Strengths and weaknesses of each character and item in the game for higher difficulties
 
 

Introduction

The people that exploited reload system triggered me so hard that I decided to make this guide to show that you don’t have to exploit anything to beat the game on the highest available difficulty (Entropy 5 as of now). I truly believe that anyone can beat Entropy 5 provided a good starting party composition and a good selection of unlocked items. While the Beginners guide by Bonzai101 does a good job at explaining the basics, it is outdated in some aspects, so I’ll try to offer some insight on what’s currenlty good or bad.
 
 
 

Characters

The only big difficulty jump comes from diving into Entropy 5, which makes starting composition to be of extreme importance. The first 2 planets are always the hardest ones, and as such I will mostly cover strengths and weaknesses of each character based on their performance from level 1 to level 6.
 
 
 

Characters – Valkyrie

 
 
All around decent starting pick.
 
 
Pros: good damage, good stagger, can reach back row, can off-tank, decent fury ability, very good camping skills
 
Cons: poor relationship bonus, no aoe ability
 
Starting perks: Berserker for damage or Guardian for tanking
 
 
 

Characters – Archon

 
 
One of the worst characters to start your run with. If you want to end your run on the first planet, this is what you pick.
 
 
Pros: aoe stagger, shield regen
 
Cons: terrible damage, awful fury ability, poor camping skills
 
Starting perks: Zealot is the only viable perk
 
 
 

Characters – Saboteur

 
 
One of the best characters to start with. I recommend using Spectre progeny (Dalen Kalthoris).
 
 
Pros: the best single-target stagger in the game, especially when paired with Peacekeeper implant, stun, good camping skills, good relationship bonus
 
Cons: weak damage
 
Starting perks: Disruptor all the way
 
 
 

Characters – Enforcer

 
 
Not the best starting pick. Flurry attack does a lot of damage on paper, but in reality most dangerous enemies are going to have too much armor for the attack to be effective. I recommend using Varangian progeny (Kennex Malric).
 
 
Pros: flurry attack scales really well with any item that applies dot or steals health/shields, stun, aoe scales exceptionally well with Debilitator Rifle, extremely good camping skills (Wild Accusations is godly if you can stall), good relationship bonus
 
Cons: his main damage comes from flurry attack which gets countered hard by armor, very poor stagger
 
Starting perks: Defender for more damage
 
 
 

Characters – Aegis

 
 
The weakest tank out of 3, she is still great at her primary duty. I don’t recommend leveling her past level 4, unless you have a really good shield device that requires higher level.
 
 
Pros: Guard, great stagger, good fury ability
 
Cons: very bad damage, almost no utlity, poor relationship bonus and camping skills
 
Starting perks: Guardian
 
 
 

Characters – Marksman

 
 
Second best damage dealer in the game.
 
 
Pros: very good damage, good stagger, reach
 
Cons: extremely squishy, mediocre camping skills and relationship bonus, bad fury ability, no aoe
 
Starting perks: Berserker
 
 
 

Characters – Empath

 
 
Tied with Archon for the worst starting pick.
 
 
Pros: good relationship bonus, decent fury ability
 
Cons: non-existent damage, mediocre support abilities don’t make up for having her instead of an actual carry
 
Starting perks: Shaman
 
 
 

Characters – Commando

 
 
Worse version of Saboteur.
 
 
Pros: very good single-target stagger, decent damage
 
Cons: can’t wear implants (therefore no reach), poor fury ability, poor camping skills and relationship bonus, flurry attacks
 
Starting perks: Berserker
 
 
 

Character – Varangian

 
 
Very solid starting pick.
 
 
Pros: good damage, good fury ability, aoe
 
Cons: poor camping skills and relationship bonus
 
Starting perks: Punisher
 
 
 

Characters – Juggernaut

 
 
Second best tank in the game. She has a lot of utility, most notably buff removal. Unlike Aegis with her Guard giving only +20% defense, Juggernaut’s taunt ability gives her full +40% defense AND generates shields for everyone.
 
 
Pros: decent damage, good stagger, good fury ability, buff removal, reach
 
Cons: terrible camping skills and relationship bonus
 
Starting perks: for some reason Templar only increases shield defense of the leeched target but not hers, so Berserker is best here
 
 
 

Characters – Spectre

 
 
By far the best carry in the game; as squishy as Marksman, but can take heat off herself by going into Stealth, which also makes any of her next attacks instant.
 
 
Pros: best damage, really good stagger, reach, very good camping skills and relationship bonus, aoe, stun, stealth
 
Cons: squishy
 
Starting perks: Punisher
 
 
 

Characters – Gunslinger

 
 
Same deal as Enforcer, main damage comes from flurry attacks, although her overall kit is better. I recommend using Valkyrie progeny (Sheva Kymon).
 
