MedianXL Sigma 1.8 Starter Tier List

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MedianXL Sigma 1.8 Starter Tier List

Im seekers, long time player and so on etc. This tier list is mean to give you an idea on what are the best characters to start a season untwinked, so that you can farm either charms or items in order to gear up any other character you want. It will also highlight characters that u can take all the way to the endgame.

Table of Contents

Introduction and Disclaimers
Experimental Builds
Quick Tier List
In Depth
Credits
Changelog



Introduction and Disclaimers

In this topic I will attempt to rate most builds in the game judged by how succesful they are on a fresh ladder start; that is; from level 1 all the way to 120+. I will use the following criteria and my own personal judgement for the tier list:

TIER 0 builds are fast and comfortable, perfect starters.
TIER 0.5 builds are just a step below T0 builds, mainly because of requiring more effort than T0s altough still as effective.
TIER 1 builds are either extremely specialized in either boss killing or farming (in which case they can often keep up with t0s); or just overall worse than t0.5.
TIER 1.5 are either specialized but not enough to compete with its t1+ competition or once again overall worse.
TIER 2 cannot do any 120 ubers without major issues; decent before this point.
TIER 3 unable to be started as / extremely horrible leveling and 120 ubers. This tier acts more like a showcase for powerful endgame builds.

TIER 0 to TIER 1.5: can comfortably do content in the 1 - 120 level range untwinked, and thus can be played as a starter without any regrets.
Remember that both charms and farming are taken into account, with T0-0.5 being able to clear either dunc or teganze really fast; on top of getting most if not all 120 charms; thus enabling you to get upgrades or generate TG in order to purchase any neccesary gear for whatever spec you wish to play; or if playing SSF or HC, being able to find gear on its own.

DISCLAIMER
If a build has earned a lower spot on the list it does not mean it is unplayable garbage; it just means it is a build you will either have to transition to in the lategame or one that you is less efficient than its competition for the early game.

ANOTHER DISCLAIMER
All of these ratings are based on my own experiences, analysis and observations from other people's playthroughs and feedback. Your own experience may differ.

YET ANOTHER DISCLAIMER
If a build is not present in this tier list it can be because of 2 things:
1: I simply don't know it is a thing, in which case please do leave feedback.
2: I don't consider it good enough to be rated. Once again feedback is appreciated.



Experimental Builds
In this section you will find builds whose tiering I am not confident in. This may be due to them being new or simply not enough testing.


Bow Druid: Fully reworked in 1.7.
Crossbow Necromancer: Might be better now that it leeches more.
Javelin Amazon: I think its decent but once again not enough playtesting.
Buckshot Oskill: I have heard nothing about this oskill and have not tested it personally.



Quick Tier List
IMPORTANT: Order within the tiers doesnt matter, its sorted alphabetically.

TIER 0: Caster Druid, Cold Caster Sorceress, Fire Caster Sorceress, Lightning Caster Sorceress, Physical Bow Amazon, Rainbow Storm Builds, Summoner Necromancer (Hawks start), Melee Sorceress, Summoner Barbarian, Summoner Paladin, Unholy Melee Paladin.
TIER 0.5: Magic Missiles Bloodzon, Maelstrom Assassin, Malice Necromancer, Mana Caster Sorceress, Naginata Assassin, Neutral Paladin, Totem Necromancer, Unholy Caster Paladin.
TIER 1: Bow Druid, ATMG Assassin, Fire Bloodzon, Hammer of Zerae Amazon, Holy Melee Paladin, Melee Necromancer, Physical Melee Barbarian, Physical Throw Barbarian, Poison Caster Sorceress, Poison Throw Barbarian, Trap Assassin, Rend Bear Druid, Screaming Eagle Barbarians, Wildfire Bear Druid.
TIER 1.5: Crossbow Necromancer, Holy Caster Paladin, Hurricane Druid, Psychic Assassin, Scorpion Blade Assassin, Spear Amazon, Wolf Druid.
TIER 2: Claw Assassin, Elemental Bow Amazon, Javelin Amazon, Storm Caster Amazon, Traprat Druid, Unsummoner Amazon.
TIER 3: Orb of Annihilation Casters, Rising Dawners, Stormclashers, Trinity Beamers, Virulence Casters, Warcry Barbarian.



