



First up, this is a list of every skill gem, in order of most to least used, across all of Bestiary, regardless of level. This does not include skills that are tied to a specific item -- only skill gems.



Leap Slam

Herald of Ash

Molten Strike

Flame Dash

Shield Charge

Ancestral Protector

Hatred

Blood Rage

Whirling Blades

Summon Ice Golem

Raise Zombie

Burning Arrow

Herald of Ice

Fireball

Summon Stone Golem

Double Strike

Viper Strike

Heavy Strike

Ancestral Warchief

Blink Arrow

Spectral Throw

Summon Lightning Golem

Blade Vortex

Orb of Storms

Frost Blades Spoiler Clarity

Enduring Cry

Glacial Hammer

Cleave

Sunder

Summon Flame Golem

Decoy Totem

Summon Raging Spirit

Split Arrow

Barrage

Purity of Elements

Portal

Freezing Pulse

Flesh Offering

Vaal Haste

Summon Skeleton

Scorching Ray

Herald of Thunder

Desecrate

Contagion

Cyclone

Lightning Warp

Lightning Tendrils

Frost Bomb

Ice Shot

Arctic Armour

Frostbolt

Righteous Fire

Frenzy

Tornado Shot

Ethereal Knives

Ground Slam

Wither

Flame Totem

Magma Orb

Molten Shell

Vigilant Strike

Siege Ballista

Shrapnel Shot

Glacial Cascade

Blade Flurry

Anger

Convocation

Immortal Call

Fire Trap

Vulnerability

Essence Drain

Arc

Flammability

Raise Spectre

Rallying Cry

Reave

Discipline

Blight

Firestorm

Wrath

Ball Lightning

Vaal Grace

Warlord's Mark

Caustic Arrow

Enfeeble

Tectonic Slam

Vitality

Purity of Fire

Lightning Arrow

Flicker Strike

Haste

Vaal Summon Skeletons

Dual Strike

Spectral Shield Throw

Grace

Puncture

Despair

Assassin's Mark

Spark

Summon Chaos Golem

Detonate Dead

Rain of Arrows

Kinetic Blast

Frostbite

Volatile Dead

Vaal Lightning Trap

Temporal Chains

Poacher's Mark

Infernal Blow

Vaal Reave

Riposte

Projectile Weakness

Elemental Weakness

Detonate Mines

Storm Call

Searing Bond

Lacerate

Bear Trap

Rejuvenation Totem

Elemental Hit

Unearth

Ice Nova

Wild Strike

Determination

Charged Dash

Lightning Strike

Bone Offering

Vaal Clarity

Vaal Discipline

Frost Wall

Conductivity

Bodyswap

Flameblast

Dark Pact

Animate Guardian

Phase Run

Tempest Shield

Cold Snap

Purity of Ice

Static Strike

Vengeance

Blast Rain

Lightning Trap

Animate Weapon

Punishment

Reckoning

Sweep

Purity of Lightning

Spirit Offering

Bladefall

Storm Burst

Ice Crash

Cremation

Devouring Totem

Earthquake

Vortex

Conversion Trap

Abyssal Cry

Vaal Fireball

Fire Nova Mine

Freeze Mine

Vaal Double Strike

Smoke Mine

Vaal Cold Snap

Mirror Arrow

Vaal Storm Call

Flame Surge

Vaal Arc

Shockwave Totem

Vaal Burning Arrow

Incinerate

Shock Nova

Ice Trap

Vaal Molten Shell

Ice Spear

Vaal Ground Slam

Vaal Ice Nova

Vaal Cyclone

Vaal Spark

Vaal Detonate Dead

Vaal Spectral Throw

Vaal Rain of Arrows

Vaal Lightning Strike

Discharge

Power Siphon

Vaal Glacial Hammer

Vaal Power Siphon

Vaal Lightning Warp

Explosive Arrow

Arctic Breath

Dominating Blow

Vaal Righteous Fire

Vaal Flameblast

Vaal Immortal Call

Vaal Breach

Looking strictly at this list, it seems clear that fire is a popular damage type to build around. It's also clear that, at least while levelling, the ability to traverse small gaps via Flame Dash and Leap Slam is highly valued.



The most popular Vaal skills are both auras, with the great majority of Vaal skills being hardly used. Many of these skills have received nerfs since their release (four years ago!), while very few have received buffs. This is something we're keenly aware of and hope to have more news about in the coming weeks.



Since this list includes characters of all levels, it is polluted to some degree by mules and other low-level characters that for whatever reason don't necessarily provide an accurate snapshot of the meta. For that, let's look at the top 10 skills from each version of Bestiary for characters of level 70 and greater.



Bestiary Hardcore Bestiary SSF Bestiary SSF HC Bestiary Leap Slam Shield Charge Leap Slam Shield Charge Shield Charge Summon Stone Golem Shield Charge Summon Stone Golem Blood Rage Enduring Cry Blood Rage Leap Slam Summon Ice Golem Leap Slam Summon Stone Golem Blood Rage Hatred Blood Rage Flame Dash Enduring Cry Ancestral Warchief Flame Dash Ancestral Warchief Flame Dash Whirling Blades Decoy Totem Hatred Ancestral Warchief Herald of Ash Ancestral Warchief Herald of Ash Decoy Totem Summon Stone Golem Orb of Storms Summon Ice Golem Orb of Storms Flame Dash Righteous Fire Summon Lightning Golem Desecrate

Whether you're playing Solo Self-Found or not, the utility skill choices are of extremely similar popularity, with the actual determining factor being whether you're playing Hardcore or not. On Standard versions of Bestiary, Leap Slam is the movement skill of choice, closely followed by Shield Charge. Hardcore players, however, put a lot of value on the survivability that a shield can provide, and may be playing builds that don't allow for Leap Slam, pushing Shield Charge to the top.



