Our guide will explain how Ravenbound Traits work, how to unlock more Traits, and the best Traits to use in this challenging roguelite game.
Quicklinks: How Traits Work | How to Unlock More Traits
Best Traits | Traits List
Traits are the backbone of your Vessel in Ravenbound -- they can have just as much of an influence on your run as the Cards you draw. You'll only have a handful of Traits available when you first start the game, but that number can grow if you choose to unlock them.
How Ravenbound Traits Work
Ravenbound Traits are passive abilities for your Vessel, the playable character that you will play on your runs. There are three kinds of Traits:
- Folk Traits - These Traits represent the race of your Vessel. Each of these Traits determine what happens when you "Drain" a Card (discarding a card).
- Weapon Traits - These Traits determine your Weapon Speciality and affect the composition of your Deck. You will only draw Cards related to your Weapon Trait.
- Standard Traits - The third and final class of Trait determines a random bonus that you will get on that run. Some of these Traits have upsides and downsides, and others only have upsides.
You will get to choose between three Vessels that have a random Folk Trait, Weapon Trait, and Standard Trait from the pool of Traits that you have already unlocked.
It is a good idea to avoid unlocking Traits that you do not ever want to use. This will keep the pool of available Traits restricted to things you actually want and prevent you from having to reroll your characters before starting a run.
How to Unlock More Traits in Ravenbound
You can unlock more Traits in Ravenbound by spending Legacy in the Traits menu in-between runs. You earn Legacy after the end of every run.
What Are the Best Traits in Ravenbound?
The best Traits in Ravenbound are the ones that confer a bonus without any downside. For example, the "Commanding Presence" Trait will inflict Weakness on nearby enemies whenever you use your Surge.
That said, you will develop your own style and tactics as you play Ravenbound. You may later find that one of the other Traits better suits your playstyle.
Ravenbound Traits List
| Trait | Type | Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parrier | Trait | 300 | 50% reduced Health, 70% reduced Guard Health, but Perfect Guard reduce all Damage to the Guard |
| Calculating | Trait | 500 | 50% reduced Base Damage when Surge is not active, but while Surge is active Weapon Damage increased by 300% |
| Bloodfueled | Trait | 550 | Weapon Damage increased by 0.5% per missing Health |
| Dodger | Trait | 300 | While Frenzied is active, Perfect Dodge refreshes its current duration, and extends it by 50% |
| Berserker | Trait | 400 | You cannot gain Armor, but your Health is increased by 2% per Weapon Damage |
| Death of a Thousand Cuts | Trait | 600 | 30% reduced Base Damage, but Multstrike increased by 30% |
| Aggressive Thrillseeker | Trait | 100 | While Frenzied is active, Critical Hit Chance increased by 30% |
| Prey on the Weak | Trait | 350 | Attacks against an enemy afflicted by Weakness, has a 33% increased Base Damage and Base Stagger Impact |
| Born of Blood | Trait | 200 | While nearby enemy is Bleeding, your Grey Health does not deplete |
| Commanding Presence | Trait | 200 | When you Surge inflict Weakness on nearby enemies |
| Defensive | Trait | N/A | Armor increased by 15. Unlocked by default. |
| Painbringer | Trait | 400 | Status Effect Potency increased by 50% per Status Effect currently active on nearby enemies. |
| Simlar | Folk | 300 | Whenever you Drain a card, gain 1 Mana |
| Human | Folk | N/A | Whenever you Drain a card, gain 50 Coins. Unlocked by default. |
| Ulvar | Folk | 300 | Whenever you Drain a card, gain 10% increased Weapon Damage |
| Longsword Specialist | Weapon Trait | 400 | Whenever Drawing a Weapon Card from the Deck, it is a Longsword Weapon Card |
| Greataxe Specialist | Weapon Trait | 400 | Whenever Drawing a Weapon Card from the Deck, it is a Greataxe Weapon Card |
| Twin Sword Specialist | Weapon Trait | 400 | Whenever Drawing a Weapon Card from the Deck, it is a Twin Sword Weapon Card |
| Twin Axe Specialist | Weapon Trait | N/A | Whenever Drawing a Weapon Card from the Deck, it is a Twin Axe Weapon Card |
| Sword & Shield Specialist | Weapon Trait | N/A | Whenever Drawing a Weapon Card from the Deck, it is a Sword & Shield Weapon Card |
That's the end of our Ravenbound Traits Guide. What are your favorite traits?
Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net
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