Ranking the classes in the cult-classic sleeper hit of 2021, also known as Loop Hero, is incredibly difficult. There may only be three of them, but each one plays so radically differently that it's a bit difficult to say one aspect of a class is "better" than another.
Plus, the game is balanced in such a way that each of the three classes can reliably clear any of the game's bosses with ease depending on how they're played and built. That said, there are classes that the player base seems to favor and ones they don't, with explanations for each, so let's go over how exactly the three of them stack up.
Warrior: The Dependable But Boring Choice
It might seem odd, but the default and most beginner-friendly class, the Warrior, actually takes the lowest spot on this ranking. And there are a variety of reasons for that, but the primary one is just that an overpowered Warrior Build isn't quite as strong as an overpowered Necromancer or Rogue build. That said, when a Warrior's build goes wrong, it doesn't go nearly as wrong as the Necromancer or Rogue builds' can, and players can usually still beat the boss or get out of the Loop just fine.
Each of the three playable classes share a lot of the same stats, but all of them have one or two that are unique to them, and for the Warrior, it's Retaliation and Regeneration. Basically, with these two stats, enemies take damage whenever they hit the Warrior (Retaliation), and the Warrior regenerates a certain amount of HP per second (Regeneration). Both of these stats work exceedingly well for the Warrior, given that it's the tankiest option, boasting the highest base defense and HP.
Because of that, players rarely have to worry about dying early with the Warrior. What's actually more of a risk is getting caught in an endless loop of getting hit and regenerating while also not hitting the boss or enemies hard enough to stop their regeneration or respawn. In particular, these factors come up the most in the fight against the Priestess. Thankfully, with a well built "Damage To All" stat, this fear can be mitigated for the most part.
Necromancer: The Highest Highs & Lowest Lows
Compared to the Warrior, the Necromancer class is by far the most divisive. There are plenty of players who feel it's incredibly strong and just as many players who bounced off of its mechanics completely.
Basically, the Necromancer is entirely built around its skeleton summons, as a Necromancer should be, and that is where the risk comes in. If the Necromancer's Skeletons are dying before even getting a hit in or are attacking too slowly to do any real damage, the player just has to sort of watch as they slowly die without any recourse.
But, with the right enemy choices, tile placements, and items, the Necromancer can easily take on any challenge with ease. As far as the class's unique stats go, it's fairer to say that the Necromancer has more individual stats than common ones, with things like Skeleton Level, Summon Quality, and Max Skeleton Amount.
Players using the Necromancer want to try and prioritize the Skeleton-based stats on their gear using the order above as a reference. Skeleton Level should always be priority number-one, as it affects how hard the summons hit, how often they hit, and how much defense/HP they have.
The toughest part of playing the Necromancer isn't really figuring out how the class works or even balancing the stat distribution — it's keeping a fine balance on the Landscape and Enemy Cards used. The Skeleton is easily overwhelmed by large groups of enemies, so most players tend to rely mostly on the enemies spawned from Spider Cocoons, Wooden Warriors summoned from "A Village?," and other Skeletons spawned from Cemeteries.
Overall, the Necromancer is definitely the unique class of the three, but because of this, also the most easily influenced by bad RNG.
Rogue: The Infinitely Scaling Snowball
Now onto the top of the top: the Rogue class.
In a game where survivability is key, a Rogue might not seem like the best option, the opposite is actually true. Because a lot of the stats gained from Landscape Cards have an incredibly high upper limit, a big part of what makes the game so fun, the Rogue actually ends most fights before it ever gets risky. Using Forests to buff Attack Speed, Deserts to lower Enemy Max HP, and Oasis' to lower enemy Attack Speed usually almost guarantees that the Rogue will start and end every fight in less than five seconds.
But, because the Rogue uses the Trophy system to get equipment once per Loop instead of after every fight, a bad decision before a new Loop starts can have dire consequences. That said, there are ways to get around this lack of gear in a pinch using Villages or Treasuries, or even just picking the right Trait, so it's not as risky as it might first seem.
In terms of stats, the Rogue has a bit of inherent Vampirism, as well as a Crit Chance and Crit Damage stat. Combine these Critical stats with its absurdly high Attack Speed, and the Rogue tends to crit the majority of the time.
That said, it's not like the Rogue is a perfect class. It has issues just like the other two. For one, the Rogue is squishy and really struggles against a group of tankier enemies. Additionally, the Rogue really struggles in the early game and needs crutches such as Outposts and a lot of Supply Depot items to get going.
But, once the Rogue starts snowballing, the Rogue doesn't stop snowballing, and this basically turns Loop Hero into an idle game where players just have to see if any better gear pops up at the end of a Loop before alt-tabbing out of the game with no fear of dying.
Loop Hero was released on March 4, 2021, and is available for PC and Nintendo Switch.
