: dark damage and the whole Necromancy school.
Sentinel
The canon of the Light: holy damage and the whole Clerical school.
Mentalist
The canon of the Mind: the whole Illusion school.
Maintainer
10% chance not to lose weapon or armour durability during use.
Blacksmith
20% chance not to lose weapon or armour durability during use.
Surgeon
50% chance not to lose weapon durability when attacking.
Ethosian Artisanship
You know the secrets of elven craftsmanship and can forge steel.
Tinkerer
+10% XP gained from crafting.
Artisan
+1 to the quality of all crafted items.
Carpenter
10% chance not to consume wood, sticks, or planks when crafting.
Executioner
+1 damage with axes.
Each trade unlocks its own family of recipes and the workshop that serves them. None of them adds a quality bonus of its own: what they buy is access to work nobody else can attempt, and the claimed-room economy that grows around it. Leatherworking sits with the Hunter branch above.
Tailor
Fit layered cloth into durable clothing, warm expedition gear, padded armour and efficient packs, at a tailoring workshop.
Potter
Control kiln heat and glaze to make sealed crocks, ceramic tools, hive chambers and trade pottery.
Mason
Set refractory brick, work a Mason's Bench, and build durable stonework and room improvements.
Glassworker
Shape panes, grind lenses and establish a Glassworks, supplying lighting, alchemy and precision equipment.
Beekeeper
Establish Bee Colonies and build managed Apiaries for renewable honey, wax, medicine and preservation.
Brewer
Finish Mead and Wine, ferment Vinegar, and run the claimed-room brewing economy.
Miner
+25% excavation strength.
Prospector
+5% chance to recover a gem while excavating.
Grave Digger
1% extra chance to find magical items.
Mole Man
Excavation never triggers ceiling collapses.
Runner
Use less stamina when running.
Enduring
+1 stamina regeneration (applied on unlock).
Swimmer
No stamina loss in partially flooded locations.
Pack Mule
+100 carry weight (applied on unlock).
Quick Dresser
Equip items directly from the ground or from a container without transferring first.
Organised
Containers have 10% more space.
Looter
Opening containers does not cost an action point.
Foodie
+10% hunger reduction from food.
Good Metabolism
Hunger builds more slowly.
Consumer
Can eat inedible items. 10% of the item's remaining durability converts to hunger reduction.
Retainer
Thirst builds more slowly.
Cold Hardened
Slightly better tolerance to cold.
Frosty
Significantly better tolerance to cold.
Cosy
Slightly better tolerance to warmth.
Hothead
Significantly better tolerance to warmth.
Rat Catcher
Skilled at catching small animals.
Beast Master
Can catch medium sized animals.
Tamer
Caught animals are no longer treated as enemies.
This chain pays in Comfort. Host and Lord do nothing at all while Comfort sits below 40, and Leader needs 20 Comfort and a companion already at your side.
Leader
With a companion and at least 20 Comfort, each turn carries a 1% chance of attracting a new NPC, while the dungeon holds fewer than three.
Host
At 40 Comfort or more, loyalty gains are half again as large, loyalty losses are halved, and every claim XP cost drops by 10%.
Lord
At 40 Comfort or more, units purchased from claimed locations cost 25% less gold. Material costs are unchanged.