This guide references the Compendium[natataunata.github.io] which list the game's layout, units, heroes, items, upgrades et cetera...
I made it as well, so do not hesitate to notify me if there's anything wrong with it.

Nowadays, the Units and Heroes are easily accessible in-game through the Book of Champions top right of the screen. It lacks filters but it displays some statistics about your very own games, and units will have little medals on them whose color depends on the highest difficulty beaten.

The goal of the guide is to give a general idea on how to build a party.
The GameDev considers some encounters and unlocks as spoilers, so I will be masking them like this. Most of those secrets can actually be discovered with basic strategies, which I will add next to the spoilers.

Things that are strong will be stressed in bold with an asterix*. Strong things sometimes need one little thing to really shine, but it is minimal. Things that are on the weaker side are in italics with a tilde~.
If something has great scaling potential, I'll also add a circumflex^.

The very end of each party build category contains some examples for strong builds (behind a spoiler mask), but as most of the fun of the game is to try to build a good party for each of the units in-game, read it at your own peril!
A Loyal Follower kitted with Martyr Plates is oftentimes an very expensive but very powerful addition, to any party, especially those that attack a lot of times per turn.

Most of the information given in this section is lifted out of the Game's tutorials. Additional information is highlighted.



Each room has three horizontal lanes and six vertical columns.
Characters will automatically attack the nearest enemy in their lane. Some characters (such as Followers) can only attack from the front column or the back column.

Characters with high Speed attack first. You can view the attack order by holding 'A' or hovering over the 'Attack Order' icon in the top right.

* Speed also applies for effects at the start of a round: Artifacts first, then items (from top to bottom), then abilities.
For instance, It matters for the Ring of Mortality: equipping an armor ring BEFORE will prevent damage, but not otherwise. An armor or shielding artifact like Titanic Hammer or the Arbiter Blade also prevents the damage. Another example would be how the Green Scale Wand and the Cleric of the Hammer interact. If the Elf that has the Wand is faster than the Cleric, then the item will not grant armor to the Hammer that the Cleric will summon.

You can rearrange party members between rounds. Unlike the start of a battle, characters that are moved between rounds will become exhausted - skipping their next attack. Knowing when to rearrange your party (and when not to) is critical to surviving.

Inexhaustible units are able to move around without losing their attack turn.
* But they still can be exhausted by misplacing them if they can only attack from the front or the back.

If a character has no valid target, they will attack the enemy hero instead. The battle ends when a hero is defeated.
After a battle, any dead party members will be revived and damaged party members will heal. However, damage to your hero is permanent!

* Battles reward 1 exp potion per fight (except the first one) and 3 gold. You can gain 2 levels through battles alone per area. You actually do not need to pick up the gold manually, it will be picked up automatically when you go to the next room.
During fights you will sometimes get bonus/optional objectives which give 2 additional gold.
Boss battles get better rewards : 1 red potion that heals your hero, 1 big blue potion (2 exp), a sack of 8 gold, and a chest that will give you a choice of 3 artifacts. The Underneath Boss also gives a Champion's Sword (+1 attack, Hero only).
Artifacts are powerful items that do not take equipment slot.

* Inbetween battles, you will encounter events to prepare for the next battle. It might be important to rearrange your party before engaging in battles, as some rooms can reduce the tiles availables (holes, spikes, boulders, adventurer to protect...).

Campfires let you hire and dismiss characters. Bonfires have more characters to hire than campfires do. Unlocking new units will eventually unlock new bonfires.

* Recruit are level 1 in the first area, level 2 in the second, and level 3 in the third. It is gold efficient to recruit level 2 and 3 units, so don't fret if your current composition is not yet perfect, and try to level up units that you will keep.
You can even sell exp potions if you're sure you won't keep your units, but beware that it is possible to level up units beyond level 3, so it's often a waste.
Bear in mind that a Campfire at the very end of an area is probably worse than the first Campfire of the next area.

* Some units benefit hugely from leveling up, whereas other not at all. Each level up allow your unit to wield one more item, which is nice, but some units do not get anything else. Fighters tend to gain a lot of Health, which can easily gained with cheap Fighter items, and some units get a huge boost in Attack or ability damage.
When leveling up, it's a good idea to compare beforehand the trade-off: better front-line, or more damage? If you have a very good unit, it might be worth it to funnel all the potions to it, and replace the other units when you reach the third area. Some units scale their damage very well when they level up (for instance Lyra, Ursa, Clerc of the Roses, Sharpshooter, Haruspex...).

* Treasure Room have a small pool of items that they will draw from based on what you have in your party. So to get a mage item you will need a mage, etc. If you don't like the item, you can sell it for 1 Gold. If you have a Human in your party early on (which happens often if you still have followers), a lucky Noble Plate can net you a lot of gold.
Gold rooms simply give you 3 Gold.

Merchants will sell items for gold. You can remove equipment from a Character by right-clicking. Right-clicking multiple times will cycle through their inventory.

* Merchants work like Treasure Rooms: they can only roll things your team can equip. So no Lizardfolk means no Lizardfolk only items. The other thing is the items you can buy is tied loosely to how much gold you have. You can only see the best/expensive items if you have the money for it.

* The Witch sells potions.

• Green potions will make your units Multiclass, which will allow them to equip any class item, and benefit from any class-specific buff or artifact.
  
• Yellow potions will transform your units. Fighter's can be savescummed, Archer is random and can't, whereas the mage's statue can be given experience potions.
  
• White potion will transform the Hero.
  
• Grey potions will give you a random item.
  
• Blue potions give experience to your units.

Andromalius will transform one piece of equipment. Right-click to remove equipment from a Character, then place the equipment in the Void.
You MUST move the equipment to the Void directly from the units' inventory. It won't work if you try to move from the floor
* Andromalius will let you preview the result If you've already transformed an item in a previous game, otherwise you can consult the Compendium.
As a general rule, it is a good idea to try to transform everything at least once.
If you transform a Death-related item, you will have to fight an additional boss.

* The Keysmith sells keys that are required to access special Rooms (Giant, Lost Mage, Black Market, Portal Area, Golden Drake). Accessing the Portal is a little more trickier than just buying keys. You'll have to upgrade the old key through Andromalius.
* As a general rule, it is a good idea to hang on with the keys in order to see what they can open. Then drop them or transform them once you know their purpose.

The Giant always has the same six ring items. Choose wisely - you can only take one!
* Typically, I take the Healing ring or the Power ring. You can consider if you need the Obsidian Ring as well, but if you're puzzled by its purpose, just hang around with it like you'd do with a key.
* The Lost Mage will be available in the Abyss only if you have the Obsidian Ring and will allow you to pick any unit you want, level 3. This can save a lot of gold if your party lacks only one unit early on, otherwise the Bonfire right afterward works a bit counter.

The Black Market sells items for cheaper than regular shops.
* 3 or 4 gold cheaper, so buying 1 item will already make the key worth. Items can't be cheaper than 1 gold.

Aamon offers cursed rings. The curse is dependent on your current Hero.
* Those rings give a lot of gold, so try to plan ahead in order to be able to pick them.

Bathin offers optional bargains that increase the difficulty of the next battle in return for gold.
* Some battles have nasty synergies with Bathin's curses, so you can choose to skip the bargain, but oftentimes the easiest bargain amongst the 3 is free gold, and even the hardest is doable with a good party.

