Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem, the Action-RPG from WOLCEN Studios, has recently released after a long period in early access. The game is a modern take on the ARPG formula, which is currently embodied by ageing but popular titles such as Diablo 3 and the free-to-play Path of Exile. Combining the former's focus on story with the latter's deep character customization, Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem relies on its unique visual style and tactical combat to distinguish itself from the titans of the genre.
As befits a game that takes inspiration from Path of Exile's insanely sprawling skill tree, Wolcen: Lord's of Mayhem offers a lot of choice in how players will build their character. The title's version of skills, called Enneracts, are just as numerous, and can be found either through drops in the world or by purchasing them from the Archivist. They can also be upgraded with a resource known as Primordial Affinity, though the game doesn't make clear how this currency is earned.
Trading in the Dupes
When a player loots, or purchases, an Enneract in Wolcen: Lord's of Mayhem, it will go directly into their inventory. As in a lot of modern RPGs, if the player doesn't know the skill, they can simply right-click on it at any time to add it to their repertoire. If, however, it's a duplicate of a skill they already have, then they can sell it for Primordial Affinity to Demetra in the Palace District of Stormfall.
Trading duplicate skills in for Primordial Affinity can be done at any time, if the servers are working anyway, so there is no point keeping them. This means players should always be on the look out for skill drops, even if they've got everything they want already. Alternatively, if a player is lacking Primordial Affinity but has an excess of gold, then skills purchased from the Archivist can be immediately traded in for the resource.
When to Use Primordial Affinity
While the primary use of Primordial Affinity is upgrading skills, players may want to conserve some of the resource for its secondary use, re-speccing passive skills. Just like Path of Exile, Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem is an ARPG that boasts a vast and branching passive skill tree, allowing players to take their character in a thousand different directions.
The only way to reset these skills and try again however, is through spending Primordial Affinity, with the cost increasing for each passive point that has been used. Given that skills also level up naturally through use, and Primordial Affinity merely speeds up the process, players who are often changing their builds may want to save it all for this secondary purpose. Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem's impressive launch trailer turned a lot of players' heads, but it remains to be seen whether the full release of the game lives up to the hype.
Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem is out now for PC.