Here are the stats and what each one does. X is a variable meaning any number. NOTE: values can be negative, which can do things like reduce your damage or move speed, for example.

Damage % - you deal X% more damage
Melee Power - Melee attacks do +X damage
Projectile Power - Projectile attacks do +X damage
Magic Power - Magic attacks do +X damage
Critical Chance - X% of dealing extra damage
Critical Damage - Critical attacks do X% more damage
Dodge Chance - X% chance to dodge attacks - MAX of 80%
Attack Speed - You attack X% faster
Move Speed - You move X% faster
Range - how far your attacks will go
Vitality - you have X extra max health
Lifesteal - your attacks have X% chance to restore 1 health on hit
Recovery - you regenerate X health per second and shields recover X% faster
Revival - revive X times after dying
Armor - reduce damage taken by X% - MAX of 80%
Luck - better chance to find rare items
Resource Gain - gain X% more gold
Exp Gain - gain X% more exp

In my opinion, the most important overall stats are Damage, Melee/Projectile/Magic Power, Attack Speed, Range, and Exp Gain. Damage and Power will increase your overall DPS. Attack Speed is important DPS scales with it, but also because enemies flinch when struck. Range will let you attack enemies with a larger buffer space between you and the enemies, which is extremely valuable because the game has contact damage. Exp Gain will give you more Character Levels, which will give you more Inventory Slots and thus more space for more items or weapons.

ARMORY:

Just to the right (YOUR right) of the Hunter, is the Armory. Once you've done a few runs, won a time or two, and maybe unlocked a few achievements, go check it out. You can purchase items and weapons with titanite that generally are superior to the weapons and items that usually drop. Some items will need one or more Wands that you can get from completing an achievement, as well as requiring titanite to buy. Certain items will only unlock once you have completed a specific achievement.

I will not provide a comprehensive guide on what items there are and how much they are to buy. I don't think that you can check how much each item was, and I have already unlocked them all. Also, I don't have the time necessary for writing down over 100 item names, descriptions, and price.



STATUE:

On the Northwest side of the lobby, opposite from the Armory, is a large statue where you can buy permanent bonuses in exchange for titanite. Titanite is a rare drop from enemies and barrels, and each completed run will award you a certain number of titanite. The bonuses are as follows:

Gold Start - increase your starting gold
Melee Power - increase your base Melee Power
Magic Power - increase your base Magic Power
Projectile Power - increase your base Projectile Power
Luck - increase your base Luck
Health Gain Per Floor - self explanatory
Dash Cooldown - self explanatory
Free Reroll - get free rerolls in the shop at EACH floor
Extra Temporary Slot - set an item outside your suitcase, no matter the size
Inventory Space - +1 Inventory Slot per every 5 character levels
Pickup Range - self explanatory
Consumable Items - price of consumable items reduced
Selling Items - sell items from your suitcase for more gold
Health - increase your base max health
Tier Up - increase the tier of your starting weapons by 1
Titanite Drop - enemies have an increased chance to drop 1 titanite shard on kill

The worst bonuses are Pickup Range, Consumable Items, and Selling Items. Pickup Range will help you nab those Invincibility Powerups, yes, but you might kite around that plate of chicken and accidentally have a snack when you're already full health. Consumable items costing less doesn't really matter once you've gotten Gold Start. Besides, I hardly ever buy consumables, and you're going to have thousands of gold per run regardless. Selling item prices are laughably low, and you shouldn't really be selling items unless you need an upgraded version of whatever item or weapon RIGHT NOW and not in a few levels once you've gotten the space for it.

Okayest bonuses are Health Gain, Inventory Space, Health, and Gold Start. Health Gain and Health are a little obsolete if you manage to nab a Crate Caller early, and Health will really only help you survive a bit better in higher difficulties. Inventory Space is valuable, yes, but it is only 1 space every 5 levels, so it doesn't add too much. Gold Start is the most useful of this bunch, but it's hardly invaluable.

Best bonuses are Melee Power, Magic Power, Projectile Power, Dash Cooldown, Free Reroll, Exra Temporary Slot, and Tier Up. The 3 Powers and Tier Up will skyrocket your DPS. Dash will give you better survivability and speed. Temporary Slot is a blessing for inventory management. Free Reroll will give you additional chances for more/better items per floor, so pair with Gold Start for best results on early floors.

Special bonuses that I can't put in any category are Luck and Titanite Drop. Titanite Drop is invaluable early/mid game when you are trying to buy better items from the Armory and bonuses from the Statue. But it has no usefulness late game or after you have purchased everything. So it is one of the best bonuses, yet also can be the most useless. Luck is a stat that depends on how RNGesus feels today, whether Mars is in retrograde, and what level of cosmic Karma you've attained. It can come in clutch and give you the exact item or weapon you want. It can also do literally nothing for you. I avoid Luck-based runs personally, but I acknowledge that it can Make or Break your runs.

