Though some classes may shine at different things, there is no objectively 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/character for potfarming 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 that plays the role of the glass cannon, designed for dealing maximum damage to a single target from medium to long range. He is capable of both insane burst and sustained damage from long range, but he has to keep away from any danger lest his low defensive stats spell his demise.
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 when maxed reliably and efficiently would be well served by a Wizard. Through spell-bombing (using the spell many times, generally directed at one target) and using the very high damage staff, 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.
Wizards are most useful when used in the godlands and against bosses in general: Oryx 1 and 2, Grand Sphinx, Thessal, Tomb bosses. A good spell aimed and spammed is sure to net soulbound. His range becomes a powerful asset when facing enemies with hard-hitting attacks.
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.
The Priest is a extra-long-range healing class. Although it has low defensive stats like the rest of its kind and suffers from the lowest DPS of any class in the game, its powerful healing ability can keep it, and its teammates, alive even through the toughest of battles.
Who would want a Priest?
Played conservatively, Priest is, 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: being able to support the lives of entire groups of players at a time. 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 (given ample time). The wand also pierces, another helpful feature. Last but not least if you have a Tome of Holy Protection (a.k.a. Prot, drops from Bes in Tomb), you get Armored status, giving you the tankiness of a melee class if your defense is high enough. If you have a good enough MP heal pet you can permanently armored so you can abuse it in ways like wading through abysses extremely easily or abusing piercing in godlands to achieve lots of soulbound (note that tiered wands pierce now instead of cwand)
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 any other class, and in these situations it is rare for Priest to get loot; those looking to get soulbound on everything should choose a different class instead. Pre-pet builds, players relied on Priests to heal them and may rage when they don’t; players uncomfortable with this situation should not play a Priest.
Necromancers are a hybrid between the Wizard and the Priest; a medium-to-long range, DPS-centric, staff-wielding class with the ability to steal HP to simultaneously heal teammates and damage foes. While lacking the pure damage of a Wizard, its healing ability coupled with the natural HP bonuses from its skulls make it far more durable than your average Wizard.
Who would want a Necromancer?
Those who enjoy staff classes but die often as Wizards should definitely consider playing 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.
Their good 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 is also far bulkier than his fellow robe classes due to the HP boosts the Skull can give, giving a geared Necromancer a lot more survivability than they initally let on. 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 is severely nerfed against singular (and/or high def enemies) such as tomb bosses (artifacts aside), and in these situations becomes almost a weaker wizard; those who intend to do these kinds of encounters often should know that this is not the optimal class for them.
The Mystic is one of the more unusual of RotMG’s classes - a fast staff class with an ability that doesn’t directly impedes the enemy, but instead temporarily stops combat from occurring, as well as increasing damage inflicted to enemies over a large area and sometimes providing useful buffs to itself. 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 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. Stasis one or two bosses and use your DPS boost (e.g. berserk from top tiered orbs) on the other. 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, with a mere 55 dex and 60 attack also lacks the sustained DPS of its staff-class stablemates, the Wizard (caps at 75 in both ATT and DEX) and the Necromancer (75 ATT and 60 DEX). Furthermore, if you are using an orb which provides speedy (Soul of the Bearer or Orb of Conflict ) it can be difficult to control so beware as you can easily slam into things.
On a more meta level, Mystics have a tendency of being one of the least-appreciated classes in the entire game, and making a mistake (or in more extreme cases, doing your job right) can result in them being flamed by other players. Players that are uncomfortable with this risk should likely try to ensure that they know the strategy of the class inside and out before taking the Mystic into battle.
The Sorcerer is a long-ranged, fast, pure offense class which lacks the raw damage of staff classes but compensates with the extended damage of a wand class. Its ability, the scepter, allows it to dish out spammable, instantaneous burst damage across a large number of targets at once, scaling well with its Wisdom stat.
Who would want a Sorcerer?
Sorcerers, with their high speed, long range, and high vitality make them very safe damage dealers, and wand piercing helps out even more. Their ability, the scepter, allows them to strike a large number of targets 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 Sorcerer?
Sorcerers do considerably lower damage than staff classes even with their scepters, and in terms of damage are completely outclassed by Wizards, which is preferred by many offensive players. While they do have their unique advantages, in the end Sorcerer is seen as an jack of all stats and an in-between of Wizard and Priest, somewhat like Necro. Like all other robe classes he is extremely squishy and will die very quickly if the player isn’t careful.
The Rogue is a fast, medium-ranged character with an ability that can shroud it from enemy view for a limited time, making it the ideal class for sneaking past foes, rushing dungeons, or soloing bosses.
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. A backup Rogue is great for gathering DEF potions from Toxic Sewers and Abysses of Demons if you are maxed and have at least a good rare pet.
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 in terms of direct combat due to teammates causing shots to fire regardless of whether they are invisible or not. Also, Rogues are relatively inefficient at farming the godlands and don’t do that well against large bosses that fire in all directions - remember, invisible does not mean invincible. Also, those with laggy connections should avoid the Rogue, which is the most vulnerable to lag death of all the classes.
