If you’re just getting started in Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising, one of the first things you’ll probably notice is that the game looks much more hands-off than it actually is.
Your characters may be fighting automatically, but that doesn’t mean your decisions don’t matter. In fact, because you aren’t constantly controlling every attack or movement, building the right team becomes even more important.
Choosing a class that looks strong on paper isn’t always enough. Talents, gear, team composition, healing, AoE damage and even how complicated a class is to build can make a huge difference once you start pushing into harder content.
So, if you’re wondering which classes are worth investing in right now, here’s how I’d rank the six available classes.
One quick note before we get into it: there isn’t really a completely useless class in Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising. Some classes simply require more specific teams or builds to reach their full potential.
Path of Idle Old Gods Rising Class Tier List – Best Classes
For this tier list, I’m splitting the classes into three groups:
- S Tier: The strongest and easiest classes to justify in a wide range of teams.
- A Tier: Very strong choices that can compete with S-tier classes when built correctly.
- B Tier: More situational classes that need the right setup to really shine.
With that out of the way, here’s the current ranking:
S Tier
- Cleric
- Warrior
A Tier
- Mage
- Priest
B Tier
- Hunter
Unranked
- Mercenary
Mercenary is currently the one class I’m not comfortable ranking yet. I’d rather leave it unranked than pretend I have enough information to give it a fair placement.
S Tier – Cleric
If I had to recommend one class that you should seriously consider having in your team, it would be the Cleric.
The funny thing about Cleric is that the class doesn’t look particularly impressive when you judge it by its personal damage.
That’s not what you’re bringing it for.
The Cleric is a support powerhouse.
It can buff allies, improve their damage output and provide consistent healing throughout a fight. Once you’re dealing with harder encounters, that healing becomes much more than a nice bonus — it can be the difference between progressing and repeatedly getting wiped.
This is especially important in an idle game because you don’t have the same level of moment-to-moment control you would have in a traditional action RPG.
A strong healer can cover mistakes and keep the rest of your team alive while your damage dealers do their job.
The Cleric also fits into a huge number of team compositions because its support abilities aren’t tied to one overly specific build.
Why Cleric is S Tier:
- Excellent team-wide support
- Reliable healing
- Can improve the team’s overall DPS
- Useful across difficult content
- Doesn’t need a highly specialized team to be valuable
If you’re building a balanced squad, Cleric is one of the safest investments you can make.
S Tier – Warrior
Warrior is the other class I’d put comfortably into S Tier.
The biggest reason isn’t simply its melee damage or durability.
It’s the ability to summon additional support units.
Normally, you’re working with a relatively small group of characters, so being able to bring additional units into the fight gives Warrior a very interesting advantage.
More units means more pressure on enemies and more flexibility when putting a team together.
Warrior is also surprisingly flexible when it comes to builds. You don’t have to force it into being a pure tank or pure damage dealer.
A hybrid setup can work extremely well, allowing the Warrior to take punishment while still contributing meaningful damage.
That flexibility is a big part of why I rate it so highly.
Why Warrior is S Tier:
- Can summon additional support units
- Strong melee presence
- Works as both damage dealer and tank
- Lots of build flexibility
- Fits comfortably into different team compositions
If you want a class that gives you plenty of room to experiment, Warrior is one of the best choices.
A Tier – Mage
Mage is where things get interesting.
At first glance, ranged classes can feel a little underwhelming because their survivability isn’t always great.
Mage can definitely feel fragile if enemies get on top of it.
But the class makes up for that with some excellent offensive tools.
The biggest selling point is elemental and AoE damage.
Enemies frequently group together, and that’s basically an open invitation for Mage to start throwing area-of-effect spells around.
Instead of worrying about burning down one enemy at a time, you can build around an element and attacks that hit multiple targets.
That makes Mage particularly useful when you’re fighting groups of enemies rather than isolated targets.
I also like having at least one ranged class in a balanced team, and Mage is probably my favorite option for that role.
Why Mage is A Tier:
- Excellent AoE potential
- Elemental builds provide variety
- Very effective against grouped enemies
- Easy to understand compared with some other classes
- Gives your team a reliable ranged damage option
The main drawback is survivability.
If you can protect your Mage properly, though, the class can perform extremely well.
