For The King: Best Classes, Ranked

For The King is a turn-based strategy RPG that takes elements from tabletop games and roguelikes to create a unique, tactical experience. Though gamers now have access to the sequel, For The King 2, there are plenty of reasons to jump back into the original game.

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That said, For The King can be a daunting experience for newcomers to the genre. Although players only begin with four available classes, there are a total of thirteen playable classes in the game. Choosing the right classes for the right situation is integral to succeeding in For The King, so it’s important to understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Updated April 27, 2024 by Harry Ted Sprinks: For The King 2 was released in November 2023 to relatively mixed reviews, with the overall Steam User Rating at the time of writing sitting at 69% and recent reviews judging the game harsher at 64% positive. However, the original For The King remains a fun, engaging, and polished game to play alone or with friends. With the game’s large variety of classes, it can be difficult to gather a strong and versatile party, and knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each class can help greatly.

Furthermore, it’s good to know which stats each class can cover, from Strength and Awareness to Intelligence and Talent. However, some of the lower-ranking classes (despite having good stats) may perform better for more experienced players, and with For The King being a relatively well-balanced game, competent classes that are easy to play generally rank higher due to their accessibility.

13 The Busker

A Selfish Class With Low Stats

• “Distraction” Sabotages Enemy Attacks
• “Entertain” Secures Income In The Overworld
• “Elite Flee” Allows For Easier Retreating
• Lacks Versatility
• Low Stats

The Busker is fairly weak compared to the rest of the classes due to their relatively low stats outside of “Talent,” as well as their general lack of versatility. However, they make up for this with defensive abilities and high potential gold earnings.

The Busker’s passive ability, “Distraction,” gives players a random chance of sabotaging enemy attacks against allies, while “Entertain” allows them to gain gold in the Overworld. However, “Elite Flee” is the Busker’s strongest ability, allowing them to flee combat with a single successful speed roll. This means that the Busker can avoid ambushes easily, but their selfish abilities make them less useful in a party than other classes.

Tips For Team Composition

As mentioned, the Busker is a somewhat selfish character with relatively weak stats when compared to other classes. As a result, the Busker isn’t an ideal pick for a team composition. However, the Busker does have a higher strength stat than classes such as the Minstrel, though they also have relatively low speed. As speed is arguably one of the most important stats in the game, it could be argued that the Busker is one of the worst Talent heroes in the game.

12 The Treasure Hunter

A Situational Class That Keeps The Party Rich

• “Find Treasure” Allows Them To Frequently Discover Treasures
• “Mimic Whisper” Is A Situational Ability That Prevents Mimics
• Strong Starting Weapon

This class is primarily useful for their “Find Treasure” passive, which gives them a high chance of discovering treasures in the Overworld. The Treasure Hunter can also prevent treasure chests from being mimics with “Mimic Whisper,” but this is a fairly situational ability.

Despite starting with a relatively strong weapon (the Handgun), the Treasure Hunter isn’t as powerful or flexible as other classes, though their ability to secure a high amount of gold for the party can help keep everyone supplied throughout a playthrough.

Tips For Team Composition

Low speed makes the Treasure Hunter one of the weaker heroes in For The King, despite having a 79 in Intelligence, Talent, and Awareness. However, this slight versatility simply makes them weaker than other heroes who excel in similar areas. As a result, the Treasure Hunter is hard to fit into any team composition, though in a pinch they can fill any gap(s) in the aforementioned stats.

11 The Hunter

A Great DPS That Relies Too Heavily On RNG

• Good Damage Dealer
• “Energy Boost” Makes Them Great At Traveling In The Overworld
• “Called Shot” Randomly Gives Perfect Rolls With Ranged Weapons
• Heavily Reliant On RNG

The Hunter is a good all-around damage dealer with some extremely handy skills. Their “Energy Boost” ability makes them great for quickly traveling long distances in the Overworld, while their “Called Shot” ability gives them a chance for a perfect roll when attacking with a ranged weapon, dealing massive damage.

