Some class, weapon, and skill names can change between balance updates. The guide avoids claiming that one setup is universally strongest and separates verified game facts from practical recommendations.
Fast answer
The answer before the background
The safest route is to choose a class with a clear weapon identity, take one reliable area or projectile skill, then add a second skill that applies a useful debuff. During early levels, prioritize cast frequency, cooldown reduction, damage, and area. In the middle of a run, add projectile count, critical chance, effect duration, or status scaling according to your route. Finish with survivability, movement speed, armor penetration, and boss-focused damage. For a simple first clear, use a durable melee class such as Barbarian or Paladin. For ranged control, choose Arcane Weaver, Elementalist, Pyromancer, or Shaman. For summons, use Necromancer, Engineer, Houndmaster, or a similar class and stack summon support instead of mixing in unrelated direct attacks.
Start here
How to choose a class and route
The game supports a large build space: Steam currently describes more than 350 skills, more than 100 weapons, multiple characters, a broad skill tree, runes, curses, and several modes. That makes a build planner useful, but it also makes unfocused runs unreliable. Start with the class’s starting weapon, ascension bonuses, and artifact power, then decide what you want the run to do.
A good route has one main source of damage, one or two supporting skills, and a stat plan. A projectile route wants cast frequency, projectile count, area, and damage. A status route wants effect duration, status damage, cast frequency, and ways to apply the chosen effect repeatedly. A summon route wants summon damage, summon count, summon duration, and enough movement or defense to survive while minions work.
- Barbarian and Paladin are sensible first choices when you want durability and forgiving melee play.
- Arcane Weaver, Elementalist, and Pyromancer suit ranged elemental or spell-focused routes.
- Assassin and Samurai favor fast attacks, critical strikes, mobility, and burst damage.
- Necromancer, Engineer, Houndmaster, and Shaman are natural starting points for summon, totem, or companion plans.
- Death Knight, Legionnaire, Sentinel, Titan, Demon Hunter, Monkey King, and Void King are better approached by identifying their weapon or trait first, then building around it rather than forcing a generic tier list.
| Goal | Useful class examples | Core priorities |
|---|---|---|
| Easy first clear | Barbarian, Paladin, Sentinel | Health, armor, damage, area, movement speed |
| Fast ranged damage | Arcane Weaver, Elementalist, Pyromancer | Cast frequency, cooldown, damage, area, projectile count |
| Critical burst | Assassin, Samurai, Demon Hunter | Critical chance, critical damage, cast frequency, movement speed |
| Summons and companions | Necromancer, Engineer, Houndmaster, Shaman | Summon damage, summon count, duration, cooldown, defense |
| Control and debuffs | Shaman, Void King, Arcane Weaver | Effect duration, area, status application, cooldown, damage |
The game’s store page verifies the broad progression systems and skill scale. The class groupings and stat priorities above are practical recommendations based on their recognizable play patterns, not an official ranking.
Build routes
Four dependable character builds
A strong character build is not a fixed six-skill code. It is a route that tells you what to keep, what to reject, and when to pivot. The following plans work as templates for the in-run power-up screen and for a skill-tree reset.
- Arcane Weaver or Elementalist spell route: begin with a wide, reliable spell and improve cooldown, cast frequency, area, and damage. Add a second spell that applies Weakness, Fragility, Slow, or Dazed. If the run offers a matching elemental rune or trait, take it; otherwise keep the damage profile broad enough to avoid dead upgrades.
- Assassin or Samurai critical route: secure one fast attack, then prioritize critical chance, critical damage, cast frequency, and movement speed. Add a wide attack for crowd clearing so the build does not rely on single-target burst. Use defensive upgrades when high curse or endless scaling makes melee exposure dangerous.
- Necromancer or Engineer summon route: take the first useful summon, then improve summon count, damage, duration, and cooldown. Do not fill every slot with direct attacks unless the class’s weapon demands it. A small personal attack that applies a debuff is usually more valuable than a second unrelated damage type.
- Shaman quicksand or control route: use area, cooldown, effect duration, and repeated status application to slow or weaken groups before finishing them with damage. Quicksand-style control is strongest when paired with a damaging skill that benefits from enemies staying inside the affected area.
- Barbarian route: use the starting melee identity as the center of the build, then add area, damage, health, movement speed, and cooldown reduction. The 1.5d notes specifically changed Barbarian’s Warcry artifact power, so older guides that describe its target-based behavior may no longer match the current version.
| Run stage | What to prioritize | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Levels 1–10 | One dependable damage skill, cooldown, cast frequency, area | Taking six unrelated skill types |
| Levels 11–30 | Your route’s main scaling stat, a debuff, survivability | Spending every lock and reroll before the build has direction |
| Levels 31+ | Boss damage, critical scaling, armor penetration, effect duration | Replacing a working core because a single rare skill looks flashy |
| High curses or endless | Defense, movement, reliable control, status uptime | Assuming a low-curse farming build will scale unchanged |
There is no permanently best setup. Update 1.5d buffed and nerfed a wide range of runes and skills, including changes to Purity, Synchrony, Adaptive Empowerment, Extended Magazines, and several individual skills. A build that was dominant in an older Reddit post may still work, but it should not be treated as current without checking its patch context.