You can choose the combination of Hero/Artefact/End Boss etc.. that you prefer, then adjust the difficulty and start a new game.

Once you beat all the Old Gods, you can fully customize your runs.

There are 3 normal areas in the game, the Upper Dungeon, the Underneath and the Abyss, each with 13 rooms ending with a boss.
Afterward there's the Old God Area, which is the final boss of a regular run.
Finally, and optionally, there's the Portal area which you can access only if you have the Portal Key and which contains harder encounters.


Room 1: Nothing.


Room 2: Pick a Boon [Upper], or the Witch [Underneath, Abyss]
Boons are unlocked once you defeat powerful enemies, and are big bonuses that are easy to miss at the start of the game: click on the grey sphere.

Room 3: Battle.

Room 4: Campfire, a Gold Room [Underneath] or Aamon's Room [Abyss].
In the Underneath, The Campfire here and Bathin in Room 8 is generally slightly more gold and an earlier level 2 unit, but Andromalius can make space in your party at Room 6, so if you think it will happen it's better to pick the Gold Room here and the Campfire Room 8.

Room 5: Battle (2 choices in the Upper Dungeon and Underneath).

Room 6: Treasure Room/Gold Room [Upper], or Merchant/Andromalius [Underneath, Abyss], or a Bonfire [Underneath].
If you have a Human in your party early on in the Upper Dungeon (which happens often if you still have followers), you can get a Noble Plate which will net you a lot more gold than the Gold Room.
Elsewhere, it is better in general to visit Andromalius than a Merchant if you're not in a hurry, because you will be able to spend your gold on a merchant later and Andromalius' exchanges are typically worth 4 free gold.

Room 7: Battle. 1 choice left amongst the same pool of enemies of Room 5.

Room 8: Bathin or Campfire or Lost Mage [Abyss]
In the Upper Dungeon, going for the second Campfire can be a necessity if you lacked gold at the first campfire. Same in the Underneath if you made space with Andromalius Room 6. In the Abyss, Bathin is the go-to choice if no Obsidian Ring, if you unlocked the Bonfire.

Room 9: Battle, 2 choices except in the Abyss.

Room 10: Treasure Room, or Bonfire [Upper, Abyss], or Keysmith [Upper], or the Giant [Underneath].
In general, it's best to go to the Keysmith [Upper] and the Giant [Underneath]. The Bonfire in the Abyss is great to aim for, and skip the earlier and later Campfire (Rooms 4, 8 and 12), so you can get Aamon, Bathin and a Merchant instead.

Room 11: Battle. 1 choice left amongst the same pool of enemies of Room 9. Or the Golden Drake [Abyss] if you have the golden key.

Room 12: Campfire or Merchant or Black Market [Underneath]
At this point, the Campfire is a really bad option that you take only in the direst situation, and the Black Market/Merchant is the typical choice. This is because Campfires in the next incoming area are better, and because the gold you have to spend will probably better improve your party.

Room 13: Boss Room.



Room 1: Merchant

Room 2: Final Boss (Illifar, Nazzatoth or Abbadon)

Illifar: Killing his gargoyles isn't always the correct thing. You can try to roll some of the weaker ones and just tank them without killing. The reason for this is some of the gargoyles are more dangerous than others, so you will want to keep the safer ones around until the end. You can kill them when Illifar has about 50 hp left.

Abaddon: You will want some armor for your tank because Abaddon has an attack that will take the highest hp to 1. Also, Abaddon will summon random spheres, but you may want to focus the red or blue ones ASAP as they can shutdown your armor or healing. Like Illifar, you can choose to ignore and just tank some Sphere if they are well placed and are weak (Blue, Red and Green Sphere do no damage, so you can ignore them if their passive don't harm your strategy).

Nazzatoth: A good frontline can tank most of the damage, but beware of the status effects, especially the Affliction (cant gain Health, Armor or Power). Beware of the Red Shadows aswell, as they can hurt your hero.

Room 3, 5 and 7: If you have the Portal Key, you will fight the Keeper, which attacks twice per turn.

Room 4, 6 and 8: Merchant or Andromalius.

Room 9: Final battle. The Legend version is different.

The Tower Challenge is a different layout and ends up being a 100 floors game (instead of 39 for a normal run, or 49 for a normal run with the optional Final Boss). Gold strategies are way more efficient in the Tower Challenge (Follower items, Dwarf items, Artifacts).

The difficulty ramps up way more than the normal mode, but you can also scale up and overlevel your units. You'll have access to level 3 units as soon as floor ~22 (right after you get your second artifact, similarly to the normal mode), which mean you'll have the opportunity to overlevel a lot your units until floor 100. Some units do scale very well with overleveling (especially those who do more than one attack per turn).
Notably, you can encounter way more Witches, which can allow you to Multiclass your whole party, including the units you can only recruit at level 3.

Every ten floors or so, the damage of Bosses goes up, as does the Health of the enemies.
You'll have to defeat the Final Boss at floor 22 the first time, then 44, 66 and finally 100 -which is the last unlock for the Tower Challenge.

The far right is how many pieces of equipment he can have. This increases by one every level.
Next to the Attack, Front only, Back only, or nothing means it can deal damage in the front, the back, or both respectively.

A good party will generally revolve around one specific unit, or one specific keyword synergy.
Keywords can be accessed in game through the Book of Champion, it is the "?" icon.
The Alliance system of the game mostly regroup the important synergies but very imperfectly.
The synergies are mostly Armor, Hope, Power, Lizard/Scheme, Elf/Doom, Dwarf/Counter, Undead/Soulcast, Beast/Bloodcast, Poison, Summon/Manacast. Some synergies complement others very well, so you can mix a bit.

Even if burst-damage alone is sufficient early game, synergies tend to also provide sustain which can be important lategame when enemies have hundreds of health. On top of it, enemies can put debuffs on your party. For instance, confusion makes your party messy, curse makes your party take double damage. And most importantly Affliction is a debuff that can shutdown many units and frontliners as it prevents the gain of Health, Armor and Power. The most reliable answer to Affliction is to be able to summon reliably each turn, so that summon fodder will eat the afflictions away. Because of this, a summoner is a nice addition for many comps.

In the harder modes of the game, your units will have less Health, which can kill you early game if you do not have a proper frontline. Mages become harder to afford.


If you manage to keep a Follower in your party, AND buy the Follower-only cheap item, you'll be able to transform this item at Andromalius in the second Area, which will allow you to deck him in Gold Plates if you manage to also find and buy them. Over the long run, especially in the Tower Challenge, this can net you a lot of Gold, but you need to ensure the Follower dies every battle.
You can buy Martyr's Plates and replace the Gold Plates once in the lategame.

Every party can become way stronger this way, but it can be difficult to pull off as you need to stay alive up to floor 8 in the second Area with a Follower. But any Gold Plate you can find right after in he Black Market will reward a lot of Gold back...


An important distinction to make is between Regular Attacks and Triggered Attacks.
The regular attack is the normal attack made each round by an unit if it's not exhausted.
The triggered attacks are any other attack, generally caused by a trigger ability (gain armor, ally dies, hope, ...). Triggered attack procs DO NOT consume Power. So if units that can have attack procs have a way of gaining Power, their damage can scale indefinitively as long as you are able to exhaust them.

