Despite what zealots will tell you, there is no “best class”. Even the class that does the most damage isn’t necessarily the best, as the abilities and weapon variation balance things out. This guide aims to help you choose a class that you’ll enjoy playing.
Factors you should consider include strengths and weaknesses, how experienced you are at surviving, whether you intend to max the character, and the stats of your pet. A powerful pet with Heal and Magic Heal improves survivability even more than maxed VIT and WIS.
Usually, your main goal will be to max your character’s DEF. It is often helpful to create a separate account for potion farming with a good class for the godlands. Mules (alternative accounts used for storage) are also helpful.
For information on class-specific gameplay, see the class guides. There is a page for a comparison of classes’ damage per second.
The Wizard is the first class you’ll encounter when you start RotMG. He is a long-range pure offensive class, designed for dealing maximum damage to a single target from medium to long range.
It plays the role of the “glass cannon”: while capable of dealing high single-target damage via staff and spell, the Wizard is also incredibly fragile, with (with medium health, low armor defense, and average speed). Watching his health becomes important, especially when unmaxed; as such, he is more effective with a healing pet.
Wizards are most useful when used in the godlands and against single, high-health targets: Oryx 1 and 2, Grand Sphinx, Thessal, Tomb bosses, and the like. His range becomes a powerful asset when facing enemies with hard-hitting attacks.
Who would want a Wizard?
Those looking for a class to farm pots in the godlands (unmaxed or maxed) and to do Tombs and Wine Cellars reliably and efficiently would be well served by a Wizard. Through spell-bombing (using the spell many times, generally directed at one target), one can easily claim soulbound loot on practically any
monster in the game.
Wizards are also decent at doing certain event bosses. Though the class’ fragility makes bosses such as the Cube God, Ghost Ship and Skull Shrine difficult because of the enemy concentration, other events are easily handled by wizards.
Who would not want a Wizard?
Especially unmaxed, a Wizard without a healing pet tends to be at a disadvantage. Although he is generally regarded as a flexible and powerful class, low survivability is an important flaw.
Those who like playing recklessly would be poorly served by a Wizard. Wizards are also deficient in the areas of mob control (due to lack of piercing shots), rushing, and team support; those looking for a class to do those things should look elsewhere.
Players with poor Internet connection may also find their “spellbombs” not landing completely on the enemy, no matter how skillful they are.
Necromancers are a hybrid between the Wizard and the Priest; a medium-to-long range, staff-wielding class with a healing ability. While lacking the pure damage of a Wizard, its healing ability, while situational, boosts survivability over Wizards.
Who would want a Necromancer?
Those who enjoy staff classes but die often as Wizards should definitely consider playing a necromancer. Necromancers do quite well at farming pots in the Godlands even without a good pet (unmaxed or maxed) and can solo dungeons moderately well. Necromancers also possess superior team-support abilities over the Wizard, making them ideal in a group. They also perform well against the Lord of the Lost Lands, Hermit, Pentaract, Sphinx, and Skull, due to the ability to heal massive amounts of health off the minions.
The decent DPS and ease of use of the staff, combined with a healing ability, make a Necro the ideal training class for newbies looking for their first maxed character. The Necro also has very high survivability, and a fully maxed Necro in the right hands is nearly invincible.
Who would not want a Necromancer?
Those looking for a class that does one thing well should not consider a Necro; in many ways it’s a jack of all trades and a master of none. Its damage is poorer than that of a Wizard, its heal is less reliable than that of a Priest, and its performance against events is outshined by all other long-ranged classes except perhaps a Sorcerer.
Due to the skull’s reliance on enemy numbers to heal, Necros heal very poorly against single targets such as Sphinx and tomb bosses, and in these situations becomes little more than a crippled Wizard without a spellbomb; those who intend to do these kinds of encounters often should definitely look elsewhere.
The Mystic is one of the more unusual of RotMG’s classes - a fast (60 speed) staff class with an ability that neither directly impedes the enemy nor benefits the player, but instead stops combat from occurring, as well as increasing damage inflicted to enemies over a large area. While Mystics in the hands of poor players and trolls have given it a bad reputation as a griefing/trolling class, a well-used Mystic is quite powerful and is capable of a unique and extremely powerful form of team support.
Who would want a Mystic?
The Mystic is the ultimate class for those who enjoy strategy - the stasis allows Mystics to control a battle, rather than to simply kill enemies or heal teammates. Due to its speed, and its ability to put almost any enemy out of commission for a short time, Mystics also do well at rushing dungeons. Those who wish to provide long-ranged team support at events will enjoy the mystic’s ability to stasis enemies around a stasis-immune boss, allowing the entire team to focus fire on the boss itself rather than its minions. The “cursed” debuff inflicted on enemies can help a group to eliminate bosses and clear dungeons faster.
