Gauntlet/Characters

Each character in Gauntlet has their own strengths and weaknesses. The characters are imbalanced, since high magic power is essential, but you will have little choice but to field them all in a 4 player game, since duplicate selections are not possible in this game.

This page represents the characters of the arcade version of Gauntlet I, Final Revision. Earlier arcade revisions and ports of the game may be different. This is a quick overview of each character's most meaningful traits.

Thor, the Warrior
Thor is the basic brute-force character. He is the only character to begin with a shot capable of delivering two points of damage 100% of the time, and his hand-to-hand prowess is unequaled, giving him the strength to bash through most level 2 and level 3 enemies with ease.

Although he fights and shoots very well, his magic is useless against generators, and almost useless against monsters. He's also the slowest, and his big axe cannot be shot through corners. These drawbacks cause Thor to face many more enemies head-on that others can deal with at a safer distance.

Considering that he only gains a temporary advantage in melee exchanges, albeit a powerful one, the Warrior is arguably the worst solo character choice. On a team, his early extra shot power is welcome, if eventually made obsolete. Given his low magic ability, Thor should pick up the keys, leaving potions for anyone else.

Thyra, the Valkyrie
Although Thyra has the strongest defense, the problem is that, compared to Thor, her magic is only a wee bit better at damaging the monsters that come from them, and only barely capable of mildly weakening generators. Like Thor, Thyra struggles to clear areas with magic, and usually needs 2 or more potions to get the job done. If generators remain, in many situations the enemies will respawn with little to no progress made on your part.

The Valkyrie is often a better choice than the Warrior, since she runs faster, and her thinner shots can be fired through diagonal corners, but she is still not a top choice for loners. Worse, the Valkyrie offers little to a team other than a fourth player. A team-playing Valkyrie should leave potions alone, and dedicate to key holding duty - unless teamed with the Warrior (?!).

Merlin, the Wizard
Merlin's magic will utterly annihilate the entire screen, monster and generator alike. This alone is enough to place him in the top tier. His shots are about as damaging as Thor's. All of his other statistics are relatively worse than other characters though. He can't run very quickly, takes full damage from every hit he can't avoid and can't break down generators or otherwise fight very well with his feeble hands.

A not quite great solo character, but a great team-player. When playing with others, Wizard should always avoid keys, claim every potion first, and avoid getting hit or beaten whenever possible.

Questor, the Elf
Questor's speed is his best quality. He can run circles around, or simply outrun enemies, evading hits and shots others would certainly be forced to withstand. His ability to attack and retreat, often a must in Gauntlet, is unparalleled. Even before he equips himself with an Extra Speed potion, his mild armor is sometimes a moot point, as he can often run right through enemy filled halls and take very little or even no damage.

This specialty would be enough of a reason for investigation on its own. Yet his magic ability is only slightly less powerful than the Wizard's. Although the Elf cannot obliterate level 3 generators initially with a single potion, this temporary drawback is more than made up for by his superior speed - and his magic can also be upgraded, not to mention all of his other attributes.

The Elf is easily the best solo character. On a team, the Elf makes an excellent secondary spell caster if the Wizard is already full of potions, as well as bait to attract enemies while his teammates hail fire on them.