Stonewards Best Builds Tier List: Strongest Early EA Builds

Last verified: September 24, 2026 — Game version: Stonewards Early Access 0.2.2 hotfix on top of 0.2.0 “Later Summer” (current). Facts come from official Steam sources and verified player reports.

Not every upgrade in Stonewards is equally strong. Between the Blacksmith level cap being raised to 999, Craft Speed being reworked into a percentage, and Hunter’s Companion getting buffed, the best builds in Early Access favor consistent melee damage and fast resource generation. This tier list ranks the strongest archetypes we have seen discussed in the community and confirmed against patch notes.

Tier List Assumptions

• Based on patch notes through Hotfix 0.2.2 (September 21, 2026).
• Focused on regular missions, not the exact Infinite Mode meta.
• Builds assume you are actively mining between waves and forging every gap.

S-Tier: Tanky Miner + Warrior Frontline

Role	Class	Why it works
Frontline	Warrior / Miner	High melee output, can hold choke points, and repair walls under pressure
Resource	Miner	Mines faster and brings back more ore for the team
Upgrade focus	Attack + Health + Wall toughness	Lets the frontline tank while ranged classes deal damage

This build dominates because Early Access enemy waves reward straightforward melee damage and survivability more than complex combos.

A-Tier: Hunter with Companion

Hunter’s Companion has been buffed twice since launch: 0.1.7 made the pet faster, tougher and harder-hitting, and 0.2.2 gave it critical hits and Gold drops. That makes it a reliable source of extra damage. Pair it with knockback upgrades to keep monsters away while the companion chips away. This build is safer than a pure ranged Archer because it does not rely solely on charge-up shots.

B-Tier: Archer & Mage

Archer and Mage are not weak, but community feedback notes that their charged attacks can feel slow in fast waves. They need more upgrades to feel smooth and are less forgiving for new players. With enough Craft Speed and attack upgrades they become strong, but they require more setup.

What to Avoid

• Spread your upgrades too thin. Pick one scaling path per run.
• Ignore wall repairs. A high-damage build is useless if the gate falls.
• Skip mining. Resource poverty snowballs quickly.

For upgrade details, read our best upgrades and builds guide. For playing alone, see solo guide.

What Changed Since Hotfix 0.1.5

The tiers still hold, but the assumptions behind them have moved:

• Ranged output was retuned twice. 0.1.6 slightly reduced Archer ranged and charged attack damage while adding Projectile Bonus support for Mage and Healer. 0.2.0 then rebalanced Bouncing Projectiles, Bonus Projectiles and Critical Chance, and 0.2.1 fixed Bonus Projectiles failing on magic staves below 100% chance. Archer and Mage remain the picks that need the most upgrades before they carry a wave.
• The Hunter’s companion is a real damage source now. 0.1.7 made the companion faster, tougher and harder-hitting and let Poison and Fire damage scale with your attack damage; 0.2.2 added companion critical hits, Gold on companion kills, and stopped the pet chasing enemies outside the playable area.
• Knockback stops scaling. 0.1.7 cut how much Knockback Chance you gain per upgrade, and 0.2.0 stops offering Knockback Chance and Dodge once they reach their effective maximum — a small Gold reward can appear instead. Knockback is still the best early defensive ring, just not an infinite wall.
• The Gold economy was rewritten. 0.2.0 made Gold Bonus multiply the Gold you earn instead of raising the chance for Gold to appear, 0.2.1 made the Permanent Gold Upgrade and the Gold Ring scale multiplicatively (+8% Gold per Gold Ring), and 0.2.2 capped the total multiplier at 200x.
• The forge pool has new entries. 0.2.0 added the Mace, Legendary Bow, Legendary Small Axe and Double Small Axe, new rings (Explosion Combat Range, Magic Range, Heal on Block, Digging Speed) and new tomes (Compass Range, Team Attack, Team Max Health, Precious Treasures, Forge Boost), and pulled the Difficulty Ring while it is reworked. The Rogue can now dual-wield weapons.

From Community Gameplay

Recorded runs back up the tier list with practical observations:

• Dig strength + movement speed is the meta opener. “Dig strength matters because it shortens that boring part of the trip, while movement speed gets you in and out quickly enough” to reach the deeper, richer layers (community gameplay, 01:08).
• The pink wall layer is the target zone. When you reach the pink wall layer, that is where the current best ore and chest rooms sit — builds that reach it early snowball (community gameplay, 01:25).
• Crit builds are popular in practice. Players pick crit rate and crit damage at the forge, often paired with a heal-on-crit effect so the build self-sustains (community gameplay, 03:02; 01:45).
• Upgrades are randomized per player. One player saw dig strength, another got “sprint speed, armor, and max stamina” from the same forge visit, so your tier list needs to adapt to what you are actually offered (community gameplay, 03:17).
• Four rings is the cap. Confirmed again in footage: “I can only have four rings,” so ring builds are about picking the best four, not stacking indefinitely (community gameplay, 02:32).
• An Archer without arrows is a dead pick. One player found a bow but no arrows: “tenías arco… pero no tengo flechas.” Always keep a wood supply flowing for arrow crafting (community gameplay, 04:13).

Sources

• The Boys are Dwarves (community gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-XuIMMYeW8
• Official Steam store page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4502710/
• Official Steam announcements hub: https://steamcommunity.com/games/4502710/announcements/
• Steam Community discussions: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4502710/discussions/

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