Table of Contents
Welcome to our first edition of The Bazaar State of the Meta series! This is an attempt at giving a global picture of the current state of The Bazaar metagame. In no way are the three builds discussed for each character the only possibility. Plus, while knowing about those will help you decide which route to follow during a run, adaptability and creativity are your best allies in The Bazaar.
In the end, it is as important to know how to salvage a bad run and secure a bronze win as it is to know how to build a certain strategy to a gold one.
Version 1.0.0 Metagame Overview
Except for maybe Pygmalien, who has the easiest route to a One-Shot build through Fixer Upper with an Obsidian enchantment, or a scaled up Dog or Regal Blade. The Bazaar is best played when your build goes off before your opponent, and you have both a swift loop alongside some scaling ability.
Damage is often what you look for if able. Indeed, even with just a 0.5 cooldown per trigger, a burn build needs to quickly reach the thousands to close a match in the very late days. As for a poison build, it is almost impossible to win through sheer damage, meaning you need support from a heal or shield mechanic.
This is even more important with the release of Mak, a character able to build a ton of regeneration, and enticing other characters to look for ways to deal huge chunks of damage quickly rather than regular hits. The arrival of the alchemist has limited Vanessa's Aquatic build ability to perform, routinely beating it in the head to head (Poison & Regen beats Poison & Shield). The pirate has turned back to its weapons as a result.
In this mix, Dooley feels like the Independent character, especially for those who already unlocked its theme expansion, giving a new life to the Companion Core. It doesn't necessarily make the robot a better hero to pick to get a gold run, but certainly helped its reliability. Indeed, with friends now back on the menu, only the shield based core feels pretty weak at the moment, due to Mak poisoning through it fairly easily.
Overall, The Bazaar still feels like a hot mess once you are past day 10. Your build which just stomped an opponent looking mighty strong might lose to a weird looking, disruptive strategy on the next day. While it makes the game fun and unpredictable in that last part of a run, it also makes it extremely difficult to reliably get from 7 to 10 wins without enough prestige to tank one or two losses on the way.
As such, I believe the game still rewards a strong start in order to quickly lock in a Bronze win, and hopefully get to Silver using that momentum. Once there, little details will be huge difference makers, such as the enchantment you are offered, the ability to pack a bit of disruption or whether you find certain items able to make your build reach the next gear.
With that goal in mind, I value the Enchanted Item a lot amongst the three starting kits. I am not against the Gold Skill, but it could not be super useful in the early days. The gold plus income choice however, is one I have stopped picking, as the ability to quickly beat elite monsters and the extra 6 gold offered with the enchanted item is enough economy wise.
I don't like to rank characters, as I feel The Bazaar rewards being a specialist more than constantly swapping from one another. Yet, if I had to give a shot at who has the best chance at ranking up, here's my ranking:
- Dooley
- Mak
- