Races
You pick a race when you create a character, and you keep it for that character's life (until you Reincarnate). Grinweld has no classes — a race is purely a set of numbers, and "fighter" or "mage" is something you become through your Stats and Equipment choices.
A race is exactly three things:
- Starting stats — your STR / DEX / NTL / WIS / VIT at level 1.
- Per-level growth — how much a stat gains when you pour a level-up into it (added on top of the flat bonus; see Leveling & XP).
- Mastery caps — how high each Mastery can climb. This is the real long-term identity of a race.
Why caps matter more than starting stats. Starting stats are a rounding error after a few hundred levels. Mastery caps are permanent ceilings: a race capped at Bow 120 will out-shoot a race capped at Bow 90 forever, all else equal. Choose your race for the masteries you want to push, not for its opening numbers.
The six launch races
| Race | Theme | STR | DEX | NTL | WIS | VIT | Best at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aelderkin | All-rounder | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | Flexibility — every cap at 100 |
| Mossgrim | Bog tank | 15 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 17 | Maces & Armour; survival |
| Thistrel | Thorn-quick archer | 12 | 16 | 12 | 16 | 14 | Bows, evasion, doublehit |
| Glimmane | Gloaming scholar | 12 | 11 | 17 | 16 | 14 | Elemental spellcasting |
| Bramblyn | Briar brawler | 16 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 15 | Axes & maces; raw melee |
| Veilborn | Twilight drinker | 13 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 13 | Drain/heal sustain caster |
Per-level growth (added when you raise that stat)
| Race | STR | DEX | NTL | WIS | VIT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aelderkin | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Mossgrim | 12 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 14 |
| Thistrel | 8 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 10 |
| Glimmane | 7 | 8 | 15 | 13 | 9 |
| Bramblyn | 13 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 12 |
| Veilborn | 9 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 10 |
Mastery caps (the ceilings that define each race)
Caps not listed below default to 100 for Aelderkin and are otherwise close to each race's "off-axis" value. Doublehit is always hard-capped at 100 game-wide; the race cap just sets how close you can get. Ranks and some Accessories raise these caps further.
| Race | Signature caps | Doublehit cap |
|---|---|---|
| Aelderkin | Everything 100 | 50 |
| Mossgrim | Mace 115, Armour 125, elements ~90 | 40 |
| Thistrel | Bow 120, Sword 110, Armour ~90 | 65 |
| Glimmane | Fire/Cold/Air 120, Arcane 115, Drain 110 | 30 |
| Bramblyn | Axe 120, Mace 115, Sword 105, Armour 105 | 60 |
| Veilborn | Drain 125, Arcane 120, elements 105 | 45 |
How to read each race
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Aelderkin — "Hedge-born wanderers... take to any craft with the same quiet stubbornness." The safe first pick. 14s across the board, even growth, every cap at 100. It never specializes, but it can pivot to any build and never hits a wall the others would. Great for learning the game.
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Mossgrim — "Bog-kin with stone patience and peat in their veins." The tank. Highest VIT (17) and the highest Armour cap (125) in the game, plus a strong Mace cap (115). Slow, durable, forgiving. Pairs naturally with shields and Armour-mastery training in the Mossback Warrens.
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Thistrel — "Thorn-quick fae who duel the wind for sport." The skirmisher. DEX 16 means high melee hit and evasion, a class-leading Bow cap (120), and the best Doublehit cap (65) — so it lands extra strikes more often than anyone. Glass-leaning but deadly.
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Glimmane — "Moon-eyed scholars of the gloaming." The blaster. NTL 17 and triple 120 caps in Fire/Cold/Air make it the premier elemental nuker. Low STR and Doublehit; lives and dies by spell damage and a heal slot.
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Bramblyn — "Briar-blooded brawlers grown from soldier-graves." The bruiser. STR 16 and an Axe cap of 120 for the biggest melee swings, backed by decent VIT and Armour. The straightforward "hit it until it stops" race.
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Veilborn — "Twilight-kin who drink at the seam between worlds." The sustain caster. Balanced 15/15 NTL/WIS with the best Drain (125) and Arcane (120) caps — it heals as it damages and almost never has to stop. Lower VIT, but it rarely needs it.
Picking your first race
- Want to never feel boxed in? → Aelderkin.
- Want to survive your mistakes? → Mossgrim.
- Want to delete things fast? → Glimmane (spells) or Bramblyn (melee).
- Want a slippery, multi-hit striker? → Thistrel.
- Want to grind forever without healing breaks? → Veilborn.
There are no advanced/reincarnation races at launch — see Reincarnation for how that system works when those are added.
Next: Stats → Masteries → Build Guide