- Easiest start
- Soldier, Demolitionist or Occultist as the first mastery; all ten are viable, these three are forgiving.
- Undoable
- Skill points refund one at a time at any Spirit Guide; the second mastery, chosen at level 10, is the one that is final.
- Devotion
- Comes only from restoring shrines — take every one you pass, even if you have to come back.
- Real difficulty
- Elemental resistances, not enemy health. Components are the cheapest resistance you will find: keep them, do not sell them.
The four things nobody tells you
What to do in the first two hours
Take Soldier, Demolitionist or Occultist first if you want an easy time
All ten masteries are viable, but three of the base six are notably forgiving: Soldier survives mistakes, Demolitionist deletes packs before they reach you, and Occultist brings pets that soak what you missed. None of them close a door — you still pick your second at level 10.
Do not spread skill points thin
You get three points a level up to 50, then two to 90, then one. That is generous early and stingy late, so the habit that hurts is buying one rank of everything that looks interesting. Pick two or three skills you will actually press and feed those.
Pick up every component and do not sell them
Components slot into gear and are the cheapest resistance you will find all game. A Silk Swatch or a Mark of Illusions in an empty slot is worth more than the item upgrade you were saving for.
Take every shrine you pass, even if you have to come back
Some shrines want an offering — a Chipped Claw, an Aether Crystal, a Frozen Heart. If you cannot pay, the shrine stays marked on the map. Come back. Each one is a devotion point and devotion points do not come from anywhere else.
Do the faction quests as you go
Reputation buys merchant discounts, quartermaster gear you cannot get otherwise, and extra quests. It also accrues passively from killing that faction's enemies, so the cost of keeping up is mostly just noticing.
The choice that cannot be undone
How the points actually arrive
| Levels | Skill points per level | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 2 – 50 | 3 | The generous half. Room to experiment, and the reason a bad early build is not fatal. |
| 51 – 90 | 2 | Where a scattered build starts to hurt: you are now paying double for indecision. |
| 91 – 100 | 1 | The level cap is 85 in the base game and 100 with Ashes of Malmouth. |