Remnant 2 offers players a variety of starting classes, known as Archetypes, to choose from. Each Archetype comes with its own unique skills, equipment, and playstyle. As an avid Remnant 2 player and content creator, I‘ve explored all the starting classes in-depth.
In this guide, I‘ll be breaking down the key details for each Archetype—their Prime Perks, starting gear, special abilities, and more. I‘ll also offer recommendations on the best class for different playstyles, whether you prefer ranged combat, melee brutality, or tactical support roles.
Overview of Starting Archetypes
Here‘s a quick rundown of the Archetypes available to new players:
- Gunslinger: Ranged damage specialist. Brings massive firepower into battles.
- Challenger: Tanky melee brawler. Can withstand and dish out lots of damage up close.
- Hunter: Precise long-range sniper. Focuses weak points for extra damage.
- Handler: Pet-wielding support class. Buffs allies and controls the battlefield.
- Medic: Pure healer & reviver. Keeps the team alive rather than dishing damage.
Below, I‘ll explore each of these starting classes in more detail.
Gunslinger
The Gunslinger is all about bringing overwhelming firearm power to bear against enemies. With boosted reload speeds and firing rates, you‘ll be able to spew out lead at an incredible pace.
Of all the starting classes, Gunslinger has the highest damage potential—especially if you can routinely land headshots or target weak points. The gun damage and fire rate bonuses from skills like Bulletstorm allow you to mow down smaller enemies with ease.
And when you need some burst damage against a bigger threat, the Quick Draw ability can deliver a highly accurate magnum blast.
Prime Perk: Loaded
- Reloads all weapons when any skill is activated
- Grants infinite ammo for 5 seconds after a skill activation
This Prime Perk perfectly complements the Gunslinger‘s rapid firing and reloading playstyle. You can dump out tons of shots, activate a skill to instantly reload, then keep firing without delay. During those 5 seconds of infinite ammo, feel free to go crazy with the bullets!
Starting Equipment
The Gunslinger comes equipped with a hard-hitting long gun, bladed melee weapon, and high caliber revolver sidearm:
- Wrangler 1860 (Repeater Rifle)
- Scrap Hatchet (Melee)
- Western Classic (Revolver)
Combined with the Gunslinger‘s perks and abilities, these weapons allow you to take out threats at any range. The rifle and revolver dish out excellent damage from a distance, while the hatchet finishes off any enemies that get too close.
Skills
- Quick Draw: Fires 6 high-damage revolver rounds. Can either auto-target enemies or manually aim a powerful shot.
- Sidewinder: Boosts weapon swap speed, ADS movement speed, and auto-reloads on swap.
- Bulletstorm: Massive increases to fire rate and reload speed. Turns single-shot guns full auto.
These skills emphasize the core strength of the Gunslinger class—putting out continuous streams of high-damaging gunfire. Between the firing rate increases of Bulletstorm and the reload perks from Sidewinder and the Prime Perk, you‘ll rarely need to stop shooting.
Recommended For
The Gunslinger is my top pick for players who love gun-focused playstyles and prefer fighting at mid-to-long range. The sheer firearm power of this class allows you to bombard enemies with bullets.
Just be ready to handle the increased ammo demands. Make sure to carry capacity upgrades and ammo crafting materials.
Challenger
If you want to get up close and personal with the enemy, the Challenger is the perfect choice. With extremely durable armor and hard-hitting melee implements, this class excels at close quarters carnage.
The Challenger isn‘t just a mindless brute, however. Skills like Juggernaut provide gun damage and fire rate buffs too. This allows you to soften up targets from range before charging in to finish them off.
And few things are more terrifying than an enraged Challenger in Berserk mode—dealing double damage with all attacks and restored health.
Prime Perk: Die Hard
- Becomes invulnerable for 2 seconds upon taking fatal damage
- Recovers 50% max health while invulnerable
Die Hard gives the Challenger some clutch survivability for when things go wrong. If you take a big hit that would down most classes, this Prime Perk activates to give you temporary invincibility and major healing. Use those 2 seconds to retreat or continue attacking with reckless abandon!
Starting Equipment
The Challenger‘s starting loadout provides both ranged and melee brute force:
- AS-10 Bulldog (Assault Rifle)
- Iron Greatsword (Melee)
- Silverback Model 500 (Revolver)
When it‘s time to get your hands dirty, the Iron Greatsword delivers crushing blows against any foe that survives your rifle barrage. Few enemies can withstand a berserk Challenger attacking with both weapon sets.
Skills
- War Stomp: Damaging AoE stomp that generates a powerful shockwave.
- Juggernaut: Boosts fire rate and gun damage. stacking damage buffs from kills. At 10 stacks, enter temporary Berserk mode.
- Rampage: Enhances mobility and melee power. Damage buffs from killing enemies.
These skills emphasize the Challenger‘s frontline fighter role. War Stomp and Rampage offer close-range damage and crowd control, while Juggernaut rewards an aggressive guns-blazing playstyle.
Recommended For
Players who love getting up close and personal with enemies will enjoy the Challenger‘s rugged brawling capabilities. This class rewards an aggressive playstyle and features great survivability too.
Just know that Challenger lacks ranged specialty—situational awareness and good positioning are key to avoid being overwhelmed.
Hunter
Whereas Challenger excels at close combat, the Hunter shines when kept at long distance. With specialized skills tailored for ranged skirmishing, the Hunter can systematically pick off enemies from afar.
Patient players will especially appreciate the Hunter‘s Focus skill. Simply aiming down sights boosts weapon stability and precision damage—allowing you to line up lethal headshots.
The Hunter may lack raw firepower upgrades, but landed weak point hits more than make up for it. And abilities like Hunter‘s Mark mean your whole team benefits from focused fire.
