Abyssus Abilities & Ability Mods
Choose an ability for your weapon, compare all six roles and find unlock locations, mastery requirements and every shared or unique ability Forge upgrade.
What is the best ability for my weapon?
For a first route, pair a precision weapon with pack pressure, or a room-clear weapon with direct boss damage. These are editorial starting choices for patch 1.3.62817, not measured DPS rankings. Change the choice when a mastery challenge or your team needs another job.
| Weapon | Start with | Job to cover |
|---|---|---|
| Disc Thrower | Smiting Spear | Keep several pulses on a stable target or overlap planted spears. |
| Tesla Gun | Smiting Spear | Keep several pulses on a stable target or overlap planted spears. |
| Plasma Launcher | Smiting Spear | Keep several pulses on a stable target or overlap planted spears. |
| Brine Revolver | Frag Grenade | Add a simple pack-clearing cast to a precision weapon. |
| Combat Bow | Turret | Keep an independent damage source firing while you aim or reposition. |
| Fish Deity | Turret | Keep an independent damage source firing while you aim or reposition. |
| Shotgun | Anchor | Clear a nearby group when you can commit safely to the swing. |
| Harpoon Gun | Smiting Spear | Keep several pulses on a stable target or overlap planted spears. |
| Engine Rifle | Frag Grenade | Add a simple pack-clearing cast to a precision weapon. |
Boss with no adds: Ancient Core is an alternative direct-hit route for a room-clear weapon; avoid relying on kill resets. Co-op protection: Brine Field trades a damage slot for a protected zone. Mastery: keep the required ability and use its challenge route.
How do you equip ability mods?
- Unlock and select one ability at the Lobby Workbench.
- Buy Ancient Forge on the Soul Wheel so Forges can appear during expeditions.
- During a run, interact with an Ancient Forge and choose an ability upgrade. Abilities have no alternate fire modes to equip at the Workbench.
- Complete the ability’s Mastery challenge to unlock additional mods. Shared charge and cooldown upgrades help build a first mastery attempt.
Each ability’s documented catalogue contains 16 choices: 5 shared and 11 unique. These are the available options, not 16 simultaneously equipped upgrades. Artificer allows a weapon and ability choice at the same Forge.
Compare all six abilities
| Ability | Base effect | Choose it for |
|---|---|---|
| Frag Grenade | A thrown explosive for ranged area damage. | Add a simple pack-clearing cast to a precision weapon. |
| Anchor | A close-range swing with a wide explosion. The base attack is not a freeze or stun. | Clear a nearby group when you can commit safely to the swing. |
| Smiting Spear | Throws a spear that sticks to enemies or scenery and pulses. Shooting a planted spear can trigger pulses. | Keep several pulses on a stable target or overlap planted spears. |
| Ancient Core | A single-target ray that deals 1000 base weakspot damage; 2 base charges. | Give a room-clear weapon a direct hit for durable targets. |
| Brine Field | Places a zone that Slows enemies, deals 200 base damage per tick and reduces damage taken by players inside by 50%. This protection does not stack; 1 base charge. | Hold a predictable area with allies inside the protection field. |
| Turret | Deploys an automatic Turret for a limited time. Its shots deal 50 base damage; 1 base charge. | Keep an independent damage source firing while you aim or reposition. |
Five shared ability Forge upgrades
These options are common to every ability. They are useful when your ability-specific mastery rewards are not yet available.
| Upgrade | Effect |
|---|---|
| Extra Pockets | Adds 3 ability charges. Source ↗ |
| Increased Efficiency | Kills reduce the ability cooldown. Source ↗ |
| Rich Get Richer | Each ability charge reduces cooldown by 10%. Source ↗ |
| Investment | Ability damage increases by 10% for each God Blessing on that ability. Source ↗ |
| Double Trouble | Ability Blessings have a 30% chance to trigger twice. Source ↗ |
Ability locations, mastery and unique upgrades
Frag Grenade
Unlock: Available from the beginning.