Its most significant niche is probably the Tomb of the Ancients, where its combination of speed, long range, and stasis make it extremely useful to have, especially in “buffed” or “dirty” tombs where two or more bosses are awakened at once. With an Orb of Conflict, the Mystic can meet (or even exceed, for high-DEF enemies) a non-spellbombing Wizard in burst DPS.
Who would not want a Mystic?
The Mystic is not a straightforward class to play, and those who just want to shoot enemies and spam their abilities should not consider a Mystic. The Mystic also lacks the sustained DPS of its staff-class stablemates, the Wizard and the Necromancer. Furthermore, the Mystic is extremely unforgiving with the Orb of Conflict - at 90 speed, it’s extremely easy to slam into an enemy before one can react, making it a poor choice for those with poor reflexes.
The Priest is a long-range healing class. Although it does the lowest DPS of any class in the game, its powerful healing ability can keep it, and its teammates, alive.
Who would want a Priest?
Played conservatively, Priests are, bar none, the safest class in the game. Those looking for a forgiving, easy-to-play class should look no further. Priests are also the class of choice for dedicated team-support players. Beyond that, Priests are probably the most versatile class in the game - equally capable at soloing and at team play, and capable of defeating any boss in the game. The wand also pierces, another helpful feature. Those who want a class that can do everything will enjoy the Priest.
Who would not want a Priest?
With horrendous DPS, especially against single targets, the Priest is not a good class for those who are impatient. The Priest’s low DPS also means it fares poorly when competing for soulbound loot with heavy-damage classes, and in these situations it is rare for a priest to get loot; those looking to get soulbound on everything should choose a DPS class instead. Pre-pet builds, players expected Priests to heal them and may rage when they don’t; players uncomfortable with this situation should not play a Priest.
The Sorcerer is a long-range pure offense class. Its ability, the scepter, allows it to do soulbound damage across a large number of targets.
Who would want a Sorcerer?
Sorcerers, with their high speed, long range, and high vitality make them very safe damage dealers capable of doing damage safely and efficiently, and the piercing of the wands helps out even more. Their ability, the scepter, allows them to strike a large number of targets with a small amount of damage instantaneously, making them the single best godlands group-based pot farmer. With low MP costs on the scepter, maxed Sorcerers can inflict massive amounts of damage on many enemies by simply spamming the ability. Sorcerers excel at crowd-control, which makes them strong candidates for those who often play in groups.
Who would not want a sorc?
Sorcerers do rather poor single-target DPS with their wands, and in terms of pure offense are completely outclassed by Wizards, which is preferred by many offensive players. It also doesn’t perform that well against event bosses. In short; if you’re not looking for a godlands potfarmer, look elsewhere.
You may be surprised to see me group two classes into one section, but there’s a good reason. Both of these classes wield bows, wear leather armor, and carry identical stat caps. Their gameplay is very similar in most respects, with some differences based on their abilities that I’ll cover in a separate subsection.
Who would want an Archer or Huntress?
Bow classes excel at mob control due to piercing shots, and can mow through mobs from lowlands to godlands with little effort. Both classes also do well against non-Cube/Skull events. The Coral Bow turns them into the best solo godlands potfarmers in the game, and the Doom Bow allows them to take down bosses with ease. Their abilities also offer powerful mob control abilities, allowing them to slow, paralyze, or (with Archer) daze enemies to help themselves and their teammates.
Who would not want an Archer or Huntress?
Bow classes, being medium-range classes, have shorter range than staff and wand classes but lack extra speed or defense possessed by dagger and sword classes; this can be quite frustrating at times, especially in Wine Cellars. Without the UT bows, they also struggle in tombs due to the spread and piercing on three-shot bows. When unmaxed, they are terrible at giving soulbound damage with tiered bows at long range. The bow is one of the rare cases where med-high tier (T8-10 or so) weapons cannot really substitute the top-tier or UT weapons due to a comparatively poor performance. If you cannot get your hands on a UT bow or T11+ bow before using these classes, you’ll have an incredibly hard time until maxed.
Which one: Archer or Huntress?