Prime Perk: Dead Rights
- Landing weak point hits extends the duration of active skills
- Can surpass base skill timers with enough weak point tags
This Prime Perk rewards precision shooting by keeping your damage-boosting Hunting skills active longer. If you can continually nail those critical hits, Dead Rights lets you chain bonuses like Marked Prey and Focus for extremely long durations.
Starting Equipment
The Hunter‘s long-range arsenal provides the tools needed for safe distance engagement:
- Huntmaster M1 (Marksman Rifle)
- Steel Sword (Melee)
- Repeater Pistol (Sidearm)
With a high-powered primary rifle and stable pistol backup, you have options for dealing weakpoint damage from afar. And the sword finishes off enemies that eventually close in on your position.
Skills
- Hunter‘s Mark: Marks enemies to receive additional damage. Improves critical hit chance against Marked targets.
- Hunter‘s Focus: entering ADS boosts stability and precision damage. Longer ADS enters a Focus mode for stronger bonuses.
- Hunter‘s Shroud: Reduces enemy perception and makes you harder to hit. Exiting Shroud boosts damage.
These skills bolster the Hunter‘s keepaway damage strategy. Hunter‘s Mark and Focus help blast enemies from long range, while Shroud allows repositioning. Your role is dealing safe, sustainable precision fire.
Recommended For
The Hunter best fits players who prefer fighting from long distance and leveraging tactical positioning. If you love landing goosebump-inducing headshots, the precision and Marked damage buffs make this a supremely satisfying class.
Just know that the Hunter lacks close combat options if enemies manage to flank your position. Escape plans and teammate support are key.
Handler
Whereas other classes focus purely on damage, the Handler takes a more tactical support role. With a loyal drone pet companion, this class can heal teammates, bolster damage, and control enemy aggression.
Handler may lack raw firepower, but the utility value more than makes up for it. Skills like Guard Dog draw enemy fire away from the team, while Support Dog provides burst healing and speed boosts.
With these powers supporting them, your damage-focused allies can really shine. And clever Handler players can leverage mechanics like threat generation and kiting to dominate battles.
Prime Perk: Bonded
- Companion drone attempts to revive you if downed
- Can also order drone to revive teammates if needed
With Bonded active, the Handler‘s drone ensures you or allies can get back into a fight after being downed. It‘s essentially a remote revive that triggers automatically if you fall. This added safety net enables more aggressive play.
Starting Equipment
The Handler‘s gear focuses more on versatility than pure damage:
- Blackmaw AR-47 (Assault Rifle)
- Rusted Claws (Melee Claws)
- Tech 22 (Pistol Sidearm)
While the rifle and claws offer some self defense ability, the Handler‘s true power lies in the support skills unlocked later. Consider equipment perks that boost things like healing effectiveness and speed.
Skills
- Guard Dog: Drone companion draws enemy aggro. Reduces damage taken by allies.
- Support Dog: Drone provides healing and speed boosts to nearby allies.
- Attack Dog: Boosts drone companion damage. Can trigger ally damage buffs.
Each of these skills provides battlefield control and ally buffing from your loyal drone companion. Whether healing teammates, establishing aggro, or enabling damage boosts, you have lots of tactical options.
Recommended For
Handler best suits players who enjoy tactical manipulation of fights rather than pure skill shooting. If you love providing buffs and controlling engagements, the drone powers offer lots of creative potential.
You‘ll need to provide cover fire too though. Carefully balance drone management with landing your own shots.
Medic
Rounding out the starting Archetypes, we have the Medic—your quintessential healer-support role. Without team buffs or damage capability, this class focuses completely on keeping allies healthy and resurrecting fallen squadmates.
Skills like Wellspring and Healing Shield allow you to sustain teammates through engagements that would crush less hardy classes. And clutch revives from Redemption can totally turn around a losing fight.
Make no mistake though—the Medic has little solo power. You‘ll rely completely on teammates to eliminate threats while you enable their survival. Stick close to your damage allies!
Prime Perk: Regenerator
- Healing allies grants Relic Charge resource
- At Relic Charge cap, instantly ready a special heal ability
Through constant healing of allies, the Medic builds up to activate their most powerful restoration abilities. It rewards a vigilant guardian playstyle instead of only sporadically healing at critical moments.
Starting Equipment
With a focus on healing rather than personal damage, the Medic sports modest armaments:
- XMG57 Bonesaw (Machine Pistol)
- Steel Flail (Melee)
- Service Pistol (Semiautomatic Sidearm)
Consider these weapons only as an absolute last resort for self defense (or finishing weakened enemies). Your role is fully supporting teammates rather than direct combat.
Skills
- Wellspring: Generate a healing hotspot for nearby allies over time. Also cures debuffs.
- Healing Shield: Massive burst heal that grants shields to nearby team members. Prolonged heal over time.
- Redemption: Revive downed allies from range and grant healing over time. Can build to increase initial heal.
Each of these powerful healing abilities enables the Medic to sustain a team through all kinds of punishing enemy attacks that would decimate lesser squads. Proper ability rotation is key though given the long cooldowns.
Recommended For
If you love directly supporting teammates rather than dishing personal damage, Medic is a perfect fit. This class works best with at least one friend though given its pure team focus.
Solo Medic play can work in a pinch but requires expert evasion. You have no damage skills to bail you out of bad situations!
Closing Thoughts
Hopefully this guide has given you a better sense of Remnant 2‘s starting class options and playstyles. I recommend trying out a couple that fit your preferences to see which clicks best. And remember—once you‘ve unlocked multiple Archetypes, you can combine skills from different sets for even more customization!
I‘m interested to hear your thoughts on these starting classes in the comments below. Let me know which Archetype sounds most appealing for your playstyle!
