Edit 5/21/2022: This guide has been updated and should be current as of version 1.54 of Dark Deity.

With 30 characters and 54 class possibilities available, Dark Deity offers a wealth of customization to your party. Who you bring along and what class you make them can change how you approach each battle. The natural abilities of your characters can influence how you wish to utilize them, but when a character joins midgame it may not be as obvious what classes they are inclined towards. Or if you’re like me and like to plan your runs ahead of time, it can be helpful to have resources that allow you to quickly compare and evaluate characters. This character guide will allow you to do just that, providing the starting stats and default aptitudes for each character in Dark Deity, describe their starting skills, and also provide tables that allow for a swift comparison of characters who fall within the same base class. Use the table of contents below to navigate to the character or section you want to look at.

Also note – this guide will include mild spoilers in the form of the names of characters who join your party.

Class Tables and Character Breakdowns

This section will allow you to quickly compare characters within the same base class to get an idea of each one’s strengths and weaknesses. Note that the aptitudes shown in these tables are the base aptitudes of the characters, unaltered by mid-tier or final-tier promotions. Depending on your class selection, a character with lower strength aptitude at first can have a higher final aptitude than someone gifted in strength. But if both characters choose the same class, then you know for certain the second character will have higher strength aptitude than the first. Note that an asterisk (*) by a stat indicates that character has the highest aptitude or is tied for the highest aptitude for that stat. After each table I’ll take a moment to speak briefly about the class as a whole before moving into individual character breakdowns.

For each character, we’ll look at starting stats and aptitudes at level one. These can be used along with the aptitude adjustments of their class at levels 10+ in order to get a rough idea of what the character’s stats will look like. For example, a character with 4 base speed and an aptitude of 50% in their new class should gain 4 or 5 speed by level 10. Characters who level through combat rather than through the recruitment may have improved better or worse than the numbers you get by calculating their growth in this way. In addition to statistical information, there will also be text discussing the character’s starting skill and my recommendations on how to use the character on your team based on my experiences.

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Warriors

Name	HP	STR	MAG	DEF	FOR	DEX	MAS	SPD	LCK
Irving	75	70	0	60	20	60	65	45	40
Benji	95*	85*	0	60	40	60	35	35	60*
Helena	80	70	0	50	45*	65	50	50	45
Fenton	75	75	0	80*	20	50	70*	40	30
Alexa	85	75	0	70	20	70*	35	65*	25

Warriors as a group overall are high strength, high defense characters who will be holding the frontlines of your force. Their advanced class options tend to lean harder into either the defensive role or the offensive role. Knights/Champions use increased health values to hold the front and take strength from their allies. Barbarians/Berserkers deal heavy blows that ignore a portion of the enemy’s defense. Defenders/Sentinels endure blows with high defense and fortitude and spread the protection to their allies. Dragoons/Dragon Riders are highly mobile and turn their momentum into devastating crit potential. Now let’s take a look at each individual warrior to see what they bring to the table.

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Irving

Natural Leader: Allies within 2 tiles gain 5 EXP when Irving defeats an enemy

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	28	75
STR	8	70
MAG	0	0
DEF	7	60
FOR	2	20
DEX	7	60
MAS	7	65
SPD	5	45
LCK	4	40

Irving is the main protagonist of Dark Deity and he’s got the stats to back it up. He hits hard and accurately and can take physical blows pretty well. His natural aptitude isn’t given towards speed but he’s not the slowest either, so you generally won’t have to worry about getting doubled by most unit types. Compared to other warriors, Irving is the most balance – he doesn’t have the highest score in any one stat but instead has the flexibility to fit nicely into whichever class tree you want to lean in to. It’s a nice balance that makes Irving useful without being overpowered. His starting skill means you’ll often want Irving to be the one finishing fights rather than starting them, but because of his high defense and damage you’ll likely find him more useful as the guy who whittles enemies down so a weaker character can deliver the finishing blow. Because of this he’s naturally inclined to become a knight and then a champion, making him a master of delivering one big powerful strike while having the health and defense to endure whatever the enemy throws back. He also fulfills this role well as a defender or sentinel. When you’re playing through the main campaign, you’ll want to keep Irving trained up because he does get brought into certain scenarios for story purposes. The main thing to watch out for with Irving is his very low fortitude aptitude; you’re always going to have to be careful when dealing with magical attacks.

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Benji

Literally the Best: Every unit with a lower level increases crit by .33

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	31	95
STR	9	85
MAG	0	0
DEF	7	60
FOR	4	40
DEX	7	60
MAS	4	35
SPD	4	35
LCK	7	60

Oh Benji, you beautiful goofball. Benji may seem like he’s not the sharpest sword in the armory but he’s got a good heart, and he’s the first warrior to join your cause after Irving in the main campaign. This makes him an attractive option to add some defense or hitting power to your team, and with the highest aptitudes in HP, STR, and LCK out of all the warriors, he’s ready and eager to hit the front lines. As a knight, watch in awe as both his health and strength aptitudes hit 100%, allowing him to gain 2 points of HP and 1 point of damage every single time he gains a level. Alternatively, you can go the dragoon path and lean into his high crit rate. Benji has been buffed since the original version of the game but you’ll still need to be wary of enemies who are faster than him – illusionists and phantoms in particular will be serious problems as they target his lower fortitude. That said, with such incredible hitting power and a high chance to double that power via a crit, Benji can become a very potent offensive powerhouse for your team.

