ZENONIA 1 Classes: Warrior vs Paladin vs Assassin
Data checked:
Side-by-side comparison
| Warrior | Paladin | Assassin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam blurb | Balanced and resilient | Defensive and reliable | Fast and lethal |
| Weapon | Two-handed sword (longest melee reach) | One-handed sword | Paired daggers (fastest attack rate) |
| Armor | Heavy (best defense of the three) | Medium | Light (weakest defense) |
| Damage profile | Highest hits, widest damage spread | Lowest hits, most consistent | Medium per hit, fast hits, highest critical potential |
| Speed | Normal | Normal | Fastest movement and attack speed |
| Healing | None from skills | Restore (the only self-heal skill in the game) | None from skills |
| Stat to grow | STR, then CON | STR/CON with steady SPI | AGI (DEX) alongside STR |
| Playstyle | Front-line bruiser: knockdowns, bleeds, a temporary defense buff and Berserk Spirit (guaranteed criticals) | Self-sustaining all-rounder: heal, knockdown, bleed, elemental buffs | Hit-and-run: stuns, screen-clearing lightning, invisibility and illusion to disengage |
| Ultimate | Archangel (unlocked after the fifth seal boss) | Archangel (unlocked after the fifth seal boss) | Archangel (unlocked after the fifth seal boss) |
Skill lists by class
Every class has eight active skills, eight passives and one ultimate (Archangel, unlocked after the fifth seal boss). Skill names below are as they appear in the game; the 2009 original and the Steam restoration share the same skill trees according to the dev team. Passives that appear on more than one class (Grace of the Crow, Howl of the Lion, Tear of Orion) do the same thing on each.
Warrior
Never back down as you conquer your enemy with strength and courage.
Active
- Crash
- Rising Spine
- Double Strike
- Shining Blade
- Panic Shout
- Mateo
- Berserk Spirit
- Blessed Armor
Passive
- Grace of the Crow
- Recovery of the Eagle
- Focus of the Archer
- Eye of the Lynx
- Howl of the Lion
- Wrath of the Dragon
- Strength of the Bear
Build guide: Warrior build
Paladin
Control the elements of earth and dominate your opponent with magic!
Active
- Compact Slash
- Rising Slash
- Restore
- Soul Impact
- Holy Bless
- Blade Spirit
- Blast Boom
- Holy Shout
Passive
- Grace of the Crow
- Illusion of the Swan
- Strength of the Bull
- Howl of the Lion
- Tear of Orion
- Eye of the Lynx
- Life of the Wolf
- Leather of the Bear
Build guide: Paladin build
Assassin
Swift as the wind and silent as the shadow, no one can stop you.
Active
- Frenzy Sword
- Explosion
- Ice Spear
- Burning Spirit
- Chain Lightning
- Invisibility
- Illusion
- Thunder Storm
Passive
- Will of the Unicorn
- Grace of the Crow
- Focus of the Archer
- Recovery of the Eagle
- Tear of Orion
- Howl of the Lion
- Agility of the Lynx
- Wrath of the Dragon
Build guide: Assassin build
How to choose
- First time playing, want the smoothest run: Warrior. Pure STR, Double Strike and Berserk Spirit take you through every seal, and the heavy armor makes CON points go further.
- You die a lot or hate buying potions: Paladin. Restore heals a percentage of HP, so invest a little extra in SPI and you can stop and heal instead of chugging Potion Extracts.
- You know the game and want speed: Assassin. Dodge slow enemies outright, stun with Frenzy Sword, and clear screens with Chain Lightning and Thunder Storm. Buy the Feather of Oblivion early because AGI does nothing for carry weight.
- Achievement hunting: class does not matter. All 44 achievements are class-agnostic, and the achievement-point shop works on every character.
Want the ranking with reasons? See the class tier list. Wondering what one stat point actually does? See stats explained.