This list is meant to represent the viability of class combinations in ArcheAge at the current level cap of 50, a lot of the builds change when the 1.0 patch rebalances classes around, specially those involving Vitalism and Archery (EDIT: Archery still op, songcraft got ****ed). I may sound biased towards some classes, but this is just the general consensus I've picked after months of following this game, playing in various servers and watching a lot of streamers and their performance. You're not "a baddie" for playing a less popular class, but you'll struggle more and will require your team to complement your weaknesses.
Tiers aren't meant to be a straight representation of strength in a class combination, the higher in tiers they're usually more viable all around in all situations (unless it's specified in the descriptions), and the lower they are they can be lacking in some aspects and be strong in others, as well as being more or less desirable in pvp/pve/solo/group content. Use your own judgement accordingly and play what you want, but don't be stupid and pick two offensive branches that require different stats, like Battlerage+Sorcery, you won't be able to stack both str and int, so you'll be mostly useless.
Most of the time you'll want one offensive class and one defensive class, if you don't pick any of the defensive
Trees you'll die in a simple cc combo. Occultism can fill the role of Offensive Tree quite well, but I still
consider it a mix of Damage and CC, unlike Shadowplay which really isn't good enough to fill a damaging role. Solo pvp
builds use Shadowplay a lot, it's incredibly useful, but it will also leave you very lacking in some other aspect, so
choose wisely.
There are 10 skillsets available in ArcheAge. The options allow for the creation of 120 unique classes. Abilities in the skillsets are unlocked as a character gains levels
At level 10, players are able to change their selected specialization for a fee. The fee is determined by the amount of skill points spent in the skillset's tree. Note that replacing one specialization with another does not automatically unlock all skills. Combat level and skillsets level separately.
Battlerage – classes
This specialization includes powerful blows, inflicting devastating damage, as well as methods of buffing the warrior and weakening his or her enemies.
Sorcery – classes
By choosing this path, the hero will have access to devastating elemental spells that cause damage to one or more enemies.
Archery – classes
This path of development will make the hero a skilled archer.
Vitalism
This path of development will make the hero a skilled healer that can save lives.
Occultism – classes
If the hero chooses this path, he or she will be subject to all the mysteries of the underworld.
Shadowplay – classes
Those who choose the path of secrecy will be sudden and clever killers in possession of an arsenal of tricks.
Defense – classes
A warrior who chooses this path of development will become a master of defensive techniques.
Auramancy – classes
A hero who has chosen this path gains access to teleportation and magical abilities that weaken foes and strengthen friends.
Witchcraft – classes
Skills of the school directly affect the mind of allies and enemies.
Songcraft
This specialization encourages fighters and threatens enemies with the sounds of music.
Battlerage Your average melee warrior class, gap closers, nice aoe, some cc, a great debuff, and probably the strongest buff in the game (Rage). WARNING going melee as your main source of damage can be frustrating in this game, there's a lot of risk, and not that much of a reward. It is fun and can be strong if played right, just expect it to be kind of a hard mode for a while as well as taking a lot more damage in pve and some enemies being simply unkillable by yourself.
Archery EDIT: All of this rambling is about Quickshot being in Shadowplay. Patch 1.0 already moved it to Archery. It is, however, recommended to grab shadowplay with archery anyways for the ranged buffs, stealth, and possible melee skills (though if your enemy is attacking you up close as an archer, you're going to die anyways). Archery really isn't anti-mage, it is just clothie destroyer (gee I wonder which classes use cloth). Your advantages will be based on if you hit first and pull off your CC's first. You'll, of course, give melee classes plenty of hell.
Your not so average ranger, first of all koreans decided to put your basic spammable attack on another Tree, so you better grab Shadowplay with this, or you'll be one useless mess. Best range in the game, decent area damage, average cc, and some unreasonably long cooldowns. Half the time you'll blow your stuff and be left doing nothing but quick Quickshot, that's the reason Shadowplay tied with Archery is so important. Archery is supposed to be the mage killer class, but I wouldn't be so sure about that.
Sorcery Archeage's spoiled child, You can't go wrong with this class at this level cap, almost every skill is useful somehow, a defensive shield that also increases your stealth detection, some moderate CC, a few instant atacks, some long casting devastating attacks, great area damage, great spammable atack (that leaves your rooted, but the good damage makes up for it) and even a small group buff.
Occultism Lot's useful skills, good aoe+cc, a really nice spammable attack, crits and crit damage for spells, nothing wrong with Occultism, a very solid class. Be ready for people to say they hate your impale+crows combo.
