Welcome to the final instalment of our examination of Heroes of Ruin’s playable character’s skill trees, showing you how every additional experience point you invest in each skill improves that ability as well as the XP you’ll need to unlock a new level for each skill.

This week, we’re inspecting the fierce Savage… while making sure we don’t get too close in the process! The Savage is a quick and powerful warrior, relying on primal instincts and tribal weaponry to decimate his foes. He has a low focus on defense, but his pure offensive capabilities are so viciously effective that he should rarely find himself with a need to defend. Exiled from his tribe, the Savage takes on the mission to save Lord Ataraxis in order to gain power and glory.

Ritual and tradition are important to the Savage, and he believes blood and flesh are the all-powerful forces in the world. His fighting style borders on psychotic, with many of his moves leading to an almost sacrificial finisher that allows him to rip organs or other vitals free for consumption.

As the Savage fights, his innate magical energies draw upon his enemy’s death, stealing their life force with every blow. This fuels the Savage and his abilities, making him all the more deadly for the next fight. Some abilities can even rip free these energies mid-fight, allowing him to stand toe to toe with far more deadly enemies.

How will you choose to level-up your imposing fighter and what effect does each skill point have? Read on to find out.

HUNTSMAN SKILL TREE
	Meat Hook Unlocks: 1, 6, 12, 19	Meat Hook stuns a foe with a thrown hook. You then either reel the foe to you, or pull yourself toward it, striking it. • Additional Ranks increase punch damage and stun duration
	Seismic Wave Unlocks: 3, 7, 13, 20	Seismic Wave sends a blast of energy through the ground at your foes, knocking them back. • Additional Ranks increase damage and knockback
	Spirit Ward Unlocks: 5, 9, 15, 22 Requires: Meat Hook	Spirit Ward summons spirits that torment enemies that hit you. At max rank, nearby party members are also protected. • Additional Ranks increase damage
	Impact Burst Unlocks: 8, 12, 18, 25 Requires: Seismic Wave	Impact Burst is a charged strike. When it impacts an enemy, it erupts with a projectile blast of power. • Additional Ranks increase damage
	Juggernaut Unlocks: 12, 16, 22, 28 Requires: Spirit Ward, Impact Burst	Juggernaut makes you faster, and grants damage resistance and restraints immunity. At max rank, nearby party members are also empowered. • Additional Ranks increase duration

RAVAGER SKILL TREE
	Fresh Meat Unlocks: 2, 7, 12, 19	Fresh Meat allows you to gain health when you score a hit against an enemy. At max rank, nearby party members can do the same. • Additional Ranks increase health gain
	Onslaught Unlocks: 3, 8, 14, 21	Onslaught increases your damage and drastically increases your attack’s knockback. At max rank, it does the same for nearby party members. • Additional Ranks increase bonus damage and knockback
	Painstrike Unlocks: 6, 10, 16, 23 Requires: Fresh Meat	Painstrike deals a vicious dose of damage to foes in front of you at the cost of your own health. • Additional Ranks increase damage
	Revenge Unlocks: 9, 13, 19, 26 Requires: Onslaught	Revenge gives you a chance to amass extra damage as you're struck. The extra damage strengthens your next critical hit. • Additional ranks increase critical strike boost per hit taken
	Unyielding Unlocks: 14, 18, 24, 29 Requires: Painstrike, Revenge	Unyielding makes you more resistant to damage and allows you to stand your ground, regaining energy when struck. • Additional ranks increase damage resistance and energy returned

MANIAC SKILL TREE
	Raging Smash Unlocks: 2, 6, 12, 19	Raging Smash crushes a nearby enemy. If you kill an enemy with the attack, you boost your attack strength and speed. • Additional ranks increase damage and boost duration
	Berserker Unlocks: 4, 8, 14, 21	Berserker imbues you with battle rage. As you take damage, you deal more damage with your own attacks. • Additional ranks increase damage boost
	Seal of Battle Unlocks: 7, 11, 17, 24 Requires: Raging Smash	Seal of Battle gives you a chance to mark the battlefield when struck, increasing you and your allies' attack power. • Additional ranks increase chance to create seal
	Rupture Unlocks: 10, 14, 20, 27 Requires: Berserker	Rupture is a powerful combination attack that wounds enemies it strikes, dealing damage over time. • Additional ranks increase damage and wound duration
	Frenzy Unlocks: 15, 20, 25, 30 Requires: Seal of Battle, Rupture	Frenzy sends you into a berserker fury, unleashing attack after attack at enemies as you channel the attack. • Additional ranks increase damage

Come back next week when we’ll be taking you through our favourite legendary weapons for each of Heroes of Ruin’s classes!