Each weapon will have at least two "tags" on it. Each tag gives a specific bonus based on the number of weapons you have with that same tag. Please keep in mind that these are the initial values, and that the values may sometimes chance as the set bonus increases. There is not always a flat increase in the set bonus rewards.

Agile weapons give +2% Dodge Chance
Blade weapons give +1 Melee Power
Blessed weapons give +1 Recovery
Crushing weapons give +2 Vitality
Enchanted weapons give +1 Magic Power
Explosive weapons give +5% Area of Effect
Exquisite weapons give +1% Resource Gain
Fist weapons give +2% Attack Speed and +1 Vitality
Forceful weapons give +1 Knockback
Lifestealing weapons give +1% Lifesteal
Mighty weapons give +2% Damage
Polearm weapons give +4 Range
Precision weapons give +1 Projectile Power
Projectile weapons give +4 Range
Sharp weapons give +2% Critical Chance
Stable weapons give +3 Armor
Swift weapons give +4% Attack Speed
Throwing weapons give +1% Dodge Chance and +2 Range

Fist and Throwing weapons are unique in giving 2 effects instead of 1.
Range is the most common bonus, appearing 3 times in the Polearm, Projectile, and Throwing sets.



The most useful sets overall, in my opinion, are Blade, Enchanted, Polearm, Precision, Projectile, Sharp, Swift, and Throwing. BUT each weapon also has a weapon-specific bonus. For example, the Short Sword gives a base +3 Damage per sword in your inventory. Some weapons will only give bonuses to adjacent items or weapons of a specific type. So a good meshing of both set bonuses and weapon bonuses is recommended. The most useful sets may change depending on what character you play as, what weapon you start with, and what items your Luck gives you.


NOTE: be aware that weapons can be very large and unfriendly to inventory management. The easiest weapons to make a build with are any types of daggers, as they are 3-4 inventory spaces each. Daggers tend to have Agile, Sharp, Swift, or Throwing, depending on the specific dagger. Weapons with the Mighty tag, for example, may take 8 or more spaces. Polearms and Projectile weapons also tend to be on the larger side, as well.


ADDENDUM: Pay attention to which stats your weapons use. Sometimes, it will be obvious. But some weapons may surprise you. You can hover over a weapon, and it will show you things like DPS, Set bonus progress, etc, and will also have a symbol next to the damage to show what stat (or stats) it uses. The sword symbol means the weapon uses Melee Power, the Bow and Arrow symbol uses your Projectile Power stat, and the Star means Magic Power. Weapons may not use 100% of your damage stats and will thus gain less of a damage bonus from items that increase your various Power levels.

Lifesteal vs Recovery

Both are methods of healing, but your build will make one more useful over the other. If your build depends on having a high number of weapons or a high attack speed, or both, then use Lifesteal instead of Recovery. If your build features slow weapons but high DPS, then use Recovery. ALSO, if your build heavily features shields, then Recovery will make those shields recover from damage more quickly.

Note that each 1 Recovery DOES NOT equal 1 health gain per second. Each 20 Recovery = 1 health per second.



Dual Sickle vs Dual Sword

Dual Sickle at Tier 1 has a weapon bonus of +25% Attack Speed when moving. If your build focuses on kiting around enemies due to low Range or low Damage, or if you are playing as Lancer, then this is a decent option. Dual Sword at Tier 1 has a weapon bonus of +45% Attack Speed while NOT moving, AND that bonus transfers itself to adjacent weapons.

Dual Sword is more useful, but riskier and you may not be able to hold still for very long, especially on higher difficulties. If your luck holds, and you get the perfect items for it, then it can be an excellent tool in your arsenal. For the aspects of Juggernaut, Golem, and Sentinel, Dual Sword can shine. Alternatively, if you build around Attack Speed, even aspects like Inquisitor or (maybe) Singularist can make good use of this weapon. Dual Sword is my personal preference between the two. But that doesn't mean that Dual Sword is a must-have weapon on most runs.



Best Weapons:

Best Weapons are Crossgun, Electric Wand, and Ebony Dagger. Next Best Weapons are Automatic Crossbow, Rapier, Short Sword, and Crystal Staff. Best Unique Weapons are Banner of Heaven, Builder's Hand, and Vorpal Blade.

Most of these weapons you have to purchase from the Armory, but several are starting weapons that can carry you to the end of the game. Ebony Dagger, for example, give you +1 Damage per 20 kills with that weapon. You can imagine how high that can climb even within just 10 floors. Banner of Heaven WOULD be up on the Best Weapon category, but it extremely rare. If you can snag it before Floor 15, I'd grab it in a heartbeat.



CRATE CALLER IS THE SINGLE-MOST USEFUL ITEM IN THE GAME.

As the name suggests, more crates/barrels will spawn per room. Crates can drop titanite, a bomb, ~50 Gold, an Invincibility powerup lasting ~5ish seconds, a food item that restores health, or a level-up badge that will automatically increase your character's level by 1 and thus give you an extra 2 inventory slots minimum.