Shadowplay This is not the "rogue" class, this does have melee skills, and yes it has stealth, but you won't be a ninja with this class by itself. It has ranged attacks, as well as gap closers and stuns. Many people will say stealth is cheating, and they're probably right, but thankfully it comes with a big tradeoff and is very limited outside of this class (for now). If you're really against grouping you relly want stealth, you can also stealth while carrying a tradepack which helps a lot to avoid ganks.
---Support Trees---
Songcraft Edit: This class got severely nerfed in patch 1.2. Proceed with caution.
Lots of Buffs, a few heals, Debuffs, and a stupidly strong passive. Just remember if you're playing songs they get cancelled once you use any non song skill. WARNING if your class uses a magic regeneration instrument, the flute sound may drive you insane, you'll hear this stupid tune so many times you'll listen to it during your sleep, in the bathroom, during exams or while saying your marriage vows.
Vitalism Edit: This class got severely nerfed in patch 1.2. This class is based off of the spirit stat now for healing, which is found on club weapons. It is not recommended to roll this unless you really want to heal or weapon swap.
Not as many heals as you'd expect from the healing class, but some is better than none, continuous recovery is ridiculous and people will hate you when you go from 1% to 50% or more in the blink of an eye. It has some not so hot damage spells, a moderately useful buff and an aura, the only class with built in resurrection and even a group stealth. All the builds involving Vitalism get ****ed as soon as 1.0 hits, because your heals are no longer tied to your intelligence, you'll have too choose between healing or damaging gear.
Defense Lot's of protection against melee and specially against archers, it has an invincibility buff and a reasonably large area spell that can restrict people from leaving it's area of effect as long as they're being damaged so they can't glide out. Stun reduction, healthpool increase, as well as a really good silence atack.
Auramancy The tryhard pvp class, this game has a ****ton of CC's, and this class helps you to get rid from good deal of them, as well as provide you with considerable magic protection for those big mage cooldowns. It's mostly a series of oh shit buttons as well as some area disables and damage mitigation. So you hate dying? grab Auramancy and see how much your survivability increases, you'll cry when you see a teleportation spell proc 4 times in a row and that guy you were ganking is now 100 meters away.
Witchcraft Do you like making people useless for moderate periods of time? Does your mage need to lift their opponents in the sky unable to act while you cast your 5 second spells? Then grab Witchcraft as your defensive class and boost your chances of surviving as well as disabling your opponents left and right.
***** T1.- Most of this builds are popular, not necessarily for the right reasons, they simply work for what they're built, this doesn't mean all the builds in this tier are on equal ground against each other, it just means you are safe to grab one of this combinations and learn it along the way. *****
Witchcraft+Sorcery+Shadowplay = Hermit / Daggerspell Want to make people put your name in their death note? well you're on the right track with this. Some will argue that you're missing a bit of damage for a mage, but who cares, you can kill pretty much anybody equally geared unless they're anti mage. Auramancy+Archery+Shadowplay = Treasure Hunter / Primeval I've seen a stream where the 10 players on the arena match where using this exact build... so that might give you an idea of how popular it is. It's just the most viable pvp archer build in this stage of content, no way around it Battlerage+Auramancy+Shadowplay = Politician / Darkrunner Another super common build, great mobility, good damage, gap closers, cc, if only you could throw fireballs... Battlerage+Defense+Shadowplay = Fighter / Blighter Probably the most well rounded melee build, a good amount of gap closers, nice cc, decent mitigation, and stealth so you can gank anyone anywhere, can't go wrong with this as long as you understand the limitations of melee. Defense+Auramancy+Occultism = Defender / Skullknight T A N K, baby's first character, you rarely die, superb in pve, annoying in pvp, good build for raid/guild leaders who steal all the loot from their guild because they're the main tank Occultism+Sorcery+Shadowplay = Angel of Death / Reaper You're open to most attackers, but play like an opportunist and you'll do great, you have amazing sustainable damage, quite a few combos and some of the best area attacks Witchcraft+Occultism+Sorcery = Darkweaver / Demonologist Aoe disabler mage, not as popular as your average stealth ganker, but very desired in any group and much more durable Battlerage+Defense+Auramancy = Soldier / Abolisher The melee tank, it's a very solid build for guild leaders or anyone who wants to boss people around and stand in the front of a raid. Defense+Archery+Shadowplay = Strategist / Stone Arrow A bow and a shield? who would have thought, it does work, one of few things AA did right, it's definitely T1 against physical classes, but trust me most tryhard mages will make you cry
