Soulbound Online Upgradeable Relic Trees Explained: Ultimate Progression Guide
When I first jumped into Soulbound: Online, I made the same mistake I always make in new MMORPGs—I started looking for the fastest way to gain levels. After a couple of hours, it finally clicked that there wasn’t a traditional level grind at all. Instead, the game pushes you toward something much more interesting: permanent progression through upgrades and relic trees.
Honestly, I ended up liking this system far more than the classic ‘kill monsters until your XP bar fills.’ Every dungeon run feels like you’re building a fresh character, while every visit back to town slowly shapes what that future character can become. If you’re wondering why experienced players seem dramatically stronger even with similar equipment, the answer almost always comes down to how they’ve invested in the game’s massive network of 200+ upgradeable relic trees.
Soulbound Online Weapon Archetypes Tier List (2026 Early Access Guide)
How Soulbound: Online Changes Traditional MMORPG Progression
Most online RPGs reward time spent grinding enemies. Soulbound: Online certainly rewards time, but not through character levels. Instead, your long-term strength depends on three major systems working together: gear quality, weapon and ability upgrades, and permanent relic tree progression. It creates a gameplay loop that constantly shifts between calm exploration and chaotic combat without ever feeling repetitive.
You’ll spend time gathering resources, improving equipment, unlocking abilities, and preparing for dangerous dungeon expeditions. Once you enter an instance, everything becomes faster, tougher, and far less forgiving. Every relic choice matters because it determines how powerful your temporary build becomes before the run ends. That’s probably my favorite part of the game. Every dungeon feels different even though your permanent progression continues behind the scenes.
The Upgrade Menu Is Where Your Real Power Begins
Many new players underestimate the Upgrade menu. It doesn’t look flashy, and at first glance it seems like you’re simply increasing weapon damage or improving an ability by a few percentage points. In reality, every investment has much larger consequences that become obvious only after several dungeon runs.
Each permanent upgrade does two important things at the same time. First, it improves the base performance of the selected weapon or ability. Second, it expands the relic tree that can appear during dungeon runs. That second feature completely changes how future runs play out because your upgrade decisions directly influence the quality and variety of relics you’ll be offered later.
Think of the Upgrade menu as building a larger deck before starting a strategy card game. The stronger your collection becomes, the more powerful combinations you can discover during every expedition. After realizing this, I stopped spending resources randomly and started planning upgrades around builds I actually wanted to play.
Understanding the Three Types of Relic Trees
The game separates relics into three major categories, each serving a unique role inside a dungeon run. Together they create the backbone of every successful build.
| Relic Type | Purpose | Maximum Per Run |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon Relics | Enhance weapon behavior, damage, and attack patterns. | 8 |
| Ability Relics | Modify and strengthen active abilities. | 24 |
| Passive Relics | Increase core stats, movement, survivability, and utility. | 32 |
If you fully optimize a late-game character, you can carry an incredible 64 active relics during one dungeon run. That sounds overwhelming on paper, but the progression feels natural because your build evolves gradually. Every relic choice adds another layer of synergy rather than creating unnecessary complexity.
Why Duplicate Relics Keep Appearing
One question appears constantly across community discussions: why does the game keep offering duplicate relics? I asked myself exactly the same thing during my first serious dungeon attempts.
The explanation is surprisingly simple. If you’ve invested permanent upgrades into only one or two abilities, your available relic pool becomes very limited. Eventually the dungeon generator runs out of unique options and starts repeating relics you’ve already encountered. It isn’t bad luck or broken RNG—it’s a direct result of your upgrade decisions.
The best solution is expanding your investments across several complementary abilities. By doing so, you dramatically increase the number of available relic combinations, making every run feel fresher while reducing repetitive upgrade choices.
Your Build Becomes Your Class
One feature I genuinely appreciate is the complete absence of traditional character classes. Instead of choosing Warrior, Mage, or Priest before the adventure even begins, Soulbound: Online lets your playstyle evolve naturally through upgrades and relic selections.
