Combat in Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising runs on its own once a fight starts, so your squad is only ever as strong as the choices you lock in before the auto-battle begins. Class selection carries most of that weight. Pick a group that covers healing, damage, and durability, and higher difficulties open up. Get greedy on damage with no support, and the same fights stall out. The ranking below sorts the six classes by how much they carry a team and how forgiving they are to build.
Quick answer: Cleric and Warrior are the two strongest picks and belong in almost every team. Mage and Priest are strong alternatives that can climb with the right composition. Hunter is situational, and the Mercenary is not yet placed.
Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising class tier list
No class here is a dead weight once you learn its build. The split comes down to raw impact, how easily you can gear and spec each one, and how much they demand from the rest of the party. This reflects the launch meta as of August 2026.
| Tier | Classes |
|---|---|
| S | Cleric, Warrior |
| A | Mage, Priest |
| B | Hunter |
| Unranked | Mercenary |
S-tier: the classes that anchor a team
The Cleric is the backbone of any serious squad. On its own it does almost nothing, since solo damage is not the point. Inside a party, it does everything a support should. It buffs every ally to raise their damage output, and it heals at a steady, sustained rate. Reliable healing is what makes tougher difficulties clearable, which pushes the Cleric to the top of the list.
The Warrior earns its spot for a different reason. It is a strong melee body, but the standout trait is the ability to summon support units. Instead of fielding just three characters, you effectively bring extra hands into the fight. On top of that, the Warrior is flexible to build, handling a hybrid damage-and-tank role well without forcing you into one lane.
A-tier: reliable picks that can climb
The Mage is the easiest ranged class to run, thanks to its elemental attacks. You can commit to specific elements and lean on moves that deal AoE damage. Enemies tend to bunch up at every stage, which lines them up perfectly for area spells. The catch is durability, since ranged damage still feels a touch soft at launch and Mage health is a weak point. Even so, having one ranged slot filled feels close to essential, and the Mage is the pick for it.
The Priest is the most complex class in the game and rewards players who dig into it. It is a melee class that fights with magical abilities, which opens up unusual builds. The Bone Chill setup, for example, turns the Priest into a strong damage dealer while still supporting the rest of the party. The only thing keeping it out of S-tier is that complexity, since it takes more effort to build correctly than the top two.
B-tier: situational, needs the right team
The Hunter is the game’s standard archer. It puts out a fair amount of ranged damage, but its builds are fairly one-dimensional. When you compare the two ranged options directly, the Mage wins on flexibility and playstyle variety, which leaves the Hunter as a class you slot in for specific team needs rather than a default choice.
Mercenary: not yet ranked
The Mercenary is the sixth class and does not have a placement yet. Its kit needs more testing before it can be measured against the others fairly, so it sits outside the tiers for now. Expect it to slot in once its strengths and weaknesses are clearer.
How this ranking was decided
Placements weigh three things: how much a class raises a team’s ceiling, how easy it is to gear and spec through talents and items, and how demanding it is on the rest of the party. Because you don’t control the fight in real time, a class that fixes a whole team’s weakness, like the Cleric’s healing, outranks one that only pushes personal numbers.
Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising released on August 12th, 2026 from developer Small Mill, and this order reflects the launch build in August 2026. A balanced starting core usually pairs the Cleric with the Warrior, then adds a Mage for ranged AoE coverage, leaving the Priest and Hunter as choices you tailor to a specific plan. As the meta settles and the Mercenary gets tested, expect these tiers to shift.