For instance, a Javelineer with 2 Thoric Rings and the Topaz Ring (Power ring) will gain two times armor per round, and gain 1 Power per round. If you keep exhausting the Javelineer, it will attack two times per round anyway, and its damage will scale up. If you place the Topaz Ring first, then the second round the Javelineer will do 2x2 damage, then 2x3 damage etc...

Because of this, Power also be part of a party if you have a trigger-attack unit.

Note that Poison only activates on regular attacks, Follow Up rarely benefit from Power as it follows up a regular attack which consumes Power, a Multi Attack only benefits once from Power.
Also, a unit with "-" attack can not gain Attack nor Power.

Power Alliance is the Sun.

Power increases the damage of a character's next attack. Unlike Power, Attack bonuses last for the entire battle.

Some units can help generating Power, and some other greatly benefit from Power.
Those that benefit from Power are usually mages, but the trigger-attacks units do too extremely well.

The Squire, the Enchanter, and the Arcane Archer are straightforward units that grant Power. The Squire gives a lot to one specific unit (good with trigger-attack units), the Enchanter gives a bit to all the mages, and the Arcane Archer more than the Enchanter but is less beefy.
Ayma (Counter), as well.
The Hope unit Sage of the Word can also give Power, but its randomness makes it harder to target your Damage Dealer.
The Hero Eloa also grants Power, and is thus is a good fit for Power comps.

The Lightning Adept, the Mage of the Sun, and the Flame Adept are mages that benefit greatly from Power; although the Flame Adept less so when there's only one enemy. Overall the Lightning Adept tends to do more damage than the Mage of the Sun, but it's sometimes good to snipe with one Alpha strike rather than attacking a lot of times, especially if you have a unit that can curse the enemies like Maeledox*^ (double the damage of one attack).

The Battle Mage^ is a good Tank for Power teams, and synergizes well with the Sage of the World. The level 3 doubles the healing.

The Tinkerer* (Summon) reliably summons bombs when any amount of Power is available.
What makes it interesting is you pretty much have to keep one lane open and the others filled because you want the bombs to not hit your own people (nor the Hero). Typically the middle lane open because most bosses don't move from the middle.
With only one Power, the tinkerer can summon until the end of time as long as it's exhausted. And one Power necklace makes him self-reliant. Pairs well with the Divine Protector^, but can be awkward with Crowned Xandos.

Maeledox*^ (Lizardfolks) gets a shield whenever gets Power. This greatly helps tanking damage, especially against a sole enemy. One Power Necklace or Sword makes his Shield very reliable.

Zed^ (Summon) can also spawn a lot of summons, but you'll have to deal with the fact his summons are immovable. He can be a one-man army and solo most fights.



Mage of the Sun and Maeledox: Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2&3[natataunata.github.io]

Lightning Adept: Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Area 3[natataunata.github.io]

The Hope Alliance is Heart. Healing for zero, or overhealing, doesn't trigger Hope.

If you can generate a lot of healing, some units can do great damage.
It has anti-synergy with Armor (as you don't take damage, you can't heal), and good synergy with Dwarves/Counter.

The sustain from healing is used to generate additional damage, which is improving both offense and defense with one mechanic (similarly to Armor).

The High Priestess*, The Battle Cleric, and the Cleric of the Path are straightforward healers. The Battle Cleric is similar to the Royal Captain* (3 frontliners for best results). The High Priestess* also heals your Hero, which is rare.
You can however also generate healing through other units like the Sun Horn* (Bloodcast), the Brewmaster^ (Counter), or any Dwarf (Immortal belt item), the Butcher (Kill, preferably with Sanguinist), or any Frontliner with inbuilt healing (and/or with Vampiric Helm/Immortal Cap).
The frontliners with a lot of inbuilt healing are Juggernaut^, Battle Mage^ and the Cultist. Souldrinker and Hypogean have a little bit of reliable healing too, and some others aswell but they require additional synergy.
Any Mage with a Holy Scepter, or anybody with the Potion Belt also generate good healing.
The Hero Dominique (Itinerant Chef) is a standard choice for Hope, as he has targeted and inexhaustible heal.

Lyra*^, The Cleric of the Rose and the Sage of the Word are your Hope Damage dealers. Lyra*^ is only available in the last Area, and she might need Archer items.Sage of the Word doesn't like to be grouped with units that can't attack (Holy Wisp notably).

The Sword Dancer and The Royal Guard are frontliner that improve your damage when they are healed. As does the Berserker (Counter) in a way.


Hope: Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Power Stacking Lyra Area 3[natataunata.github.io]

The Dwarves Alliance is the Hammer. Counter will also be covered here, as dwarves heavily use and enchance it.

Synergy with Hope, anti-synergy with Armor, because to get Counter you need to actually lose health.
The Dwarf item Immortal Belt is very strong as it stacks very well and synergizes with BOTH Hope and Counter. This expensive item also nullifies the self-damage of the Venin Shield and the Doomed Amulet, which makes them significantly stronger items when paired.
It also allows Thoric to tank multiple lanes alone.

The Battle Thane* is the heart of many Dwarf and Counter comps, as its follow-up triggers all units and items that can Counter. You typically want to place it in the center back, so it's adjacent to 4 units (including the Hero), and never have to move it so you trigger its Follow-Up every turn.
He will improve the Brewmaster^ and the Berserker, aswell as their Dwarf items, but he can also improve the Hero if you have Counter Swords, and other good Counter units.
A Battle Thane* with a Hero that has Counter Swords and Eldric Boots* (attacks twice) is terrifying, and leaves the 3 other units open.

If you go with a Dwarf-centric comp, the Runesmith becomes a good frontline with a lot of passive Armor. The Berserker and the Brewmaster^ complements the Runesmith as frontline (they like to get hurt). The Brewmaster^ is very fragile early game, and need the Dwarf Health artefact, or a good shield, including the Venin Shield. He's also the primary target for Immortal Belts, as the more he tanks, the more the heals others.

If you go with a Counter-centric comp, the Berserker and the Brewmaster^ actually remain good here, but you also want to consider other units:

The Wrath Conduit^ can be used to dish out tremendous damage in the first rounds. With some health items he will last longer, and with Doomed amulets he will do even greater damage but die faster. With the Battle Thane, you can try to exhaust it and stack Power.

The Aviakoran Guard^ has reusable summons, and can be used in a lot of comps. With one Venin Shield and one Potion Belt, he can reliably summon each turn and sustain. With the Titan's Wall he will also do 0 damage if you want to stall.

Ayma, Lightning Caller can buff the Power of all the party with each Counter, and for instance help the Wrath Conduit to stack Power.

The others dwarves are less Counter or Dwarf-centric, but they still fit in with a Runesmith:

The Cleric of the Hammer is a good summoner that likes being with non-dwarves like the Divine Protector or elves that can protect his Hammers with Green Wands.

Nangruil will tend to find its place in Armor comps, whereas the Cleric of the Dark can find its place anywhere without too much problem.


Hero Counter with Moving Runesmith Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Area 3[natataunata.github.io]

Heal the Wrath Conduit Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Area 3[natataunata.github.io]

The Armor Alliance is Metal and is one of the strongest archetypes.

Armor acts like temporary hit points. However, Armor only lasts until the end of a round.

Armor has anti-synergy with Counter and Hope, and has some synergy with Doom because of the Immortal Helm item.

The Royal Captain* and the Armorsmith give Armor to other units. As does the summon of the Steel Summoner.

