Cleave

Lore & Background

In the sunless warrens beneath the town, the Crusader is less a soldier than a wall. Forged in the same grim foundry that produces the town's other heroes, the Crusader does not seek glory or redemption. They seek the next thing that will try to kill them, and they intend to be the last thing it sees. Cleave is the motion that defines that purpose: a full-body commitment, the blade arcing from hip to hip, the weight of the body behind the steel. It is not elegant. It is not fast. It is, however, the sound that every goblin, every cultist, every shambling horror in the corridor learns to fear.

The skill carries a quiet weight in the Crusader's personal mythology. Where the Plague Doctor whispers and the Vestal mends, the Crusader simply hits. Cleave is the physical expression of a class that has no patience for subtlety. In the dark, where sight is a luxury and every corridor hides another ambush, a swing that catches two is worth two swings that catch one. The Crusader does not calculate. The Crusader swings.

Fans of the game often note that Cleave, paired with the Crusader's naturally high armor and the healing support of a Vestal or Plague Doctor, creates a rhythm that feels almost meditative: step forward, cleave, rally, repeat. It is the heartbeat of a well-run party, the steady drumbeat beneath the chaos of stress, misfires, and the ever-present dread of the next room.

In Their Own Story

The corridor smelled of wet stone and older blood. The Crusader did not look back at the Vestal, who was already pressing a hand to her own temple, eyes rolling. Ahead, three of them — thin, fast, grinning with teeth that had no business being that white. The first lunged. The Crusader met it mid-step, the blade dropping in a wide arc that caught the second before it could close. Cleave. The word was not spoken. It was the sound the steel made splitting the air, the wet thud of two impacts in one breath. The first staggered. The second did not get up. The third hissed and circled. The Crusader shifted their weight, planted the boot, and waited. The Vestal's voice came from behind, thin and shaking: "Rally?" The Crusader did not turn. They did not need to. The rhythm was already set. Step. Swing. Breathe. Again.

Reader's Guide

Cleave is the Crusader's primary area-damage tool. It targets the enemy directly in front and the one immediately adjacent to them, dealing a solid chunk of physical damage to both. This makes it invaluable when the enemy line is packed with lower-HP foes — cultists, goblins, or the early-game swarms that tend to cluster together.

In practice, Cleave shines when you have two or more enemies in a row. Position the Crusader so that the target and its neighbor are both in the hit window, and you effectively halve the number of turns needed to clear a group. Against single, high-HP bosses, it is less efficient than a focused single-target strike, so reserve it for the moments when the enemy line is wide.

Synergy within the Crusader's kit is strong. Pair Cleave with Shield Bash to stun a key target, then follow up next turn with Cleave to punish the stunned enemy and its neighbor before they recover. Rally or Rally Cry can be slotted between Cleave turns to keep the Crusader's HP topped off, since the class's high armor means it can take a few hits and keep swinging. In a party, having a Vestal or Plague Doctor in the back row lets the Crusader commit fully to Cleave-heavy rotations without worrying about self-healing.

The key tactical note: Cleave does not benefit from the same crit-adjacent bonuses as some special attacks, so it is a steady, reliable damage source rather than a burst option. Use it to maintain pressure and keep the enemy line from regenerating or repositioning.

Did You Know?

• Cleave is one of the Crusader's two basic attack options, giving the class a choice between a focused single-target hit and a wider two-enemy swing depending on the enemy layout.
• Because the Crusader's high armor and HP pool let them absorb punishment, Cleave fits naturally into a 'hit and hold' playstyle where the Crusader stays in the front row for multiple turns.
• In the base game's early dungeons, Cleave is often the fastest way to thin out groups of cultists and goblins that would otherwise take multiple single-target attacks to clear.
• The Crusader's kit is designed around a rhythm of offense and support — Cleave handles the offense, while Rally-type skills keep the party alive, creating a self-sustaining loop that fans often describe as the 'heartbeat