This guide is to help those who are unfamiliar with strategy games and want to outline which classes lend themselves to ease of use. Classes that do this intended job without much fuss means you can experiment and not be detrimentally behind, or feel your resources of wealth, items, and time are not wasted. I'm transferring my Google Doc guide from the DD2 discord onto here. All of this is based on the hard difficulty of the game, (Deity), with fixed growths so I can have as much as an unbiased look on classes as much as I can. This was done with 8+ playthroughs of varying builds, with half of them without using stat-boosting elixirs to find stat thresholds that make/break builds.

The combo section outlines combinations of classes not directly beneath one another OR outlining how to make classes work with certain items/enchantments. Those seem to be intended lines for those who are unsure, and feel you can use each to a good amount, (save Gale/Tempest, as not every adept can make it work).

Will state that most classes are fine on the easiest difficulty, Mortal. Once you hit Hero or Deity, that's where this guide comes in to help the trial and error to help those trying to engage the game on its level.

Demonic is such a hard game that only very, very specific builds get your through it, and mostly devolves into hoping Valeria dodges. For that reason, the guide will not reflect the very different mindset needed to tackle that difficulty, but can help you understand the game to the point that, when tackling Demonic, will be as ready as you can with builds to plan out for such a monstrous playthrough.

The classes and characters are strong enough that, once you are used to the game and it's systems, you can have just about any composition to finish it.

But until then, here are some pointers

• Healer is someone who can heal your teammates
  
• Controller repositions units around
  
• Nuker one-rounds a target
  
• Tank can protect your squishy party members from being targeted during enemy phase
  
• Combatants are able to attack and kill reliably.

• They are flexible enough that they can fill about everything you need in a teamup, aside from combatant.
  
• Healer: Wavecaller/Tidecaller gives really good healing.
  
• Controller: Geomancers and Scholars give flexibility with solid abilities in controllers, (Geomancer doubles as a healer as well)
  
• Nuker: Cosmician is the best single-target nuker in the game, bar none
  
• Tank: Juggernaut/Dreadnaught tanks really well, as does Ritualist (see Shaman Combos).
  
• Combatants: Even without a solid combatant, you can fill in with any of the above rolls, but this is a flexible role that every other class can fill.

• It’s game over if she dies, so plan around either making her survive or keep her out of the way. Luckily she’s really good so it's hard to mess her up

Good at surviving hits

• Nightblade + Acarant = Dodge everything
  
• Devoted + Reaper = good all around stats, lots of Blocking, good crits

Out of the way so you dont get hit

• Gallant + Elisant = Buff your whole team with accuracy and/or damage, take potshots on low defense threats, solid reposition ability

• Don't just throw everyone out without checking enemy ranges, (click on enemy, will show range)
  
• Team up and remove targets rather than damaging a bunch of enemies
  
• Attacks add up and enemies hit really hard, so try to eliminate when it's in range and carefully use tanks and summons to draw in a small handful of enemies.
  
• Try not to get attack by more than 3 enemies
  
• Walling off areas, use your surroundings, and check tiles for stat boosts so you can carve every advantage you can

• This guide is to show you relatively simple builds that are impressions of builds that are item and character independent. That means you can generally take anyone, throw them in the higher graded classes, and have them perform relatively well in that role.
  
• There will always be exceptions, and shown in combos a few of what you can discover. But there are even characters that completely flip one's perspective on a class and change/elevate it to other levels. That can be overwhelming, and can make the guide so dense it avoids helping those who need it the most.

They are fast enough you’ll most likely double the early encounters, tanky enough to survive a round. The All-rounders. They have some solid Tier 2 and 3 Classes.


Gale - D
Very, very squishy. Needs a lot of support to survive enemy rounds, as you don’t have enough dodge to avoid the enemy phase reliably. Salt in the wounds is the extraordinarily low strength means your hits land like a wet noodle. Even with your ability Stormborn to take a turn to make your hits magical… But with your low strength, it will not be enough to be worth your time to activate the buff. Instead you will spam Ravager Winds to set up kills for other companions and to give yourself a substantive damage boost, but the area and type of debuff is not worth the promotion when other, better tier 1 classes await you, (see Frigillan and Monk). Can be used to level up for solid Speed and Dexterity growth, but think Monk gives enough with other key growths while having more substantial abilities.

Conduit - B
Would be graded higher if the skill Defibrillator didn't stun your own teammates when it heals beyond an emergency heal, so leave healing to the other classes. Being able to hit 1-2 range at will AND getting Chain Lightning are the definite upsides of this class. It sets up so many kills, and being able to hit it from the back lines makes this a solid choice. Stats reflect that you will stay in the back lines though, but with how good Chain Lightning, it's worth it. But if you are promoting to Stormcaller, I would swap your Tier 2 class Frigillan and Monk.

