ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Hello,
I’m still fairly new to the game and have been enjoying it a lot, but I rarely make it very far—mostly because I’m not confident in how to build my characters. I usually prioritize the two main stats for a class along with some Constitution, and I tend to max out skills, but I’m not sure if that’s the best approach. Are there any beginner-friendly guides that explain the fundamentals of character building without just handing me a specific build to copy?
Also, how much has the game evolved over time? A lot of the guides I’ve found are several years old, so I’m unsure how reliable or relevant they are now.

Welcome to the forums Chandralara,

The best place to start is the Updated Forum Guide Compilation which links to the Beginner's Guide along with class-specific build threads. The TOME Wiki also has lots of information, but contains spoilers.

For your stated purposes, just reviewing the Beginner's Guide should be enough for now. There have been lots of changes in classes, abilities and items over the years (and if Dark God ever gets the next two expansions done, they will likely trigger lots more) and there are, of course, mods aplenty to spice things up even more (see the total newb qol addons? thread for starting recommendations). The basics remain the same though.