Character Class and Trait Guide

Overview

Welcome to my character class and trait guide! The purpose of this guide is to have everything at your fingertips if you’re having trouble deciding between one potential hero or heroine, or if you want general information on a class or how it’s unlocked. Comments are welcome and encouraged, as they help make the guide the best it can be. This guide has been updated to include two traits from the v1.3.0 patch.

Classes

In Rogue Legacy, the player has access to four beginning classes: Knight, Barbaian, Mage and Knave. All of these classes can be upgraded fairly early in the game through the manor which leads to advanced classes. The cost of unlocking increases with each unlock amassed, so the earlier they are unlocked, the less they will cost. Once a class is unlocked, it can be upgraded through the manor to unlock an ability with the exception of the final class: dragon.

Each class in this guide will be outlined, followed by a list of stat modifiers, pros, cons, and details on their special ability.

Knight -> Paladin

Jack of all trades, this is the class you first start out playing as. The most notable visual difference is the presence of a shield, which can be used once upgraded to a Paladin.

Block tends to be pretty useful, especially considering the balance in the Paladin’s stats. So long as you have mana to spare, you can always mitigate potential damage in a situation. Don’t let the sprite fool you: any attack from any direction can be blocked. After a block you are immune to damage for a second just like when you’re hit normally. You won’t flash, but it’ll take a second before blocking a hit will require MP again. Don’t bother blocking low damage or slow attacks, and try to dodge them instead. Save your MP for the things that would shave off half your health that you can’t avoid, bosses, or random bullets you weren’t expecting.

The Paladin has one secret move: statue. Pressing down when activating your shield turns you into an immobile, but invincible statue that damages anything that comes in contact with you. The act itself drains MP, rather than the contact with enemies, so this can be used to your advantage when fighting larger enemies or bosses.

Stats:

• HP x 1.0 base
• MP x 1.0 base
• Strength x 1.0 base
• Intelligence x 1.0 base

Pros:

• Doesn’t suck at anything!
• Can be fairly defensive

Cons:

• Not great at anything outside of defense

Special Ability Upgrade: Guardians Shield/Statue

• Blocks in all directions despite stance
• Blocks all damage
• Can cast spells while blocking
• Consumes 25 MP a block; blocking lasts about a second before requiring more MP
• Can change into a statue when pressing down with special
• Immobile, but invulnerable
• Damages enemies on contact
• 3 MP a tick, or 15 MP/s

Barbarian -> Barbarian King/Queen

Tanky, but otherwise weak. A great class if you get hit often, but the lack of damage output will have to be compensated for.

Once upgraded, the Barbarian King/Queen gets access to a shout that can clear a room of breakables, lingering flames and projectiles while knocking back all enemies on the screen. It’s great for making a little breathing room while fighting enemies or navigating a bullet hell room.

Stats:

• HP x 1.5 base
• MP x 0.5 base
• Strength x 0.75 base
• Intelligence x 1.0 base

Pros:

• Very high HP
• Shout has plenty of utility and is inexpensive to use

Cons:

• Low strength
• Very low MP

Special Ability Upgrade: Shout

• Knocks enemies back on screen
• Disperses projectiles or flames on screen
• Breaks objects on screen
• Uses 20 MP

Mage -> Arch Mage

Mages are the first spell-focused class you will be able to play, and one of the better ones to start with. Mages regain MP primarily through killing enemies. The MP on kill scales with what level of new game + you’re on. They are also the only class that gets the time stop spell, which stops enemies and projectiles while draining mana until you cast it again or use spell swap. Walking in to time stopped enemies and projectiles will still hurt you, though.

Arch Mages have the ability to swap spells. At the start of the game, you will only be informed of what the starting spell is, but pressing the special ability button will cycle between three spells the Arch Mage currently has. This is extremely useful, considering the different situations spells can be used in.

Stats:

• HP x 0.5 base
• MP x 1.5 base
• Strength x 0.5 base
• Intelligence x 1.25 base

Pros:

• Very high MP
• High Intelligence
• Recovers MP when killing enemies
• Able to use multiple spells when upgraded
• Chance to start with the time stop spell

Cons:

• Very low HP
• Very low strength
• Time stop burns through smaller MP pools quickly

Unlocked Ability: Spell Cycle

• Cycles between three spells
• Only one spell will be shown on character selection

Knave -> Assassin

Your run of the mill rogue, which is focused on risky gameplay: low stats, but huge damage potential in crits. You start with this class unlocked, and can upgrade it to Assassin once Arch Mage is cleared.