The Immortal does not lose armor between rounds, so it's a real tank. Especially against Afflictions, but its damage is lower than other Armor units.

The Armored Knight gets its damage improved by the amount of Armor he has, so he likes the Armorsmith. The Titan's Ring is also a good fit for turn 1.

Ares does extra damage whenever he gets armor, and Nangruil gets its damage improved anytime anybody gets armor, which can make him better than Ares in term of damage if you have a LOT of items.

The Javelineer*^ does extra damage each time they get any amount of armor, like Ares. However the Javelineer benefits from Power stacking. The Javelineer*^ can also greatly benefit from a multiclass potion if you do not want to stack Power and use Attack items instead (from Mages and Archers).

All the Armor Damage dealers, except Nangruil, can easily fit in a Doom party, if they have Immortal Helms (Fighter item), because each Doom proc can trigger up to 3 Armor items. One reliable Doom proc makes this item similar to Thoric Ring, and 2 or more makes it superior.

Nangruil can fit in a Soulcast party because of the Skull Charm item. Anytime anybody soulcast, it's 1 armor per item. But it can be tricky to generate enough Souls with Nangruil instead of another Soulcaster.

Power-stacking Javelineer: Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Area 3[natataunata.github.io] (You can just buy a poison ring on Thoric instead of damage, and buy other Armor rings for more sustain)

The Lizardfolks Alliance is the Scale. Given that only Lizards can Scheme, it will be covered here aswell.

Scheme: This triggers when a unit that could attack doesn't, usually because it moved this turn or just can't attack from the front or the back row.

Lizards are very good in stalling and poison comps. Stalling is "scheming", i.e. exhausting a lot your units so they do not attack. Poison is covered in the Poison section. Because of their stalling nature, they tend to be the first to discover the Aurum Worms.

Hypogean is generally the main tank, and becomes better the more Lizard you have (a bit like the Runesmith for Dwarves). He can tank very well early game without any item, provided you have enough Lizards.

Maeledox*^ is good for tanking as well, as he can reliably have a Shield. He will curse enemies, which will make any Power stacked count for twice (which each Lizard can unleash orderly each per turn). Equipped with a Lightning Fang/Sun Necklace, 2 Thoric Rings and the Smith artifact, he can tank pretty much anything in the game with only a few exceptions. And he can scale off of Ethereal Essence.

Praliator has no innate Scheming ability, benefits from stalling if you can stack Power. If stacking enough Power, he can mow down one full lane in one go, including killing Illifar (600 HP) in Legend.

Amguan is an accelerant for Scheming, as he gives Power to all Lizards when Scheming. He can help Maeledox survive better as Maeledox can actually have many Shields per turn if they get broken then replenished. He will remain squishy through leveling though.

Aguatilis* and Praexator are good inexhaustible units that can help the other Lizards scheme. having one Inexhaustible unit is good to deal with little problems that aren't worth unleashing Power on. Aguatilis* is extremely strong early game paired with the Essence Collector artefact, as he will shine as soon as you get put in a difficult situation.

Smuggler and Ixotle can help fill the board with Lizards, but are a little bit underwhelming. Give Lizard Eggs to the Smuggler (or any other Lizard, really) if you want to fill the board, and improve the healing of the Hypogean. The additional gold from the Smuggler is kinda nice on its own, but a human filled with Noble Plate does it better.

Xerxis is a poisonous Archer that summon a poisonous unit and who doesn't scale at all. He goes well with the Sharpshooter, as he can offer 3 poisons total.

Lizards play well with Gryx, or Xandos, as more Lizard means Hypogean and Amguan and Praexator are even better. Even the Smuggler! You probably need at least one inexhaustible unit with Xandos however.

Area 1[natataunata.github.io]Area 2[natataunata.github.io]Area 3[natataunata.github.io]

The Doom alliance is Death. Doom units are mostly elves, and Doom proc when any enemy dies.

Channeler is a straightforward frontline Doom generator. Doesn't like to move around.
Sanguinist and Void Summoner summon "enemies" that will damage the enemies on death, which will also give a Doom proc. The Sanguinist can fill the enemy board fully which can counter enemy summons in some cases. Together with the Channeler, that's up to 3 reliable Doom proc per turn. The Void Summoner and the Sanguinist are backline but are in essence inexhaustible so very reliable. A multiclassed Sanguinist can also equip a Scavenger Cloak and summons friendly ravens on his own.

Blood Leech* can reliably summon if you have one or more Doom generator. pairs well with Divine Protector^, Elemancer^ to buff its attack, and summon artifact including the Elemental Essence.

Cultist : Doom's tank, but needs some Health items to be a safe tank.

Haruspex, Night Marksman and Nyx are Doom damage dealers. Haruspex is actually insanely fun early game or in easier difficulties, as he can clean up the enemy board turn one. But he can be put in situations where he does 0 damage and can die easily. The Night Marskman does less damage (still a lot though) but is more reliable and can snipe enemies. Nyx curses the enemies, which goes very well with the Haruspex, but as you cannot stack curses, Nyx prefers Doom comps with only 1 generator if not paired with Haruspex.

The Javelineer*^, Armored Knight and Ares can also be Doom damage dealers when fitted with Immortal Helms.


Haruspex Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Area 3[natataunata.github.io]

Doom Javelineer Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Area 3[natataunata.github.io] (only 1 Multiclass potion needed)

Doom Turtles Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io]

The Poison Alliance is ... Poison!

This archetype is a bit on the weak side, as most archetype tend to solve both offense and defense. Poison has trouble with sustain, but has great offense. It comprises of a lot of gnomes and lizards, which have poison-related items.

Poisoned enemies will suffer 1 damage when performing a regular attack.

The Rogue and any inexhaustible Lizard with a poisonous fang can spread poison quite freely. If the Lizard isn't inexhaustible, it works OK too. The Fey Adept (summon buffer) is also poisonous, and Xerxis poisonous Lizard summons a poisonous hatchling.

The Venin Drinker is a poisonous tank that heal when poisoned enemies die, but he need some Health item like the Cultist to be good frontline. Out of all the frontliners with innate sustain, his is the least reliable.

The Venomancer and the Sharpshooter will do more damage the more poison there is. The Venomancer shine on multitarget but falls off monotarget, whereas the Sharpshooter shine as long as you have a lot of poisonous unit. The Sharpshooter itself isn't poisonous however, but he scales the best.
The Venin Witch does double damage against poisoned enemies, so she scales well. She also summon 1 or 2 poisonous slime to help with the spread of poison.
The Assassin improves the damage of poison. His damage is similar to the Venomancer, but slightly weaker. The Assassin is beefier however, and can equip Fighter Gnome items.

The Devourer and Ven scale off of units dying to poison (enemies or allies). This can be reliably done with a Sanguinist. The Devourer will provide summon fodder, whereas Ven with heal and scale its damage. It is the weirdest poison comp as none of them are poisonous, but perhaps the most reliable if you can complete the party with poisoner units or Hero. Or settle with Venina Hex which could snowball the Devourer.

Sharpshooter overlevel Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Area 3[natataunata.github.io]

Who brought the poison? Area 3[natataunata.github.io]

The Undead Alliance is the Skull. With the exception of the Soul Conduit, Soulcasting is exclusive to Undeads and will be covered aswell.

Soulcast : As long as the unit is not exhausted, it can use a special ability at the very beginning of each turn by right-clicking the character. Soulcast costs Soul, which is gained each time anything dies.
You can move around your units and move them back and still use those abilities.

