Blue Protocol: Star ResonanceWind Knight Skyward Spec GuideBest build and how to play the class.

Basic ATK

Windborne Grace

Skill

Skyfall

Ultimate

Typhoon Cleave

Slot 1 - Mandatory

Galeform

Slot 2 - Mandatory

Falcon Toss

Slot 3 - Mandatory

Instant Edge

Slot 4 - Mandatory

Sharp Impact

Sharp Stacks - Our primary resources required to use our most powerful ability, Instant Edge. Building and spending Sharp Stacks is the majority of our rotation. Also grants massive ATK% as long as you have at least 1 Sharp Stack.

Courage - Our other core resource that is needed to activate Skyfall to generate Sharp stacks. Recovers at a rate of 3 per second baseline but can be significantly improved through cooldowns and talents.

Chasing Step - A talent-based resource generated when critically striking with Skyfall. It can stack up to 2 times and can be consumed by Instant Edge to buff its damage. Consuming stacks also significantly helps our rotation with endgame talent nodes.

Fixed Skills

• 

  Windborne Grace
  - Wind Knight’s basic attack is an ability we won't be using in endgame if possible. Optimal Skyward rotations have enough resources and cooldowns to constantly use better abilities
• Skyfall - Launches us skyward, quickly followed by a diving strike, only to re-launch us airborne once again. Our only Courage spender and primary Sharp generator, making it the backbone of our rotation. As Skyfall finishes with our character in the sky, it must be combo’d with either itself to keep diving or another ability to avoid falling through the air.
• 

  Typhoon Cleave
  - Our Ultimate hits all enemies around us, knocking them airborne while also restoring 100 Courage. Only used during our optimal rotations when running out of Courage to continue using Skyfall or when allocating the Battle Cry talent.
• Gains a second use with an alternative effect after activating the Battle Cry talent.

Mandatory Skills

• 

  Galeform
  - Deals a small hit of damage, offers a % Increased Strength and +Flat Strength buff while also improving our Courage generation from 3 per second to 10 for its duration. It has two charges, is our main cooldown, and a mainstay of our burst rotation, making it one of our most important abilities.
  

  Galeform
  also interacts with many of our talents.
• 

  Falcon Toss
  - Falcon Toss deals damage and generates 1 Sharp on use. While
  

  Falcon Toss
  isn’t usually used, the temporary evolution it turns into with talents, Azure Sever, is, and is a vital part of our combo.
• Can become Azure Sever temporarily with the talent “Sharp Long Breath” which, unlike
  

  Falcon Toss
  , is a vital part of our combo as it recovers 3 Sharp Stacks on use.
• 

  Instant Edge
  - Our primary Sharp Stack spender and highest damage ability that launches us into the air if not airborne already or brings us crashing down with a slam if we are. Requires 2 Sharp Stacks to use normally, but one of our best talents increases its damage in exchange for making it cost 3.
  

  Instant Edge
  functions slightly differently depending on whether it is used in the air or on the ground. The key thing to know is:
• Airborne: Is faster to use, hits once, and deals less damage.
• Grounded: Is slower to use, hits twice, and deals more damage.
• 

  Sharp Impact
  - We dash up into the air and slam down onto the target for some damage. At base, it is underwhelming, but with endgame talents becomes a vital part of our burst rotation thanks to it becoming an incredible DPS boost. Has no cooldown and instead uses a charge system where each use needs 100% and each Sharp Stack consumed generates 5% baseline.

Skill Priority

Instant Edge

>>>

Galeform

=

Falcon Toss

=

Sharp Impact

= Skyfall >>>

Windborne Grace

=

Typhoon Cleave

Ensure all abilities you’re using are levelled to 30 - only advancement requires consideration.

Instant Edge

Galeform

Falcon Toss

Sharp Impact

Windborne Grace

Typhoon Cleave

If you want to create your own Talent tree, check our tool:

Talent Planner

Important!

All gear & talent related info is based on extensive in-game testing, parsing, theory crafting and simulations. If you want to learn more about how damage works to understand our decisions, check out our Damage Formula Guide.