The Assassin has the ability to become mist, which costs roughly 25 MP a second. The player is fully invincible during this, which makes no damage fairy chest challenges way easier at the cost of MP. Unfortunately, the Assassin’s MP pool is rather small before upgrading it which limits how useful mist can be early on. Once you’ve a large enough mana pool and some MP stealing runes or equipment, the Assassin becomes a boss-rusher as misting through a majority of the castle and boss fights makes things particularly easy to survive. This, coupled with the class’s extremely high crit chance and damage allows players to make short work of any boss with a little practice.

Sometimes, the Assassin can start with a teleport spell called Quantum Translocator. When using it, it leaves a copy of you in the form of a shadow, and when used again, can teleport you back to that shadow. It’s very low cost, and can help you navigate back through puzzles, or have a modestly priced backup plan near an exit.

Stats:

• HP x 0.75 base
• MP x 0.65 base
• Strength x 0.75 base
• Intelligence x 1.0 base

Pros:

• High chance to crit (+15% chance)
• High crit damage (+125% more damage)
• Chance to start with Quantum Translocator spell

Cons:

• Low stats in general.
• Mist Form burns through smaller MP pools quickly

Unlocked Ability: Mist Form

• Invincibility except against spikes and traps
• Attacking ends Mist Form, but spells do not
• Costs 5 MP a tick, or 25 MP a second

Shinobi -> Hokage

Shinobi are straight up melee skirmisher, dishing out tons of regular damage while forfeiting any chance to crit. To support this play style of getting close, Shinobi also have a speed increase. They can be unlocked on the left side of the manor after buying Attack Up. The upgrade, Hokage, can be purchased after buying Haggle. Much like the Knave/Assassin, the Shinobi/Hokage class can start with Quantum Translocator.

Hokage get an ability called Flash, that acts as a short teleport at about the same distance as a dash.

Stats:

• HP x 0.6 base
• MP x 0.4 base
• Strength x 1.6 base
• Intelligence x 1.0 base

Pros:

• Extremely high melee damage
• 30% increased speed
• Can start with Quantum Translocator

Cons:

• 0% chance to crit (this causes poor damage scaling in New Game +)
• Very low HP
• Very low MP

Unlocked Ability: Flash

• Short range teleport
• Uses 5 MP

Miner -> Spelunker/Spelunkette

Miners and Spelunkers/Spelunkettes are fairly weak classes. Their main purpose is to gather large sums of cash, which can be improved with bounty runes in their gear. An excellent trait combination is dwarfism, due to the prevalence of chests in tiny passages, with the bonus of avoiding some rooms using those small passages. The Miner and Spelunker are unlocked on the right side of the castle, after Mage.

Once the Miner is upgraded to Spelunker/Spelunkette, the player gains the ability to see what lies in the rooms around them. While the layout of the castle is still a mystery, this could help you plan which direction you’d be able to profit the most from, pinpoint fairy chests, and seek out potential rooms for carnival challenges.

Outside of hoarding cash, the miner’s easily going to be upstaged by one of the other classes due to their lack of stats, but at the beginning of the game they are great for speeding up the grinding process.

Stats:

• HP x 0.4 base
• MP x 0.5 base
• Strength x 0.75 base
• Intelligence x 1.0 base

Pro:

• 30% increase in money

Cons:

• Low everything else
• Not recommended once in New Game +

Unlocked Ability: Headlamp

• Toggle on a light which negates darkness areas and some visually imparing traits
• Able to see every icon on the map without visiting

Lich -> Lich King/Queen

The Lich is something of a death knight, and can be unlocked after unlocking Shinobi and taking a point of haggle. Each kill adds 4 HP to your max, dramatically increasing the amount of health you have. In addition to this, each time your max HP increases, it comes along with actual HP to fill the new portion of max health you just stole. Depending on your level, this eventually maxes out, but its usefulness is increased even further after upgrading to Lich King/Queen, when you can convert half of your health in to max MP and start the process over again for HP. Much like when you are stealing HP, your max MP also comes with actual MP during the conversion. Using this cycle, a Lich King can replenish health and mana so long as they can find enemies to kill. Despite having this ability, eventually you can max out and can’t steal HP or convert it to MP, so HP/MP steal runes are still useful if you’re going for a full run.

Another trait unique to this class is the spell Crow Storm. For each enemy in a room, a crow will spawn and home in on it. This is amazing for clearing out rooms in the beginning of the run, as the crows will usually take out most things in a hit, depending on your stats.