Frigillan - B
The heavy loss in fortitude when changing over from Adept to Frigillan and low speed keeps this from being a higher choice, BUT THIS DOESN'T MEAN THEY DON'T HAVE A PLACE ON YOUR TEAM! Icy Spire gives such great battlefield control, giving a longer front line your ranged units can safely pelt enemies from. Defensive Stance is also a solid buff to apply to yourself when moving into position will mean you will endure against all physical damage dealers. But that low Fortitude means you look at a Mage wrong and, (if out of stacks block stacks from Defensive Stance), it leaves a hole in your front line, so be careful.

Monk - A
The best choice, hands down. Good Defense AND Fortitude means you can tank an enemy phase fine enough, a solid 3-ranged attack in Ki Blast means you can hit from the back OR front lines, good speed and strength means you hit like two trucks, and Charged Ki as a green skill means you can use it then normal attack is a strong combo. Arguably, it’s the best buff in the game. When in doubt, go with Monk.


Tempest - F
I don't know how a class that has such high speed can be so unreliable in dodging. Along with weaker defenses than Summoners, you can’t engage in the enemy phase. So you should be able to Player Phase destroy an enemy, right?

…Right?

But in greater detail, the passive means you need an obscene amount of speed to make use of it, and the growths don’t keep up with the faster enemies to make use of it all the time. Swift Winds is a decent team buff, but the hot garbage of Gathering Storm means you need to be surrounded to make use of enough crit to reliably crit individuals. But you are surrounded by enemies, and only get it for two attacks. Even with a lot of investment into this class, you still fail to one round enemies and find its not worth the investment.

Stormkeeper - A
Top tier Adapt. Mobility option for your team, big 5 square nuke, 1-2 range, and stats to survive a hit or two, passive that gains you a truck load of mana to keep using your abilities. Near S-tier, I highly recommend it.

Godfrost - B
Would be A if the abilities were not so expensive. If you are having mana batteries in the form of at least 1 Scholar on your team, this class can tank shots for days. But low speed hurts, and the low dexterity means you want Frigillan or Monk to patch up those stats, but more likely the former due to the expense it takes to maintain Charged Ki.

Ascendant - B
The stats are similar to Monk, but a heavier hit to Fortitude and HP means you need to be careful. Divine Flow can do that for attacks… But 100 Mana is a STEEP cost, which means they are engaging every one in four rounds, so it requires full investment to make it a manageable 50 mana, (see adept combos). Passive leaves a lot to be desired, but its other abilities are great.


Monk + Stormkeeper
Charged Ki with Stormkeeper passive means you have a great boost to your advanced stats, (aka the final calculations that the game uses to calculate damage, crit, dodge, and double attack/avoid double attack), and use it turn after turn after turn. You may need to supplement with defensive rings and weapons to help with attacking more than three enemies in the enemy phase. But this is worth it.

Frigillan + Stormkeeper
Defensive Stance is the more defensive version of Tier 2 classes for Stormkeeper, but can help the above issue specified. You will do less damage, but you will be tougher. The above will also give better speed, so it can wash out in survivability when the Blocks are out. But in every other instance, this can give the raw bulk that Stormkeeper needs.

Ascendant + Heir ring + half cost skill upgrade + Mastery Skill upgrade
Makes Ascendant’s Astral Flow go from great-but-expensive ability to arguably one of the better defensive skills as now your mana cost is 50 for 5-7+ dodges with decent mastery. Thanks Twigz11 for this combo!

Conduit/Stormkeeper + Radiant Ring
Get that mass blind going. Reducing accuracy by 30 to a nearby handful of targets you cannot delete is really strong in being a team player. Thanks to Twigz11 and ic1025 for this combo!

Monk + Tempest
To quote ic1025, “Charge Ki is a superior buff that also increases speed which plays into the Tempest passive and also helps it's base power and crit.” This helps you get that tempting passive damage of Tempest.

Stuck as two-range until promotion, still is great with setting up kills on Player Phase. On top of descent HP means a stray hit or two will spell the end for your Hunter. All this is just the icing to the cake of what is three fantastic tier 1 classes, and the 4th even being fine enough.


Ranger - C
Ranger gives great defenses. You have decent skills, albeit high mana costs. Lanky Spanky will shut down any difficult enemies you cannot 1-round up to two squares away, while Command Orangutan debuffs dodge on enemies. Unfortunately happens after your attack, meaning this helps other allies kill dodgy targets… But a strong ability tends to be enough for those targets.

