Passive Spells

What it is

A passive spell is always on. Instead of a cost and a cooldown, it takes a little mana every second: a buff that never runs out, or a ring of orbs that guards you. You can have up to two, and each holds two runes.

How to get it

Passive slots come from your Heart Circles:

Slot	Opens with
Passive 1	the 1st Heart Circle
Passive 2	the 5th Heart Circle

A circle cracked by overcasting loses its slot until it mends.

How to use it

Open the Cord screen (K) and click the Passives tab. Thread runes just like a spell. Each row shows its upkeep (“0.7/s”) and an On/Off switch. A new passive turns on as soon as its runes make a valid passive. Your Cord’s tier still applies.

What a passive can hold

• Shape: Self or Orbit, and only one. An effect with no shape before it is already on Self, so Stoneskin · Empower works, but Swift · Orbit · Shock has two shapes and is refused.
• Buffs (Self or Orbit): Feather Fall, Swift, Night Eye, Haste, Tidebreath, Leap, Anchor, Frostward, Cushion, Regrowth, Stoneskin, Empower, Fireward, Overdrive, Searing Edge and Reflect.
• Hearth runes (Self or Orbit): Slowburn, Warm Cloak, Softsole, Softfoot, Orbcall, Lantern Soul, Keenkeep, Currentkin, Surefoot, Long Arm, Nightwatch, Luckcharm, Deepwarn and Enderhush. See Everyday Rune Packs.
• Auras (Orbit only): Harm, Shock, Fire, Frost, Chill, Venom, Dismantle, Ripple, Aftershock, Push, Ember, Icicle, Pelt, Windcut and Umbra. Orbit’s three orbs hit whatever they touch, and a new ring starts every 8 seconds. Orbit needs an Amethyst Cord.
• Modifiers: Amplify, Extend, Frugal, Widen, Focus and Quicken.
• Never: links, Knots, heals, Shield and every other rune. Locked runes are dimmed in the Codex, and the Cord screen says what’s wrong.

Upkeep

A passive costs 12% of its spell cost every second. Self · Swift costs 6 mana as a spell, so it costs about 0.7 mana a second as a passive.

• Thrift on your Cord and the Archmage perk lower it. In Creative it’s free.
• A passive pays its first second when it starts, so flicking it on and off gives nothing for free.
• Upkeep doesn’t count toward your next Heart Circle.
• Under the rows, the Cord screen compares your total drain with your regeneration. It turns yellow when you drain more than you regain.

If you can’t pay a second’s upkeep, the passive falters: it stops renewing and takes no mana until you can pay again.

Renewal

• A Self passive recasts every 2 seconds, quietly, so its buffs never run out.
• Whatever a passive gives lasts 15 seconds at most, so it wears off soon after you switch it off or it falters.
• Passives stop while you’re dead or not wearing your Cord.
• They don’t use a cooldown, don’t count for rhythm, and don’t gain power from your affinities.

Tips and counterplay

Passive	Needs	Why
Self · Night Eye	1st Circle	See in the dark, almost free.
Self · Swift	1st Circle	Speed everywhere for under a mana a second.
Self · Feather Fall	1st Circle	Never die to a fall.
Stoneskin · Empower	Copper Cord	Tougher and stronger in one passive.
Orbit · Shock	Amethyst Cord	A crackling guard that hits whatever comes close.

• Extend on a Self passive only raises its upkeep, since it renews every 2 seconds anyway.
• Frugal cuts the upkeep but weakens the passive.
• With two passives on, watch the drain: a big spell can leave too little for the next second.

Overdrive works as a passive, but it keeps costing you 1 health every 2 seconds while it runs.