Stats and skills
What to take from the power-up screen
Damage is valuable, but raw damage is rarely the first upgrade that makes a run stable. Cast frequency and cooldown reduction increase how often the build performs. Area and projectile count improve coverage. Critical chance and critical damage are strongest when the character already attacks often. Effect duration and status damage matter only when the build applies those effects consistently.
Match stats to the skill’s behavior. A beam, cone, or persistent ground effect benefits from area and duration. A fast projectile benefits from cast frequency, projectile count, and critical scaling. A summon benefits from summon-specific bonuses rather than generic attacks. A melee skill needs movement, area, and defensive support because range cannot solve every threat.
Debuffs are build glue. Weakness improves the damage plan, Fragility helps burst routes, Slow and Disoriented buy time, and Dazed or Shattered can support control and critical routes. Update 1.5d changed several application values, including Fire Pillar, Void Trap, Piercing Shout, Ice Shield, and Lightning Beam, so the value of an old skill recommendation may differ after the update.
- Take a skill that clears ordinary enemies before choosing a boss-only finisher.
- Prefer two or three skills that share a damage type, status effect, trait, or scaling stat.
- Use a lock on a rare upgrade that fixes a known weakness, such as survivability or missing area.
- Use a banish when a power-up cannot help the current route; do not dilute a summon build with irrelevant skill tags.
- Check the character skill tree for permanent bonuses that support the same route, then spend resources on broad account upgrades when you are still experimenting.
| Stat or system | Best use | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Cast frequency and cooldown | Fast attacks, beams, repeated spells, status application | Ignoring damage entirely when the skill already hits often |
| Area and projectile count | Crowd clearing and screen control | Taking area on a single-target skill without a clear purpose |
| Critical chance and damage | High-hit-rate Assassin, Samurai, or burst routes | Building critical stats around a slow attack with few opportunities to crit |
| Effect duration and status damage | Burn, Bleed, Poison, Doom, Slow, or control routes | Taking status scaling before the status is applied consistently |
| Health, armor, movement speed | Melee, high curse, endless, and farming safety | Treating defense as wasted damage when deaths are ending runs |
The 1.5d notes report buffs to skills such as Fracturing Blow, Shiver of Sharks, Fire Pillar, Void Trap, Lightning Beam, and Subdue, while Flaming Spiral, Chaotic Swirl, and Cobra Totem also received changes. Use their current in-game tooltips when comparing them.
Practical use
Build planner and farming advice
Use a build planner as a checklist, not as a promise. Record the class, weapon, primary damage type, preferred debuff, and three priority stats. Then make a short keep list and reject anything that does not help those choices. This is more reliable than copying a full six-skill list because power-up availability is random and the best pivot depends on the weapon you actually receive.
For farming, choose a safe class and a route that clears ordinary enemies without constant aiming. Area damage, movement speed, cooldown reduction, and a little defense usually produce more consistent results than a fragile boss-kill setup. Once permanent resources are comfortable, change to a high-damage route for curse progression or Titan Hunt attempts. The game’s curses and modes change the value of control, defense, and boss damage, so one farming build should not be your only character build.
If a run stalls, diagnose the problem. Dying early means you need movement, health, armor, or control. Missing ordinary enemies means you need area, projectile count, or a better clearing skill. Bosses taking too long means you need damage, critical scaling, armor penetration, or a more focused skill pool. Too many weak power-ups usually means the route contains conflicting tags or you spent rerolls before identifying the build.
- Save a successful route in your planner with the class, weapon, core skills, and stat priorities.
- Test it at the curse level where you actually play; low-curse results do not prove endless viability.
- Recheck official patch notes after major updates before copying an older build.
- Use community builds for ideas, but verify every skill, rune, and weapon in your current client.
The best route is the one that gives every upgrade a job. Pick a class identity, establish reliable clearing, add a debuff or summon engine, then spend later levels on the stats that multiply that engine.
FAQ
Common questions
What is the easiest class for a first clear?
Barbarian or Paladin is a reasonable starting point because melee durability gives you room to learn enemy patterns and power-up choices. Prioritize area, health, movement speed, cooldown reduction, and damage rather than chasing a complicated synergy.
Is there one best build for every map?
No. A farming route values safe clearing and movement, while high curses, endless modes, and Titan Hunts place more pressure on boss damage, control, and scaling. The best setup also depends on the weapon and skills offered during the run.
How should I build Necromancer?
Start with one dependable summon, then prioritize summon damage, summon count, duration, and cooldown. Add a personal attack only when it applies a useful debuff or covers a weakness that the summons cannot handle.
How do I make a Pyromancer build?
Use a fire-centered spell route with frequent application, area coverage, cooldown reduction, and damage. Add a control or debuff skill so enemies remain inside the fire effects, then take effect duration or status scaling when the build applies Burn consistently.
Do old Reddit builds still work?
Some do, but they may use outdated rune values, skill behavior, or class interactions. Update 1.5d changed many runes and skills, so compare an older build with the current in-game tooltip before investing resources.
Sources
What we checked
Official listings establish current availability and product facts. Community pages are used for mechanics and build history, then labeled separately.