Stat Priority

Crit Rate

     

Haste

    

Luck

  

Mastery

   

Versatility

   

Main Stats

1. Crit Rate - Skyward’s most important stat to stack, as it provides damage but is also the only means of acquiring Chasing Step, a vital resource for our rotation. Without Chasing Step, we cannot loop our burst rotation as effectively, and will have to extend our rotation with weaker hitting abilities instead. Crit Rate also has its value doubled when Chasing Step is active when using Instant Edge and Sharp Impact, making it even stronger, but this also introduces a 50% soft cap for Crit in the spec, though.
• Stat Goal: We recommend aiming for at least 40% Crit for relatively consistent Chasing Step access; more than this will further boost smoothness.
2. Haste - Wind Knights have a potent 1.6%:1% Haste to ATK SPD% conversion thanks to their base talent Swift, making it a strong stat despite not being “thumbs up”. Haste doesn’t offer any special interactions in our kit, but it will accelerate our rotation, allowing more abilities to be used within our buff timings.
• Stat Goal: Shooting for a starting goal of 20% haste to execute basic rotations within Windfury and Galeform's duration smoothly.
3. Mastery - Our mastery grants us Wind DMG% at a rate of 0.65% DMG per 1% Mastery. Wind DMG% is a rare multiplier for us, making it nice to have after acquiring sufficient Crit and a great amount of Haste, but not a must-chase stat.
4. Versatility - This stat is always beneficial as it provides an extra multiplicative boost on top of all other DMG increases. Stats suffer diminishing returns, so a small amount of versatility is recommended.
5. Luck - A controversial stat, as it is recommended in-game as a “thumbs up” stat. However, it does not scale as well as expected because of several reasons:
• Lucky Hits work best on multi-hit abilities, but Skyward abilities are mostly single-hit abilities.
• Our highest hit frequency ability, our Tornados, depressingly cannot Lucky Hit at all.
• We only have three Luck scaling talents, one of which is underwhelming. The other 2, while good, struggle to make up for all other shortfalls.
• This stat scales better when choosing the Instant Edge Combo talent, but still falls behind other stats. You’ll be forced into some luck on set gear and your class weapon, but it’s currently not recommended to build any outside of this.

Bonus Stats

In gear slots you’re not using Set Gear in and which aren’t taken up by your class's signature Class weapon (if you have it), prioritize the following Purple Stats:

Helmet, Armour, Gloves, Boots

Strength%

Weapons & Accessories

ATK SPD% > Melee DMG% = DMG% vs. Bosses = ATK%

Set Gear

Skyward’s 2P set bonus is definitely worth equipping as soon as you’re able to complete Raids and is better than Purple Bonuses. The 4P, on the other hand, isn’t quite as strong and is more comparable to purple damage bonuses. Here is what they do:

2-piece SET

Skyfall and

Instant Edge

gain 10% Wind DMG Bonus

4-Piece SET

Each stack of Sharp consumed increases DMG by 1% for 8s, stacking up to 6 times.

Class weapon

Our Class Weapon, unfortunately, has Luck scaling, which isn’t too useful for us currently. It's still usable over standard weapons with purple stats due to its higher item level, but sadly isn’t as impactful as other classes' weapons. Instead of a purple stat, it grants:

• 20% Lucky Strike DMG Multiplier
• Increased stats.

Here are the best modules for Wind Knight - Skyward - listed in priority order:

1. 

   Strength Boost
   - Our best choice thanks to a large ATK buff and a rare DEF% Ignore effect for our whole kit.
2. 

   Attack SPD
   - ATK SPD% is useful for chaining more abilities within important buff cooldowns.
3. 

   Elite Strike
   - Always a good module for DPS, but not active outside of Elites/Bosses.
4. 

   Crit Focus
   - A nice buff for a CRIT-focused Spec, but its secondary buff of Max HP is not useful for damage.

Important!

Some imagines will not be available to farm until all zones are unlocked - the most vital of these is

Muku Scout

.

Premium

Goblin King

/

Celestial Flier

+

Muku Chief

F2P

Muku Scout [A5]

+

Muku Chief [A0]

Top Gold Imagines

1. 

   Muku Chief
   - Muku Chief provides passive +%CRIT DMG alongside a powerful active ability that grants even more +%CRIT DMG as well as +Flat Crit Rate. Furthermore, it has two charges, allowing superior uptime compared to other Imagines. Chief not only boosts our damage but also boosts the consistency of our combo as well.
2. 