Frag Grenade Mastery: Use the Frag Grenade 8 times within 5 Seconds. Attempt route →
All 11 unique Frag Grenade Forge upgrades
| Upgrade | Effect |
|---|---|
| Exposure Blast | Enemies struck by a grenade explosion take 15% more damage. Source ↗ |
| Domino | Enemies killed by a grenade, or shortly after its hit, explode for 60% ability damage. Source ↗ |
| Explosive Culling | Grenade damage increases against enemies with more missing Health. Source ↗ |
| Implosive Force | The explosion pulls enemies inward and stuns them for 1 second. Source ↗ |
| Cluster Bomb | Detonating grenades split into explosive fragments. Source ↗ |
| Compact Grenade | Triples grenade damage; halves available charges, rounded up. Source ↗ |
| Shrapnel | Hits add continuous damage equal to 25% grenade damage for 3 seconds. Source ↗ |
| Bouncy Bomb | Grenades survive enemy impacts and explode on each bounce. Bounce blasts have half range and damage. Source ↗ |
| Gas Grenade | Leaves a gas cloud dealing continuous damage equal to 50% grenade damage. Source ↗ |
| Gashing Shell | Deals 25% more damage to enemies with status effects, Stun, Slow, Frozen or Root. Source ↗ |
| Sharp Shell | Grenade weakspot hits increase explosion damage by 25% and restore 25% of the cooldown. Source ↗ |
Anchor
Unlock: Spend a key to enter the treasure room when it appears. Take the Anchor from the cracked floor in its center; this room is not guaranteed on every expedition.
Anchor Mastery: Kill 4 enemies with a single Anchor swing. Attempt route →
Acquisition source ↗ · Anchor build guide →
All 11 unique Anchor Forge upgrades
| Upgrade | Effect |
|---|---|
| Self-sustaining | Each enemy hit reduces the ability cooldown by 10%. Source ↗ |
| The Thrill | Each enemy hit grants 10% movement speed for 5 seconds. Source ↗ |
| Grenanchor | Changes the Anchor into a thrown attack. Source ↗ |
| Brine | Leaves a toxic pool that repeatedly deals 25% Anchor damage to nearby enemies. Source ↗ |
| Bulwark | Grants brief invulnerability during the swing. Source ↗ |
| Fearless | Deals 50% more damage within 5 meters. Source ↗ |
| Anchored | Grounds flying enemies and makes them take 100% more damage for 5 seconds. Source ↗ |
| Bonebreaker | Enemies hit deal 25% less damage for 5 seconds. Source ↗ |
| Mighty | Hits knock enemies back. Source ↗ |
| Geyser | Adds a delayed explosion at the impact point for 150% Anchor damage. Source ↗ |
| Death Slam | Deals 50% more damage against enemies at full Health. Source ↗ |
Smiting Spear
Unlock: Defeat General Kri’su a second time. Climb the platforms that rise from the water and interact with the altar.
Smiting Spear Mastery: Have Smiting Spears pulse 15 times within 3 seconds. Attempt route →
All 11 unique Smiting Spear Forge upgrades
| Upgrade | Effect |
|---|---|
| Shockwave | Sticking a spear and every third hit create a shockwave dealing 40 damage. Source ↗ |
| Chain Pulse | A pulse has a 60% chance to trigger pulses from other spears. Source ↗ |
| Charmed Spear | Common Charm: +20% pulse damage. Rare: +50% duration. Legendary: +1 pulse. Source ↗ |
| Sticking Spear | Spears attached to enemies deal 20% more pulse damage. Source ↗ |
| Weakspot Spear | Spears attached to weakspots gain 25% damage and range. Source ↗ |
| Fragmenting Spear | Sticking fires a 40-damage fragment at a nearby enemy; additional attached spears add fragments. Source ↗ |
| Spear Grid | Attached spears form a field between them that deals 30 damage to entering enemies. Source ↗ |
| Split Spear | Throws additional spears diagonally left and right. Source ↗ |
| Enduring Spear | A kill from a spear, or shortly after its hit, resets that spear’s duration. Source ↗ |
| Environmental Spear | Spears attached to scenery Slow nearby enemies and make them take 5% more damage. Source ↗ |
| Charged Spear | Charging consumes ability charges. Each consumed charge increases damage and duration, and decreases damage intervals, by 50%. Source ↗ |
Ancient Core
Unlock: Interact with the sealed door in the Lobby artefact room after collecting the required artefacts, then take the Core from the pedestal.
Source conflict: the current acquisition page says 6 artefacts, but the challenge table says 3. Use the in-game artefact-room door requirement; neither number is treated as a verified universal threshold here.