In Depth

Amazon
Physical Bow Amazon: Extremely widely used, this glass cannon type build can lead to high death counts but it excels at farming with relatively cheap gear (good crafted weapon is very important, alternatively set is very good) while remaining decent versus bosses. Guide
Magic Missiles Bloodzon: The superior blood amazon, MM is still a solid skill; and balefire will help carry it early on until it becomes really strong, oh and also balefire now no longer causes bosses to teleport everywhere when poked with it as of 1.7 patchnotes, so balefire could very well become a strong support or main skill until you can get your +missile gear. Kinda Outdated Guide
Hammer of Zerae Amazon: Very cheap and reliable farmer to start the season, will do duncraig in full TUs no problem. However it lacks any kind of single target damage; especially if the boss moves or teleports (so 99% of them) and therefore can really only be used as a farmer.
Fire Bloodzon: Also a very viable build despite lagging a bit behind compared to her magic focused sister, lava pit single target is really good and bloodstorm is okay farming.
Spear Amazon: Really good single target killer, but pounce is really lackluster without proper gear due to it needing Curare; which is suicide unless you get the tankiness from the gear (which u won't early on). With proper gear, pouncezon is a really good farmer however,
Javazon: Hits a very hard wall at 120, not the fastest starter, becomes substantially better with gear (especially
Thrillseeker
Thrillseeker
Throwing Spear (Sacred)

Throw Damage: (192 - 222) to (244 - 282)
One-Hand Damage: (124 - 144) to (145 - 168)
(Amazon Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 530
Item Level: 120
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Dexterity)%
+2 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
10% Life stolen per Hit
+(160 to 200)% Enhanced Damage
+(5 to 10) to APF-20 'Maelstrom' MkI
(15 to 25)% to Dexterity
+(250 to 500) to Life
5% Chance to Avoid Damage
Socketed (4)
)
Storm Caster Amazon: Uses Stormcall to clear and Askari Lightning for single targets. Not horrible to level but will struggle at 115 - 120 without crafts. Ornates should be easier to get now so thats a plus atleast.
Unsummon Amazon: Altough it is technically a ''Resummoner Zon'', as the way this build works is constantly resummoning fire elementals to proc their on death fire cannonade; unsummon zon sounds more memey and therefore it stuck I guess. While this build has a really good normal, nm and even early ubers, the lack of scaling on fire cannonande without SUs kills it viability in 120+. However, with the neccesary gear (1 SSU and a SU) it is a very strong build.
Elemental Bow Amazon: Probably has better damage potential than Physical Bow Amazon in the endgame, especially with new IED mod, but inferior in every way to Physical early on.


Assassin
Maelstrom Assassin: Maelstrom will faceroll normal - nightmare along with the early ubers. While it will slow down at 120+ you then have the option to farm Teganze which will allow you to get a lot of upgrades; if at any point you feel stuck you can also go cows or K3K for abandoned shrines. I feel the nerfs it has gotten over the past like 5 patches have made it not as facerolly once u get to ubers so its been knocked down from T0 . Miniguide
Naginata Assassin: Received massive buffs in 1.6, very powerful build that is harder to play than your average build due to a lot of skill switching needed, and the fact that its main farming ability requires you to keep a short buff up in order to have no cooldown. Its not for everyone, but if you're looking for a more active playstyle this is a very effective build.Guide
ATMG Assassin: Has received some hard hits in 1.7, knocking it down one tier, might go down even further but we will see. Should still faceroll normal - nightmare and early ubers, and have decent clearspeed early with
Hail

Hail
Assassin Claws

'MalBer'
Runeword Level: 78
7% Chance to cast level 29 Shower of Rocks on Kill
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
40% Attack Speed
Adds 40-80 Damage
Adds 63-188 Cold Damage
+(171 to 200)% Enhanced Damage
(8 to 10)% Chance of Crushing Blow
Slow Target 3%
3% to All Attributes
and good boss killing. Also has a smooth gear progression. If you're having trouble equipping
Sawfish
Sawfish
Hatchet Hands (4)

