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Abilities get boosted for each unique unit within the game. Stacking five in a single class in Despot’s Game: The Dystopian Army Builder can either make a huge difference or not matter much at all. Keep these in mind when thinking about the importance of a new class at the shop.
10 Cultists - Call Of Cthulu
Every three Cultists summon a tentacle
The lowest on this list is where it is at for a reason. The worst abilities are the ones that make the team weaker. Although Call of Cthulu looks cool and enhances the game’s lore as an excellent roguelike RPG might do, it is a net negative much of the time.
Unlike other skills that require three units, this unit disables all of the Cultists needed to use it. The tentacles are good enough, but nowhere close to good enough to wipe out three potentially great Cultists and their regular attacks.
9 Tanks - Taunt
Force enemies to attack the tank Slows Tank Gives armor to the Tank
Tanks are a necessary part of this game. Don’t take the fact that their ability is weak to mean that they can be replaced. If anything, it just means that variety is not important. Go ahead and fill out the front lines with the strongest Tanks available.
The skill is irrelevant in almost every situation as the Tanks will be at the front lines. The slow effect is also really bad for Tanks as it goes off before the enemies clash, thus taunting nobody and allowing the weaker units to take the bulk of the hits as they run by.
8 Tricksters - Dodge
Evade attacks
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Tricksters are in a tough place. They are intended to tank large single-target bosses while the tanks take on the big groups. But all it takes is bad luck for a Trickster to get one-shot killed. Dodge can increase the odds, but over the course of an entire run, many Tricksters will die with this tactic.
Pixel art games can be stunning and the Tricksters might look cool, but their lackluster damage and replaceability are huge drawbacks. Their ability attempts to shore up their weakness by reducing the chance of them instantly dying as a tank, but that chance remains in place.
7 Fighters - Shared Damage
Fighters share damage with allies
Some might dislike the Shared Damage ability of the Fighters as it then transfers damage to non-Fighter units. Fighters tend to be stronger, so forcing a Mage or Trickster to share the damage isn’t the best idea.
Yet the ability is still worth this drawback. Experts players are all too aware of how often big hits kill strong units toward the end of the game. By splitting this damage up, these blows become manageable and non-lethal.
6 Mages - Thunderbolt
Every three Mages deal damage to an enemy
Extra damage isn’t exciting, but at least it can’t be a liability. Mages are primary damage dealers and they’ll need every advantage they can get to deal damage against some of the meatier bosses toward the end of the game.
Unlike the Cultists, the Thunderbolt does not replace an attack or disable any Mages. It’s a true bonus attack that casts a bolt of lightning from the sky, bypassing armor and dealing magical damage, sometimes killing units in one of gaming’s most hilarious ways.
5 Eggheads - Buff Tower
Every three Eggheads build a buff tower
The buff tower gives nearby allies a random buff between armor, damage, or attack speed. Anytime a buff is random, it’s hard to really depend on it tactically, but with enough Eggheads, players can have two or three towers up and dependably have most of the advantages up at once.
Even with just one tower up, the extra boost is welcome. Offense and defense are tied together; the idea that players can only use one kind of buff tower doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Regardless of the buff given, it’ll make a difference in each combat encounter. Plus, the Eggheads aren’t disabled! They summon the buff tower for the entire fight at the start and get back to the fight.
4 Fencers - Critical Hit
Attacks have a chance to critically hit
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Early levels of Critical Hit aren’t going to noticeably shift the tide of the fight. With only the minimum of three Fencers to activate the ability, the difference is somewhat negligible. But at level five, Fencers have a 40% chance to deal 2.5 times their usual damage.
This is a recipe for some dark humor video game deaths as bosses will suddenly just evaporate at this stage. This may even be better during the King of the Hill battles after the run as player characters won’t be able to tank these crushing hits.
3 Throwers - Bomb
Throwers deal magic area of effect damage
Extra damage is something that Mages already provide with their ability. But the Bomb ability goes one step further, dealing group damage to enemies. This ability gets even more valuable as gamers come to recognize that there are very few area damage effects in the game.
Swarms of enemies start to appear by the middle of the run and it only gets worse as multiple bosses can swarm together afterward. Throwers are among the most coveted damage dealers for the Bomb ability alone.
2 Shooters - Attack Speed Aura
Adds attack speed to all allies
The attack speed boost, even for just the Shooters, would make the Attack Speed Aura a top-five ability as is. But when it applies to all allies? That puts it in the running for best in the game. If players get one choice for DPS, make it the Shooters.
Attack speed ends fights fast, reducing the number of chances bosses have to use their most lethal abilities. If other classes seem to outperform the Shooter, keep in mind that this is likely because the Shooters are buffing them.
1 Healers - Heal
Heals closest wounded ally
Healers already heal. Giving them an extra heal? That’s straight-up overkill. A key to most elite runs is to get three Healer class units as soon as possible. From there, players can start to spend their tokens on luxury tokens, thinking about the endgame instead of merely scraping by each encounter.
Roguelikes are designed to wear down teams before they cross the finish line. Healers throw off this balance drastically. The Heal ability throws this balance off even further in the player’s favor.
Despot’s Game: The Dystopian Army Builder is available now for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
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