ArcheAge Gold

ArcheAge Beginners Guide – From Zero to Hero

With the headstart and the release of ArcheAge, a lot of people are trying to prepare the best possible start for them. Calculations and tests are being done over the past weeks in alpha and beta and finally people are getting their strategies down to an executable way. While a lot of people did not get the chance, or did not have the Know-How, to create this kind of strategies for themselves, we decided to share our information with you so everybody could start into ArcheAge. This guide will focus on the basics of race and class selection and on the basic routine to level your character to 50. This guide will also cover the basics of gold making, as a basic of the crafting system, and the trade runs. In the last part, we will give you some general information combined with a look to the future and the stuff that will happen after you have reached the max level of the current version of ArcheAge.

Race Selection

There are four (six in the future) races in ArcheAge you can choose from on your character creation. Two (or maybe three) races per starting faction. While the races differ not only in appearance but in special racial abilities, the most important factor is the starting faction. Everybody on the opposing starting faction is your enemy but there are two exclusions to this. The first exclusion is the possibility to join the pirate faction where characters of both races can play together while both are pirates. The second exclusion is not yet in the EU/NA version of ArcheAge, but later you will be able to fund your very own faction that every race can join. In both cases, you will have to learn the other race’s language that is not only time but also gold consuming. So if you want to play together with a friend, you may want to choose the same starting faction. While all races does have different racial abilities, the impact of them is really low. Because of that, you can choose the faction/race you prefer by appearance. For the people who pick races because of their racial abilities, here are some recommendations on what race you should pick for your playstyle.

Racial Abilities

Nuian

Nui’s Blessing – Favored by the Goddess of the Hereafter, Nuians receive extra benefits from visiting her realm, doubling the time their stats are increased after being resurrected. Warrior Architects – Frequent rebellions and civil wars have led the Nuians to become quick builders, reducing construction time for houses and castles by 30%.

Elves

Endurance Training – Trained for combat from the day they can walk, Elves possess increased physical ability. This stamina allows them to hold their breath underwater for an extra 20 seconds. Lithe Flow – The decades spent around Gweonid Lake make most Elves talented swimmers, increasing their swimming speed by 5%.

Firran

Catlike Reflexes – The Firran’s quick reflexes allow them to twist their bodies, as they fall and land more nimbly decreasing fall damage by 20%. Strong Claws – The Firran’s long, non-retractable claws allow them to climb trees and ladders 30% faster.

Harani

Portal Mastery – The far-flung Harani empire has forced its people to master the use of portals for quick travel, reducing the cast time and cooldown on their recall ability by 30%. Jungle Tamers – Settling the jungles of Mahadevi taught the Harani to be efficient in their labor, reducing the time required for logging trees and gathering herbs by 10%.

Recommended racial picks for the Western Continent

As Nuians receive a 10% enhancement boost after they die, twice as long as every other race,they are the first choose for PvE player. This buff also applies to the Halycona War! Pirates and sailors should pick the elves as they are able to dive for 20 more seconds and swim 5% faster in general.

Recommended racial picks for the Eastern Continent

Since ArcheAge features a lot of air to ground combat, you will use the landscape and gliders very often in PvP situations. The Firrans’ decreased falling damage will give them the advantage if you can play it right. The Harani, on the other hand, are the only race that do not have a direct combat enhancing ability. But as they have a general increased logging and gathering speed, they make the perfect character for players that will focus on farming and trading.

Class Selection

As we would be able to create a complete encyclopedia about the classes of ArcheAge, this part should just push you in the right direction. You may want to read this article for basic thoughts on class creation / choosing. One important thing you should never forget about is that you can level all ten class trees and switch between them on your character. Because of this system, your starting class does not have to be your endgame class and a lot of builds are just focused on setting up your endgame. Before we start with more in-depth information about the class building itself, we want to give you a overview of the 10 available trees in ArcheAge.

Tree Overview

As your class is only a set of your three chosen trees, there will be 120 classes available in ArcheAge. We are not able to cover every class in this, but we will cover basic information about each tree and the basic possibilities. Please note that we look at each tree for itself and only basic combination. It is likely that there will be uncommon combination to fit in special jobs or thinking outside the box.