One-Hand Damage: (5 - 6) to (7 - 8)
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 4
Required Dexterity:
43
Item Level: 1
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Adds 6-13 Magic Damage
+(18 to 35)% Enhanced Damage
+(5 to 7) to ATMG Sentry
(1 to 2)% Chance of Crushing Blow
(7 to 10)% to Dexterity
+1 Mana on Striking
Requirements +50%
Socketed (1)
One-Hand Damage: (16 - 18) to (19 - 21)
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 22
Required Dexterity:
100
Item Level: 31
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Adds 17-35 Magic Damage
+(52 to 69)% Enhanced Damage
+(8 to 10) to ATMG Sentry
(3 to 4)% Chance of Crushing Blow
(15 to 18)% to Dexterity
+1 Mana on Striking
Requirements +100%
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: (33 - 36) to (37 - 40)
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 41
Required Dexterity:
318
Item Level: 51
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Adds 50-100 Magic Damage
+(87 to 103)% Enhanced Damage
+(11 to 13) to ATMG Sentry
(5 to 6)% Chance of Crushing Blow
(23 to 26)% to Dexterity
+1 Mana on Striking
Requirements +200%
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: (42 - 46) to (46 - 50)
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 50
Required Dexterity:
1060
Item Level: 77
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Adds 150-300 Magic Damage
+(104 to 120)% Enhanced Damage
+(14 to 16) to ATMG Sentry
(7 to 8)% Chance of Crushing Blow
(27 to 30)% to Dexterity
+1 Mana on Striking
Requirements +400%
Socketed (3)
early on u can just use it on offhand and not upgrade it and use a physical dmg claw in mainhand for damage; no claw block though since it will lock ATMG out if you pick Subterfuge. Miniguide
Trap Assassin: Slow to level, unorthodox playstyle; yet incredibly strong build in ubers, most known for being amazing at 125 ubers even with 0 gear; but also good before altough slower compared to other sin builds and therefore mostly only played at 120+ Guide.
Scorpion Blade Assassin:While very viable and really good teganze farmer, the reason it is so far below is because the builds above it are either insanely tanky (trapsin) or have multiple defensive layers (claw with dip into trap tree for claw block; mael with block and range) while Scorpion goes full glass cannon mode, and while the damage is there; it is a very squishy build. Guide
Psychic Assassin: The definition of a glass cannon. New psi storm deals insane amounts of damage, this build will melt bosses and is one of the best assasin builds for this purpose, however this comes at the cost of lacking anything to boost its survivability. This results in the early game being VERY painful due to being constantly out of mana and getting melted by anything, therefore a mercenary is recommended. It can farm places where you manually dodge very well, like duncraig or teganze; however rifts like Fauzt or Vizjun which are filled with missiles that you must tank will be very difficult due to the squishy nature of this build. Guide
Claw Assassin: Noctule will faceroll normal - nightmare along with early ubers. However with the removal of clawblock and Prismatic Cloak changes the build will now be signifcantly squishier ; effective but punishing and awkward to play. Miniguide


Barbarian
Summoner Barbarian: Extremely good farmer, with insane teganze and toraja clears with 0 gear, will struggle a bit with bosses. Maybe Outdated Guide
Screaming Eagle Barbarians: Has been downtiered because I havent heard of many people playing it recently.
Poison Throw Barbarian: You can no longer kill bosses in one snake bite hit but its still a ridicously good boss killer. Definetly keep this one in mind if you want to watch huge hp pools melt. Make sure to build poison pierce.
Physical Throw Barbarian: Just a solid build; can either go wolf stance overkiller or lion stance overkiller.
Physical Melee Barbarian: Once again a solid build for untwinked playthroughs, good bosskiler with either iceburst or stormblast (or even deathgaze which sometimes outperforms iceburst vs certain bosses no idea why) and decent farmer despite being melee due to plenty of defense and %physical resist from bear stance. Guide


