This guide presents all of the possible combinations of champion stats and abilities for the five original champions. While single-skill champion information is unlocked very early in your progress through Monster Train, the way that multi-skill champions work takes a little adjustment.

The key to understanding multi-skill champions is that each upgrade adds to the current build of the champion, starting with the base stats found on the champion cards in the "Cards" tab of the Logbook and then adding different skills and stats as shown in the "Dark Forge" tab.

I've also presented some of my thoughts on varying combinations, but there are plentiful viable ways to build a Monster Train champion just as there are plentiful viable ways to build a Monster Train deck.

(Note: This guide is tagged as a "Gameplay Basics" Steam Guide. If you have moved beyond basic gameplay already, you may find its content too rudimentary.)

The Hellhorned champion, the Hornbreaker Prince, is the first champion players are introduced to in Monster Train. His Brawler path focuses on Multistrike, his Reaper path focuses on increased attack stats and the Slay skill (for added attack), and his Wrathful path focuses on balanced stat progression along with the Slay skill (for added armor) and the Revenge skill (for added Rage).

Brawler Upgrades
1: +0/+0, Armor 10, Multistrike-1
2: +0/+0, Armor 5, Multistrike-1
3: +0/+0, Armor 5, Multistrike-2

Reaper Upgrades
1: +19/+0, Slay: +10-attack
2: +25/+6, Slay: +10-attack
3: +50/+12, Slay: +20-attack

Wrathful Upgrades
1: +9/+9, Slay: +10-armor, Revenge: Rage-2
2: +10/+10, Slay: +5-armor, Revenge: Rage-1
3: +15/+15, Slay: +10-armor, Revenge: Rage-2

Which gives us the following Hellhorned champions at each level...

Hornbreaker Prince Card

• 6/6 (Size 2)

Level 1 Hornbreaker Prince

• Brawler-I: 6/6, Armor 10, Multistrike
  
• Reaper-I: 25/6, Slay: +10-attack
  
• Wrathful-I: 15/15, Slay: +10-armor, Revenge: Rage-2

Level 2 Hornbreaker Prince

• Brawler-II: 6/6, Armor 15, Multistrike-2
  
• Reaper-II: 50/12, Slay: +20-attack
  
• Wrathful-II: 25/25, Slay: +15-armor, Revenge: Rage-3
  
• Brawler-I/Reaper-I: 25/6, Armor 10, Multistrike, Slay: +10-attack
  
• Brawler-I/Wrathful-I: 15/15, Armor 10, Multistrike, Slay: +10-armor, Revenge: Rage-2
  
• Reaper-I/Wrathful-I: 34/15, Slay: +10-attack/+10-armor, Revenge: Rage-2

Level 3 Hornbreaker Prince

• Brawler-III: 6/6, Armor 20, Multistrike-4
  
• Reaper-III: 100/24, Slay: +40-attack
  
• Wrathful-III: 40/40, Slay: +25-armor, Revenge: Rage-5
  
• Brawler-II/Reaper-I: 25/6, Armor 15, Multistrike-2, Slay: +10-attack
  
• Brawler-II/Wrathful-I: 15/15, Armor 15, Multistrike-2, Slay: +10-armor, Revenge: Rage-2
  
• Reaper-II/Wrathful-I: 59/21, Slay: +20-attack/+10-armor, Revenge: Rage-2
  
• Brawler-I/Reaper-II: 50/12, Armor 10, Multistrike, Slay: +20-attack
  
• Brawler-I/Wrathful-II: 25/25, Armor 10, Multistrike, Slay: +15-armor, Revenge: Rage-3
  
• Reaper-I/Wrathful-II: 44/25, Slay: +10-attack/+15-armor, Revenge: Rage-3

Despite how tempting the big bonuses of level 3 can be, it can also be worth combining paths when crafting your Hornbreaker Prince. Brawler/Reaper is my favorite mixed Prince, especially in a deck containing additional ways to increase the champion's attack. Extra attacks from Multistrike can grant you extra Slay triggers and can also weed through enemies quicker than the single massive attack a pure Reaper brings to the table.

The Awoken champion, The Sentient, is a defensive champion whose attack stat is pegged at 0 throughout her progression, but all three paths increase her health fairly substantially. Her Explosive path deals damage when she's healed, her Cultivating path adds to your card pool and buffs your units when she's damaged, and her Bristling path damages attackers with the Spikes ability.