Cutthroat - A
Great Speed, Strength doesn't take a hit, Knives being a decent enough group, and a Passive and Ability in Command Toad that debuffs opponents in great ways. But what makes it A rank? Licky Lasso. Being able to pull key, hard to reach targets to your back lines will help shut down problematic enemies that can try to snip your front line, culling them before disrupting your formation. It can also save allies, or help allies keep up with the rest of your forces. Tied for the best repositioning tool in the game with Phase.

Tamer - B
You’re slow so no more doubling. With the great HP boost you can take a few hits. But the strength of this class comes from wanting a backline unit that provides enough reason to keep your Hunter ranged. That comes from the skill Call the Pride. This makes your formation really tanky with very little investment. The amount of blocking you give is decent, and the passive makes you Red Animal Abilities scale better.

Quickdraw - C
Unlike Tamer, you will land your doubles. It’s good, but Player Phase only kills just means you shut down one target, but force your formation to move around you. Wicked Cackle is good, but it's really hard to debuff enemies you want to debuff. On top of buffing allies being stronger than debuffing enemies, Tamer pulls through as my ranged Hunter tier 1 class promotion of choice.


Warden - D
It’s a ball of Defense and HP. Bears are great summons, but cost ALLOT to use so you can't spam them. Fortitude, Speed, and Dexterity are garbage, so you can’t do your job well, as even the HP is outshined by the Beastmaster.

Slayer - A
1-2 range, the best speed and dexterity, and a great passive that gives a chance at attacking again! Great abilities, a cheaper-but-shorter-ranged Lanky Spanky via Stinger Strike and Command Wyvern gives a killer debuff, (and completely outshines Command Toad in every way).

Beastmaster - A
The utility side of Hunters. 50% on Red Pet abilities, AoE snare, and Command Ceberus means you can survive a few enemy phase engagements, along with that HP growth and 1-2 range. Your combat stats are not stellar, but your huge Mastery growth means you are using abilities to delete enemies.

Deadeye - C
Your speed and ability means you will double strike your enemy, one way or another. Can blind as well, but moderately expensive abilities and moderate to high enemy physical defenses means you won't one-round kill, the thing a 2-2 unit is supposed to do.


Cutthroat + Beastmaster
The reposition master, you are all about moving allies around with Licky Lasso as your passive discount and great mastery means you will move allies around every turn without mana issues! Cutthroat's growths also help immensely with your Beastmaster shoddy stats, meaning for a good part of the game you can make use of that 1-2 range as a combatant and controller.

Slayer + Ferocity
More attacks means more procs for Slayer passive. Time to go full JoJo on your enemies! Thank you Roltair for testing this out.

Any Hunter with 2 or more range abilities + Archmage Ring
Increasing the range of your abilities is really strong, probably the class that feels the impact on range increases the most. Cackling Hyenas, Command Wyvern, Spanky Lanky are just a few examples of what is most of a classline that can feel the impact of the Archmage ring. Thanks to ic1025 for bringing it up.

Can take a hit, heals allies, and have access to fantastic promotion options! Not much more to ask for!


Juggernaut - B
You heal, you tank. Doing the latter means you have enough mana to do the former from your passive. My only complaint is that’s all it does. But doing what you already do as a base Shaman, but just better means your Juggernaut can just sit next to your frontliners, keep them healed. Just your low speed means you can't throw a Juggernaut in the middle of 5 attackers and expect to survive.

Waveseer - A
Turns your Shaman into a 1-2 range attacker, but the hit to defenses and might will mean even getting the bonus to speed will mean you don't hurt much when you do attack and will want to stay behind a frontliner. Whirlpool is a strong tool. As Mortis Vult states, “a good swarm ends up on me and Whirlpool makes me not die,” it can be a great lockdown tool that hits a huge area. But beware that it can lock down your own units and enemies not caught in the initial placement can run through. But if kept in mind, can be an amazing flank denial tool.

Elementalist - A
If you are going to take a hit to defenses, this is what you need to get in exchange for it. 1-2 range attack, Green Buff in Ice Shield, and Flame Strike as a huge delete button. Being able to buff and attack, heal and attack, or just destroy a group of enemies. Everything you want in a class.

Ritualist - D*
So this is not much worse than Waveseer. But the hit to defenses while getting skills that encourage healing yourself through battling means setting up your Shaman to die. They can sit behind a frontliner and deal some damage, lay some debuffs. But I’d rather have any other promotion. See Combo’s for this class though, as it changes its utility immensely!

