MONSTERS TIER LIST AND THOUGHTS
After a week of playing at every difficulty level and with many many combinations, I have a first general impression of the "Monsters Tier List". It's quite hard to place them, because this game requires combinations and combo skills, and a singular monster alone can not be thought as "if I have it I win". It's more about synergy than singular parts. And that's very fun. Also, the game is actually well balanced and every monster is very good and fun to use, even the ones that are harder to use well.
This tier list is especially thought to reflect the monsters use on Calamity mode (Lv 5 difficulty). On lower modes the tiers change for sure. I feel that lower difficulty modes allow the player to be more reckless with the defense, while higher difficulty modes NEED defense, because monsters struggle to do enough dmg to bring the enemies down before falling to their attacks.
This tier list, also, does not totally reflect my favorite monsters to play with, because I want to talk about what I found being stronger, not necessarily more fun. (Maybe another post). On top of that, I'm not thinking at all about speedrun here, just winning the game.
Finally, this post is just MY PERSONAL OPINION, of course. I humbly think I'm a good roguelike/lite-strategy games player, and I understand a thing or two, but: 1. I did not play for years at this game, just one week. 2. I'm just human, lol. Don't get mad at me please and thank you, I just want to give some feedback because I'm in love with this fun game.
Now, let's go.
BEST MONSTER: Tuskal is broken. It's the only one for which it DOES apply the "If I have it I win" rule. Using it is like playing in easy mode. It just needs someone to shield it. Sometimes it doesn't need that either. It's a super fun concept that I would love to see polished, but yeah, I think it needs some nerfs right now. The fact that its ability gives you Super is bonkers! XD
BEST BY CATEGORY
Since every monster occupies a different role, I thought it was best to differentiate between them, instead of mixing them, which does not make much sense to me. I also want to say this before: The game is very balanced overall, for the monsters, and there is not a big margin from the best monster to the last ones, except a few exceptions maybe. So if I say Pyris is the best aggressive it does not mean that Mudgill or Scutter are useless or weak. They are very good with their own strats.
BEST AGGRESSIVE: Pyris. With Mabek as a VERY close second (I'm still unsure, actually). Pyris is just very good on the aggressive side, on the long run. A little fragile on calamity mode and it NEEDS to be shielded by someone else in the beginning, but damn if it hits hard and wide. Its best features are the following: Magical synergy, which is the strongest one for me. Insanely good with Karakai. After that, the possibility to choose between crowd control and focus dmg when it evolves. Burnout gives out TONS of dmg and it's terrific when you give some offensive item to it. But the other ability that gives fire everywhere is insanely good too. Love it. If you don't have some other crowd control monster to dmg more enemies, go for crowd with it. Otherwise, go with Burnout.
Best monster to combo with: Karakai.
BEST DEFENSIVE: Karakai. It's hard to say what's my favorite monster, but Karakai for sure is in top 3 or even top 2. Both for the godzilla design and for its gameplay. It's the ultimate shield and, on top of that, it's freaking MAGICAL for combinations. Enemies require lots of time to bringin it down and when it evolves in the end and gains Moonbeam it just destroys everything. Absolutely the best. Love it. Give it tons of mana regen and def with items and you are good to go.
Best monsters to combo with: Pyris, Wyrmlet, Parra (all the Magical) and Kabu.
BEST TECHNICAL: I'm quite uncertain, because there are lots of Technicals and lots of good ones, but I'm in love with Woad. It's strong and very useful. In the beginning, when you start playing this game, it feels counter-intuitive because its ability can damage other monsters too, but if you use it as a shield for the group its a very useful ability! And on top of that it has the Haunted ability, which is the best one after Magical, for me. And on top of the top, it has also the Nature ability, which is the third best one for me. I will talk about the "combination abilities" (dunno their actual name, it's not in the game) in another post, but for now let's just say that Woad is VERY good with them.
Best monsters to combo with: Mabek, Hydrim.
BEST SUPPORTIVE: Hydrim. I mean, wow. It has three "combination abilities" (and one of them is Nature and another one is Aquatic, which is not top three but still not bad at all) and IT HEALS LOTS. It's great. It can not tank that much alone though, so you can't easily use it in place of a Defensive monster or someone that can tank, like other Supportive like Groak and Gora can do. You can do that on later stages, maybe, but not starting in the beginning. Not easily at least. This said, Hydrim not only heals a lot, but it heals the weakest monster at the moment, so it saves lots of wounds and losses. Love it.
Best monsters to combo with: Woad, Skimander.
CLOSE SECONDS
Here are some monsters that I found very strong and valuable in general, almost top (some of them could be top and I would not be surprised to discover so later on).
Mabek: Mabek is just great. It's versatile, with 20 in every stat and a good 150 hp to start with. Even if it is aggressive, it can easily be used to tank dmg along with someone else, like a supportive monster. On top of that, it can be placed in a way to attack further enemy if it receives their dmg, thanks to its ability. Did I also mention it has the combination ability Haunted? <3
Kabu: Kabu is a defensive monster that can hit like an aggressive one. Its ability allows it to hit like a truck often enough and, also, it's veeeeery cool to see it come back from 0 hp thanks to its ability. Give it lots of Vitamelon to raise its hp and boy if it's a good tank for the team.
