> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.pawtato.gg/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.pawtato.gg/pawtato-land/gameplay/heroes/skills.md).
# Skills
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📍 **Jump in:** [Open Hero Management in Pawtato Land](https://pawtato.gg/?hm=1)
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### Learning Skills
**Heroes learn Skills permanently by consuming Skill Scrolls.** A Skill Scroll is a tradeable item: consuming it **destroys the Scroll**, but the Hero remembers the Skill forever — there is no limit to how many Skills a Hero can learn.
* Some Skills have a **class requirement** and a **level requirement** — both are checked when learning.
* Learning is possible **any time the Hero is staked**, even while it is in a dungeon or on an assignment.
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**Pounce is pre-learned — no Scroll needed.** Every Hero automatically knows the basic Skill **Pounce** (bonus physical damage every 2 Basic Attacks) the moment it is staked, and re-learns it for free on every re-stake. There is no Pounce Skill Scroll — it's the one Skill nobody ever has to buy.
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**Learned Skills cannot leave the game.** When a Hero NFT is **withdrawn** to your wallet, all its learned Skills are permanently removed — consumed Skill Scrolls are *not* refunded. Cancelling an unstake during the Unstaking Period keeps all Skills; the loss only happens when the withdrawal completes. A re-staked Hero starts fresh with Pounce.
Selling a Hero on the in-game [Marketplace](/pawtato-land/gameplay/marketplace-and-exchange/marketplace.md) is different: the Hero stays in the game, so its learned Skills **transfer to the buyer** — a Hero that knows more Skills is worth more.
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### Skill Slots
**Heroes select their learned Skills into up to 6 Slots, depending on Level and Rarity Tier of the Hero.** Only selected Skills are active in combat.
Every Hero starts with 1 Skill Slot at level 1 and unlocks further slots as it levels up. A slot only opens once the Hero has reached **both** the required level **and** a high enough Rarity Tier - a Hero can use whichever is the smaller of the two limits.
**Level unlocks a slot at:**
| Level | Slots unlocked |
| ----- | -------------- |
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 5 | 3 |
| 10 | 4 |
| 15 | 5 |
| 20 | 6 |
**Rarity Tier caps the total number of slots at:** **Common** (1), **Uncommon** (2), **Rare** (3), **Epic** (4), **Legendary** (5), **Mythic** (6).
For example, a **Mythic** Hero unlocks its 6th and final slot at level 20, while a **Rare** Hero is capped at 3 slots no matter how high it levels.
Skill Slots can hold **active** or **passive** Skills - it is up to the player to decide how to distribute them.
## How to learn a new Skill (step by step)
1. Open [**Hero Management**](https://pawtato.gg/?hm=1) by clicking your Hero's portrait in the top-left corner of the screen (this opens that Hero's details directly). Alternatively, open your **Player Profile** (your profile picture in the top-left corner) and click **Manage Heroes** on the **Selected Hero** card.
2. Scroll to the **Skills** card and click **Unlock new Skill via Skill Scroll** below the slots.
3. The selector lists every Skill Scroll in your inventory this Hero can learn from — Scrolls for Skills the Hero already knows, or that don't match its class or level, are filtered out. If nothing qualifies it reads **No valid Skill Scrolls for this Hero available**.
4. Click a Scroll's **Learn** button and confirm. ⚠️ **The Scroll is consumed and destroyed** — this cannot be undone. The Skill is now permanently learned and ready to be selected.
## How to select a Skill (step by step)
1. In the **Skills** card, tap an unlocked slot. Unlocked empty slots read **Skill (empty)**; locked slots show either the level required or an Ascension requirement (see [Skill Slots](#skill-slots) for how many slots each level and rarity tier unlocks).
2. The **Skills** selector opens, listing every Skill the Hero has learned. The header shows which **Slot** you are editing.
3. Tap a Skill's **Select** button to make it active in this slot. If the Skill is already active in another slot, the button reads **Switch** and moves it here.
4. **To clear a slot:** tap the slot and press **Deselect** on the active Skill (marked with the green **Selected** badge), or on desktop hover the slot and click **Deselect** in its tooltip.
> Switching Skills is **free and instant** — there is no cooldown. It even works while the Hero is **in a dungeon** (adapt your loadout between rooms!) or **on an assignment**. Only patrolling, unstaking and marketplace-listed Heroes cannot change their selection.
#### **Active Skills**
Active Skills are charged during combat via specific triggers, after which they become active and execute automatically. The number of charges needed depends on the respective Skill and its rarity tier.
**Current Triggers**
* **Charge** > Successful Basic Attack
* **Pain** > Hero suffers damage
* **Time** > A turn passes
* **Counter** > Hero evades/blocks an Attack
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**Pain and Counter build at most once per turn.** Some attacks land **several strikes in a single turn** — **Double Tap**, the [Clatterclaw](/pawtato-land/gameplay/consumables/blueprints.md)'s **Swift Strike** and the [Ribsheaf](/pawtato-land/gameplay/consumables/blueprints.md)'s **Quickdraw** follow-up all do. Being hit two or three times in one turn still only feeds **1 Pain** stack, and blocking or evading several strikes in one turn still only feeds **1 Counter** stack — blocks and evades draw on the **same** once-per-turn allowance, so they can't be combined for two. **Charge** and **Time** are not capped this way: a multi-hit turn does build Charge per landed hit.
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If one or more active Skills are charged on your Hero's turn, only **one** activates instead of the next Basic Attack: the fully-charged Skill in the **leftmost** (lowest-numbered) slot. When it executes, only the charges it needed are spent — any **surplus charges carry over** instead of being wasted. Any other Skills that were also ready are held back and keep their charges for a future turn. If you select two active Skills that charge on the **same trigger** (for example two **Charge** Skills), they share that trigger's counter and build up together, but still fire one at a time — leftmost first — on successive turns. Charges built up beyond a Skill's requirement are shown as an **overcharge** highlight on its charge bar in combat.
Examples for active Skills:
* **Heal:** At X **Pain** stacks heal for Y% of maximum HP.
* **Magic Missile:** At X **Charge** stacks, deal INT \* Y magic damage.
* **Snare:** At 3 **Time** stacks, deal X Damage and slow the Enemy by Y % for Z Turns.
#### **Passive Skills**
Passive Skills provide ongoing effects during combat with no need for charging.
Examples for passive Skills:
* **Steady Paw:** Increase Hit Chance by X
* **Thorns:** Reflect X % of physical damage taken back at the attacker
* **Aegis:** Cap any single incoming hit at X % of the Hero's maximum HP