Each character in Gauntlet has their own strengths and weaknesses. The characters are most definitely imbalanced, but you will have little choice but to field them all in a 4 player game (i.e. duplicates are not allowed in this version).
This page represents the characters of the arcade version of Gauntlet I, Final Revision. The statistics were found through actual testing, not from those printed from any manual or game guide.
If you find discrepancies, remember that the other versions of Gauntlet have many differences from the arcade version. It is unlikely that you would find this guide useful for Gauntlet NES, for example.
Overview of the statistics
Armor
Reduces damage a bit from all kinds of hits. Can be upgraded with an Extra Defense potion.
Shot
Shot strength: How much damage, in HP, the shot does. Can be upgraded with an Extra Shot Power potion.
Shot travel speed: An abstract value that describes how fast the shot moves. This will increase rate of damage at a distance due to a higher rate, but not really affect close range damage. Can be upgraded with an Extra Shot Speed potion.
Shot collision box: Describes how big the shot is. Comes in three sizes: small, medium, and large. Large may not pass through diagonally adjacent blocks, while medium and small can. Small can graze the edge of walls and sometimes take out things medium and large cannot. Cannot be upgraded.
Magic
Magic VS monsters: The amount of damage, in HP, that the character's potion attack will do to all monsters on screen. Can be upgraded with an Extra Magic Power potion.
Magic VS Generators: The damage the same potion attack will do to generators. Generators are much more resistant to such damage. Can be upgraded with an Extra Magic Power potion.
Magic (Potion Shot VS Monsters): When shooting a blue potion, the character will do a potion attack that is weaker than normal. Generally not used, but emergencies can arise. Can be upgraded with an Extra Magic Power potion.
Magic (Potion Shot VS Generators): And such potion attacks will do even less damage to generators. Can be upgraded with an Extra Magic Power potion.
Melee
Melee VS Monsters: The amount of damage your character's melee attack will do. It isn't important to have a strong stat here, but it can occasionally come in handy. This stat tends to be stronger than your character's shot strength. It can be upgraded with an Extra Fight Power potion.
Melee VS Generators: You can also melee generators. No matter what, you can only do 1 damage to a generator through melee. In addition, there is a random chance to miss that gets progressively worse with weaker melee abilities. If the melee ability is too weak, it won't ever work on a generator. Usually it is best to just shoot the generator point-blank instead. This, too, can be upgraded with an Extra Fight Power potion.
Speed
How fast the character moves around. This isn't essential, but is extremely helpful in dodging attacks, getting behind cover, and drawing enemies. Can be upgraded with an Extra Speed potion.
Overview of the characters
This overview should not be taken as a description of the worth or power of each character, but rather a general idea of what each specializes in.
Warrior: Specialties are shot power and melee. Armor is pretty high. Weak points are speed, shot collision box, and magic power.
Valkyrie: Specialties are armor and melee. Speed is pretty high. Weak points are magic power and shot power.
Wizard: Specialty is magic power. Shot power is above average, but offers very little improvement. Weak points are speed, armor, and melee.
Elf: Specialty is speed. Magic power is exceptional. Weak points are armor, shot power, and melee.
Warrior (Thor)
| Statistic | Normal stats | Extra stats |
|---|---|---|
| Armor strength: | 20% | 30% |
| Shot strength: | 2 HP | 2~3 HP random |
| Shot travel speed: | 2 | 3 |
| Shot collision box: | Large | N/A |
| Magic VS Monsters: | 2 HP | 3 HP |
| Magic VS Generators: | 0 HP | 1 HP |
| Magic (Potion Shot VS Monsters): | 1 HP | 3 HP |
| Magic (Potion Shot VS Generators): | 0 HP | 1 HP |
| Melee VS Monsters: | 2~3 HP random | 3 HP |
| Melee VS Generators: | low miss % | no miss % |
| Running speed: | 1 | 3 |
Thor is the basic brute-force character. He is the only character to begin with a perfect 2 HP shot, giving him the power to chew through level 2 and level 3 enemies with ease.