Seeing the same names cropping up over and over again in these lists is not a major cause for concern as, with the exception of Righteous Fire in 10th place on the HC Bestiary list, every skill fills a utility or non-build-specific role.



The most interesting takeaways to be had from this list is the difference that being able to trade may make to your golem choice. Standard Bestiary players tend to run Ice Golem, indicating a preference for attacking or crit builds, while the SSF Bestiary players opted for Stone Golem, a build-agnostic defensive choice. The prominence of Ancestral Warchief and Blood Rage across all versions of Bestiary reinforces that we're in the midst of a primarily attack-based meta.



Let's see how these lists change when you look at characters above level 90:



Bestiary Hardcore Bestiary SSF Bestiary SSF HC Bestiary Shield Charge Shield Charge Shield Charge Shield Charge Blood Rage Enduring Cry Blood Rage Enduring Cry Leap Slam Summon Stone Golem Leap Slam Blood Rage Portal Blood Rage Ancestral Warchief Leap Slam Summon Ice Golem Flame Dash Summon Stone Golem Ancestral Warchief Ancestral Warchief Decoy Totem Flame Dash Summon Stone Golem Whirling Blades Leap Slam Whirling Blades Flame Dash Vaal Haste Orb of Storms Enduring Cry Decoy Totem Enduring Cry Righteous Fire Portal Orb of Storms Flame Dash Ancestral Warchief Orb of Storms Righteous Fire

Once players are deep into the endgame, it's interesting to see that Shield Charge becomes more popular.



Vaal Haste, the 44th most popular skill across all characters regardless of level, makes it to #7 among high-level Standard Bestiary characters. Interestingly, it replaces Herald of Ash, which no longer appears on any of the lists at this high level.



Portal makes an appearance in both versions of Standard Bestiary, topping out at #4 on the trading league. It doesn't appear at all on any Hardcore lists, since a portal does you no good if you're dead there.



We'll be talking more in the future about which skills are undergoing reworks. In the meantime, we hope you found this as enlightening as we did. Every league, we look at a range of different statistics to help generate a snapshot of the metagame of the league. These stats help us make future development decisions. They're also interesting, however, and we like sharing interesting stats with you. Today we're looking at the most-used skills in Bestiary.First up, this is a list of every skill gem, in order of most to least used, across all of Bestiary, regardless of level. This does not include skills that are tied to a specific item -- only skill gems.Looking strictly at this list, it seems clear that fire is a popular damage type to build around. It's also clear that, at least while levelling, the ability to traverse small gaps via Flame Dash and Leap Slam is highly valued.The most popular Vaal skills are both auras, with the great majority of Vaal skills being hardly used. Many of these skills have received nerfs since their release (four years ago!), while very few have received buffs. This is something we're keenly aware of and hope to have more news about in the coming weeks.Since this list includes characters of all levels, it is polluted to some degree by mules and other low-level characters that for whatever reason don't necessarily provide an accurate snapshot of the meta. For that, let's look at the top 10 skills from each version of Bestiary for characters of level 70 and greater.Whether you're playing Solo Self-Found or not, the utility skill choices are of extremely similar popularity, with the actual determining factor being whether you're playing Hardcore or not. On Standard versions of Bestiary, Leap Slam is the movement skill of choice, closely followed by Shield Charge. Hardcore players, however, put a lot of value on the survivability that a shield can provide, and may be playing builds that don't allow for Leap Slam, pushing Shield Charge to the top.Seeing the same names cropping up over and over again in these lists is not a major cause for concern as, with the exception of Righteous Fire in 10th place on the HC Bestiary list, every skill fills a utility or non-build-specific role.The most interesting takeaways to be had from this list is the difference that being able to trade may make to your golem choice. Standard Bestiary players tend to run Ice Golem, indicating a preference for attacking or crit builds, while the SSF Bestiary players opted for Stone Golem, a build-agnostic defensive choice. The prominence of Ancestral Warchief and Blood Rage across all versions of Bestiary reinforces that we're in the midst of a primarily attack-based meta.Let's see how these lists change when you look at characters above level 90:Once players are deep into the endgame, it's interesting to see that Shield Charge becomes more popular.Vaal Haste, the 44th most popular skill across all characters regardless of level, makes it to #7 among high-level Standard Bestiary characters. Interestingly, it replaces Herald of Ash, which no longer appears on any of the lists at this high level.Portal makes an appearance in both versions of Standard Bestiary, topping out at #4 on the trading league. It doesn't appear at all on any Hardcore lists, since a portal does you no good if you're dead there.We'll be talking more in the future about which skills are undergoing reworks. In the meantime, we hope you found this as enlightening as we did.