Depending on where you spend your resources, your character can become almost anything. Whether you enjoy protecting teammates, dealing enormous damage, or creating balanced hybrid builds, the game gives you the flexibility to change your role without creating an entirely new character.
Popular Build Directions
- Dedicated support healer with shields and healing chains.
- Fast-paced ranged DPS focused on projectile damage.
- Tank build emphasizing defense and survivability.
- Hybrid setups combining offense, mobility, and utility.
I’ve switched between completely different playstyles multiple times without ever feeling punished. That kind of freedom is something many modern MMORPGs still struggle to provide.
Support Builds Are Surprisingly Fun
I normally avoid healer roles because they often feel passive and repetitive. Soulbound: Online completely changed my opinion. Skills like Healing Pulse become much more interesting once relic upgrades start interacting with them.
Depending on your relic selections, healing effects can jump between teammates, generate protective barriers, or activate after successful dodges. Instead of standing in the back watching health bars, you’re constantly moving, avoiding projectiles, and actively contributing during combat. It makes support gameplay feel engaging rather than mandatory.
Weapon Relics Can Completely Transform Combat
Weapon relics don’t simply increase damage numbers. They often change how a weapon actually functions. The Minigun is one of the best examples because later relic upgrades dramatically alter projectile behavior.
Rather than firing in a straight line forever, upgraded relic paths allow bullets to rotate across the battlefield, creating sweeping circles of destruction during intense bullet-heaven encounters. These kinds of mechanical changes feel far more satisfying than simple percentage boosts because they genuinely affect how you approach every fight.
Every Dungeon Run Carries Real Risk
One mechanic that constantly keeps me thinking is the extraction system. Permanent upgrades are completely safe, but everything you gather during a dungeon expedition can disappear if you fail.
That creates meaningful decisions every time you push deeper into difficult content. Do you risk another boss for better rewards, or do you secure your loot while you’re ahead? Higher-level dungeons offer significantly better crafting materials, but losing an hour of progress because of one bad encounter never feels good.
Using the Home Portal may not be exciting, but it’s often the smartest decision available. I’ve ignored that advice more than once, convinced I could survive one extra fight, and almost always regretted it afterward.
My Recommended Progression Path
If I had to start over today, I’d follow a much cleaner progression route instead of wasting resources early on.
- Complete the main story before exploring too much.
- Collect crafting resources whenever possible.
- Upgrade your equipment regularly.
- Invest in multiple abilities instead of only one.
- Prioritize synergy over raw damage numbers.
These simple habits made my overall progression much smoother. Instead of constantly struggling through difficult encounters, I found myself creating stronger relic combinations that naturally carried me through harder dungeons.
Relic Trees Keep Every Run Interesting
What surprised me most after dozens of hours is just how much replay value the relic system creates. Even after countless dungeon attempts, I still discover combinations that completely change how combat unfolds. Some runs focus on mobility and critical hits, while others evolve into area-of-effect monsters that flood the screen with rotating projectiles.
Since your permanent upgrades directly influence which relics appear later, every improvement made in town affects future adventures. That constant interaction between long-term progression and randomized dungeon builds is what keeps the game feeling fresh long after the tutorial ends.
Final Thoughts
After experimenting with a wide range of builds, I honestly believe the upgradeable relic trees are the strongest system in Soulbound: Online. They replace repetitive level grinding with meaningful progression that rewards planning, experimentation, and adapting your strategy over time.
If you’re aiming for tougher dungeons or eventually want to compete on the seasonal leaderboards, don’t focus solely on finding stronger weapons. Invest in expanding your relic options, strengthen multiple abilities, and build powerful synergies between permanent upgrades and your in-run decisions. Once those systems begin working together, every dungeon becomes less about surviving and more about creating the perfect build for whatever challenge comes next.
