Wynncraft Archetype Tier List (June 2025)

UPDATED 9/17/2025 - New list for September 2025, scroll to bottom of the topic to see the updates.

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Hello, Wynncraft. From my 3 seconds of "research," there isn't really a Wynncraft end-game archetype tier list anymore (at least, not a recent one). With that in mind, and knowing full well that it will cause massive disagreement, I have created what I think is a good enough list for modern Wynncraft archetypes, based on the two following categories:

Viability - How well does the archetype perform in end-game content, primarily raids, world events, and other similar battles?
Ease - How easy is it to "plug and play" with the archetype? That is, can a "new" player with enough emeralds more or less pay for success with the archetype, or does it require skill to accomplish maximum success? (Easier playstyle = higher in the tier list)

With those criteria in mind, here's the list I assembled (each tier is in no particular order):



And here's explanations for each tier:

Laby - It's literally just Labyrinth. It's the best. It's expensive, yeah, but it gives Trapper high DPS with little to no skill involved. Other weapons may require more skill, or may require alternative playstyles, but Labyrinth just outweighs everything, leaving it undisputedly at the top.

Top tier - These three are probably the best bets if you don't have a Laby. Acolyte is more common as a healer than Lightbender from what I've seen, and Resonance, while tough to play, has good DPS. Trickster gets some level of defense with the clones and there are multiple Trickshade builds I've seen that hit consistently high DPS in raids. Paladin is basically a requirement for Anni parties, and from anecdotal evidence, is a common class in PvP due to the Big Mac build.

Mid - These ones aren't necessarily bad, but the reason I've differentiated between these and the top tiers is mostly due to other archetypes or other classes just being better. Arcanist has good DPS and is straightforward to play, and may move to Top tier because enough people will get mad it's in Mid. Boltslinger is kept out of top tier because Trapper is just the better archetype for archer, and DPS-wise I've seen Trickster consistently outperform it. Fallen would have been a Top tier, but Salted took it behind the barn; it requires a lot of skill to achieve maximum efficacy, which admittedly is rewarding, but for an archetype which is supposed to reward riskier playing, the reward isn't much better than much safer archetypes. Lightbender is, like the other archetypes here, not the worst, but it's held back from Top tier because of Acolyte doing everything it does, but better.

Works, sometimes - I've seen some builds make these arhcetypes semi-viable, but ultimately they don't hold up as well as the other archetypes. Acrobat previously was capable of flight, but now has more difficulty gaining altitude and for some reason has to land now. Shadestepper (is my favorite archetype) is capable of hitting double some archetypes' max DPS in a single hit, but ultimately has difficulty sustaining; certain builds are capable of decent DPS, but Trickster is just better in the "consistent DPS" department. Battle Monk offers great mobility, but DPS-wise struggles and its ease-of-play can't really get around that. Riftwalker is probably the most controversial here, but I do believe it's got a bad rap for no reason, especially with Winded now being personal instead of global.

Lowest tier - As the name implies, these kids probably didn't eat their vegetables or do their homework. Summoner can work, but the only time I've seen such a build is once in Legendary Island, with what I believe was a maxed-out Summoner mythic aspect. Ritualist has good nodes for supporting the other archetypes, but that's not what I'm considering; hence, as a standalone class, it finds itself here because it can't really do anything well. Perhaps if Awakened was stronger, it would be better... like a Riftwalker but with a rock... Rift-rocker. Sharpshooter can be good (I think) but is hardly capable of competing with Boltslinger and Trapper, and really doesn't see much play.

And now, start the controversy. This list isn't really for new players, so don't make early-game stuff a serious factor in your evaluations. I'm perfectly willing to admit this list is wrong (I play Grimtrap Shadestepper, obviously I'm not bright), so please offer your opinions in the replies. At the end of the day, the best archetype is whichever one is the most fun for you.

 

!!!
Ritualist at THE BOTTOM
My favorite archetype AT THE BOTTOM
this is slander
I'm just going to say this, Ritualist's never going to be the best at any ONE thing. The thing is, it can switch between being decent (awesome for mobility) at a whim. MotL Ritualist isn't the best at A.o.E because the damage decreases as Hymn of Hate spreads, but it can easily take out packs of mobs. MotF Ritualist has more EHP than my average archer build. It also has rapid healing courtesy of shatter. MotH Ritualist gives +80% walk speed, and if that wasn't enough, it gives you the power to haul without your totem and continue to move without spamming. In raids, sure, this means that Ritualist is just a knock off of whatever playstyle it impersonates for the longest, but in lootruns? Oh, it's powerful.

