Chapter
Composites: named threads
Any two learned spells can be threaded into one stroke per thumb (Codex section 6). An unnamed thread adds both effects together, then multiplies by 1.2, and gets 85% of the two breath windows added together. A named thread overrides that with its own effect. Players never invent threads: every pair is castable once both parts are learned. "Discovery" below is where the game names the thread and shows its effect, through a teacher, a fragment or the first time it is cast.
| Thread | Chain | Mixes | Effect | Breath | Colour | Discovered | Nearest look-alike |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Headwind (headwind) | Repel into Gale | Mirrored into parallel | 30 damage; the enemy is staggered for 4 s (the push lands, then the wind carries it further) | 1,020 ms | #9CFFB0 | Act 2, scene 4.1, the first thread lesson: Rook in Lanternfall (route A) or Dace at the wind-pass summit (route B) shows threading with it | Root into Gale, 0.24 |
Tempest (tempest), In data | Gale into Coil | Parallel into mirrored | 55 damage, 1 s stagger | 1,105 ms | #7FFFD4 | Act 2, after the thread lesson: Dace names it the first time the player threads Gale into Coil (or shows it on the Long Road if threading is already taught) | Squall into Coil, 0.47; Gale into Linger, 0.47 |
Bulwark (bulwark), In data | Repel into Facet Seal | Evane into Facet | 10 damage, 35 shield, 3 s stagger | 1,190 ms | #FFE08A | Act 2, Lanternfall: Rook shows it once Facet Seal is whole and threading is taught | Tally into Facet Seal, 0.37 |
Thornshield (thornshield) | Coil into Facet Seal | Evane into Facet | A 30-point shield; for 8 s every enemy hit on it takes 8 damage back | 1,275 ms | #FFE08A | Act 2, the Shardfield, after the glass storm: the first cross-side thread most players find on their own (Story Bible) | The First Pair (Brace into Facet Seal), 0.55; Linger into Facet Seal, 0.49 |
Wellspring (wellspring) | Mend into Root | Mirrored, one faction | Heal 25 now, then 4 a second for 8 s; you can't be staggered meanwhile | 1,148 ms | #B48CFF | Act 2, Greenvault: Mother Bramble's lesson | Mend into Weigh, 0.38 |
Blight (blight) | Toll into Wither | Mirrored, two Evane factions | 35 damage landing 3 s after the cast, then 6 damage a second for 8 s (48) | 1,190 ms | #FF8FA3 | Act 3, the Hour Stair: a Keeper's old field notebook | Coil into Wither, 0.25 |
Knell (knell) | Hush into Toll | Mirrored, two Evane factions | Silences the enemy for 8 s; 45 damage lands 3 s after the cast | 1,403 ms | #FF8FA3 | Act 3, the Hour Stair, in a letter from Wen to Keeper Hale. On hold: see overlap C2. Not counted as a named thread until C2 is fixed | Echo into Toll and Calm into Toll, 0.56 |
Thaw (thaw) | Repel into Pavilion Wake | Evane into Facet | 40 damage and a 3 s stagger; breaks every shield; frees you from every harmful effect; double against glass. In the field it undoes a stilling | 1,360 ms | #FFE08A | Act 3, Corran, the climax. The event is called the Unstilling; the thread is Thaw. It is Repel because Repel can never be sealed and every player has it (Story Bible: an Evane spell into a Facet spell in one stroke). Aske casts Brace across the warp at the same moment, her one cast | Not checked yet (Repel into Pavilion Wake is new) |
Rebound (rebound) | Girdle Gate into Repel | Facet into Evane | The next enemy attack within 4 s is turned back at 60%; then 10 damage and a 3 s stagger | 1,233 ms | #FFE08A | Act 3, the Shardfield road: a gift from a Facet cut sheltering from the storm | Girdle Gate into Tally, 0.22 |
Deep Cut (deep_cut) | Crown Surge into Bevel Lash | Facet, both halves | Costs 15 HP; 60 damage that ignores shields, the biggest single hit in the set | 1,445 ms | #FFC66B | Act 3: taught by Iver's cut if the player stole from the Vault for him, otherwise found carved in the Undermere | Prism Snare into Bevel Lash, 0.24 |
The First Pair (first_pair) | Brace into Facet Seal | Evane into Facet | A 40-point shield; the enemy's next attack within 4 s is turned back on it | 1,190 ms | #FFFFFF | Act 4, scene 4.12, the Heart Pane at dawn: a reflected thread shown in the Pane (Act 4 walkthrough). It replaces this tab's earlier Stillhold (Facet Seal into Linger) | Thornshield (Coil into Facet Seal), 0.55: over the 0.30 line, so it needs a recognizer check |
"Nearest look-alike" is the most similar other two-spell chain, with that chain's shape score against a perfect draw of this thread (see "Shape overlaps"). A score below 0.30 means a perfect draw of this thread is not recognized as the other chain at all.
Notes:
- Gale into Coil. The Story Bible's example says the wind throws the vine so Coil hits from range. The data file makes it Tempest, a storm. The data wins; the Story Bible line needs updating.
- Cross-side threads are the strongest (Codex section 6). Bulwark, Thornshield, Thaw and Rebound all mix the sides and use the pale gold
#FFE08Athat Bulwark already has. The First Pair mixes the sides too, but is white#FFFFFFon purpose: in Act 4 it belongs to no faction. - The First Pair and Thornshield score 0.55 against each other on shape, because both end in Facet Seal and Brace and Coil are close once normalized (C3). Brace has two corners and Coil none, so corners should part them, but it needs a recognizer check before the First Pair ships.
- Act 4's two phases are the walkthrough's to design (VEL-58). This roadmap suggests answering Ondine's mirrored chorus with asymmetric spells and threads (Girdle Gate, Rebound, Prism Snare), and Iver's asymmetric shattering with mirrored ones (Brace, Linger, Weigh). Each phase then rewards the side the antagonist despises.
- Mend into Echo (heal 20, then 10), Tailwind into Bevel Lash, and Brace into Coil (the easiest thread to learn on) work well as unnamed threads and need no recipe.