Tier 0 - Chump
The Chump is the starter class for your guild and we have left them unchanged. Upgrade your guild to unlock some new classes as soon as possible! That said, Ultimate Edition does have something fun up its sleeve for the Chump as you progress farther into the game.
Tier 1 - 50g unlocks
Cat Burglar
Cat Burglar was a little weak in Guild Classic so we've given them a buff while keeping their design the same: they are purely physical and start with no blocks. All out attack, but weak against certain monsters. Their two Catnip attacks have been given a +1 heal on top of the +1 next damage, so it no longer feels like a 'dead' move. Their trait has also been upgraded so the additional loot choice now comes with a +1 level upgrade. This can help you get better loot earlier in your run.
Bruiser
The Bruiser was the standout tier 1 class in Guild Classic, with a powerful ability you could build on by choosing gear that granted more blocking options. We've left the Bruiser unchanged in Ultimate and instead tried to upgrade the other Tier 1 classes to a similar power level.
Mime
The Mime got a significant change to how it works in Ultimate Edition. Previously the Mime could clone enemy cards via a unique attack card but now they do it via a passive trait. Now instead of needing to hit with a weak attack to then gain a particular card, instead you gain cards naturally through efficient play. The old copycat card has been changed to a mirror image of the imaginary box block card, giving plenty of versatility to the Mime.
Apprentice
The Apprentice is very specialised with all magic damage and magic blocks. Their Talented trait gives them the first level of the Fire skill so you can very easily get them the more advanced Fire attacks. They do remain vulnerable to physical attacks however. We gave them a small buff by upgrading the Intuition card to include +1 heal as well as the card draw, making it a useful play most of the time.
Snowitch
The Snowitch is a reward class from the Ice Cream Headaches region who specialises in using Favour. There have been a few changes here. First of all their trait lets them start at 2 Favour on each dungeon run instead of 1. Secondly we removed their 'Rite of Foresight' card which used to let them reorder the top 3 cards of your deck and replaced it with a second Ice Shield card. Finally we changed 'Favour of the Frozen' to gain you Favour per damage (previously capped at 1). So a little stronger overall and more Favour to play with.
Ice Cream Monk
Another reward class and also extremely powerful in Guild Classic. We've changed almost nothing here, just simplified the Insight card to no longer let you peek at the top of your deck. This is a tiny change but keeps battles more streamlined.
Tier 2 - 750g unlocks
Yodeller
The final reward class from the Ice Cream Headaches area joins you just before you unlock the Jungle and start facing Tier 2 enemies. We gave them a couple buffs to match Tier 2 better. Firstly they get +1 heart and secondly ALL Yodels upgrade every time they take 3 damage (previously only ones in hand did). This makes playing Yodels much more likely to be upgraded ones.
Ranger
The Ranger takes advantage of the Quick trait which lets you finish off your opponent before they get to attack. Good players can pull off some sneaky wins with the Ranger. We have left them unchanged compared to Guild Classic.
Barbarian
The Barbarian is a difficult class to play well but can also pull off unusual wins. They get bonuses against harder monsters and have a unique move to buy two turns of invulnerability. We also left them unchanged from Guild Classic.
Shapeshifter
The Shapeshifter is a versatile Tier 2 class that can take on a variety of dungeons and partners well with lots of equipment, though starting with Growth +1 does suggest grabbing some early Growth equipment. We changed one teensy thing by making their Aspect Of The Panther card a quick attack instead of unblockable.
Alchemist
Did you know the Alchemist has -1 heart compared to other Tier 2 classes? They heal so well that it's easy to overlook. We left them unchanged from Guild Classic.
Drunken Sailor
A reward class from the Pirate's Cove area, they do well across the Jungle & Pirate zones with a fun trait when you trigger it just right. Also unchanged from Guild Classic.
H2Omancer
The H2Omancer was severely underpowered for when you got them in Guild Classic so we've given them some serious buffs. Tidal Waves used to Block 2 Magical but now Heal 2 instead, so they are always useful to play. Fish Storm has been given Quick making it a great finisher. Finally their trait has been updated to give the enemy Mundane (take extra damage from Magical attacks) where previously it gave them Predictable (see their next attack). This makes a huge difference to your damage output and makes triggering the trait very worthwhile with early Tidal Waves.
Tier 3 - 2500g unlocks
Swashbuckler
The final reward class given just before you reach Tier 3 enemies needed a buff to make it in the Mines. We added +1 next physical damage to the two Showy Leaps, added Quick to Feint and made Chandelier Swing a block everything (previously it blocked 3 Physical).
Troubador
A flexible class with access to all types of blocks and varied attacks from their starting deck, plus a handy trait. We left them unchanged from Guild Classic.
Most Holy Grail Knight
The class with the most awkwardly long name, the bane of our UI. They have +1 health compared to other Tier 3s and they need it since they tend to hurt themselves to trigger their bonus damage. Left unchanged from Guild Classic.
Cartomancer
The Cartomancer was undeniably fun to play in Classic, but it had an extremely overpowered combo that made it both unbeatable and a bit autopilot to play. Draw all your cards and one-shot the enemy with Card Storm (bonus combo with Cerebrate from the Arcane skill tree). We changed it around so it is still possible to pull off a one-shot move, but it's a bit harder and you have to pay more attention. Firstly we changed the Rules Lawyer trait from drawing extra cards to instead giving extra magic damage. Secondly we added the Errata card which was previously called 'Original-Edition' and just had 2 plain magic damage. Errata now adds a Freeze effect to your Card Storm if they are both in hand! You need to get rid of Errata to be able to play Card Storm, so it's not possible to draw your entire deck and blast away. Of course there's a few ways to get around having that Errata in hand for canny players (Favour anyone?)... We also made Card Storm's self-discard much less severe, so it's ok to play earlier for less damage, and added a self-discard to Paper Shield (useful to ditch Errata!). Separate to the Cartomancer but related to their combo we changed Cerebrate to heal one less heart.
Mathemagician
A nice solid class that didn't need any real changes. The only thing we were unhappy with was the Bisect trait which almost never triggered in its previous form (when your opponent had exactly 2x your health). Now it happens any turn you have exactly the same health. Much more fun!
Artificer
The only class at the end of the loot-unlock tree, it combos nicely with having lots of shiny loot unlocked! We were happy to keep this as is but decided to change one of their cards purely because of all the headaches it caused to our battle code calculations. Reflecting Ray used to do damage based on how much damage you caused, which had all kinds of awkward ramifications with traits, fountains, etc. We changed it to instead deal magic damage based on the number of slots you had equipment in (0-4).
NEW CLASSES
Ultimate Edition also adds three brand new classes to the mix: the Grave Digger, the Super Chump and the Ultra Chump! We aren't going to spoil these just now so you can look forward to seeing them in game at launch!