Note: Many people say I'm being harsh on this from multiple sites. So I will reiterate: The one Plague Ring you can make, which if you put on one Ritualist, makes them an A tier. But because you can only have one Plague Ring and have to make sure you have the stones to make this, is a resource and why this is in the combo section. If you dont give them a Plague Ring, they are D tier. A team of Ritualists don't work, but the one Ritualist you have with Plague ring will be very, very good


Dreadnought - B
Time to dump dexterity and accuracy, because you can't miss! This means, with your abilities, you can tank, shield yourself or others, and hit like a truck setting up kills for the next turn. Even having enough speed to not always be doubled and having both great Defense and Fortitude means you are the best non-dodge tank in the game!

Tidecaller- A
Hey look, discounts on all your abilities AND being able to give another turn??? Hands down the best Shaman! You also get the best heal in the game! Oh, and the best speed growths without awful defenses? Sign me up!

Spirit Keeper - B
Abilities keep this decent, recommend trying one out. Spirit Bomb can weaken a group of enemies fairly well, and Resurrection helps in difficulties outside of Demonic if you misstep. Combat and defenses are okay enough to take a hit or two.

Hemomancer - D*
Wants to do combat on low health. How does it do this? Gives a passive to buff attack and crit chance, high hp gains…. And mediocre everything else. Even minion ability is wonky, needing to be next to an enemy to make a copy of them. Not worthy of a team slot. 1-2 range keeps this from being F, but like Ritualist, see Combos.


Ritualist/Hemomancer + Plague Ring + Ferocity weapon enchantment
When paired with a Plague Ring to give bloodied stacks on enemies before attacking will mean you can have some solid healing, but you need to be able to double all the time. Thus, the Ferocity weapon enchantment comes in. With this combo, you will be able to face-tank like no one’s business, and can be good to switch into before Tier 3 promotion to keep passive/ring combo. This combo is what keeps Hemomancer a strong choice due to its fantastic growths, and highly recommended for Khamari, as it’s a small investment for one of the stronger tanks in the game. But Spirit Keeper is also strongly acceptable if you want more team utility instead of stronger self heals, and Dreadnaught for more survivability in exchange for 1-range. Thanks to Twigz11 for the ferocity enchantment that makes and breaks this build along with the Plague Ring.

Waveseer + Spirit Keeper
Cheaper resurrection is decent, but cheaper Spirit Bombing? Yeah, this is strong enough to just about spam, as you can upgrade Spirit Bomb to also heal allies while hurting enemies in an amazing area. Waveseer also patches Spirit Keeper’s low speed to boot, so any stray attacks you land will be decent to boot.

Spirit Keeper + Radiant Ring
Speaking of Spirit Bomb, add this ring to make a great clumped group of enemies almost useless with a good blind in an area. Thanks ic1025 for pointing this out!

You start the game with 2 really good characters that happen to be Summoners. Arthur’s personal skill will delete units for the rest of most stages hes in after 1-2 uses, while Alden is level 10 and can be thrown wherever you need him to be and he will be fine. This skews my personal perception, as Arthur becomes your team's nuke that deletes something during player phase, making enemy phase not too hard. This is also why I’m so harsh on units that take resources to player phase erase an enemy: you get Arthur for free that does this job the best.


Geomancer - A
Gain a heal, and utility movement skills. Been my ½ default option for Arthur for many playthroughs, as having a 3rd healer that doesn’t hurt means you have a pseudo-Shaman. Still can crush people, and is great for utility through Starsurge, as it’s an action and can leave you very open and vulnerable. Instead, it should be used as a good mobility tool to reach other points of the map as a pseudo-Phase centered on yourself that happens to damage enemies.

Warlock - C
Debuffer, but at least the debuff can be done in an AoE AND attack.

Aegis - C
Turn your Summoner into a frontliner. It gets okay buff and debuff skills, and a huge defense boost. Problem? You get reduced to range 1 basic attack, and your offenses take a huge plunge.

Scholar - A
The raw utility you get from this tier 1 class is why this is the other default choice I pick for Arthur. Phase and Ancient Writ brings so much to a team comp in flexibility, that having two isn't a bad idea at all. Can’t go wrong with this.


Cosmician - A
The premier nuke of this game. All other classes weep and despair at the capabilities of player phase nuking this class can do. Along with a ridiculous Mastery growth and passive buff, will make any skill that scales with Mastery OBSCENE. Can’t go wrong with this, just don't expect this to survive the enemy phase and it wont let you down.

Necromancer - A
The best Support Tier 3. If you don't need another Nuke, this class gives you such good Mana regen that makes spamming your abilities no problem. Along with a great minion to use and a self heal option that deals decent damage, you can keep helping out your team no problem.

