Skills, armour proficiency and Second Skin manuals
Quick answer
For medium armour penalties, check Second Skin I in Swordmastery; heavy armour uses Second Skin II. Read the selected rank’s prerequisites, manual requirement and time cost before buying a book or training. Other skills can also require corruption progression.
The developer describes one shared XP bar and one skill-point currency across the trees. Manuals, time and corruption can still gate particular unlocks. A greyed-out skill is therefore not necessarily a missing-level problem.
Our recommendation is to identify the obstacle you are trying to solve before investing. Read the cost in the live menu, choose one relevant unlock and then revisit the encounter.
Since Update 1.1 (October 22) you can reset your choices: the Draught of Mind Rebirth makes Coen forget all Swordmastery, Witchcraft and Vampirism abilities so the points can be spent again. The same update rebalanced item upgrade costs, mainly at higher levels, and lets an item sit in both the day and night presets. Kingy has not tested the potion or confirmed where to get it.
PowerPyx identifies Second Skin as the armour-proficiency route. Dawnwalker Wiki distinguishes two separate skills: I covers medium armour and II covers heavy armour. Second Skin II is not the second rank of I.
Check the exact rank at a shrine before shopping. PowerPyx broadly describes manuals as an unlock requirement; the build-specific fan reference says only I’s final rank needs its manual, while every II rank lists a manual requirement. That wording does not establish whether learning consumes a copy; check the training screen before buying duplicates. Kingy has not resolved that distinction in play. Read the live requirement and available points/time before committing.
Your armour
Skill to inspect
Prerequisite to check
Medium
Second Skin I
At least one point in Vigour, according to PowerPyx; verify the current shrine requirement.
These are September 2–4 reports without a stated gameplay build. Vendor stock, prices and chest contents still need a current-version check. Quest Daily also found a bandit carrying a copy, but that observation does not establish a guaranteed farming route. After obtaining a needed manual, return to a shrine and inspect the training requirement.
Manual
Reported stop
What to do there
Second Skin I
Maragir or Svartrau City armourers
Inspect stock for the exact I manual before paying.
Second Skin II
Tantari, southeast of Svartrau
Find the armourer on the map; Quest Daily reports one copy for sale.
Second Skin II
Svartrau City
PowerPyx reports stock at both armourers.
Second Skin II
Silts Tower
Quest Daily places a copy in a first-floor chest above the basement; its route permits entry from the road or cave.
Deep Down leads to the Mireleaf Bracers in the ruins’ sarcophagus and a weapon drop from the Forgotten Guardian. Follow the route for their locations.
Published armour and weapon numbers vary between accounts. Compare your own item panel and equipped result instead of relying on a universal launch-week number. This reference does not rank a best build or claim a complete equipment database.
Sources · 7Official · Walkthrough · Reported · checked 23 Oct 2026 · Research checked 23 Oct 2026
Skills & Power bulletin ↗Shared XP and skill points; manuals, time costs and corruption requirements.Official ·
Deep Down walkthrough ↗Cave route, boss responses and exit. Describes the late-arrival branch; do not infer Lazar must die. Equipment values conflict.Walkthrough ·
Deep Down early-arrival route ↗Independently finds Lazar alive; corroborates landmarks and sarcophagus. No media reused. Equipment numbers differ from other sources.Walkthrough ·
Second Skin skills and manual vendors ↗Swordmastery/Vigour prerequisite and reported manual vendors; article does not distinguish every rank requirement or identify a build/platform.Walkthrough ·
Second Skin II manual locations ↗Firsthand Tantari purchase and Silts Tower chest reports. Exact gameplay build/platform unspecified; bandit drop not treated as guaranteed.Walkthrough ·
Second Skin ranks and armour penalties ↗Updated September 23, citing Steam build 25232147 and a September 16 source review. Distinguishes I/II skills and rank-specific manuals; Kingy has not inspected that game build.Reported ·
Update 1.1 patch notes (Steam) ↗Full Update 1.1 notes: Draught of Mind Rebirth skill reset, Forgiving difficulty (the old Story) plus a new Story mode with more combat assist, subtitle options, buyback, controller deadzones, quest, crash and loading-screen fixes, and one known issue (FrameGen crash on AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT). Official notes, not a Kingy test.Official ·
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