How we rank builds
Gloria Victis combat is mostly group warfare — sieges, frontline pushes and warband skirmishes — so the tiers below weight large-scale usefulness most heavily, then small-scale skirmishing, then pure 1v1, then PvE. A build that is merciless in a duel but a liability in a 30-player wall can still only be A-tier. Each archetype is one of the Build Maker's presets, with its real attribute lean and gear from in-game character screens.
| Tier | Build | Role | Lean & gear |
|---|---|---|---|
| S | Shieldman | Melee tank / anchor | High CON + STR · 6 heavy, heavy shield |
| S | Bruiser | Sturdy 2-handed DPS | STR + CON · 4 med / 2 heavy, 2h cleaving |
| A | Duelist | Balanced 1v1 melee | Even STR / CON / DEX · medium |
| A | Siege Archer | Ranged DPS | Max DEX · 6 light, reflex/longbow |
| A | Medic | Revives / 2nd line | CON + STR · 6 heavy + heavy shield |
| B | Breaker | Anti-shield / anti-cavalry | High STR, some CON · 4 med / 2 heavy |
| B | Melee Cavalry | Mobile flanker | High STR + CON · cavalry tree |
| B | Light Skirmisher | Glass-cannon DPS | STR or DEX · 6 light |
| C | Ranged Cavalry | Mounted ranged / scout | High DEX · cavalry tree |
S-Tier — the spine of a warband
Shieldman — the most broadly useful build
- Heavy armour, heavy shield, a 1h axe/mace/spear — it boards up, holds the doorway and the breach, and is very hard to kill.
- Leans hard into CON and STR, with defensive passives like Man of Steel (up to +5% all damage reduction in heavy armour at rank 10) and You Shall Not Pass.
- Forgiving for a new player and always wanted in a siege.
Bruiser — the sustained damage behind the wall
- Two-handed cleaving swords, halberds or axes with enough CON to keep swinging in a scrum — the Reaper passive lets a 2-hander cleave 2–3 targets, which is very effective in a crowd.
- Trades the shield for reach and raw damage; pair it with a shieldwall and it deals heavy sustained damage.
A-Tier — specialists that carry their weight
- Duelist — even STR/CON/DEX, medium armour, swords and spear. Excels at 1v1 and small fights; a notch lower in a giant melee where the tankier builds are stronger.
- Siege Archer — max DEX, 6 light, reflex/longbow. Punishes anyone caught in the open and controls a siege from the walls; fragile if caught, so positioning is critical.
- Medic — heavy armour and a shield, built around battlefield revives and triage. Wins the long fights; an A-tier force multiplier that a coordinated group values and a pug ignores.
B & C — strong in the right hands or the right fight
- Breaker (B) — built to beat shields and cavalry; a fantastic counter-pick, less of an every-fight default.
- Melee Cavalry (B) — devastating for flanks, chases and breaking nervous formations, but map- and situation-dependent and gear-hungry.
- Light Skirmisher (B) — glass-cannon mobility; huge damage, very fragile. High skill floor.
- Ranged Cavalry (C) — mounted bow harassment. A specialist scouting/kiting pick that asks a lot of the player for niche payoff.
Build it yourself
None of these are locked classes — they're presets. Open the Build Maker, load the archetype, and watch the sourced stats update as you reshape it. Then Ascent turns any finished build into the exact level-by-level point order. For the mechanics underneath, see Attributes & Builds.