The Soul Conduit is a straightforward Human (not an Undead) Soul generator. If you use its Soulcast ability, its neutral.
The Soulmancer will generate Soul if you don't have any, so he's reliable if you can spend all of it each turn AND if you don't have any other soul generator (otherwise his ability NEVER activates).
Other than those two, you can reliably generate soul with summons and enemy summons. So the Sanguinist or the Void Summoner are good generator as well (the Sanguinist might be slightly better as he's Undead), and any reliable summoner is generating Soul.

Deadeye is an archer that does passively more damage the more Undead you have on the board, whereas the Tarus Guard can Soulcast a lot of armor to all Undead units.
Tarus' ability works on Undead Heroes, which allows them to soak damage. Undead items can also grant armor to the Hero, which means the Hero can probably tank one lane in Undead comps.

The Necromancer* is a summoner that require 2 souls to summon 1 skeleton. He's very good to fill the board with undeads, which goes well with the Tarus guard and Deadeye. Any skeleton that dies gives back 1 Soul, so his summons actually cost 1 Soul net. If you pair Undead Tazgyn with the Sanguinist, you can also summon Skeletons at no cost.

The Fallen Adept can spend all the Soul each turn, so he's good with the Soulmancer if you want absolute consistency, but this isn't always important if you have a lot of Soul spenders.

The Souldrinker is a good undead frontline that can regenerate up to 3 health per round passively, as long as you generate enough Soul per turn. he's naturally slower than the Soulmancer, so you don't even need a speed ring.

The Juggernaut^ is another good frontline that can generate a lot of health and Power if you can stack up a lot of Soul (and spend neutrally once you're filled). Paired with the Soul Vessel artifact, he has +4/+4 Power/Health average which make him an excellent frontliner. And along with the other Undead frontliners and/or Cracked Souls, he can go further and be paired with a Hope Damage dealer.

The Fallen Bannerman^ grants Attack proc to all Archers in the party, which works with Multiclass aswell. A party full of Archer goes well with Lyra quiver and Quickdraw quiver. Archers you'd want in his party are Archers that can stack Power, or that have high Attack. But you can also multiclass undead units alongside Deadeye, like the Sanguinist (to combine with Raven Cloak) and the Tarus Guard (to grant armor) when needed. Or Multiclass a Power stacking Mage of the Sun. Multiclass doesn't work on himself.

Nangruil goes well in a Soulcast party if many undead are decked in Skull Charms.

Undead with Nangruil Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Area 3[natataunata.github.io]

No SoulCast Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Area 3[natataunata.github.io]

The Beast Alliance is the Claw. Bloodcasting is exclusive to Beasts.

Bloodcast: As long as the unit is not exhausted, it can use a special ability at the very beginning of each turn by right-clicking the character.
Bloodcast does self-damage (absorbed by Armor, cannot be used if it would kill you). You can move around your units and move them back and still use those abilities.

Because Bloodcast does self-damage, it goes well with Hope, but you can also use Armor instead to mitigate the damage.
The Ancestral Gem is a really good item if you bloodcast a lot.

Sun Horn*. Can heal up to 3 health to allied Beast of your choosing (just move them around). Really good to negate the Bloodcast costs of other beasts, and generate Bloodcast procs. Really likes some form of self-sustain though, like a Potion Belt or a Thoric Ring. Even if there's nothing to heal, it can be a good idea to use this ability if you have Ursa or Ancestral Gems.

Ember Blood. Bloodcast 2 health to gain +1 Attack. Good scaling unit.

Iron Blood will gain as more armor as there are damaged allies. This ability is best used as late as possible if you want as much armor as possible.

Hellion* can attack twice if Bloodcasting. So the Ancestral Gem is twice as good on this unit.
Ursa*^. Can proc attacks on any Bloodcasting, so the Ancestral Gem is godlike if you have a lot of Bloodcasters.
Those two damage dealers are really strong even without the Gem, so a good Beast comp is usually Sun Horn/Iron Blood plus two out of Blood Ember/Hellion/Ursa. If you get Xandos or the Keeper Boon, you can have all of them.

Spirit Caller can resurrect beast units (with only 1 HP). Works well if you also have a Sun Horn or good healing, since if the Spirit Caller has enough sustain and the Essence Collector, that's 3 summons each turn reliably. The Ember Blood will loose its Attack buffs when revived however, so they don't get along well, and in general it doesn't work well with Beasts that do Bloodcasting. Works well with Ursa. If you don't have any unit to resurrect, you can't trigger bloodcast.
Can resurrect Jack if you want to torture Mariana.

Taur is beefy unit with some form of sustain, good all-around but outshined by Bloodcasters.

War Bear~ is a frontliner which will sustain ONLY if near death. Not really attractive as it does no damage and sustain worse than any other self-sustain tank (including Poison Drinker).

Forest Spirit is a damage dealer that gains Power when Beasts suffer damage. Can be awkward if you choose to negate damage with Armor. OK alternative to Ursa or Hellion otherwise.

It's OVER 90! Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Area 3[natataunata.github.io]
(Spirit Caller with the Essence Collector is more defensive-oriented)

The Summon Alliance is the Branch. Half of the summoners deplete Mana to choose when to summon, the other half summons under certain condition with no limit.

Summons are good fodder against enemies that hit hard, or that apply the Affliction debuff.

The Tinkerer* (Power), the Necromancer* (Undead), the Blood Leech* (Doom), the Aviakoran Guard^ (Counter), the Cleric of the Hammer^ (Dwarf), Zed^ (Power) and the Devourer (Poison) can reliably summon something each turn and have been covered in the corresponding sections. The Sanguinist can also help summoning with the help of a Scavenger Cloak (Archer item).
Zed's summons are immovable, so he can be tricky but he can summon a whole board in one turn. The Tinkerer is tricky aswell as he can damage your own units. The Blood Leech, The Devourer and the Cleric of the Hammer need 1 other unit to reliably summon fodder.

The Druid, the Steel Summoner (armor), the Venin WItch (poison), the Elemancer and Xerxis (poison) use mana to summons even during the first turn, and can gain more mana when above level 3. The Druid summon 2 units. So you do not want more than 4 units in your party (Crowned Xandos or the Keeper Boon are bad with the druid). But his wolves are the beefiest summons.

The Divine Protector^ shields summons. This allow summons to eat up to 2 strong attack instead of only one. This is very good lategame.

Cyril is a decent frontline with summon-based sustain that can be decked out with Human items that give gold or Attack to the whole party.

Aeron^ makes all the summons attack on Follow-Up, which double the effect of Artefacts like Erilari's Stone (+1 Attack) and Fey Sorcery (+2 Power), and the Fey Adept (+1/2/3 Attack) ability aswell.

Aguatilis* and the Ranger gain Power the more you summon. Aguatilis* is available immediatly and is actually insanely strong at level 1, as his Power activate even with non-summon units.

The Elemancer^ gains Attack the more Elemental you summon (Blood Leech or the Devourer mostly, but the Steel Summoner and the Venin Witch do it too).

Manacast Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2&3[natataunata.github.io]

Zed's dead Area 1[natataunata.github.io] Area 2[natataunata.github.io] Area 3[natataunata.github.io]
You can switch out the Clerc of the Hammer for Zed if you don't have Dwarf items, but you need Power necklaces and you need to be ready to deal with immovable gnomes.