Titanite is useful for early-mid game, but useless by end game. Bombs are pretty useless. Gold can be useful if you are playing with Aspects like Merchant, Beggar, Thief, or Scholar, but can quickly be obsolete once you purchase the Gold Start bonus from the Statue (more about that next section). The Invincibility powerup is useful for survivability, obviously, but you can use it to get rid of enemies with impunity to give yourself some breathing room, or just to reposition yourself, or even some time to break extra barrels that might've been blocked by enemies. The health item can an will save your life, especially for low-health characters or runs where your items eat away at your Vitality and Move Speed. The badge is the best overall drop for every single aspect.

Each Character has 3 aspects. These aspects have different specific bonuses and drawbacks that effect the ways that you play. I have arranged things as [Character name] followed by [Aspect name] with each aspect's pros and cons underneath.

Aristocrat:
Blood Aristocrat
- Pros: +15% Lifesteal, Lifesteal Modifications +33% effectiveness
- Cons: Can only heal with Lifesteal, Cannot use Ranged weapons
Soul Drinker
- Pros: +10 Recovery, +15% Lifesteal with Lifesteal weapons, +1% Damage per 3hp overheal, keep 25% Overheal per floor (more on Overheal in the Build Tips section)
- Cons: -50 Armor
Scholar
- Pros: +100% Exp Gain, +1 Inventory Space per 3 levels, Exp Gain Modifications +40% effectiveness, +2% Attack Speed per free inventory slot
- Cons: +50% Item price

Barbarian:
Barbarian
- Pros: +50% Attack Speed with Fist and Crushing weapons, +5% Attack Speed, +5 Melee Power, +10 Vitality
- Cons: Cannot use Ranged weapons
Berserker
- Pros: +2% Damage and Attack Speed for each 1% missing health, +10 Vitality, +5 Armor
- Cons: Cannot use Dodge, cannot use Ranged weapons
Singularist
- Pros: +10 Vitality, +75% Damage and Attack Speed, +1% Damage and Attack Speed per each Inventory space
- Cons: -50% Damage and Attack speed if you have more than one weapon

Duelist:
Duelist
- Pros: +10% Critical Chance, +50% Critical Damage, +1% Critical Chance per weapon
- Cons: -10% Attack Speed
Blademaster
- Pros: +120% Attack Speed with Blade weapons
- Cons: -40% Attack Speed
Scout
- Pros: +5 Melee Power, +30% Dodge Chance, +30% Dodge Chance Modification effectiveness, +10 Max Dodge Chance, +4 Damage stacking per dodge performed each floor (resets each floor)
- Cons: -50 Armor

Hunter
Hunter
- Pros: +10 Range, Projectile Modification effectiveness +33%
- Cons: Cannot use Melee weapons, Vitality Modification effectiveness -33%
Sharpshooter
- Pros: +15 Range, +1% Damage per 2 range
- Cons: -25 Pierce Damage
Ranger
- Pros: +2 Melee Power for every Ranged weapon, +1 Projectile Power for each Melee Weapon, start with an extra dagger
- Cons: N/a

Juggernaut
Juggernaut
- Pros: +40 Armor, +30% Damage with Melee weapons
- Cons: -20% Move Speed, Cannot use Ranged weapons
Golem
- Pros: +50 Armor, +1 Melee Power for each 2 Armor, Armor Modification effectiveness +100%
- Cons: Cannot use Ranged weapons, cannot dodge, -30% Move Speed, -50% Dash distance
Butcher
- Pros: +15 Vitality, Vitality Modification effectiveness +100%, convert 100% Armor into Vitality, your character becomes 1% larger for every Vitality, Feast Area increases based on Vitality, enemies that enter the Feast Area take an additional 2% Damage per 1 Vitality
- Cons: N/a

King
King
- Pros: +20 Luck, +20% Resource Gain, +12% Damage and 2 Armor for each Tier 4 weapon, +5% Damage for each Tier 3 weapon
- Cons: -10% Damage and -2 Armor for every Tier 1 item or weapon
Merchant
- Pros: -25% item price, +1% Damage per 32 Gold
- Cons: -10 Luck
Beggar
- Pros: +5 Luck, a fraction of your Gold will increase your Max Health
- Cons: -15% Resource Gain, pay for shop items with Max Health instead of Gold

Knight
Knight
- Pros: +5 Melee Power, +5 Vitality, +5% Resource Gains
- Cons: N/a
Weapon Master
- Pros: +25% Attack Speed per each unique weapon
- Cons: -50% Attack Speed, cannot equip Ranged weapons, +15% item price
Eldritch Knight
- Pros: +5 Armor, Armor Modification effectiveness +25%, every 2 Armor gives +1 Magic Power and +1 Melee Power
- Cons: -5% Move Speed

