Empirical Edge icon

Empirical Edge

Penetration Inner Way for Martial Art effects: damage from effects like Falcon's Pursuit, Rodent, Resonance and Anxi Army Assist stacks Cognition for extra Attribute Penetration, with Physical Penetration added at Tier 6 and a double bonus for Heavenwill Gauntlets.
Works WithWeapons with Martial Art effects: Heavenwill Gauntlets (Falcon's Pursuit, Vile Condemned), Skystrike Gauntlets (Falcon's Pursuit), Mortal Rope Dart (Rodent), Everspring Umbrella (Resonance), Phalanxbane Blade (Anxi Army Assist)
Max TierTier 6
How to ObtainMohist Hill sect shop.

Base Buff

Active at every tier

When Martial Art effects deal damage, gain Cognition for 8 seconds, stacking up to 5 times: Increases all types of Attribute Attack Penetration by 2 when calculating the damage of Martial Art effects, with an additional increase of 2 for Heavenwill Gauntlets' Martial Art - Falcon's Pursuit and Heavy Attack Charged Skill - Vile Condemned series skills.
Applicable Martial Art effects include: Heavenwill Gauntlets - Falcon's Pursuit and Heavy Attack Charged Skill - Vile Condemned series skills, Skystrike Gauntlets - Falcon's Pursuit, Mortal Rope Dart - Rodent, Everspring Umbrella - Resonance, Phalanxbane Blade - Anxi Army Assist.

Breakthrough Gains

  1. Tier 1●●●●●●

    Increases the duration of Cognition to 8 seconds.

  2. Tier 2●●●●●●

    Increases Physical Attack based on Solo Mode Level.

  3. Tier 3●●●●●●

    Cognition stacks up to 5 times.

  4. Tier 4●●●●●●

    Removes the cooldown between Cognition stack gains.

  5. Tier 5●●●●●●

    Increases Physical DMG Bonus by 2.5%.

  6. Tier 6●●●●●●

    Enhances Cognition: Increases Physical Penetration and all types of Attribute Penetration by 2 when your Martial Art effects deal damage, with an additional 2 Penetration for Heavenwill Gauntlets Martial Art - Falcon's Pursuit and Charged Heavy Attack: Vile Condemned series.

Build Use

A penetration Inner Way for weapons whose Martial Art effects do a lot of the damage. Each time one of the listed effects hits, you gain a stack of Cognition, and each stack adds 2 Attribute Attack Penetration to Martial Art effect damage. Heavenwill Gauntlets get an extra 2 on Falcon's Pursuit and the Vile Condemned series, so they get the most out of it.

The early tiers make Cognition easier to hold: Tier 1 sets the duration to 8 seconds, Tier 3 allows 5 stacks and Tier 4 removes the cooldown between stack gains. Tier 6 adds Physical Penetration to every stack, which matters for all of these weapons, while Tiers 2 and 5 add Physical Attack and 2.5% Physical DMG Bonus.

Only damage from the listed Martial Art effects builds and uses Cognition. Normal skills and attacks get nothing from the penetration bonus, so this is a poor pick for weapons not on the list.