Some roguelites only give you one base character to start off as, and the changes come based on which random items and events occur during a specific run. Others, like Rogue Legacy 2, give you a range of different base classes that you will unlock to make each run much different right off the bat. Not only do all of these classes have different stats, but they each have their own weapons, Talents, and a passive ability that will make you approach each combat scenario differently, on top of the other random elements the game will throw at you.
You begin the game with just the Knight class but can unlock and play as a massive 14 other class types for a total of 15 that will cycle between the three choices you get between each run. All the basic mechanics of the game carry over from one class to the next, but diving into the dangerous dungeons with a brand new class, sight unseen, won’t lead to a very long life for that character. For the sake of your future heirs, let us pass down the knowledge through this Rogue Legacy 2 class guide to help you overcome the brutal trials ahead.
See more
- Rogue Legacy 2: Beginner’s guide
- Rogue Legacy 2: All Heirlooms and how to get them
- The best roguelikes
How to unlock new classes
Classes in Rogue Legacy 2 are locked behind the game’s upgrade system. By gathering gold in a run through the game and eventually dying, you get the chance to spend that currency on different upgrades in what is essentially an upgrade tree. Some upgrades unlock new merchants, stat bonuses, or passive buffs to future runs but also new classes. Only by unlocking a class, which often requires you to invest in other upgrades in order to reach them further down the line, will they begin showing up as options when selecting your next heir. Make sure to save up and unlock them as soon as you’re able.
Assassin
Going alphabetically for convenience’s sake, we will first look at the Assassin class. This class comes with dual daggers for weapons, decent mana at 125, and very low base HP. The dual blades weapon has a three-hit combo, with the last hit always being a crit that also reduces your Talent’s cooldown timer and restores 20 mana. Speaking of which, your talent here is called Obscura, which cloaks your character for three seconds. While in this state, you move 50% faster, cannot be hurt, and pass through enemies without taking damage. If you attack, the cloak breaks, but will also apply vulnerable to any enemy you hit immediately after. Finally, your passive is called Eagle Eye, which gives you an additional 10% chance to land a super crit. Super crits multiply the damage a normal skill crit does by 35%, making it a very powerful strike when they happen.
This class is very skill-based and somewhat like a glass cannon. You need to be confident you can get in, deal a bunch of damage fast, hopefully with crits, and get out without getting hit since your low HP makes just a few hits lethal. If you have a strong grasp on mobility, know what enemy attacks and tells are, and want to rush through them fast, the Assassin is the class for you.
Astromancer
A rare class with less HP than the Assassin, the Astromancer is our first magic-based class to look at. They have a ton of mana — 200 — but poor physical damage when using the Celestial Sceptre as a physical weapon. That’s why you should use it for its more intended purpose, which is to create a temporary black hole that deals damage to anything it overlaps with, regardless of the terrain. It won’t suck anything in, but it will remain stationary so enemies can be lured into it like a trap. If you land it right on an enemy, they will also take crits for being right in the center of it. Only one can be cast at a time, though, so you need to be tactical with it. The Astromancer’s Talent is Comet Form, which is an awesome get-out-of-jail-free move that grants you flight, increased speed, and invulnerability, and makes enemies take contact damage if you touch them. It only lasts 1.5 seconds, however, and has a 7-second cooldown timer, plus it will be canceled if you press any other button after activation. And last up is the passive Grand Vision. This makes every attack you do restore some mana, plus gives you 20% more intelligence.
Astromancers are another technical class that plays much differently from any of the early classes. They’re very powerful in the right hands, but not all that beginner-friendly since positioning and movement are so key to staying alive. If you like the idea of a slightly more indirect method of dealing damage by laying down AoE attacks and casting spells rather than smacking things, this class is perfect for you.
Barbarian
The first tank-type character we have is the Barbarian, an early unlock for melee-focused players that returns from the first Rogue Legacy. This class has very high HP and a surprising amount of mana, too. They come equipped with the massive ax called Labrys that guarantees a skill crit on hit, plus regens 15 mana each hit. If you swing in the air, you will even do a spinning swing that hits everything around you, which you can double-jump or air dash during to prolong the attack’s duration and range. The Barbarian’s Talent is called Winter’s Shout. When used, you unleash a furious roar that not only destroys any big projectiles around you but also freezes any enemies for one second. Hitting a frozen enemy is always skill crits as well. Finally, for the passive, Barbarians are just Tough, which increases their vitality by 20%, all but ensuring this class is the tankiest in the game.
Barbarians are perfect for early attempts at new areas where you’re going to be thoroughly exploring an area thanks to their high health pool. The Winter’s Shout is an amazing way to get yourself out of jams, and all around meant to keep you alive longer. This is a great early class to unlock to help you get some longer runs in before you get comfortable enough to pick a more balanced or damage-focused class with a bit less health.