Although the Hunter class is useful for its steady output of damage and RNG-reliant ability to assassinate squishier enemies with “Called Shot,” they don’t provide as much versatility as other classes with similar strengths.

Tips For Team Composition

Since the Hunter is a good damage dealer with powerful abilities, they’re a great fit for the Awareness hero of the team. Their 83 speed is also a massive boon, making them a great pick for any team composition.

10 The Scholar

A Flexible But Fragile Party Member

• Highly Flexible
• “Refocus” Gives Them A Chance To Regain Focus Every Turn
• Extremely Squishy

This class is extremely squishy, making them arguably useless without a sufficient tank in the party to soak up hits. Despite this, the Scholar can be a versatile and powerful member of the party if kept alive.

One of the best aspects of the Scholar is their ability to specialize as a support or a damage dealer, using one of the various “Tomes” for the former and using staves for the latter. However, the Scholar only starts with one, albeit useful, ability: “Refocus”, which grants the Scholar a chance to regain Focus at the end of their turn.

Tips For Team Composition

For more experienced players, the Scholar is one of the strongest Intelligence heroes in For The King. If players can work around their squishy nature, they can fill the Intelligence gap in a team composition with extreme prowess. Furthermore, Refocus is a strong starting ability that makes them less reliant on RNG.

9 The Herbalist

A Powerful Healer With Good Damage Output

• High Magic Damage
• Powerful Healer
• “Gather Herbs” Allows Them To Reliably Find Herbs
• Lacks Flexibility

This class can output serious magical damage and works similarly to the Scholar, only less flexible. However, the Herbalist makes up for their lack of flexibility with their powerful healing capabilities that can help to keep the party alive, making them a powerful combination of support and DPS.

The Herbalist’s skills are directly tied to their ability to heal. “Gather Herbs” grants them a chance to gain random herbs in the Wilderness, while “Party Heal” allows them to use a single “Godsbeard” herb to heal the entire party.

Tips For Team Composition

The Herbalist may not be among the strongest heroes in For The King, but they work great in any team composition for beginners. More specifically, the Herbalist has a moderate Intelligence stat. However, the Herbalist has lower speed and Intelligence than other Intelligence classes, such as the Scholar. Despite this, their starting abilities make them useful for beginners.

8 The Monk

A Strong Support

• One Of The Strongest Supports
• “Party Heal” Allows Them To Heal The Party
• “Discipline” Allows Them To Give Party Members Focus
• “Discipline” Relies On A High Critical Hit Chance And/Or Killing Blows

The Monk is one of the strongest support classes in the game and shares a skill with the Herbalist – “Party Heal,” which allows the Monk to heal the entire party. Because of this, the Monk is a great choice for players who don’t want to rely on the random chance of the Herbalist’s “Gather Herbs” ability, since they have access to the more reliable and arguably more useful “Discipline” skill.

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“Discipline” allows the Monk to grant Focus to other party members when landing critical hits and/or killing blows on enemies. However, “Discipline” doesn’t grant the Monk any Focus, making them reliant on items to keep their Focus up. Although the Monk is a supportive class, it’s important that their damage output is as high as possible to make the most out of “Discipline.”

Tips For Team Composition

The Monk’s potential damage output and supportive starting abilities make them one of the strongest support classes in the game. With relatively high Strength and Intelligence, they’re a moderately versatile class, but their unfortunate lack of speed when compared to other classes is a significant downside. However, regardless of their stats, the Monk’s Discipline ability makes them a great fit in a team composition lacking a character with high Strength or Intelligence.

7 The Woodcutter

A Damage Dealer That’s Great Against Groups

• One Of The Best Damage Dealers
• Low Resistance Makes Them A Glass Cannon Against Magic Dealers
• “Elite Door Bash” Makes Them Useful In Dungeons
• “Justice” Makes Them Useful Against Groups

This class is one of the best damage dealers in the game, especially when equipped with heavy two-handed weapons, but despite having a relatively large health pool, the Woodcutter is not a reliable tank. Furthermore, the Woodcutter is essentially a glass cannon against magic users due to their lack of resistances, forcing them to rely on the support of their party members.