This is a classic debate, with numerous arguments running for both. In general, the Archer has an edge over the Huntress when dealing with bosses due to the range, precision, and piercing of the quiver (not to mention higher damage for less MP), while Huntress’ AOE-effect traps give it an edge against mobs and in dungeons such as Abyss. While able to reach the target at a higher speed, quivers generally require one to be more accurate in order to hit an enemy; whereas traps take longer to affect the enemy but have a large AOE.
The Rogue is a fast, medium-ranged character with an ability that can shroud it from enemy view for a limited time. The cloak means that enemies will not fire at rogues, but it does not shield them from shots fired by omnidirectionally-shooting enemies or enemies shooting at other players, leading to the common occurrence of a rogue being “killed” by another player.
Who would want a Rogue?
Rogues are an excellent maxed class for those who like to play alone. Their cloak makes them capable of quickly and efficiently destroying godland Pentaracts, Cubes, and Skulls, and soloing difficult encounters such as the Tomb, allowing a skilled Rogue player to gain wealth very quickly. As a result, Rogues are often the class of choice for those looking to obtain a large amount of loot in a short amount of time. Rogues are also the best class for those who like to rush dungeons. Rogues are great for adrenaline junkies - their high speed, combined with the inherent risk associated with playing them makes Rogue a very exciting class to play.
Who would not want a Rogue?
The inherent risk associated with playing as a Rogue makes them a poor choice for those looking for a safe class to play. Rogues also have limited use in team play (aside from rushing dungeons to allow non-cloaked players to bypass enemies when reaching a certain objective, e.g. a Sarcophagus in a Tomb) Also, rogues are relatively inefficient at farming the godlands and don’t do that well against large bosses that fire in all directions (Sphinx and Thessal in particular). Also, those with laggy connections should avoid the Rogue, which is the most vulnerable to dying due to lag of all the classes.
The Assassin is a medium-ranged dagger fighter that trades the defensive abilities of the other two classes for a long-ranged AoE DoT attack. Its poison is considered to be among the easiest ways to obtain soulbound loot in the game, and as a result Assassins are often used in wine cellars.
Who would want an Assassin?
Those looking to get good loot while playing in a team against event bosses are best served by the Assassin, whose poison allows them to gain soulbound damage easily from a safe distance. The Assassin is in particular the class of choice for those who wish to get loot at Wine Cellars (even unmaxed). Generally, two or three poison uses will guarantee soulbound, then you simply wait for the group to finish the boss off.
Who would not want an Assassin?
The Assassin makes a poor solo class due to the inefficiency of using poison as a primary damage tool: as a hit-and-run attacker with a long recharge time, the assassin simply takes too long to kill anything without resorting to its dagger, which it cannot use without taking a lot of risk (as it lacks the defensive cloak or decoy of the other two dagger classes). Since the poison deals damage over time, Assassins may not get enough damage in if the boss is steamrolled by a large group. It’s also extremely tricky to use against bosses with short periods of vulnerability due to the delay between tossing a poison and the poison landing; if you intend to farm dungeons, don’t use an Assassin.
The Trickster, like the other two dagger classes, is a medium-ranged fighter with high speed. Where it differs is its ability, the decoy, which is perhaps the most mechanically complex and difficult to master ability in RotMG. When the prism is used, the player teleports to the mouse, and a decoy is generated that walks about eight squares (to the top of the screen, if you’re using off-centered view) in the direction that the player was going. Successful use of the Trickster rests on juggling both the decoy and the teleport while dodging and doing damage to the enemy, which makes the Trickster one of the most difficult classes to use in the game.
Who would want a Trickster?
The Trickster is the class of choice for people looking for a high-damage dagger class that can do solo and group play equally well. The decoy allows the Trickster to perform well doing cubes and skulls, and its high DPS (the best of the dagger classes) gives it the ability to perform well against large bosses such as Thessal and Sphinx as well. Tricksters excel at rushing, with the ability to teleport away from danger. Trickster is known for being an extremely fun class to play due to high speed, teleport, and the complexity of using the decoy; those who want excitement should look no further.
Who would not want a Trickster?
The Trickster is often considered the hardest class to master in RotMG and is extremely unforgiving if used improperly (teleporting onto a boss will spell instant death, and this happens often to newbies used to putting their mouse on an enemy and hitting space with other classes) which makes it a very poor choice for inexperienced players. The Trickster is also not particularly efficient for farming events - while fully capable of taking them on, it takes time for a Trickster to place a decoy and take advantage of it; those looking for pure event-farming efficiency should look a a Rogue or melee class instead.
