Disco Elysium is not a game you should strive to complete efficiently. It is a game of discovering the world, its characters, and yourself. There isn’t really a character build you should go with; the best first playthrough build advice is “be yourself.”
However, there are a few builds that really add new layers to the game, especially if you want to immerse yourself in the roleplaying aspect.
Here are 5 fun beginner builds I mainly recommend for those who are looking for a different experience for their later playthroughs. These would also work for first-time players, if you are looking to add some flavor to the game.
5. Sherlock Holmes
Reckon you can gather the make and model of the vehicle based on those tire trucks?
Starting build: 5-1-3-3
Signature: Perception
This is one of the more popular Disco Elysium builds that a lot of players naturally gravitate towards. High Intellect, low emotional perception (Phyche), and average physical skills (Physique and Motorics) – those are the staple traits of the most famous detective in the world.
What Sherlock Holmes Excels In:
- Having high perception means noticing more unusual things around you, so you would notice and piece together clues quicker.
- High intellect provides for investigation skills such as Logic and Visual Calculus, allowing you to draw conclusions based on evidence. The high Encyclopedia score would offer you extensive background knowledge of the world to get even more out of clues.
- Average physical attributes would still let you level up skills like Interfacing – also very Sherlockian!
4. Disco Badass
Connecting with your performer persona
Starting build: 1-5-3-3
Signature: Electrochemistry
Flip the Sherlock Holmes build around, and boom – you’re a Disco Badass! This fits in perfectly with Revachol’s disco vibes. Sing, dance, and party through the investigation and get in touch with your superstar aspirations.
What Disco Badass Excels In:
- You could do a sober run, or you could discover Revachol’s rich drug scene. Each drug will give you a temporary raise in your skill points – at a price of your health, of course. Put points into Electrochemistry to survive this amphetamine-fueled, binge-drinking, chain-smoking run.
- Discover Revachol’s underbelly in your search for the next fix. It will help you familiarize yourself with Martinaise, and it is a solid incentive to complete some side quests.
- Maxed out a skill, but have some White Checks to retry? Drugs are the way to go. Depending on what you consume, you would be able to raise a skill even if had already been maxed out. If you failed some White Checks before, you would be able to unlock and retry them with a little help from some Speed.
3. Paranormal Cop
What is this, some kind of inter-dimensional rift?
Starting build: 2-5-3-2
Signature: Inland Empire
You are surrounded by the supra-normal – why not investigate that? Let the world around you tell its story. Can’t say your necktie gives good advice, but maybe you should hear what it has to say anyway.
What Paranormal Cop Excels In:
- Revachol is full of superstition, and looking into it might yield some interesting lore. Besides, wouldn’t it be interesting to learn about the beliefs and fears of the locals you meet in your investigation?
- Some side quests have high checks for your supernatural skills, such as Shivers, so if you are trying to complete every side quest, looking beyond the veil is the move.
- Did someone say “apocalypse”? You better internalize that (that would be the Cop of the Apocalypse Thought). Unlock new dialogue options and get to introduce yourself as the “herald of doom”. But really, is the world ending? You should look into that.
2. Dumb Brute
Stop, stop! He is already dead!
Starting build: 1-1-5-5
Signature: Physical Instrument
Investigating with your brain is easy; try solving a murder through pure muscle strength! This is a good choice for a second playthrough and adds a nice challenge of being oh so stupid, but oh so strong.
What Dumb Brute Excels In:
- Let your body speak to you. As the official description states, “Physique skills are also the most silent of the bunch,” but by starting with a high Physique score, you can learn what they have to say.
- Unlock memorable dialogue with Half-Light. Intimidate information out of NPCs. Let your partner Kim Kitsuragi be the “good cop” and ask sensible questions.
- If you have played before, you probably know that your skills talk to you. But nothing adds a layer of comedy like your skills talking to each other. This kind of experience is very easy to get with high Physique as your more “intellectual” skills try to talk you out of smashing things.
1. Loremaster
Reading up on some deliciuos lore
Starting build: 5-3-2-2
Signature: Encyclopedia
Disco Elysium is all about the narrative, and you can’t separate your story from the history of the world. Unveil Revachol’s secrets: what even is going on with its politics? What is the Pale? What major events shaped the world around you?
What Loremaster Excels In:
- Discover more about the in-game universe through the Encyclopedia skill. Disco Elysium has a rich, well-developed backstory that is not only important for the main storyline but is just plain interesting.
- Get to know Kim Kitsuragi through your extensive knowledge of police procedures. Your partner is yet another mystery for you to unravel, and nothing helps you remember things about yourself like getting to know your friend.
- How exactly will you solve a complicated murder case if you know nothing about the world? Inefficiently, that’s how. If you are looking for a breakthrough in your investigation, you will need some facts, and Loremaster is just the build to give them to you.