Lancer
Lancer
- Pros: +30% Move Speed, +1% Damage per 2% Move Speed, +15% Critical Chance with Polearms, move faster when moving in a straight line
- Cons: -15% Dodge Chance
Sentinel
- Pros: +2% Damage for every 1 Armor if standing still, +3% Attack Speed for every 1% Dodge Chance if standing still, +20 Armor, +20% Dodge Chance
- Cons: -25% Attack Speed if moving
Fieldkeeper
- Pros: +10 Range, Polearms gain +1 base Damage for every 75 kills
- Cons: Can only use Polearms,
Either Pro or a Con depending on build: all weapons use the Attack Speed of the slowest weapon

Priestess
Priestess
- Pros: +10 Recovery, +1 Recovery per 100 enemy kills, +1 Revive
- Cons: Cannot use Lifesteal
Crusader
- Pros: +5 Recovery, +5 Armor, +5 Vitality, start with an extra shield, +1 Melee Power per 4 Recovery, deal an AOE equal to Recovery and block value of all shields to enemies in a radius
- Cons: Cannot use Lifesteal
Inquisitor
- Pros: +5 Recovery, +1% Attack Speed per 1 Recovery if above 90% health
- Cons: Cannot use Lifesteal

Raven
Rogue
- Pros: +5% Damage per weapon, +5% Move Speed, start with an extra dagger
- Cons: -5 Vitality, -10 Armor
Assassin
- Pros: +50% Attack Speed with Sharp weapons, +10 Range with Sharp weapons, start with an extra dagger, +100% Set bonus with Sharp weapons
- Cons: -5 Projectile Power, -5 Vitality
Thief
- Pros: +6% Attack Speed per item, start with an extra dagger
- Cons: -15% Attack Speed, Vitality Modification effectiveness -50%

Warlock
Warlock
- Pros: Magic Power Modification effectiveness +10%, +5 Vitality, +5 Magic Power, +50% Damage Over Time
- Cons: Can only use Enchanted weapons
Shaman
- Pros: Magic Power Modification effectiveness +10%, +10% Move Speed, +50% Area of Effect
- Cons: Can only use Enchanted or Projectile weapons
Vile
- Pros: +1 Magic Power per 1 Vitality
- Cons: -1 Luck per 5 Vitality, can only use Enchanted or Lifestealing weapons

Wizard
Wizard
- Pros: +10 Magic Power, Magic Power Modification effectiveness +33%
- Cons: -10 Vitality, Melee and Projectile Modification effectiveness -100%
Spellblade
- Pros: +1 Melee Power for every 2 Magic Power, +1 Magic Power for every 2 Melee Power
- Cons: -10 Projectile Power
Adept
- Pros: +1 Magic/Melee/Projectile Power for every 2 inventory slots
- Cons: -10 Vitality, -1 Vitality per 1 new inventory slot

Each character has 3 potential starting items, most of which must be unlocked by completing a challenge. Each starting item is listed below with their effects.

Aristocrat
- Signet Ring: adjacent weapons gain +1 Damage for each 2% Lifesteal
- Tome of Knowledge: consume to gain 5 inventory spaces
- Vial of Souls: adjacent weapons gain 1% Damage per 100 kills with a max of 5,000 kills

Barbarian
- Wolf's Fang: adjacent weapons gain 1% Lifesteal for every 2% Attack Speed
- Wooden Mask: adjacent weapons gain +1 Armor for each 1% missing health
- Shackle: adjacent weapons gain bonus damage equal to the number of items, if the weapon is not adjacent to any other weapon

Duelist
- Yellow Feather: adjacent weapons gain +50% Critical Damage
- Sword Amulet: adjacent weapons gain the Blade tag
- Magic Compass: adjacent Movement Speed items give +100% Dodge Chance equal to their Movement Speed value, and also damages surrounding enemies based on Melee Power on successful dodge

Hunter
- Antler: adjacent weapons gain +30% Attack Speed
- Arrow Shaft: adjacent Projectile weapons gain +1 Pierce and +1 base Damage, but Pierce damage is reduced 50% per hit
- Ring of Thorns: adjacent Melee weapons gain +5% Critical Chance for every Ranged weapon, and adjacent Ranged weapons gain +5% Critical Chance for each Melee weapon

Juggernaut
- Crest: adjacent melee weapons gain +1 base Damage for every 2 Armor
- Iron Core: adjacent Armor items gain +30% Armor, and adjacent weapons gain +1 Range per each 2 Armor
- Bat Amulet: adjacent Lifesteal items gain +3% Lifesteal, and adjacent Vitality items gain +3 Vitality

King
- Laurel: adjacent weapons gain +1 Tier (Max Tier 4)
- Ledger: grant Gold based on the value of adjacent items every floor
- Tarnished Crown: adjacent weapons cause enemies to drop more gold on kill

Knight
- Tattered Banner: adjacent weapons give +3 Armor, and adjacent Armor items give +3 Melee Power
- Broken Blade: adjacent weapons increase their set bonus by 1
- Arcane Gauntlet: adjacent Melee weapons do extra damage based on Magic Power, adjacent Enchanted weapons do extra damage based on Melee Power

Lancer
- Horseshoe: adjacent weapons gain +1% Attack Speed for each 1% Move Speed
- Conqueror's Flag: adjacent Armor items give an additional 100% Armor if holding still
- Tentacle: adjacent Polearm weapons gain +1% Lifesteal for every 2 Range

