Enshrouded never asks you to pick a class. Your Flameborn becomes a Battlemage, Ranger, or Barbarian through where you spend skill points and which weapons you carry. Version 1.0 raises the level cap to 50, lets fully upgraded gear reach level 55, and reworks magic more than any other part of combat. That changes which path is the safest place to start.
Quick answer: Start as a Battlemage (wand plus staff or shield) if you want one build that handles most fights. Pick Ranger if you want to stay at range, Barbarian if you want heavy melee.
How classes work in Enshrouded 1.0
The skill tree is split into archetype branches like Ranger, Warrior, Barbarian, Wizard, Healer, and Assassin. Nothing stops you from buying skills across all of them, but points are limited. The efficient approach is to commit most of them to one or two branches and pick up a few cheap utility nodes elsewhere, such as Double Jump.
- Character creation sets only appearance. Hair, face, and voice have no effect on stats.
- A standalone Shroud Root grants 1 skill point. A completed Elixir Well grants 3.
- Each location pays out its skill points once per character.
- You can reset all skill points at a Flame Altar using Runes.
Because respeccing is cheap and permanent points stay with your character, picking a class is a low-stakes decision. You are choosing a starting combat rhythm, not locking in a save.
Enshrouded 1.0 class picks by playstyle
| If you want | Play | Main weapons | Main attribute |
|---|---|---|---|
| One build for most of the game | Battlemage | Wand, staff or shield | Intelligence |
| Safe ranged damage | Ranger | Bow, daggers | Dexterity |
| Heavy close-range hits | Barbarian | Two-handed axe, hammer, club | Strength |
| Allies doing the work | Summoner | Wand, staff | Intelligence, Spirit |
Tank, Healer, and Assassin setups exist too, but they are narrower. Tank and Healer pay off mostly in co-op, where someone else covers damage. Assassin relies on stealth and positioning that a solo player cannot always set up.
Battlemage: The default Enshrouded 1.0 pick
Battlemage pairs wand offense with a ward or shield; when foes close in, you can block or parry instead of being left without a response. Attacking with wands restores Mana over time, keeping spells ready without lengthy pauses. Blink replaces your dodge roll with a brief teleport, and Emergency Blink lets that teleport free you from a stun. Arcane Deflection returns Mana when you parry.
Version 1.0 makes combat with this build feel more deliberate. Heavy wand blows travel through enemies, and you can swing a wand while airborne or dodging. A wand crit triggers Blast and Cast: for the next ten seconds, a staff hit gains damage equal to 50% of its base value. Use the wand to land crits, then swap to the staff for a hard-hitting spell. Put points into Intelligence first, followed by Spirit for Mana and enough Constitution to withstand errors.
| Wand | Element | Damage (lvl 1 / 55) | Mana Regeneration |
|---|---|---|---|
 Ancient Drak Wand | Lightning | 7 / 61 | 14 |
 Androme’s Wand | Ice | 7 / 61 | 16 |
 Apprentice Wand | Ice | 7 / 61 | 4 |
Perks set these three wands apart; each attacks every 0.6 seconds and follows the same damage curve. Ancient Drak Wand has 27% Overcharge, 32% Ruthless, 3% Mana Leech, and 6% Critical Strike Chance. Androme’s Wand drops Ruthless, with 30% Overcharge and a 7% crit chance instead. Apprentice Wand offers just 12% Overcharge and considerably poorer regeneration. Overcharge gives each attack a chance to add damage, with the bonus capped at the listed percentage, making it a good fit for crit-based Blast and Cast.
The cost is attention. Battlemage asks you to swap weapons and watch Mana more than any pure melee or bow build does.
Ranger: The most forgiving Enshrouded 1.0 class for beginners
Bows let you start damaging enemies long before they reach you, and the Ranger tree rewards accuracy. A Skillshot, meaning an arrow to a weak point like the head, deals 100% more base damage to enemies without helmets and 50% more to helmeted ones. Multi Shot gives regular arrows a chance to fire extra arrows in a spread. In 1.0, fire, shock, and bone eternal arrows join the eternal ice arrow, letting you spend Mana instead of ammunition.
| Ranger skill | Cost | Max level | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barrage | 1 | 3 | 15% chance per level to restore 1 bow durability on hit |
| Blessed Arrows | 1 | 3 | 8 Mana per level on bow critical strikes |
| Counter Battery | 1 | 3 | 8% damage per level vs ranged enemies |
| Dagger Mastery | 1 | 3 | 5% dagger damage per level |
| Cutthroat | 1 | 3 | 100% Sneak Attack damage per level |
| Airborne | 1 | 3 | 12% less Glider Stamina per level |
 Bow Specialization | 3 | — | Unlocks bow Special Abilities |
 Bee Sting | 3 | — | Slows falls while aiming; 10 Stamina per second |
Barrage and Blessed Arrows solve the class’s two resource problems, durability and Mana for eternal arrows. Bow Specialization is the gateway to Focus-powered special attacks, which build up as you hit enemies with any weapon. Survival Instinct is also worth grabbing for exploration, since bow kills on infested enemies return Shroud time.
Daggers are your answer when an enemy gets close. Like bows, they scale with Dexterity, letting you avoid dividing your stats. Basic Daggers strike for 10 Piercing damage, attack every 0.4 seconds, and have Parry Power 1. Parrying enables Riposte Kick, a follow-up that raises the target’s Stun Bar.
Ranger has almost no built-in healing or defense. Keep Endurance high for Stamina and take Double Jump so you can reposition instead of trading hits.
Barbarian: Two-handed melee damage in Enshrouded 1.0
| Skill | Type | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbarian | Attribute | 5 | +1 Strength per two Flame levels |
| Barbarian’s Path | Passive (3 levels) | 1 | +5% damage per level with Two-Handed Axes, Clubs, Hammers |
Barbarian is for players who want to stand in the middle of a pack and swing. Heavy attacks with two-handed weapons hit hard and stun, and the branch stacks more on top: Blood Rage adds 15% weapon damage for ten seconds after a nearby kill, Heavy Hitter speeds up swings by 10%, and Whirlwind Crescendo ends a combo with a 360-degree spin that costs 75 Stamina. Two-Handed Specialization unlocks the Focus abilities for these weapons.
The catch is that the build runs on critical hits. A bad streak cuts both your damage and your healing, because Battle Heal from the Warrior branch restores 1% of max health per level on each crit. Put points into Strength first and Constitution second, wear heavy armor, and expect a harder time against fast enemies that stay out of reach.
Summoner: The new mage path in 1.0
Summoner did not really exist before 1.0. It is a Mage specialization built on Summon Hollow Skeleton and Fire, Ice, and Shock Totems, with Advanced Necromancy and Totem Mastery raising how many summons you can keep active. Entangle holds enemies in place while your allies hit them.
It plays slower than a Battlemage. You set up summons at the start of a fight, then attack with a wand while skeletons and totems pull attention. It shines in solo exploration and crowded encounters, but it is a poor fit if you want damage the moment you press a button. Invest in Intelligence for damage and Spirit for Mana.
Changing class in Enshrouded 1.0
Interact with any Flame Altar and use the respec option to refund your skill points, paying the cost in Runes. Your skill tree returns to unspent, and you can rebuild toward a different branch immediately. Returning players should do this after updating to 1.0, since old builds were not designed around Blast and Cast, the new summons, or the extra eternal arrows.
If you are still unsure, start where your instincts from other action games point you. Players who like to block and trade blows will settle into Barbarian or Warrior quickly, and players who hate being touched will be happier with a bow. Everyone else should begin as a Battlemage, then respec once they know what they want more of.
