We live in an era of games — new games with great graphics are published every day, yet there are still tons of rogue-like fans out there. For those rogue-like lovers, 20 Minutes Till Dawn is a great game that guarantees much longer fun than 20 minutes.

The concept of 20 Minutes Till Dawn is simple: survive until dawn, which comes in 20 minutes. The ghastly dot graphics give the game an eerie atmosphere as the player has to survive through the waves of monsters. As of July 9, there are eight characters and seven weapons in the game, each with its own unique characteristics. They all have their own strengths, but here’s a tier list for those of you who might want to have an easier way through the darkness.

Characters

S-Tier

Diamond

Diamond is the only character that scales through the process. It starts with high HP and can gain scaling effects when he recovers or is hit. Due to this style, there are some important skills and runes to select.

On the rune side, you want to take Healing and Growth, which both guarantees extra HP every 1,500 kills and every five levels. The skills need a little more effort as you’ll need to build on the Pyro Mage tree and Vitality tree to learn Soothing Warmth and Regeneration. Healing and Growth guarantee some heals, but it’s not enough, so once you have collected these skills, you’ll be free to be hit, and you’ll WANT to be hit for extra damage, reload time, fire rate, etc.

Since Diamond scales well, any weapon goes well with him, but the most recommended weapons are the Shotgun and Revolver. Do NOT use the Grenade Launcher, because you’ll regret it the instant you pick up Diamond’s Bulk Up skill.

Spark

Spark is the goddess of lightning. Whenever she hits an enemy with her bullets, she has a 50% chance to call down lightning. Obviously, Spark goes really well with the lightning build, as all damage is increased by 12 when she learns Lightning Mastery.

Some good skills that bring extra synergies are Splinter and Energized. These two skills paired with Spark’s unique ability give her almost unlimited ammo — there will be no need to reload, especially when you’re using the Dual SMGs.

As Spark is an elemental damage dealer, you won’t need to increase her bullet damage through skills. Focus on collecting elemental skills and synergies along with some fire rate skills as well. The best weapon for Spark is the Dual SMGs. Since the Batgun guarantees hits and Spark’s unique ability activates when an enemy is hit, it’s a good choice as well. Once you’ve secured Overload, the damage will be more than enough to clear all the rounds. Having Frost Fire and Shatter will be bonuses.

A-Tier

Abby

Abby’s biggest strength is that she doesn’t lose any movement speed while she fires. Unfortunately, you can’t decide the direction she’s firing because she’s spinning all around. That being said, the Batgun is a great choice for Abby — it doesn’t matter where she fires, the bullets land on enemies no matter what.

Another great choice is the Dual SMGs. When you choose Dual SMGs on Abby, it’s best to go with the elemental build, dealing damage through Lightning, Fire, and Ice. The biggest withdrawal to the Dual SMGs is her long reload time, so you should consider picking up the Courage rune to make up for it.

Scarlet

Scarlet fires… fire on every third shot. She’s not great, she’s not bad. Her low bulk and damage can make it difficult at times, but once you gain enough elemental skills, you’ll be able to move forward like a master.

Obviously, Scarlet is another elemental damage dealer. You should use the Fire Thrower to maximize her ability, or the Dual SMGs to shoot out her third fire wave as fast as possible. Pyromaniac and Pyro Affinity both increase Scarlet’s damage drastically, so things will get much easier after that. If you use the Ethereal rune, you’ll have almost infinite ammo in the late game. Scarlet also has great synergy with the Dragon, whose attack type is burn as well,  if you’re able to pick it up early in the game.

Yuki

As the newest character in the game, Yuki is a decent character to breach the darkness. Well, there were fire and lightning characters already in the game, why not an ice character, right? Unlike the other two elemental characters, however, Yuki is more of an all-around character. Since the Frost Butterfly is affected by her bullet damage as well, you can build her to be a bullet damage dealer as well as an elemental damage dealer.

So the best weapons for Yuki are the Revolver and Grenade Launcher. These two weapons can benefit from Yuki’s ability by sending out butterflies frequently while benefiting from bigger bullet damage. Just make sure you avoid big explosions from the Grenade Launcher, and NEVER EVER pick up Splinter when you’re using the Grenade Launcher.

B-Tier

Hina

Hina’s tiny bulk makes it difficult to play her, but since she’s the only character in this game that can dash, it’s probably okay. It’s a bit difficult to maneuver, but if you get a hang of it, it’ll come in handy.

It still might be difficult for those of you who want to clear the game fully using Hina, so there’s a great and simple trick: take the Grenade Launcher and deal damage through her clone. If you stand by your clone with the Focal Point Magic Lens, the attacks from the clone will take up almost half of your screen, and with great damage too.

When you use this trick, focus on picking up any summon skill and bullet damage skill. The Summon Mastery synergy isn’t quite recommended since it deducts bullet damage, and Hina’s clone is affected by the bullet damage. Also, even with Hina, you do NOT want to pick up Splinter while using the Grenade Launcher. Besides summon and bullet damage skills, try picking up Magnetism and Glare skills as well.

Lilith

Lilith is the most underperforming character of the bunch. It’ll be difficult for you to clear the game playing Lilith. At least she has 4 HP, which is slightly better than some characters. Still, if you want to clear the game with Lilith, there are some ways.

The best weapons for Lilith are the Batgun and the Crossbow. To benefit the most from her ability, you need to get many kills — the easiest way to get kills is by using the Crossbow. Charge up and shoot through as many enemies as you can. The Spirits’ damage is affected by the summon stats, so pick up as many summon skills as possible. The Magic Lens is very helpful when you’re using the Batgun since it benefits double from additional summon damage. The Cadence rune can aid your journey in the early game as it guarantees infinite Piercing.

Shana

As the most basic character, it’ll be the easiest for you to pick up the skills you want since Shana can reroll the random skills that popped up. Shana can be versatile, but at the same time, he’s in the middle of nowhere.

The most unique way of building Shana is using his unique skill: Specialize. Specialize can triple the effect of the next skill you pick up, so it can have great benefits. However, the problem is that you don’t know if you’re going to pick up Specialize in the box.

Still, there are several good skills you can pair Specialize with, and here’s the list.

Specialize+Tome

- Don't pick up the box dropped by the 17-minute boss until you kill the 15-minute boss, and then pick up the two in order. If you get Specialize in the box, you'll be able to triple the effect of the tome. In this case, using Batgun and going for Tome of Rage or Tome of Summon is the best since they don't have an HP penalty.

Specialize+Halo

- If you pick up Ascension in your first box, you can aim to get a triple Halo. Pick up the Halo pieces until it's dropped on the ground, and wait until you get Specialize. The fire rate and reload rate bonus will become 150% through this way.

Specialize+Quick Learner

- You'll get +120% experience, so you can aim to hit the highest level in the game and learn most of the skills. Obviously, you'll need to pick up two boxes in a row. 

Runes

Setting up the runes is rather simple. It varies by character and builds you’re going for, but the best rune setups are mostly similar. Here are some example rune setups for specific builds.

General play

Damage up Diamond

Elemental master Spark

Shadow Clone Hina