***** T2.- This combos are simply good, you may be lacking something, but you'll make up for it with strong synergy among your classes. *****
Auramancy+Occultism+Sorcery = Warlock / Revenant Great mage build, suitable in any situation, two spammable atacks, one usable on the move, and one for turret mode with increased damage, you can escape from almost any problematic encounter, you'll love it Witchcraft+Auramancy+Occultism = Exorcist / Nightcloak A good antimage build, tanky, mobility and lots of disables, some small self heals, probably your best bet if you like the apostle build but don't want to be useless once 1.0 goes live Battlerage+Witchcraft+Shadowplay = Assasine / Shadowblade Supposedly a very OP and popular build, I call it the combo warrior, I'd place in T1, but sadly you still get hit for a lot, and your chain can be destroyed with some simple dodge/block/parry leaving you open to retaliation. Witchcraft+Archery+Shadowplay = Chaser / Trickster Really good archer build, you can be one special snowflake in a sea of primevals with this build, you might even beat them half the time, that's if either of you leaves stealth or meet each other face to face Defense+Auramancy+Sorcery = Mage Patron / Thaumaturge A mage that makes archers cry, good for someone who wants maximum mitigation and still be able to throw heavy nukes like a siege tank Witchcraft+Auramancy+Sorcery = Sorcerer / Arcanist The best tanky mage build imo, you're lacking on the crit department, but you're still better than 80% of the other classes regarding damage, I'd even say this build is OP under the radar, but that's just me Auramancy+Sorcery+Shadowplay = Shadow Mercenary / Enigmatist A fun mage build, good for most situations, a bit hard to keep people from running if you're trying to gank them, but it gets the job done, if you like nukes and stealth, but hate dying in two blows, this is what you should pick Defense+Occultism+Sorcery = Sorcery Guard Officer / Battlemage Great anti physical mage, but other mages will still kill you, so pick only if you hate archers with a passion or you're preparing for the lvl55 update Witchcraft+Defense+Occultism = Caretaker / Defiler A nice disruptor tank, not the most popular but not bad for pve, but you still can get cced and ignored most of the time in pvp Battlerage+Archery+Shadowplay = Spy / Outrider A very fragile but strong archer, the crit debuff from combat is the only reason to pick combat instead of will/protection/conjury, but is it worth it? follow your dreams and find out.
***** T3.- You'll be subpar in one or more areas, you're not necessarily "bad", some experienced people might even grab them because they know exactly what they're getting into, but I wouldn't recommend them to new players because you'll get beat by the more common class combos and complain that you can't do X thing they do better than you. *****
Auramancy+Occultism+Shadowplay = Interrogator / Planeshifter This isn't a bad build, you have a nice aoe combo you can pull after breaking stealth on unsuspecting groups, but
there's a bunch of more viable solutions for whatever you're trying to get out of this Defense+Occultism+Shadowplay = Guardsman / Dreadnaught Sneaky, annoying and disruptive with good defense, it's very playable in pvp groups imo, but by yourself you'll be missing a bit of damage and can get countered with cc really bad Witchcraft+Defense+Sorcery = Paladin* / Cabalist One of the most defensive mage builds, a bit too heavy on the defense I'd say, but if that's your thing go for it
.Battlerage+Witchcraft+Auramancy = Builder / Hex Warden Go loco, a very disruptive warrior with lowish damage, it can work with a healer backing you up, just don't expectto one shot people like the other warriors unless they're squishie Battlerage+Witchcraft+Defense = Mental Destroyer / Hexblade A very defensive combination with the potential for dps bursts, but still susceptible to some heavy CC, only for the adventurous Defense+Sorcery+Shadowplay = Paladin* / Swiftstone A somewhat unusual mage, not my personal favorite, but it gets the job done if you really want stealth and blocking non magical damage Sorcery+Songcraft+Vitalism = Physiognomist / Gypsy I've seen a few people playing this, I wouldn't recommend it, but if you're aware of the risks involved in having no cc breakers and missing all the perks of the defensive classes, then feel free to pick this. You can manage by keeping Barrier up all the time and spamming Continuous Recovery, Anthem of Defense and Loving Soul will give you some very desired magical resistance to you and your teammates, Flowing life, Seed of restoration and Anthem of recovery will keep your regeneration going, and in very dire situations Healing Earth can be just what you need to stay alive in the right situation Battlerage+Defense+Occultism = Dark Knight / Doomlord If you want a melee disabler