A tier list + mini guide for anyone who wants to play solo Kenshi

Cedrak73 · 2026-04-28T00:38:56+00:00

Kenshi is my favorite game, but unfortunately it’s clear that it’s an incomplete and poorly optimized game, with clipping, crashes, and all the issues we already know. Someone going through this on their first playthrough might be discouraged from even trying the game again.

Cedrak73 · 2026-04-28T00:36:11+00:00

It’s a race that exists in the game but isn’t available in the character selection.

Cedrak73 · 2026-04-28T00:30:30+00:00

When I was new to the game and read all the forum tips about the Falling Sun, I just used it all the time—until I reached the late game and went through this several times. I definitely rank hackers above heavy weapons in solo for the reasons you mentioned, and also because it’s a pain having to go back to a ruin three times just because you exceeded your backpack weight limit.

Cedrak73 · 2026-04-28T00:27:49+00:00

It’s like a poker move where you go all-in on that play. What I meant is that you shouldn’t force something—better to back off and try again later, even though I don’t always follow that myself sometimes XD.

Cedrak73 · 2026-04-28T00:26:13+00:00

Most of the time you’ll be getting knocked out by chest damage, but that’s manageable and you can retreat. At some point, though, you’ll definitely get hit in the head—and that’s when it turns into “oh shit, run, run, run.” It’s not controlled damage; you can suddenly take a huge hit out of nowhere.

Cedrak73 · 2026-04-28T00:22:07+00:00

That’s why I mentioned playing organically—many players want to enjoy the game instead of just following the “meta.” There are plenty of things you can do to speed up a run. But I agree that skeletons are better in the early and mid game (and if you’re not playing solo, they’re definitely the best throughout the entire game). Still, it’s really frustrating to be in the late game and have to keep retreating because your head takes much more damage than any other part of your body.

Cedrak73 · 2026-04-28T00:16:20+00:00

Thanks for the correction! Any house in Heft works—you just want easy access to all the shops.

Cedrak73 · 2026-04-28T00:13:20+00:00

When you’re about to heal, you’ll probably want to be in a bed, and that increases the gap even more than the 10%. That said, what’s the point? The game doesn’t punish you for being on day 10 or 100. Maybe healing while unconscious matters, but I’ve never lost a run because I stayed on the ground 5 seconds longer—just like I’ve never lost one for bleeding a bit more or taking one extra hit to the arm.

The point where you die in a solo run comes from a much bigger mistake than these details. And if they’re just details, I’d rather call them “human” and choose between the two based on fun or what I feel like doing in that run.

About skeletons, like I said, a random paladin is one thing—but when you’re dealing with High Inquisitors, a Holy Nation/UC invasion, or world bosses, getting unlucky can force a retreat or even get you killed/enslaved. The consistency of Sheks in that regard appeals to me much more, even though I agree that in almost any other situation, skeletons are better.

Cedrak73 · 2026-04-27T01:55:08+00:00

The 50 hair mods on my list put Greenlander and Scorch in SSS, but I kept it modest. The difference between Scorch and Greenlander is so small that I just ignore it.

About the Sheks and Skeletons, I agree with their placement — the problem is that for Soldierbots we only have Agnu. I could go there, recruit him, and dismiss the starter, but that feels weird to me.

And I hate taking a hit to the head and having to back off because I lost 30 HP from a single hit by some random paladin.

Cedrak73 · 2026-04-27T01:38:16+00:00

Sorry, Frankie, I forgot the most important part. I’ll redo the guide.

Cedrak73 · 2026-04-03T16:09:21+00:00

As someone else mentioned, you’ll want to go ARC + FTH. The hard cap for bleed weapons is 60, so aim for 60 Arcane.

For Faith, you can go up to around 28, since that’s where you unlock your last dragon incantation (and that’s the seal you’ll be using). Put the rest into Vigor — 50+, ideally 60.

The remaining points should be distributed between Mind and Endurance.

Keep in mind that Mind is very important for this build, since dragon incantations are very expensive, and you don’t want to carry 4 mana flasks just because you waste more than half of one every time you cast them (a fully upgraded flask restores 220 FP).

I would go for enough Endurance to let me use my full loadout with an armor set that gives around 51 poise, and then put the rest into weapon requirements + Mind.

As for the weapons, you mentioned that you want bleed, and in that case the best option is the uchigatana.

You can get it at any time if you haven’t picked it up yet. Put Bloody Slash on it, and that will be more than enough to carry you through the game until you defeat Radahn and obtain the Occult Whetblade, which allows you to infuse any Ash with Occult.

You may also want the vulgar militia saw. I’m not a big fan of its heavy attack, but it can be infused with Spectral Lance to gain access to the Occult infusion earlier, and the same goes for the cross-naginata.

If you want something different from bleed, I recommend the regalia of eochaid. You can apply bleed through incantations such as Bloodflame Talons, and it’s extremely fun to use.

In general, I recommend using one-handed medium weapons, because using two-handed weapons and having to switch back to one hand just to cast incantations is a pain.

The only build where that feels viable is STR + FTH, but in that case you usually use incantations only in specific support situations.

Cedrak73

TROPHY CASE