Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen Mastery System – Everything You Need to Know

Last Updated: January 2024 - Your comprehensive guide to understanding and maximizing Pantheon's Mastery System.

If you're looking for a game-changing progression feature in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, look no further than the Mastery System. This robust feature lets players augment and evolve their class abilities as well as broad aspects of their characters. Below, we'll break down how to earn Mastery Points, the two pillars of the Mastery System, and how mastery choices can unlock the full potential of your class.

Important: The Mastery System is currently not available in early access and is still under development, which means details could change prior to its official release.

Monk Abilities & Class Progression

The Monk class showcases an impressive collection of martial arts abilities and spiritual techniques that evolve as you advance in levels. From devastating strikes to tactical evasion skills, each ability plays a vital role in your combat arsenal. For a complete understanding of Monk abilities, skill descriptions, and progression mechanics, explore our detailed Monk Class Overview.

Key Class Resources

Complete Ability List: Discover our comprehensive Monk abilities catalog for detailed information about each technique.
Combat Techniques: Master the Monk's martial arts and combat synergies with fellow adventurers.
Class Mechanics: Explore the fundamental mechanics and distinctive features that define the Monk's fighting style.

What Are Mastery Points?

Mastery Points are the currency used to unlock or upgrade specific enhancements in Pantheon's Mastery System. These enhancements can boost individual class abilities (like Backstab for the Rogue or Feign Death for the Monk) or upgrade universal character traits (like run speed or endurance for climbing).

4 Ways to Earn Mastery Points

Leveling Up
Each time you gain a level, you automatically earn Mastery Points.
Experience Gain Events
Every time you gain experience from killing a mob, completing a quest, or discovering a new area, you also earn Mastery Experience. You need 100 Mastery Experience for 1 Mastery Point. Each event is worth 1 Mastery Experience, so it takes 100 such events to gain a point, regardless of your level.
Task/Quest Rewards
Certain tasks and quests will award additional Mastery Points. Not all quests do, so watch for the ones that do.
Rare World Drops (Mastery Shards)
Any NPC can drop Mastery Shards. Collect 4 shards to combine them into a Mastery Crystal, which grants you 1 Mastery Point.

Two Pillars of the Mastery System

Pantheon's Mastery System splits into two types of mastery poles:

Class-Specific Mastery: Upgrading your active abilities and spells.
General Character Mastery: Enhancing broader character attributes (e.g., run speed, endurance, underwater breathing, and resistances).

Every ability in your arsenal has its own Mastery path, allowing incremental improvements such as reduced mana cost, shorter cooldowns, or increased damage. The third and final mastery tier often provides a major transformative effect with powerful new functionality or synergy in group play.

Examples of Class Ability Masteries

Rogue – Backstab

First Upgrade: Increased damage.
Second Upgrade: Reduced cooldown.
Final Upgrade: Backstab used on a vulnerable target refreshes the cooldown on Blackjack, creating further combo potential.

Dire Lord – Provoking Phantoms

First Upgrade: Reduced cooldown.
Second Upgrade: Significantly increases initial threat (a "snap taunt").
Final Upgrade: Each auto-attack increases the stack count of Provoking Phantoms, enhancing threat generation.

Cleric – Ward on Death (Damage to Undead)

First Upgrade: Boosts overall damage.
Second Upgrade: Snares the movement speed of undead targets.
Final Upgrade: Puts undead foes into a weakened state, enabling Clerics and allies to capitalize on extra damage or crowd control.

Enchanter – Mesmerize

First Upgrade: Reduced mana cost.
Second Upgrade: Increases the duration of mesmerize.
Final Upgrade: Significantly reduces mana upkeep cost for multiple mesmerized targets.

Shaman – Mantle of Mist

First Upgrade: Increases healing per tick.
Second Upgrade: Further increases healing.
Final Upgrade: Each tick grants Surging Power, making your next spell an instant cast.

Monk – Feign Death

First Upgrade: Reduces cooldown, crucial if feign fails and you need a quick retry.
Second Upgrade: Lowers the chance higher-level NPCs see through your feign.
Final Upgrade: Lets you remain in a resting state while feigned, enhancing recovery.

Wizard – Fireball / Firebolt Line

First Upgrade: Reduces mana cost. Each fire spell cast builds Focus Charges (max of 5). At max charges, you stack a buff called Fury of Flame, boosting damage, crit chance, and casting speed but also increasing mana cost. The first upgrade helps mitigate this high mana cost.
Second Upgrade: Increases the burn (DoT) damage on Fireball.
Final Upgrade: Adds a knockdown effect for hard crowd control, opening more synergy for group combat.

Will Mastery Transfer to Higher-Level Skills?

Yes. If you upgrade a skill in a particular ability line (like the Firebolt line for Wizards), those Mastery Points carry over to higher-level versions within that line. Your progress is preserved as your abilities evolve.

Potential for Future Mastery Choices

While most abilities have a straightforward progression, the developers have hinted at introducing branching paths or decision points later. For instance, the final Mastery upgrade could offer two powerful effects to choose between, or you might unlock new class-based or character-based perks after allocating a certain number of points.

General Character Mastery

The Mastery System goes beyond combat skills to cover general character upgrades, such as:

Base run speed
Endurance for climbing or swimming
Base resistances
Underwater breathing duration

This ensures you can strengthen both your specialized abilities and your broader survival toolkit.

Mastery Upgrade Costs & Respeccing

Each Mastery tier has a specific cost in Mastery Points:

1 point for the first upgrade
2 points for the second upgrade
4 points for the final upgrade

You must unlock them in sequence, and these values may change for balance. You can respec your Mastery investment by paying in-game currency, but the cost increases with each reset, so think carefully before you do.

When Does Mastery Start?

You begin earning Mastery Experience at level 1. It's a companion system that grows with you, meaning you can shape your character's unique strengths from the very beginning.

Why the Mastery System Matters

The Mastery System isn't just about raising stats; it's about adding depth and unique flourishes to each class. It:

Reinforces class identity by unlocking and augmenting signature abilities.
Encourages group synergy with new combos and cooperative interactions.
Expands your character's non-combat versatility via general upgrades in crafting, harvesting, and survival.

Ultimately, you gain more freedom to tackle content creatively and push the boundaries of Terminus.

Final Thoughts

Whether you're a Dire Lord perfecting your threat generation or a Wizard stacking intense fire spells, the Mastery System in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen delivers a deep layer of customization. By investing Mastery Points in both class-specific and general character upgrades, you'll craft a truly unique hero ready to conquer all of Terminus. Keep in mind that since this system remains under development, it may evolve further before its official release.

Complete Pantheon Mastery System Guide (2024) | Character Progression Guide