Uhh
Did summoner get nerfed? Cuz I've seen builds get pretty easily to 200k dps with summoner

Uhh
Isn't sharpshooter really good (if you keep focus, obviously)? Or did it get nerfed

So, from this list it seems I only play good archetypes at their lowest point (I only played trapper before 2.1)

Trickster benefits from Trickshade, but Lightbender doesn't benefit from Riftbender?

Never thought I would see Paladin at Top Tier. I guess the revamp really did help.

Fallen in Mid caught me off guard.

Actually wait yeah. Sharpshooter is the main Epoch Tierstack archetype, so it being last and bolt being in third makes like no sense.

 

Fallen is not mid

 

Aight, I'll entertain you a bit on this. It's also my favorite Shaman archetype so I'm always willing to put it higher. You raise a good point about the different masks being nice QoL, I hadn't really factored in loot runs, and that may take it out of Salted's forgotten children basement. That being said, if I were to take a Ritualist into a raid, what exactly would it do better than any other archetype? If I were putting together a world event party, wouldn't I be better off just having an Acolyte for the healing and a Trapper for the AoE DPS? If it's just the Mega Blocks to others' Lego, I don't know if it can be anywhere but "Works, sometimes."

I'd be interested to see these builds. If it's easy to do (I mean... it's Summoner, how hard could it be) and if it can actually hit higher damage, then I'd be willing to move Summoner up. If 200k is roughly the max, I don't think it can go far above "Works, sometimes."

I kinda factored that in. I'm gonna admit that I mostly looked at Lightbender as a healing/support class and not as a DPS class, and as such, it got outclassed by Acolyte. As a DPS class with Riftwalker nodes, it might be better, though I'm not familiar enough with Mage in general to say for certain if it can beat Arcanist and make its way to Top tier. If you have insight on this, please share.

My bad. Archer is the last class I levelled up and is easily my least favorite, and as such I don't know as much as I probably should about it. Would it make more sense to have Boltslinger in "Works, sometimes" and Sharpshooter in "Top tier?"

Heh... maybe I'm just biased because I use Big Mac in raids so much. Fallen does get better DPS than Paladin (obviously) and some recent changes made it a bit easier to regen health, even without the Rally major ID. I'll move it up. As for Paladin, I suppose I did put it a bit too high. My rationale was that it's so easy to tank with it that you can leisurely stroll around, cast a war scream now and then, and live through anything, whereas other tank classes require more skill/specific builds to get that much survivability. That being said, other tanks have more utility, like Lightbender, and as such, I'll put Paladin down a tier.

All of this also raises the question - should I rename the tiers? "Mid" isn't really an accurate word, "Viable" would be closer to what I meant: Not the hard-and-fast meta, but definitely possible to excel with the archetype.

 

Works sometimes is fair. Like I said, Ritualist is outclassed in sheer power by every other archetype. But it can easily heal, provide group buffs, and has the ultimate shaman mobility package.

you're telling me that laby gets higher than 200k dps easily? and they haven't nerfed it? and that this is based on insane damage numbers?

... riftbender is THE META
Most people who use lightbender don't opt for Sunflare, instead they take 20-30 winded

They both need to be higher. Basically Epoch Tierstack is the most common form of Sharpshooter, where you take Epoch and put it in a tierstack build. Then, you take triple shots from Bolt and homing shots from Sharp w/ max focus for the ultimate effect. As I'm allergic to the meta, I usually use this technique with Hesperium instead.

Lightbender's not a tank though. It's a healer. Lightbender and Acolyte are just so good at healing that they end up becoming tank-like, but Lightbender (and especially Acolyte) do not have anywhere near from what I've seen the ehp to be considered a tank.

yeah

 

Done. Renamed the tiers, and factored in more mixed archetype builds. If an archetype requires another archetype heavily but is still used as the primary archetype (like Trickshade, Palamonk or Riftbender), I didn't knock it as hard. That being said, Shadestepper, Riftwalker, and Battle Monk still stick towards the bottom because, while their nodes are used frequently in other archetype trees, I'm not aware of builds that use them as the primary (though there are things like Grim Shady, Gaiawalker, and my guild leader's Battle Monk build).



I moved Fallen up and Paladin down, in line with recommendations. Shade, Rift, and Monk now occupy the bottom (even though I really wanna put Shade higher). Concerning Boltslinger - is it really as commonly used as Sharpshooter? Again, I don't know Archer too well, but if Bolt nodes are only used to buff Sharp, I don't know if I can put it in the new Most viable tier.

 

this is way better

 

Appreciate that you listened to feedback. Thanks for the tier list!

