Spending attribute points in Conan Exiles without a plan is one of the fastest ways to end up with a character that can't fight, can't carry loot, and dies to the first named NPC that looks at them sideways. Every level you gain gives you attribute points to distribute across a set of core stats, and the choices you make early shape what kind of exile you become. This guide breaks down how attributes work, what each one does, and how to build toward a character that actually functions in the Exiled Lands.
How do attributes work in Conan Exiles?
Each time you level up, you earn attribute points (AP) that you can spend freely across the game's core attributes. There's no class system forcing you into a specific path, which means your attribute spread becomes your build identity. You decide whether to become a heavy-hitting melee fighter, a nimble archer, a thrall commander, or something else entirely.
Attributes unlock passive bonuses at specific thresholds. Reaching these breakpoints can completely change how your character performs, which is why spreading points too thin is a mistake. Hitting meaningful milestones in one or two attributes beats having mediocre investment across everything.
Attribute allocation screen
What are the core attributes and what do they do?
Committing heavily to one or two attributes rather than spreading points thin is what separates a powerful exile from a mediocre one. Here's what each attribute does and why it matters.
Strength
Strength drives your melee damage with weapons that scale off this stat, including most heavy weapons like two-handed swords and maces. If you're building a frontline fighter, Strength is your primary investment. Higher thresholds unlock damage multipliers and effects like knockback resistance that make you significantly harder to interrupt.
Agility
Agility controls damage for lighter, faster weapons and affects your armor penetration with agility-based gear. Builds centered around daggers, bows, and light armor lean heavily into Agility. The stat also improves your dodge roll effectiveness at certain thresholds, which becomes critical in boss fights where clean movement is the difference between surviving and eating dirt.
Vitality
Vitality increases your maximum health pool and improves your passive health regeneration rate. Every build needs at least some investment here. Pure damage builds that ignore Vitality tend to collapse the moment they face anything that hits back hard. Treat Vitality as a secondary investment regardless of your primary build direction.
Vitality and health pool stats
Authority
Authority is the thrall and pet management attribute. Investing here improves the effectiveness of your followers, boosting their damage output and survivability. If you rely on thralls to do your heavy lifting in combat or to hold objectives while you craft and explore, Authority is worth serious investment.
Grit
Grit controls your stamina pool. Stamina governs how many attacks you can chain, how far you can sprint, and how often you can dodge. Running out of stamina mid-fight is a death sentence in most encounters, so Grit benefits every build at some level, even if it's not your primary focus.
Expertise
Expertise affects your carrying capacity and crafting output, reducing the weight of items in your inventory and improving crafting yields. For players focused on resource gathering, base building, or long farming runs, Expertise reduces the constant back-and-forth to storage. Combat-focused players often deprioritize this one, but it becomes more relevant as your base scales up.
Survival
Survival governs your resistance to environmental hazards, poisons, diseases, and temperature extremes. In the early game, when heat and cold are constant threats, Survival points can save your life. Later, with proper gear, you can often cover temperature resistance through equipment alone, which frees up points for combat stats.
Survival and temperature resistance
Which attributes should you prioritize first?
The answer depends on your playstyle, but there are a few patterns that hold up across most builds.
After testing different spreads across all major content types, the most consistent approach is to pick one damage attribute (Strength or Agility, not both), invest enough Vitality to survive sustained fights, and then fill Grit to the first meaningful stamina threshold before going anywhere else.
What are the best builds for different playstyles?
Heavy melee build
For a frontline brawler, prioritize Strength to your first major damage threshold, then invest in Vitality to pad your health pool. Once those two are in a comfortable spot, route points into Grit to maintain stamina through longer fights. This build pairs naturally with heavy armor and two-handed weapons.
Light combat and ranged build
Agility-focused builds want to hit their first Agility damage bonus quickly, then split between Vitality and Grit. Light armor means you take more damage per hit, so both health and stamina matter more here than in a heavy build. The dodge roll improvements at higher Agility thresholds are genuinely strong and worth pushing toward.
Thrall-focused build
If you're running a thrall army, Authority is your primary stat. Your followers do the fighting while you direct the engagement. Still invest in Vitality as a baseline because thralls don't protect you from everything, and you'll still get hit. Expertise becomes useful here if you're managing large-scale resource operations to keep your followers equipped.
Authority and thrall management
Can you respec your attributes?
Yes. Conan Exiles allows you to reset your attribute points and redistribute them, which means your first build doesn't have to be your final build. Use this to experiment with different playstyles as you unlock more of the game's content. A build that works well in the early Exiled Lands might need adjustment once you're taking on harder dungeons or PvP encounters.
For deeper reading on how each attribute scales and what the exact breakpoint bonuses are, the official Conan Exiles Wiki attribute page is the most up-to-date reference available. You can also browse more guides on GAMES.GG to find builds, survival tips, and content strategies across a wide range of games.