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Helena

Deafening Silence: Fortitude increased by 25%

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	29	80
STR	8	70
MAG	0	0
DEF	6	50
FOR	6*	45
DEX	7	65
MAS	6	50
SPD	6	50
LCK	5	45

Quiet and wise, Helena joins the crew of heroes as the result of what she feels is a divine calling. Her role in the setting as a “silent monk” plays into her abilities, giving her the biggest edge out of all the warriors against enemy spellcasters. Capitalizing on her aptitude means moving into either the defender or dragoon class, the two paths which have better protection against magical attackers. Dragoon is a bit more suitable on the basis that Helena also has solid speed and her defense is a bit on the lower side (for a warrior). As a dragoon, Helena can dart into enemy territory and deal solid blows against magical enemies with little fear of repercussions. During my own run of the game, removing Helena’s default aspect and replacing it with an aspect that traded her crit rate and damage made her one of my most powerful physical attackers – this aspect has been reworked in recent patches but is still a potent tool on Helena. Without a buff of this sort Helena otherwise has underwhelming hitting power in the dragoon class; she’s not going to be breaking down physically defensive enemies until you unlock Dragon Rider and get access to magical attacks. Despite this drawback, Helena’s extra layer of protection against the typical weakness of warrior characters makes her a valuable potential member of your team.

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Fenton

Might of the Mountain: Damage increased by 20% of level

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	24	75
STR	7	75
MAG	0	0
DEF	7	80
FOR	2	20
DEX	4	50
MAS	6	70
SPD	4	40
LCK	3	30

Thar be dwarves in these hills, or something. Fenton may be small but that doesn’t stop him from fitting neatly into the role of defensive powerhouse for the party. His high defense and mastery make him a clear and obvious choice for the party defender, allowing him to also share defensive boosts with other members of the party. Fenton’s personal skill gives him a bigger damage boost as he gains levels, as much as +8 by the time endgame rolls around. This boost is nice on any class but also helps Fenton to excel as a champion, making his one big strike each battle that much more powerful. Despite his relatively high strength aptitude compared to some of the other warriors, I’ve generally had the best luck with Fenton in a more defensive role. This is partly due to his low luck and average dex making his attacks pretty inaccurate compared to other warriors. However, if you need a late-game warrior to step into your party as a defensive specialist to tank physical blows for the party, Fenton is an excellent option to fill in that role. Just watch out for spellcasters as they’ll be a serious threat to Fenton, especially if you go the champion route over the sentinel route.

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Alexa

Fierce Momentum: Damage increased by tiles moved this turn

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	30	85
STR	8	75
MAG	0	0
DEF	8	70
FOR	2	20
DEX	8	70
MAS	4	35
SPD	7	65
LCK	3	25

I’m a big fan of Alexa, skilled freedom fighter and action-oriented activist. She’s got a fiery personality and also anachronistic goggles for some reason. As the warrior with the highest aptitude for speed, Alexa fits nicely into the barbarian archetype and appreciates the damage boost from the Savage ability (or rather, the defense decrease against the opponent). This is particularly more viable for her after her post-patch strength buff, as she used to have the lowest strength aptitude of all the warriors. Alexa’s personal skill also gives her a bit of a push towards the dragoon class, making it so that she receives a boost to both damage and crit rate when she moves a long distance across the battlefield. However, with her low luck, Alexa doesn’t benefit that much from the dragoon class despite the symmetry between her ability and the class skills. With defense aptitude second only to Fenton, Alexa has some potential as a fast sentinel, reducing the likelihood that she’ll be double attacked and therefore reducing the amount of damage that she may take overall in a defensive position. I think it is telling, though, that when you actually battle against Alexa in the early game that she is in the barbarian class by default. It’s definitely my recommended path for her given the abilities she possesses.

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Rangers

Name	HP	STR	MAG	DEF	FOR	DEX	MAS	SPD	LCK
Garrick	75	80*	10*	50	45	50	50	50	45
Sophia	65	70	5	40	65*	60	40	50	75*
Caius	75	80*	5	55*	55	55	40	70*	35
Maeve	90	75	5	35	35	65*	70	70*	45
Rose	95*	80*	10*	45	40	50	75*	45	35

Rangers are distance fighters by default but while they specialize in two different classes which utilize the bow and arrow, there’s more to them than a Robin Hood act. They have balanced stats overall which represent the versatile selection of classes available to them. As archers and snipers, their shots become more accurate with a heightened chance of critical hits when allies are nearby. Witch hunters and green knights, the other ranged specialists, are heavily armored anti-magic units who deal increased damage against spellcasters. Drifters and outlaws are axe-wielding loners with powerful critical hits. Striders and blade dancers are speedy swordsmen who wield lighter weapons and deal increased damage when doubling enemies. Let’s see what each individual ranger brings to the table.

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Garrick

Silky Smooth: Crits deal +15% damage

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	28	75
STR	9	80
MAG	1	10
DEF	6	50
FOR	5	45
DEX	6	50
MAS	6	50
SPD	6	50
LCK	5	45

The arrogant, snarky punk of the team, Garrick is a self-proclaimed ladies’ man and somehow is the best friend to the otherwise straight-laced Irving. Mechanically, Garrick has high strength and otherwise fairly balanced stats that help him to slot into whatever role you want to move him into. His personal skill increases the amount of damage dealt by his critical hits, so a class which increases his crit chance is an obvious match for him. As an archer/sniper he maintains much of what he already brings to the table in the form of high hitting power and accuracy, and his crit increases by being close to allies. As a drifter, his crit damage receives an additional multiplier and his crit goes up dramatically in part due to a higher luck aptitude and in part due to a skill which gives +25% crit when only with one adjacent ally. Based on my experience with the two classes, I find the archer to be preferable and would recommend that as Garrick’s path. In the archer role, you’ll want to keep him behind a protector both for the bonus to his crit rate and to keep him from taking direct attacks that he cannot counteract. I’ve also run Garrick in the green knight role with some success – it makes him a bit less squishy while capitalizing on his high strength to make him a deadly anti-magic unit.