 

Thanks for the help with the new tier list. With some quick Excel math, I tallied up all the scores to determine the best class. Higher up the tier is, more points it gets. Here are the results:



To the surprise of absolutely no one, Archer is the best class according to this list. Assassin is at the bottom (wasn't it considered the best at one point?), Warrior and Shaman are tied for third, and Mage sneaks into second.

As before, feel free to make recommendations if this doesn't sit right with you. There's so many ways to play Wynncraft that I can't possibly know them all (who knows, maybe Gaiawalker or Grim Shady are secretly goated).

 

Riftbender is honestly the best archetype. It can't beat trapper in DPS, but it has almost unparalleled survivability while also having the best movement spell, acceptable damage, some of the best QoL abilities, and the most braindead playstyle if you don't tryhard.

 

While this may be true, I'm willing to bet Laby beats Riftbender tryhard DPS and Laby requires you to play braindead. "Best movement spell" is a take hotter than Sunflare... I'm personally a fan of Dash because of how accurate you can easily get it to be. "Some of the best QoL abilities" is also not enough to move either Riftwalker or Lightbender. If QoL is a big factor but it lags behind other archetypes as a result, I don't rank it higher than archetypes that are just better at everything besides QoL (see Ritualist - it's good QoL for Shaman but it does nothing exceptionally well). Lightbender is already right below Trapper, tied with high DPS Fallen and Acolyte, which has kinda removed Lightbender's monopoly on healing.

 

fallen being in mid is diabolic

 

@BaltrazYT @RandomDuckNerd
I can tell y'all didn't read the full thread. It's a pretty short threat as well, the revised list is only like three replies down.

Though, I've been meaning to a minor change anyways so might as well let you guys see it here:



Moved Sharpshooter down a single tier. In the first version, Sharp was at the bottom because I didn't know how archer worked. Then, I overreacted when I learned Epoch tierstack uses Sharp, and I put it at the top tier, but after playing a little more and asking some people in-game, I came to the conclusion that while Sharpshooter isn't as bad as I originally thought, it's not really better than Boltslinger.

Still taking feedback. If anyone has complaints let me know.

 

New update because there have been a few updates and kinda meta changes.



Amazingly, Laby Trapper has been dethroned by Acolyte due to Resonance (damn, wish I hadn't sold mine a few months back). Resonance does damage, is good(ish) support, and can almost act as a healer due to overhealth. Trapper is still very high, but it can't keep up well enough to maintain its spot. I've also rearranged some of the lower tiers - Trickster has moved down a single tier because the changes have made it a bit more confusing (though it certainly isn't a bad archetype). Perhaps the most surprising change is Riftwalker's sudden appearance in a higher tier, in large part due to what I think is an increase in its popularity. I've seen builds hitting Timelock in seconds with damage that rivals even some Fallen builds. It's certainly not as useful as Lightbender and may not be as reliable as Arcanist, but from my observations it's earned its spot. No clue why Boltslinger was so high in the original lists. I've seen it once, and heard from many sources that it's OK at best and is more commonly seen in Epoch Tierstack. Shadestepper and Battle Monk remain at the bottom of the list, now joined by Boltslinger. Don't get me wrong, there are builds that make them work, but (as best seen in Shadestepper) other archetypes either achieve that damage easier or are more reliable/have more functionality.

Now, for Ritualist... I'm going to be honest; I don't know how to handle it. I've seen maybe a single end-game Ritualist build hit about 200k DPS, and that's it. Thing is, Ritualist's tree is so useful to the other two archetypes that I can't really call Ritualist a bad archetype. It can't excel on its own but provides so much support for the other two that it felt wrong just putting it in bottom tier... so hopefully this is good enough.

As with the other updates, please let me know if there's something I missed. I'm no expert class builder so I'm always open to hear about stuff that may have slipped my gaze (especially Shadestepper builds, give my favorite archetype some support please).

 

Isn't Aco already healing w/ aura tho? You don't need blood sorrow do you?

Is... is... that the minimum?????!!!! 200k dps. what are the tryhards ON?

 

See that graph the dude posted. Honestly, I'd take a build with 50k DPS if it's more fun than one with 300k... problem is, just about every end-game build either hits AT LEAST 150k DPS or has some other busted function, like Lament's healing or Big Mac's PvP capabilities (and also very high EHP... not to mention it can hit a 150k burst). Also, this tier list is made with "new" players in mind - that is, players who might not be the most experienced Wynncrafters but want to get into the meta stuff (new players who don't care about the meta probably won't care about what archetype is the best anyways).