The Aurum Hunters Area 1[natataunata.github.io]

The units that trigger their ability on kill do not have an Alliance.
To achieve great constitency, they can be paired with a Sanguinist^.

Hunter: Will deal additional damage to low health units. Great with a Raven Cloak, great with the Sanguinist who can be placed wherever, and great to kill off the eyes.

Tanner* is a great early game unit, easy to get a lot of gold off of enemies that make weak units/bones. Also works with objects. Hard to pull off but if level 3 and multiclassed and equipped with one Immortal Helm, one Soul Lens and one Scavenger Cloak, can farm 2 gold per round indefinitely against the Awakened Thicket without any score penalty. You probably want to get rid of him lategame however, when gold is not a concern anymore.

Butcher. Heals up to 3 health on kill. Good to get Hope procs, but comparatively difficult to exploit well. It's hard to justify a Sanguinist just for his ability. He remains nice otherwise.

Cleric of the Dark : gets a Shield on kill. Funny with a Venin Shield, Throwing Axe and immortal Belt, as the Self-Damage will trigger the Throwing Axe, which might kill the Sanguinist summon. Same as butcher, it's hard to justify a Sanguinist just for his ability.

Praliator. Seen in the Lizardfolks section. Can oneshot Illifar. Doesn't need a Sanguinist but isn't bothered by it (his damage won't be lost).

Taur. Can slap hard in a beast comp, but it's hard to justify a Sanguinist just for his ability.

Edric : All attack items are twice as efficient on him. Good damage dealer if you don't have any.

Follower^ : they are the classless goons you start with. Their only item slot is great for the Human items that grant gold (or Attack Bonus) when they die. There's a secret however to level them up Transform the Follower specific item at Andromalius, in which case they won't count toward maximum party size and will be able to wield even more Martyr's Plate or Noble Plate. This require them following you for quite a bit of time, which can be awkward.

Most Heroes are inexhaustible. Exceptions are Thoric, Exhaustible Eloa and Crowned Xandos.
Heroes can be transformed into another during a run by drinking a white potion from the Witch. Good candidates are heroes whose ability is starting with some artifacts, as they will retain those even after the transformation.

Selfish Thoric (Old Earth Noble)
Strong and tanky champion, but his synergies wane off lategame if you fill all lanes.
Generally better than Altruist Thoric early game, worse lategame.

Altruist Thoric^ (Master Smith)
Similar to Selfish Thoric, but his targeted Armor buff is really good in an Armor build. Weaker early game, better lategame.

Chef Dominique^ (The Traveling Chef)
Good hero for a Hope build, as his inexhaustible and targetable healing improves the consistency of Hope.

Golden Dominique (The Traveling Merchant)
Transforms back into Chef Dominique, so if you manage to reach a Witch and her potion without needing the Chef's Healing, you'd won some gold overall. Otherwise, he's weaker. Basically take him to transform him.

Inexhaustible Eloa (The Last Astronomer)
Her Power targeting is random which can be managed by having only one unit in her lane if necessary. She's slightly better than Exhaustible Eloa if you really want to target a non-mage, but otherwise she's worse.

Exhaustible Eloa^ (Arcane Researcher)
She grants twice as much Power as Inexhaustible Eloa, but only for mage, which can be awkward if you don't find a good mage early on. Goes well with Power build, which rely on mages anyway.
Alongside the Tinkerer, the Armorsmith and the Divine Protector, she can hunt Aurum Worms very early..

Death Gryx^ (She Who Swims Alone)
Very strong ability that pairs well with summoning, a bit like Aguatilis. Goes well in a Lizard party, or a poison one.

Poison Gryx (Brood Matriarch)
Worse than Transformed Elsbeth in almost every way. Only benefit is extra max hearts. And worse than Death Gryx with a poisonous fang.

Duo Mariana (Roaming Cognizances)
Brings the most starting damage potential to the dungeon, has an extra blocker with Jack, and is Inexhaustible. Quite versatile and explosive early game, but lacks deep synergies lategame.

Lone Mariana^ (Vengeance Seeker)
Good with beast comps, as she transforms into Animara. Xandos, Chef Dominique and Altruist Thoric are good with beasts too.

Transformed Mariana (Animara)
Slightly better version of Lone Mariana. Transforming her brings Jack back, which is a happy ending of sorts (and works well with the Spirit Caller in a Beast comp).

Elf Taz'gyn (Of the Old Moon)
Good for Doom comps as he helps them during turn 1, which can be very vulnerable against beefey enemies. Pairs well with the Cleric of the Hammer as he's the only elf with speed naturally lower than 2 (but you can also just give a cheap speed ring to the Cleric with another elf).

Undead Taz'gyn (Ascended Summoner)
OK with an Undead party. Synergizes well with Undead; able to add both Sustain and Damage. Undead Elsbeth is good with undead as well. One tends to generate Soul, the other tends to spend it.

Transformed Taz'gyn (of the Order)
Awkward to reach, as Elf Taz'gyn and Undead Taz'gyn don't really synergize with the same things.

Crowned Xandos III^ (The Young Prince)
His relic is better than most Hero abilities, as an additional level 3 champion ability is better than the heroes'. But he's weaker early game. Good candidate for the transformation potion. He allow builds without summons (and doesn't go well with the druid). The counterfeit coins artifact alleviate his early game, but other more rounded artifacts are good as well for that purpose.

Golden Xandos III* (Golden Emperor)
Insanely strong as soon as you stack enough gold, especially paired with Eldric Boots. The early game can be painful, but he makes the endgame trivial. Do not transform him back into the Young Prince.

Transformed Xandos (the Great)
A great upgrade for The Young Prince

Undead Elsbeth^ (From Beyond)
Solid Hero for an Undead party. Does a lot of damage.

Human Elsbeth (Artificer)
All around strong Hero, but can be quite random. If you get 2 useless artifacts, then you'll have to rely on her 2 base Attack, which is good. If you get strong relic, she's very strong. Doesn't have synergy otherwise.

Transformed Elsbeth (Swamp Witch)
Odd Hero. Good with Poison builds, especially if the two relics of the artificer were good, but she loses 1 Attack. Gryx is good with poison as well, but the Swamp Witch can be slightly better (if you manage to get the potion to begin with).

Fighter Only Items:
Wooden Buckler, Reinforced Buckler, Kite Shield, Dragon Scale and Andromalius Scale grant Max Health, which is good in some amount on the frontline.
The Skirmisher's Shield also grant a little bit of speed, which is nice.
Titan's Wall: -1 Attack is undesirable, very niche item that can have its uses (0 attack units, maybe Aviakoran Guard in stalling comps). Very good upgrade cost-wise however (7 gold).

Immortal Helm^: Better than its healing counterpart with the Smith relic. Armor and Doom builds. Cheaper and better than Thoric Ring if you can assure 1 Doom proc per turn.
Vampiric Helm: Good for Hope and Doom builds.

Venin Shield: Self damage effects are pretty useful in Hope and Counter builds.

