Before I dig into the best builds in No Rest For The Wicked, you need to understand how builds even work in the game. Despite what the camera perspective may lead you to believe, this is not a Diablo-style setup where you need to perfectly synergize a dozen different enchanted equipment pieces with an optimized path down a skill tree.
Rather, No Rest For The Wicked sticks closer to the Soulslike tradition of equipment - where you want to invest your skill points in the stats that scale with your equipped weapon. It’s a straightforward setup, but the question remains: Which stats should you invest in?
The short answer is that Dexterity builds and Intelligence builds are generally the best in No Rest For The Wicked. This isn’t to say that Strength builds and Faith builds aren’t strong, as those do have “meta” potential if you know where to look. Also, I can’t stress enough that No Rest For The Wicked is an early access game that receives constant balance patches, so a strong build today may be merely okay tomorrow. Regardless, if you’re struggling to break into this soulslike ARPG, Dexterity or Intelligence builds start strong and stay strong into the current endgame. Here’s a full breakdown below.
How stats work in No Rest For The Wicked
Stats in No Rest For The Wicked can be split into two categories. The first category are what I’d call universal stats: Health, Stamina, Focus, and Equip Load. Investment in any of these stats will always help you out, but since you’re working with a limited number of attribute points, you’ll want to predominately invest in the stats that match your build. For example, Dexterity builds will work best with a lot of Stamina, while Intelligence builds will especially benefit from extra Focus. Meanwhile, you’ll want just enough points in Equip Load to keep your overall weight down to at least the “Normal” weight class (don’t necessarily throw the heaviest gear on just because it has higher defense).
Your “power” stats are Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence and Faith. These stats do nothing but increase the potency of equipment that scales with each stat. Each of these generally correlate with different playstyles. Big bulky weapons usually need Strength, nimble weapons and bows typically use Dexterity, your magic-casting Wands mostly use Intelligence, and Faith is kind of a mish-mash of all the above (Maces and Tower Shields do use Faith if you’re gunning for a Paladin build). Make sure you at least meet the stat requirements each weapon requires: The highest-end weapons will require 42 points in their corresponding power stats, with two-stat weapons requiring a max of 26 points in each).
How two-stat weapons work in No Rest For The Wicked
You’ll find a bunch of weapons that scale off two stats at the same time. If a weapon scales with two stats, you’ll want to invest in both stats evenly for the maximum power boost. These armaments are relatively niche, but community consensus indicates that they scale up to slightly higher modifiers compared to their single-stat counterparts. It’s not a big enough difference to be meta-defining, but it’s a nice little bonus for the extra effort these take to build around.
For this reason, I strongly recommend you first find a weapon that you feel comfortable playing, and then invest your power stats into whatever scales with that armament. There are many weapon types in No Rest For The Wicked, and a strength player who likes axes isn’t necessarily going to enjoy using paddles just because they have better stats. You’ll need skill and power in equal measure to succeed in No Rest For The Wicked, so start by finding your playstyle and go from there.
No Rest For The Wicked Dexterity builds
If you’re fresh to the game following the No Rest for the Wicked co-op update, starting with a dexterity build is a great way to find your footing. For melee players, Knives and Dual Wielding Double Daggers absolutely sing. The fierce enemies you’ll find here often only leave themselves open for a second or two, which is no problem when you attack fast enough to still get three or four hits in. This playstyle is conducive to players who prefer dodging away from damage over deflecting, which is helpful if you’re still trying to learn the parry timing on each enemy’s attacks.
Meanwhile, bows also scale with Dexterity. And as far as No Rest For The Wicked goes, bows are kind of busted. Not only do you get infinite arrows, but bows allow you to attack enemies from frankly vast distances. In typically difficult areas like the Crucible, where you can respec in No Rest for the Wicked, you can actually pick off entire hordes of small fry with a bow before they can even attack you. And that’s before you find some of the absolutely nutty bows that can crush huge foes harder than a hydraulic press.
So you’ve got strong ranged damage, strong melee damage, and an overall nimble playstyle that’s easy to pick up and play. For best results, pair a Dexterity build with equipment that has positive Stamina Regen to ensure you always have the juice to squeeze in an attack whenever you need to. Make sure to unlock at least one extra weapon slot so you can swap between melee and ranged damage on the fly!
No Rest For The Wicked Intelligence builds
There’s a fun quirk about magic in No Rest For The Wicked that new players will almost certainly miss: Almost all staves and wands come with an extra spell that consumes Stamina, not Focus. Normally you’d acquire Focus by whacking enemies with your weapon, but magic users can choose to sling their stamina spells to charge up their Focus instead. Melee attacks? Who needs ‘em!?
All the while, Intelligence-scaled magic is an easy way to inflict elemental damage and apply powerful debuffs. For instance, Fire magic can burn enemies, inflicting damage over time. Or if you prefer defense, use Ice magic to freeze enemies so you and your friends can score tons of free damage. Once you’ve settled on an element, you can boost your damage even further by looking for enchantments on your armor that bolster whichever element you’re using. For even further synergy, prioritize gear that provides extra Focus regeneration (either as part of its base stats or via its enchantments).
To be clear, virtually any weapon in No Rest For The Wicked can receive an elemental damage infusion through multiple sources, it’s just that magic is a particularly easy way to achieve this. Additionally, there are a handful of melee weapons that do scale strictly with Intelligence, so you’ll have close-range options you can switch to on-the-fly if magic just isn’t cutting it.
Intelligence builds won’t generally have the speed of a Dexterity build, but to compensate, you’ll have much higher burst damage to nuke enemies with. At the end of the day, don’t worry too much about which build or weapon achieves the absolute highest DPS. Find what feels most intuitive to you and work your build up from there.
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