Bard
Oh boy, the Bard may be the most challenging class to use in all of Rogue Legacy 2‘s roster. This class has HP on the lower end and good mana but deals damage in a very unique way. The Bard wields a Lute for a weapon, which is appropriate. When you attack, you shoot out a music note that travels a short distance before freezing in space. Any enemy nearby will take some damage, somewhat like the Astromancer, but notes only last a total of three seconds. After two seconds, though, the notes turn gold and deal critical damage for the final second, and only three notes in total can be on the screen at once. The damage they deal is minor. However, if you spin-kick a note, they will explode for good damage and knockback. The Bard’s Talent is Crescendo, in which you create a massive AoE of damage that turns incoming projectiles into a shower of roses that function just like your notes do. As for your passive, you get Performer. Each time you spin-kick an enemy or note, you gain a stack of dance, up to a total of five. Every dance stack increases your damage by 15%, but the buff is lost as soon as you touch the ground.
If you can’t play to the Bard’s strength and capitalize on exploding notes and maximizing dance stacks, you’re going to have a very hard time with this class. Even if you do know all the tricks, they’re very dangerous to pull off compared to how just about every other class deals damage. You at least get Crescendo to help get you out of trouble every 12 seconds, but even so, we suggest saving this class for when you’ve mastered the game and need an extra challenge.
Boxer
Back to the more straightforward classes — there’s nothing more direct than the Boxer. This class is your bread-and-butter fisticuffs brawler with really good HP and above-average mana. Their boxing gloves let them punch, as you might imagine, but is a bit more complex than normal melee weapons. If you hold attack, the Boxer will unleash a flurry of attacks that you can hold while moving or jumping, generating a combo for each hit you land. Combos last for two seconds unless you land another hit, and each stack increases damage by 2% up to a maximum of a whopping 30 stacks. You can also hold up and press Attack to do an uppercut that launches most enemies. As far as your Talent goes, you can unleash a Knockout Punch that creates a smaller AoE that destroys incoming projectiles and knocks enemies away, dealing more damage the higher your combo count is. If enemies knocked back hit other enemies or walls, they take additional damage. The Boxer’s passive is called Deft. This simply negates contact damage with enemies, letting you pass through them, so long as they’re not attacking.
The Boxer is a very fun class to pick up if you like melee-style characters and being super aggressive. You’re rewarded with tons of damage if you can manage to keep your combo going, but this also can lead to you making risky moves if you’re too eager or desperate to land another hit. Everything about this class is focused on constantly attacking, which is great fun, so long as you are able to dodge and weave around attacks well enough to stay alive.
Chef
An unusual choice for a class, to be sure, but one that is actually one of the most deadly in Rogue Legacy 2. They have low HP but super high mana. Equipped with a trusty Frying Pan, each hit takes an extra second to come out, meaning you will need to anticipate your attack times — but it has a few key advantages. First is that its big, flat surface can smack incoming projectiles back to their senders as fire balls and apply burn, plus give you a charge buff for the next three seconds. While charged, your next physical hit will be a crit. The second advantage is tied to the Chef’s passive, Artisan, which makes any weapon you use also apply the burn status. And how could the Chef’s Talent not be cooking-related? Stew is a nice and simple HP and MP restoration skill that scales based on your Intelligence, although you only ever restore 100 MP. Stew doesn’t recharge over time, though, and instead charges based on HP drops you pick up, charging up to three times.
The only downside to the Chef is the windup on their attack, but once you acclimate to that, they are a beast of a class. You have a strong attack that burns foes, can protect yourself from projectiles, and have backup healing in your pocket to make up for a lower HP pool. As long as you don’t get too overwhelmed in a single encounter, the Chef is a very hard class to kill.
Dragon Lancer
A very-cool sounding character, the Dragon Lancer is a quite balanced class in Rogue Legacy 2. They have very high HP and pretty good mana, which can be recovered by attacking enemies. Obviously using a lance weapon, called the Charge Lance, you have very good range by default here. Normal attacks also deal knockback, but you can charge your attack for a Flying Joust move that sends you rocketing across the screen, dealing AoE damage if you connect with an enemy that is always a crit. The Dragon Lancer’s Talent is called Bastion. When deployed, you will project a giant shield that absorbs projectiles and deals a small amount of damage to enemies it hits. The shield stays out for just over three seconds and will recharge after you land six hits. And as another simple passive for this class, we have Armored, which just grants you a 20% armor buff.
