Spoiler alert.

You're not supposed to read a Professional's full status unless you have the right skills or grasp their arms. Do you have the right skills?

Okay, let’s do this.

Augusta Mary Cowen will probably one day star in a prequel short story set on the days when the Gilded Gate opens up in London (tentative title: The Infinite Labyrinth – Knight), but she began as a newbie in the days of the Gate opening, like everyone else.

Augusta Mary Cowen

Health: 186/186

Mind: 165/165

Endurance: 163/163

Aether: 151/151

Effective level: 1

Level 1 Defender

Experience: 0/1000

Strength: 14

Dexterity: 15

Agility: 15

Constitution: 18

Stamina: 16

Wisdom: 14

Focus: 17

Presence: 15

Fortitude: 16

Intellect: 15

Milestones: none

Skills: none

Equipment: none

18 years later (and she still looks like a young 30, not a late-40ish old victorian hag, in case you're wondering), she’s there, at the end of the ship's plank in front of Randel:

Augusta Mary Cowen

Health: 26869/26869

Mind: 12884/12884

Endurance: 11109/11109

Aether: 9879/9879

Effective level: 708

Level 28 Imposing Knight

Level 96 Imposing Banneret

Level 73 Precise Fixer

Level 109 Advisor

Level 78 Light Commander

Level 62 Calculating Guardian

Level 86 Spellbringer

Level 81 Calculating Barrier

Level 58 Protector

Level 47 Defender

Experience: 7762/280000

Strength: 213

Dexterity: 165

Agility: 203

Constitution: 795

Stamina: 300

Wisdom: 255

Focus: 102

Presence: 259

Fortitude: 269

Intellect: 234

Defence Rating: 9971

Regeneration: 11%

Accuracy: 8%

30% Health/CON

30% Aether/INT

2.5 Aether/WIS

25% Mind/FOR

22.5% Team defence

35% Armour

Milestones: Defender III , Protector IV, Calculating Barrier VI, Spellbringer VI, Calculating Guardian V, Light Commander VI, Advisor IX, Precise Fixer VI, Imposing Banneret VII, Imposing Knight II

Skills: Dodge (13), Flat Blade (11), Protect (9), Anticipate (7), Intimidate (5), Burning Aura (4), Shielding (4), Lightning Grasp (3), Shock Touch (3), Share Debuff (3), Assess Mind (2), Freeze Limb (2), Repel (1), Fire Spark (1), Asphyxiate (1), Cold Blood (1), Cleanse Poison (1), Increase Healing (1), Share Pain (0), Deflect Attention (0), Assess Threat (0)

Equipment: Plated Intricate Runic Circlet, Plated Strong-path Breast Masterworks, Plated Strong-path Deflecting Handgrips, Plated Speed-path Adjusted Swordholder, Greaves of the Sarmasion Painmaker, Plated Speed-path Flexible Sollerets, Aerial Focus Neck Links, Dyremic Red Dualstone Ring, Ring of the Biskantan Swordbearer

Whoa, indeed.

As an aside, while the French, British and American Great Empires still rely mostly on conventional armies enhanced by various Labyrinth-powered tech, that’s why the Chinese go full Xianxia. A Hero (the Chinese name for their Professionals) leading the charge might be defeated by a company-strength force, a group of high-tier Heroes is nigh undefeatable (see the fight in London from chapter 1 or the worries from Randel in the Interlude just before this), except maybe a full brigade willing to stand their ground (and kill the healer first). However, if you lose your Heroes, it can take a decade or more to replace them.

The italicized items in her loadout are Artefact-level items (earned from the Sarmasios and Biskanta zones). Her sword (currently unequipped) is her third and biggest Artefact overall:

Armament of the Biskantan Swordbearer

Two-Handed

Artefact

Requires: Level 559

Provides: 671 lightning damage (+42% FOC), +2 Flat Blade ranks, +3 Shock Touch ranks, INT+93, CON+104, PRE+98, health+1104, mind+592, endurance+1561, +3% regeneration, +6% lightning skills cost reduction

She's a terror, isn't she? Typical lair enemy in tier 5 zones which are Cowen’s group latest haunts:

Enraged Frozen Elemental

Level 625 elite

Health: 30393

Mind: 29221

Stamina: 2088

Aether: 40196

(yields ~10600xp. Uses icy attacks that do 2091 dmg before mitigation… and spell attacks that do upward of 2860 area-of-effect dmg. That's considered trash mob, of course)

The real threat is when you encounter this guy:

Dirmankali of the Endless Ice

Level 610 boss

Health: 440975

Mind: 161982

Stamina: 379899

Aether: 320945

So, how does all this work?