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Sophia

Ferret’s Fury: Butter has a 20% chance to attack, adding 20% to damage

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	26	65
STR	8	70
MAG	1	5
DEF	4	40
FOR	7	65
DEX	7	60
MAS	4	40
SPD	6	50
LCK	8	75

Every army needs a girl with a barely-tamed rodent, and there’s no better rodent than Butter. Oh, and Sophia I guess. Sophia joins somewhat early in the main campaign as the second ranger in your crew. She has low hitting power compared to most of the rangers but makes up for it with a massive luck potential that helps her to crit more frequently. She also has the greatest degree of protection from magic attacks which makes her immediately suited for the witch hunter class, lending some extra damage to her otherwise lower strength aptitude thanks to the Silencing Shot skill. If you really want to maximize her high luck stat though, making Sophia into a drifter gives her 100% aptitude in luck – in other words, a guaranteed point of luck every single level. I made Sophia a drifter/outlaw in my most recent run and she has been one of my best units, regularly having crit rates around 50% – give her the aspect for splitting crit and power and she becomes significantly more dangerous. The big thing to watch with Sophia if you do make her a witch hunter or drifter is the reduced speed – double attacks from a capable physical attacker will definitely spell trouble for her.

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Caius

Pull Up: Accuracy +20% while moving

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	28	75
STR	7	80
MAG	0	5
DEF	5	55
FOR	5	55
DEX	5	55
MAS	4	40
SPD	6	70
LCK	3	35

Oh, Caius. I wanted to love Caius during my first run and boy golly did I try, but before I did all this research on growth rates and optimal classes I made Caius a drifter. Notice, if you will, the very low aptitude in luck. Caius is NOT a drifter and making him one subtracts from his main strengths: strength and speed. And I mean that literally – drifter subtracts from aptitude for both strength and speed. Playing to Caius’s strengths makes him significantly more powerful, and the boost to accuracy from his personal skill means he is an offensive powerhouse with well-aimed, hard-hitting blows. He excels the most in the strider class which brings his speed aptitude to a whopping 90%. Scoop up the aspect that Maeve comes with when she joins and give it to him instead for an even more significant multiplier to his already buffed followup attack. I made Caius a strider and then blade dancer in my second run and he is the best unit in my party, bar none. Dude never gets hit, doubles almost everything and has the hitting power necessary to make the blade dancer effective.

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Maeve

Diplomatic Immunity: Defeating an enemy grants +30% dodge for one turn

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	30	90
STR	8	75
MAG	1	5
DEF	4	35
FOR	4	35
DEX	7	65
MAS	8	70
SPD	8	70
LCK	5	45

If Caius is the clear choice for our offensive strider, Maeve is the defensive expert. Her defense is lowest of the rangers, sure, but enemies can’t damage you if they can’t hit you. Now as fast as Caius thanks to her post-update buff and with a personal skill that boosts her dodge even further, Maeve is the dictionary definition of a “dodge tank.” Have an ally weaken an enemy, finish them off with Maeve, and watch as enemies swarm her and swat uselessly at empty air. This strategy won’t always work of course – her defenses as I mentioned are low so any successful hits will immediately put her in the hospital, and Maeve’s lower strength aptitude means that she won’t do as well as Caius offensively in the same role. The archer/sniper class path would give her a bit more damage potential with the strength boost, so that’s a viable second choice for her if you’re already using another blade dancer (like Caius). In all seriousness though, Maeve was an essential unit in my first run and you really can’t go wrong with her.

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Rose

Unnoticed: Less likely to be targeted by enemies

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	31	95
STR	9	80
MAG	1	10
DEF	5	45
FOR	4	40
DEX	6	50
MAS	8	75
SPD	5	45
LCK	4	35

What a cutie! Rose joins surprisingly late in the game for someone with such a “small village girl” design but if you play in reverse recruitment order, she’s your starting ranger. With a whopping 95% aptitude in HP she’s got some cushion to protect her from enemy attacks, cushion that is further amplified by her personal skill. Enemies are less likely to target attacks against Rose, which is useful when using her in a class where she isn’t able to retaliate against melee attacks. With strength and mastery as her core stats, she fits most naturally into the archer/sniper class. Picking off foes from afar and then stealthily standing aside while her allies are targeted – she fights like I do in Skyrim! I don’t really recommend any of the other classes for Rose – none of them really play to her strengths and if you want to have a blade dancer, outlaw, or green knight instead, there’s generally another ranger who is a better fit for that role. But Rose is great as a “canon” sniper and is definitely worth bringing in for what she brings to that class.

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Clerics

Name	HP	STR	MAG	DEF	FOR	DEX	MAS	SPD	LCK
Maren	75	60	70*	55	30	40	40	50	45
Lincoln	85*	65*	65	70	45	40	30	25	40
Samara	55	65*	65	45	35	60	45*	30	70*
Vesta	60	65*	60	75*	65*	40	35	25	45
Faust	50	60	60	40	30	75*	35	60*	45

Clerics are the healers of Dark Deity but if you’re expecting the staff wielding pacifists of Fire Emblem, it’s time to redefine your expectations. Garbed in plate armor and carrying mighty hammers in their hands, these clerics are more from the D&D tradition and many of them are as likely to crush your skull as to treat your wounds. As they promote they can change up the way their healing functions. The guardian heals over time, giving smaller health boosts that take place passively over multiple turns. Priests and prophets can heal from a distance. Inquisitors and crusaders use healing to boost their ability to fight, gaining an accuracy and/or damage bonus on turns where they help their allies; they also have absolutely broken stats that make inquisitor a solid class choice for any cleric regardless of their aptitude. And acolytes are deadly spellcasters who’ve shed their armor in exchange for speed and whose healing actions increase their critical chance. See the following for individual looks at each healer on the team.

