Tristan finds himself in a strange position among the cast Steamworld Heist 2. While most characters have a set role that is boosted by their first unique ability and strengthened by their second, Tristan instead gets two upgrades for completely different things. This makes him a challenge even if he has the strongest ability in the game.
Under ideal circumstances, this ambitious bot deals twice as much damage as most other characters, allowing them to melt through hordes of reinforcements and speed through tanky boss fights. The price of this is that they don’t have a single job that obviously fits their playstyle. Here’s how to get them going.
Early to midgame build for Tristan
Tristan’s first personal upgrade is “Always Prepared.” It reduces healing items to free actions and grants Tristan a small amount of healing whenever he heals an ally.
This results in two general roles that Tristan can fill:
|
role |
Description |
Job options |
|---|---|---|
|
Backline Healer |
To protect him from behind and make sure people come to him to be healed. |
Boomer is doing well and building where he wants to be at the end of the game. It gives him a additional utility slot for some healing items and keeps him out of harm’s way. A grenade launcher that can fire over walls and around corners is good for keeping him safe, while also keeping him close enough to the action for people to run to heal him. |
|
Paramedics on the front line |
This makes him mobile, allowing him to run around in the middle of combat and help other bots on the front lines. |
The engineer is the role that usually carries your healing items. Her wide aura can provide healing at longer ranges. The ability to create cover as a free action also allows her to move into exposed positions to provide healing and then crouch behind the holographic cube. Flanker is a more aggressive choice. The free heal action allows Tristan to run into an exposed position, heal someone, and then run back into cover. Combined with the Flanker’s numerous movement boosts and ability to refund move actions, Tristan can serve as a mobile scout who can prioritize support when it’s dangerous to get close. |
Endgame build for Tristan
Tristan’s second upgrade is called “Believe It” and is one of the most powerful abilities in the game. It removes the round-ending aspect of all attackswhich offers both enormous flexibility and damage potential.
By firing first and then moving, Tristan can take dangerous shots with much less risk than other characters. By firing twice, Tristan can easily double the damage on every job except Sniper and Brawler.
The two best jobs to use Tristan’s second upgrade are Boomer and Flanker:
|
Work |
Playstyle |
Remarkable skills |
|---|---|---|
|
Boomers |
The Boomer can fire rocket weapons at long ranges with minimal damage falloff or use grenade launchers to attack around corners. These require minimal repositioning. |
The Capstone of Boomers Loose Cannon doubles all shots on the turnallowing Tristan to fire four times with most weapons. If all of these attacks land on the same target, it will cause significant damage even in the tougher boss fights. With an area weapon, it can take out entire waves of reinforcements. |
|
Flanker |
If Tristan is placed close to the action, he can either shoot twice at point blank range or shoot once and then retreat. |
The flanker is able Repositioning with Sidestepleaving both actions free. Penetrator multiplies the damage dealt by applying it to more enemies. |
If you have exhausted both jobs, Flanker requires fewer side jobs to function well. Insert Loose Cannon with a nuclear shotgun quadruples your damage regularly by using the cooldown reduction.
Weapons with recoil, such as Reaper SMGs, have problems when paired with Loose Cannon. The two shots are fired immediately, so you should often
Aim low at the opponent to avoid missing with the second attack.
Part-time jobs for Tristan
Almost every job has something to offer and you shouldn’t feel obligated to pick them all. By the time you unlock his second upgrade, you’ll likely have at least some of the following:
- The Sniper’s passive Focus ability provides Tristan with a unique utility, as when he is stationary he gains a damage bonus on both attacks, or he can attack with the damage bonus and then run away.
- The Brawler’s Shifty passive ability allows Tristan Move between attacks without action costsbut it’s a difficult class for him to level up because it doesn’t offer him much at lower levels.
- The flanker’s ability to pay wages allows Tristan Use the refunded action to move, attack, and move againhits hard and remains undetected.
- The Reaper’s Harvest ability pairs well with Loose Cannonwhich doubles the number of additional shots fired.