Priestess
- Angel Wing: adjacent weapons gain the Blessed tag, and adjacent Blessed weapons gain +1 base Damage per every 2 Recovery
- Queen: adjacent weapons deal extra damage based on current amount of Health (+1% Damage for every 10% of Health), and doubles the damage if at 100% Health
- Commandment of Sword: adjacent Armor gains +3 Recovery, and adjacent shields gain +1 Block for every 2 Melee Power

Raven
- Bandolier: adjacent weapons gain the Sharp tag, and adjacent weapons gain +1% Critical Damage for every 1% Critical Chance
- Calling Card: adjacent weapons have a chance of giving Gold on every hit, and that chance increases per each item that is not a weapon
- Hit List: every floor has a marked enemy that drops extra gold and a permanent +1 Melee Power increase for every marked enemy death. If there is an elite enemy, the elite will be marked instead of a random enemy

Warlock
- Book of Demons: adjacent weapons lose -50% flat Damage, but adjacent weapons apply the Curse status effect on hit. Curse status slows enemies and does 1% of an enemy's Max Health per second for every 2 Magic Power
- Scorpion Tail: adjacent weapons create poison clouds on hit, and enemies in the poison clouds are slowed and take damage. Enemies that die in the poison clouds create more poison clouds. Damage of poison clouds scales with Magic Power
Black Bone: adjacent Enchanted weapons apply Lamb status effect on hit, and every 50 enemies afflicted with Lamb that are killed with Lifesteal weapons will give +1 Vitality

Wizard
- Magic Amulet: +15 energy shield that absorbs damage, and the shield absorbs more damage with the more Magic Power given by adjacent Magic Power items
- Crystal Heart: adjacent Melee weapons do extra damage based on Magic Power (Max of 25% Melee Power), adjacent Enchanted weapons do extra damage based on Melee Power (Max of 25% Magic Power)
- Ember Stone: +25% Exp Gain, and adjacent Exp items give additionain Exp Gain

Investing in Exp Gain is a must for pretty much all builds. The more Exp Gain you have, the more levels you get, and the more inventory space you can use for useful items. Attack Speed and Range is almost always suggested for any build type. Melee/Magic/Projectile Power is always beneficial, as well.

Diversify your portfolio. If you focus on Ranged weapons, buy at least one Melee weapon for emergencies. And if you focus on Melee, buy at least one Ranged weapon to soften up enemies before they reach you.

The number next to each Aspect name is my personal rankings, with 1 being the best and 3 being the worst.


Blood Aristocrat - 3

Starting weapon: Crimson Rapier if Lifesteal build or Ebony Dagger for damage build
Starting item: Signet Ring if Lifesteal build/Vial of Souls for damage build

Buy additional Crimson Rapiers or Ebony Daggers. For any build, Attack Speed and Range is suggested, as well as some Melee Power and Lifesteal.


Soul Drinker - 2
Starting weapon: Crimson Rapier
Starting item: Signet Ring for a potential higher DPS or Vial of Souls for an early DPS boost

Buy Lifesteal items and try to evade damage as much as possible. If you are at full health and Lifesteal procs, you will gain an Overheal bonus, which acts as temporary extra hit points. You keep 25% of your Overheal between floors, so try to keep that number as high as possible. Secondary focus should be on Range and Attack Speed. Buy a few more Lifesteal-friendly weapons like any type of dagger or rapier.


Scholar - 1

Starting weapon: any, but probably Ebony Dagger
Starting item: Vial of Souls

Focus on Exp Gain. DON'T use Tome of Knowledge! The 5 extra inventory spaces are chump change. Use Vial of Souls instead for a quick and easy damage boost. Also, don't worry about keeping your inventory as empty as possible. Keep some slots open, but buy items you need.




Barbarian - 2

Starting weapon: Flaming Claw
Starting item: Shackle

Buy any Claw weapons that strike your fancy and buy any Range items you come across. Invest in Attack Speed and some Melee Power, Lifesteal if you're worried about survivability.


Berserker - 3

Starting weapon: Either of the Claw weapons or Dual Sickle
Starting item: Wolf's Fang

The problem with Berserker is that it can be incredibly powerful, but incredibly risky. The aspect is centered around being as low on health as possible, which, for higher difficulties, can be a death sentence. I would NOT use Wooden Mask, since the Armor gain is +2 for every 16% missing health, which is too much to be viable. Use the Fang for the Lifesteal and keep your health around 50%, if you can. I would not advise using this build on higher difficulties, but you can fairly easily clear the first two difficulties with this aspect.


