Rage

Rage is a self-buff stack state in Windrose, applied to the player while wielding the Executioner Halberd. Landing successful attacks builds Rage stacks on the character, and those stacks translate into a rising critical-hit chance for as long as the state holds. Rage fits into the Crusher weapon family and pairs naturally with the talent choices that reward sustained Two-Handed melee engagement.

Summary

How It Works

Rage stacks grow while the player lands melee hits with the Executioner Halberd. Each successful attack adds a stack, and the stacks contribute a stacking critical-hit-chance bonus that scales as the fight drags on. If the player stops attacking, the stacks decay, which resets the buff and forces the player to rebuild from zero. That decay is what differentiates Rage from a purely timed buff: it rewards continuous aggression rather than a pre-fight windup.

Practical Use

• Rage is strongest on longer pulls. Boss fights such as Thomas Richards and Israel Hands give the stacks time to compound before the decisive damage window opens.

• In crowded engagements, rotating targets between pulls keeps the stacks alive across multiple enemies. A short pause to reposition is enough to cause decay, so position early and commit to the rotation.

• Pair Rage with Crusher talents that reward sustained Two-Handed usage. Executioner's Aim adds flat crit chance on Two-Handed melee hits, compounding with Rage's scaling crit. Momentum adds stacking damage on 2+ enemy hits, which matches Rage's preference for crowded pulls.

• The Executioner Halberd's Epic tier adds Ward as a secondary effect, letting the weapon generate damage resistance alongside Rage's offensive climb.

Counterplay and Trade-offs

Rage is a self-buff, not a debuff on enemies, so there is no cleanse or counterplay from the enemy side. The trade-off is on the player: committing to the Executioner Halberd locks the loadout into a Two-Handed Crusher rotation, which is slower than one-handed Fencer play and carries no ranged fallback without burning a secondary weapon slot. Players who want Rage's damage ceiling usually invest in Stout Frame and Just a Flesh Wound on the Toughguy branch to survive the additional exposure that comes with staying in melee long enough to compound the stacks.

See Also

• Executioner Halberd the primary source weapon

• Status Effects the full status roster

• Rested sister self-buff from bonfire Comfort

• Ward the Epic-tier companion effect on Executioner Halberd

• Crusher the talent branch that pairs with Rage