Relic Keeper - D
I want to like this class, I really do. But high mana costs and stuck to one range with low speed means all your defenses mean nothing to all the units late game that will double you without issue. S+ for flavor and sprite work.

Loremaster - B
Great speed means you won't be doubled, and passive makes you a team player. Abilities leave a lot to be desired, but you’ll mainly be positioning to give discounts to others while getting a stray kill with your doubling combat means.


Geomancer + Necromancer
This combo gives you everything you need in a class. Reposition options, healing, minions to draw and clump enemies together, a strong single target ability that heals yourself, and decent combat to boot! Loads of mana from Necromancer’s passive mean you can spam it all without worry about the need of a Scholar battery. Solid combo when unsure what to do with an Adept.

Scholar + Cosmician
Team player that can also one-shots enemies. Phase and Ancient Writ means you can help out your team with mana or positioning, but Cosmician gives you a giant nuclear option when you don't need to support for a turn. Doesn’t fight in combat super well, but is flexible in different ways, a solid Nuke that can do more than just nuke.

Scholar + Necromancer
The Mana Battery. Necromancer's passive on top of Ancient Writ ability will mean you can constantly give mana to teammates. So now you don't have to spend all of your resources on a handful of teammates having to conserve mana for abilities. Your decent speed and passable defenses will also mean you can be caught by an enemy or two and survive the ordeal. Pair with a weapon that leaves some debuffs like blind or vulnerable means you can set up kills for allies to boot. One of my personal favorite builds, and usually stick Alden in this if I don't need him for anything else.

Default frontliner, the class. But your options can take your character in different directions, making your playthrough with them quite diverse. Gwyn hits like a truck, and Valeria is more flexible than a pretzel gymnast.


Devoted - B
Unique for sure. But don’t rely on the classes passive. But balanced stat growths with great abilities means it’s a solid choice to be.

Nightblade - A
Hey look, how to reliably dodge: the class. Hence the rating. You get one in the beginning, and hardly falls off in utility in being able to bunch enemies together. Being able to dodge reliably, with a decent speed bump. The Strength hit sucks, but the flexibility of being able to dodge reliably with decent abilities means you can't go wrong having them on your team. Poison is the best debuff, and being able to buff speed and have it stack means every class loves this class!

Seeker - B
If you are fine with turning one of your frontliners into a 2 range only unit, this does that. Enchant Weapon makes attacks hit hard, and accuracy buffing is critical in higher difficulties. Will want one in higher difficulties.

Gallant - C
Vanguard intensified. Love the buffs it can give your team through Call To Arms, but everyone hates losing what little Fortitude, Speed, and Dexterity can have. In spite of that, the PWR boost for your team on top of a solid HP sponge it gives means your Vanguard can keep doing what they’ve been doing.


Reaper - B
With passive and upgraded Reaper’s Mark, you can get high crit chances and those crits hit hard. Teleport can make certain objectives go by waaaaay faster. But the enemy built-in crit avoid means you can't guarantee crits, which means this class is very risky. But the stat growths are strong across the board.

Ancarant - B
Dodge tanks natural path. Range ability can be an emergency heal, and the mass debuff looks awesome…. But in practice, you’d probably be just using your Tier 2 abilities. Still, the passive and natural speed and dexterity, along with the best fortitude growth, means this is one of the best paths for Vanguards to take.

Elisant - B
The Sniper! Can hit an enemy soooo far away, and mass accuracy buff is crucial in higher difficulties, even late game lower difficulties will appreciate an accuracy buff. Good path for Gwyn.

Champion - C
Update means this class is a lot stronger. But shot speed and low fort means this isn’t a tank, but a player phase physical attacker. Healing and AoE skills are fairly strong to boot.


Nightblade + any Tier 3
The Nightblade passive and growths are great for every tier 3! Cannot emphasize just how good the speed stat is in this game, and being able to buff yourself with more speed along with a 20-40 dodge?! An excellent combo for anyone being utilizes as a combatant!

Gallant + Elisant
Team player! You buff everyone with your accuracy buffing and banner, with reposition options and a nice long range damage ability means you are always contributing something to the team. Watch your mana though.

Seeker + Champion + Ferocity Weapon Enchantment
Enchant Weapon will mean your hits are disgustingly strong, and stacking it with Ferocity is awesome. Spam this ability, attack targets, they explode. Who cares about speed if you auto double, right?... Just don’t let the unit be hit by magic, (thought there are rings that help with that). Champion’s abilities also help when you need a more solid single hit rather than multiple attacks.

Devoted + Champion
Now you can Spinning Blades every turn and give yourself a pretty hard negate on one attack, giving you more breathing room to take another attack on the enemy phase.