The Woodcutter is especially useful in dungeons, thanks to their “Elite Door Bash” skill that enables them to easily knock down doors, and their “Justice” ability makes them great against large groups of enemies because of its chance to add splash damage to perfect rolls. Overall, the Woodcutter’s high damage output and useful skills make them one of the strongest damage dealers in the game.

Tips For Team Composition

Due to their high Strength, which sits at 83, the Woodcutter is a strong contender for a team composition lacking in Strength. Furthermore, their relatively high Awareness and Vitality allow them to take and/or avoid a hit or two. As well as this, their Justice starting ability provides some much-needed AOE right out of the gate, making them perfect for teams that lack crowd control.

6 The Blacksmith

A Sturdy And Reliable Tank

• Low Speed
• Sturdy And Reliable Tank
• Competent Damage Dealer With A Good Starting Weapon
• “Steady” Gives Them A Chance To Block All Incoming Damage

Despite having a low speed, the Blacksmith is both a sturdy and reliable tank and a decent damage dealer thanks to a high-damage starting weapon. However, the Blacksmith is best used as a tank and not a DPS.

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This is because of the Blacksmith’s most useful ability, “Steady,” which grants the Blacksmith a random chance to block all incoming damage from an attack, provided they have a shield equipped. This makes the Blacksmith especially useful with a shield equipped, even more so because most shields have the “Enemy Taunt” ability, which allows the user to force enemies to focus on them.

Tips For Team Composition

The Blacksmith works well in any team composition and is one of the best heroes for beginners to include in their team. It could be argued that more advanced players should focus on picking characters with high stats, primarily speed, but it’s a good idea for beginners to take a hero that can tank a few hits. For this reason, the Blacksmith is a great choice thanks to their high Strength and Vitality, as well as their strong starting skill.

5 The Trapper

A Versatile Class That’s Frequently Useful

• High Evasion
• Able To Use Polearms For Good Damage Output
• “Elite Ambush” And “Counter Attack” Make Them Helpful In The Overworld
• “Elite Trap Disarm” Makes Them Helpful In Dungeons

The Trapper can be an extremely effective alternative to a tank thanks to their high evasion stat that gives them a high chance of avoiding enemy attacks, especially when combined with certain pieces of equipment. This class can also be used as a damage dealer in a pinch by equipping them with two-handed polearms rather than a shield, though this is less efficient than using a more straightforward damage dealer and isn’t really the Trapper’s main strength.

The Trapper’s “Elite Ambush” skill enables them to easily ambush enemies, and “Elite Trap Disarm” makes the Trapper especially useful in dungeons. Furthermore, the Trapper can prevent enemy ambushes with “Counter Attack,” making them even more useful in the Overworld.

Tips For Team Composition

The Trapper is particularly strong as an Awareness/Talent hero thanks to their high speed stat. While they have slightly less Awareness than other classes, such as the Hunter, the Trapper also works well as a Talent hero, thanks to their high speed. Since there are better Awareness-focused classes in the game with similar speed, it’s arguably best to use the Trapper as a Talent hero to take full advantage of their high speed.

4 The Hobo

A Well-Rounded And Versatile Class That’s Always Useful

• Bad Starting Equipment
• No Special Abilities
• Extremely Versatile With Well-Rounded Stats
• Always Useful, No Matter The Situation

Despite starting with little-to-no equipment, the Hobo is one of the most versatile classes in the game thanks to their high and well-rounded stats that enable them to fill almost any role in the party. However, the Hobo has no special abilities.