conjury is better, necro has some neat stuff going on, but remember it's magic damage, it won't help you that much if your main source of damage is melee. Funny thing is Rage combos with a necro ability to avoid the stun, I still don't think they're meant to be together unless you plan some gimmicky aoe combo which you can do with the protection abilities. Witchcraft+Occultism+Shadowplay = Civil Engineer / Shroudmaster Not incredibly terrible as it might seem at first, sadly necro passives only boost magical attacks, otherwise this could be an interesting build boosting crit damage with plenty of CC and what not, but that's not the chase. Battlerage+Auramancy+Occultism = Parlamenter / Bloodreave It probably should be lower in the list, but I think you can still kill some people with this, just not many, but
some of the less optimized can be killed somehow with this thanks to Auramancy. Defense+Auramancy+Shadowplay = Shadow Projection / Nightblade
[i]A tanky rogue with barely any damage, I'd rate this lower, but this is a good build for those who like playing some sort of scout for tradeships or stealing tradepacks in the middle of a fight while no one is paying attention Witchcraft+Defense+Auramancy = Enchanter / Dreambreaker
[i]The ultimate disruptor, you can be very annoying and you can soak damage like it's nothing, sadly your offensive
capability is close to nothing or at least very insignificant at lvl 50. I'd say this build isn't viable and I've
never seen someone use it, but I know one of you crazy enthusiasts might surprise me with this someday wearing ultra expensive gear that allows you to deal damage reliably and still be one indestructible fortress.[/i][/i]
***** T4.- Picking one of this combos is settling yourself for disappointment, you probably thought something about this combination sounded cool, but trust me, it's not. *****
Battlerage+Occultism+Shadowplay = Berserker / Executioner Weak to everything, if you want disables get Witchcraft instead of necro Occultism+Archery+Shadowplay = Killer / Shadehunter A playable combination, but very fragile, If gear supported this build it could be in T3, but there's not, so why bother Defense+Shadowplay+Vitalism = Secret Knight / Death WardenYeah you get to heal, stealth and block, but everything else will be mostly disappointing, this could be in T3 for pve, but seriously you can do better Battlerage+Shadowplay+Songcraft = Romantic Robber / Blade Dancer
The stealthy melee bard, I don't know, there's worse stuff out there, but you can do better as well Shadowplay+Songcraft+Vitalism= Musician / Confessor I get it, you want to support and still be able to stealth, but you'll be very vulnerable to any competent player, you won't be the worst class ever, but you'll struggle with a lot of people Battlerage+Occultism+Vitalism = Martial Arts Master / Blackguard It's not good, but I guess you could do some surprise Rage combo for fun if people forget to cc you. Witchcraft+Auramancy+Shadowplay = Executioner / Eidolon Just bad, you can take some heavy punishment, be sneaky mcstabs, and provide some really nice disables, but by yourself you're pretty mediocre Battlerage+Witchcraft+Songcraft = Choreographer / Dirgeweaver I wish this combination was more viable so you could play a sort of melee bard, but sadly it's not, artistry simply doesn't combine in any way with Battlerage. Battlerage+Witchcraft+Occultism = Master of Unarmed Battlerage / Hordebreaker If only necro boosted all crits instead of magical, this would be good, but sadly it's not even decent. Battlerage+Auramancy+Songcraft = Sophisticated Romantic / Herald Again a melee bard that should be viable, but it's not, sad times. Defense+Shadowplay+Songcraft = Bully / Nightbearer It's not the most unplayable of builds, but it'd be very underwhelming in a lot of areas, I actually did play this combination in the Russian server to see if Shadowplay by itself provided enough damage for a competent character, the results of that experiment are reflected in the position of this class combo Battlerage+Defense+Songcraft = Romantic Knight / Dawncaller Not exactly viable, it has some heals, defense and damage, but you either hit or you sing, so there's a good deal of the class being useless half of the time Witchcraft+Defense+Shadowplay = Slayer / Shadowknight Surprise commander, pop out of stealth and annoy people, funsies for all the family Defense+Archery+Vitalism = Guardian Knight / Druid Well you can heal people and be useless most of the time, so that's something Defense+Archery+Songcraft = Hunter / Honorguard If you can level this to 50 I'd applaud you, I don't know why'd you do it, but you go and be creative man, have fun kiting everything for 30 seconds Battlerage+Occultism+Songcraft = Tragic Musician / Lorebreaker Not much synergy for combat with any of this two other branches, yeah you can level with this if you feel, but I'd advice against it Battlerage+Witchcraft+Archery = Ranger / Dreadhunter With a name like ranger you'd expect an actual archer class to be playable, but nope, Archery without Shadowplay is just bad.