Ancient Core Mastery: Deal 2000 damage with a single hit of the Ancient Core. Attempt route →
Acquisition source ↗ · Ancient Core build guide →
All 11 unique Ancient Core Forge upgrades
| Upgrade | Effect |
|---|---|
| Cone Blast | Hits every enemy in a cone instead of only the first target. Source ↗ |
| Gold Blast | Enemies killed by the blast drop Gold. Source ↗ |
| Stun Blast | Adds Stun to the blast. Source ↗ |
| Bounce Blast | The blast bounces to one additional nearby enemy. Source ↗ |
| Active Reload | A Core kill resets its cooldown. Source ↗ |
| Target Lock | Repeated Core hits against the same enemy each add 10% damage. Source ↗ |
| Hunter's Mark | Marks the target for 5 seconds, increasing all weakspot damage it receives by 25%. Source ↗ |
| Laser Sight | Distance increases damage by up to 50%. Source ↗ |
| Death Strike | Deals 50% more damage against enemies at full Health. Source ↗ |
| Trigger Happy | Using the Core within 2 seconds of its cooldown refreshing grants 50% more damage. Source ↗ |
| Explosive Blast | Adds an impact explosion dealing 25% of the hit’s damage to nearby enemies. Source ↗ |
Brine Field
Unlock: In the transition room with pillars, climb to the top of the central pillar and pick it up.
Brine Field Mastery: Gain a Brine Field with a diameter of 40 meters. Attempt route →
All 11 unique Brine Field Forge upgrades
| Upgrade | Effect |
|---|---|
| Quality Over Quantity | Recasting improves the current field instead of placing another: +20% benefits and +20% area. Source ↗ |
| Personal Space | Enemies in the field take 15% more damage from all sources. Source ↗ |
| Safety Dance | The field grants 30% increased fire rate. Source ↗ |
| Lingering Field | Field effects persist for 5 seconds after a player or enemy leaves. Source ↗ |
| Steady Field | Players inside the field deal 30% more weakspot damage. Source ↗ |
| Mobility Field | Attaches the field to you, reducing its size by 20%. Source ↗ |
| End With a Bang! | A destroyed field explodes for 300 damage in a 10-meter radius. Source ↗ |
| Time Warp | Increases the enemy Slow by 20% and Slows enemy projectiles in the field by 70%. Source ↗ |
| Noxious Bubble | Status effects on enemies inside the field tick at 200% speed. Source ↗ |
| Expanding Territory | The deployed field continually grows. Source ↗ |
| Sanctum | Brine Field Blessings trigger 3% more frequently per meter of radius. Source ↗ |
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Turret
Unlock: Defeat The Golemancer, then collect the Turret from the table to the right of the exit portal.
Turret Mastery: Have 6 Turrets active. Attempt route →
Acquisition source ↗ · Turret build guide →
All 11 unique Turret Forge upgrades
| Upgrade | Effect |
|---|---|
| Sniper Mode | Fires more slowly, gains 500% damage, and every hit counts as a weakspot. The archived tooltip says “reduce Fire Rate by 200%”. Its numerical interpretation is unclear, so this planner does not calculate a firing interval from that phrase. Source ↗ |
| Drones | Turrets fly near you and shoot nearby enemies. Source ↗ |
| Ammo Transfer | A Turret hit has a 60% chance to restore 1 round to your magazine. Source ↗ |
| Buddy System | Reduces cooldown by 10 seconds and lowers individual Turret damage; nearby Turrets increase one another’s damage. Source ↗ |
| Unstable Cores | Deployment creates an explosion and Stun in a 10-meter radius. Source ↗ |
| Sentinel | Each player within 15 meters grants the Turret 20% fire rate. Source ↗ |
| Persistent | Adds 10% damage and 50% duration. Source ↗ |
| Spiked Ammunition | Projectiles explode on impact and deal 25% additional damage. Source ↗ |
| Guiding Bullet | You deal 25% more damage to the Turret’s target. Source ↗ |
| Teamwork | Turret kills add 10% to your fire rate; your kills add 10% to Turret fire rate. Source ↗ |
| Ricochet | Shots bounce to another enemy, dealing 50% less damage on the bounce. Source ↗ |
Charges, cooldowns and patch caveats
Ability charges replenish at the end of encounters. Ability Abundance and Extra Pockets can increase the available stock. Freebie is a chance-based cooldown refund, so a route that relies on it is less predictable than one with enough starting charges.
Update 1.1 reduced Anchor Bulwark’s invulnerability from 1 second to 0.4 seconds and adjusted some grenade and Anchor damage-over-time behavior. Do not use a pre-update invulnerability duration as a current rule.
Sources: ability roster and charge rules, Forge pools, linked game-tooltip images, mastery requirements, official Update 1.1 changes. Effects are source-checked, not independently measured in a live game session.