Explosive Upgrades
1: +0/+15, Rejuvenate: 20-damage to front enemy
2: +0/+25, Rejuvenate: 20-damage to front enemy
3: +0/+50, Rejuvenate: 20-damage to front enemy

Cultivating Upgrades
1: +0/+30, Draw +1, Revenge: Cultivate 1 (+1 attack and health to lowest-health unit)
2: +0/+40, Cultivate +1
3: +0/+80, Cultivate +1

Bristling Upgrades
1: +0/+20, Spikes: 10
2: +0/+30, Spikes: 10
3: +0/+60, Spikes: 20

Which gives us the following Awoken champions at each level...

The Sentient Card

• 0/10 (Size 2)

Level 1 The Sentient

• Explosive-I: 0/25, Rejuvenate: 20-damage to front enemy
  
• Cultivating-I: 0/40, Draw +1, Revenge: Cultivate 1
  
• Bristling-I: 0/30, Spikes: 10

Level 2 The Sentient

• Explosive-II: 0/50, Rejuvenate: 40-damage to front enemy
  
• Cultivating-II: 0/80, Draw +1, Revenge: Cultivate 2
  
• Bristling-II: 0/60, Spikes: 20
  
• Explosive-I/Cultivating-I: 0/55, Rejuvenate: 20-damage to front enemy, Draw +1, Revenge: Cultivate 1
  
• Explosive-I/Bristling-I: 0/45, Rejuvenate: 20-damage to front enemy, Spikes: 10
  
• Cultivating-I/Bristling-I: 0/60, Spikes: 10, Draw +1, Revenge: Cultivate 1

Level 3 The Sentient

• Explosive-III: 0/100, Rejuvenate: 60-damage to front enemy
  
• Cultivating-III: 0/160, Draw +1, Revenge: Cultivate 3
  
• Bristling-III: 0/120, Spikes: 40
  
• Explosive-II/Cultivating-I: 0/80, Rejuvenate: 40-damage to front enemy, Draw +1, Revenge: Cultivate 1
  
• Explosive-II/Bristling-I: 0/70, Rejuvenate: 40-damage to front enemy, Spikes: 10
  
• Cultivating-II/Bristling-I: 0/100, Spikes: 10, Draw +1, Revenge: Cultivate 2
  
• Explosive-I/Cultivating-II: 0/95, Rejuvenate: 20-damage to front enemy, Draw +1, Revenge: Cultivate 2
  
• Explosive-I/Bristling-II: 0/75, Rejuvenate: 20-damage to front enemy, Spikes: 20
  
• Cultivating-I/Bristling-II: 0/90, Spikes: 20, Draw +1, Revenge: Cultivate 1

With the December, 2020 update, I find myself enjoying a greater variety of builds for The Sentient. All three pure builds are great options with different strengths and weaknesses - Pure Explosive struggles a bit in early battles but scales spectacularly, Bristling rocks early but can struggle with the last couple battles, and Cultivating needs time to ramp up during individual battles. Mixing and matching isn't too common with The Sentient, but it can certainly work. Cultivating/Bristling is arguably the most fun even if it's not the most efficient build. Who doesn't want to damage enemies and help your friends every time a baddie attacks?

The Stygian Guard champion, Tethys Titansbane, is the first 1-capacity champion in Monster Train. She has low health but packs a punch in a variety of ways. Her Chillwind path has high attack and inflicts Frostbite, her Conduit path has decent attack increases and reduces offensive spell costs, and her Handheld Totem path has the Sweep skill and inflicts Spell Weakness.

Chillwind Upgrades
1: +10/+1, Strike: Frostbite-10
2: +15/+1, Strike: Frostbite-10
3: +30/+1, Strike: Frostbite-20

Conduit Upgrades
1: +5/+2, damage spell Cost-1
2: +10/+2, damage spell Cost-1
3: +20/+2, damage spell Cost-1

Handheld Totem Upgrades
1: +0/+3, Sweep, Spell Weakness-1
2: +5/+3, Spell Weakness-1
3: +10/+3, Spell Weakness-1

Which gives us the following Stygian Guard champions at each level...

