Spend your cooldowns before the next finishing blow
Sword Sage activates when Coen kills an enemy. Abilities that are cooling down become available to use again, provided their other requirements are met. In a group encounter, use an ability before finishing a weakened opponent if you want that kill to refresh a cooldown you have already spent.
The refresh does not supply Activation Charges. Charge at rank 4 has a separate effect that restores one charge on a kill; that resource return belongs to Charge’s rank, while Sword Sage handles cooldowns. You need the appropriate rank and a qualifying kill for the Charge effect as well.
A boss losing one Health Segment is not a kill in Sword Sage’s description. Against a boss with no other enemies, the finishing blow arrives too late to refresh abilities during the earlier fight. Lethal Crescendo expressly names boss Health Segments as a trigger, but it occupies the Vampirism Ultimate choice and raises claw damage instead of resetting cooldowns.
Sword Sage is available in both forms through Swordmastery. It competes with Tactical Mastery and Last Stand in that tree, so decide whether your usual fights are limited by cooldowns, charges or weapon damage. The comparison guide covers the separate 35-point unlock and four-point purchase.
Rank effects and learning costs
Costs are shown for each rank. Totals include this skill’s ranks only.
You can learn only one Ultimate Perk in the Swordmastery skill tree. Learning Sword Sage makes the other Ultimates in this tree unavailable.
| Rank | Effects | Skill points | Time segments | Unlock requirements |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
| 4 | 2 |
|
| All 1 rank | 4 | 2 | ||