She’s a trailblazer. She’s not the highest level in the British Empire, but she’s been doing Labyrinth scouting for 18 years, meaning she’s picked stuff as they found it. The build might not be optimal, but it’s a solid build.

Classes she’s picked along the way:

Defender

(tier 1)

Required: 18 CON

Provides:

+6 health/+2 endurance/+3 mind/+1 aether per level

+1 Milestone/15 levels

Defender Milestone: +3 CON, +2 AGI, +1 STR, +1 INT, +1 WIS, 5% health/CON

Skill set: Personal / Defence

Protector

(tier 2)

Required: 25 CON

Provides:

+8 health/+3 endurance/+5 mind/+2 aether per level

+1 Milestone/14 levels

Protector Milestone: +5 CON, +3 STA, +2 WIS, +1 INT, +1 DEX, 5% health/CON

Skill set: Personal / Defence

At the edge of tier 3, she looked like this:

Augusta Mary Cowen

Health: 1357/1357

Mind: 591/591

Endurance: 548/548

Aether: 383/383

Effective level: 105

Level 58 Protector

Level 47 Defender

Experience: 0/116000

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 19

Agility: 21

Constitution: 47

Stamina: 28

Wisdom: 25

Focus: 17

Presence: 15

Fortitude: 16

Intellect: 22

20% Health/CON

Milestones: Defender III, Protector IV

Skills: Dodge (2), Flat Blade (2), Anticipate (2), Protect (1)

Skills are the 3 she's picked ranks at both Defender/Protector and the last 4th at Protector. The 5% health/CON does NOT stack between both Milestone types, only the strongest effect takes place.

Anyway, she's got the right stats to pick the next class (there’s none with just CON, but she qualifies for both possibilities):

Calculating Barrier

(tier 3)

Required: 45 CON, 20 INT

Provides:

+12 health/+3 endurance/+7 mind/+5 aether per level

+1 Milestone/13 levels

Calculating Barrier Milestone: +7 CON, +4 PRE, +3 AGI, +2 FOC, +1 STR, 5% health/CON

Skill set: Personal / Defence

And then she stumbles upon a problem once she discovered that her tier 4 should probably be:

Calculating Guardian

(tier 4)

Required: 85 CON, 36 INT

Provides:

+18 health/+5 endurance/+10 mind/+7 aether per level

+1 Milestone/12 levels

Calculating Barrier Milestone: +9 CON, +5 DEX, +4 STA, +3 INT, +1 WIS, 5% mind/FOR

Skill set: Personal / Defence

Can you spot the problem? Calculating Guardian requires more INT, but Calculating Barrier gives none. That’s when Charles Babbage, build expert, comes out and suggests picking some INT class for the missing 14 INT. She doesn’t qualify for the tier 2 full spellcaster, but she does for the hybrid tier 2 Spellbringer with INT/AGI. As much INT gains and better stats. Plus melee/control skills more suited for a tank than the full offensive set of spellcasters.

Spellbringer

(tier 2)

Required: 20 INT, 20 AGI

Provides:

+3 health/+2 endurance/+6 mind/+9 aether per level

+1 Milestone/14 levels

Spellbringer Milestone: +5 INT, +4 WIS, +2 STR, +1 PRE, 5% aether/INT

Skill set: Aether / Control

The downside is that she immediately loses all of her non-ranked defensive skills while she’s grinding Spellbringer. That puts a small crimp on her tanking abilities, but she still has her +3 dodge/flat blade/etc… She can’t rank them, but she can use them.

