Lineage2M Class Tier List: Best PvE and PvP Classes After Chainsword

To maximize your progression in Lineage2M after the Chainsword update, choose Bow or Orb for low-investment, automated PvE farming, or invest in Chainsword and Dagger if your primary focus is competitive PvP combat.

Automated hunting efficiency favors ranged attackers who can tag open-world monsters instantly without pathing delays. Conversely, high-tier PvP and guild warfare demand survivability, crowd control, and burst damage, shifting the advantage toward durable melee and control specialists.

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Class Tier Rankings Overview

The following rankings reflect class effectiveness across PvE hunting and PvP combat following the Chainsword balance update:

Class	PvE Farming Tier	PvP / Siege Tier	Primary Role & Identity
Bow	S	A	Top-tier ranged farmer; fast mob tagging and sustained single-target DPS
Orb	S	S	High-sustain holy damage dealer, party buffer, and primary healer
Crossbow	S	A	Mobile ranged skirmisher with rapid wave-clearing and movement debuffs
Chainsword	A	S	Mid-range melee bruiser featuring life drain, enemy pulls, and lockdown
Dagger	B	S	Single-target assassin with stealth, teleports, and critical burst
Staff	A	A	AoE magic nuker; high group burst that requires heavy mana management
Sword & Shield	B	S	Frontline tank specializing in damage mitigation, taunts, and stuns
Greatsword	B	A	Melee brawler equipped with multi-target stuns and formation disruption
Dual Blade	B	B	Sustained critical melee attacker; requires high baseline Accuracy
Spear	B	B	Linear AoE melee specialist; effective against clustered mobs

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Best PvE Progression Classes

If your priority is unattended field hunting, leveling speed, and conserving adena on potions, prioritize ranged or sustain-oriented classes.

Bow (S-Tier PvE)

Bow provides the most reliable automated farming in open-world zones. High base attack range eliminates pathing lag, allowing you to hit and eliminate targets before melee classes arrive. Scaling through DEX provides reliable attack speed and critical strike chance at a relatively low gear requirement. In PvP, Bow acts as an open-field kiter, though it lacks the raw burst to single-handedly breach heavily armored frontliners.

Orb (S-Tier PvE & PvP)

Orb combines consistent holy damage with self-healing, allowing your character to farm higher-level monster zones indefinitely without relying on HP potions. In group content, castle sieges, and world boss raids, Orb is mandatory for its party-wide survivability buffs, barriers, and resurrection utility.

Crossbow (S-Tier PvE)

Crossbow shares the Bow's ranged farming speed while trading static firing for higher mobility and status effects. Its chaining abilities clear scattered spawns quickly. In PvP, tactical movement debuffs and rapid burst fire make it an elusive ranged alternative for DEX builds.

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Top PvP and Frontline Specialists

While pure melee classes face clear disadvantages in crowded PvE farming zones, their crowd control, gap closers, and defensive mechanics dominate competitive encounters.

Chainsword (A-Tier PvE, S-Tier PvP)

The Chainsword acts as a hybrid mid-range brawler. Its extended attack reach mitigates standard melee pathing bottlenecks during automated grinding. In 1v1 and small-scale PvP, whip pulls, binding chains, and vampiric life drain provide exceptional lockdown and survivability once you unlock core red-grade skill books.

Dagger (B-Tier PvE, S-Tier PvP)

Dagger is built to eliminate backline damage dealers. Featuring silence debuffs, gap-closing teleports, and high critical damage multipliers, it is unmatched at securing fast pick-offs. Its PvE clear speed is lower because it must run between individual targets on foot.

Sword & Shield (B-Tier PvE, S-Tier PvP)

Also known as the Knight, Sword & Shield serves as the primary frontline anchor. Passive block rates, damage mitigation barriers, and taunts allow it to manage boss aggro and hold choke points during castle sieges. Because its solo damage is low, level progression typically relies on party hunting or secondary class weapons.

Staff (A-Tier PvE, A-Tier PvP)

Staff delivers high area-of-effect elemental damage, making it devastating in grouped dungeon pulls and large-scale siege fights. However, continuous spell rotations demand significant MP recovery gear and consumables to maintain high kill rates.

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Situational Melee Picks

Greatsword (B-Tier PvE, A-Tier PvP): Operates as a secondary frontline disruptor. Its multi-target stuns break enemy lines in group skirmishes, though it suffers from slow solo hunting speeds.
Dual Blade (B-Tier PvE, B-Tier PvP): Delivers continuous single-target critical pressure, but depends heavily on codex-driven Accuracy and Evasion stats to prevent missed hits in high-tier zones.
Spear (B-Tier PvE, B-Tier PvP): Excels when pulling tightly grouped mob clusters using linear piercing skills, but struggles to match Bow or Crossbow efficiency across wide, scattered fields.

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Next Steps: How to Allocate Your Investment

Match Classes to Your Primary Stat: If you plan to switch classes later, keep your main attribute consistent (such as swapping between Bow and Crossbow for DEX, or Orb and Staff for INT) to preserve your equipment substats and rune investments.
Account for Skill Book Costs: High-tier PvP picks like Dagger and Chainsword require red-grade skill books to unlock their decisive burst and control skills. If you are playing on a limited budget, Bow and Orb achieve maximum farming efficiency with green and blue skills.
Set Up an Offline Farmer: If your main class is a low-speed melee tank (Sword & Shield or Greatsword), build a secondary ranged setup (Bow or Crossbow) to maintain efficient adena and item generation during unattended farming sessions.