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Maren

Caretaker: Healed for 40% of any healing given

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	28	75
STR	7	60
MAG	8	70
DEF	6	55
FOR	3	30
DEX	4	40
MAS	4	40
SPD	6	50
LCK	5	45

The first healer on your team, Maren is the older sister not only to her literal brother but really to the whole army. Her caring nature is represented through her personal skill, which heals her when she heals others. This is a great skill and makes it easier to keep Maren close to the front lines healing. Maren has the highest default aptitude in magic and the second highest for speed, making her a good choice for the more magically inclined cleric options. I personally prefer priest because adding range to the heal ability is such a useful boon, plus adding Maren’s hitting power to her dodge stat increases her survivability. During my first playthrough I made her an inquisitor and that ended up working out very well too; as a crusader, her bonds come into play mechanically and give her enhanced movement whenever someone she cares about has low health. The main thing to watch out for with Maren is that she doesn’t have great fortitude even with the boosts from her classes, making enemy magicians a dangerous proposition to deal with. This makes taking advantage of her inquisitor skill to do enhanced damage based on magic a little more dangerous, another part of why I prefer the priest path for her.

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Lincoln

Vindication: Magic increased by 20% of strength

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	30	85
STR	7	65
MAG	8	65
DEF	8	70
FOR	5	45
DEX	4	40
MAS	3	30
SPD	3	25
LCK	4	40

Every army needs a stick in the mud and a guy with a stick up his rear; Lincoln plays both roles with aplomb. As the original commander of the battlegroup before being usurped by a teenager, Lincoln joins in the main campaign at a high level and serves as a protector to his weaker charges. Lincoln doesn’t technically have the highest magic growths of the clerics but because 20% of his strength gets added to magic and his strength aptitude is the highest, his magic is likely to be higher in practice than any of the other healers. This would seem to make him more suited for one of the classes that attack using magic, but realistically Lincoln’s other stats mean he is most capable in a physically-inclined class. I prefer guardian for him, personally – his boosted magic helps to maximize the healing value that spreads over the three turns. As an attacker, Lincoln’s low aptitude in both dex and luck mean that he will struggle quite a bit with accuracy, and his abysmal speed means he’s not doubling anyone. This also makes enemy attacks dangerous to him, although even his “lower” fortitude is still pretty decent especially as an inquisitor. As a tank and healer, Lincoln serves a valuable role on the team and can safely keep allies healthy from the front.

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Samara

Royal Grace: Movement is increased by 1

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	22	55
STR	6	65
MAG	6	65
DEF	4	45
FOR	3	35
DEX	5	60
MAS	4	45
SPD	3	30
LCK	6	70

Samara is a character that I really wanted to like on my first run. Princess of Aramor, she has a cool design and from what little I have seen of her bonds, she seems to have some compelling ones available. But dear goodness her aptitudes were just…not good. Thankfully recent patches buffed her stats, and combining higher aptitudes with the right class choice makes Samara a lot more effective. Samara’s biggest selling point mechanically comes from her personal skill, which gives her a bit more mobility than other healers and thus allows her to better reach her allies and heal them even from greater distances. For this reason, guardian can be a tempting option for her, but you’ll have to be very careful to keep her in the back as her combination of low fortitude and speed make her a sitting duck against magical enemies. My real recommendation is the acolyte and phantom path, which fully capitalizes on her high luck growths to make her a deadly crit machine when she isn’t healing the other members of your party.

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Vesta

Eternal Resolve: Defense and fortitude +15% when under half health

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	26	60
STR	7	65
MAG	7	60
DEF	8	75
FOR	7	65
DEX	4	40
MAS	4	35
SPD	3	25
LCK	5	45

Vesta joins in one of the toughest chapters in the first half of the game during a mission where protecting her is the objective. Fortunately for the player, Vesta has the highest defense and fortitude of the clerics as well as an ability that multiplies those already-high stats when she is in danger. Being hard to kill is Vesta’s specialty, so similarly to Lincoln she functions well as a frontline healer who can also hold defensive positions for the army. For this reason, guardian feels like a strong choice for her, particular since her aptitude makes it so that she will have 100% defense growth in that class. As an inquisitor she’ll enjoy a boost to both defense and fortitude and have more balanced protection from attacks, so that is definitely a great option for her as well. Vesta does have somewhat low aptitude in health, so against enemies who do manage to get past her high defenses she won’t be able to endure too many blows without receiving some healing of her own.

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Faust

Chaotic Energy: Allies within 2 tiles gain +8% crit

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	24	50
STR	7	60
MAG	7	60
DEF	4	40
FOR	3	30
DEX	8	75
MAS	4	35
SPD	7	60
LCK	5	45

Faust is a character who I know is gonna get on some player’s nerves. He’s a fourth wall breaker who realizes the characters are in a game and makes jokes about things like microtransactions. But regardless of how you feel about his self-aware nature, Faust brings a different specialty to the cleric role than most of the other characters. His high aptitude in speed and dexterity make him a dodgy, accurate spellcaster, and he’s not meant to tank blows like many of the others. He’s the clearest fit for the acolyte and phantom classes, maximizing his speed aptitude and using healing primarily as a means to amplify his critical hits. That’s not the only way you can use him, of course – I put him in the priest and prophet class path during my first run and he functioned very well as a back line healer. Out of all the clerics Faust seems like the most awkward fit for the inquisitor; as great as its aptitude adjustments are, they really don’t fit Faust’s build specifically. Put his focus on magic and he’ll excel in his own way.

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Mages

Name	HP	STR	MAG	DEF	FOR	DEX	MAS	SPD	LCK
Alden	55	10*	85	30	45	55	45	75*	40
Sloane	50	0	85	20	70*	65*	45	55	45
Sara	55	10*	75	40	55	60	50	60	50*
Monroe	90*	10*	90*	40	40	35	75*	35	45
Liberty	70	10*	85	55*	60	45	70	45	35

Mages specialize in dealing magic damage to enemies via arcane, fire, or storm magic. They are the warriors of the magical classes and similar to warriors can be pretty cleanly divided between offensive and defensive roles. The arcanist is a traditional spellcasting class and gains power from remaining in place when attacking. The battlemage and aegis wear heavy armor and share buffs with nearby allies. Conjurers and pyromancers handle defense from a different angle, restoring their own health through damage dealing. And magicians and illusionists are fast units who can maneuver allies as well as buffing their accuracy. Now to meet the mages of Dark Deity.

