Even though it looks like it has quite the tough exterior, Caves of Qud is a surprisingly enjoyable mix of roguelike and RPG elements.
Caves of Qud has been in development for quite some time by now, with the developers finally announcing that a 1.0 version will be out sometime in 2024. And it seems like they will be keeping their promise with the latest content patch furthering the main questline which is yet to be completed. The world of Caves of Qud is filled with dangers lurking around every corner, as well as plenty of friendly NPCs that can even be turned into followers. Or you can try to befriend a merchant in order to get his wares for cheaper. There is a surprising amount of variety in what you can achieve in this game.
But before you can truly delve into what this game has to offer, you have to create a character. I’ve already discussed the Caves of Qud Callings so it’s time to look at the other type of classes, the Castes.
Castes
Castes are spread out amongst three types, each with their own specific bonuses and items that they can start out with.
The Toxic Arboreta of Ekuemekiyye, the Holy City Castes
All Castes belonging to the Toxic Arboreta have a +2 bonus to saves against any bleeding effects, and access to the Nocturnal Apex implant. This implant will give you a 10% increase to your healing rate during the day and the Prowl ability once per night. Once activated, Prowl will give you +6 to Agility and +10 move speed for 100 rounds.
- Horticulturist: This Caste starts out with a +3 bonus to Intelligence and the Cooking and Gathering, Harvestry, Axe, Bow and Rifle, and Wilderness Lore: Jungles skills. As far as gear goes he also starts out with a Bio-Scanning Bracelet and a solar cell to power it. This is a great starting item that will give you the precise HP of biological entities and any effects they might be under. For people who are new to the game and still learning the different types of enemies this can help out a lot with understanding how strong they are.
- Priest of All Suns: If opting for this Caste you will get a +3 bonus to Ego. Starting skills are Cudgel, First Aid, Heal, Persuasion, Snake Oiler, Intimidate, and Wilderness Lore: Jungles. Given the starting skills and the Ego bonus, you can easily get your hands on some great items for cheap if you know what to look for. And don’t forget that you can identify any artifacts held by a merchant by spending a few drams of water.
- Priest of All Moons: This Priest variant receives a +2 bonus to Toughness and Willpower, as well as the Axe, Butchery, Lionheart, Poison Resistance, and Wilderness Lore: Jungles skills. Like most Castes, you have enough gear to get you through the early game, but you’ll have to land some decent items or cybernetic implants to get through the mid-game.
- Syzygyrior: Playing this Caste will net you a +3 bonus to Agility and the Dual Wield, Ambidexterity, and Wilderness Lore: Jungless Skills. If you’re curious about Dual Wielding builds, this can be a great Caste to try out. I recommend pairing this up with Axes or Cudgels since each get special on-hit effects. Axes can land dismembers on your enemies, lowering their combat effectiveness, while Cudgels can stun your enemies.
The Ice-Sheathed Arcology of Ibul Castes
All Castes that belong to the Arcology of Ibul get +15 to their cold resistance and the option to choose the Cherubic Visage cybernetic implant at the start of the game. This implant will net you a +1 bonus to Ego, which is a great boon, since any character can benefit from better merchant prices.
- Artifex: By far the best Tinkering class in the game, the Artifex starts out with a +3 bonus to Intelligence and the Tinkering, Repair, Disassemble, Deploy Turret, Tinker 1, and Tinker 2 skills. This enables you to craft some great artifacts from the start of the game, as long as you can get your hands on their schematics. Your only problem when starting out is the fact that you only have a Stun Rod to engage in melee with, so getting your hands on a real weapon as fast as possible is crucial.
- Consul: If you’re interested in befriending merchants or random NPCs, the Consul has got you covered. With a +3 bonus to Ego and the Inspiring Presence and Proselytize skills, you can easily convince early-game merchants to lower their prices. This can net you some cool weapons and pieces of armor, as well as useful artifacts. To make the most out of this Caste you should definitely put as many points as possible in the Ego attribute when starting out.
- Praetorian: This is by far one of the easiest classes to start as in the game. With a +2 bonus to Strength and +1 to Toughness and Willpower, the Praetorian is obviously focused on melee. You also get the Long Blade, Shield, Shield Slam, and Bow and Rifle skills. But the real value of this Caste is the gear, starting out with a steel long sword, a steel shield, an Issachar rifle, and a chain mail. All of this gear paired up with your starting skills ensures an incredibly easy early game, with most enemies not being able to get past your armor and quickly dying to your steel sword. And for enemies that like to kite you around or are too dangerous in melee, you have your trusty rifle to handle them.
- Eunuch: An interesting Caste similar to a Rogue, the Eunuch starts with a +2 bonus to Agility and Intelligence. His skills are Short Blade, Hobble, Pistol, Weak Spotter, Acrobatics, Spry, and Tactics. If you feel confident in your combat skills this can be an excellent Caste to play as, giving you access to both melee and ranged combat from the get-go. Your only goal in the early game is to get your hands on armor pieces since your Dodge alone won’t cut it with every type of enemy.
The Crustal Mortars of Yawningmoon
All Castes belonging to the Crustal Mortars have a +15 bonus to their heat resistance and the option to choose the Air Current Microsensor implant. This is a pretty helpful implant for exploration, making staircases and any up/down map transitions always revealed to you, ensuring that you will never get lost.
- Child of the Hearth: A true powerhouse of a character, the Child of the Hearth starts out with +3 to Strength and the Cudgel, Slam, Heavy Weapon, and Calloused skills. This melee-focused Caste thrives when you manage to get a Two-Handed Mace which goes great with their skills. You can also try to go for a Dual Wield build and instead go for two one-handed maces. Both will ensure that you land plenty of stuns on your enemies, giving you a clear edge in melee combat.
- Child of the Wheel: This caste gets a +1 bonus to Strength and Ego and +2 to Agility. It starts with the Short Blade, Axe, Cleave, Dual Wield, and Iron Mind skills. This is a pretty interesting melee class, allowing you to pair up knives with axes and dual-wield them. Just make sure that you invest some early skill points into the Jab skill to double your chances of also hitting with your knife.
- Child of the Deep: Choosing this Caste will net you a +3 bonus to Toughness and the Heavy Weapon, Tank, Endurance, and Wilderness Lore: Mountains and Canyons skills. Toughness is one of the more important attributes in the game since having plenty of HP is important for any class due to certain enemies being able to bypass your armor and dodge values completely. As an added bonus you start with a nanopneumatic jackhammer which allows you to dig through walls and even travel to the lower level of a dungeon.
- Fuming God-Child: This is a rather weird Caste that starts out with a massive +4 bonus to Willpower and the Self-Discipline, Fasting Way, Lionheart, Persuasion, Intimidate, and Poison Tolerance skills. You will definitely struggle with combat in the early game since your starting gear is also weak. If you manage to get your hands on some decent weapons and armor this class can work, but you will have to be extremely careful in what enemies you approach. And don’t forget, running away is always a good option if you’re struggling in combat.
Despite the fact that Castes have an easier time when starting out due to their better gear, they do struggle with one thing. Unlike Callings that receive mutation points with every level up, Castes instead have to rely on RNG to find becoming nooks where they will usually find some cybernetic credit wedges and cybernetic implants. You might have runs in which you come across multiple areas with nooks and some runs where it seems like the world is devoid of them. This is somewhat balanced out by the fact that there are some truly powerful implants in the late-game which make up for the somewhat lackluster mid-game.
