Steamworld Heist 2lets you assemble a ragtag bunch of robotic miscreants for adventure on the high seas. From the depths of the Rattlers' lairs to the fortresses of the Royal Navy, you’ll have to rely on the skills of your crew to get out intact and with as much swag as possible.
While each crewmate’s capabilities are largely determined by their Job abilities and equipment loadout, their personal upgrades give them each a unique approach to combat that you can use to your advantage. We’ve ranked all ten available crewmates by their overall effectiveness in battle.
10Barbara “Crowbar” Crowe
Crowbar starts off as a Flanker, making her exceptionally mobile compared to most other party members. However, her movement-focused upgradeHollow Frameis very situational; she canjump to high platformswhere other characters would need to find a ladder. On missions where this is relevant, she’s very handy to have around, but on horizontal battlefields Crowbar is a less appealing option.
Crowbar becomes much more of a threat once her second ability,Bad Vibes, is unlocked. Whenever she damages an enemy, any ground enemies within two spaces of heralso take four damage, ignoring Armor.Since it takes so long to unlock, though, you might be better offsaving Crowbar for one of your last crew slots.
9Daisy Clutch
Daisy is designed to be ageneralist that can fit any role in the party, but that can make it hard to find a specific niche for her once the rest of the crew have really hit their stride. Her standout advantage is her uniqueStun Gun, which deals a small amount of damage andprevents the target from taking an action on its turn.
Bosses can be stunned once per encounter, after which they are immune to further attempts. Choose your moment and have Daisy stop a boss in their tracks!
If you spend enough timeleveling up Daisy in several Jobs, she becomes extremely versatile thanks to herStudiousability. Once its unlocked,all of her Cog costs are reduced by one, letting her fill up on previously-learned skills. That’s a lot of time and effort to spend on one character, but with some help from theXP Badgeit can be worth the grind.
8Tristan Torque
Tristan is the closest thing Steamworld Heist 2 has to adedicated healer.Healing can be a precious resource in this game, so while Tristan’s abilities won’t turn the tide of a battle, they can keep you in the fight just long enough to eke out a win or save a Reputation Star you would have otherwise lost.
Once he has access toAlways Prepared,Tristan canuse Repair items as a Free Action.That includes items like theAir StimorJazzy Repair Record, which can target any ally on the map, butdoesn’t include Job abilities like the Engineer’s Maintenance Protocol.Additionally whenever Tristan heals someone other than himself by any means, he personally recovers 1 HP.
Tristan’s second ability,Believe It, is more situational but can be useful in a jam. Once he has it,attacking no longer ends his turnas long as he still has AP to spend, giving him more freedom in planning his moves each round.
7Sola Fathom
Sola is built for deep-sea exploration, and she’s seen some strange things down there. This gives her access toEldritch Beam, a powerful laser attack with a long cooldown. Eldritch Beam can be one of the most devastating weapons in your arsenal, but it has to be used effectively. Positioning Sola tobounce the beamso that it hits as many targets as possible is important, and you’ll need to gear her up toquickly scrap enemies in the aftermathto speed up its recharge.
When Eldritch Beam is upgraded, it alsoheals Solawhen it scraps enemies, making her more able to take care of herself on dangerous missions.
6Dame Judy Wrench
Like Sola, Judy possesses a unique attack power thatgets enhanced by her second Personal Upgrade.At first,Harsh Languageis just okay; it deals a small amount of damage to any foe, anywhere on the map. It’s useful for taking out weakened enemies or softening up a target for a scrapping blow, but it takes an Action Point that could be used for something else.
Upgrading Harsh Language toSick Burn, however, is a different story. It becomes a Free Action, affects enemies standing near the target, andsets all damaged foes on fire. It makes Judy an essential part of your lineup late in the game, since it helps thin the oncoming hordes, and caneven wear down bosses over timeon turns when you don’t have the time to attack them directly.
5Beacon Potts
Beacon is the only character in the game besides Daisy who starts with any levels inSniper, which is a good reason to recruit him in and of itself. The bonuses to Aim that he gets without having to level up at all can be put to use in nearly any other Job. However, hisScramability makes it worth keeping him in a long-distance role.
Scram lets Beaconteleport anywhere on the mapthat the crew can see. You can use it to get out of danger, or to set up a perfect headshot. Alternately, if you teach Beacon Aura abilities likeWar CryorAmped Up, you can Scram to position him next to allies before opening fire as a group.
Beacon becomes a true terror once he learnsSneakstrike, which turns Scram into a Free Action. That means you canScram, Reload, and fire his Sniper Rifle all in one turn!Best of all, Sneakstrike alsogrants Beacon the Invisible buff after teleporting, which prevents enemies from targeting him for a turn.
Invisible characters can still take damage from explosions and other indirect effects.
4Cornelius “Hightower” Column
Cornelius can deal plenty of damage, and starting the game as a Brawler makes himtougher than mostwithout having to spend any Cogs, but what makes him invaluable are hisliteral Abs of Steel.Using this abilitymakes Cornelius invulverable for one turnandforces all enemies to target him. It has a long cooldown and can only be used once per mission, but using it at the right time can and will save other crewmates, especially on higher difficulties.
The upgraded version,Body Butter, is a Free Action and can be used twice in a battle instead of once.
3Poe Phroggi
Positioning is key in Steamworld Heist, and nobody is better atconsistently getting to where she needs to bethan Poe. Her simple, no-nonsenseMovement bufffromHastypairs with her starting Flanker Job to make her the game’s pre-eminent speedster.
Poe is great for recovering loot and securing objectives, but late in the game she can serve as anunconventional tankthanks to her second upgrade,Slippery.This gives her afifty-percent chance to dodge any and all incoming bullets. While veteran strategy gamers know better than to rely on a coin flip, a hot streak right when you need it can make this diminutive tirebot the heroine of the hour.
2Rosa “Chimney” Rivets
Since Chimney starts as a Brawler, she has some extra Armor abilities built in that work well in tandem with her first upgrade,Tit-For-Tat.Whenever Chimney takes damage, she immediately deals two damage right back to the attacker. As long as she can keep healing with skills likeAdrenaline, all she needs to do is keep charging into the thick of things.
Once she gains her second upgrade,Double Down, Chimney canattack twicewith her primary weapon every few turns. Whether you want two hammer strikes, shotgun blasts, or rockets, Chimney is ready to bring the pain.
1Wesley Hotchkiss
Wesley is Quincy’s companion through thick and thin, and you’ll be glad to have him on your side at every point in the game. Grenades will likely be a key part of your strategy, andnobody is better with grenades than Wesley.HisGrenadierability lets him useone grenade each turnas a Free Action, essentially giving him an extra attack as long as his supplies don’t run out.
Tossing explosives around is bound to rack up some kills, which is where Wesley’s advanced power,Veteran Wardog, comes in. Each time he scraps and enemy, Wesley gets a stacking damage bonus for the rest of the turn. Toss a grenade, blow up some bad guys, then fire with your main weapon buffed - it’s hard to argue with a plan like that.