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Alden

Slumbering Strength: Can’t get less than four stats when leveling

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	22	55
STR	1	10
MAG	8	85
DEF	3	30
FOR	4	45
DEX	5	55
MAS	4	45
SPD	7	75
LCK	4	40

Every tactical JRPG needs a child mage – it’s a rule, apparently, and not one that I tend to be a fan of. But there’s something about Alden for me that makes him less obnoxious than the ones in most Fire Emblem titles for me. Maybe it’s because his personal skill helps to protect him from bad RNG, always making sure that he gets at least a decent level-up bonus each time he improves. Maybe it’s because he is the fastest of the mages by a wide margin, enabling him to reliably double-attack enemies while still having a very high magic stat. In my first run with Alden I chose to lean into this speed by choosing the magician/illusionist path, a decision which does lower his magic aptitude a bit but with 85 as his base, taking a hit to that value doesn’t hurt him too badly. This was a particularly strong choice by the time he became an illusionist, giving him a whopping 9 movement so he could quickly zip across the battlefield during later maps. And honestly with his low defense and unimpressive mastery, this is probably the best path to take advantage of Alden’s real strengths. He’ll play alright as a conjurer or arcanist but the thing you definitely do not want to do is make his fragile self a battlemage. While Alden is a dodgy little guy (particularly on my recommended class path for him), he’s squishy and any solid blow against him is going to be very dangerous. Alden is your glass cannon; protect him in kind and he will be a valuable unit for your team. I’ve run illusionist Alden twice now and both times he has been a core member of my team.

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Sloane

Sweet Talker: +15% chance to hit when in melee range

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	24	50
STR	0	0
MAG	9	85
DEF	2	20
FOR	8	70
DEX	7	65
MAS	5	45
SPD	6	55
LCK	5	45

Don’t let Sloane’s pretty face and personal skill fool you, my friends. “Oh hey, she’s more accurate in melee, she must be a good candidate for battlemage,” you’ll think to yourself. Don’t fall for it. See that 20% defense aptitude? That’s squishier than Alden, squishier than all the mages. See that 50% HP aptitude? Also the lowest of the mages. Sloane’s mission in life is to never, ever be hit by a physical attack. Now allow me to turn your attention to her fortitude. See that number? That’s the one you want to lean into. Sloane is a great anti-mage with her ability to absorb enemy magical attacks while dealing out her own crushing blows. As a conjurer her magic aptitude takes a bit of a hit, but fire spells give her advantage against most magical enemies thanks to its usefulness against leather and rune cloaks. Throw on the self healing from Sorcerer’s Siphon and I’ve had Sloane hold bottlenecks against enemy magicians for entire maps as a pyromancer. Of course, the class that really leans into her strengths is the magician, pushing her second-best speed up to more reliable levels and enhancing her already-impressive fortitude a bit more. Alden pretty well outclasses her in that role but if you’re not using him, haven’t recruited him yet in a randomizer, or just need something a little different in your life, Sloane will perform well as an illusionist for your team. Be wary, though – illusionist Sloane must never, ever be hit by a melee attack or she will immediately evaporate into dust.

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Sara

Royal Decree: Attacking an enemy marks them, increasing their damage taken

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	25	55
STR	1	10
MAG	8	75
DEF	4	40
FOR	6	55
DEX	7	60
MAS	6	50
SPD	6	60
LCK	6	50

What is with Dark Deity and these magic sisters? Sara and Samara seem cool! I wanted to use them. But during my first run their aptitudes just didn’t tell an interesting story. Thankfully somebody realized there was a problem and like her sister, Sara got a bit of a buff since the game’s release. Sara has the lowest magic on the team and she’s in the middle for most of her other stats: defense, speed, and mastery all are not the lowest on the team but still anywhere from 10-20 points lower from the best mage on the team for that statistic. Sara is balanced, but in a game where the class system and the RNG reward you for leaning into what makes your character unique, being lukewarm can be a disadvantage. This is particularly true for mages, who don’t really have a balanced class in the same way that warriors have the knight or that clerics have the inquisitor. Arcanists demand mastery, conjurers and battlemages want defense, and magicians benefit from speed. Sara isn’t the best at any of these things, and since every class except for arcanist lowers her magic aptitude, you can pretty well count on Sara having your lowest damage output compared to the others. Her personal skill gives more of an indication of how she is meant to function – Sara is a support character, not meant to be the star but rather to create opportunities for allies to shine. In this way, battlemage is probably her best option. As a battlemage she buffs adjacent allies when she attacks and the enemy she hits is marked to take extra damage – put tokens in her focus weapon, have her start fights, and whoever is next to her can finish them. This is likely her best class, but I’ve managed to run her as a halfway decent conjurer as well. The conjurer to pryomancer line has some pretty solid skills that rely on random activation rather than depending on Sara’s stats to be useful, and it allows her to tank by self-healing rather than tanking by having the highest defense stat. Sara’s not my favorite mage but if you like her, she has viable paths to tread.

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Monroe

Born Heir: HP increased by half of mastery

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	34*	90
STR	1	10
MAG	10	90
DEF	4	40
FOR	4	40
DEX	4	35
MAS	8	75
SPD	4	35
LCK	5	45

That edgy scar, that floating book, all that flashy jewelry. Monroe is An Archetype and his image is immediately evocative. A nobleman mage, Monroe’s stats point to a clear path for him in the form of the arcanist class. Arcanist is the only mid-tier mage class that actually boosts magic, and with the highest magic aptitude of the mages Monroe demands to be pushed to the limit. It also increases and relies on his already-impressive mastery growths, a stat that is extra important for Monroe because not only will it increase his accuracy (via an arcanist skill) but also his HP (via his personal skill). Monroe’s role in your party is to deliver a single very accurate, very powerful magical blast to an enemy of your choice, and to do so from a position of relative safety thanks to his high health stat. Because of that health, Monroe can also be pretty potent as a conjurer – conjurers and pyromancers use HP as a resource to deal greater damage to enemies and they also restore their own health by dealing damage, and Monroe has the largest pool to work with of any of the mages. That pool is made larger as a conjurer because Monroe’s HP aptitude reaches 100% in that class, guaranteeing 2 points of health every single time he gains a level. I prefer arcanist just a bit more for him because it doesn’t ask him to compromise his hitting power, but conjurer is a very strong second choice. Monroe’s big weakness is his speed – he’s not going to be doubling many enemies and his defenses, while not the lowest of the mages, are pretty average. Fast enemies will be able to whittle down that huge health pool quicker than you expect, so watch out for tricksters and striders and the like when sending Monroe out to battle. Just make sure he finishes the match, and honestly with that massive hitting power the chances he’ll do just that are pretty damn good.