Mage Only Items:
Sun Stone^: Great for Power teams.
Doomed Amulet: Good item for Hope, Counter and Armor teams. Especially on the Wrath Conduit.
Adept's Staff: +1 Attack for 7g is good. Good upgrade cost-wise as well (7 gold).
Searing Sign: You cannot go lower than 1 Health, so if your mages are well protected, this straightforward item is quite strong.
Holy Scepter^: Amazing in the Hope builds, fine in all builds as a little bit of sustain is great, especially in encounters where the backline can be randomly targeted.
Mirrored Pendant: Cheap health for mages.
Clypaes's Blessing: One time Shields have debatable use.
Essence Vial: Cheap "Health" effect if you aren't bothered by dying. Good upgrade cost-wise if you want Doomed Amulets (6 gold).
Soul Lens: Better than the Adept's staff if you can summon twice per round, not really better otherwise.

Archer Only Items:
Short Bow, The Shadow's Bow and Illiphar's Arbalest improve your attack which is nice.
Wanderer's Cloak (upgrade into Scavenger Cloak) and Cloak of Passage grant a bit more health.
Scavenger's Cloak^ allows archers to reliably summon. Very good with Hunter, and most archers paired with Sanguinist.

Human Only Items:
Chain Mail and Champion Plate grant health, which can be good on the Battle Mage for instance.
Noble Plate^: Gives a LOT of gold, great item especially on a Follower (or upgraded Follower).
Martyr's Plate^: Also great on a Follower, or Cyril.

Lizardfolk Only Items
Lightning Fang^: Very good item on most Lizards. Cheaper than the mage necklace.
Poisonous Fang: Good item if you want to have another source of poison. Meh otherwise.
Hatchling Egg: Good if you want to enhance your Hypogean and don't have a summoner.

Elf Only Items:
Green Scale Wand^: Kinda good for summon builds, especially with the Cleric of the Hammer, but hard to use properly.
Sanguine Wand: Cheap "health" if you don't have any summoner, but niche (real Health has its advantages too).
Necrotic Wand: Kinda good against Eyes, kinda good with a Sanguinist with a speed ring, but overall hard to use properly.

Gnome Only Items:
Venin Cap: If you can spread poison, kinda strong multitarget item.
Death Cap: In practice, samey but cheaper than Vampiric Helm in a poison build.
Lucky Coin: Upgrade nets you 7 gold.

Dwarf Only Items:
Immortal Belt*: Insane, especially when stacked.
Midas Belt: Cost effective if you have the space and the gold for it.
Throwing Axe: Cheaper than a +1 Attack item and generally more damage in a Counter build.
Holy Axe: More expensive than a Power necklace but generally more damage in a Counter build.
Berserker Axe: Not very interesting, but one of the few source of Attack for Fighters. The other Axes are probably better for the same price.

Elemental Only
Star Stone: Not very interesting but its upgrade might be...

Undead Only
Skull Charm^ : Very strong on a Soulcaster comp. Works on Undead Heroes, which allows them to soak damage.
Cracked Soul : It can be useful to have 2 or 3 of these to bust open the first round, but it is generally not necessary. It could be fun to stack them alongside the Soul Vessel and the Juggernaut to have an insanely strong Juggernaut, but it makes the other units weak.

Beast Only
Taur Cleaver: Not interesting considering the Ancestral Gem exists.
Ancestral Gem*: Busted in a Bloodcasting comp.

Hero Only Items:
Aamon's Blade^: Very good if you can have sustain on your hero (Troll Blood artifact, Potion Belt, Immortal belt), or if you have a Battle Thane.
Aamon rings^: Very good but it's good to know in advance which curse your Hero will get to plan for it.

Rings:
Dove's Band and Falcon's Band grant speed, which is very niche.
Titan's Ring: Fine early game item, really good on Sword Dancer and Armored knight. Upgrade is good cost-wise (6 gold) and generally desirable, especially with the Smith artifact.
Thoric's Ring^: Good sustain item, moderately expensive but very worth it if you have the Smith artifact.
Void Fury Ring: Really good items vs bones and eyeball bosses.
Antivenin Ring: Niche. Good for an Hero with Aamon poison ring. You might need one if you plan to fight against Abaddon, on your weakest unit.
Lifeblood Ring: cheap health item, but good cost-wise if you upgrade it into a Necrotic ring.
Necrotic Ring: One of the only ways to get +1 Attack on any class/race.

The Ogre's rings*: Freebies, the Healing Ring and the Power Ring are often useful and can be worn without restriction.

The rest:
Potion Belt^: Having one is very good, as you can pass it around in case your Hero is hurt.
Soul Stealer: Good for sustain if you can guarantee it each turn on an unit who can't have sustain otherwise.
Tanner's Gloves~: Expensive for 1 health.
Armored Gloves: Has niche use, but generally the Titan's Ring is cheaper and better.
Gauntlets~: Not worth upgrading to.
Void Skull^: Good classless upgrade, if you want it. Cheapest way to get it is through Venin Shield.

From best to worst, Titanic Armor*^, Arbiter Blade*, Hammer of the Old Earth*, Token of the Alliance*, Jack Remembrance, Everburning Torch, Book of the Law, Taurian Scripture and Clypaen Blessing~ all give a beefier round 1 and can allow for different starting formations.
The relics that give Health are better for Hope, and the Armor relics are better for Armor and combines with the Smith's relic. The Shield relics combine with Ethereal Essence*^.

Essence Collector* combines well with Aguatilis*, which is already incredibly strong early game without. Greatly increases survivability. Great for Death Gryx. Triggers Elemancer^.

From best to worst, Royal Insignia (with Golden Xandos), Quickdraw Quiver, Summoning Bell (With a soulcaster or Aguatilis), Staff of the Flame, Essence Distiller, Blood Hex and Staff of the Sky (with Power damage dealer, or Maeledox) are relics that do damage first or second turn.
First turn damage is generally better than second, but beware of Battle Start attacks and random damage relics, as they can spell disaster notably on the final boss of Legend.


For the Hero, The Lost Blade^ gives damage and speed, which can allow the Hero to kill enemies before they attack. Pairs well with Edric Boots*^, which scale very well with Golden Xandos*^ and/or the Counter Blade (and a optional Battle Thane^).

Staff of the Amguan*^ grants Power to your exhausted units, which is great for Power stacking, while the Book of the Stars and Book of Power grant Power to 1 unit (also to be used for Power stacking, otherwise it's just +1 Damage, which is weak).

Ethereal Essence*^ is good when you have Shield units or Relics. Especially strong with Maeledox and Asmodel as they can scale off of it. Less so otherwise, but for instance it's more or less 2 or 3 damage if you have Token of the Alliance, and 1 or 2 with the Divine Protector.

Spirit Shackle* is basically 3 damage in an Undead comp when you protect it. Pairs ok with summoning bells.

For summons, Fey Sorcery^ gives +2 Power first round, Erilari's Stone gives +1 Attack and the Cyril staff makes them inexhaustible. If you have Aeron, bonuses are doubled. As summons tend not to live long, Fey Sorcery^ is generally slightly better.
The Manacast artifacts Managem and Manablade^ allow you to summon for longer, and can give a lot of damage to the Hero, which pairs well with Eldric boots. At level 3, Flame Adept has 3 charges, Elemancer 2, Cleric of the Dark and Steel Summoner only 1; so with Taz'gyn who has 2, that's a total of 9 bonus damage, x2 with Eldric boots, and 14x2 with the Managem aswell. Works well with Death Gryx too.