Tethys Titansbane Card

• 5/3 (Size 1)

Level 1 Tethys Titansbane

• Chillwind-I: 15/4, Strike: Frostbite-10
  
• Conduit-I: 10/5, damage spell Cost-1
  
• Handheld Totem-I: 5/6, Sweep, Spell Weakness-1

Level 2 Tethys Titansbane

• Chillwind-II: 30/5, Strike: Frostbite-20
  
• Conduit-II: 20/7, damage spell Cost-2
  
• Handheld Totem-II: 10/9, Sweep, Spell Weakness-2
  
• Chillwind-I/Conduit-I: 20/6, Strike: Frostbite-10, damage spell Cost-1
  
• Chillwind-I/Handheld Totem-I: 15/7, Strike: Frostbite-10, Sweep, Spell Weakness-1
  
• Conduit-I/Handheld Totem-I: 10/8, damage spell Cost-1, Sweep, Spell Weakness-1

Level 3 Tethys Titansbane

• Chillwind-III: 60/6, Strike: Frostbite-40
  
• Conduit-III: 40/9, damage spell Cost-3
  
• Handheld Totem-III: 20/12, Sweep, Spell Weakness-3
  
• Chillwind-II/Conduit-I: 35/7, Strike: Frostbite-20, damage spell Cost-1
  
• Chillwind-II/Handheld Totem-I: 30/8, Strike: Frostbite-20, Sweep, Spell Weakness-1
  
• Conduit-II/Handheld Totem-I: 20/10, damage spell Cost-2, Sweep, Spell Weakness-1
  
• Chillwind-I/Conduit-II: 30/8, Strike: Frostbite-10, damage spell Cost-2
  
• Chillwind-I/Handheld Totem-II: 20/10, Strike: Frostbite-10, Sweep, Spell Weakness-2
  
• Conduit-I/Handheld Totem-II: 15/11, damage spell Cost-1, Sweep, Spell Weakness-2

Tethys Titansbane is arguably the most likely champion to mix and match her paths during a run. Decreasing spell costs by 1 or 2 is often sufficient, and it only takes one level of Handheld Totem to get access to the amazing Sweep ability. Whatever the case, however, watch out for enemies with Thorns or Sweep. This pint sized champion is the most fragile by far, and most faction combinations don't have a way to bring her back from the Consume pile.

The Umbra champion, Penumbra, takes up more space than other Champions, a facet of gameplay that its upgrades can alleviate or exacerbate. Its Architect path has decent attack bumps and increases the floor capacity on its level of the train, its Monstrous path makes it even bigger but grants the biggest stat bonuses and the Trample ability, and its Glutton path provides no direct stat bumps but interacts most directly with the Umbra's "Eaten" game mechanic, increasing Penumbra's stats each time it eats a Morsel unit.

Architect Upgrades
1: +5/+0, Summon: Floor Size +2
2: +25/+10, Summon: Floor Size +1
3: +50/+10, Summon: Floor Size +1

Monstrous Upgrades
1: +20/+5, Champion Size +1, Trample
2: +40/+25, Champion Size +1
3: +90/+50, Champion Size +1

Glutton Upgrades
1: +0/+0, Lifesteal 2, Gorge: +4-attack and +2-health
2: +0/+0, Gorge: +5-attack and +2-health
3: +0/+0, Gorge: +6-attack and +2-health

Which gives us the following Umbra champions at each level...

Penumbra Card

• 20/20 (Size 3)

Level 1 Penumbra

• Architect-I: 25/20 (Size 3), Summon: Floor Size +2
  
• Monstrous-I: 40/25 (Size 4), Trample
  
• Glutton-I: 20/20 (Size 3), Lifesteal 2, Gorge: +4-attack and +2-health

Level 2 Penumbra

• Architect-II: 50/30 (Size 3), Summon: Floor Size +3
  
• Monstrous-II: 80/50 (Size 5), Trample
  
• Glutton-II: 20/20 (Size 3), Lifesteal 2, Gorge: +9-attack and +4-health
  
• Architect-I/Monstrous-I: 45/25 (Size 4), Summon: Floor Size +2, Trample
  
• Architect-I/Glutton-I: 25/20 (Size 3), Summon: Floor Size +2, Lifesteal 2, Gorge: +4-attack and +2-health
  
• Monstrous-I/Glutton-I: 40/25 (Size 4), Trample, Lifesteal 2, Gorge: +4-attack and +2-health

Level 3 Penumbra

• Architect-III: 100/40 (Size 3), Summon: Floor Size +4
  
• Monstrous-III: 170/100 (Size 6), Trample
  
• Glutton-III: 20/20 (Size 3), Lifesteal 2, Gorge: +15-attack and +6-health
  
• Architect-II/Monstrous-I: 70/35 (Size 4), Summon: Floor Size +3, Trample
  
• Architect-II/Glutton-I: 50/30 (Size 3), Summon: Floor Size +3, Lifesteal 2, Gorge: +4-attack and +2-health
  
• Monstrous-II/Glutton-I: 80/50 (Size 5), Trample, Lifesteal 2, Gorge: +4-attack and +2-health
  
