Abyssus Best Skills, Charms & Upgrades
Your run is defined by three upgrade layers: Aspects/Blessings (see the Blessings guide), Charms, and Ancient Forge weapon mods. Here is what to prioritise.
Upgrade priority (the golden rules)
- Match mods to fire rate. Fast/multi-hit weapons (Tesla, Combat Bow) want status-spread, lightning and ice mods; slow burst weapons (Harpoon, Shotgun, Revolver) want critical & raw-damage mods.
- Forge first: unlock Reload Speed and Magazine Capacity early — less downtime is the easiest universal DPS gain.
- Don't go pure glass cannon. Balance damage with shield-generating (Barrier) and cooldown-reduction charms to survive late bosses.
- Watch out: some "Pure Kinetic" mods convert your damage type and can silently disable elemental Blessing procs.
Best Charms
Hawkeye
Deal up to 30% more damage to enemies the further away they are.
Gun Meets Face
Deal 25% more damage to enemies within 10m of you.
Activate Gun Mode
Using an ability grants +50% fire rate for 5s.
Hate Forged
10% chance for any hit to deal triple damage.
Supersonic
Halves dash cooldown and +15% movement speed.
Power From Pain
+2% damage & move speed for every 10 Health missing.
Golden Ticket
Merchant prices 25% cheaper for all players.
Fan
Shoot two extra projectiles diagonally left and right.
Ms. Boom
Projectiles have a 50% chance to explode on hit.
Mr. Boom
Your explosions trigger twice.
Gold Lure
Loot Golems appear 10× more often.
Freebie
Using your ability has a 50% chance to not trigger cooldown.
Bandage
30% chance to not take damage when hit.
Phoenix Feather
Revives and fully heals you; breaks on use.
Perfectionist
Deal 40% more damage while above 80% Health.
Durable
+25% max Health while equipped.
Consistent Killer
Killing an enemy doubles your next hit’s damage.
Piercing Rounds
Projectiles pierce; +100% damage per pierce.
Assassination
+50% damage for the first 10s of an encounter.
Violent Commitment
+3% all damage per Depth completed while equipped.
Healthy Commitment
+3% max Health per Depth completed while equipped.
Slow Power
+1% damage every 2s (caps 50%, resets each encounter).
Upgrade Kit
Auto-upgrades the next upgradeable Blessing you pick up; breaks on use.
Gold Converter
Health pickups give 50% of their value as Gold instead.
Marksman
+1% damage per hit (resets on miss, caps 50%).
Skeleton Key
Opens all locks without keys.
Overkill
Overkill damage transfers to the nearest enemy.
Giant Slayer
Deal 20% more damage to Bosses & Elites.
Headstart
+40% damage, decaying 1% per minute since expedition start.
Favored Foe
Deal 50% more damage to enemies with modifiers.
Lifeline
Take 50% less damage while under 50% Health.
Overdrive
+30% damage, fire rate & move speed; breaks after taking damage.
Lucky Charm
Wishing Well +20% success rate for all players.
Revenant
Deal 60% more damage to the last enemy that killed you.
Hex
+25% Status Effect effectiveness.
Backline
Allies (not you) deal 15% more damage.
Thief's Eye
Doubles the contents of chests for you.
Blessed
Deal 10% more damage for every Minor and Major Blessing.
Spiritual
Gain twice as many Soul Fragments.
Productive
All players deal +200% to Room Objectives and charge them 200% faster.
Abilities
You equip one ability at a time; charges refresh at the end of each encounter, and each has 5 shared + 11 unique Ancient Forge upgrades.
Smiting Spear
Hurl a spear that strikes a target area — a top damage ability that pairs with Activate Gun Mode.
Turret
Deploy a stationary turret that fires independently; great with the Combat Bow and summoner builds.
Anchor
Throw an anchor that freezes/stuns and controls a zone — plugs single-target gaps (e.g. Plasma Launcher).
Frag Grenade
A simple thrown explosive for burst AoE.
Brine Field
Create a damaging brine area for zone control.
Ancient Core
An ancient artefact ability with unique high-impact effects.
Ancient Forge mods to prioritise
Reload SpeedMagazine CapacityDiffusion ModStatus SpreadEffect DurationFlack CannonVoid InfusionSmart ArrowCritical DamageWeakpoint DamageRicochet / BounceAoE by Distance