***** T5.- This classes are simply not viable, they shouldn't even exist, but they do. Avoid like the plague. *****
Battlerage+Occultism+Sorcery = Envoy / Ravager
You can kill stuff with this alright, but please don't do it, there's no reason to mix magic with combat, yeah rage can get you some crazy dmg boost, but you won't live long with this build for rage to even reach 5 stacks. Battlerage+Defense+Sorcery = Sorcery Knight / Crusader Sounds cool, but you can't stack two offensive stats Battlerage+Auramancy+Sorcery = Tactician / Enforcer Half mage, half warrior, half wins, full loses. Math doesn't add up! Battlerage+Sorcery+Shadowplay = Sorcery Thief / Hellweaver Only try this if you feel like impersonating a magical kirito Battlerage+Witchcraft+Sorcery = Geomancer / Harbinger God damn they had to give the cool name to a shit combination, str+int no no no... Battlerage+Sorcery+Songcraft = Warrior Mage / Spellsword It's not horrible, but there's no way to gear for this (so yeah it's horrible) Battlerage+Sorcery+Vitalism = Knight of Honor / Fleshshaper This is for the role confused people, I want to heal, but I want to be a mage, and also I want to be a warrior, your body will end like a hybrid splat of blood on the floor, but you won't miss anything! Battlerage+Archery+Vitalism = Guardian of the Battlefield / Warpriest No gear to support this build and archer sucks by itself, I've seen streamers using this, I'm really sad they didn't research at all or even read their tooltips Witchcraft+Defense+Archery = Forest Defender / Archon Tanky? sure, useless? pretty much, I'd be really surprised to see anyone with this at 50 Battlerage+Defense+Archery = Knight Errant / Liberator Doesn't work sorry Auramancy+Archery+Sorcery = Expert / Stormchaser Stoooooooooooooooooooooormchaaaaseeer It totally sounds like an 80's cartoon show I'd love to watch, but I wouldn't love to watch this build on my team sorry Witchcraft+Auramancy+Archery = Wanderer / Arcane Hunter One of the builds that goes from T5 to T1 overnight once the lvl 55 cap is raised, very amazing, but not playable until then Witchcraft+Archery+Sorcery = Natural Mystic / Stormcaster Into the trash it goes Witchcraft+Occultism+Archery = Trained Geomancer / Shadestriker Another confused archer, now with more dark thoughts for free Witchcraft+Archery+Vitalism = Summoner / soulbow Doesn't work, it's ****ed Defense+Archery+Sorcery = Wild Sorceryian / Farslayer People will tell stories about you until the servers are closed with this build, do it if you want praise and admiration from complete strangers Defense+Auramancy+Archery = Observer / Bastion don't, stop right there, don't even think abuout it, you don't want this, I can assure you that Auramancy+Archery+Vitalism = Mystic / Oracle I've played a character like this in Dungeons and Dragons, it was a blast, too bad AA devs realized archery needed to be viable by itself until 1.0 Defense+Occultism+Archery = Wrathful Warrior Spirit / Dreadstone Another cool concept made useless due to game mechanics Battlerage+Auramancy+Archery = Inventor / Bonestalker BZZZZZZZZ NEXT! Auramancy+Occultism+Archery = Monster Hunter / Astral Ranger You won't be hunting any monsters with this, again game mechanics make this build barely playable Auramancy+Archery+Songcraft = Commoner / Howler Nothing to see here, another fail build no one should touch until the update, NO ONE Witchcraft+Archery+Songcraft = Archaeologist / Hex Ranger B A D Archery+Sorcery+Vitalism = Itinerant Trader / *Naturalist So many things wrong with this, well actually just one, I'll let you find out Occultism+Archery+Sorcery = Diviner / Spellbow Yeah you can do this and still kill people 50% of the time, but it's a waste, don't pick this please Occultism+Archery+Vitalism = Player / Blood Arrow Waste of time, don't do this to yoursel Archery+Sorcery+Shadowplay = Sniper / Infiltrator I've seen people actually playing this in my guild, a single tear runs down my face when I see them, but I'm not alpha enough to tell them they're wasting their time Occultism+Archery+Songcraft = Black Musician / Gravesinger Drop archery, and pick something else, you'll be fine, preferably not combat either Archery+Sorcery+Songcraft = Adventurer / Evoker Your adventures will be very mediocre using this build Archery+Songcraft+Vitalism = Playboy / Soulsong Lame, don't bother Battlerage+Archery+Sorcery = Sorceryal Warrior / Destroyer I want ALL the DAMAGE in the world! you go girl! take the them them all out with your god damn genkidama. Battlerage+Archery+Songcraft = Warrior Poet / Bloodskald Yeah you don't want this, trust me. Battlerage+Occultism+Archery = Oppressor / Dreadbow A complete mess
Auramancy+Songcraft+Vitalism = Priest / Cleric This is what most people pick when they want to play a full support character and don't do much research about the game. It's very good indeed, but please consider other builds before picking it, you'll have a really rough time before 30, and even after that you don't have a spammable attack. Remember any heal will cancel your auras so you have to recast them. Great for those who want to help their friends all the time or if you want to turn your girlfriend into a walking healthpot/buffbot 24/7. Defense+Auramancy+Vitalism = Bodyguard / Templar Everyone loves a healer, a healer that blocks arrows and melee atacks and can break out of cc's is even better. I'd just like to say Vitalism isn't what you expect even at higher levels, while you have some extraordinaire heals, the cooldown of most abilities is way too long, so you might want something less passive than this build to avoid falling asleep Witchcraft+Auramancy+Vitalism = Sage / Hierophant The most badass healer you can be, horrible for solo play, but godly for groups, suitable for anyone who likes to support and do more than playing whack-a-mole with healthbars or playing songs far from the action.
