Rogue Legacy 2 was critically-acclaimed upon its release as it built on the success of its predecessor and delivered a roguelike platforming experience of high quality. The game has players choose a class to start a run, each of which comes with a specific talent.
These talents range from defensive to offensive and all scale with the player's INT, or Intelligence rating. Depending on play style and comfort level, Rogue Legacy 2 players will find some talents much more useful and/or versatile than others.
8 Pirate Ship (Pirate)
Though the Pirate Ship talent of Rogue Legacy 2's Pirate class can be effective in combat, it shines as a tool that helps players traverse the world around them. Due to it providing additional ways to explore, the Pirate class is one that most players won't interact with until the mid-to-late game.
Not only can the player attack freely while riding atop the Pirate Ship, but they can also jump off of it to fight and the boat will then act as a turret of sorts providing additional damage from a distance.
7 Shield (Knight)
In Rogue Legacy 2, the Knight functions as the easiest point of entry for the general audience. That doesn't mean the Knights lack any real power or effectiveness, but rather that they tend to have solid usefulness as an all-around class.
The Shield talent delivers essentially what its name suggests. Players can raise the Shield to block incoming attacks and prevent damage. Raising it right before an enemy attack lands will trigger a Perfect Block, an action that prevents damage and sends back a shockwave attack that hits enemies for two-hundred and fifty percent of the player's INT.
6 Knockout Punch (Boxer)
A lack of an intimidating or off-putting weapon might make the Boxer appear less interesting to most Rogue Legacy 2 players despite it currently being one of the better classes. The Knockout Punch talent is a smaller area of effect attack that knocks back enemies and turns them into projectiles that can smash into other opponents.
If the affected enemies come in contact with other enemies or walls, they become an area of effect attack themselves. This chain reaction can dole out massive amounts of damage as the power of Knockout Punch is multiplied with the Boxer's Combo active.
5 Immortal Kotetsu (Ronin)
The Ronin class, a late-game acquisition for most, is the prototypical easy-to-approach but hard-to-master part of Rogue Legacy 2. Ronin has the longest melee range of any class in the game, and the Immortal Kotetsu class talent extends this reach even further.
It teleports the player in a given direction, inflicting 220 percent INT damage to anything it passed through during the talent's animation. Players can either activate it with the push of a button or hold it to aim the talent for a more directed strike.
4 Combat Roll (Duelist)
On top of being the quickest attacking class in Rogue Legacy 2, the Duelist also has a pretty nifty class talent that can get the player out of some sketchy situations. The Combat Roll talent rolls the player forward and during this animation, they become invulnerable to any and all incoming damage.
In addition to this, Combat Roll also damages enemies based on one's INT rating and will destroy all black roots in its path. It may not be as outright damaging or useful as the talents higher on this list, but it more than holds its own.
3 Winter's Shout (Barbarian)
Winter's Shout is quite an apt name for the talent belonging to the Barbarian class. When activated, the player screams and creates a large area of effect. Any enemy caught within the said area is both damaged for 75 percent of the player's INT and is frozen for one second.
The attack also destroys large-sized projectiles caught in the radius of Winter's Shout. The one drawback of this talent is the area of effect isn't that large, which can lead to some awkward engagements with highly-mobile enemies, or in areas where the player has a limited space to operate.
2 Comet Form (Astromancer)
Rogue Legacy 2's Astromancer class will likely be unlocked quite late in the game. As one might assume, the class is a bit difficult to master, but its talent is easily usable and understandable. Upon activation, the player is granted the ability of flight, will move quicker, and deal damage to anything it comes into contact with.
Comet Form, the name of said talent, lasts for 1.5 seconds, so learning the timing of it is of the utmost importance. The worst thing that can happen is continuing to engage in combat as it runs out and taking unnecessary damage from enemies.
1 Stew (Chef)
With a game like Rogue Legacy 2 that asks the player to succeed on long-drawn-out journeys, having the ability to heal one's self seems almost necessary. Though the Chef class itself has some shortcomings, Stew might be considered the best talent in Rogue Legacy 2.
Players are given three self-heals that drain upon use but can be refilled by gathering health drops throughout the world. This means that when a player with the Stew class talent grabs a piece of meat, they are rewarded with a two-for-one scenario. Not only is their health restored to a certain extent, but a single use of the self-healing talent is restored.
Rogue Legacy 2 is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.