The Ninja is a close-range DPS class capable of doing immense damage to a large number of enemies at once. Capable of the highest speed in the game through a speed boost that continuously drains MP while it is applied, the ninja is incredibly adept at dodging, and has some standoff firepower in the form of a shuriken that pierces obstacles (but not enemies). It’s incredible DPS and speed are offset by its fragility - for a class that must get into melee range (4.2) of an enemy, it’s relatively fragile and can easily be killed by enemies.
Who would want a Ninja?
Ninjas are a great all-around class for those who like to “go deep”. With incredible DPS and ability to pierce targets for even more damage on multiple targets (or single targets mobbed by minions), the ninja can dish out punishment to any enemy that it reaches. It also boasts the highest speed in the game, making it an excellent rusher and map-traverser, and can move with a great deal of precision due to the instant toggle-ability of the shuriken. The shuriken offers some stand-off firepower for getting soulbound on targets that the Ninja can’t get close to.
Who would not want a Ninja?
The Ninja is a class that must get close to its enemies, but is relatively fragile. As a result, it’s a high-risk class, and is a poor choice for people looking for safe classes with which to build up wealth. Also, it’s extremely expensive to max - high stat caps make the Ninja prohibitively expensive for people without a large amount of wealth in reserve. Furthermore, people with laggy connections or laggy computers should approach the ninja with caution - a combination of high speed and a ability that is meant to be switched on and off quickly make the ninja extremely dangerous to play under laggy conditions, client-side or server-side.
The Warrior is a pure offense class. Capable of the highest sustained DPS in the game, and equipped with an ability that increases it even further, it’s capable of pounding most enemies to dust in seconds. However, it’s limited by its short range and non-piercing shots.
Who would want a Warrior?
Warriors, along with Tricksters, are considered one of the most fun classes to play in Realm by many veterans. Those who want to farm Skulls and Cubes would be well served by a warrior - at 4.5k DPS when boosted, the Warrior can shred through a Cube or Skull in mere seconds while dodging the attacks using a speed boost on a tiered helm or tanking the attacks with the armor boost from the Helm of the Juggernaut. Warrior’s high DPS also makes it excellent for use against other events, and nets it soulbound in any high-competition situation.
Who would not want a Warrior?
Warriors lack the healing of the Paladin and the stuns of the Knight, relying heavily on the user’s skill to dodge enemy attacks. This makes them unsuitable for those new to melee, or those uncomfortable with dodging at close range. Like all melees, warriors are inefficient at pot-farming in the godlands; those who wish to do so should invest in a ranged class instead.
The Knight is the tank of RotMG. With about 80 defense when geared up and maxed, and 75 vitality, it can eat bullets; and, with the shield, can stop enemies from shooting altogether.
Who would want a Knight?
Those who want a tank should look no further. Knights also are the single best all-around eventer in the realm, eminently capable of taking on all the event bosses and killing them whether solo or in a group. Their stun makes them the most versatile melee class, giving them both the ability to stop a large enemy from firing and to decimate small mobs. The shield also inflicts massive burst damage, allowing Knights to easily net soulbound in large groups. Knights are also the best class for newbies who want to try out melee for the first time, since its high defense and stun ability make it extremely forgiving.
Who would not want a Knight?
Knights are expensive to max and to gear up - They are good for those who have accumulated a good amount of wealth and are trying out maxed melee classes for the first time. They are arguably the worst farmer in the godlands out of the melee classes, due to a lack of DPS boost and healing. The Knight’s stun requires it to be extremely close to the enemy, meaning that a missed stun can spell certain death, especially in Wine Cellars.
The Paladin is a healing melee class. It’s capable of doing significant damage from up close, but is also capable of both boosting teammates’ damage, healing them, and granting them a temporary maximum HP buff.
Who would want a Paladin?
Those who want a melee class, but who are frustrated at the slow recovery time of the Warrior and the Knight should choose the Paladin, whose 75 wisdom and healing ability allow it to get back into a battle very quickly. Use of the seal can also completely negate the sustained low damage from minions near bosses and in dungeons. It’s also great for team support, and use of the Oreo seal (Seal of Blasphemous Prayer UT) allow a paladin to take on Cubes and Skulls without taking any damage whatsoever.
Who would not want a Paladin?
Paladins lack the efficiency of Knights and Warriors at events - they lack both the pure DPS of Warriors and the powerful stun and defense of Knights, and the 1.8 second Oreo boost only lets them get in two or three hits before they have to retreat (this becomes even less effective when dealing with minions surrounding the boss). Timing is also crucial with Paladins; those who cannot keep track of time and those with high-latency internet connections (which can induce a pause between hitting spacebar and receiving the invulnerability/healing) should not use this class.