Singularist - 1

Starting weapon: Powerfist
Starting item: Shackle

Since you'll primarily be using 1 weapon, focus on Attack Speed, Range, and DPS. The Powerfist knocks back enemies, so it can be useful in keeping some space between you and the horde. Switch out your weapon if you come across a better/more useful one. Only buy a second weapon if your overall DPS increases if you buy it. Once, I came across the Banner of Heaven on floor 11 and used it up until floor 19, where I came across the Builder's Hand and used them both. I was doing over 7000 DPS. So, Singularist can be a little risky, but also pretty powerful. The Attack Speed can get ridiculously high fairly easily, and it is a thing of beauty. One of my favorite classes.




Duelist - 2

Starting weapon: doesn't matter
Starting item: Yellow Feather

Ditch the Rapier for a combo of Daggers and Ebony Daggers as soon as possible. Attack Speed and Range, as always, with a few Melee Power/Damage items and Critical Chance items as well.


Blademaster - 1 (tie)

Starting weapon: Dual Sword or either of the Rapiers
Starting item: Yellow Feather

Buy a few more Blade weapons that go well together. If you pick Dual Sword, arrange your weapons around it as best you can and try to keep still as much as possible. Focus on Range, Attack Speed, and then Melee Power. This aspect is probably the most useful and best of the Duelist aspects, but Scout is super fun and can be great. So it's a tie.


Scout - 1 (tie)

Starting weapon: Short Sword or either of the Rapiers
Starting item: Magic Compass

This WOULD be my favorite Duelist aspect, but it's not great for higher difficulties. If you try to get the Dodge Damage bonus on higher difficulties, you'll end up racking up more damage than it's worth. And if you play keep away, then you're not making use of the bonus anyway. But on lower difficulties, it's fun to run straight into a horde of enemies, get smacked a bit, dodge a bit, and end up doubling your damage in 10 seconds. As soon as your dodge gets high enough, you're solid. But getting there is a real problem.




Hunter - 1

Starting weapon: Automatic Crossbow
Starting item: Antler

This is the 'Ha Ha Automatic Crossbow go Brrrr' build. Buy as many Automatic Crossbows as you can. Focus on Projectile Power and Range, with some more Attack Speed. If you come across a Crossgun, buy that instead or swap it out for one of your Autos if you don't have the space. This is one of my favorite builds for one of my favorite aspects. This aspect is the Ol' Reliable.


Sharpshooter - 2

Starting weapon: Automatic Crossbow
Starting item: Antler

Basically the same as Hunter, but prioritize Range over buying more weapons or Projectile Power.


Ranger - 3

Starting weapon: Automatic Crossbow, surprise surprise
Starting item: Ring of Thorns

This build requires splitting your focus a little too much for me. Buy as many weapons that go well together as you can, and buy items like Hunter's Hat that give you both Melee and Projectile Power. Or, focus on items that give straight Damage rather than specified damage, such as Thorn Bracer or Pipe. As always, invest in Attack Speed and Range.




Juggernaut - 2

Starting weapon: Halberd or Flail
Starting item: Iron Core

Halberd has that sweep attack that can help clear surrounding enemies if you're being overrun, while Flail brings some extra range for the price of damage with those spikes. So pick which one feels better. Focus on Range and Armor, and buy a ton of weapons. You want your Attack Speed to be high to make up for your slow speed and lack of Ranged options.


Golem - 3

Starting weapon: Halberd
Starting item: Crest or Iron Core, NOT Bat Amulet

This is honestly one of my least favorite builds. No Ranged weapons, no Dodge, you're even slower than the Juggernaut, and your Dash distance is halved just to make it even harder to avoid contact damage. First, get your total Armor up to 80 to reach the Max, then focus on Range, Attack Speed, and DPS. DO NOT use Bat Amulet, because then you'd need to worry about Vitality and Lifesteal items as well, and that's too many items to buy in a single run.


Butcher - 1

Starting weapon: Halberd
Starting item: Bat Amulet

Focus on Armor and Vitality. Focus secondarily on things like Range and/or Attack Speed. The Feast Area will buff your Damage, so you don't need to buy many more DPS-based items. Ignore the Lifesteal part of the Bat Amulet.

King - 2

Starting weapon: Scimitar or Greatsword
Starting item: Laurel

The starting Luck is great, but the Tier-specific pros and cons ♥♥♥♥. Go for Luck items and buy every Tier 3 or 4 weapon you can. And then sell off the Luck items because they're tanking your DPS. Personally, I find King too finicky and RNG-dependent to play, and usually prefer either of the other King aspects over this one.


Merchant - 1

Starting weapon: Greatsword
Starting item: Tarnished Crown

Don't buy items that aren't absolutely necessary. If you can get a Crate Caller, don't buy any Recovery or Lifesteal Items, and maybe no Vitality if you are confident in your ability to duck and weave. Buy Resource Gain items, and Attack Speed and Range secondarily. One of my favorite aspects.


Beggar - 1

Starting weapon: Greatsword
Starting item: Tarnished Crown

Almost identical to Merchant, but instead of Damage, your Gold boosts your health. This can get truly ridiculous. I played as the Beggar on Calamity 4 and had 2,000 Health by floor 20, despite buying 1-3 items per floor. Just like Merchant, only buy necessary items. Beggar is better for the extremely high survivability and better Luck, but Merchant can kill enemies quicker and might not need the survivability depending on how the run's Luck is. One of my favorite aspects.