A Tier – Priest
Priest is probably one of the classes I’d put into the “great, but don’t pick this blindly” category.
It’s a melee class, but its abilities are magical, which gives you a lot of interesting options when building it.
The class has considerably more complexity than something like Mage or Warrior.
And that’s both its strength and its weakness.
If you know what you’re doing, Priest can become an extremely effective damage dealer while still providing utility for the rest of your party.
One particularly interesting direction is the Bone Chill build.
With the right setup, Priest can deal excellent DPS while also providing support to other members of the team.
That’s a pretty valuable combination.
So why isn’t Priest S Tier?
Honestly, it’s mostly because of the learning curve.
There’s a lot more room to make mistakes when building Priest. A poorly constructed Priest can feel mediocre, while a properly optimized one can be extremely strong.
Why Priest is A Tier:
- Strong magical melee abilities
- Excellent build flexibility
- Bone Chill can provide strong DPS
- Can contribute both damage and support
- High skill ceiling
If you’re willing to spend time experimenting with builds, Priest can absolutely be worth the investment.
B Tier – Hunter
Hunter is your more traditional ranged archer.
There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the class.
It deals respectable ranged damage and can perform its role perfectly well.
The problem is that Mage gives you more options.
Hunter builds feel comparatively straightforward, while Mage can branch into different elemental setups and AoE-focused playstyles.
That doesn’t make Hunter bad. It just means that when you’re deciding where to spend your resources, there are other classes that give you more flexibility.
I’d especially consider Hunter if you simply enjoy the archer playstyle or already have a team that specifically benefits from its strengths.
Why Hunter is B Tier:
- Reliable ranged damage
- Straightforward to use
- Good in the right team
- Less flexible than Mage
- Builds can feel somewhat one-dimensional
Hunter can definitely work.
It’s just harder for me to recommend it over Mage in a general-purpose team.
Mercenary – Currently Unranked
The Mercenary is the one class I wouldn’t place into a tier just yet.
There’s still not enough testing for me to confidently say whether it belongs in S, A or B Tier.
Rather than forcing a ranking based on limited information, I’m leaving it unranked for now.
Once more builds and team combinations have been tested, this is the class I’d expect to move around the most.
So if you’re interested in Mercenary, don’t automatically assume that being unranked means it’s weak.
It simply means there isn’t enough information yet to give it a fair rating.
Which Path of Idle Class Should You Pick?
If you just want the short version, I’d look at the classes like this:
Best overall support: Cleric
Best flexible frontline class: Warrior
Best ranged/AoE option: Mage
Best high-skill build option: Priest
Best straightforward archer: Hunter
Class still needing more testing: Mercenary
For a beginner who doesn’t want to overthink the team, I’d personally start with Cleric + Warrior as the foundation.
From there, Mage gives you strong ranged AoE, while Priest gives you a more complicated but potentially rewarding melee option.
Hunter is perfectly usable, but I’d generally choose Mage if I want a ranged character.
Best Team Building Approach
One thing I’d avoid doing is simply filling your team with the highest-ranked classes.
Tier lists are useful, but team synergy matters more than blindly following rankings.
For example, having multiple strong damage dealers doesn’t help much if your team can’t survive long enough for them to do their job.
That’s why Cleric is so valuable.
A balanced setup gives you:
- A durable frontline
- Reliable healing/support
- Strong damage
- At least one ranged option
- Enough AoE to handle groups
From there, you can start replacing individual classes depending on the content you’re tackling.
This is also where A-tier classes can become just as good as S-tier classes. A Priest built specifically around a team that supports its strengths can easily outperform a generic Warrior setup.
Final Ranking
If I had to lock in the current rankings right now, I’d go with:
S Tier
- Cleric
- Warrior
A Tier
- Mage
- Priest
B Tier
- Hunter
Unranked
- Mercenary
The important takeaway is that there are no truly bad classes here.
Cleric and Warrior are simply the easiest classes to recommend because they provide so much value without demanding an extremely specific setup. Mage and Priest can both be fantastic once you understand how to build them, while Hunter is a dependable but less flexible choice.
And Mercenary?
I’m keeping that one on the watchlist for now.
Once its builds are properly tested, it could easily change this tier list.