Summary
When it comes to RPGs, many fans are drawn to a good interactive and reactive story. Others come for the exploration and worldbuilding. However, nothing quite beats the thrill of buildcraft, where matching classes, equipment, skills, and traits to come up with the perfect character or playstyle.
There is a delicate balance in RPG design between providing players with options that work out of the box and giving them the complete freedom of choice to succeed or fail on their own terms. The following games lean more on the latter, whether via sprawling skill trees, synergistic multiclass features, or freeform mix-and-matching, and potentially provide dozens if not hundreds of hours for theorycraft tinkering.
Path of Exile 2continues its predecessor’s legacy as a home for buildcrafters. With a massive passiveskill tree akin to a labyrinthine web, socketed active and support skill gems, ascendancy classes, and item affixes that can radically alter a build, the possibilities are staggering.
Although a “most effective tactic available” arises from time to time, each new league and patch can upend the meta, keeping even seasoned veterans constantly theorycrafting.PoE2is a game that rewards deep research, creative combinations, and a willingness to experiment or fail spectacularly.
Guild Wars
Anyone who has ever picked up an MMO and accrued a couple of levels will be familiar with the giant skillbar looming at the bottom of the screen, loaded with thousands of icons. The originalGuild Warstakes a different approach to its builds than choosing between stats, gear, or archetypes. Players get a mere eight skill slots to fill, but they must do so with literally hundreds of diverse and meaningful skills to choose from, similar to aMagic: The Gatheringdeck.
As well as their base profession, players cantake on a secondary professionto access a whole subset of additional strategies. InNightfall, players gain access to the skills of recruitable NPCs, which expands build possibilities eightfold. The standard weapons and armor options are all there, but the main fun of build craft inGuild Warsis taking a different combination of skills out into an instanced zone, each filled with hand-placed enemies and challenges, and seeing how far a new concept plays out in practice.
There are few games with so much build diversity and viability asGrim Dawn. With the base game and its expansions, there are ten masteries (classes) to choose from, and players are expected tocombine two class archetypeson their campaign against their infernal foes. So long as it involves violence and bloodshed, there is an option for every playstyle preference, from up-close-and-personal melee to gunslinging and spellcasting.
Although the combination does not have a mechanical impact besides granting players access to new skills and traits, the combination yields a name. For example, mixing the Soldier and Arcanist masteries creates a Battlemage. A Necromancer and Nightblade yields the Reaper. On top of Mastery skills (active and passive), its gear slots and Devotion Constellations makeGrim Dawnone of the most replayable action-RPGs out there.
Baldur’s Gate 3 takes the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons ruleset and translates it nearly 1:1 into a cinematic cRPG format, including its multiclassing and subclass systems. The result is a rich, flexible system where players can mix classes to create incredibly distinct characters. For example, a Warlock can dabble in Paladin smiting, a Fighter might hurl spells, or a Monk could use the Rogue’s slippery mobility.
Perhaps most impressively, Larian Studios designed the game’s combat and dialogue toaccount for these builds narratively and mechanically. Clever builds unlock new reactions and story paths, not just ways to turn enemies into jelly or ash.
From the moment players hit up the character creation screen, it should be obvious thatArcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscuraoffers some of the most ludicrously varied build options in any RPG, old or new. From the player’s race and starting stats to their (mutually exclusive) attunement to magic or technology, players can roleplay as just about any archetype they can think of, be it a gun-wielding technologist, half-ogre diplomat, or a necromantic pickpocket.
The game’s world is significantly reactive to each of these playstyles. The player’s suite of skills can determine not only how they resolve quests but also the type of quests and adventures they will encounter in the world.Arcanumis still a little janky as it was on release, which is the price RPG fans must pay for such a wide world with so many build options. However,helpful community patchessquash some of the nastier bugs.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a game where even the simplest build can snowball into something surprisingly powerful, or hilariously broken. With afreeform class system, players can combine any stats, spells, or skills from any discipline, mixing martial prowess with pyromancy, necromancy, polymorphing, or summoning, resulting in a rich sandbox of synergy-driven tactics with the option to bring three friends in co-op.
There’s no rigid class system, just a toolkit, and it’s up to the player to create a build that can shape the battlefield. Players can turn enemies into chickens, teleport them into fire, or summon an elemental infused with cursed ice. The layering of effects is part of what makesDOS2such an interesting playground to test build ideas.
Based on thePathfinderpen and paper ruleset (a close cousin ofD&D3.5e),Wrath of the Righteousboasts meaningful class depthtruly faithful to the tabletop game.WotRfeatures over 25 base classes, dozens of archetypes, mythic paths that add another layer of build and story customization, and granular feat selections.
Multiclassing is fully supported and highly encouraged, letting players combine roles like a sword-swinging wizard or a rogue who channels divine power. Add companion party builds, difficulty settings that reward optimization, and a reactive story that responds to alignment and class choices, and it’s no wonder theorycrafters spend as much time planning as they do playing.