• Architect-I/Monstrous-II: 85/50 (Size 5), Summon: Floor Size +2, Trample
  
• Architect-I/Glutton-II: 25/20 (Size 3), Summon: Floor Size +2, Lifesteal 2, Gorge: +9-attack and +4-health
  
• Monstrous-I/Glutton-II: 40/25 (Size 4), Trample, Lifesteal 2, Gorge: +9-attack and +4-health

The path (or paths) you should take with Penumbra will depend heavily on the role you wish it to play. It can be a pure damage dealer with Monstrous, a supporting player with Architect, or a late-battle threat with Glutton. You can freely mix and match those paths to shift its role in the desired direction (higher early-battle damage, more space on the train, or higher late-battle damage). All champions need support to reach their potential, but Penumbra relies on that support more than most regardless of its upgrade path.

The Melting Remnant champion, Rector Flicker, focuses on death. I'd like to summarize it as "yours, mine, and ours," but in this case, "mine, everyone's, and ours" would be more apropos. His Burn Bright path has massive stat increases and gives him Burnout (meaning he only has 3 turns to live unless you alter that somehow), his Accumulator path gives far more modest stat bumps but increases his health as units on his floor die, and his Dark Calling path calls dead friendly units back to your hand with increased stats and +1 Burnout.

Burn Bright Upgrades
1: +40/+40, Burnout 3
2: +30/+30
3: +65/+65

Accumulator Upgrades
1: +0/+5, Harvest: +1 Attack and +5 Health
2: +5/+10, Harvest: +1 Attack and +5 Health
3: +15/+25, Harvest: +2 Attack and +10 Health

Dark Calling Upgrades
1: +5/+5, Reform: 2 Random Units and give them +5 Attack
2: +15/+15, Reformed units gain +5 Attack
3: +20/+20, Reformed units gain +5 Attack

Which gives us the following Melted Remnant champions at each level...

Rector Flicker Card

• 10/10 (Size 2)

Level 1 Rector Flicker

• Burn Bright-I: 50/50, Burnout 3
  
• Accumulator-I: 10/15, Harvest: +1 Attack and +5-Health
  
• Dark Calling-I: 15/15, Reform: 2 Random Units with +5 Attack

Level 2 Rector Flicker

• Burn Bright-II: 80/80, Burnout 3
  
• Accumulator-II: 15/25, Harvest: +2 Attack and +10-Health
  
• Dark Calling-II: 30/30, Reform: 2 Random Units with +10 Attack
  
• Burn Bright-I/Accumulator-I: 50/55, Burnout 3, Harvest: +1 Attack and +5 Health
  
• Burn Bright-I/Dark Calling-I: 55/55, Burnout 3, Reform: 2 Random Units with +5 Attack
  
• Accumulator-I/Dark Calling-I: 15/20, Harvest: +1 Attack and +5-Health, Reform: 2 Random Units with +5 Attack

Level 3 Rector Flicker

• Burn Bright-III: 145/145, Burnout 3
  
• Accumulator-III: 30/50, Harvest: +4 Attack and +20-Health
  
• Dark Calling-III: 50/50, Reform: 2 Random Units with +15 Attack
  
• Burn Bright-II/Accumulator-I: 80/85, Burnout 3, Harvest: +1 Attack and +5 Health
  
• Burn Bright-II/Dark Calling-I: 85/85, Burnout 3, Reform: 2 Random Units with +5 Attack
  
• Accumulator-II/Dark Calling-I: 20/30, Harvest: +2 Attack and +10-Health, Reform: 2 Random Units with +5 Attack
  
• Burn Bright-I/Accumulator-II: 55/65, Burnout 3, Harvest: +2 Attack and +10 Health
  
• Burn Bright-I/Dark Calling-II: 70/70, Burnout 3, Reform: 2 Random Units with +10 Attack
  
• Accumulator-I/Dark Calling-II: 30/35, Harvest: +1 Attack and +5-Health, Reform: 2 Random Units with +10 Attack

Rector Flicker tends to be more deck-dependent than the other champions. Going pure Burn Bright can be amazing but leads to a very different deck build than pure Dark Calling would. In one case, you need lots of cards with Reform. In the other, you want very few (if any at all). If you want your champion dealing damage, however, you'll want at least one level of Burn Bright, which adds to the fun of playing Melting Remnant anyway. Who doesn't want a champion who can come back to battle stronger and stronger?

The Wurmkin clan was introduced in The Last Divinity DLC. Their original champion, Spine Chief, is a 3-capacity champion like Penumbra. He focuses on the clan's corrupt echoes game mechanic. The Decayer path damages enemies based on how many corrupt echoes are on the floor and increases the damage stacks each time you add more corrupt echoes, The Corruptor path increases unit damage on that floor based on the number of corrupt echoes, and The Infector path adds a corrupt echo each time he attacks.