 
Pros: good damage, good stagger, aoe, good camping skills, very good relationship bonus
 
Cons: flurry attacks, terrible fury ability
 
Starting perks: Punisher
 
 
 

Characters – Paragon

 
 
This is everything that Archon wishes to be. His aoe ability scales extremely well with Boneslicer, staggers and steals shields OVER his maximum shield capacity, which allows him to soak damage with the stolen shields, sometimes leaving his own shields untouched. All in all, an excellent off-tank. I recommend using his Saboteur progeny (Brakin Syphex).
 
 
Pros: good stagger, good damage, decent fury ability
 
Cons: mediocre camping skills and relationship bonus
 
Starting perks: Punisher for damage, Interceptor for stagger, Guardian for tanking
 
 
 

Characters – Dragoon

 
 
Somewhat weak outside his Supercharge mode, his output highly depends on how well you can manage your fury.
 
 
Pros: good damage, good stagger, reach, excellent auras, aoe, good fury generating ability, decent camping skills, good relationship bonus
 
Cons: flurry attack, requires fury to pop off
 
Starting perks: Berserker
 
 
 

Characters – Guardian

 
 
The best character in the game and #1 tank, he is the main reason I beat so many Entropy 5 runs. I highly recommend using Juggernaut progeny (Marv’n Tysanno) and leveling him to level 4 asap.
 
 
Pros: self-healing to ensure he never dies, fury ability to ensure that other party members never take any damage, decent damage, aoe, instant application of most elements, decent camping skills and relationship bonus
 
Cons: doesn’t generate fury from crits
 
Starting perks: Reaver to never have any problems with applying elemental debuffs/dots
 
 
 

Characters – starting composition

• No more than 1 proper frontline character – Aegis, Juggernaut or Guardian.
• Character with at least B rank in damage.
• Second character with at least B rank in damage or at least A in stagger

Items

The way promotion/demotion system works you will want to unlock exactly 24 items (no more, no less) to have 4 promotions to be able to promote 1 device and 3 weapons of your choosing depending on which 3 characters you decide to start with. Unlocking more than 24 items will mess with the item pool and you may get a lot of items in your runs that you don’t want at all. Weapons must have damage multiplier (not the armor or shield damage), or weaken defense, or increased stagger time (not the weaken stagger defense), or faster attack time. Devices and implants don’t have much variety to them and should be self-explanatory.
 
 
 

Items – Swords

 
 
Cheapest sword, but better than most expensive ones.
 
 

 
 
Second cheapest sword, good damage multiplier, the fury generation is slightly less relevant.
 
 

 
 
By far the best sword, Weaken Defense is one of the best stats to have access to as it is a debuff, which means every party member hits for more. Promote if you start with a sword character.
 
 
 

Items – Gauntlets

 
 
Yet again, the best gauntlet is also the second cheapest; damage and extra stagger, can’t ask for more. Promote if you start with a gauntlets character.
 
 

 
 
The variant for characters that don’t focus on dealing damage.
 
 
 

Items – Blasters

 
 
Second cheapest blaster is also one of the best, who would’ve thought.
 
 

 
 
Weaken Defense AND applies Marked? Yes, please! Promote if you start with a blaster character.
 
 

 
 
For Gunslinger.
 
 
 

Items – Rifles

 
 
Cheapest and goodest; shield piercing isn’t as valuable, although it means that you can apply any elemental debuff even if the target still has shields intact.
 
 

 
 
The ultimate heavy hitter for your main carry.
 
 

 
 
The only item in the game that allows you to remove buffs from enemies practically makes it invaluable and the best rifle overall unless you already have a character with the same ability, which is still not enough to justify dropping this rifle for the other 2. Promote for a rifle character.
 
 
 

Items – Implants

 
 
Mostly used on Saboteur.
 
 

 
 
For your carries.
 
 
 

Items – Devices

 
 
For off-tanks.
 
 

 
 
For Juggernaut and Aegis. Activate and Promote if you start with one of them.
 
 

 
 
For your Guardian tank. Activate and promote if you start with him.
 
 
 

Items – Summary

If you can’t find your favorite item anywhere in the list above then I consider it to be sub-optimal or straight up detrimental to a successful run. The list contains 16 items meaning that you will have to unlock 8 more items to get 4 promotions so just follow the general guideline in the Items section. Don’t forget that you will also get 4 demotions to spend on the items that you don’t want to see at all, leaving you with 4 more items that you won’t mind finding during your runs.
 
 

 
 
I hope you enjoy the Character and item guide – Star Renegades guide. This is all for now! If you have something to add to this guide or forget to add some information, please let us know via comment! We check each comment manually!