Druid
Caster Druid: Probably the fastest Druid starter, Infected Roots will deal very good damage and will carry you to 120 and even a bit past it. After that; you can build into Stormclash or Hunting Banshee. Stormclash is generally considered cheaper; but hunting banshee does deal very good damage, Rain of Fire and Ember Spirit (formerly elemental) have received buffs and may be better alternatives, pending testing. Has been uptiered to 0 due to receiving Lifeshield (now barkskin) at lvl 18 instead of 90; and receiving free spell damage from Pagan Rites at lvl 18, instead of symbiosis at lvl 115; on top of being extremely good before these buffs.Guide
Bow Druid: Effective build but can be annoying to play due to the constant skill switching needed to bring it to its full potential. That said its fire variant is a good starter and remains good as you gear up; physical variant will require twinking however. Guide Another Guide
Rend Bear Druid: Excellent leveling and 1 - 115, but really struggles at 120+ untwinked. It is not T2 because you can struggle your way thru dunc if you so desire with CB. It shines a lot more with endgame gear, being one of the best if not the best char for running t13+ labs and really good single DPS for Samael and Deimos.
Wildfire Bear Druid: Can get some big damage numbers early on and very good boss damage. Ok farmer. Not very popular compared to its rend alternative.
Wolf Druid: Should be much better earlygame now thanks to Barkskin. Will see if this gets updated. Guide
Hurricane Druid: New build based around the new Hurricane skill introduced in 1.6. It is a channeling skill that creates a whirlwind around you tha damages, knocks enemies back, leeches life, and drains your stamina while also gaining damage per point of missing stamina (therefore +max stamina items will scale this). Has been described as pretty janky due to the channeling nature of the skill, but has received a signifcant buff in 1.7.
Trap Rat Druid: Started with it this ladder, damage was very lacking, its gonna be good with a good craft but TU blade is like really bad. Miniguide



Necromancer
Summoner: Use hawks for 1 - 120 and for boss killing, abyss knights for dedicated farming past 120, extremely fast to start, hawks are insane single target damage (only summoner that has actual potential to do late game bosses), and ok farmers, especially pre 120. Can clear teganze and toraja, altough for dedicated farming you will usually respec to Abyss Knights. Slightly Outdated Miniguide
Totem Necromancer: Frostclaw rework has given this build a very good singletarget and early game option, making it a very good starter. Lategame firehearts will be your farmers. Overall solid progression and isnt too far from moving up. Guide
Malice Caster Necromancer: Extremely good single target with ok farming. Its overall slightly worse in my opinion than Hawks and the biggest disadvantage is thats its less safe and doesnt share gear with an extremely good farmer like Abyss; but this only places it as a solid TIER0.5 so still a really good build. Guide
Melee Necromancer: Carnage still hits really hard, and the build is pretty tanky; ok farmer. Lately it has been recommended to start as 2hander for higher damage atleast early on.2H Guide 1H Guide
Crossbow Necromancer: Its not a bad build, just outperformed by other builds in the same class. Has the potential to be a really good farmer and bosskiller, altough not exceptional at either without a Hwanins for farming or a good craft or better for bossing. Has received a significant buff in 1.7, might rise up the ranks.Guide


Paladin
Summoner Paladin: This build is speedrun material for normal - nightmare and still facerolls 105 - 115. Due to being a summoner it also facerolls teganze and toraja. The ideal way to build this one is going Sourges and Holy tree for Plague and Colloseum. You will probably have to respec into other paladin builds if you wish to extend your reach past teganze and toraja. With enough gear this is also a pretty good vizjun farmer. Guide
Unholy Melee Paladin: Probably the fastest non summoner pally for getting to hell. Unability to die until 120 content makes for a very easy playstyle. That said it is indeed a melee build so it is slower for farming, and due to not having the best defense it can struggle in Duncraig, but its huge HP pool makes teganze a joke. The go-to build in Hardcore due to its safety. Guide
Neutraldin: Dunc Bot just got a single target skill to cover its only weakness. Looks busted and a potential T0 if its as good at it sounds. Anyways Neutraldin has been known to be one of the best cheap farmers that couldn't be started as due to non existant single target DPS without Oris Herald or the likes; now it has one in Absolution and its avaible since level 18. Outdated Guide
Unholy Caster Paladin: More difficult than unholy melee, but makes it up with higher clearspeed due to being ranged and better damage output potential. Very solid build, slight buffs received in 1.7 and previous patches have made it a very smooth leveling experience. Guide
Holy Melee Paladin: Very simple to play, but its slow farming due to being a melee build will keep it down. Solar flare recasting can be very annoying. Guide
Holy Caster Paladin: Very good single target damage but not really a lot to offer for farming. It can farm with wyrms but it will be slow. Better reserved a boss killer spec and it wont dissapoint if used for this. Shares the usual annoyance of Solar Flare recasting. Endgame Guide