The Dragon Lancer is a nice upgrade from the basic melee classes you get. It isn’t overly technical but has a few cool tricks you can play with. Bastion isn’t terribly exciting but can be a lifesaver during some bosses. A fun, although not terribly distinct, melee class to play around with.
Duelist
If you fancy yourself a more technical fighter, perhaps the Duelist will be more your speed. Despite the name perhaps conjuring up images of dueling pistols, this Duelist refers to dueling with swords. Stat-wise, the Duelist is about as middle of the road as they come, though with just a touch higher-than-normal mana. They come packing their lightning-fast Saber weapon that has two distinct attacks: Lunges when attacking on the ground and swings in the air. Swings in particular are very fast attacks to the point where you can attack three times in a single jump. You can even chain a swing into an immediate lunge if you time your button presses just right. To help you out, the Duelist’s Talent, Combat Roll, lets you not only roll out of danger with full invincibility but also deal damage to enemies you roll through. Exiting your roll also grants you a charged buff for one second that makes your next hit a crit. It cools down in just two seconds, too, making it easy to incorporate into your combos. We technically covered the passive already, which is called Show-off, which is what causes you to gain charged after using your Talent.
The Duelist is somewhat of a more balanced Boxer class. You have more range, slightly less combo potential, but more options to stay safe. The dodge roll is really where this class stands out. Being able to roll, and gaining that extra buff from it, rewards more aggressive play. If you master the different attack types and roll timing, this is one of the most fun classes to style on your enemies with.
Gunslinger
Now we come to the pistol-wielding Gunslinger. Being a fully ranged-style character, you’re going to have to suffer some very low HP values, made up for by a really good mana pool. The Gunslinger’s firearm of choice is called the Kinetic Revolver. Holding down Attack lets you rapid-fire bullets either until you release the button or you run out of ammo, with the final eight bullets in each clip always dealing crit damage. To reload, simply hit the Attack button again once empty or manually reload at any time by using the Use button. Bear in mind that the less ammo your gun has when you reload, the longer it takes. In a somewhat Devil May Cry-style move, shooting while in the air lets you essentially levitate until you stop shooting. The Gunslinger’s Talent is called the Makeshift Explosive. Using this Talent drops a bundle of TNT below your character, exploding in a cross-shaped pattern half a second later that deals damage to enemies and destroys any projectiles. It has two charges, each sharing a single eight-second cooldown time. Leave it to the Gunslinger to have the Suave passive, which improves your weapon damage by 15% of your Intelligence stat.
The Gunslinger is a very straightforward ranged class in Rogue Legacy 2. Aside from managing your ammo, there’s really not a lot of complexity to worry about, which is nice. You will need to use your range and Makeshift Explosives to stay out of danger, though, because your low HP makes you very squishy. But being able to blast away at enemies, especially from the air, is a nice way to get a feel for a ranged character outside of mage types.
Knight
Now we have the starting class — your classic Knight. While you might be eager to try out any other class than this starting one, especially the new ones, the Knight is by no means a bad class to stick with for a while in Rogue Legacy 2. This is, almost by definition, your most balanced class in the game for HP and mana. You’ll get very familiar with the Great Sword weapon with its simple swiping attacks, but also the ability to attack in one direction while retreating, plus deal crits when dash attacking. Shield Block is your Talent and is a pretty unique Talent where holding the button raises a shield as long as you like. It can only take one hit, though, which blocks 50% of incoming damage, unless you perform a perfect block, which negates all damage and puts it on a 10-second cooldown. If hit, though, your shield also causes an AoE that applies vulnerability to all enemies. The Veteran passive gives the Knight a 5% higher chance to deal a crit on each swing.
The real strength of the Knight is in its mechanics. While simple on the surface, there’s a lot of nuance and depth you can get out of this class’s moveset, especially learning to perfect block. Don’t sleep on this class just because you get it first because you can easily enjoy the entire game learning to weave in and out of danger with your swings and timing your blocks to hardly ever take damage.
Mage
Here comes the classic magic user appropriately named the Mage class. This class fully takes advantage of the overhauled magic system introduced in Rogue Legacy 2. In typical magic user fashion, expect very low HP and exceedingly high mana with this class. Your weapon is the awesome-sounding Wand of Blasting. This wizarding tool shoots a magic shot that can pass through both enemies and walls before exploding after a set distance, which is closer than you might expect. For the cost of 50 mana, though, you can charge the shot to make it a guaranteed critical hit, too. The Mage’s Talent is actually a typical Talent, but instead, they get a second spell, which is a utility spell, to complement your default offensive spell. This can be one of seven, leading to a ton of build variety. What pulls this class together is the Siphon passive, which applies Mana Leech to every attack your Wand of Blasting lands. You get back one mana every .01 seconds for 2.5 seconds, plus a bonus of 20 mana if the enemy dies while Mana Leech is active.