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Liberty

Eternal Poise: Defense increased by 10% of magic

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	27	70
STR	1	10
MAG	9	85
DEF	7*	55
FOR	7	60
DEX	5	45
MAS	8	70
SPD	5	45
LCK	4	35

Liberty is the final character to join your crew in the main campaign but stars as your first character when playing in reverse recruitment order. Liberty is the most suited member of your party for the role of a magical tank, with both of her defenses at solid values and her health, while not the highest of the mages, is still somewhat high. Her tankiness is further increased by her personal skill, which increases her physical defense based on her magic stat. This skill may look familiar to you if you know the class list well – the battlemage class has its own version of this skill, and making her a battlemage means that she gets 10% of her magic stacked onto defense twice. For this reason Liberty is probably the best mage in the game for the specific role of being a battlemage. She can also step into the conjurer role decently well too – it also increases her defense (not as much) and gives her a boost to her HP aptitude so she can get a bigger payoff for her Sorcerer’s Sting attack. I tend to prefer pyromancer personally (I find self healing to be more useful for a tank than the boosts to adjacent allies and I prefer fire magic to thunder magic) but if you’re wanting a mage in a tin can on the battlefield, you really cannot go wrong with Liberty as your aegis.

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Rogues

Name	HP	STR	MAG	DEF	FOR	DEX	MAS	SPD	LCK
Cia	45	55	0	30	55	75	55	65	55
Brooke	55	50	0	25	35	80	75	55	80*
Corvan	65*	55	0	35	70*	60	50	65	50
Ford	60	65*	0	55*	50	55	55	50	60
Wren	45	40	0	30	45	85*	80*	75*	45

Rogues are the speed and accuracy specialists of the army, moving in to quickly eliminate vulnerable members of the enemy force or sometimes holding a bottleneck with the sheer power of their dodge. As stalkers and then assassins, they have a small chance to eliminate enemies instantly and have perfect accuracy against weakened foes. In the thief role they apply their speed to enhance armor penetration similar to how all units use mastery, and as tricksters they can throw their daggers from a distance. Duelists and gladiators thrive when separated from their allies and enhance their defenses using their high dexterity. Raiders and slayers put their focus on dealing a single debilitating strike to enemies at full health. Don’t let these characters sneak up on you – let’s see what each one brings to the table.

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Cia

Barmaid: +50% effect from healing items

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	23	45
STR	6	55
MAG	0	0
DEF	3	30
FOR	6	55
DEX	8	75
MAS	6	55
SPD	7	65
LCK	6	55

Like many of the first characters within a base class to join your party, Cia is a balanced rogue who isn’t the best at anything but tries to cover for that by being decent at everything – or at least, everything a rogue should be decent at. Her personal skill doesn’t push her towards a particular class necessarily but it is worth noting that being able to heal herself for greater amounts is certainly useful if she’s not near any healers. I chose stalker for her during my first run and that’s a nice safe bet for her; the stalker class doesn’t apply any huge stat gains or penalties with the exception of a big hit to fortitude, and Cia doesn’t need to be taking any hits anyway. It’s a balanced class suited for a balanced character. Thief is a pretty solid second option as it leans harder into Cia’s speed, and the hit to her mastery aptitude is mitigated by the fact that thieves use speed in their armor penetration calculation. Duelist is a decent choice for her as well – defensively it doesn’t necessarily play to her strengths but her personal skill pairs well with The Thrill, which gives her incentive to be off by herself (+15% to power, crit, dodge, and accuracy when no adjacent allies), and being a loner is even further incentivized for the gladiator. Cia won’t be the best at any of the rogue classes but she can be decent at all of them and is easy to train up in the main campaign because she joins early. And in a randomizer, she’s balanced enough to flex into whatever rogue role you feel like you need in the party at the time.

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Brooke

Killer Instinct: Crit modifier increased against full health enemies

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	25	55
STR	6	50
MAG	0	0
DEF	3	25
FOR	4	35
DEX	9	80
MAS	8	75
SPD	6	55
LCK	9	80

I know what you’re thinking. “Ian,” you say, “check out Brooke’s personal skill. She gets a bonus against full health enemies. The raider class also gets a bonus against full health enemies. Coincidence?” Yes, reader, it is absolutely a coincidence. Observe if you will Brooke’s middling strength. Her lowish speed. The fact that raider subtracts aptitude from dexterity, mastery, and luck, the three things Brooke is actually good at. And if none of that convinces you, consider my lived experience, an experience in which I made Brooke a raider and she took grave wounds more times than any other character in my party, including being the only character who died in the final boss battle. Brooke is not a raider. Brooke works well enough as a duelist, her massive dexterity covering her otherwise paltry defense, and I ran her as such in my most recent one with decent success. As a duelist she functions more as a dodge tank than as a unit capable of defeating enemies, holding bottlenecks by dodging attacks. Brooke can also be comfortable in the stalker role. It helps to pad her speed and strength and allows her to keep the full benefits of her high luck aptitude. And while I don’t love thief for her due to the mastery and luck penalties, trickster at the final tier may be a worthwhile consideration to keep Brooke’s very fragile frame a step away from the action.