Lyra Quiver^ gives +1 Attack to Archer, whereas Edric Journal^ gives +1 Attack and -1 health to Fighters. The -1 Health is a little bit bothersome, but you tend to have more Fighters than Archers. Both become better if you have unit that attack multiple times per turn (Javelineer*^, Lyra*^, Ursa*^ and Hellion*, Edric himself and any Archer with Fallen Bannerman^).
For Mages, the Book of Haste^ makes them inexhaustible, which can be very strong if your damage dealer is a mage.

Essence Blade and Holy Blade are above average when used in Doom and Hope comp, below average otherwise.

The Arbiter's Cloak gives 3 speed to all allies, which works on the Hero too and allows all slow units to perhaps kill enemies before they attack. Is very useful in niche cases too.

For Poison: The Strange Brew grants an odd bonus for Lizard Elementals and Gnome -which tend to be poison comps-, but if you have one of each it's a reliable +3 damage.
Pure Venin is 2 Damage per turn for each poisoned enemy, if they attack. Generally 2 to 6 damage per turn then.
Venina's Hex~ might be good the first turn with some Poison units, but as Poison comps do not lack poisoners, its damage can be easily lost without a Sharpshooter.

Staff of the Void~. 1 Damage per turn makes it rather weak. Can have use against summoners.


Gold relics are best picked early, and are especially good with Golden Xandos.

Bathin's Book adds up to 27 gold for a full run. But more importantly 18 or 19 before the Old God, at the cost of 2 Health.

Royal Insignia: Worth 7 Gold on average if you reroll at least once on every important campfire and merchants. Worth more if you don't go to the Portal. The Royal insignia also does damage.

Jack Fiddle can give up to 36 gold if you visit all Campfire, but most of the alternative would give you more gold. There's only 5 campfires which might give less, which would amount to a more realistic 15 Gold.

Merchants Secret: Items cannot cost 0, and you might have a few free items (Hero Sword, Giant Ring, Death Cape, Chests...). Buying an item for every slot is between 15 and 18 gold saved, but it can easily be less.

Counterfeit Coins: You will probably hire 4 to 6 heroes total only, so 8 to 12 gold saved, but paired with the 8 Gold Boon, it allows fishing for specific comps early game.


The Smith's Hammer*^: The best sustain artifact in the game provided you have enough Armor proc for ANY build other than Hope/Counter (and even then...). It allows mediocre comps to beat the game in Legend. With just two Thoric Rings it's +2 sustain, which is already strong, but with a lot of armor items and units it can go to +30 sustain and above. Very strong but not good as starting relic however.

Soul Vessel^ Strong relic but Juggernaut only, as last relic. Try not to spend Soul.

Holy Distiller. Good for Hope but useful for any comp. Allows for some interesting plays (can eat poison, can be sacrified) and triggers Elemancer. Good alternative to the Ruby Ring if you gun for the Power Ring. Not good with summons.

Troll Blood. +2 Sustain on the Hero per round when built around. One of the few ways in the game to heal your Hero.

Venin Distiller. OK poison relic as it adds a little bit more sustain, but it can be unreliable.

Elemental Essence. Is sustain mostly because of the Elementals you can summon. Can be detrimental if you want them to die fast for the Elemancer to scale faster. The added Health doesn't make them pass the 4 HP treshold, unfortunately. OK for Doom and Poison.

Molten Mallet. +1 Sustain per round. 2 with the Smith hammer. OK relic, good with Armor builds.

Thoric's Hammer~. Likely overkill if it works.

Each run will grant you points, which will unlock units and rooms. You need roughly 11k points to unlock everything.

A successful run in normal difficulty up to one Old God is typically worth 300 points. Doing the optional engame bosses will grant roughly +200 bonus.

If you decide to face this optional boss, an easy to stack item can grant +25% special bonus. You can have up to 4 of them, and it comes from a Battle that you can trigger at Andromalius. As having 4 of them doubles the score, it would halve the runs required to unlock everything.

Each difficulty above normal will grant ~+25 additional score and a +50% total bonus. The difficulty+2 mode can be quite harsh however, as it reduces your units Health. The difficulty+1 is a nice +50% bonus. The hardest difficulty is +6, which gives +300% bonus (quadruples the score).

An unlockable Boon also gives +25% special bonus, but isn't worth using if you want to unlock things.

To give a rough idea:

• A successful normal runs up to the Old Gods only is 300 per run (would need 37 to unlock everything from scratch).
  
• Up to the end-game optional boss, with 3 +25% items is 875 per run (13 to unlock all).
  
• In the difficulty +1 mode is 1310 per run (9 to unlock all).
  
• Just unlocking all the difficulties one by one doing the bare minimum would grant 300+487.5+700+937.5+1200+1487.5 = ~5100 score
  
• Doing one full run in the +6 difficulty with 4 special bonus items would grant ~5400 score.

Importants unlock parts are in bold.

1. 50 [50 total] Flame Adept
   
2. 100 [150 total] Tinkerer*^ AND Keysmith (room)
   
3. 100 [250 total] Aviakoran Guard
   
4. 150 [400 total] Immortal
   
5. 200 [600 total] Battle Mage AND Bonfire 1 (room). Very good Frontline for any party, just give him Power necklaces.
   
6. 200 [800 total] Wrath Conduit
   
7. 200 [1000 total] Battle Cleric
   
8. 200 [1200 total] Void Summoner AND Andromalius 1 Important for the Doom Javelineer, and unlocking the endgame optional boss.
   
9. 200 [1400 total] Soulmancer
   
10. 200 [1600 total] Altruist Thoric^ Good ARMOR hero
    
11. 200 [1800 total] Elemancer and Gold Room 1
    
12. 200 [2000 total] Night Marksman
    
13. 200 [2200 total] Venomancer
    
14. 200 [2400 total] Royal Captain AND Andromalius 2 Core ARMOR unit, and one more Andromalius
    
15. 200 [2600 total] Praliator
    
16. 200 [2800 total] Sage of the World
    
17. 200 [3000 total] Smuggler
    
18. 300 [3300 total] Ares AND Bonfire 3 The Bonfire in the Abyss is strategically the best.
    
19. 300 [3600 total] Poison Gryx
    
20. 300 [3900 total] Edric
    
21. 300 [4200 total] Cyril
    
22. 300 [4500 total] Ixotle and Aamon Room
    
23. 300 [4800 total] Taur
    
24. 300 [5100 total] Zed
    
25. 300 [5400 total] Nyx
    
26. 300 [5700 total] Lyra Strongest HOPE Damage Dealer. Hope lacks its best units early on, without 7.Battle Cleric, 26.Lyra and 30.High Priestess
    
27. 300 [6000 total] Devourer
    
28. 300 [6300 total] Exhaustible Eloa^ Unlocks early Aurum Worm hunting with the Tinkerer
    
29. 300 [6600 total] Ayma
    
30. 300 [6900 total] High Priestess Good HOPE generator.
    
31. 300 [7200 total] Undead Tazgyn
    
32. 300 [7500 total] Nagruil
    
33. 300 [7800 total] Ven
    
34. 300 [8100 total] Aeron AND Bonfire 2
    
35. 300 [8400 total] Golden Xandos Very powerful Hero that can make unlocking higher difficulties easier if you didn't manage to do it until now.
    
36. 300 [8700 total] Fallen Bannerman
    
37. 500 [9200 total] Human Elsbeth
    
38. 750 [9950 total] Ursa Strongest BEAST Damage Dealer. Beast is fine without, but it goes bonkers with it.
    
39. 1000 [10950 total] Golden Dominique