Build Tier List

Choosing the right passive build in Gloria Victis determines how you survive team fights, win duels, and contribute to guild sieges. Unlike gear, which can be looted or traded, your passive point allocation is permanent until you pay for a respec — so understanding which builds rank highest for each playstyle saves you hours of trial and error. This guide ranks the dominant combat archetypes for the v2026.06 Relaunch: tank, aggressor, archer, and duelist, with specific recommendations for which passives to prioritize first.

How Passive Builds Work

Every character gains one passive point per level, capping at 100 points at level 100. Points are spent across three broad trees: combat, gathering, and crafting. Combat passives modify your damage output, defensive capabilities, stamina economy, and weapon-specific bonuses. The most impactful passives — Man of Steel, Evade, Iron Will, and Bloodlust — sit in the combat tree and form the backbone of every competitive build.

Your weapon choice and armor weight further constrain which passives deliver the most value. A heavy-armor tank running a two-handed maul benefits from different nodes than a light-armor archer with a longbow. Cross-reference this guide with our Weapon Tier List and Passive Skills Ranking for a complete picture.

Tier Ranking Methodology

We evaluate builds across four contexts that matter in the relaunch meta:

Context	Weight	What We Measure
1v1 Duels	High	Burst damage, stamina control, punish windows
Small Group (5–10)	High	Role clarity, peel potential, sustain
Large-Scale (20+)	Medium	Frontline durability, AoE pressure, mount synergy
PvE / Questing	Low	Clear speed, self-sufficiency, repair costs

Builds are placed into S, A, B, and C tiers. S-tier builds dominate at least two of the high-weight contexts without major weaknesses. C-tier builds remain playable but require exceptional mechanical skill or niche team compositions to justify.

S-Tier Builds

Tank — 1h Sword & Shield (Heavy Armor)

The undisputed frontline king of the relaunch meta. Heavy armor combined with a one-handed sword and kite shield gives you the highest block efficiency, strongest stagger resistance, and most reliable peel for allies.

Passive	Points	Priority
Man of Steel	5/5	Mandatory
Iron Will	5/5	Mandatory
Shield Mastery	4/5	High
Stamina Recovery	3/5	High
Heavy Armor Training	5/5	Mandatory

Why S-tier: Tanks absorb directional attacks that would one-shot lighter builds. Man of Steel reduces incoming damage by a flat percentage that scales with heavy armor, making you the anchor in partial-loot zone pushes. In guild fights, a single competent tank can hold a choke point for 30+ seconds while archers and aggressors deal damage from behind.

Weakness: Low personal kill pressure. You depend on your team to finish targets you lock down.

Aggressor — 2h Maul / Poleaxe (Medium Armor)

The premier damage dealer for group combat. Two-handed weapons deliver the highest per-swing damage in Gloria Victis, and medium armor gives enough mobility to rotate between targets without dying instantly.

Passive	Points	Priority
Bloodlust	5/5	Mandatory
Brutal Strikes	4/5	High
Stamina Economy	4/5	High
Medium Armor Training	5/5	Mandatory
Weapon Mastery (2h)	3/5	Medium

Why S-tier: A well-geared aggressor with Bloodlust active can delete a lightly armored target in two heavy swings. In zerg fights, poleaxe sweep attacks hit multiple enemies, generating massive teamfight value. Pair with a war horse for chase-down potential.

Weakness: Vulnerable to archer focus fire and duelist outplays. Requires a tank to create openings.

A-Tier Builds

Archer — Longbow / Shortbow (Light Armor)

Ranged specialists who control space and apply bleed or poison pressure from distance. Light armor maximizes movement speed for kiting.

Passive	Points	Priority
Evade	5/5	Mandatory
Marksman	4/5	High
Light Armor Training	5/5	Mandatory
Quick Draw	3/5	Medium
Stamina Recovery	3/5	High

Why A-tier: Archers win fights they start at range. Evade is non-negotiable — it provides an iframe dodge that lets you escape melee engages. Longbow heavy shots stagger shield users, creating openings for your melee allies. See our Weapon Tier List for bow-specific rankings.

Weakness: Collapses when caught without Evade on cooldown. Struggles in tight terrain and against mounted opponents.

Duelist — 1h Sword (No Shield, Medium Armor)

Precision fighters built for 1v1 arena combat and picking off isolated targets. Sacrifices block for higher attack speed and critical strike chance.

Passive	Points	Priority
Precision Strikes	5/5	Mandatory
Riposte	4/5	High
Evade	3/5	Medium
Medium Armor Training	4/5	High
Bloodlust	3/5	Medium

Why A-tier: Duelists dominate the arena and excel at hunting gatherers in partial-loot zones. Riposte rewards perfect directional blocks with a counter-attack window that punishes predictable opponents.