You may be surprised to see these two classes grouped 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 the differences based on their abilities that will be covered 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 and lack extra speed or defense possessed by dagger and sword classes, respectively; this can be quite frustrating at times, especially in Wine Cellars. When unmaxed, they are terrible at giving soulbound damage with tiered bows at long range. You either nail things from close, almost like a Katana or hit from afar in a situation that would make you wish you had a wand. While tiered bows have superior DPS to the untiered weapons against low defense enemies, the spread of the shots limits its true range greatly. In addition, defense affects tiered bows thrice over single shot weapons, making untiered bows (namely the Doom Bow) the more ideal option against high defense enemies. Having an untiered bow as a swapout for a tiered bow is highly recommended when running either class.
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, the ability’s DEX bonus, cheaper ability cost, and availablity of paralyze on tiered quivers. However, Huntress’s traps give it an edge against spread out mobs and in dungeons such as Abysses. 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 are generally far more forgiving when it comes to landing them. The better class for you comes down to which ability you prefer; quiver or trap?
The Assassin is a medium-ranged dagger class that trades the evasive abilities of the other two dagger classes for a long-ranged AoE attack that deals unmitigatable damage over time. 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 poisons allow 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 can guarantee soulbound, then you can opt to simply wait for the group to finish the boss off. The poison is also a very nice ability for crowd clearing, as a single use can usually wipe out an entire room of monsters in one go.
Who would not want an Assassin?
The Assassin, being a hit and run class as the name suggests is inherently inefficient as a godlands potfarmer. Yes, with the dagger and 60 attack when geared up you can deal decent DPS and you can spam godwalls to death but unless you have Murky Toxin poison doesn’t help much lots of the time because it doesn’t give much net DPS. 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, Assassin is not the best option.
The Trickster, like the other two dagger classes, is a medium-ranged fighter with high speed. Its signature Prism provides a combination of teleportation and decoying abilities, which while difficult to master can provide incredible benefits in terms of mobility, enemy control, and damage avoidance.
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 easily bait out or ward off a number of dangerous enemies and bosses that chase or use targeted attacks, 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 their ability to teleport allowing them to blitz through dungeons or simply get out of danger if the going gets rough. 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 and challenge should look no further.
Who would not want a Trickster?
The Trickster is often considered the hardest class to master in RotMG - requiring simultaneous manipulation of the player, the teleportation, and the decoys - 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 at a Rogue or melee class instead.
The Ninja is a close-range DPS class capable of doing immense DPS to a large number of enemies at once. Capable of the highest speed in the game through a sustained speed boost from its star, Ninja is incredibly adept at dodging and rushing, and has some standoff firepower in the form of a long-ranged shuriken. Its incredible DPS and speed are offset by its fragility - for a class that must get into melee range of an enemy, it’s quite fragile and can easily be killed.
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 star. The star 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 has extremely high DPS, but it struggles from having a combination of short range, fragility, and extreme speed. As a result, it’s a high-risk class that is extremely unforgiving to make mistakes with, and is a poor choice for people looking for safe classes with which to build up wealth. Also, 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 an ability that is meant to be switched on and off quickly make Ninja extremely dangerous to play under laggy conditions, client-side or server-side.
The Warrior is a pure offense class melee. 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, but 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 to avoid incoming damage. 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. Packing a defensive score that can rise to an average of 80 when fully geared, along with 75 vitality, it can eat tons of bullets; and, with its shield, can stop most enemies from shooting altogether.
Who would want a Knight?
Those who want a tank should look no further. Knights 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. It shines particularly against high defense enemies due to the sword’s high base damage.
Who would not want a Knight?
Knights are expensive to max and to gear up, especially since their DEF stat is much higher than any other class. 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 melee combat healer 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 feel that Warrior and Knight don’t regenerate health fast enough, should choose the Paladin. His 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) can allow a Paladin to take on even the most dangerous of bosses 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.
The Samurai is a heavy armor class that uses the katana instead of the sword, giving him increased range at the cost of some of his DPS. His wakizashi allows him to cripple enemy defenses, allowing other players to deal more damage to enemies.
Who would want a Samurai?
As a heavy armor katana class, the Samurai is possibly the least disadvantaged melee class in the game in terms of his weapon range. His base weapons pierce by default and already give him the longest range available to any heavy class, which can be taken even further with a Ray Katana. The combination of his weapon, ability, and heavy armor effectively make him the safest melee class to play, especially when compared to the fragility of his fellow katana user the Ninja. The wakizashi provides him with a way to deal high burst damage and cripple enemy defense, and it compensates for his lack of primary weapon DPS. The Exposed debuff also stacks with Armor Broken, and to be affected by both debuffs can be truly devastating.
Who would not want a Samurai?
The Samurai possesses the lowest primary weapon DPS of all melee classes against singular targets, making him reliant on the wakizashi to cover the deficit; his DPS is lowered greatly under the effects of quiet. In addition, the waki is limited by slashing at a width, rather than a length. This makes the waki prone to being blocked by a wall and thus limits its effectiveness in tightly confined areas; in fact, the waki fails to cast if the shots would be immediately blocked by a wall. Those who want a high DPS katana class would be better served by a Ninja, who is much more fragile but has DPS far superior to that of a Samurai. The waki ability has a learning curve and some players may find it difficult to land hits with it. Those who want a user-friendly ability should not choose a Samurai.