The Decayer
1: +5/+25, enemies suffer Reap 2 when you add echoes
2: +5/+45, +1 stack of Reap
3: +5/+50, +2 stacks of Reap

The Corruptor
1: +0/+10, friendly units have +5 Attack per echo
2: +0/+30, +5 Attack per echo
3: +0/+40, +10 Attack per echo

The Infector
1: +20/+20, Strike: Gain 1 echo
2: +0/+40, Multistrike 1
3: +0/+40, Multistrike 1

Which gives us the following Wurmkin champions at each level...

Spine Chief Card

• 5/20 (Size 3)

Level 1 Spine Chief

• The Decayer-I: 10/45, enemies suffer Reap 2 when you add echoes
  
• The Corruptor-I: 5/30, friendly units have +5 Attack per echo
  
• The Infector-I: 25/40, Strike: Gain 1 echo

Level 2 Spine Chief

• The Decayer-II: 15/90, enemies suffer Reap 3 when you add echoes
  
• The Corruptor-II: 5/60, friendly units have +10 Attack per echo
  
• The Infector-II: 25/80, Multistrike 1, Strike: Gain 1 echo
  
• The Decayer-I/The Corruptor-I: 10/55, enemies suffer Reap 2 when you add echoes, friendly units have +5 Attack per echo
  
• The Decayer-I/The Infector-I: 30/65, Strike: Gain 1 echo, enemies suffer Reap 2 when you add echoes
  
• The Corruptor-I/The Infector-I: 25/50, Strike: Gain 1 echo, friendly units have +5 Attack per echo

Level 3 Spine Chief

• The Decayer-III: 20/140, enemies suffer Reap 5 when you add echoes
  
• The Corruptor-III: 5/100, friendly units have +20 Attack per echo
  
• The Infector-III: 25/120, Multistrike 2, Strike: Gain 1 echo
  
• The Decayer-II/The Corruptor-I: 15/100, enemies suffer Reap 3 when you add echoes, friendly units have +5 Attack per echo
  
• The Decayer-II/The Infector-I: 35/110, Strike: Gain 1 echo, enemies suffer Reap 3 when you add echoes
  
• The Corruptor-II/The Infector-I: 25/80, Strike: Gain 1 echo, friendly units have +10 Attack per echo
  
• The Decayer-I/The Corruptor-II: 10/85, enemies suffer Reap 2 when you add echoes, friendly units have +10 Attack per echo
  
• The Decayer-I/The Infector-II: 30/105, Multistrike 1, Strike: Gain 1 echo, enemies suffer Reap 2 when you add echoes
  
• The Corruptor-I/The Infector-II: 25/90, Multistrike 1, Strike: Gain 1 echo, friendly units have +5 Attack per echo

Spine Chief is another champion who really benefits from mixing paths. His health stat won’t get as high as it does when you stick to a single path, but The Infector path is arguably the most synergistic path in all of Monster Train. Mixing it with The Decayer means every attack he makes adds more Reap while mixing it with The Corruptor means every attack adds to the damage of all your units on his floor. If you can give him enough protection (health, armor, damage shield, stealth, etc.), it can be truly entertaining to watch a relentless phase of combat in which he stacks Reap through the roof or gives your other units ridiculous attack stats. That said, all three pure paths are quite viable as well and effectively showcase one aspect of the corrupt echoes mechanic.

• May 27, 2020 - Guide created with Hellhorned, Awoken, and Stygian Guard
  
• May 28, 2020 - Umbra added
  
• May 29, 2020 - Melting Remnant added
  
• June 1, 2020 - Champion icons added to break up the wall of text
  
• June 2, 2020 - Hellhorned and Umbra updated based on today's game patch, formatting improved
  
• June 17, 2020 - Corrected Tethys to be a "she" and Penumbra to be an "it"
  
• July 16, 2020 - Updated guide for accuracy with the July 16 release of the Wild Mutations update
  
• September 7, 2020 - Updated guide for clarity with the September 3 release of the Friends & Foes update
  
• October 23, 2020 - Updated guide for accuracy with the October 22 release of the Herzal's Workshop update
  
• December 10, 2020 - Updated Awoken section to reflect today's changes
  
• April 13, 2021 - Updated Hellhorned, Awoken, and Stygian sections to reflect balance updates from The Last Divinity DLC
  
• April 29, 2021 - Wurmkin added
  
• May 19, 2021 - Updated Wurmkin section to reflect balance updates from the most recent patch