The Hobo’s lack of special abilities makes them heavily reliant on obtaining items that grant abilities to make up for their initial weakness. However, their jack-of-all-trades nature ensures that they’re always useful, no matter the situation. This makes the Hobo especially good at filling in the gaps left by other members of the party and ensures that any powerful items that players find will always be useful, as there’s a high chance that the Hobo can wield them.

Tips For Team Composition

Due to their nature as a massively versatile class, the Hobo can fill almost any void in a team composition. However, thanks to their high speed, they’re arguably best used as a Strength-focused class. This allows players to fill the Strength void in their team composition with a high-speed class, though the Gladiator is arguably a better pick as they start with similar stats and better abilities.

3 The Minstrel

An Important Support Class With Great Abilities

• One Of The Best Support Classes
• “Inspire” Lets Them Give XP To Nearby Allies
• “Encourage” Turns Failed Rolls To Successes
• Their Usefulness Can Be Situational

The Minstrel is one of the best support classes in the game. Their “Inspire” ability allows them to grant nearby allies XP, which can be especially helpful when allies are close to leveling up, and their “Encourage” ability has a chance to turn the failed rolls of party members into successes, potentially changing the outcome of an entire battle.

The Minstrel uses a variety of instruments in the game to provide their party members with buffs and debuff enemies, making them a great support, especially combined with their helpful abilities. However, “Encourage” must meet several conditions to be effective, so in some situations, the Minstrel can be significantly less useful.

Tips For Team Composition

The Minstrel’s potential variety of buffs and debuffs make them a useful support class, especially with the addition of their starting skills. Their 83 Talent stat makes them a great pick for team compositions lacking in Talent, and the Minstrel’s competent speed stat helps make them a useful addition to any party.

2 The Astronomer

A Powerful One-Trick Pony

• High Magic Damage
• Has One Of The Most Powerful Abilities In The Game
• Support Range Lets Them Join Combat From Afar

The Astronomer is similar to the Scholar in that they can provide a high output of magic damage, but they don’t have the flexibility or support options. However, the Astronomer’s “Black Hole” ability is tremendously powerful, granting them a chance to instantly remove enemies from combat. This ability is triggered by any single-target attack, even attacks that deal no damage, making “Black Hole” one of the most powerful abilities in the game.

This ability is only balanced by the fact that the player gets no reward for defeating enemies with “Black Hole,” but this is a small price to pay. Furthermore, the Astronomer also has “Support Range,” which enables them to join combat from an additional hex away on the Overworld map.

Tips For Team Composition

Although the Astronomer has slightly less Intelligence than the Scholar, and much less speed, their powerful passive ability, Black Hole, makes it worth taking them over the Scholar in certain situations. Furthermore, because Black Hole has an increased chance to trigger with each Focus point spent, the Astronomer works particularly well with the Monk.

1 The Gladiator

A Self-Reliant, Versatile Damage Dealer

• Versatile
• High Speed
• High Strength And Awareness
• Stronger When Wounded

The Gladiator is an extremely versatile class with a high-speed stat that allows them to easily gain the initiative in combat. Furthermore, the Gladiator has plenty of Strength and Awareness, making most weapons viable for them and providing plenty of build variety. Thanks to all this, the Gladiator works well as both an offensive and defensive member of the party.

Like the Minstrel, the Gladiator also has the “Entertain” ability, enabling them to gain gold in the Overworld. However, their “Glory” ability can be a more useful boon, giving the Gladiator a random chance to gain an attack bonus at the start of their turn, with the chance increasing if the Gladiator is at a disadvantage. This means that the Gladiator is good at fighting while wounded and stands a better chance of surviving without other party members.

Tips For Team Composition

With a massive 81 Strength, 81 Awareness, and a high speed stat of 75, the Gladiator is a strong class that’s a must-have for almost any team composition, especially on higher difficulties. The Gladiator easily fills the Strength gap, with strong starting skills that allow them to turn the tide of a losing fight.

For The King

Released

April 19, 2018

Developer(s)

Ironoak Games