Sometimes the hardest part of a build is the blank page. When you are not sure where to start, a template gives you a proven shape to build from — a sensible Vigor pool, a reasonable Mind value, and a heavy investment in the right damage stat. This guide walks through the built-in templates in the build planner and how to adapt each one.
Templates are starting points, not finished builds. Load one, understand why its numbers sit where they do, then adjust it to your weapon, your playstyle and your target rune level. Treat them as a first draft you refine, and you will reach a strong build far faster than starting from scratch.
How to use a template
Each template loads a full attribute spread into the planner. The planner never lets a template drop a stat below your chosen class's base, so every template you load is a build you could actually create. From there, nudge points between survivability and offence until the rune level and stat line feel right for you.
The best way to learn from a template is to ask why each number is where it is: why this much Vigor, why this Mind value, why the damage stat sits at that level. Once you understand the reasoning, you can adapt any template confidently or build your own from the same principles.
The melee templates
The Strength Bruiser template leads with a heavy Strength investment, a strong Vigor pool for trading hits, and enough Endurance for heavy weapons and armour. It suits colossal weapons and a stand-your-ground playstyle. Pair it with the Hero for efficiency, as the Strength guide explains.
The Dexterity Duelist template prioritises Dexterity for fast weapons, with a bit more Mind for weapon skills and moderate Endurance since Dexterity weapons tend to be lighter. The Quality Hybrid template splits Strength and Dexterity for maximum weapon flexibility, at the cost of a higher rune level, as covered in the hybrid guide.
Adapting a melee template
If your chosen weapon has a specific requirement, adjust the template's damage stat to meet it exactly, then invest further for scaling. If you want heavier armour, add Endurance and check your roll tier. Small tweaks to a solid template usually beat building from zero.
The caster and status templates
The Sorcery Caster template leads with Intelligence and a generous Mind pool for FP, with Vigor kept at a safe floor — a reminder that even casters need health. The Faith Cleric template mirrors it with Faith as the damage stat and Mind sized for a mix of damage and utility incantations. The Intelligence and Faith guides go deeper on each.
The Bleed Arcane template pairs Arcane with Dexterity to drive status buildup, showing how a hybrid status build distributes its points. Use it as a base and adjust the Dexterity value to your weapon's requirement, as the Arcane guide describes.
Building your own template
Once you have adapted a few templates, you will notice the shared pattern: secure Vigor, cover Mind and Endurance for your needs, then invest your damage stat or stats to their efficient soft caps. That pattern is the template behind all the templates. Internalise it and you can build any archetype from a blank slate.
Save your adapted builds in the planner so you have a personal library to return to. Over time your own saved spreads become better starting points than any generic template, because they are tuned to the weapons and playstyles you actually enjoy. Start from a template, make it yours, and keep the result.
Reading a template's logic
Every template encodes the same underlying priorities, just weighted differently. Notice how each one secures a Vigor floor before anything else, sizes Mind to how spell-reliant the archetype is, keeps Endurance to what the loadout needs, and concentrates the rest in one or two damage stats. Once you see that skeleton, the specific numbers stop being magic and start being adjustable choices.
That understanding is what lets you adapt confidently. If your weapon needs a slightly different stat value, you know which number to move and why. If you want more survivability, you know to trim the damage stat's flat tail rather than gut your Mind. A template teaches the pattern; the pattern is what you actually keep.
From template to personal library
The most useful templates are the ones you build yourself. As you adapt the built-in options to your favourite weapons and playstyles, save the results in the planner. Over time these saved spreads become a personal library of proven starting points, each tuned to something you already enjoy — far more useful than any generic preset.
Returning to a saved build for a new character is as simple as loading it and adjusting for the class or level you want. That library, grown one adapted template at a time, turns the blank-page problem into a solved one: you always have a strong, familiar starting point to build from. The planner guide covers saving and comparing builds in detail.
Plan this build for real
Load these numbers into the free planner and watch your rune level, rune cost and roll type update as you go.
Open the build planner