-Battlerage

Battlerage is a straight forward melee DPS tree. Most active and passive skills are based around high physical damage output. Battlerage is the first choice for every melee fighting class, as the damage directly comes from your weapons stats. Any weapon except for staff and scepter are good to go. As you can reset the cooldowns of your Battlerage, active skills with a parry tanks can pretty easy hold aggro with a good damage output. Basic combination for Battlerage are Auramancy and Defense. We could also recommend Archery due to the good synergy. It is viable to combine Battlerage and Vitalism if you are using a club or a two-handed club, as you could gain both important stats with these weapons.

-Shadowplay

This is the “thief” tree of ArcheAge. With a high mobility and the ability to stealth, you can combine Shadowplay with every other tree. While the melee damage from active Shadowplay skills is lower than the Battlerage damage output, you can increase your overall damage for Archers. The mobility and anti-crowd control options could be used in various situations. We do not recommend Shadowplay for dedicated healers, in general, but as mentioned above, every combination can do a special job the best.

-Archery

Archery is the only ranged physical damage tree in ArcheAge. Nearly all active Archery skills can be used while walking. It is the first pick for every bow-lover and combines very well with Shadowplay. As you need Agility to increase your ranged damage output, your melee damage will lack its direct impact. As a full leather set increases your attack range even farther, it is your first choice of armor. However, there are some builds that focus around plate armor.

-Vitalism

Vitalism is the basic healing tree in ArcheAge. Both active and passive skills are based around helping your group to stay alive. The direct damage output of Vitalism is very low and we do not recommend to take Vitalism as your primary damage source. As a dedicated healer will use supporting trees instead of damage trees, we recommend to split leveling of a dedicated healer class into two parts (e.g. you want to be a Hierophant (Vitalism / Witchcraft / Auramancy) ; start your leveling as a Shaman (Sorcery / Witchcraft / Vitalism) and switch to Hierophant or Arcanist to level Auramancy). As clubs and two-handed clubs are the only weapons that provide healing power, these are must-haves for healing characters. Without these weapons, even with a high spirit value, your heals will be bad.

Sorcery

Sorcery is the primary magic damage tree that provides huge benefits to other magical damage trees. It combines well with Witchcraft and Occultism. Sorcery is often used in healer builds but lacks anti-crowd control skills, so adding a tree like Auramancy can be beneficial.

Occultism

Occultism focuses on magical damage but has lower output compared to Sorcery. However, it offers strong crowd control and survivability. It combines well with Witchcraft and Defense.

Witchcraft

Witchcraft is a support tree focusing on crowd control and survivability. It is useful in both offensive and defensive builds, offering abilities like “Purge” for increased magic defense and debuff removal.

Defense

Defense is the best tree for survivability, featuring crowd control, anti-crowd control, and aggro management. It is strong in every PvP combination, and using a shield enhances its value.

Songcraft

Songcraft is a top-tier support tree, boosting party damage and survivability. While not ideal for dedicated healing, it enhances burst potential and provides the best movement speed buff for traders and gatherers.

Recommended Beginner Classes

• Battlerage + Defense – Easy solo leveling with high survivability, good for beginners.
• Sorcery + Witchcraft – High damage and sustain, ideal for casters who want to level fast.

More In-Depth Class and Gear Information

Class choice impacts gameplay, but weapon and armor selection are equally important. This guide provides basic gear insights for leveling efficiency.

If you are playing Heroes of the Storm, check our free beginner guide with over 5,000 words covering leveling, skills, battlegrounds, and gold-earning tips.

Gearing up – Armor

Plate Armor

High physical defense, low magical defense.

• Plate 4/7: Physical defense +3%.
• Plate 7/7: Physical defense +3%, Max HP +5%, Stun and Shackle duration -20%.

Cloth Armor

Low physical defense, high magical defense.

• Cloth 4/7: Cast time -4%, reduced casting interruption by 50%.
• Cloth 7/7: Additional cast time reduction, magic damage +5%, control effect duration -30%.

Leather Armor

Balanced defense.

• Leather 4/7: Attack speed & evasion +3%, bow skill range +2m.
• Leather 7/7: Attack speed & evasion +3%, bow skill range +3m, Melee/Ranged Crit Rate +5%, Trip duration -20%.

Gearing up – Weapons

Weapon choice impacts gameplay significantly. Each weapon type deals a fixed damage type.

• Melee: One-handed + shield.
• Casters: Two-handed staff or scepter + shield.
• Archers: Bow + dual one-handed.
• Healers: Club + shield or two-handed club.

In-depth Brainstorming on Class Creating

Setting up a healer build can be difficult due to magic power changes. A common approach is starting with a damage build, leveling up, then switching to a dedicated healer build.

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