Sorceress
Cold Caster Sorceress: All the buffs have turned this caster into pretty much a faceroll build for 1 - 120. And due to smooth gear progression you can play it all the way till the end. Frigid Sphere + Shatter the flesh makes for a really good AoE clear, Abyss is extremely damaging as always, ice eles make you safer. Whats not to like. Guide Guide
Fire Caster Sorceress: Very similar to its cold counterpart. Faceroll build with really good potential and smooth gear curve. Flamefront is very good AoE and becomes a top tier farmer should you get a habalcava's, flamestrike is really good single target melter (it melts cuz its fire obviously). Guide Guide
Melee Sorceress: As good as always, decently tanky, decently damaging, very smooth gearing and simple playstyle. Bladestorm is good AoE and fussilade is not only good single target but also basically allows you to become invulnerable vs non bosses due to Leech. Remember to put your 5 points in Symbol of Esu. Guide
Lightning Caster Sorceress: Heavily buffed the past few patches, its been restored to its former MXLU glory, thunderstone and tempest are very good single target nuke and aoe clear respectively and the build has a very smooth itemization progression. The set
Elemental Children
Elemental Children
(Sorceress Lightning Set)

Elemental Clash
Elemental Fury
Elemental Spirit
Elemental Storm

Set Bonus with 2 or more set items:
-20% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+50 to all Attributes

Set Bonus with 3 or more set items:
75% Cast Speed
+25% to Lightning Spell Damage

Set Bonus with complete set:
+5 to Sorceress Skill Levels
+150 Spell Focus
Blink Cooldown Reduced by 2 seconds
+50% to Lightning Spell Damage
+16 to Blink
+100 to all Attributes
Physical Resist 15%

will allow you to complete most of the content and so will good crafts. Guide Tempest Focused Guide
Mana Caster Sorceress: Another smooth build to gear with a good single target skill (immersion) and good farming skill (either Arcane Torrent or mana sweep should you adquire the RW that removes Mana Sweep leech or Valtheks; in which case Sweep becomes a top tier farming skill). Guide
Poison Caster Sorceress: Lags a bit behind the other casters (as evidenced by its placement compared to the others) but its still a perfectly serviceable starter; its not nearly as fast as the others and farming with lorenados is pretty awkward but it has good single target damage with arachnomancy. Guide

OSKILLS
Rainbow Storm: New oskill avaible early on (usually a4-a5 normal, but with good rng u can get it in a2) from the
Staff of Herding
Staff of Herding
Elder Staff
Required Level: 33
Item Level: 1
+1 to All Skills per 2 Socketed Rainbow Stones
10% Magic Find per Socketed Rainbow Stone
20% Movement Speed
(0.375 to 0.5)% to Fire Spell Damage (Based on Character Level)
(0.375 to 0.5)% to Lightning Spell Damage (Based on Character Level)
(0.375 to 0.5)% to Cold Spell Damage (Based on Character Level)
+3 to Rainbow Storm
+2 Life Regenerated per Second (Based on Character Level)
+(4.5 to 5.5) to Life (Based on Character Level)
+(3.75 to 4.25) to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Physical Resist 10%
. It is a magic damage skill that scales off F/L/C spell dmg and hits an area around a monster, dealing very good damage in a decent AoE. The item it comes from is also hilariously overpowered early on turning this decent oskill into a top tier starter build, scaling off just rainbow stones you can deal very high damage even to 120 ubers (altough the multihitting nature of the skill will make some fights, such as Kabraxis, awkward). Its very easy to use this build to kickstart another caster. as you'll be mostly just changing the sockets and the weapon. Popular users of this oskill are Druid and Sorceress, altough it can technically be used by all 7 classes.
The rest are T3 due to being innacesible early on. But these builds are worth transition into.
Trinity Beam: Available from
Wizardspike
Wizardspike
Dagger (Sacred)

