The Ex-Cultist Archetype is widely considered within the community of the game as the optimum starting class for solo players and newcomers. It has the most friendly starting items for solo players because of its healing factors. The class has also been very beloved and widely used even by veteran players.
Once you start with a class in this game, you don’t necessarily stick with that class by the end of the game. You will have all the opportunities in the world to form your own build as you progress through the game. If you follow the widely agreed upon advice of using the Ex-Cultist as your starting class, there are things you need to know for you to be more effective in the game.
10 Prioritize The Elder Knowledge Trait Early
If you’re planning on playing the game solo, you can really benefit from the Elder Knowledge trait. This will allow you to become more powerful way faster as this trait will increase your experience earned per enemy killed.
Finding this trait is very easy. You simply need to play the tape recorder that’s located on Level B2 in Ward 13. This will make your playthrough much smoother from beginning to end.
9 Switch To The Hunting Rifle As Soon As You Can
The starting weapon that comes with the Ex-Cultist class is the Repeater Pistol. While this is a decent weapon to start out with, you’re going to want a weapon that has more range. This is where the Hunting Rifle comes in.
The Hunting Rifle is the starting weapon of the Hunter Archetype. Since you’re starting out as an Ex-Cultist, you can instead get this weapon by purchasing it from Rigs for 600 Scrap.
8 Use The Swarm Mod
A lot of players choose to play this game solo and the Ex-Cultist Archetype is the perfect starting class for that. However, as you progress through the game later on, you will slowly realize just how often you can get swarmed while playing this game. To remedy this as a solo player, you can use the Swarm mod.
This mod will allow you to summon a bunch of insects that can distract and damage the enemies instead of having all of them focus on you. You can craft this weapon using the Swarm Tusk, which you can get by defeating the Thrull, along with five Lumenite Crystals.
7 Vigor And Will To Live Traits
Aside from the Elder Knowledge trait, you may also want to invest in the Vigor and Will to Live traits if you want to power through this challenging game, whether alone or with other players.
The Vigor trait will increase your overall health while the Will to Live trait will increase your health while you’re wounded, thus furthering your survivability. The only catch is that for you to earn the Will to Live trait, you’re going to have to play co-op for a while. You can earn this trait by being revived at least 10 times in multiplayer.
6 Know The Bosses’ Weaknesses And Alternatives
The bosses in Remnant: From the Ashes are no pushovers. They can be very challenging to deal with, especially if you’re running solo. Even worse is when you don’t know about some of the intricate details of the game’s bosses. For example, their weaknesses and alternatives.
Mind you, not every single boss in the game has a particular weakness or an alternative, but most of them do and it will make your experience way smoother. For example, The Ent has a very glaring weakness located on his back. You can also skip the Undying King boss fight by bringing him the Guardian’s Heart.
5 Get A Better Melee Weapon
The Ex-Cultist’s starting melee weapon is the Scrap Hatchet. While this is a decent melee weapon at the beginning of the game, there are so many others that have better stats and damage values. Don’t get stuck on this weapon.
As you progress through the game, you’ll defeat a ton of bosses who will give you rewards afterward. You can use some of these materials to craft weapons, including melee ones.
4 Use The Mender’s Aura
The Mender’s Aura is the starting Weapon Mod you will have with you if you choose the Ex-Cultist archetype. This mod is very useful all throughout the game on both a solo run and a co-op run.
If you’re doing a solo run, you can use the Mender’s Aura to heal yourself when you’ve run out of Dragon Hearts or Bloodworts. You can also use this to heal others in multiplayer. The Mender’ Aura’s heal pool lasts for 10 seconds at first but can go up to 20 seconds once leveled up.
3 Be Mindful Of The Spirit Trait
The Spirit Trait is one of the more difficult traits to earn in the game. That is, unless, you’re playing as an Ex-Cultist. In which case, this trait is among your starting traits. Make sure you pay mind to this trait as it is one of the most useful ones in the game.
This trait will increase your mod power generation by 1.25% per point. This is one of the best perks of starting out as an Ex-Cultist. Make sure you take advantage of it.
2 Play The Support Role
The Ex-Cultist Archetype is created with the intention of being the support type within a party of three. If you are playing co-op, make sure you respect and play the heck out of this position.
If you play your role as a support well, you and your party mates should be able to breeze through the game and have more fun doing it. Make sure you use the Mender’s Aura to heal other players. Attack enemies from a decent distance, or even further if you have the Hunting Rifle.
1 Play Co-op
A lot of players choose the Ex-Cultist starting class because it is the most recommended archetype when playing solo. However, this doesn’t mean that you should fully discard this mechanic.
Playing the game with other people is one of the things that make this game way more fun than it already is. You can even have more fun with it considering you’re playing the Ex-Cultist archetype, which is considered by many as the support role. It will diversify your play style and experience, thus making you a better and more patient player as a whole.
NEXT: Remnant: From The Ashes - 10 Tips For Playing Through Survival Mode