Wyrmlet: Wyrmlet is AMAZING on the long run and I almost put it as top technical, but it's VERY hard to use in the beginning. If you find it later though... oh boy. Its latent power can become more than one thing when it evolves and I particularly like "Arcane" and "Ice", for more dmg or speed control. They are very effective. "Magical Acceleration" and "Power Overflow" are also incredibly good to choose when it evolves. Did I also mention it has three combination abilities and one of them is Magical? <3
Skimander: Skimander is WEIRD and I love it. It's subtly powerful, with it's weird ability. You have to time it right and strategize a little, but the switchy stuff it can do is very useful to avoid making monsters suffer too much in one place. Use it in combo to the player's ability to switch with a cooldown and it can be really great. Requires a bit of cleverness, but works well. Also, the fact that it heals in the back is fantastic. I especially like the Skimander/Chip combo, making Chip activate its Rumble a lot! Did I also mention it has Nature? <3
Gora: Gora is not bad at all. It heals and can be a discreet tank, and on top of that it stuns and poisons enemies, which is great. Did I also mention it has Nature? <3
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Here are some still very good monsters that I find cool to use but not tops of the tops.
Mudgill: Mudgill is hungry, lol. It just attacks, a lot. It does a BIG amount of dmg and it's great. Its big weakness for me is that it can be hard to use, since it continues to attack the healthiest one. In general you want to bring down enemies FAST, so that the opposite team has fewer attacks and effects in the field. Mudgill doesn't quite do that. Or, better, it does that, but it requires someone else to finish the job. It's also not the heartiest one on the field, even if not the more fragile, and it does not have the best combination abilities (Aquatic is not bad at all, let's be clear, but there are better ones). This said, with Tenacious active can do TONS and TONS of dmg, so it's still very very good, it just requires some more planning.
Scutter: It's good. It can take some hits and you can make it specialize in crowd control or focus dmg. It's simple and easy to understand. Noice.
Slagg: Slagg is very good, it's not top or close second just because there are better Defensive monsters. Its ability to slow them all is very good too and the ability to gain new hp when it's halved is actually great! It does not have the best attack for me, though, so I feel like it needs some very good dmg dealer to play well with it.
Chip: I don't exactly know why, but Chip doesn't always work for me. This said, when it works, DAMN if it works. It's also a very cool monster to use for the swap strategy, together with Skimander, and it's very fun. But the best tactic is the Replica one. Its last ability, Replica, is just great. Make the strongest item you can do merging some Rare ones you find and give it to it, leaving another monster without one. Amazing. Great ability. Also, make sure to Rumble when you use it.
Parra: Parra it's fun and can be quite strong with nice focus dmg, but it requires someone to take the hit instead of it. It's also Magical, which is always very nice.
Chikia: Chikia solves the problems of monsters like Mudgill and Tizik and it's great when you need to divide the dmg you are going to receive but you are scared of not focusing dmg enough, thanks to its active ability. I needed a bit of practice with it, but now I understand its power. Clever girl. It's not very hearty in the beginning though, be careful.
Gheist: Surprisingly good. It seems weak at first, but its curse is very good for me. Especially against heavy hitters and bosses like the cannon one. And on top of that it's Haunted! <3 And its mana stealing ability is subtly very cool and can save lives!
OKEY DOKEY
These monsters are good but they did not strike me as amazing, at Calamity levels. Still very usable though, like basically any monster.
Krogg: I don't know what is it about Krogg, it's just... underwhelming? It feels like its abilities should be stronger, compared to the other supportive and defensive monsters. I'm unsure. Not bad bad, though, let's be clear. It's also able to give some good dmg control with its Slam ability. Dunno. Maybe it just doesn't click for me. It's not bad or useless, but I feel there are better monsters. Sorry Krogg </3
Urso: Urso is very strong on lesser difficulty modes, because you have the time to keep your food and give it to it when it's evolved, thanks to Gourmet, but in Calamity mode it struggles to start. This said, it's still a good defensive monster and can be used to direct some monsters like Mudgill to attack the ones you want, or simply when you split the dmg due to position, so it has some good uses.
HARD TO USE / HARD TO START WITH
As I said, in Calamity mode I feel the need for defense and these guys lack that, while also having some other troubles. They are still usable, and also fun, but I find them hard at Calamity level.
Strigeye: I used it a lot on lesser level, because it gives TONS of dmg and, on top of that, it automatically strikes the weakest enemy, which is great, but on Calamity it just... dies! XD It's supposed to heal itself attacking, but it dies before that! It can be very useful finding it later on, I feel, when you already have some hard monsters to take the bront of the dmg, but good luck starting with it. You need to have some luck with some good items to do so, I feel. Also, it has not the best combination abilities, so...
Seras: Later on it becomes a menace, but at the start it struggles. I don't quite know why, looking at its stats... maybe it's slow because it gives dmg thanks to poison. Hard to say. If you find it later on, like Strigeye, it can be strong though.
Tizik: Tizik feels quite strong on lesser difficulty levels and quite weak at Calamity mode. The random attack really is hard to use and it becomes a matter of luck very often. On top of that, I think it has some of the worst combination abilities, so... Dunno. It's very fun to use, but hard on Calamity, for me.
CONCLUSIONS
This game is great. I hope to spark some discussions or thoughts for devs and players. I just wanted to share my thoughts. Despite the tier list, I repeat: the game is balanced and, more than that, fun to play. I will play around more with those I see as "weaker" at the moment, and I'm sure I will find more strats. Also, even if I put some monsters on top, the players still needs to think well to use them. For example, despite putting Pyris and Hydrim on top, I think starting with the two of them is hard on Calamity, because they can't do or take enough dmg and you risk to die.
Very interesting indeed.
It's a very deep game and it would require lots of time to write down an extensive analysis on every aspect. I'm amazed it's here for us to play for free. Thank you thank you thank you! <3 :D