Stats:

• HP x 0.35 base
• MP x 0.5 base
• Strength x 0.75 base
• Intelligence x 1.5 base

Pros:

• Kills grant 4 max HP
• High intelligence
• Potentially huge HP/MP pools
• Can occasionally start with the Crow Storm spell

Cons:

• Max HP and MP eventually caps, which depends on level
• Very low starting HP
• Very low MP
• Low strength

Unlocked Ability: Convert HP to MP

• Will convert half of max HP in to MP
• HP and MP caps depending on level

Spellthief -> Spellsword

The Spellthief is the advanced user’s mage class, and is heavily focused on using spells and quickly regaining MP. It is unlocked after upgrading Assassin on the right side of the manor, and taking a point of Potion Up. Each time an enemy is hit, 30% of your melee damage comes back as mana, including crits. This is a huge advantage for those that prefer to use spells frequently against bosses, as you can continue to regenerate additional MP during the battle. It’s also worth noting that any damage caused by retaliation equipment is subject to generating MP.

Once upgrading to Spellsword, you will be able to cast empowered spells, which are double the damage and double the size, but also take double the mana. Due to the nature of the class, I don’t recommend mana regeneration runes, with the exception of balance, since it also restores HP if vampirism runes aren’t available.

Stats:

• HP x 0.75 base
• MP x 0.4 base
• Strength x 0.75 base
• Intelligence x 1.0 base

Pros:

• 30% damage gained as mana MP on sword hit.
• Empowered spells can be extremely effective.

Cons:

• Low HP
• Very low MP
• Low strength

Unlocked Ability: Empowered Spell[/list]

• Casts larger version of current spell
• Double MP cost
• Double damage

Dragon

The final class to unlock: half human, half dragon. Wings have sprout out of you, and now you favor breathing fire instead of swatting with a sword. It can be obtained after unlocking Spellsword and putting a point into Invuln Time Up, after which it’ll appear on the flag of the castle. The dragon class can be a huge advantage with the right runes.

The Dragon’s main attack is firebreath, which uses MP, but the Dragon naturally regenerates MP very quickly. This attack has quite a bit of distance to it, which means you will probably be able to kill most enemies without even getting close to them. In addition, the dragon doesn’t jump. Jumping toggles flight mode, where the user can freely move around. Jump runes will not effect it in any way, so swap them out for something else. The dragon can be a little slow in flight, so a haste rune or two is really beneficial, and haste runes totally negate the need for a dash outside of fairy chest situations. The dragon class has no ability upgrade, as it counts flight as the special ability.

Because of the mana regeneration, don’t waste runes on straight MP regeneration. If you are at your weight limit and want to use something heavier, keep in mind most swords will not affect this class unless they have a special attribute, as strength is only for sword attacks and the fire breath is intelligence based; you can always dump your sword for better protection or intelligence boosts.

Stats:

• HP x 0.4 base
• MP x 0.25 base
• Strength x 1.0 base
• Intelligence x 1.0 base

Pros:

• Jump is now unlimited flight (Hit jump to toggle)
• Attack is now fire breath (uses MP)
• MP regens
• Most spike pits are no longer a threat

Cons:

• No alternate spells
• Sword and strength upgrades are useless
• Can be hard to get used to flying
• Reliant on mana for basic attacks
• Can’t attack from beneath ledges due to lack of sword
• Drops to ground when hit or after dash; must activate flight again

Traitor

The Traitor class is the newest secret class added to the game. To unlock it, you must complete each of the five remix boss battles by collecting their respective obols from shrines (the ones that look like Charon) and turning it in to Charon after death. Doing so will unlock the battle for the respective obol you collect (Alexander’s obol for Alexander IV’s battle, Leon’s obol for Freon’s battle, etc) after you’ve defeated the normal version of the boss. These battles are special in that you are given a preset character for the fight, and they are repeatable (when you fail the fight, you’re given back control of your original character just outside of the boss’s room). They are very difficult, and they will definitely test your abilities.

Once the remix versions of the first four bosses are defeated, beat the game. Start a new game and collect the final obol and kill one of the first four bosses after you turn it in to Charon. After you finish one off, that door will lead to the final remix bosses: Brohannes. Enter and defeat the brothers. After they’ve been slain, the Traitor class is unlocked and added to your class pool.

The Traitor class has access to Johannes’ three previously exclusive moves, one of which is his axe spam ability (which is unnamed at the moment, so I’m going with “axe fountain”). Axe fountain is a special ability and costs 30 MP. When used, the player tosses five axes in the air randomly. It’s pretty handy when running through a horde of enemies and standing still to aim isn’t an option. Mashing the special ability button will not use additional MP, as it will wait for the axe spam to finish.

