Roguelike games are fantastic because everything matters towards the progression. If players lose, they must restart the whole game. That's one of the appeals of these games: they are stressful, but as players progress, more and more happens. Every time the player dies, they lose everything and must restart. However, they usually keep some things after each run. This gives roguelike games (such as indie darling Hades) a cool progression system. Players get stronger every time they die, and in turn, the game gets easier with each attempt.
Thanks to the success of Hades, more roguelike games are appearing, and with fresh mechanics. Soulstone Survivors is the latest in the genre. It builds on what Hades does by utilizing similar impressive RPG, mechanics and brings its own flair to the genre. Like Hades, Soulstone Survivors has things that players can keep when they die. In Soulstone Survivor, these are the runes, which act as passive abilities. If players read this list, they can create some cool builds that incorporate these runes, making every run fun and different.
5 Dash Master
One of the many things that separate Soulstone Survivors from other roguelike games is that it offers players a bunch of different classes. Like in many RPGs, each one is unique and has a vastly different play style. Each character has their own learning curve, some harder and some easier. Dash Master, though, is a rune that goes well with any class and any build. It just does one thing: gives players a speed boost.
Being able to dodge fluidly is a lot more important in roguelike games than it is in other genres. The player only has one chance, and if they don't have any perks to regenerate health, that can become an issue. If players unlock and equip this rune in Soulstone Survivors, they can get out of trouble fast, and dodging becomes second nature. The best thing about this rune is that it only requires one point, and is unlocked early on.
4 Weapons Expert
It's one thing for players to avoid damage by dodging out of the way, but it's another thing to be able to fight back strategically. This rune allows them to do just that. Most classes in Soulstone Survivors are able to have one active ability. These are attacks that do more damage, but are class dependent. However, the Weapons Expert rune gives players two active abilities. This allows players to fight back more aggressively.
Having this rune equipped allows players to use some of the best and strongest actives abilities in the game. Plus as mentioned before, these runes don't go away after the player dies, so they can experiment with which active ability works best. Just like in Hades, if players understand the controls of the game, they can counter many attacks. Weapons Expert in Soulstone Survivors helps with that aspect as well, since they'll be forced to manage more when they get this rune.
3 Surefooted
This rune is one that players should try out on any build at least once, as it reduces all damage the player takes by 15%. Getting hit and being stunned makes the player take more damage, and in turn, lower their chance of survival. And if players get surrounded, they'll need things to help them out of that situation. If players get stunned, this opens it up for enemies to hit them more than once, and depending on the class some could have a chunk of health taken out.
This can be avoided, and certain classes can move faster than others. Having this rune gives players them that extra safety. If they get hit, they won't need to worry about taking damage, because it acts like a buffer. Ultimately, anything that can help players keep on moving and take no damage is a much-needed safety net.
2 Focus Fire
One of the coolest things players can do in Soulstone Survivors is specialize in certain builds like tank, AOE, and caster. There are a bunch of ways for everyone to add their own taste into the game. This gives everyone who plays Soulstone Survivors experiences unique to them. This rune is a great example of that quality. While players who have builds around close combat won't use it as much, those who create builds that are casters and ranged will find this rune quite useful.
Focus Fire switches the AOE and ranged damage, so if players are firing from a distance, they'll do around 40% more damage. However, it decreases the area of effect for all skills by 20%. So, if the player's target is around enemies, they can do follow-up damage, which is great because it thins out the enemies. Plus, if players have strong ranged builds, this rune is great for going up against stronger enemies.
1 Recklessness
One reason why games like Vampire Survivors are such successes is that they sometimes force players to get more aggressive. This same quality can be found in Soulstone Survivors. Like the other runes featured in this list, Recklessness works well for most classes. It rewards users for playing aggressively, and if they have a build that is centered around melee and close combat, they can do a lot of damage with this rune.
Recklessness gives players 0.5% more damage for every hit point they lose to enemy damage. The best part about this rune is that it stacks, so if players get hit a lot, the damage they do goes up. While this is a great trade-off, players still shouldn't try to get hit. However, if players do they can use this as a fallback, and Soulstone Survivors may become easier to play.
Soulstone Survivors is available now on PC.