***** T7.- NERFED TO ALL HELL tier. You can try your luck if you think you're bad ass enough to weapon swap or masochist enough. *****
The descriptions are valid to pre 1.0 builds. I will keep them intact for reference.
FYI all these builds have vitalism or songcraft and there is a reason for this.
Maybe you can heal with these.
Auramancy+Occultism+Vitalism = Apostle / Edgewalker This is the first build on the list, So I won't go into much detail about it, I'll just say you can kill 1 or even 2 guys with ease most of the time as long they aren't playing this exact build or jumped on you first Sorcery+Shadowplay+Songcraft = Clown / Spellsinger A very bursty mage for a surprise ambush, but you die faster than you kill if people catch you with your pants down, most people will hate you for the ridiculous burst you can drop in 1 second when things go your way, so have fun with it Auramancy+Sorcery+Songcraft = Tramp / Spellsong Really solid build, I'm very tempted to play this on release, it's lacking a bit of cc, but you can still drop ridiculous damage and defend yourself against other magey characters Witchcraft+Occultism+Vitalism = Elementalist / Necromancer A really devastating build, 2 of this guys can take on hordes of enemies when played right. You'll be missing the always handy perks of will, but you're still likely to be the last man standing in any large scale fight or small skirmish Witchcraft+Sorcery+Songcraft = Master of Elements / Lamentor A really well rounded bursty mage, fun, strong, annoying, and not squishie at all Defense+Occultism+Vitalism = Priest of Death / Justicar Great combo, focusing on physical defense with a lot of tools to keep yourself alive, a viable tank for small group content, more pve oriented than the apostle or the prophet Defense+Auramancy+Songcraft = Conservative Poet / Tomb Warden The sturdy bard singing in the middle of a fight to invigorate his allys, little to no micro, you're pretty much a walking totem of auras. Get some help while leveling or you'll hate the game Battlerage+Defense+Vitalism = White Knight / Paladin Good for pve, not that good for pvp but still manageable. Some people say the best tank is a tank that can heal itself, I'm not so sure about that, I guess it depends on the content you're doing. Occultism+Sorcery+Vitalism = Mystic Miracle / Cultist The famous zombie build, king of pve solo farming, approved by thousands of bots daily! no defensive class hurts your pvp viability tho, but you can always be of help in zergs Defense+Sorcery+Songcraft = Playwright / Earthsinger If you want a burst mage with an edge against physical damage pick this, the speed boost is always good and some emergency heals also help Defense+Songcraft+Vitalism = Warrior Protector / Caretaker Great support character, just hard to level Auramancy+Occultism+Songcraft = Tragic Poet / Phantasm Like crits? hate mages? love flutes that make you run fast? well this is a somewhat unpopular combination that works fine in most scenarios Auramancy+Sorcery+Vitalism = White Mage* / Boneweaver Half mage, half healer in one single package, I'd be really happy to have an army of guys like this with me, they're the swiss knife of ArcheAge Witchcraft+Auramancy+Songcraft = Preacher / Enchantrix Oh you crazy bards and your tricks, a very passive build with some fun on the side, for when you don't want to think about stuff and just have a good time, I'd like to play this but I'm too lazy to level it Witchcraft+Occultism+Songcraft = Scout / Tombcaller this is probably the most warlocky warlock out there. it's not popular afaik, the extra juicy crits can make your crows destroy people, you're still suceptible to heavy cc and your damage isn't stelar, but you're still very useful in a group scenario Defense+Sorcery+Vitalism = Secret Protector / Scion I'd say this is a sort of druid build, average damage, heals/support and good defense, fun to play overall Witchcraft+Sorcery+Vitalism = White Sorceryian / Shaman Damage, heals, control, a jack of all trades that doesn't suck, I recommend this to those who don't like being locked to one role Sorcery+Shadowplay+Vitalism = Purifying Narrator / Animist I'd rate this lower, but it's always nice to have a healer who can stealth and still nuke like a champ, just don't forget you're open to any kind of crowd control people decide to throw your way Witchcraft+Defense+Vitalism = Surgeon / Shadowbane Not your everyday healer, good in every group, but some heavy cc can still make you sad, and as expected ultra low damage potential Witchcraft+Songcraft+Vitalism = Rehabilitation Specialist / Athame All the support in