Knight - 3

Starting weapon: Short Sword
Starting item: Broken Blade

Meh. Boring aspect. Buy as many Short Swords as you can fit, and some Range and Attack Speed items. Let the set bonus and extra base damage from the weapon bonus carry you to victory.


Weapon Master - 2
Starting weapon: Spear or Short Sword
Starting item: Broken Blade

Buy any type of Daggers, Rapiers, and more Short Swords. Then, focus on Range, Attack Speed, and Melee Power.


Eldritch Knight - 1

Starting weapon: Thunder Spear or Long Sword
Starting item: Arcane Gauntlet

Buy extra Short Swords for damage, pair with your Long Sword for Armor, and buy at least one Electric Wand/Crystal Staff. I wasn't sure about this Aspect until I did a Calamity 3 run and got the Crystal Staff, and ended up doing 4,000 DPS.




Lancer - 3

Starting weapon: Spear or Jousting Lance
Starting item: Horseshoe

Focus on Attack Speed, Range, Movement Speed. Add in some Armor if you have the space for it. Honestly, this is one of my least favorite aspects, because there is such a thing as contact damage in this game. And in higher difficulties, contact damage can climb up past 8 health PER ENEMY YOU TOUCH. So beware of rocketing into crowds of enemies at high speeds.


Sentinel - 2

Starting weapon: Halberd
Starting item: Conqueror's Flag

Focus on Armor, Dodge Chance, and Attack Speed. Add in some Range and DPS, if you can. Stand still as often as possible. Maybe invest in a Dual Sword if you come across it. You will have a hard time staying in one spot in higher difficulties, and this limits this Aspect's usefulness, but it can be pretty good up to Calamity 3.


Fieldkeeper - 1

Starting weapon: Crimson Scythe or Halberd
Starting item: Tentacle

Don't buy any Lifesteal, Recovery, or Vitality items. Just focus on racking up as many kills as possible. Buy Attack Speed and Range items. You basically give all Polearm weapons a crappier Ebony Dagger weapon bonus, so sit back and watch as your DPS counter ticks higher and higher.




Priestess - 1

Starting weapon: Automatic Crossbow or Cross Wand
Starting item: Angel Wing or Queen

Automatic Crossbow kills enemies quickly, and you get 1 Recovery per 75 kills, so it will give you plenty of Recovery fairly early on. Cross Wand will give adjacent Recovery items an extra 2 Recovery. Angel Wing will boost your Damage according to your Recovery, but go with Queen if you want a steady bonus and don't want to worry about kills. Honestly, it's hard to go wrong with Priestess. You've got high survivability, and if you focus on Recovery, your health will always be topped off regardless of difficulty level, which gives you bonus damage for the builds I discussed.


Crusader - 1

Starting weapon: Flail or Throwing Hammer
Starting item: Commandment of Sword

Buy every single shield you come across. Buy items for Melee Power, Recovery, and Armor. Buy a few extra weapons if you're running low on shields. Skate around enemies and watch them take damage just by being near you. Crusader has pretty high survivability because of all the shields, so if enemies take a little while to die, then you've got the shields to keep your health up, Armor to reduce damage taken, and Recovery to both keep your health up and to reduce the downtime your shields need after taking damage.


Inquisitor - 1

Starting weapon: Throwing Glaive or Throwing Hammer
Starting item: Queen

Split your focus between buying weapons (particularly Throwing weapons or weapons with a decent range), Attack Speed, Range, Recovery, and the Power that best suits your weapons. Keep your enemies far away from you. Bounce is a useful trait for your weapons, because it will take care of large groups and keep them from swarming you.


All 3 Priestess Aspects are listed as Number 1 because each has their pros and cons. Priestess is best for surviving and leads in versatility, so as to mitigate the effects Luck has on your run. Crusader is fun, but can easily go wrong. But when it goes right, it feels great to play. Inquisitor is slightly riskier, but can be OP depending on if you can keep yourself from getting hit. Inquisitor is probably my favorite of the three, but you can easily win runs with all of them.

Rogue - 3

Starting weapon: Throwing Dagger or Ebony Dagger
Starting item: Hit List or Bandolier

Throwing Daggers for extra Range, or Ebony Dagger for DPS. If you haven't unlocked Hit List yet, use Bandolier, but unlock Hit List as soon as you can. Buy any and all types of daggers, and buy items for Range and Attack Speed. Your secondary focus should be on DPS, and maybe Lifesteal if you need it. Hit List will provide an extra base damage per floor, so you don't need to buy many DPS items, and can instead buy other items to fill out your inventory.



Assassin - 2

Starting weapon: Ebony Dagger
Starting item: Hit List or Bandolier

Only buy Sharp weapons. If you have Bandolier, become a God at inventory management and buy every Dagger and Ebony Dagger you come across and watch as your Crit Chance and DPS soars through the roof. But Hit List provides extra base damage per floor, saving you the inventory space for other items. Either way, buy tons of daggers, and items for Range and Attack Speed.



