Welcome to Elderfield builds and Old God comparison

Choose a Welcome to Elderfield build around the next problem you need to solve: surviving incoming damage, sustaining rituals, exploring with Luck, or accessing a God Forge recipe. The comparison on this page covers seven documented Old God allegiances. Its goal filters are editorial suggestions, not tested best-in-slot equipment sets, DPS rankings, or proof that one choice wins every encounter.

For the full mechanical reference, read the Old Gods guide. If you searched for the companion-making task rather than combat builds, use the separate Build a Wife quest.

Start with the failure that stops your run

Describe the problem before choosing a bonus. A character who runs out of MP has a different constraint from one who cannot survive an enemy turn. A bigger resource pool also does not automatically solve an inefficient damage choice. Use the combat preparation guide to check equipment, recovery supplies, and the enemy before treating allegiance as the missing upgrade.

Choose one objective filter in the comparison, read both sides of each trade, and select up to two options. The filter does not calculate an optimal build. It narrows the seven records to choices whose documented effects could support that objective. A survival tag includes situational physical-defense options; it does not mean all tagged choices improve magical defense.

Compare the penalty before the bonus

Write down the stat you cannot afford to lose. Then reject any option that reduces it, unless another part of your setup demonstrably compensates. Compare the remaining candidates rather than adding every positive percentage into a single score. Defense, HP, speed, and MP do different jobs, and this tool does not invent an exchange rate between them.

For example, a physical-survival problem and a mixed-damage problem deserve different checks. Extra HP can make an individual hit easier to absorb, but a magical-defense penalty can work against the next encounter. Similarly, more MP does not remove an HP penalty. Keep the exact enemy and recovery plan in view when comparing.

Check recipes as a separate objective

A useful God Forge recipe can justify a choice even when its stat package is not your favorite. Before switching, inspect the live recipe and decide whether you can obtain its ingredients. Seeing a recipe name in this comparison does not mean that its materials are already in your inventory or that the item has been crafted.

Keep access tools separate from allegiance. The Skeleton Key guide distinguishes named locks and consumable keys. A suitable recipe does not replace a floor unlock, wire cutters, a breakable-wall tool, or the correct area variant. Avoid spending a limited key just to test whether it belongs to a different door system.

Make a Sunday plan you can check

Current community guidance places allegiance changes at the Church on Sunday. Before confirming, record your equipment, status effects, and relevant stats. After the choice, review the live bonus and penalty screen, then inspect the God Forge. If the numbers differ from this page, trust the current game and isolate other modifiers before deciding that the allegiance failed.

Keep the comparison small: one objective, two candidates, one planned route. The Catacombs guide and Old Woods route can help identify the actual access condition. Reconsider the choice when the objective changes rather than treating an editorial label as a permanent character class.

Keep announced professions separate

The October development preview describes a future Professions rework. It is not evidence that a complete new perk tree is already available in your installed build. This comparison therefore uses the published allegiance tradeoffs and does not mix announced profession perks into an invented loadout.

Read the Professions update status before following an update-era build video. Match its release and visible menus to your game, especially when its advice depends on a perk you cannot find.