the game in one character, now with increased survivability and annoying debuffs, great if you can get a static party or you like whoring yourself all the time, otherwise you'll struggle to level and perform menial daily chores Archery+Shadowplay+Vitalism = Missionary / Ranger Also known as Gaian, a lot of people use this on my guild, I'm not a fan of it tho, I was going to place this on T3 but I'm reconsidering it after realizing how limited archer builds are, I guess this kind of hybrid builds are invaluable when there's no proper healers available, specially since Shadowplay synergizes with archery perfectly Battlerage+Auramancy+Vitalism = Wandering Monk / Argent For some reason not as popular as paladin, I wouldn't play it, but it's legit for pve, not that bad for pvp if you have people carrying you, but you won't have much combos available. Occultism+Sorcery+Songcraft = Cultivator / Requiem Pretty much the most glass cannon build you can pick, I don't recommend it, you'll die A LOT, but if you like the highest numbers possible popping in your screen go ahead and grab this class Archery+Shadowplay+Songcraft = Shadow Dancer / Ebonsong Mostly a pve build, but it works in pvp too, One of the few archer playable builds, so go ahead and pick this if you like songs and bow attacks Witchcraft+Shadowplay+Songcraft = Headhunter / Solstice Singer This is not a combat centric character, this is the merchant build, don't pick this unless you're devoted to being a merchant. Occultism+Shadowplay+Vitalism = Writer / Doombringer Another build for the building enthusiasts, it's very playable if you know what're getting into, still I suggest you reconsider other alternatives before picking this, It's a great build for pirates who prey on weaker people, or players more focused on trading, but on fair combat you're very open to cc making your life miserable Defense+Occultism+Songcraft = Praetorian / Dark Aegis Crits for everyone and beyond thanks to passives, all your classes provide some sort of area effect that can bring a lot of mayhem to group fights, I'd rate this in T2 for pve, but for pvp will is better than protection Auramancy+Shadowplay+Songcraft = Shadow Musician / Exorcist Surprise your enemies with a pocket bard, sing sweet songs of destruction to your enemies and inspiring melodies to your friends, if all goes wrong you're still an excellent entertainer for children parties and romantic serenades Battlerage+Witchcraft+Vitalism = Spiritualist / Dervish An ok Alternative to the Paladin build if you want more CC instead of straight up mitigation, still lacking some desired survivability and mobility. Battlerage+Shadowplay+Vitalism = Inquisitor A good melee option if you just want to have fun, you can keep yourself up and others, ambush in partys, but weak to pretty much anyone heavy on cc Occultism+Songcraft+Vitalism = Monk / Sorrowsong The crit healer, it's not a very durable build, if you can manage to stay out of danger it could work, but seriously I'd use it mostly as a leveling build, once you're 50 drop one of them and grab a defensive class so you can be more viable in pvp. Occultism+Shadowplay+Songcraft = Athlete / Nocturne Eventhough your crits will be massive, you don't have the nukes to exploit it nor the combos to burst people down consistently, not to mention your lack of defensive skills. But stealth allows you to choose your fights, pick your encounters wisely and this will be fun Witchcraft+Defense+Songcraft = Trickster / Poxbane The disable bard, very hard to level, worth it? only if you're a masochist but sure Witchcraft+Shadowplay+Vitalism = Jester / Assassin You're mostly a joke, but don't get discouraged, some people might like you simply because you can heal, cc and be a good little girl hiding in stealth Battlerage+Songcraft+Vitalism = Defrocked Priest / Bloodthrall A super flimsy support, it can be fun in pve, but it's really bad for pvp, only for the jolly bards at hearth without a care in the world. Auramancy+Shadowplay+Vitalism = Predictor / Soothsayer We have a guy in our guild with this build and no one but him likes it, it can somehow annoy 1 person and get lucky kills, but it's extremely limited in a lot of areas, I'd skip it but feel free to try it and prove me wrong
Blighter: Battlerage/Shadowplay/Defense
A great melee class with a high survivability against archers and warriors. If accompanied by a healer class, and assuming that the Blighter isn't up against several mages, a win can even be possible in 2 vs 5 situations. The downsides are, as you can guess, low chances of survival when attacked by mages, and a low mobility.