His melee is of similar strength, although much less important as melee attacks are for more specialized situations than shots (i.e. you cannot hurt ghosts with it, and shots are more efficient most of the time). The exception is when he obtains an "Extra Fight" potion - he will obtain the ability to hack down level 3 monsters in a single hit with his perfect 3 HP damage with melee strikes. This still doesn't make it the ultimate attack, as you still can't hurt ghosts, and enemies will likely pound on you as you hack them down.
This raw power comes at a high price. The most obvious is his magic ability... he can't even dent generators, and level 3 monsters can actually survive the cast. Granted, having been so weakened would make the level 3s vulnerable to your shot, but they would be quickly replaced by the unharmed generators. An "Extra Magic" powerup is near essential for the Warrior, as it can help by giving your Potions the ability to pare down level 3 generators. The monsters of the now level 2 generators would be in the kill range of Thor's shot.
A less obvious drawback to Thor is his large shot size. Because of it, he cannot fire through diagonally adjacent blocks. This removes an ability that all 3 of the other characters have, which is the ability to snipe at enemies and generators on the other side of such barriers. In a way, this cancels out his extra shot power as an advantage, as he must face more enemies head-on. Worse, shot power can be upgraded - shot size cannot. This draw-back is permanent.
The 20% defense is pleasant, but mostly superfluous.
His lower speed takes away some capability, as it is very useful, but is non-essential.
In regards to a multi-player game, Thor can add a lot of muscle that wouldn't be there, initially, otherwise. Other, more capable, characters can add magic power or handle the sniping.
Note: Thor was once able to obtain a perfect 3 HP shot power, via an "Extra Shot" potion in earlier revisions. This made him a fearsome combatant, and many Gauntlet players argued this made him the undisputed champion of the Gauntlet. The developers seemed to agree, and this was reduced to a 2~3 random for later revisions.
Valkyrie (Thyra)
| Statistic | Normal stats | Extra stats |
|---|---|---|
| Armor strength: | 30% | 40% |
| Shot strength: | 1 HP | 2 HP |
| Shot travel speed: | 3 | 3.5 |
| Shot collision box: | Medium | N/A |
| Magic VS Monsters: | 2 HP | 3 HP |
| Magic VS Generators: | 0 HP | 1 HP |
| Magic (Potion Shot VS Monsters): | 1 HP | 3 HP |
| Magic (Potion Shot VS Generators): | 0 HP | 1 HP |
| Melee VS Monsters: | 2 HP | 3 HP |
| Melee VS Generators: | medium miss % | no miss % |
| Running speed: | 2 | 3 |
Essentially, the Valkyrie is a lesser Elf.
She's kind of fast, if not quite as fast as the Elf. This affords her some dodging and retreating capability not present in slower characters. Questor fans would likely miss that extra bit of speed, however.
Her shot is just as weak as the Elf, but that is pretty much the baseline for comparison.
Her melee attacks are about the same as the Warrior. This is one thing the Elf doesn't get, but it doesn't usually matter enough.
She gets the best defense in the game, another thing the Elf doesn't get. Unfortunately this doesn't really mean a whole lot either. You'll just have a slight amount more health left over than other characters over a long period of time. Not anything game breaking. 100 ghosts slamming into you all at once will kill you very quickly, just the same.
Many are surprised to learn that Thyra's magic is identical to that of Thor, as many sources claim that it is better. In versions other than the arcade, the Valkyrie often does possess better magic power.
Most of her best stats don't really matter that much, and her magic power makes her pretty inept at clearing many rooms without damage. This hurts the Valkyrie a lot, and makes her overshadowed by the Elf. Thyra is certainly a workable character, and in some ways can be better than Thor. But the fact is, the Elf plays the same style in a better fashion.
