Obsidian Knight Combat and Progression Terms
First distinction: Dodge, Deflect, and Reflect are different effects
Combat in Obsidian Knight advances automatically. The player's main active decision is selecting a Skill Card when leveling up. Dodge on a card is therefore a combat result where an attack does not hit, not a manual movement button.
Term | Meaning used on this site | Common confusion |
|---|---|---|
Dodge | Avoid an attack so the hit does not land | It is not a manual dodge button. Melee and ranged conditions may be separate |
Deflect | Negate an incoming attack through a defensive effect | It does not necessarily return damage to an enemy |
Reflect / Return | Send an incoming attack or arrow back toward enemies | The amount, target, and condition depend on the card |
A public skill wiki and community discussions treat these as separate effects. Fixed chances, caps, reflected values, and resolution order are excluded because they can differ by card and version.
Read a Skill Card as four parts
Break each card description into four elements:
- Trigger: Critical, Dodge, Potion use, a kill, level up, or another event that starts the effect.
- Payoff: Damage, healing, Armor repair, Stun, Potion refill, or another result.
- Target: You, the current enemy, enemies behind it, ranged enemies, or another group.
- Maintenance condition: Full Armor, low HP, consecutive successes, or another condition that can end.
Raising Dodge alone does not complete a build. Check whether Dodge connects to damage, healing, or Potion refills, and whether Armor repair is needed to maintain a conditional effect.
Damage and chain terms
Term | Practical meaning | What to check |
|---|---|---|
Critical | A strengthened attack result separate from a normal hit | Whether it connects to multi-target damage, healing, or Stun instead of only raising chance |
Trigger | A repeatable condition that starts a chain | Whether it happens often enough in the current run |
Payoff | Damage, recovery, or control produced after a trigger | Whether it directly addresses the current failure |
Chain | A trigger connected to one or more payoffs | Whether the number of required cards is realistic for the run |
Explode | Convert a condition or defeated enemy into additional enemy processing | Whether it helps groups and whether direct damage remains available |
Execute | Immediately process an enemy when a stated condition is met | Confirm the target, chance, and exceptions on the current card |
Thorn | Deal damage back under a condition such as receiving an attack | Whether the build can survive the required contact |
Drain | Connect an effect on an enemy with recovery for the player | Confirm the target and recovery condition |
On Sight | Trigger when an enemy enters sight or combat range | Confirm whether it is once, per enemy, or otherwise limited |
Exact formulas for Execute, Thorn, Drain, and On Sight are not stated because current in-game screens have not been captured for each term.
Control and enemy-processing terms
Term | Role | Caution |
|---|---|---|
Stun | Stop an enemy from acting for a period | Keep direct damage or survival because some high-difficulty enemies may resist control |
Mark | Flag a target for a later effect such as Explode | Read the marking condition separately from the detonation condition |
Reroll | Replace the presented Skill Card choices | Confirm uses, unlock conditions, and whether they persist on the current screen |
Card exclusion | Remove unwanted cards from battle choices | Do not exclude a required trigger or payoff |
Stun and Explode do not perform the same job. Stun controls enemy actions; Explode connects a condition to additional enemy processing.
Survival terms
Term | Role | How to diagnose it |
|---|---|---|
HP / Health | The life resource lost after or apart from Armor | If HP empties first, inspect healing, avoidance, and incoming-damage reduction |
Armor | A defensive resource tracked separately from HP | Pair full-Armor conditions with a reliable repair effect |
Heal | Restore HP | Confirm the trigger and recovery target |
Repair Armor | Restore Armor | Do not treat it as identical to healing |
Potion | A recovery tool and a trigger for additional effects | Pair refill sources with Potion-use payoffs |
Damage Mitigation | A defensive upgrade category related to incoming damage | Confirm the exact calculation on the current upgrade screen |
Magic Defense | A defensive category added for magic-related pressure | Confirm affected attacks and values on the current screen |
A Potion build combines refill sources from events such as Criticals, Dodges, or kills with Potion-use effects such as healing, Armor repair, damage, or Stun.
Run and permanent-progression terms
Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
Run | One attempt from entry until the attempt ends |
Skill Card | A choice that shapes one run and activates automatically after acquisition |
Build | The combined Skill Cards, equipment, and permanent progression used for a goal |
Synergy | Connecting a trigger and payoff so they work better together than alone |
Permanent upgrade | Equipment, items, or upgrade trees that remain for later runs |
Darksteel | A currency connected to set upgrade trees |
Obsidian Orb | A resource used to upgrade collected Skill Cards |
Do not mix up card selection during a run with permanent progression. If the required cards do not form, inspect the candidate pool. If every run stops at the same performance limit, inspect equipment and permanent upgrades.
Choose the next guide by term
What you need | Read next |
|---|---|
Connect Dodge to damage and recovery | |
Build a Critical chain | |
Sustain a Potion loop | |
Separate Stun and Explode roles | |
Choose among three cards | |
Remove unwanted candidates | |
Separate progression resources |
Names, values, and card numbers can differ by platform, localization, or version. Prefer the current wording displayed in your game.