Weakness: No shield means less margin for error in group fights. Requires top-tier mechanical skill.

B-Tier Builds

Hybrid Battlemage — 1h Mace & Shield (Medium Armor)

A support-tank hybrid that sacrifices pure damage or pure durability for versatility. Mace weapons deal bonus damage to armored targets, making this build effective against other tanks.

Passive	Points	Priority
Man of Steel	3/5	Medium
Iron Will	3/5	Medium
Mace Mastery	4/5	High
Shield Mastery	3/5	Medium

Why B-tier: Situational counter-pick against heavy armor stacks. Not weak, but outperformed by dedicated tanks or aggressors in most scenarios.

Skirmisher — 1h Axe & Shield (Light/Medium Armor)

Fast-attacking flankers who apply bleed stacks and disengage with shield bashes. Popular in small-group guerrilla tactics.

Passive	Points	Priority
Bloodlust	3/5	Medium
Bleed Mastery	4/5	High
Evade	3/5	Medium
Light Armor Training	4/5	High

Why B-tier: Excellent in hit-and-run operations but lacks the burst to secure kills against healers or tanks without sustained pressure.

C-Tier Builds

Pure Gatherer Combat Hybrid

Some players invest 40+ points into gathering and crafting passives, leaving only 60 for combat. This build works for economic playstyles but falls off hard in any PvP encounter past level 50.

Passive	Points	Priority
Mining Mastery	5/5	For gatherers
Lumberjacking Mastery	5/5	For gatherers
Man of Steel	2/5	Low
Evade	2/5	Low

Why C-tier for combat: You will lose every fair fight against a dedicated combat build. Viable only if you avoid combat entirely and focus on material farming and profession leveling.

Mounted Lance (Heavy Armor, Lance)

Mounted combat with a lance weapon looks devastating but suffers from mount vulnerability, dismount mechanics, and poor performance in dense terrain.

Why C-tier: Until State of War siege mechanics mature, mounted lance builds are more novelty than meta. See Mount Tier List for better horse attribute investments.

Build Progression by Level

Your passive allocation should evolve as you level. Do not finalize your endgame build at level 20.

Level Range	Recommended Focus	Key Passives
1–20	Questing + first gathering skill	1 weapon mastery, 1 gathering mastery
21–45	Combat fundamentals	Armor training, Stamina Recovery
46–60	Role specialization	Man of Steel or Bloodlust or Evade
61–80	Min-max role passives	Fill mandatory nodes to 5/5
81–100	Situational flex points	Riposte, Quick Draw, or crafting passives

Nation and Gear Considerations

No nation provides a combat stat advantage — the Nation Tier List ranks factions purely on aesthetics and population. Your build power comes from passives, weapon quality, and armor tier. Green-quality gear crafted in the correct workshop is the baseline for competitive play; blue and above separates top performers.

Repair costs scale with armor weight. Heavy tank builds burn through repair kits fastest, so budget accordingly or invest in professions to self-craft.

Team Composition Synergy

The strongest five-man group in the current meta combines one S-tier tank, two A-tier aggressors or duelists, one A-tier archer, and one gatherer-crafter who switches to a B-tier skirmisher for fights.

Role	Build	Primary Job
Frontline	Tank (1h+shield)	Hold choke, peel for backline
Damage	Aggressor (2h)	Burst priority targets
Flank	Duelist or Skirmisher	Isolate healers and archers
Range	Archer (bow)	Apply pressure, call targets
Support	Hybrid or Crafter	Repairs, food buffs, off-role DPS

Respec Strategy

Respecs are affordable enough to experiment early but become costly at high levels. We recommend committing to a role by level 50 and respecing only when a balance patch shifts the meta. Track patch notes on our Relaunch Overview page for passive changes.

If you are returning from the pre-shutdown era, your passive knowledge still applies — core nodes like Man of Steel and Evade have not been fundamentally reworked. Check Premium Skin Recovery if you are also restoring cosmetic purchases.

Final Recommendations

For players asking “what should I play?” the answer depends on your goals:

• Want to lead guild fights? Roll tank. Invest in Man of Steel and Iron Will first.
• Want high kill counts? Roll aggressor with a 2h maul. Bloodlust is your best friend.
• Prefer ranged gameplay? Roll archer with Evade maxed. Never skip Evade.
• Love 1v1 outplays? Roll duelist. Practice Riposte timing in the arena daily.
• Economic focus? Keep combat passives minimal and pour points into professions instead.

Every build in Gloria Victis rewards mechanical mastery. Passives give you the stat foundation, but directional attack reading, stamina baiting, and team communication win fights. Pick an S-tier or A-tier archetype, commit your points, and spend your practice time in the partial-loot zone — that is where the relaunch meta is being written.