One-Hand Damage: 37
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 376
Item Level: 120
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Dexterity)%
-70% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
50% Cast Speed
+(4 to 8) to Trinity Beam
+2 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Maximum Mana +20%
Regenerate Mana +30%
Socketed (2)
. Despite multiple nerfs over several patches, this oskill is still very good and is still a very commonly used endgame build (especially paladin) Showcase + Tips
Rising Dawn: Available on Assassin Shields, Paladin Maces, Paladin Clubs and Amazon Helms. This oskill boasts very high damage, and thus is suitable for both farming and boss killing. ShowcaseShowcase
Orb of Annihilation Casters: Available on Necromancer Wands and
Universal Law
Universal Law
(Assassin Psionic Set)

Dead Lens
Hypersurface
Killing Vector
Quantum Bevel

Set Bonus with 2 or more set items:
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+20% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage

Set Bonus with 3 or more set items:
+150 to Energy
+500 to Life

Set Bonus with complete set:
+4 to Assassin Skill Levels
+15% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+60 to Orb of Annihilation
+1500 to Mana
Elemental Resists +25%
Physical Resist 5%
+100 Life after each Kill

set. This oskill is frequently used as a relatively cheap fast duncraig farmer; but it can also clear other areas just fine. Guide (Necro)
Warcry Barb: Available on Barbarian Shields, Barbarian Swords and
Voice of Arreat
Voice of Arreat
Horned Helm (Sacred)

Defense: 6435 to 7705
(Barbarian Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 500
Item Level: 120
+(25 to 40)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(15 to 20) to War Cry
+200% Enhanced Defense
+(3000 to 4000) Defense
Maximum Mana +15%
Maximum Elemental Resists +1%
Socketed (4)
. This oskill is really good for farming purposes.
Virulence Casters: Available on Scepters and Staves. Virulence is a channeled poison beam that deals really good damage. Be warned that the skill has a delay and thus might feel awkward. It is a very good option for poison builds if you want to nuke bosses.
Stormclash Casters: Available on Staves, Necromancer Wands, Scepters,
Aerin Nexus
Aerin Nexus
Gnarled Staff (Sacred)

Two-Hand Damage: 59 to 62
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 218
Item Level: 105
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
+(6 to 8) to All Skills
+(25 to 40)% Bonus to Spell Focus
+50% Damage to Undead
-(20 to 25)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(15 to 20) to Stormclash
+225 Life Regenerated per Second
Physical Resist (5 to 10)%
5% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (4)
,
Nor Tiraj's Wisdom
Nor Tiraj's Wisdom
Heavy Belt (Sacred)

Defense: (2805 - 3315) to (3029 - 3580)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength:
687 to 937
Item Level: 105
+100 Spell Focus
-(20 to 25)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(15 to 20) to Lightning Shield
+(15 to 20) to Stormclash
+(120 to 160)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Mana +10%
(10 to 50)% Bonus to Defense
+2% to Experience Gained
Requirements +(10 to 50)%
Socketed (2)
,
Impundulu
Impundulu
Phoenix Shield (Sacred)

Defense: (2864 - 3385) to (3218 - 3803)
Chance to Block: 4%
(Amazon Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength:
490
Item Level: 105
20% Chance to cast level 25 Lifeblood when Attacked
+3 to Amazon Skill Levels
+25% to Lightning Spell Damage
-15% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(15 to 20) to Stormclash
+(120 to 160)% Enhanced Defense
+250 to Life
Maximum Lightning Resist +2%
Requirements -30%
Socketed (4)
and
Forest Defender
Forest Defender
Antlers (Sacred)

