In The Lantern of the Laughless Saint, selecting a character race is one of the earliest and most impactful choices players face. Each race offers distinct starting bonuses and penalties that nudge you toward specific builds, but the true depth lies in how you develop your skills through experience and skill points as you progress.
The RPG mechanics emphasize open-ended character development similar to classics like Morrowind, allowing players to focus on combat, magic, stealth, or exploration, or a blend of these elements. This flexibility means your character’s capabilities evolve based on how you play rather than being dictated solely by race.
This overview covers all the current playable races, their unique starting adjustments, and explains how skill progression works, enabling you to make fully informed decisions about your character’s path.
How Character Skills Work
After finalizing your character, all available skills can be reviewed under the Skills tab within the main menu. Here you’ll find a wide range of abilities stretching from combat and magic to everyday tasks like fishing and swimming.
Each time you level up, you gain 5 Skill Points that you can distribute as you see fit. Whether it’s enhancing archery prowess, boosting sorcery, or sharpening sneaking, you can dedicate points to the skills most critical to your build.
However, skill advancement isn’t limited to spending points. Many skills improve passively through use — running boosts movement skills, combat usage grows weapon proficiency, and so forth. This organic growth means not every point needs to be allocated immediately.
For example, regularly swimming or sneaking will naturally increase those abilities over time, creating a dynamic progression that rewards gameplay style.
Should You Save Skill Points?
Holding onto some skill points can pay off, especially for abilities that are slow to advance naturally, like combat skills if you’re not frequently engaging enemies.
Conversely, certain skills such as Sprinting, Swimming, and Sneaking often increase simply by repeated use during exploration and don’t always require immediate investment of points.
It’s important to note the distinction between levelling a skill normally and using Skill Points. Natural progression requires accumulating experience to reach the next level, but Skill Points can instantly elevate a skill, skipping that grind.
Playable Races in The Lantern of the Laughless Saint
The game’s Early Access version features five distinct playable races, each with unique starting stats and skill adjustments. Your initial race choice leans you toward a particular playstyle but doesn’t lock you out from other paths later.
Umbrite – Faithful Militant
The Umbrite excel as warriors who blend weapon mastery with magical potential. If you envision a combatant who fights effectively with both one-handed and two-handed weapons while harnessing channeling magic, Umbrite is a solid pick.
Starting adjustments:
- +5 One-Handed
- +5 Two-Handed
- +5 Channeling
Rooted in the worship of Umbrinox, the creator deity in the game’s lore, Umbrite warriors have balanced offensive capabilities suited to frontline combat.
Their starting bonuses reduce the need to spend Skill Points immediately, offering an upfront edge with weapons and magic.
Al-Fijhani – Cunning Trader
Al-Fijhani represents the shrewd merchant archetype, optimized for economic gains, lockpicking, and negotiation advantages.
Starting adjustments:
- +15% Better Prices
- +15 Lockpicking
- -20 Max Health
While their reduced maximum health is a serious tradeoff, the superior ability to secure improved prices and pick locks makes them ideal if you prefer a clever, less combative playstyle.
Their skill set is perfect for those focused on trading, exploration, and utility skills rather than direct confrontation.
Ruggite – Pale Acolyte
Ruggite are the quintessential magic users, devoted followers of Ruggul the Wrathul, with inherent magical enhancements and vulnerabilities.
Starting adjustments:
- +100 Max Magic Power
- -30 Max Stamina
- 50% Weakness to Fire
- +1 Starting Spell
Their extra starting magic resources and a free spell give them an immediate advantage for spellcasting builds, but decreased stamina and fire vulnerability mean they need a careful approach to survival.
If your focus revolves around spellcasting ability, the Ruggite offer the clearest specialization.
Thrakh – Reptilian Wanderer
Thrakh – Reptilian Wanderer
Thrakh hail from a long-lost civilization and embody a rugged explorer’s spirit, combining physical resilience and enhanced carrying capacity.
Starting adjustments:
- +50 Max Carry Weight
- +15 Swimming
- -10 Archery
These bonuses favor players who prioritize loot collection and aquatic exploration, though their archery skill penalty makes ranged combat less efficient.
If you love adventuring with bags full of gear and exploring waterways, Thrakh is an excellent early choice.
Calyx – Psionic Feline
Calyx are feline-like psionic characters adapted for wilderness survival and arcane sight.
Starting adjustments:
- +15 Psionics
- -5 Total Armor Rating
- -10 Swimming
- +1 Spell: Night Eye
The Night Eye spell grants powerful night vision, allowing Calyx to navigate dark areas and caves with greater ease than other races.
Note that the armor penalty is a direct reduction to total armor rating, not to a specific armor skill, impacting survivability.
While they struggle more with swimming, their psionic strength and special vision spell suit players focused on supernatural abilities and stealthy exploration.
Which Race Should You Choose?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all ideal race. Your preferred combat style or gameplay approach should guide your choice.
Here’s a quick rundown illustrating which race aligns well with a given playstyle:
| Playstyle | Recommended Race |
|---|---|
| One-Handed / Two-Handed combat | Umbrite |
| Trading and Lockpicking | Al-Fijhani |
| Magic-focused build | Ruggite |
| Carrying loot and swimming | Thrakh |
| Psionics and dark-area exploration | Calyx |
Ultimately, your race choice provides a solid foundation but doesn’t confine your character’s growth. Skill points can be invested across the board, and natural skill advancement allows your playstyle to steer development in any direction you prefer.
Since The Lantern of the Laughless Saint launched into Early Access on August 17, 2026, expect these systems and bonuses to evolve. Developers are actively updating gameplay, so stay tuned for balance changes that might shift these dynamics further.