Shadowblade: Battlerage/Shadowplay/Witchcraft
Also a viable melee class, the Shadowblade has slightly lower chances of survival in group fights as compared to the Blighter, but possesses numerous CC skills, and long combos dealing huge amounts of damage. They have a higher mobility, and are better at countering mages.
Darkrunner: Battlerage/Shadowplay/Auramancy
The Darkrunner is basically a Shadowblade, geared toward more survivability, and fast strikes rather than long combos. Auramancy effectively offers a decent defense against mage classes, as well as anti-CC skills. You will depend mostly on your stealth, and backstabbing critical hits to kill opponents as fast as you can before jumping back into stealth.
Trickster: Archery/Shadowplay/Witchcraft
Ranged version of the Shadowblade, the trickster will be highly dependent on bow skills for damage, and witchcraft's CC's to keep enemies at bay. With the wide attack range and Stalker's Mark, fleeing enemies will rarely get away from a Trickster.
Shadehunter: Archery/Shadowplay/Occultism
Considered as slightly inferior to the trickster due to the mitigated damage output, the Shadehunter nonetheless possesses some great combos, and the Occultism magic damage skills can work great against physical tanks. As a Shadehunter, you will want to use a Staff early on.
Primeval: Archery/Shadowplay/Auramancy
Ranged version of the Darkrunner, the Primeval possesses a high mobility meant to keep enemies at bay while you slowly reduce their health, Auramancy being useful in countering certain CC skills. This class offers a good rate of survivability against mage classes, assuming that it isn't ambushed.
Stone Arrow: Archery/Shadowplay/Defense
Basically a Tank archer, the Stone Arrow works great in countering other archers, as well as leather wearing melee players. It remains weak to mages and such confrontations should be avoided.
Skullknight: Defense/Auramancy/Occult
One of the best tanks in the game, the Skullknight is great for both group PVE and group PVP, taunting enemies, and disrupting them with Occultism skills. High survivability in group battles assuming that they are backed up by a party.
Abolisher: Defense/Auramancy/Battlerage
Another good tank that can also deal some decent damage against melee and archer classes, while offering more mobility and anti-CC (Boundbreaker).
Paladin: Defense/Battlerage/Vitalism
True to its name, the Paladin has a high level of survivability against most classes, and can also support the party with heals or by taunting dangerous enemies.
Spellsinger: Sorcery/Shadowplay/Songcraft
While some may argue that the 1.2 update reduced the effectiveness of the Spellsinger, it remains a highly viable mage class, allowing you to ambush enemies and dispatch them with ease in most cases.
Daggerspell: Sorcery/Shadowplay/Witchcraft
Great damage with long combos, and very useful CC skills that will make the difference in group fights where you are outnumbered, assuming that your teammates don't break them.
Reaper: Sorcery/Shadowplay/Occultism
Occultism always works great with Shadowplay, but also has some decent combos with Sorcery. A well optimized Reaper can easily take down any enemy if it initiated the attack, with a few exceptions of course.
Templar: Vitalism/Auramancy/Defense
Great to have on your side in large scale wars, the Templar will often be among the last men standing when played right with its great self heals, anti-CC and immunity to damages.
Hierophant: Vitalism/Auramancy/Witchcraft
Hard to solo with, the Hierophant will be a great asset in group fights if it has the support of a party. Can disable enemies, heal allies, or help take down enemies with a good set of combos.
Necromancer: Vitalism/Witchcraft/Occultism
Great class to use in battles of small scales, with better damage and CC, but less anti-CC with the loss of Auramancy. You can always switch to Templar of Hierophant during large scale wars for more survivability.
[QUOTE="triwar, post: 18759, member: 8558"]The descriptions are valid to pre 1.0 builds. I will keep them intact for reference.
FYI all these builds have vitalism or songcraft and there is a reason for this.
Maybe you can heal with these.[/QUOTE]
What about exorcist (shadowplay/songcraft/auramancy)