Augusta Mary Cowen

Health: 3133/3133

Mind: 1674/1674

Endurance: 963/963

Aether: 2018/2018

Effective level: 272

Level 86 Spellbringer

Level 81 Calculating Barrier

Level 58 Protector

Level 47 Defender

Experience: 0/344000

Strength: 35

Dexterity: 19

Agility: 39

Constitution: 89

Stamina: 28

Wisdom: 49

Focus: 29

Presence: 45

Fortitude: 16

Intellect: 52

30% Health/CON

30% Aether/INT

Milestones: Defender III, Protector IV, Calculating Barrier VI, Spellbringer VI

Skills: Dodge (3), Flat Blade (3), Anticipate (3), Protect (2), Intimidate (1), Repel (1), Burning Aura (1), Shock Touch (1), Freeze Limb (1), Lightning Grasp (1), Fire Spark (1), Asphyxiate (1)

Now, she can rank her Calculating Guardian… and then discover her next challenge while she does that, the only tier 5 tank class found so far. It is one of the "hybrids":

Imposing Banneret

(tier 5)

Required: 116 CON, 116 WIS, 116 PRE

Provides:

+28 health/+9 endurance/+15 mind/+12 aether per level

+1 Milestone/11 levels

Imposing Banneret Milestone: +12 CON, +7 WIS, +5 FOR, +4 DEX, 5% armour

Skill set: Equipment / Defence

“Oh, bollocks!” she says. She hoped for some sort of CON/something hybrid, but the closest she finds requires 3 stats. She has some WIS and PRE, but they’re absolutely not in range of what she needs.

“Hey, Babbage? Any ideas?”

“Sure, Cowen. How about starting with Light Commander, which you qualify for. Good stats, and you can rank your skills. Then you move on to Advisor, as soon as possible to get more PRE and good stats. And you finish with Precise Fixer which gives you exactly the stats you want. Yes, you do want that healing class. Trust me.”

Light Commander

(tier 3)

Required: 45 PRE, 20 AGI

Provides:

+5 health/+7 endurance/+12 mind/+3 aether per level

+1 Milestone/13 levels

Light Commander Milestone: +7 PRE, +4 STA, +3 DEX, +2 FOC, +1 WIS, 5% aether/INT

Skill set: Aether / Defence

Advisor

(tier 4)

Required: 68 PRE, 68 CON

Provides:

+12 health/+8 endurance/+19 mind/+6 aether per level

+1 Milestone/12 levels

Advisor Milestone: +9 PRE, +5 CON, +5 AGI, +3 WIS, 2.5% Team defence

Skill set: Team / Defence

(Group Defence is an effect by which she shares her Defence with the rest of the group. Everyone in her team gets 22.5% of her current defence rating as a bonus at Advisor IX. Alas, will not stack with anyone else's group defence - only the largest bonus wins)

Precise Fixer

(tier 4)

Required: 85 WIS, 36 STA

Provides:

+7 health/+5 endurance/+10 mind/+18 aether per level

+1 Milestone/12 levels

Precise Fixer: +9 WIS, +5 INT, +4 PRE, +3 STA, +1 CON, 0.5 aether/WIS

Skill set: Aether / Support

The two presence classes are in the Defence area, meaning she can improve her tank skills. The sideshow in healing is not that important, but it works to rank the skills she picked as a Spellbringer since it's all aether.

All of that grinding yields some good results:

Augusta Mary Cowen

Health: 7693/7693

Mind: 6071/6071

Endurance: 3646/3646

Aether: 5504/5504

Effective level: 594

Level 73 Precise Fixer

Level 109 Advisor

Level 78 Light Commander

Level 62 Calculating Guardian

Level 86 Spellbringer

Level 81 Calculating Barrier

Level 58 Protector

Level 47 Defender

Experience: 0/584000

Strength: 35

Dexterity: 62

Agility: 84

Constitution: 184

Stamina: 87

Wisdom: 132

Focus: 41

Presence: 188

Fortitude: 16

Intellect: 92

30% Health/CON

25% Mind/FOR

30% Aether/INT

2.5 Aether/WIS

22.5% Team defence

Milestones: Defender III, Protector IV, Calculating Barrier VI, Spellbringer VI, Calculating Guardian V, Light Commander VI, Advisor IX, Precise Fixer VI

Skills: Dodge (6), Flat Blade (6), Anticipate (5), Protect (5), Intimidate (3), Burning Aura (3), Lightning Grasp (3), Share Debuff (2), Shielding (2), Shock Touch (2), Freeze Limb (2), Repel (1), Fire Spark (1), Asphyxiate (1), Assess Mind (1), Cold Blood (1), Cleanse Poison (1), Increase Healing (1)

Okay, her Fortitude is pitiful and 25% Mind/FOR is going to be a waste. So what? The goal is tier 5, not stats.

