A Special Ability (SA) is a built-in power on an A-grade weapon that often matters more than a couple of enchant levels. The right SA can hand you crit rate, attack speed or an HP pool, completely changing how a class feels. Let us cover how to add an SA and which to pick for your playstyle.
What an SA is and how to add one
SAs appear on A-grade weapons. To add one you bring a clean A-grade weapon, a set of A-grade Crystals and adena to the Blacksmith of Mammon — that NPC is available during the Seven Signs seal-validation period (see the Seven Signs guide). Each weapon has its own list of possible SAs — you choose one.
Best SA by class
| Class / weapon | Recommended SA | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| Daggers | Focus | Critical rate — your main damage |
| Archers | Focus / Haste | Crit or shot speed |
| Warriors (2H) | Health / Haste | HP pool or attack speed for AoE |
| Mages | Acumen / Empower | Cast speed / magic damage |
| Tanks | Health / Guidance | HP and accuracy to hold aggro |
Focus is almost always the best pick for physical DDs: crit rate scales with your damage and buffs like Death Whisper. For daggers and archers it is the standard (see the dagger guide and archer guide).
Popular SAs and their effects
- ▸Focus — raises crit rate. Top for daggers, archers, warriors.
- ▸Haste — increases attack speed. Great for AoE warriors and archers.
- ▸Health — adds HP and heals on hit. For tanks and PvP survivability.
- ▸Acumen — speeds up casting. The key SA for mages (see the mage guide).
- ▸Empower — boosts magic damage.
An SA goes on a clean A-grade weapon; changing an SA is usually possible but costs resources. Decide your character's role first — swapping SAs back and forth is expensive. How to progress through grades in general is in the gear progression guide.
SA and enchanting
SA and enchanting (+enchant) work together: the SA gives a qualitative effect, the enchant gives a quantitative damage/defense bump. You usually pick the right SA first, then enchant — the enchant process itself is in the enchant guide.