Ziggurat 2: Character Guide

In the fine video game of Ziggurat 2, you will be playing a variety of characters. Each of them has a certain ups and downs, or neither. As it stands, you can pick between 3 fine fellows before you set off on your exciting escapades, so knowing is half the battle, ain’t it?

So far, all characters follow the following rules:

• They have a certain amount of base HP and Mana, which increases by 10% at certain steps and 20% at the final step.
• They have the following upgrade path: Health > Mana > Health > Passive > Mana > Health > Special > Mana > Health (double) > Mana (double)
• They have a Perk that they obtain at level start that often alters their stats.
• They have an Active Skill that can be used like an Amulet, but without charges.
• All Characters can Dash.
• All characters have unlockable Passive and Special effects.

Character Perk: Apprentice
No stat changes. None! Not a single one!

Stat Curves
HP: 100/110/120/130/150
Wand Mana: 50/55/60/65/75
Spell: 100/110/120/130/150
Staff: 100/110/120/130/150
Alchemy: 100/110/120/130/150

Skill: Syphon (Cooldown: 20s) – Sucks all nearby items within about 1 room radius towards you. Useful during Boss Fights when they enter Shield Mode and dispense many goodies in sometimes awkward places. Also useful in chaotic fights, in case you missed a valuable potion!

Passive Effect]:+20% XP from Knowledge Crystals

Notes
Just a nice, balanced spellcaster. Argo offers a huge QoL improvement by vacuuming up all nearby pickups, such as mana, potions, experience, and money.

His 20% XP boost is also very cute.

Character Perk: Apprentice
No stat changes. None! Not a single one!

Stat Curves
HP: 100/110/120/130/150
Wand Mana: 50/55/60/65/75
Spell: 100/110/120/130/150
Staff: 100/110/120/130/150
Alchemy: 100/110/120/130/150

Skill: Shove (Cooldown: 20s) – Breaks nearby breakables, repels nearby foes, deals some damage.

Passive: -10% Mana Usage.

Notes
Just a nice, balanced spellcaster. If you prefer a Skill that offers gameplay benefits over Quality of Life, pick her over Argo. Her little mana efficiency boost makes her fun if you like using hungry weapons.

Character Perk: Rogue
+20% HP from Potions
-10% Speed
-20% Mana from Crystals
-1 Mana per ~2 seconds

Stat Curves
HP: 120/132/144/156/180
Wand Mana: 50/55/60/65/75
Spell: 100/110/120/130/150
Staff: 100/110/120/130/150
Alchemy: 100/110/120/130/150

Skill: Shell (Cooldown: 30s) – Become invulnerable to all damage for 5 seconds. However, any damage you WOULD have taken is dealt to your mana anyway.

Passive Effect: ???

Special Effect: ???

Notes
This man is thirsty. Thirsty for Mana. In fact, don’t bother. If you want a Wand build, this man will do you nice. If you want to use literally ANY mana based weapon, just cry yourself to sleep. The Specialist Perks concel out his constant drain.

The mana drain alone kills any draw he might have. +20% HP and a invulnerability is a WEIRD combo. So he’s tanky, and with his ability, he becomes tankier. He has poor Mana, he gets less mana, and he constantly drops it, AND his Active costs MORE MANA.

Oh, but it’s not just the drain. He gets more HP from potions. You know, the HP he won’t lose from being invulnerable about 1/6th of the time. Or more if you’re acute with using it. If you’re smart, you’ll notice that this 20% buff means that he gets relatively the same amount of HP from each potion as a 100 HP character would. Math!

What all this means if that Glyndor is constantly rushing to have mana for the next fight, while each fight takes forever. Jacob had a damage reduction, but Glyndor is the real glacial fighter. Hard to kill, but it’s just as hard for him to dish it out. Slow and steady costs you the mana you need to use your weapons.

Again, unless you want to go for a Wand-based build, or plan to go Wand-Only into a dungeon, he just has nothing. And since builds rely on mad Perk luck (if you have all perks, and you draw 2 per level up, your odds of getting a Wand perk or NOT getting a non-wand weapon perk are just abysmal)

Character Perk: Cultist
-25% damage
+10% enemy drops
+20% Blessing Chances

Stat Curves
HP: 100/110/120/130/150
Wand Mana: 40/44/48/52/60
Spell: 80/88/96/104/120
Staff: 80/88/96/104/120
Alchemy: 80/88/96/104/120

Skill: Sacrifice (Cooldown: 30s) – Spend 5% max Health to boost Damage and Fire Rate, and expend no mana for about 7~8 seconds.

Passive Effect: Recover 20% max mana of each type when suing Sacrifice

Notes
He’s an oof. Kinda. His damage reduction is a big deal. That said, 5% HP isn’t that much, especially not with a few perks to aid HP recovery (like Druid, Warcry or Bloodlust). Altars are worth more with a nice 20% buff. The fact he gets 20% less mana also sucks.

Don’t bother getting too many HP increases. They just increase your HP tax to not be a wimp and recovery is key. Additionally, don’t bother with too many Mana perks. Level him enough and you start getting Mana back whenever you use Sacrifice, on top of letting you fire for free for ~7 seconds!

Jacob might eye a weak character, but if you focus on his strengths and exploit his active skill to the fullest, you’ll find that he can manage just fine.

Character Perk: Rogue
+5% speed
+10% enemy drops

Stat Curves
HP: 80/88/96/104/120
Wand Mana: 50/55/60/65/75
Spell: 100/110/120/130/150
Staff: 100/110/120/130/150
Alchemy: 100/110/120/130/150

Skill: Shroud (Cooldown: 30s) – Become invisible for 5 seconds. Enemies stop targeting you, sort of. Bosses seem to be unaffected. Ouch.

Passive Effect: ???

Special Effect: ???

Notes
Kira is weird. 5% speed buff? Really? I mean she’s alright. Definitely want to focus on Shroud when the going gets tough, but her perk just feels flimsy for a 20% HP reduction. Just make it 10%, looks nicer, or add some jump height to throw people off.

Anyway, Kira wants HP and Mana Shield. She’s frail and her Active Skill is defensive and has low up-time. As a result, you’ll want to move fast and get strong or get defensive. It’s your call.