InNo Rest for the Wicked, diving into the game for the first time can be extremely tough—but the right build can make the difference between thriving and barely scraping by. In this guide for the brutal Action RPG, we’ll look at one of the early-game builds that can help when you’re just starting out and carry you through your journey.
No Rest for the Wicked Plagued Druid Build
Unlike most RPGs, No Rest for the Wicked does not use a class system to determine your initial attribute distribution. Instead, you start with 10 points in each attribute, and your build depends on how you allocate your points as you level up.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to create a build centered around the Intelligence attribute—thePlagued Druid Build—for use in the early game (levels 1–10).
Gears and Spells
For this build, our main weapon will be thePinwheel Staff.This is aTwo-Handed Staffwith aFaithrequirement to equip, and the higher the item level, the greater the requirement. At item level 1, it’s simpler to equip, but up to42 Faithmight be needed at item level 9 or above.
The staff, being aspell-wielding weapon, has one of the game’s slower movesets. Its regular attacks do still pack good damage, however, comparable to that of other two-handers—so you can’t worry too much about output when your rune spells are offline.
No Rest For the Wicked Archer Build
In this guide, we will be taking a look at one of the early game builds that can help you when you’re starting out and will help you on your journey.
The Pinwheel Staff contains tworunespells:
For the third rune slot, we’ll be usingChain Lightning, extracted fromthe Cursed Crone staff.
This powerful spell deals massive damage and chains between enemies when fully charged, making it great for groups.
Fourth isPlague Enchantment, which you may purchase fromEleanorafter her shop has been upgraded. This support spell infuses your staff with Plague damage, so your regular attacks increasePlague statuson enemies.
It’s a good idea at this stage of the game that you have two weapon slots for main weapons, so you haveeight spellsto select from instead of four. I would recommend the second slot to be filled with a weapon that can equipHeal Auraso you can convert Focus to healing instead of consuming it.
However, sincePlague Ichoris hard to come by, if you’ve already applied it on inventory or hunger limit boosts, you can simply slotHeal Aurawhen you need it—it won’t affect the overall build.
Armor Pieces
For thearmorpieces, we will be putting together a combination to get as much defense value as possible while staying in the lightest Fast Class. This is important, as the Two-Handed Staff already has a slow moveset, and if you are wearing heavy armor, your mobility will be hampered, resulting in you taking a lot more unnecessary hits.
For this build, I used:
This particular combination will allow us to stay out of the slower weight classes, which can be detrimental when playing a spellcasting build.
Affixes and Enchantments
For thePlagued Druid build, we will be looking to utilize enchantments that are ideally Focus-affixed.
Affixes such as increased gain and decreasedFocuscost are the primary targets when looking for modifiers, as they will greatly help with this spellcasting build.
If we can find modifiers that increase infection buildup, they will also enhance the effectiveness of this build.
We will be avoiding affixes that make resource management harder—especially regardingFocus—such as drain in combat or increased cost, as these will make casting spells a lot harder.
Also, negative Enhancements such as decreased item load or decreased maximum health should be avoided, as they will reduce your survivability and make mistimed dodges more punishing.
For this build, we will be using tworingslots. For the first ring, we are using theAgility Ring, which will reduce the stamina cost of your actions while also increasing your movement speed.
This will provide a mobility boost and also help with landing your regular staff attacks.
For the second ring slot, we will be using theFeather Ring, which will increase your equip load by a set percentage. Using this can help you equip heavier armor pieces while keeping your weight class in the “Fast” tier, offering you more protection indirectly.
Another solid option is theJade Ring. This ring lets you regain stamina on dealing damage by a set percentage and at the mid game, Jade Rings typically offer2% staminaon damage dealt, which helps you land more attacks before needing to let your stamina bar refill.
If you only have a single ring slot when putting this build together, I suggest prioritizing theAgility Ring, as speed is the main advantage we are using in this build.
The Plagued Druid buildis dependent on gaining as many Focus points as quickly as possible, and as such, we will prioritize infusing gems that help with Focus recovery.
Chipped Dianiteis a gem that can be infused into armor pieces and works very well with the build, as it will decrease yourFocus cost by 2–5%, andup to 3–10%when infused into gloves.
Another gemstone to prioritize is theChipped Moonstone. This gem can be infused into armor pieces and will regenerate Focus points passively in combat, making it one of the most important gem types for spellcasting builds.
For enchanted gear, especially armor pieces that only have one gem slot, we want to prioritize placingChipped Jewelsin as many slots as possible across the loadout, as the increase in maximum Focus will help with spellcasting considerably.
Consumables
Although there are no specific consumables that are essential for this build, they can still help you overcome tough challenges.
Stat Allocation
This build is one of many you can assemble if you’ve focused on putting your points into theFaithattribute and can be easily transitioned into from an early-gameFaith-basedbuild.
By around level 12, your stat distribution should ideally look like this:
Once you reach around level 20, aim for:
There is no need to invest inStrength, Dexterity, or Intelligencefor this build. This lets you focus on damage and survivability at the same time.
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However, if you’re confident in your dodging or parrying skills, you’re able to redistribute some points from Health into Faith (for increased damage) or into Stamina (for smoother resource management).
Final Thoughts
The Plagued Druidis a spellcasting, faith-based build that is effective at dealing with enemies at all ranges while utilizingPlagueas a weapon.
While strong, this build can struggle againstPlague-resistant enemies, who are immune or resistant to most of the damage types used here. Although we haveChain Lightningto offer a different elemental option, your toolkit will still be limited against some factions and enemies.
Another limitation is casting speed. While the spells are capable of long-range damage, they take time to charge, and it can be difficult to land hits on agile enemies.
You also need to be very mindful of your focus management. Sincethe staff don’t have multi-hit combos, it can be frustrating to find yourself short a fewFocus pointswhen you urgently need to cast a spell.
So, this wraps up my guide to putting togetherthe Plagued Druid buildforNo Rest for the Wicked. I hope you find this guide helpful on your journey through the island of Sacra. If you have any more tips you’d like to add or share, or additional questions, please leave them in the comments below!
