Combat Focus

There are three main focus paths: the arcane tree (minions, rituals, mancing);
the combat tree (melee and ranged combat); and the professional tree (wealth,
contacts, and social/job skills). Each focus tree has its own set of foci
within it. Every point spent in one of these trees, regardless of whether or
not it’s on the same focus, unlocks greater potential for development in terms
of stats and occasionally powers. When points are spent on the same focus, you
develop additional abilities related to that focus line. The following are the
unlocked abilities for the combat tree:

[Combat One]:
Melee Attack 2: Increases melee damage.
Melee Defense 2: Decreases melee damage taken.
Ranged Attack 2: Increases ranged damage.
Ranged Defense 2: Decreases ranged damage taken.
Stamina 3: Increases stagger recovery rate in combat.
Strength 2, 3: Determines inventory limit and influences both social and
active combat.

[Combat Two]:
Giant Slayer: Halves penalty for fighting characters with more combat focus
investment.

[Combat Three]:
Melee Attack 3: Increases melee damage.
Melee Defense 3: Decreases melee damage taken.
Ranged Attack 3: Increases ranged damage.
Ranged Defense 3: Decreases ranged damage taken.

[Combat Four]:

Melee Attack 4: Increases melee damage.
Melee Defense 4: Decreases melee damage taken.
Ranged Attack 4: Increases ranged damage.
Ranged Defense 4: Decreases ranged damage taken.
Stamina 4: Increases stagger recovery rate in combat.