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Idle Guild Master: Doctrines, Traits & Early Dungeons

Player question: Which doctrine should each class take at max level in vanilla Idle Guild Master, what traits should I default to, and what early mistakes should I avoid?

I like these games and play them myself. Complete guides are hard to find online, so while playing I collect community experience from Reddit, add a little of my own notes, and put this site together—hoping it helps. Thank you.

Quick answer

Recommendation At max level, pick a doctrine as soon as the unit unlocks one. Defaults:

Recommendation Traits: footmen default Brute; mages Bookworm; archers/rogues Feral (rogues may use Brute). On Inferno, pair Alert with Control and Ruthless with Ruin.[8][4]

Version-sensitive Do not redeem Evo23Vial-style codes early—they can break Celestial Mothership and block Legate Hadrian.[16]

Scope & edition

Version-sensitive This hub covers vanilla Idle Guild Master only. Plus-mod characters, scenes, and expeditions are out of scope—do not mix them into these picks.

Supporting guides go deeper on one question each (Assassin doctrine, Alchemist, Balrog, tanks, D7, D11). This page gives the defaults so you can act immediately.

Doctrine defaults by class

Assassin / Night Rogue → Night Lament / Night Terror

Recommendation Default: Ruin. Take it at doctrine unlock for crit, extra attacks, and final damage.[1][2][9][10][11] Trim further Expose Weakness only when crit chance is already about 100%; details on the Assassin Doctrine guide.[12]

Divine Duelist / Divine Champion

Recommendation Default: War. Do not copy this onto Night Lament—that line stays on Ruin.[3]

Inferno (mage fire line)

Recommendation Default: Control for a dungeon and raid toolkit. Take Ruin only when you are building a pure damage Inferno with Ruthless. Skip Gifted on mages once gear already hits mana breakpoints.[4]

Bard

Recommendation Default: Grace (Knowledge may sit alongside it for Healing Nova reliability). Keep Grace even if late-game value feels modest—do not switch the Bard default to Control.[5][6][13]

Balrog, tanks & Paladin

Recommendation No default on this hub. Use the Balrog doctrine and tank leveling guides.[14] Paladin role and doctrine are not settled here.[7]

Doctrine defaults (one screen)

Class / lineDefaultOnly when
Assassin / Night Lament / Night TerrorRuinCrit already capped — trim Expose Weakness; see Assassin guide
Divine Duelist / Divine ChampionWar—
Inferno mageControlPure damage — Ruin + Ruthless; skip Gifted if mana is solved
BardGraceKnowledge optional alongside Grace
BalrogNo hub defaultSee Balrog guide
Tank / PaladinNo hub defaultSee tank guide
AlchemistDoctrine not covered hereSee Alchemist guide for traits

Trait defaults

Community Knowledge Default traits: Brute on footmen, Bookworm on mages, Feral on archers and rogues (Brute is acceptable on rogues; prefer Feral).[8]

Recommendation On Inferno, default Alert with Control; take Ruthless only when the doctrine is Ruin. Alchemist traits (Feral + Alert) live on the Alchemist guide.[4]

How doctrines unlock

Observed Game Fact Units typically need max tier/level (often 45/45) and a reset toward the basic class before doctrines appear.[15] Confirm the reset cost in your client before committing.

Redeem-code warning

Version-sensitive Default: skip risky early redeems. Evo23Vial-style codes can break Celestial Mothership progression and prevent Legate Hadrian from spawning.[16] Redeem those only when you understand the side effects and accept losing that content.

Community sources

  1. Best doctrine for nigh terror? (opens Reddit)

    u/-Traffej-: “Ruin is the best trait, especiall for single target dmg, you can reach 100% crit” — comment ncc2rel

  2. Whats the best doctrine for night lament? (opens Reddit)

    u/Beneficial-Degree567: “Ruin” — comment ojrpql6

  3. need help with doctrine (opens Reddit)

    u/Pristine-Fan-8433: “Best doctrine for Night Lament is Ruin” — comment oy6qt5j

    u/Educational-Fun3513: “War for duelist, ruin for night lament” — comment oy50ks8

  4. What trait/doctrine combo for inferno line? (opens Reddit)

    u/Educational-Fun3513: “Alert or ruthless. Both are fine. Alert for control, ruthless for ruin” — comment pam2lkz

    u/Fomor666: “Mages shouldn't take the "Gifted" trait” — comment pajqu0b

  5. Best Doctrine for Bard? (opens Reddit)

    u/Educational-Fun3513: “Grace” — comment ora1no1

    u/Fomor666: “Grace/knowledge” — comment or9em9c

  6. Doctrine for bard ? (opens Reddit)

    u/AshtonShiken: “Grace is the most common choice since this makes their healing more reliable via Nova.” — comment n6dk0tv

  7. Best doctrine for paladin? (opens Reddit)

    Thread illustrates contested Paladin role (no single doctrine consensus in-sample).

  8. Traits and doctrines (opens Reddit)

    u/Educational-Fun3513: “Brute for footmen, bookworm for mages, feral for archers/rogues. Brute also works for rogues, but feral is a little bit better.” — comment p88q5g4

    u/Educational-Fun3513: “That's the list of favorable traits from the discord. Idk how up to date it is.” — comment p8b9r2e

  9. best doctrine for a night lament (opens Reddit)

    u/Albert_here1: “i personally choose ruin doctrine for night rouge” — comment ok0pfzx

  10. I didn't know Doctrines were a thing-- (opens Reddit)

    u/jardfred: “Ruin is the go to doctorine for archers and night laments for damage.” — comment oe1ekfy

  11. Doctrine (opens Reddit)

    u/jrohrer13: “Ruin and it's not particularly close” — comment mwq7vaq

  12. Ruin tree upgrades for night lament (opens Reddit)

    u/Fomor666: “If your critical strike chance is 100%, there's no need to upgrade "Expose Weakness."” — comment oksb5pe

  13. Question about grace doctrine bard (opens Reddit)

    u/Fomor666: “the usefulness of the Doctrine of Grace for a bard is rather questionable” — comment p4wnx5s

  14. Doctrine of Affliction for tank? (opens Reddit)

    u/Educational-Fun3513: “Grace is also an option. That way you can run teams without a healer” — comment o9jruii

  15. Doctrine for Imperial Vanguard and Balrog (opens Reddit)

    u/Training-Neat-2561: “each unit needs to hit 45/45 and reset back to their basic class” — comment o0amc5k

    u/Educational_Rest4843: “My balrog is a talented student; I put the doctrine of knowledge into practice.” — comment o0a68c8

  16. Definitive redeem code guide - what is safe, what is a cheat, and how to avoid breaking Celestial Mothership (opens Reddit)

    u/Careful_Influence134: “people recommended generating it without understanding that it can break Celestial Mothership and prevent Legate Hadrian from spawning” — post 1we8ibh

    u/BriefYak3340: “I redeemed the Evo.vial code when I first started. I hope the code gets removed and the bug fixed.” — comment p9efw1d

Evidence via Arctic Shift; ids re-checked this run. Edition: vanilla.