Bones and Coins Build Tier List

A Bones and Coins “build” is three things stacked: a skill tree trunk, a party, and a weapon set. This build tier list ranks those stacks the way launch-week players actually fail — by buying combat leaves too early, or by hiring three melees and calling it a synergy. It uses only kits named in playtest and demo notes. Fake six-hero combo charts can wait for names.

Pair this with the hero tier list and the weapon tier list. Slot order is on party building. The party planner is the same advice in table form.

S — Marked loot core

Tree: spawn count, coin value, party slots, then item chance.
Party: Barbarian, Shaman, Bowman.
Weapons: fast melee on the tank, projectile identity on Bowman, whatever shortens marks on Shaman.
Why S: Shaman’s 50% next-hit mark multiplies both torch and melee while Bowman deletes the leftovers. This is the loop Getting Started is aiming at. You End Looting because the floor is empty, not because you are bored.

Blessings (five per hero in the full game) should amplify that identity, not add a fourth job. See blessings.

A — Economy monk

Tree: double down on spawn, chests, silver enable, on-kill summons. Delay weapon area.
Party: Barbarian plus Shaman only, sitting in a trained first dungeon room.
Why A: It prints the purse that buys everything else. It is not S because later rooms with shield-bearers want the Bowman’s execute. Use this for sitting one, then graduate to the marked loot core.

A — Wizard backline (conditional)

Tree: same income trunk.
Party: Barbarian, Shaman, Wizard.
Why A if Wizard’s kit is area damage that does not steal Shaman’s job.
Why B if he is a slower Bowman. Demo v0.8.0 did not publish the card. Rank the clip you have, not the hope.

B — Swords only

Two frontliners, no mark, fat weapon-area leaves. Looks brave in a thumbnail. Coins per torch are worse than a single Barbarian with a Shaman. Only take this if an Expedition modifier (unpublished at announcement time) punishes ranged and support. Otherwise it is a meme you can afford after the campaign is already printing.

B — Bowman solo carry

Ranged in slot one, no tank. Fine in the opening catacomb. Fragile when rooms gain density caps and new enemy types. You will spend the torch babysitting instead of sweeping items. How to Play is not more fun when you are the tank.

C — Combat leaf first

Weapon area, lightning-strike chance, and a dagger forge before spawn count. Every first-look video that “stalls” is this build. It is not a party. It is a misread of the skill tree. Fix the trunk; do not fire the Shaman.

How to move a build up a tier

1. Train room XP so local loot bonuses exist.
2. Buy auto-item-loot when it appears so you stop missing exclusives. Loot and economy is the checklist.
3. Spend the first two blessing slots on kit identity, not on coin value you already bought globally.
4. Add the fourth hero only when End Looting is happening early.
5. Check Updates if a patch retunes marks or hero speed — v0.8.0 already did the latter.

Full-release wildcards

Expeditions, two unnamed heroes, and sixteen weapons will create specialist builds this list cannot rank yet. The rule that will still work: if the floor is empty sooner, the build is better. If a new combo only looks busier, it is not S. Optimized campaign length is four to five hours; you have time to test one change per sitting, not a twelve-page spreadsheet.

When a specialist Expedition build is actually documented, it gets an A row here. Until then, run the marked loot core and spend your curiosity on dungeon rooms, not on firing the only multiplier in the game.