The Secret World Decks Guide – Know Your Skill Builds

In Funcom’s The Secret World, Decks are various sets of Active and Passive Skills which assess each other well, in such a manner that they form a sort of ‘class’ or a type of character template.

The types of Decks available to you depend on which faction you belong to. Once all of the skills in a given Deck are unlocked, you earn a special costume for your character with traits that define the genre of your Deck.

Each deck contains a set Active and Passive Skills, which in turn belong from various trees. For example, the Magus Deck has Active and Passive Skills belonging to the Elementalism and Shotguns trees.

Currently, the following are the known Decks in The Secret World:

The Dragon

Warlord
Discipline and precision are the two things that define Warlords, and perhaps also their use of Blades and Assault Rifles. Their fine mix of speed, balance and flow make them a near-to unstoppable force.

Actives:

• Blade Rush (Blades)
• Drawing of Blades (Blades)
• Dancing Blades (Blades)
• Absolute Zero (Blades)

Passives:

• Ripping Frenzy (Assault Rifles)
• Bloodbath (Assault Rifles)
• Contagion (Blood Magic)
• Serrated Blades (Blades)
• Final Cut (Blades)

Neoshaman
The Neoshaman utilize the dangerous arts of Blood Magic and Chaos Magic to painfully exhaust the life of their enemies. This Deck has numerous amounts of advantageous DoT and single-target damage abilities.

Actives:

• Bloodline (Blood Magic)
• Exsanguinate (Blood Magic)
• Pulling the Strings (Chaos Magic)
• Liquidation (Blood Magic)
• Anesthesia (Blood Magic)
• Plague (Blood Magic)

Passives:

• Unholy Knowledge
• Breakdown
• Pattern Recognition
• Sick Society: 
• Circulation
• Torture
• Gross Anatomy

Pandemonist
Combing the forces of Elemental and Blood Magic, the Pandemonist rains death and hell upon the battlefield with numerous AoE abilities and an immense variety of crowd-control abilities.

Actives:

• Arc Flash (Elementalism )
• Electrical Storm (Elementalism )
• Infection (Blood Magic)
• Ice Manifestation (Elementalism )
• Anesthesia (Blood Magic)
• Coldwave (Elementalism )
• Whiteout (Elementalism )

Passives:

• Chain Reaction
• Criticality
• Elemental Force
• Splatter
• Blood Bank
• Molecular Exploitation
• Live Wire

Ninja
Bearing the deadly precision, skill and mobility that Ninjas are known for, their presence in the battlefield is one that inhibits both fear and awe in the heart of his/her enemies. Using their Blades and Elemental magic, Ninjas cause destruction in the battlefield so fine and perfect that it can be called art itself.

Actives:

• Delicate Strike (Blade)
• Clearing the Path (Blade)
• Blaze (Elementalism)
• Surging Blades (Blade)
• Flashpoint (Elementalism)
• Ice Manifestation (Elementalism)
• Four Seasons (Blade)

Passives:

• Fortunate Strikes
• Aidelon
• Twist the Knife
• Incision
• Sudden Return
• Delicate Precision
• Flight of Daggers

The Templars

Magus
The Magus uses the combination of elemental power with that of a shotgun, enabling them to deal massive amounts of damage to a single target. The Magus passive elemental abilities focus on increasing critical hit chances with the shotgun adding debuffs to cripple your foes.

Actives:

• Ignition (Elementalism)
• Raging Bullet (Shotguns)
• Flame Strike (Elementalism)
• Short Fuse (Elementalism)
• Coldwave (Elementalism)
• Kickback (Shotguns)
• Whiteout (Elementalism)

Passives:

• Violent Strikes (Elementalism)
• Social Dynamo (Elementalism)
• Punisher (Shotguns)
• Gunsmoke (Shotguns)
• Elemental Force (Elementalism)
• Final Fuse (Elementalism)
• Live Wire (Elementalism)

Warlock
Using battle Hammers and Chaos Magic, the Warlocks wreak havoc with their damage and rock-solid stature and defense, making them ideal for tanking and damage absorption.

Actives:

• Rupture (Hammers)
• Blowout (Hammers)
• After Shock (Hammers)
• Reality Fracture (Chaos)
• Chain Gang (Hammers)
• Stonewalled (Hammers)
• Unstoppable Force (Hammers)

Passives:

• Extended Fracture (Chaos)
• You’re Next (Hammers)
• Stone Cold (Hammers)
• Improved Blasts (Hammers)
• Bull Headed (Hammers)
• Inevitability (Chaos)
• Forged in Fire (Hammers)

Exorcist
With the ability to cast of even the most threatening sicknesses and foul curses from others, Exorcists are expert healers, using the controversial art of Blood Magic and the aid of Fist Weapons to carry out their healing and protection practice.

Actives:

• Linked Veins (Blood Magic)
• Cauterise (Fists)
• Vapor Rub (Fists)
• Angelic Aegis (Blood Magic)
• Revitalise (Fists)
• Infusion (Blood Magic)
• Cold Blooded (Blood Magic)

Passives:

• Splatter (Blood Magic)
• Angel’s Touch (Blood Magic)
• Sanguineous (Blood Magic)
• Making Amends ( Fists)
• Glimmer of Hope (Fists)
• Vessel Walls (Blood Magic)
• Arterial Pulse (Blood Magic)

Crusader
The Crusaders excel at using their trusty Hammers and Pistols to shred through enemies with the assistance of crippling debuffs and more.

Actives:

• Hair Trigger (Pistols)
• Start & Finish (Pistols)
• Bone Breaker (Hammers)
• Area Drone (Pistols)
• Marked (Pistols)
• Sticky Drone (Pistols)
• Gun Crazy (Pistols)

Passives:

• Metal Worker (Hammers)
• Mad Skills (Pistols)
• Punishment (Hammers)
• Insult to Injury (Hammers)
• Tenderising (Hammers)
• One in the Chamber (Pistols)
• Seal the Deal (Pistols)

Executioner
Very little holds Executioners from their enraged state, as they get their hands dirty by using Fists and Chaos Magic to decimate any opposition.