Laughless Saint Builds: How to Plan One

Why rigid build guides do not work for this game

Most RPG build guides assume you lock in choices at creation and follow a point spend. Two design facts here break that:

1. Skills rise through use. Whatever you do repeatedly improves, whether you planned it or not.
2. Race is no longer permanent. Since Update 7 a mirror on the southern shore lets you change race at any time.

So a build here is a direction, not a contract. The useful planning question is not “which numbers do I pick” but “which actions am I going to perform for the next ten hours,” because those are the skills that will actually climb.

The three broad directions

Physical fighter

Combat skills are individually tracked — one-handed, spear weapons and unarmed were all named on the character sheet. Weapon damage in the early game is low enough that a single good drop reshapes your power curve:

The Fisherman’s Friend is obtainable close to the start and beats both generic swords — see unique weapons. The Innash greatsword comes from Rust in Peace, whose questgiver also teaches armour skill.

For a fighter, Stone’s blessing is safe to take since its penalty is magicka regeneration. That is the one build where it costs you little — see blessings.

Caster

Magic is gated behind an NPC quest, so a caster build has a mandatory first errand: how to cast spells. After that you have three schools to develop — psionics, channeling and sorcery (magic schools).

The build-defining decision for a caster is spell crafting: build spells around problems (shield, paralysis) rather than chasing bigger fire numbers. And avoid Stone’s blessing — halving magicka regeneration undermines the whole character.

The Rugaard race is the magic-flavoured option, though no confirmed numbers exist for it.

Thief

The sneak, lockpicking and pickpocketing cluster is a legitimate third path, and Update 7 increased XP gain for both lockpicking and pickpocketing. It also has the best cross-build payoff in the game:

• A pickpocket-tree perk grants +100 carry capacity — worth taking on any build (perks)
• Right Where I Found It rewards Remembrance of Past: +50% pickpocketing during the day
• Lockpicking gates real content, including a level-60 door (lockpicking)

Build advice that applies to everyone

Do not spend points on skills already climbing. Let frequently used skills grow on their own and spend where natural progression is costing you time.

Read trees whose names sound irrelevant. The single best early quality-of-life perk sits in the pickpocket tree, which fighters and mages never open.

Skills feed attributes. Raising skills passively increases health, mana and stamina, so there is no truly wasted skill growth.

Grind cheaply where you can. Repeatedly punching an early NPC raises unarmed. Swimming, sprinting and sneaking all climb through ordinary movement.

Sources

• “10 Things the Game DOESN’T Tell You” for point-spend guidance, side trees and the Stone blessing warning.
• “Check Out” early access review for the attribute loop and race descriptions.
• “First Look” gameplay playthrough for the skill list and weapon damage figures.
• Quest walkthroughs for Fisherman’s Friend, Rust in Peace and Right Where I Found It rewards.
• NerveLabs Update 7 announcement, 21 Aug 2026.