Summary
- RPGs like Path of Exile 2, Baldur's Gate 3, and Divinity: Original Sin 2 offer deep buildcraft options for theorycrafting enthusiasts.
- Games like Grim Dawn, Guild Wars, and Pathfinder encourage multiclassing and diverse builds for endless playstyle possibilities.
- Building characters in these RPGs involves synergizing skills, classes, and items to create unique, powerful, and versatile playstyles.
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.
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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.
7 Path of Exile 2
The Long Path of Labrinthine Theorycrafting
Path of Exile II
- Released
- December 6, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Nudity, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Language, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash, MMORPG
Path of Exile 2 continues its predecessor's legacy as a home for buildcrafters. With a massive passive skill 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. PoE2 is a game that rewards deep research, creative combinations, and a willingness to experiment or fail spectacularly.
6 Guild Wars
Horizontal Deck Building With Real-Time Action
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 original Guild Wars takes 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 a Magic: The Gathering deck.
As well as their base profession, players can take on a secondary profession to access a whole subset of additional strategies. In Nightfall, 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 in Guild Wars is 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.
5 Grim Dawn
Duel-Class Mastery With Endless Action And Loot
Grim Dawn
- Released
- February 25, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Language
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
There are few games with so much build diversity and viability as Grim Dawn. With the base game and its expansions, there are ten masteries (classes) to choose from, and players are expected to combine two class archetypes on 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 make Grim Dawn one of the most replayable action-RPGs out there.
4 Baldur's Gate 3
An Authentic, Faithful Adaptation To The Build-Diverse Legend
Baldur's Gate 3
- Released
- August 3, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
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 to account for these builds narratively and mechanically. Clever builds unlock new reactions and story paths, not just ways to turn enemies into jelly or ash.
3 Arcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura
Almost Every Build, From The Mystical To The Mechanical
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
- Released
- September 26, 2000
WHERE TO PLAY
From the moment players hit up the character creation screen, it should be obvious that Arcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura offers 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.
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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. Arcanum is 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 patches squash some of the nastier bugs.
2 Divinity: Original Sin 2
A Playground For Free-Form Build Experimentation
Divinity: Original Sin 2
- Released
- September 14, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a game where even the simplest build can snowball into something surprisingly powerful, or hilariously broken. With a freeform 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 makes DOS2 such an interesting playground to test build ideas.
1 Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous
Endless Multiclassing, Mythic Power, And Min-Maxing
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
- Released
- September 2, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Based on the Pathfinder pen and paper ruleset (a close cousin of D&D 3.5e), Wrath of the Righteous boasts meaningful class depth truly faithful to the tabletop game. WotR features 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.
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