Royal Guide
Quest-driven characters and payoffs for Upgraded Royals.
What Royals do
Royals are the most quest-heavy type. Ash-Marked Girl, Dauntless Maiden, Grave-Kissed Princess, Wooden Sentinel, Peerless Cavalier and Ironclad Demigod all upgrade themselves by completing a stated goal, such as casting 4 spells or slaying 3 enemies, instead of finding three copies. That makes the type forgiving when the shop does not offer duplicates.
Several Royals pay off from single purchases: Forsaken Prince becomes a 5/5 when you buy another Royal, Tusked Princess adds a character to your hand when she slays, and Shepherd Princess leaves three Lambs behind. The type-wide payoffs are Onceborn King, which gives your Upgraded Royals +2/+2 permanently at the start of every brawl, and Empress of Thorns, which takes double bonuses from Supports.
Royals have a spread of alignments and a few cross-type members, so they combine easily with Dwarves, Monsters and Treants.
The shop sells 18 characters of this type, across tiers 2 to 6. 1 has a Support ability, 0 start with Flying and 1 starts with Ranged. The tables below come straight from the game’s data.
Royals by tier
Tier 2
| Character | Tier | Attack/Health | Alignment | Rules text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ash-Marked Girl (also Mage) | 2 | 2/2 | Neutral | Quest: cast 4 spells. Reward: Upgrade me. |
| Forsaken Prince | 2 | 1/1 | Good | When you buy another Royal, transforms into a 5/5 Frog-Kissed Prince. |
| Longbow Page | 2 | 2/1 | Good | Ranged. |
Tier 3
| Character | Tier | Attack/Health | Alignment | Rules text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bleeding Queen | 3 | 1/1 | Evil | When one of your Evil characters dies, gain +2/+2 this brawl. |
| Dauntless Maiden | 3 | 5/3 | Good | Quest: Slay 3 enemies. Reward: Upgrade me. |
| Grave-Kissed Princess | 3 | 3/5 | Evil | For the rest of the game, Dwarves in your shop have +1/+1. Quest: buy 7 Dwarves (counts earlier buys). Reward: Upgrade me. |
| Shepherd Princess | 3 | 1/1 | Good | Last Breath: summon three 1/1 Lambs. |
| Slumbering Belle | 3 | 0/8 | Good | Wakes when first targeted by a spell: +8 Attack permanently. |
| Star-Crossed Suitor | 3 | 5/3 | Good | Last Breath: if Balcony Bride is dead, summon her with +7/+7 this brawl. |
| Tusked Princess (also Monster) | 3 | 4/2 | Good | Slay: add a random character of my tier or lower to your hand. |
Tier 4
| Character | Tier | Attack/Health | Alignment | Rules text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balcony Bride | 4 | 7/7 | Good | No rules text; this character is all stats. |
| Ginger Champion | 4 | 7/7 | Good | +7/+7 if you have 20 or less Health. |
| Onceborn King | 4 | 5/5 | Good | At the start of each brawl, give your Upgraded Royals +2/+2 permanently. |
| Tidewhisper Mermaid | 4 | 4/8 | Good | Support: Gain Slay: +1/+1 permanently. |
| Wooden Sentinel (also Treant) | 4 | 4/10 | Good | Quest: survive damage 4 times. Reward: Upgrade me. |
Tier 5
| Character | Tier | Attack/Health | Alignment | Rules text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peerless Cavalier | 5 | 9/9 | Good | Slay: +2/+2 permanently. Quest: reach 25 Attack or Health during a brawl. Reward: Upgrade me. |
Tier 6
| Character | Tier | Attack/Health | Alignment | Rules text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empress of Thorns | 6 | 3/3 | Good | I get double bonuses from Supports. Last Breath: give my Attack and Health to whoever supports me, this brawl. |
| Ironclad Demigod | 6 | 25/25 | Good | Quest: deal 100 damage. Reward: Upgrade me. |
What buffs Royals
One character outside the type mentions Royals in their rules text:
| Character | Tier | Attack/Health | Alignment | Rules text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grieving Magus (also Mage) | 4 | 4/2 | Good | Ranged. When one of your Royals is attacked and killed, I make a bonus attack. |
Positioning
Slots 1 to 4 are the front row and slots 5 to 7 the back row; the rules guide explains how rows decide who gets attacked.
- Tidewhisper Mermaid is the type's Support and belongs in the back row.
- Longbow Page is Ranged and Grieving Magus (a Mage) rewards Royals that are attacked and killed, so a cheap Royal in the front row has a use even when it dies.
- Empress of Thorns doubles the bonuses it receives from Supports, so she is best placed in a front slot that a Support covers.
Looking for a full plan? The strategy guide covers turn-by-turn play, and the weekly meta report shows how boards built around each type have placed.