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Corvan

Midnight Intel: Allies within 2 tiles gain +8% mastery

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	26	65
STR	6	55
MAG	0	0
DEF	4	35
FOR	8	70
DEX	7	60
MAS	6	50
SPD	7	65
LCK	6	60

Whoa when did I start playing Skyrim? Corvan is a scholar who joins your crew as part of his ongoing research into aspects. Similar to Cia he is relatively balanced on the rogue scale with the exception of his particularly high fortitude, a stat which makes him a pretty decent match for a mage-killer. Swiftly moving in, enduring a spell, and then cutting down enemy spellcasters is a solid role for him and it fits the best with the thief class, amplifying his already solid speed and giving him slashing weapons to better damage cloaked enemies as well as enemy magicians or conjurers wearing leather armor. Slayer is a possible second choice for a mage-killer thanks to their axe proficiency and their boosted damage when striking full health enemies; there’s another rogue who I feel is better suited for raider but similar to Cia, Corvan may be able to cover the role for you in a run where a better option is otherwise unavailable. Corvan won’t be bad as any of these classes, but he’s probably least suited for duelist/gladiator compared to the other rogues you can recruit.

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Ford

Sailor’s Swerve: 8% chance to dodge separate from the normal calculation

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	22	60
STR	6	65
MAG	0	0
DEF	5	55
FOR	4	50
DEX	5	55
MAS	5	55
SPD	4	50
LCK	5	60

Where has the rum gone, and all that. Ford the ship captain may seem like a lush but a quick look at his aptitude shows that he is the physically strongest member of team rogue. His strength and defense make him an immediately appealing choice for the raider class, maximizing that hitting power and giving the 35% multiplier of ambush the largest possible damage value to work with. While Corvan works as a raider mage-killer, Ford can use the cleaving power of axes to smash plate-armored enemies with a single crushing blow, making him one of your most effective tools for unseating sentinels. And while his speed is the lowest of the rogues, it still isn’t awful, meaning that he’ll probably be able to double slow enemy types and will only get doubled himself by the quickest of foes. If you’re not into raiders or really need a more traditional rogue archetype, Ford makes a hard-hitting duelist and his natural aptitude for defense mitigates the fact that he won’t benefit as much from the skill that adds his dexterity to his defense. Ford is the least suited in the party to the really thiefy rogue classes; better to save the sneaking around for our final character in the rogue category.

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Wren

Lethal Expertise: Mastery further increases armor penetration

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	23	45
STR	4	40
MAG	0	0
DEF	3	30
FOR	5	45
DEX	9	85
MAS	9	80
SPD	8	75
LCK	5	45

Wren is the most traditional rogue of all the rogues, having the highest aptitude in dexterity AND speed AND mastery. Of course, going all-in on the thiefy stuff means that he doesn’t bring much to the table in terms of damage output, and he is pretty squishy. So what classes best lean into his strengths and use them effectively? The duelist and gladiator class path is a big one, using his high dex to buff his poor defense and maximizing his mastery aptitude to make sure his armor penetration is off the charts. His damage also goes up by 15% when he doesn’t have adjacent allies, helping to make up for this pitiful lack of strength. And stalker circumvents the need for a high strength score by kinda just praying that you get an instakill instead. As much as I love rogues, Wren is a solid example of why going too rogue can be a problem. Most of my turns with him in combat result in two hits at 100% accuracy both doing zero damage. That said, the enemy attacks against him also all miss, so there’s something to be said for utilizing him in a more defensive role I’d say the best opportunity to salvage Wren is probably with some kind of aspect – Liberty has one that just flat out increases your power by 20% and maybe that boosts him up enough to actually deal damage. I’ve also had good luck on Cia by giving her the aspects that increases power by 15% of your weapon’s stats, so perhaps that would give Wren the boost he needs to back up his efficiency with some efficacy. Or there’s the one that flips speed and power – this would probably make Wren a bit too slow but his damage output would be quite impressive under those circumstances.

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Adepts

Name	HP	STR	MAG	DEF	FOR	DEX	MAS	SPD	LCK
Elias	55	75	75	60*	50	50	45	50	45
Bianca	45	70	70	45	45*	70*	35	65*	35
Aurima	75*	80	80	25	25	70*	75*	60	35
Iris	75*	80	80	40	20	50	45	50	60*
Thae’lanel	65	90*	90*	35	35	55	50	55	25

Adepts have an interesting role in the setting of Dark Deity; they are the only “class” that seems to have grounding in the world. Characters who are adepts can be labeled in some meaningful way that doesn’t apply to “ranger” or “cleric” and they experience prejudice or exaltation depending on their location in the setting. Mechanically, adepts are offensive specialists who can choose to focus on either magic or weapons. Adepts are also unique in that every single damn one of the has been buffed in an effort to make the class as a whole more viable. Gales and windrunners are physical specialists with high speed and a high likelihood of gaining damage bonuses. Surges and blazes are storm and fire magic specialists, respectively. Reveries are hammer-wielders who drain health from their enemies, and as astral travelers they can even wield magic and physical weapons in tandem. While we may never understand fully what it means to be an adept, we can understand how each adept brings something unique to the table.

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Elias

Soulfire: Elias has a small, independent crit chance

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	25	55
STR	8	75
MAG	8	75
DEF	7	60
FOR	6	50
DEX	6	50
MAS	5	45
SPD	6	50
LCK	5	45

Elias was the first character in Dark Deity to truly underwhelm me. He seemed decent enough at the start but as characters began to reach promotion, he had a very difficult time staying alive and often struggled to deal a significant amount of damage. He’s got the highest physical defense aptitude of the adepts, and this I think is where I failed initially to recognize that Elias wasn’t particularly suited to the class I ultimately assigned him, the surge. Even though Soulfire gives Elias his own special crit chance, his luck is actually on the low side and so putting him in a class meant to capitalize on critical hits doesn’t end well. As a reverie, Elias hits 75% aptitude in defense and gets an additional buff to strength on top of the one the devs gave him. The ability to drain health also helps to mitigate his low health growths. I tried to run him as a reverie and astral traveler to give him an honest-to-god chance to seem useful but his terrible accuracy held him back. Most class trees have a “safe” option and for adepts that’s the gale, a class that increases speed and dexterity at the cost of magic, which the gale doesn’t use anyway. Gale or reverie are certainly the best fits for Elias but he’s not necessarily the best at those things; I try not to outright reject any characters but Elias gets outclassed by most of the other adepts in some meaningful way, even after the significant benefits he received as part of the recurve update.

