That said, creating custom builds can be a daunting challenge. There are a lot of options to choose from, and not a lot of skill points to distribute.

We’ve got you covered, though. These are a few of our favorite community builds that we’ve found as the Mordhau metagame has started to shake out - create them directly and start racking up wins, or tweak them to your desired playstyle.

Spear and Shield

If you’d rather attack with a hit and run style than getting up close and personal, then this is the build for you. Here’s YouTuber Gatling Gigz with a breakdown of how it works. The spear and shield combination has proven to be a very popular and successful build in Mordhau, and this is one of our favorite ways of putting it together. Here’s what you’ll need:

Hands: Short Spear, Kite Shield, Smoke Bomb Armor: Light Helmet, Light Chest Perks: Dodge, Acrobat, Tenacious

How It Works

This build is designed to dominate one on one fights.

You will be able dodge nearly any attack your opponent sends your way with your Dodge and Acrobat perks, and your spear and shield combination will help your use your high stamina levels to wear down any opponent and strike a killing blow.

You also have escape potential, as this build’s biggest weakness is being outnumbered.

Archer

Want to sit on the backline and rain death from above? This is the build you want. There are two different ways to approach archer builds - most people will opt for either a crossbow or a longbow.

The longbow will cost 11 of your 16 available points, giving you little other options: probably the huntsman perk, an arming sword, and some chest armor. We prefer the crossbow build, as it gives you a bit more versatility.

Hands: Crossbow, Arming Sword Armor: Medium Helmet, Medium Armor, Light Leggings Perks: Huntsman

How It Works

Obviously, you’ll want to stay on the back line and pick your shots. The crossbow has pretty decent power, and the Huntsman perk will make you a nightmare when battling other snipers.

Try to pepper foes from long range to soften them up for your frontliners, take out fast moving scouts or saboteurs, and definitely search for enemy archers. You aren’t designed for close quarters combat, but the arming sword is no slouch.

You should be able to hold someone off with your significant armor and some decent melee skills - hopefully long enough for a teammate to come and help even the score.

The Viking

If you want to be a frontline berserker, this is a good place to start. The Viking build uses the insanely powerful Bloodlust perk, which fully restores your health every time you get a melee kill. There are lots of ways to build around this ability, but turning yourself into an axe-swinging maniac seems is tough to argue against.

Hands: War Axe Armor: Medium Armor in all three slots Perks: Bloodlust

How It Works

There isn’t a ton of room left to operate after you pick up the war axe and pair it with Bloodlust, so you’ll want to give yourself some decent armor in order to stay alive.

A few hits will probably get through to you, but the war axe is big and strong, usually letting you break through enemy defenses. Even if you’re outnumbered, focus firing on a single foe in order to replenish your health - before turning your attention to another and repeating the cycle - can be devastating.

Here’s YouTuber Sparks breaking down how he uses this build.

Gladiator

Somewhat of a combination between the two melee builds listed above, the Gladiator build will take a bit more overall skill to be successful. However, it is absolutely insane in the hands of a skilled player. Here’s YouTuber 144fpsjunkie breaking down how his favorite build in Mordhau works.

Hands: Arming Sword Armor: Heavy Armor in all three slots Perks: Dodge, Tenacious

You could also choose Bloodlust as your perk, but we’re trying to go a bit different here. This is not a complete dueling class, and not quite as effective at battling large groups, but it holds its own in most Frontline battles.

The heavy armor makes it tough to take down, Dodge and Tenacious give it some serious survivability, and the arming sword is one of the most effective low-cost weapons in all of Mordhau.

Scavenger

If you’d rather infuriate your foes by turning their own weapons against them, this is the way to go about it.

The Scavenger perk will let you tip the scales in your favor like you wouldn’t believe - if you manage to defeat a foe carrying a high cost weapon, you’ll soon be running around the battlefield as an unstoppable juggernaut. Here’s what you need:

Hands: Quarterstaff or short sword Armor: Heavy armor in all three slots Perks: Bloodlust, Scavenger

How It Works

The weapon choice is up to you - the short sword does a bit more damage, but the quarterstaff’s range probably puts it over the top. This build will require some opportunism - you’ll want to seek out enemies on the other team that carry high-cost weapons.

Look for a foe carrying a Zweihander (especially if they don’t really have the skill to wield it properly) and bash their head in. Voila - you’ll be running around the battlefield in full heavy armor with one of the best weapons in the game and a perk that restores your health with every kill. You’re basically the Highlander after he has killed all the other Highlanders.

Other Options

There are plenty of viable options available in Mordhau.

You could always utilize the Toolbox to build a variety of structures to help your team (and play some sweet lute solos while you’re at it), or you could equip a bunch of throwing weapons and use them to rain death down on anyone who tries to approach you. You could even grab a lance and just ride a horse all over the map, lopping off heads as you go. 

There are a huge variety of ways to bring death to your enemies in Mordhau, and one of the best ways to do it is by being good at something they have never seen before.

What are your favorite ways to take down your foes in Mordhau? Let us know, and check out our Mordhau guides to up your game.