All Expeditions: Rome starting classes and skills, which should you pick?

After the tutorial battle is out of the way, you’ll have to make a couple of big choices about your current playthrough of Expeditions: Rome. One is the difficulty, and the other is which class you’ll start with and what skill you want that character to have from the class. This decision can be tricky to pick in a rush, which is why we’ve outlined all the starting classes and associated skills in this guide, so you can read through them before making your final decision.

Princeps class

The Princeps class is a strong warrior equipped with a shield to survive for longer in battle. This shield also gives them the ability to batter enemies and ram through them. The three subclasses of Princeps provide a deeper focus on defense, focusing on an enemy’s attack, or getting stuck into the middle of a fight. Your character will start with heavy armor and a spear with this class, and you can choose from one of the following starting skills. 

• Brace: Applies strong to your character and gains two stacks of it.
• Frighten: Applies -10 to the morale of all targets within a two hex radius.
• Knockdown: Deals 2 to 5 bludgeoning damage and applies the knocked down affect to enemies. This pins your enemies in place and forces them to spend double the movement cost to get away from you.

Sagittarius class

The Sagittarius class is the archer class in Expeditions: Rome. You’ll fight from afar and have poor defense, so it’s best to lead from the back. Your character will gain a bow and some light armor with this class, but little else. You can diversify into a Marksman subclass, denying enemy movement, a Hunter subclass that deals better at close range with multiple targets, or a sniper class that’s perfect for long-range foes. The skills you can start with are as follows.

• Interrupt: Deals 6 to 11 piercing damage when fired. This move prepares your character to fire within a 120 degree are of the map whenever an enemy moves within it. Much like an attack of opportunity.
• Quick Shot: Deals 4-7 piercing damage that has a -30% to accuracy and 30% chance to miss on two indiidually chosen targets.
• Ranging Shot: Applies the spotted status effect to all enemies within a 12 hex radius. Any shots you fire at those targets will then deal full damage regardless of distance.

Triarius class

The Triarius class can diversify into a supportive, offensive, or defensive character in each subclass. Your character will start with strong armor and a spear, allowing them to fill any role on the battlefield. This is a good all-rounder class for those who don’t know which position they want to take up in battle yet. The skills you can pick from are as follows.

• Logistics: Applies the coordinated status effect to all allies in a 2 hex radius. This grants all affected allies +2 to their movement counter.
• War Horn: Applies the rallied status effect to all allies within a 6 hex radius. This grants all affected allies a bonus of 25% to their damage dealt.
• Deathblow: Deals 4 to 7 piercing damage and shreds 1 point of armor. It deals +50% damage to enemies with the stunned, knocked down, stuck, or sundered status effects.

Veles class

The Veles class is a light infantry soldier with two blades and medium armor, more akin to other RPGs’ rogue or thief classes. Each subclass of Veles feels much the same, with your character sneaking around enemies and striking at the heart of their strategy, making formations fall apart as you pick away important targets. The skills you can pick from with this class are as follows.

• Cheap Shot: Applies the savage status effect to your character, giving them a 100% chance to get a critical strike with their next attack.
• Shiv: Deals 2 to 3 piercing damage, an attack that doesn’t cost an action point, allowing you to move on and inflict furhter damage.
• Tactical Advantage: Applies the tactical status effect to your character. This means that your character won’t be hit by any attacks of opportunity in the next turn.