She managed to rank defence skills for 6 out of 8 classes, and she's got some interesting control and team skills. Sounds very, very good indeed.

And now she can level her tier 5 Imposing Banneret. And when they find out the Imposing Knight class, she’s very happy that she’s followed Babbage’s advice since she already has enough PRE for the next step! No more detours!

Okay, by then, Babbage has a General Theory of Professions and has a fairly good idea of what each profession has for stats and requirements. It's almost as if he had an excel spreadsheet with the class designs on it!

A reminder of the Imposing Knight

Imposing Knight

(tier 6)

Required: 188 CON, 188 WIS, 188 PRE

Provides:

+45 health/+13 endurance/+23 mind/+19 aether per level

+1 Milestone/10 levels

Imposing Knight Milestone: +15 CON, +10 WIS, +6 AGI, +4 FOC, 5% armour

Skill set: Opponent / Defence

And that’s the final “naked” build for Ms Cowen (not Mrs. Common error from Avery Randel):

Augusta Mary Cowen

Health: 13279/13279

Mind: 8655/8655

Endurance: 4874/4874

Aether: 7278/7278

Effective level: 708

Level 28 Imposing Knight

Level 96 Imposing Banneret

Level 73 Abiding Fixer

Level 109 Advisor

Level 78 Light Commander

Level 52 Calculating Guardian

Level 86 Spellbringer

Level 81 Calculating Barrier

Level 58 Protector

Level 47 Defender

Experience: 0/280000

Strength: 36

Dexterity: 108

Agility: 96

Constitution: 299

Stamina: 72

Wisdom: 210

Focus: 49

Presence: 192

Fortitude: 81

Intellect: 67

30% Health/CON

30% Aether/INT

2.5 Aether/WIS

25% Mind/FOR

22.5% Group defence

35% Armour

Milestones: Defender III, Protector IV, Calculating Barrier VI, Spellbringer VI, Calculating Guardian IV, Light Commander VI, Advisor IX, Abiding Fixer VI, Imposing Banneret VII, Imposing Knight II

Skills: Dodge (8), Flat Blade (8), Anticipate (6), Protect (6), Intimidate (4), Share Debuff (3), Burning Aura (3), Lightning Grasp (3), Shielding (3), Shock Touch (2), Freeze Limb (2), Repel (1), Fire Spark (1), Asphyxiate (1), Assess Mind (1), Cold Blood (1), Cleanse Poison (1), Increase Healing (1)

She's already ranked Dodge and Flat Blade and will progress on the skill ranking as she gains Milestones in Imposing Knight. By the way, Dodge looked like this on Ira last time we saw him:

Dodge

Personal/Defence

Rank 2: Gives a 22% +2% × AGI/CON chance of dodging. Cost on trigger: 0.98 Endurance/AGI.

Cowen's rank looks like that:

Dodge

Personal/Defence

Rank 13: Gives a 31.5% +13% × AGI/CON chance of dodging. Cost on trigger: 0.87 Endurance/AGI.

You see why she likes that skill. Any melee attack, she has a 34.8% chance of negating outright (at current AGI/CON).

Then she has mostly level 500-550 heroic-type gear, with three Artefact items. Stat-wise, without the sword, she gets ~16500 in terms of vital pools, ~1350 total potentials and 17 various skill ranks, which brings her to the total stats at the start.

And then? What is she's looking for?

There's a new tier 7 zone unlocked recently and she is aiming for that new tier 7 Profession they’ve just discovered (and yes, the word Lord is used - Queen Elizabeth II in our history is "Lord of Mann" for instance, so it's not really inappropriate):

Impassable Lord

(tier 7)

Required: 292 CON, 292 WIS, 188 PRE, 188 STR

Provides:

+70 health/+23 endurance/+40 mind/+18 aether per level

+1 Milestone/10 levels

Impassable Lord Milestone: +19 CON, +14 PRE, +9 STR, +4 FOC, 2.5% group defence

Skill set: Team / Defence

… and she has a big problem to address, her unequipped STR is… only 35. She’s missing 153 points in it.

She's going to need some serious boostrap. Or find a different defence class.