Arcane Lineage Beginner Builds
Three points a level. These spreads keep you alive long enough for the class to start existing.
A build in Arcane Lineage is not a 40-piece set. It is how you spend three points per level plus the one skill you remembered to collect in town. This page is the first-character version. The longer race-plus-stats sheet is loadouts. Pair both with the stat calculator, the class roster, and the boss guide.
Every spread below assumes Hard mode, Daze from Yorn, and a player who has at least tried to hit yellow. If that is not you, the getting started page is the build.
Universal early rules
- Endurance first until chip damage stops deleting a life.
- Luck second if you care about the next drop or the next shard.
- One damage stat after that: Strength for steel and fists, Arcane for staffs.
- Speed last unless you already live through slams and want turn order.
- Soul Tree: health. The Soul Tree guide will not apologize for repeating that.
Warrior — “I will Guard the new animation”
Open Endurance. Splash Strength so Pommel Strike and Double Slash do not tickle. Take Paladin later if you like your party, Berserker if you do not. This is the build in the “easy boss” videos when the creator is not on a cestus.
Martial Artist — default first character
Endurance, then Strength, then a little Luck. Endure as a panic button. Barrage when the boss is weakened. Monk if you want to keep friends. Darkwraith if you want to keep clips. This kit matches the top row of the class tier list.
Slayer — only after yellow is boring
Strength and Endurance even. Poison does not work if you die first. Luck matters more here because you will stay in fights longer. Impaler if you want holes. Saint if your party already has holes.
Thief — gold and blinds
Endurance, Luck, then Strength. Pocket Sand is the party button. Stab is the rent. You are not the slam magnet unless the Wizard’s Coward trait stole your tank. Do not build Speed until you can afford to miss a life on a joke.
Wizard — backline or bust
Arcane and Endurance. Luck if you need scrolls and shards. Never Speed-first. Coward only helps if someone else exists. Necromancer and Elementalist both assume you lived to 15. Solo Wizard is a review warning, not a build.
A sample first ten levels
On a physical class, a clean level 10 bank is twelve Endurance, nine Strength, nine Luck. That is the default loadout in the stat calculator. On Wizard, swap Strength for Arcane and keep the Endurance. Do not “fix” a magic race by starving health so the Missile number looks bigger in town.
If you jumped multiple levels with a fat Essence bank, spend the lump in the same ratio. A 6–6–3 dump into Speed because the character “felt slow” is how people arrive at a boss with a glass body and a great jog.
Race taxes
If your lineage already dumped points into the wrong bar, do not “balance” by starving Endurance. Overpay the missing damage stat later. The race page and race tier list tell you when that tax is a shard instead.
What these builds are not
They are not endgame theorycraft. They are not PvP. They are not a promise that a seasonal enchant will not shuffle the math. When updates retune a Super Class, we change the fork advice, not the “buy Endurance” sentence.
If you want a machine to count the points, use the calculator. If you want a machine to pick the weapon, use the class picker. If you want a machine to press Space, that is a script, and it can cost the account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
What stats should a beginner take?
Endurance and Luck first, then Strength or Arcane depending on the weapon. Speed can wait.
Is there one best build?
No. There is a best first habit: live through the bar. Class-shaped spreads come after that.
Do I respec later?
Plan as if you cannot. A new soul slot or a shard wipe is the real respec, and both are expensive in time.