One of the quickest decisions you can make in Wolcen, and yet one of the most complex, is how to distribute your attribute points among the different categories.
As the game has just been released, we can't pretend to have the necessary hindsight to propose a perfect allocation of points. It will take a few days or even weeks for the meta to be defined, and for the high-level optimization to be fully understood.
Here are some elements based on our experience on the beta as well as on the first feedback from the testers, among others.
Wolcen: How attributes work
There are four attributes that all have one thing in common: they all increase your damage.
That means you won't make a fatal mistake by investing in one or the other, even though we don't know the details of the formulas that govern damage bonuses at the moment.
As it is possible to pay to reset and reallocate them, no need to worry, you will be able to make up for it at any time.
Ferocity: Increases the critical hit score of your attacks and spells - Simple and straightforward, this attribute will be a good primary choice for almost any build and class model you decide to choose.
Toughness: Increases life and force shield - Again, this is an excellent choice of statistic, at least in secondary, but potentially also in primary if you want to commit to the many Steam achievements that reward finishing the game or reaching Level 90 without dying.
The Force Shield absorbs a certain amount of damage before giving in, think of it as a damage buffer before your life starts depleting. This will help you hold on to bosses (but keep in mind that the lack of damage can extend the battle).
Agility: Increases attack speed and spell casting - Clearly a more offensive choice, useful with builds that require frequent attacks. If you decide to play a frenzied barbarian or a hunter who shoots in all directions, this is an attribute for you.
Beware, however, because using techniques faster also means using your resources faster, you will have to try to balance it out.
Wisdom: Increases the Attack and Spell Status Ailment Chance Score - If it wasn't clear, this attribute increases the chances of causing harmful or controlling effects on monsters: Bleeding, stasis, freeze, poison, stun and others.
If you want to play with these effects or damage over time, this is what you need. But if you don't, this is probably the attribute you can afford to ignore completely.
However, don't underestimate the power of a well-placed spell or control technique.
Wolcen: Attribute allocation
The difficult question, of course, is how to allocate your points. And the answer will obviously depend on the type of character you want to build:
- Unless you're relying heavily on control effects and damage over time, you can ignore Wisdom, or at least invest as little as possible in it.
- It seems wise to invest primarily in Ferocity to improve your damage, and then in a relatively balanced mix of Toughness and Agility. Of course, you can also choose to invest in big, overpowering attacks and/or cooldowns to focus on Ferocity and Toughness only.
- Alternatively, you can play the "glass canon" and invest mainly in Ferocity and Agility, but you'll have to choose skills that will allow you to escape enemy attacks and be reactive.
- In any case, you will have to take into account your point allocation to choose your talent points and skills, or do the opposite, choose your attributes based on a skill that caught your eye.