   Goblin King
   - Goblin King summons a semi-random amount and selection of Goblins to attack and buff us. The buffs include bonuses to ATK%, Wind DMG%, -Enemy DEF, Strength%, and Luck bonuses. This combined with King’s passive Versatility, makes him a strong choice, but his randomness and the fact that Luck is underperforming for us mean he isn’t our best.
3. 

   Celestial Flier
   - Haste is a powerful stat for this Spec as we want to fit in as many abilities as possible during our Wind Fury and Galeform buff uptimes. The combination of massive passive +Flat Haste in addition to a +%Haste bonus on use assists with this goal greatly.

Top Purple Imagines

1. 

   Muku Scout [A5]
   - Muku Scout 5 grants us a passive 15% ATK, provided we are consistently hitting attacks. Upon activation, it doubles the stacks, giving a tremendous 30% ATK buff, amplifying the entirety of our damage. A generic, accessible, and exceptionally strong option.
2. 

   Storm Goblin Warrior [A5]
   - Storm Goblin Warrior is the generic Wind DMG% Imagine, granting 7.5% passive Wind DMG% and a further 16% on use. Due to a lack of this bonus in our kit, this Imagine performs similarly to Muku Scout, though it remains less universal.
3. 

   Jungle Goblin Warrior [A5]
   - Our Strength% boosting Imagine, offering 10% passively and a further 20% temporarily on use. This is a strong stat for our Spec, but we already have several Strength% buffs in our kit and talent tree that dilute the Imagine’s buff potency.

1. Ruby - Strength (Crit) - The best choice while building toward 40%+ Crit
2. Sapphire - Strength (Haste) - Any alternative after you’re satisfied with your Crit Rate and combo consistency

The reality of Skyward is that it has no “set” rotation due to Crit RNG dictating how many Chasing Steps we get, gear changing how fast abilities can be used, and Courage generation changing depending on available cooldowns and the state of combat. With that said, it’s far easier to understand how the spec plays by reading and modifying a set rotation compared to learning every trick in the book all at once.

Below is a heavily optimized endgame burst rotation that assumes all cooldowns are available and aims to execute as many

Instant Edge

Burst Rotation

Note

This rotation is only possible using the recommended talent tree in this guide and will not work before then (max level only).

• Use Available Imagines
• 

  Galeform
• 

  Sharp Impact
• 

  Instant Edge
  (Grounded)
• Skyfall x3
• 

  Instant Edge
  x2 (1 Aerial, 1 Grounded)
• Azure Sever (Enhanced
  

  Falcon Toss
  )
• Skyfall (Until 6 Sharp)
• 

  Instant Edge
  x2 (1 Aerial, 1 Grounded)

With enough Crit Rate, it’s possible to loop the above rotation for a second time thanks to the talent that grants an additional

Sharp Impact

Sharp Impact

Instant Edge

Note

Sharp Impact

can have part of its animation cancelled by jumping just before you cast it. This can save time, boosting damage, but is optional.

To learn more about what goes into this rotation and how to modify it check out our Optimization section.

Downtime Rotation

Sharp Impact

Galeform

Here is a rough ability order to follow until Sharp Impact is available again:

• 

  Typhoon Cleave
  if out of Courage
• Skyfall (Until 3 Sharp)
• 

  Instant Edge

Optimizations

There are numerous optimizations to make when playing Skyward. Here, we’ll try to mention a few of the main ones to pursue during your play.

Try to align

Galeform

Sharp Impact

Instant Edge

Sharp Impact

Galeform

Don’t waste Tornados if possible; they are a massive portion of our damage.

• Azure Sever generates 1 Tornado
• 

  Instant Edge
  Grounded generates 2 Tornados
• 

  Instant Edge
  Aerial generates 1 Tornado

Tornados each last 3 seconds; you can space out the abilities to avoid wasting potential tornados while others are still active.

Ensure you always have Chasing Steps active for

Instant Edge

Weave in smart usage of

Typhoon Cleave

Can Skyward be played on auto?

Due to the nuance of Skyward’s rotation, we do not recommend playing it on full-auto or semi-auto.