Defense: (2277 - 2562) to (2474 - 2783)
(Druid Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 500
Item Level: 105
Spiritual Alignment Adds 5% Lightning Spell Damage per Base Level
Spiritual Alignment No Longer Adds Fire/Cold Spell Damage
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
20% Cast Speed
20% Movement Speed
-(20 to 25)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(15 to 20) to Stormclash
+(140 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Lightning Resist +1%
(35 to 50)% Bonus to Defense
Socketed (4)
. This is a very commonly used endgame spec, as its both good for single target and farming. Most common usage is from Druid.



Credits
NotCube for letting me yoink his formatting in his guide.
Syphery, Bardamu, NotCube, Spambomb, Ben-, Pinball, Rumblealex, AnimeWaifu, Ertu, Helzopro and Vikan for initial feedback on various individual builds.
Everyone who commented on this topic or who has sent suggestions on the MedianXL discord to improve this list.
All of the authors of the guides or showcases I have linked for each build
MedianXL Development Team for continued support of the mod.
Edited by Seekers 3 years.
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Changelog

► 2020


06/01/2021
TIER LIST

- Physical Bow Amazon from T0.5 to T0: Like half the ladder starts with it and it works since there isnt a lot of whining that would be expected if the build was bad and this popular; so I'll set my bias aside and move it up to T0.
- Lightning Caster Sorc from T1 to T0: Was a remmant from when tempest was bad, now its good and on par with fire and cold sorcs. Should've been fixed long ago but I was busy.
- Hammer of Zerae Amazon from Untiered to T1: Multiple reports of its damage being fixed so back to tierlist. Only at T1 due to its boss dmg still being awful and while before tierlist was more biased towards early farming (and thus was at T0) I've changed it to also consider bossing so yeah, T1 due to being extremely good farmer but non existant boss dps. Can maybe move up one tier but eh.
- Psisin from T2 to T1.5: Basically psistorm deals massive dps but build is a sin with no extra survivability other than avoid; so yeah it is very squish. Very good bosskiller tho. Mana sustain is very annoying though.

08/01/2021
TIER LIST

- Totem Necromancer from T1 to T0.5: Should have changed since last patch. Its much better now.
- Poison Caster Sorceress from T1.5 to T1: Was misplaced in the past due to being worse than the other sorcs, its actually not a bad build and you can do very well with it; its just the others in its class are some of the best builds currently in the game so pretty rough competition.
- Updated guide links to also have the ''new'' 1.7 guides, fixed some descriptions.

09/01/2021
TIER LIST

- Rainbow Storm joins the tierlist as T0: Accesible near the end of normal, very cheap and very effective all the way up to 120. Not really much to be said that isnt explained in the novel I wrote as its description. Subject to further change but will probably stay here.
Edited by Seekers 3 years.
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Elendilli
Djinn
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take my cookie idiot

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ChuckNoRis
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:coolstorybob:
boozek
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Updated: nvm i see an answer there

Great job cookied. Did you test all builds in 1.4 or some are hypothetical?
Edited by boozek 4 years.
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Glamdring26
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Very cool tierlist, probably should pin it in discord as well.
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Zapple
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Image very nice
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Seekers
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boozek wrote:Great job cookied. Did you test all builds in 1.4 or some are hypothetical?


Only some builds were tested in 1.4, a lot were not nerfed enough for it to matter / were just buffed so its just gonna be more powerful nn testing, the most changed ones were tested (like cold sorc, malice necro)

And this tier list will ofc be updated when patch hits and we start discovering what is actually the meta.

Stuff under Experimental are the ones that are mostly hypothetical.
Istaryu
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I'd definetly move throw barb and melee sorc 1 tier higher, and I'd mention that bowzon starts having troubles in the 115 bracket already with bosses, since its undoubtedly the best farming build at the expense of single target dmg. But this is just a subjective opinion, talking from my own experience.
Edited by Istaryu 4 years.
Leafzer
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Any way I could get you to link me that malice and hawk necro build? I'd love to go malice or hawk necro.