Talents

**Talents** were introduced in the second part of *The Banner Saga*. They represent the chance to get a small bonus in combat, enough to give you the edge in a critical situation without breaking the delicate balance of the game's battle mechanics.

## Talents Description

Once stats are maxed, then high-ranked heroes can be further specialized by spending promotion points to unlock Talents. There are six Ranks for each Talent, but promotion points can be added only up to Rank 3; Ranks 4-6 are only accessible through powerful Items.

## List of Talents

There are currently two Talents for each of the five stats. Each hero can have only one Talent per stat, i.e. up to five Talents per hero.

* Hunker Down
* Tighten Straps
* Robust
* Artery Strike
* Defy
* Stubborn
* Dodge
* Lucky Shot
* Exploit
* Divert

### Hunker Down

**Ruling stat:** Armor

**Flavor text:** *"Bracing at the right time can ruin an enemy's plans to weaken you."*

* Rank 1: 20% chance to Resist 1 Armor damage.
* Rank 2: 20% chance to Resist 2 Armor damage.
* Rank 3: 20% chance to Resist 3 Armor damage.
* Rank 4: 20% chance to Resist 4 Armor damage.
* Rank 5: 20% chance to Resist 5 Armor damage.
* Rank 6: 20% chance to Resist 6 Armor damage.

### Tighten Straps

**Ruling stat:** Armor

**Flavor text:** *"Armor works better when you get it back where it belongs."*

* Rank 1: 20% chance to Regenerate +1 Armor per turn.
* Rank 2: 25% chance to Regenerate +1 Armor per turn.
* Rank 3: 30% chance to Regenerate +1 Armor per turn.
* Rank 4: 35% chance to Regenerate +1 Armor per turn.
* Rank 5: 40% chance to Regenerate +1 Armor per turn.
* Rank 6: 45% chance to Regenerate +1 Armor per turn.

### Robust

**Ruling stat:** Strength

**Flavor text:** *"Years of toil in field and battle have hardened your body against pain."*

* Rank 1: 20% chance to Resist 1 Strength damage.
* Rank 2: 20% chance to Resist 2 Strength damage.
* Rank 3: 20% chance to Resist 3 Strength damage.
* Rank 4: 20% chance to Resist 4 Strength damage.
* Rank 5: 20% chance to Resist 5 Strength damage.
* Rank 6: 20% chance to Resist 6 Strength damage.

### Artery Strike

**Ruling stat:** Strength

**Flavor text:** *"'Go for the soft spots' as your trainer is fond of saying."*

* Rank 1: 10% bonus Critical-hit chance.
* Rank 2: 15% bonus Critical-hit chance.
* Rank 3: 20% bonus Critical-hit chance.
* Rank 4: 25% bonus Critical-hit chance.
* Rank 5: 30% bonus Critical-hit chance.
* Rank 6: 35% bonus Critical-hit chance.

### Defy

**Ruling stat:** Willpower

**Flavor text:** *"With nothing to lose, you'll hang on as long as you can."*

* Rank 1: 30% chance to avoid a killing blow.
* Rank 2: 40% chance to avoid a killing blow.
* Rank 3: 50% chance to avoid a killing blow.
* Rank 4: 60% chance to avoid a killing blow.
* Rank 5: 70% chance to avoid a killing blow.
* Rank 6: 80% chance to avoid a killing blow.

### Stubborn

**Ruling stat:** Willpower

**Flavor text:** *"Some give it their all. You refuse to accept that limit."*

* Rank 1: 20% chance to Regenerate +1 Willpower per turn.
* Rank 2: 20% chance to Regenerate +2 Willpower per turn.
* Rank 3: 20% chance to Regenerate +3 Willpower per turn.
* Rank 4: 20% chance to Regenerate +4 Willpower per turn.
* Rank 5: 20% chance to Regenerate +5 Willpower per turn.
* Rank 6: 20% chance to Regenerate +6 Willpower per turn.

### Dodge

**Ruling stat:** Exertion

**Flavor text:** *"Long lives generally belong to the fighters with the fewest scars."*

* Rank 1: 5% chance to avoid Strength attack.
* Rank 2: 10% chance to avoid Strength attack.
* Rank 3: 15% chance to avoid Strength attack.
* Rank 4: 20% chance to avoid Strength attack.
* Rank 5: 25% chance to avoid Strength attack.
* Rank 6: 30% chance to avoid Strength attack.

### Lucky Shot

**Ruling stat:** Exertion

**Flavor text:** *"The god Denglr might be dead, but only luck explains some of these hits."*

* Rank 1: 30% bonus hit chance.
* Rank 2: 40% bonus hit chance.
* Rank 3: 50% bonus hit chance.
* Rank 4: 60% bonus hit chance.
* Rank 5: 70% bonus hit chance.
* Rank 6: 80% bonus hit chance.

### Exploit

**Ruling stat:** Break

**Flavor text:** *"You search for their broken straps or torn mail and then make them pay."*

* Rank 1: 10% chance to cause Puncture.
* Rank 2: 15% chance to cause Puncture.
* Rank 3: 20% chance to cause Puncture.
* Rank 4: 25% chance to cause Puncture.
* Rank 5: 30% chance to cause Puncture.
* Rank 6: 35% chance to cause Puncture.

Exploit talent triggers on strength attack. Stacks with archer's Puncture.

### Divert

**Ruling stat:** Break

**Flavor text:** *"A small twist can turn a crushing blow into a scuff on your Armor."*

* Rank 1: 5% chance to avoid Armor attack.
* Rank 2: 10% chance to avoid Armor attack.
* Rank 3: 15% chance to avoid Armor attack.
* Rank 4: 20% chance to avoid Armor attack.
* Rank 5: 25% chance to avoid Armor attack.
* Rank 6: 30% chance to avoid Armor attack.

## Notes

* Bonus chances or bonus stats offered by Talents are **stack-able** with equivalent bonuses from Items or Abilities. This can make some Talents especially devastating when combined with proper Items on specific heroes; the standard example is Bak (Pig Sticker ability) equipped with Gem of Vez'nan.
* Bonus Ranks offered by Items are only applied to unlocked Talents, i.e. those whose Rank is at least 1.