Thief - 1

Starting weapon: Ebony Dagger or Throwing Glaive
Starting item: Any - see below for instructions

If you have Hit List, use Hit List. If you don't have the Statue perk 'Gold Start' then use Calling Card. If you DON'T have Gold Start or Hit List, then use Bandolier. Buy any item you come across that uses 1 inventory slot. I don't care if it doesn't fit your build. Buy it. Buy more daggers (any type, up to ~5), and buy items for Range, Attack Speed, and DPS. Reroll frequently and try to keep a few inventory slots open for if you come across something you need. Have fun!




Warlock - 3

Starting weapon: Fire Wand or Fire Mace
Starting item: Scorpion Tail

Buy Staff of Fireballs if/when you see it, or a bunch of Flame Wands. I'm not a fan of depending on Damage Over Time, but lean into it for this build. Focus on Magic Power and Attack Speed. Maybe a little Range if you can.


Shaman - 1

Starting weapon: Electric Wand
Starting item: Scorpion Tail

In the Aspect bonuses, Shaman is supposed to have +50% Area of Effect, but I'm not sure what that means. Damage for AoE weapons? Then it might effect weapons like Staff of Fireball or weapons with Bounce. I haven't really noticed a difference, so I ignore it. Buy any Electric Wand or Crystal Staff you come across. Focus on Magic Power, then Attack Speed, and Range. Use that bonus Movement Speed to help with kiting, especially for higher difficulties.


Vile - 2

Starting weapon: Electric Wand or Crimson Rapier
Starting item: Black Bone or Scorpion Tail

Personally, I don't like Vile all that much, but it's pretty good for survivability in higher difficulties. Focus on Vitality. Focus secondarily on Magic Power, Attack Speed, Range, and maybe a little Lifesteal. Black Bone applies a unique status effect, Lamb, which gives you 1 Vitality for each 50 enemies you kill with Lifesteal weapons. But Scorpion Tail helps with crowd control, so it's your pick.



The Warlock starting item Book of Demons reduces your Damage by 50%, but inflicts the Curse status effect, which slows enemies and deals 1% of the enemy's Max Health in damage per second for every 2 Magic Power. I freely admit that this could be pretty great by floor 20, but the problem is getting there. This item relies on your ability to kite around a slowly growing population of enemies that you will struggle to kill quickly the farther you get and the higher your difficulty, and it also relies on your Luck giving you a ton of Magic Power items. So I personally don't use Book of Demons, and don't recommend using it. But feel free to correct me in the comments if you think I'm wrong.




Wizard - 1

Starting weapon: Electric Staff
Starting item: Magic Amulet

Focus on Magic Power and arrange around the Amulet for best results. Buy weapons like more Electric Staffs, Crystal Staffs, or Magic Staff. Buy items for Attack Speed and Range. On low difficulties, no need for Dodge, Vitality, or Armor items. Let the Amulet absorb any damage you might take per floor.


Spellblade - 3

Starting weapon: Electric Wand
Starting item: Crystal Heart or Magic Amulet

Another split-build. Yikes. Use Crystal Heart for a more DPS-focused build, and Magic Amulet for better survivability. If using Crystal Heart, buy a few Magic and Melee weapons, like Electric Wands/Crystal Staffs, and Ebony Daggers. Buy Magic and Melee Power items. Secondarily, buy some Attack Speed and Range items.


Adept - 2

Starting weapon: Electric Wand
Starting item: Magic Amulet

This Aspect is risky, especially for high difficulties. Every new inventory slot you get, takes away from your Max Health. On lower difficulties, this is a great Aspect, and it would be my favorite for this character if not for the Vitality loss. But if you attempt a higher difficulty, invest in more Vitality and play the best game of keep-away of your life. Rely on Magic Amulet for emergencies. Focus on Magic Power, Attack Speed, and Range. Buy weapons that mesh well with your build, like the ever popular Crystal Wand or additional Electric Wands. Don't bother with the Ember Stone. The bonus is barely noticeable, and the additional levels will just cause problems for your health, both in game and IRL.

I may not have given you every minuscule thing about the game. I may have even gotten some things wrong or given you strategies that could be improved on. But the point of this guide is to help you understand more of how the game works and some basic strategies to help you win the game any way you want.


For new players, the best aspects to learn the game with are ones like Hunter and Priestess. For players that are a few hours in, maybe aspects like Merchant, Beggar, or Assassin. If you're a challenge-seeker or want an easier time dependent on some risk, then try Singularist, Eldritch Knight, Fieldkeeper, Inquisitor, Thief, or Shaman. If you want a wacky build, then try Butcher, Lancer, Crusader, or Adept.

Honestly, play how you want. Try things until you find what is right for you. I gave you some tips based on how I like playing and what I think the easiest way might be, but that can change person to person. Try out some of my tips if you want. Try some of your own and tell me about how it went. As long as you have fun, that's the goal.