24 classes and 4 trillion builds in No Rest for the Wicked 1.0, but the developers aren't afraid of balance issues

Moon Studios has revealed details of the massive 1.0 update for No Rest for the Wicked. The action RPG has been in early access since April 2024, and this patch will strip out its old leveling system, which resembled Dark Souls. A new class system takes its place, and Game Director Thomas Mahler has already admitted that some builds will definitely end up overpowered.

According to Mahler, the class system was the studio answer to the issue of "numbers going up without feeling much difference." The old attributes are gone completely, and main stats are now defined by the new Cerim Cores. The cores can be swapped at any time and even overloaded beyond the usual capacity, though that means taking more damage.

Alongside the cores, the game gets a network of 24 classes. The developers promise that each one offers "entirely unique ways to play Wicked" and lets players build just about any class they could imagine in an ARPG.

Players won't be locked into a single option, since the current class is defined by the weapon in hand. Holding a spear makes the character a Dragoon, while a scythe turns them into a Harbinger. Each class builds up its own resource through use, which is spent on unlocking traits with passive upgrades and runes that grant active abilities.

Unlocked traits become available to the other classes too. That way, the game rewards experimenting with different fighting styles rather than leveling a single branch.

The Dragoon builds up focus with precise long-range strikes and creates floating lightning lances that home in on targets as the hero leaps right onto an enemy's head. The style is built around predicting enemy movement and aiming precisely. For a finishing blow, the Dragoon can hurl a giant spear of lightning.

The Assassin takes advantage of overhauled, smarter enemy behavior. Class traits let players see enemy vision cones while standing still, rush in crouched for powerful backstabs with bonus damage, or fully cloak in the shadows while pressed against a wall. Players can even knock on stone like in Metal Gear Solid to create a distraction and exploit it.

Mahler considers stealth one of the key features of the update:

We've never really seen stealth done right in an ARPG.

The final build comes together from a personal collection of traits. Players get the following slots:

• two offensive traits

• two defensive traits

• one utility trait

• one ascension trait

According to the game director, this combination is what turns a standard class into a unique character:

That's how you stop playing our Assassin or our Dragoon, and start playing something that only exists on your character. With 384 traits across 24 classes, there are over 168 billion ways to fill your trait slots. With the weapon choices on top of that, you're looking at more than four trillion possible builds.

Mahler openly admits that perfectly balancing this many options is impossible. Instead of fighting the inevitable outliers, the studio is betting on even more freedom of choice:

Yes, there'll likely be builds that'll be easier to play for newcomers that a lot of people will just copy because they're simple to play and grant good DPS. I think the only way to combat that is to keep the game update and give players so much choice that the meta will naturally shift over time.

Path of Exile has used a similar approach for years. Grinding Gear Games addresses balance outliers from season to season, but with so many combinations of skills and passive tree paths, catching everything is impossible. Still, specific meta builds dominate the Path of Exile community far less than in Diablo 4, because there are so many ways to clear endgame maps.

Mahler explained his position using Diablo 2, which players have kept returning to for two decades:

People have been playing Diablo 2 for, what, the past 20 years? And given the runewords and everything, I'd argue the game still isn't 'solved.' I'm sure people will use AI on top to find the best possible outcomes, but at some point we just gotta stay realistic and be okay with some builds being pretty fucking good and some others less good, but still pretty good.

The game director added that he doesn't see strong builds as much of a problem.

And ultimately.. Who cares? If people find some really good build and want to share it with others, more power to them. You'll very likely still get tickled wanting to try the other traits and runes and so on anyway.

Version 1.0 is set to release in March 2027. Moon Studios estimates that the update will roughly double the amount of content in the game, and the class system is only part of the changes:

The class system is the heart surgery, but it's far from the only thing we've been working on.

Besides the new progression, version 1.0 will add:

• brand-new zones

• an expansion of the town of Sacrament

• new enemy factions and bosses

• overhauled loot

• gem fusions

• extensive polish and optimization

Version 1.0 is scheduled for March 2027.