In multi-player, she doesn't really add much special to a team. Indeed, she would likely be the last character spot to be filled.
Wizard (Merlin)
| Statistic | Normal stats | Extra stats |
|---|---|---|
| Armor strength: | 0% | 20% |
| Shot strength: | 1~2 HP | 2 HP |
| Shot travel speed: | 3.5 | 5 |
| Shot collision box: | Medium | N/A |
| Magic VS Monsters: | 3 HP | 3 HP |
| Magic VS Generators: | 3 HP | 3 HP |
| Magic (Potion Shot VS Monsters): | 3 HP | 3 HP |
| Magic (Potion Shot VS Generators): | 2 HP | 3 HP |
| Melee VS Monsters: | 1 HP | 2 HP |
| Melee VS Generators: | 100% miss | 100% miss |
| Running speed: | 1 | 3 |
Merlin is the typical wizard character: slow, physically weak, and adept at magic.
A magic attack from him will wipe out everything on screen, generator or not. He can also activate potions by shooting them with very good results. There are many levels that fill the screen with monsters, and place generators at every corner. These levels often just cannot be cleared without either taking considerable damage, or wiping them out with magic. Merlin provides this.
His shot is special. It does random damage, meaning that half the time you'll get 1 HP, the other half you'll get 2 HP. That equates to a 50% chance of knocking out a level 2 in a single shot, and a 75% chance of knocking out a level 3 in two shots. It can't be counted on to do 2 damage when you need it to, and you really must take a pessimistic approach to using it. It can help you surge through a stream of strong enemies faster to reach a generator, but fighting individual enemies requires you to play as if every shot did only 1 HP every time, for safety. In this, the random shot isn't really that much better than Questor's or Thyra's shot.
His melee attack is the worst, but this isn't terribly important. He can still take down level 1 monsters if the need arises.
His armor is 0%. Again, armor strength doesn't matter too much.
The Wizard's speed is tied with the Warrior. This is the main difference between him and the Elf, and why the Elf wins out. Still, it is not too big of a loss.
All in all, the Wizard is a very high tiered character. Interestingly, this stems from his high magical power alone.
In multi-player, the Wizard takes all of the potions, unless he is already full of them. He should never pick up any keys.
Note: The Wizard's shot power with an Extra Shot potion equipped used to be 2~3 in earlier revisions. This was changed, presumably, because the Warrior's Extra Shot had to be lowered to this level.
Elf (Questor)
| Statistic | Normal stats | Extra stats |
|---|---|---|
| Armor strength: | 10% | 30% |
| Shot strength: | 1 HP | 2 HP |
| Shot travel speed: | 3.5 | 5 |
| Shot collision box: | Small | N/A |
| Magic VS Monsters: | 3 HP | 3 HP |
| Magic VS Generators: | 2 HP | 3 HP |
| Magic (Potion Shot VS Monsters): | 3 HP | 3 HP |
| Magic (Potion Shot VS Generators): | 1 HP | 2 HP |
| Melee VS Monsters: | 1~2 HP random | 2~3 HP |
| Melee VS Generators: | 100% miss | high miss % |
| Running speed: | 3 | 5 |
And finally, Questor. He mixes speed with good magic skills. He is often considered the best.
There really isn't much new to say. His shot, armor, and melee skills are weak. But shot power isn't something you can bargain for, and melee/armor strength doesn't matter for the most part.
His smaller shot size means he can occasionally hit things others cannot, via precision aiming.
But the deal sealers are his magic and speed.
His magic can weaken level 3 generators to the point that his 1 HP shot works easily against the new monsters. Everything else is still destroyed. The Wizard's edge over the Elf in magic is mostly superfluous.
Questor's speed is amazing. Once he gets an Extra Speed potion, his dodging and retreating ability becomes unparalleled.
In multi-player, Questor can attract enemies and have them chase him while his team-mates hack them down. He can also scout much more safely.