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Bianca

Battle Maiden: Allies within 2 tiles gain +8% power

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	23	45
STR	8	70
MAG	8	70
DEF	5	45
FOR	5	45
DEX	8	70
MAS	4	35
SPD	7	65
LCK	4	35

Speaking of outclassing Elias, hello there Bianca! Everyone I have talked to about Dark Deity so far knows Bianca is a badass, and there are a few reasons I feel that is the case. With the highest speed of the adepts, Bianca is the most likely of the crew to dodge and double attack. She comes in just under Elias for the highest defense and she has the highest fortitude, which gives her heightened survivability compared to the other adepts (to a point, more on that when we get to Thae’lanel). She has the least hitting power compared to other adepts which can create some problems when trying to use her against highly defensive opponents. You can mitigate that penalty by making her a blaze so her power can increase each time she gets a kill, using her to finish off weakened enemies until she has enough hitting power to handle foes on her own. Alternately, the gale and then windrunner class gives her lots of chances for a 1.3x boost to her damage as well as a 15% chance to mix additional attacks into her assault. In my first run, I made her a gale and gave her an aspect which funneled her high-but-useless magic into her defensive stats, allowing her to tank for my party against physical or magical foes. This works on any adept but I think Bianca is probably the second best option for it from a mechanical perspective, and the best option from a “I’d make her a gale and have the other person be a different class” perspective.

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Aurima

Competitor: Kills grant 2% power, stacking

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	28	75
STR	9	80
MAG	9	80
DEF	3	25
FOR	3	25
DEX	8	70
MAS	8	75
SPD	7	60
LCK	4	35

The ultimate competitor, Aurima is introduced as a powerful being capable of splitting himself into multiple copies with different powers. Like any character you fight as a boss who then joins your party afterwards, he is immediately nerfed. Aurima has middling strength and magic with high dexterity and mastery. He also has the highest health and the lowest defenses, so he’s vulnerable but he won’t necessarily die from the first hit to impact him either. Blaze is a great adept class that gives a hefty magic boost to anyone who chooses it, but Aurima suits it particularly well because his personal skill essentially doubles the effects of bonfire, allowing him to get a 2% power increase twice per kill. His low luck makes surge a poor fit and his low defense makes reverie a poor fit. Gale of course is fine – it’s fine on everybody and with speed only second to Bianca after the buff, Aurima will be only slightly slower while hitting much harder – but you most take advantage of Aurima’s high health and great personal skill by having him become a blaze.

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Iris

Inner Strength: Healed for 20% of crit damage

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	24	75
STR	7	80
MAG	7	80
DEF	4	40
FOR	2	20
DEX	4	50
MAS	4	45
SPD	4	50
LCK	5	60

Man all these adepts kinda blend together, huh? I find that for this class more so than any of the others, there are only a couple of units who really stand out as uniquely gifted. The great ones are great, but everyone else is pretty middling for me. Iris also falls into my least favorite category of character from every class tree: the one who tries to angle for crits. With high luck and a crit-focused personal skill, Iris really wants you to pick surge for her class. The game even hints at it by having her get swamped by storm spirits on the boat. In its final-tier variant the thunderlord, the surge class gives a bigger crit modifier (meaning Iris will heal even more) and has an excellent range of movement on the battlefield. It’s not my favorite class but it’s not terrible as crit-focused classes go and Iris is probably the best adept for it because of her luck stat and personal skill. If you really don’t want her to be a surge, as with any adept gale is a perfectly respectable option and nothing of value will be lost by choosing it.

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Thae’lanel

Ancient Blood: Can’t take over 30% of max HP in one hit

Stat Name	Stat Value	Aptitude
HP	23	65
STR	8	90
MAG	8	90
DEF	3	35
FOR	3	35
DEX	5	55
MAS	4	50
SPD	5	55
LCK	2	25

If Bianca is the great adept that all my friends know about, Thae’lanel is the great adept that no one seems to recognize. I get it; he joins really late in the main run, at a point where your core crew of 14 heroes is most likely to be firmly established with plenty of weapon tokens already invested. But if you’re going to have an adept on your team, that adept should probably be Thae’lanel. He’s got the highest strength and magic growths out of all the adepts, which means that he will reliably be your unit who can do the most damage in any of the adept classes. He’s not as defensive as Bianca but not as squishy is Aurima, and he potentially outclasses Bianca’s defenses in two ways. One, the strategy I described for her using aspects will be even more effective for Thae’lanel because he has 20 points more magic aptitude than she does. Two, his personal skill makes it so that he can only take up to 30% of his maximum HP in damage from a single blow. That means no crits instakilling him, no crazy magical final boss spell leaving him with only 2 HP; Thae’lanel has to be hit at least four times to be killed thanks to his ability. I like blaze for him because the boost to magic aptitude means he gets a guaranteed magic point every level up, but as with all of the adepts, gale is a great second option and he’ll have the highest hitting power of any adept in that role. Thae’lanel is late game for a reason, so don’t sleep on him!

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Disclaimers and Questions

I hope you found this character guide useful! The guide was created using version 1.54 of Dark Deity. At the time of writing, patches are being rolled out regularly and some details of the game are changing. If you notice that something in this guide is inaccurate, please leave a comment letting me know so I can fix it! Please feel free to use the comment section to ask any questions you have that aren’t currently covered by the guide – I’m not an expert on the game but I’ll do my best to help if I know the answer!