Build Planner

Why Plan Builds Before a Run?

Guildrun runs move quickly. Within the first few waves you choose heroes, assign specializations, and start collecting relics that can redefine your comp. Players who enter without a framework often spread stats too thin or miss lovers pairing opportunities. Planning even a loose outline — frontline plus ranged backline, or healer-supported brawler — reduces early mistakes.

The demo includes twenty-five heroes and one hundred eighty specializations. That breadth is a feature, but it overwhelms newcomers who try to read every tooltip mid-combat. The planner narrows focus to role archetypes: frontline tank, support healer, ranged DPS, melee brawler, and hybrid pivot. Each maps to common demo drafts described in the hero roles guide.

Planning also clarifies pivot intent. Guildrun rewards mid-run role shifts when relics support them. If you select a hybrid pivot focus in the planner, you are mentally permissioned to swap specializations later — a mindset covered in the pivot mid-run guide. Rigid one-role plans fail more often than flexible anchors with two possible end states.

How to Use the Planner

Step one: pick a primary hero role. Frontline tanks absorb pressure on the hex grid; support healers stabilize long fights; ranged DPS and melee brawlers provide damage profiles that relics can amplify. Hybrid pivot is for players comfortable evaluating shop offers without a fixed destination.

Step two: choose a specialization focus — damage scaling, sustain and healing, utility and control, or lovers synergy. Damage scaling suits aggressive timed runs; sustain fits longer endless mode climbs; utility helps when modifier pools add crowd-control checks; lovers synergy assumes you will pair two complementary heroes early.

Step three: add a relic theme. Relic themes in the planner mirror common pools: shield and thorns frontline, crit and attack-speed backline, heal amplification, economy and shop manipulation, and status spread. These align with categories in the relics guide without spoiling every individual relic name.

The output panel summarizes synergy notes: placement hints, lovers pairing suggestions, and pivot triggers. Reset anytime to compare two drafts side by side in your head. Nothing saves to an account — treat it as a scratch pad before launching the Steam demo.

• Select hero role archetype first — it anchors placement on the hex grid.
• Match specialization focus to your expected run length and difficulty tier.
• Pick a relic theme that amplifies your role rather than fighting it.
• Read lovers notes before locking your second hero slot.
• Reset and compare at least two drafts before your first run of the session.

Sample Planner Paths

Standard beginner path: frontline tank, sustain focus, shield relic theme. This mirrors the forgiving drafts recommended in the beginner guide — stable front edge, room to learn shop timing without collapsing. Pair with a support healer lovers bonus if available; otherwise add ranged DPS for steady damage.

Aggressive climb path: melee brawler, damage scaling, crit relic theme. Higher risk on lower difficulties until relics online; strong once modifiers stack. Best when you already understand difficulty scaling and want faster clears. Plan a pivot to hybrid if early relics offer heal or shield procs instead of crit.

Endless mode path: hybrid pivot, utility focus, heal amplification relic theme. Endless rewards flexibility over raw burst. Utility specializations help when enemy modifiers rotate between waves. Cross-reference the sample builds page for full comp examples that started as planner sketches.

Limits & What the Planner Cannot Do

The planner does not simulate combat math or guarantee win rates. Guildrun's situational power — three hundred plus relics, rotating modifier pools, shop RNG — means no static build wins every run. Use the tier list framework for evaluation heuristics, not copy-paste rankings.

It also does not track your save file or in-run inventory. After you queue, adapt to what the game offers. The how to build guide explains when to abandon a planner outline versus when to hold for one more shop refresh.

Finally, hero names and exact specialization labels may expand in the full late-2026 release. The planner uses role archetypes intentionally so it stays accurate across demo patches without inventing roster details.