The Traitor’s default magic ability, rapid dagger, is especially strong. When used, five daggers are tossed in a fan sort of formation. At close range, it can be a great way of keeping some distance and doing a lot of damage. Keep in mind these daggers also go through walls, so you can safely attack enemies through cover.

The Traitor’s second magic ability requires a dash rune. When dashing either forward or back, pressing the magic spell button will cast an empowered sword wall for 30 MP. Don’t let the sprite recolor fool you; this is a standard issue empowered sword wall.

Stats:

• HP x 0.7 base
• MP x 0.7 base
• Strength x 1.0 base
• Intelligence x 1.0 base

Pros:

• Excellent spells and special ability

Cons:

• Lower health and mana pools

What are Traits?

Traits, like class, are randomized each playthrough. A character can have 0-2 traits, which can change your character’s abilities or obscure your vision in some manner. Some are very beneficial, and some are extremely impairing. For the purpose of organization, I will be separating traits into four groups: Positive, Situational, Neutral or Cosmetic, and Negative, Obscuring or Visually Imparing.

Positive Traits

The following traits are considered always useful, and aren’t as niche as Situational traits.

• ADHD: Increase walking speed.
• E.H.S.: Sword activated platforms are active by default, and stay open.
• Eid. Mem.: See locations of enemies on map, once encountered, even when not in room.
• Endomorph: Player is immune to knockback.
• Flexible: Able to change which direction you’re facing during your sword swing.
• Hypergonadism: Increased knockback when using sword or spells. Knocking back enemy in to a spike wall damages them.
• O.C.D.: 1 MP per castle decoration broken.
• P.A.D.: Spike traps will not trigger.

Situational Traits

The following traits can be useful in for a particular class, in particular situations, or for a particular play style.

• Alektorophobia: Whenever a chicken item spawns, a headless chicken can spawn in it’s place. Does minor damage, drops chicken on death. It counts as a kill for Lich, and can steal HP/MP from it.
• Ambilevous: Spells cast behind you.
• Clumsy: Walking through breakables breaks them, and player is no longer able to stand on bookcases. Can be annoying if you tend to save food and mana statues near boss rooms or teleporters.
• Dextrocardia: Literally swaps HP and MP pools, even positioning in HUD.
• Dwarfism: Character is smaller and able to go into small passages. Often results in treasure or shortcuts.
• Gigantism: Makes the player larger. Player has longer reach, but larger hitbox. Some rooms will be much harder to navigate, like falling between spike walls.
• Savant: Your current spell is randomized after casting.

Neutral or Cosmetic Traits

These are cosmetic or gameplay elements that are pretty easy to ignore and don’t really require extra attention to compensate for.

• Baldness: Removes helmet plume. Loading screen changes text to “Balding”.
• Clonus: Your controller (if using one with, with rumble, with it enabled) will rumble every so often for a few seconds.
• Coprolalia: Your character has an angry emoticon when damaged, and on death, only has gibberish for a death message.
• Dyslexia: All spoken text and the text in journals is slightly jumbled. Parts of the castle can be switched around with this trait, too.
• Gay: Slightly different end screen after credits. The opposite statue in waypoint rooms give health/mana.
• Hypochondriac: Damage you take is exaggerated. Whatever damage you took plus two numbers on the end is what determines the exaggerated amount.
• I.B.S.: Fart from time to time while jumping and dashing.
• The One: The castle takes on a futuristic theme. “Building” replaced with “Jacking In” when loading.

Negative, Obscuring, or Visually Impairing Traits

These are almost always considered negative or heavily obscuring.

• Alzheimers: Your world map doesn’t work. Minimap still works, though. Map works when using a waypoint, but there’s no information on this map.
• C.I.P: Health is hidden.
• Color Blind: Game is in black and white, some colors, such as red bullets, are harder to distinguish.
• Dementia: Sometimes, an uninteractable/nonexistant enemy will chase you. Can be totally ignored, but can cause confusion if fighting multiple of the same enemy.
• Ectomorph: Increased knockback for player.
• Far-sighted: Everything within the small circle around you will be blurry.
• Glaucoma: Aside from a small circle around the player, the game appears a bit darker.
• Muscle Wk.: Removes knockback from player’s sword.
• Near-sighted: Everything outside of a small circle around you will be blurry.
• Nostalgic: Game is sepia toned. Loading screen changes text to “Reminiscing”.
• Prosopagnosia: You will not be able to see any info about your next set of characters when starting your next run.
  
• Stereo Blind: When turning, sprites flip visually, and for a brief moment are difficult to see.
• Tunnel Vision: Off screen projectile indicators will not show up.
• Vertigo: Game is upside down. Controls remain the same, though.