All goodroguelikesand dungeon crawlers back you into a series of corners to test your willingness to sacrifice: tokens over firepower? Food over upgrades? Offense over defense? The good thing about Despot’s Game is that there’s not necessarily a right answer. You’ll be forgiven for having preferences.
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Unsurprisingly, the effect of preference is on its most prominent display when it comes to weapons. With a robust set of ten unique classes containing five weapons apiece, there’s a path to victory for just about every playstyle. But if you’re having trouble figuring out where to start, give one — or all — of these weapons a shot. You’re bound to hit your target eventually.
10Sanuzzi Fridge: The Italian Tank
If you plan on placing some Tanks on your army’s front line, this Italian behemoth is a viable first pick of the class and should be able to survive without fellow Tank counterparts through the first few floors. For 15 tokens, you get 15 base shield and 430 base health that boosts ten percent per level, which is better than the costlier Panzer-Poo’s six percent per-level boost and Coffin’s seven percent per-level boost.
If you manage to get The Tankiest mutation, Sanuzzi Fridge and any other Tanks in your army will link with your Fighters to take all damage they receive. Throw in a solid foundation of Healers to keep your tanks alive, and you’ll be a truly formidable sight to behold.
9Stilts: A Trickster With Attitude
With nearly 100 more health than its Epic rarity counterpart, solid attack speed, good health, and impressive attack power, this Legendary Trickster is well worth its 29 token splurge. But that’s not all: Stilts is the only Trickster in its class that gets the powerful Normal Punch passive skill, which gives it a chance to multiply its attack damage by ten.
Pair Normal Punch with the Dash mutation, which turns Trickster dodges into forward dashes that deal 400 damage along the path, and you’re able to turn your Stilts into heavy-hitting melee monsters that are capable of handing out thousands of damage per hit.
8Chainsaw: An Affordable Fencer
If you favor a min-max roguelike playstyle, you might be looking to get some bang for your buck on your soldiers in the early stages of your Despot’s Game runs so you can sink the lion’s share of your tokens into mutation upgrades. While every class offers at least one or two economical choices, if you’re looking to build around Fencers, the Chainsaw can be a solid starting point.
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This 12 token Rare costs only four more than the Uncommon Excalibur and eight less than the Epic Laser Sword. And while its attack strength may leave some of you wanting, the 130 health boost over Excalibur makes it more than justified as an economical early game addition to your ranks.
7Plague Mask: The Iconic Healer
WhileHealersaretechnically weapons in Despot’s Game, damage is obviously not their specialty. But regardless of the classes you choose to prioritize, most armies should contain a team of Healers to keep everyone alive long enough to reap the benefits of leveling up.
All Healer stats are the same except for their base health and cost to purchase, so a good sweet spot that strikes a balance between survivability and expense is Plague Mask. For three more tokens than Crash Cart, you get an additional 60 health, and if you can protect them well, you can use two Plague Masks to get twice the healing power for the cost of a single Legendary Halo.
6Sailor Fuku: A Fragile Heavy Hitter
NoRPGis complete without the option to create a Glass Cannon build. In Despot’s Game, you can look to the Mage class for heavy hitters that — with the exception of the Legendary Shaman Club — leverage range and attack power to compensate for low base health.
If you’re seeking sweet, sweet damage at all costs, check out Sailor Fuku, the Epic rarity Mage that costs 18 tokens and has the highest base attack in its class. Staying clear of enemy fire will require cover, however, so position toward the back of the map and link up with some Tanks to slow the enemy advance.
5Punisher: The Only Shooter You Need
Legendary weapons can sometimes be large and heavy in Despot’s Game, balancing their stopping power with penalties to speed stats. Punisher is no exception, with its wielder taking a 20 percent knock to attack speed in exchange for solid attack power and health.
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With the right mutations, a group of tier five Punishers can form the basis of a formidable PvP build that strikes quickly and relentlessly, stopping the enemy in their tracks before they land a hit. Some call it cheesing, others call it meta — either way, it’s loads of fun to try out.
4Rocky Gloves: The Speediest Fighter
Whether you’re trying to be economical early on or you’re simply running low on tokens and need to fill a hole in your lineup, Common rarity units serve a sometimes-overlooked and often-underrated role in your Despot’s Game experience. If you aren’t afraid to get up close and personal with your opponents, Rocky Gloves are for you.
Boasting the highest base attack speed in the game, this pair of redboxinggloves can boost your PvE lethality at a low cost. And if you manage to find the Fury mutation somewhere around level two, you’ll be upping your damage by 15 every time you land a punch.
3Dark Mantle: A Cultist To Plan Around
Cultists occupy a space somewhere between a ranged class and a melee class in Despot’s Game, with a decidedly more sinister strain of magic than their Mage counterparts. While Dark Mantle may not be the strongest Cultist weapon of the bunch, this Common unit can come in handy if you want to maximize the effectiveness of the Cultist’s unique ability, Call of Cthulhu.
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Once you’ve acquired three unique Cultist weapons, Call of Cthulhu summons one powerful tentacle that deals loads of melee damage throughout a battle, and for every three additional cultists you add to your army, you get another tentacle. As long as you can keep them alive, buying Dark Mantles is a cheap and easy way to add those extra Cultists and overwhelm the battlefield with tentacles.
2Whip: The Best Of Both Worlds
Investing in the Epic rarity Whip means you’re getting nearly the same health and armor as its Legendary Trickster counterpart for seven fewer coins, which can go a long way if you’re short on food or are in dire need of a mutation upgrade.
You will be missing out on Stilts’ passive Normal Punch ability, but you still get the Linked active ability, which spreads a percentage of damage received among three Tricksters depending on the level of the link. Add the Spiky Armor mutation to this passive ability, and you can turn 40 percent of that damage received into damage dealt.
1Dr. Octopuses Claws: A Tanky Egghead
What do you get when you combine the health of an Epic Tank with the attack power of a Legendary Trickster? The best Egghead in Despot’s Game, that’s what. Tied with the RR Cultist as the second cheapest Legendary in the game, Dr. Octopuses Claws makes for a powerful, affordable, and resilient support unit.
Max out your Egghead tiers and complete the right quests to maximize the power of your buff towers, which are capable of buffing the base stats of your team as well as weakening the base stats of your enemies. Despite Dr. Octopuses’ high base health, be sure to grab a few Healers to keep him kicking.