Thanks to Mana Leech, this Mage class is actually quite a bit more aggressive than you would expect. With other classes, you tend to need to conserve and hold your mana for specific situations. As a Mage, though, you’re rewarded for using your magical abilities as often as you can. You will need to get used to cycling between your wand attack and two other magics, but once you get into the flow, you will be a magical marvel.
Pirate
Why not have a Pirate class, right? Another well-stocked class for HP and good mana, the Pirate is up there with the Chef in terms of unique weapons. This class comes backing the Cannon, but not mainly for shooting, you know, cannonballs, but for swinging. This massive tube of iron will smack enemies around the screen like pool balls, and you can follow up that swing with a ranged shot. A Pirate isn’t anything without a ship, so your Talent, Pirate Ship, summons a flying ship that shoots a flurry of cannonballs in a straight line. You can leave it to function like a turret or hop inside to manually move it during its eight-second duration or launch it forward to explode into whatever it hits. Your Cheap Shot passive is comparatively bland, just giving you 10% more weapon and spell crit damage.
The Pirate is a wacky class, but a fun one to play around with if none of the other classes are feeling quite right. It is an alright mix of melee and ranged skills, and the pirate ship move is awesome, but otherwise not terribly great in any area.
Ranger
If you want to play as a Robin Hood or Hawkeye, then set your sights on the Ranger. Unlike most ranged classes, the Ranger actually has decent health to go along with their average mana pool. Of course, they will be packing the War Bow as their primary weapon. This bow can be fired anywhere you aim it but has a cool mechanic with the draw. You can release your nocked arrow at any time, never suffering any damage penalty, but if you release at the perfect moment, indicated by a flash, you get a Perfect Release that will be a crit. You can also draw your shot in the air to slow your fall and allow you to pull off trick shots that push you in the opposite direction. The Ranger’s Talent is Ivy Canopy. This move lets you create a temporary platform below your character that you can stand on, blocks projectiles, and imbues your arrows with Spore Burst, which causes enemies to explode after a one-second delay. The Hunter passive is a simple 10% buff to Strength and Dexterity.
The Ranger is a very fun and powerful class in Rogue Legacy 2. It is very accessible thanks to being able to aim the bow any way you like but rewards skill with the Perfect Shot mechanic. Plus, if you’re talented enough, you can essentially juggle yourself in the air while attacking. Ivy Canopy is more situational but nice to have for some encounters and bosses.
Ronin
Sure, Rogue Legacy 2 is all about knights on the surface, but we’ve already seen that the game is fine mixing in other classes from different cultures. Hence, we have the Ronin, a similar class to the Assassin way back at the start in terms of low HP and good mana. The Ronin will of course be wielding his trusty Katana, which happens to have the longest range of any melee weapon in the game but suffers a long cooldown between swings to compensate. You can attack in diagonal directions, even through some walls, but not straight up, and if you hit with just the tip of the blade, you will deal a crit. The Ronin’s Talent is called Immortal Kotetsu, which you can tap or hold to aim. This move teleports you a short distance, dealing damage to anything that was between your start and end points. It takes five seconds to cool down or instantly resets if you get a kill with the move itself. Lone Traveler, the passive, is a hefty 20% buff to Strength, making them have very high damage potential.
Again like the Assassin, the Ronin is a class for higher-level players who know they’re not going to get hit much. Thanks to the long range and being rewarded with crits for hitting enemies with just the tip of your blade, you are able to stay at a safe distance most of the time until you’re ready to finish off an enemy with your Immortal Kotetsu. If you set it up, you can chain them together, though that’s a high-level move for an already risky class.
Valkrie
Finally, we come to the Norse-inspired Valkrie class. Favoring mana a bit more than HP, which is still good, you will be packing the spear-like Fauchard weapon. This weapon is unique among melee classes since it can attack straight up and down in addition to left and right. Attacking enemies with the downward strike functions just like a spin-kick would. The Valkrie can use the Deflect Talent to spin the weapon like a fan to block any projectiles or deal some damage to any enemies in range. If you block just one projectile with it, the cooldown is reset. Otherwise, it recharges after five hits. Your passive is Battleborn and is another fairly boring buff of 5% and 10% to magic crit chance and magic crit damage respectively.
To be honest, the Valkrie is just a straight-up better version of the Knight in most ways. You have more options for attack, can still block without having to time it perfectly, and have a good enough mana pool to mix in magic often. Also being one of the earliest to unlock, there’s no reason not to at least give the Valkrie a shot if you enjoyed the Knight.
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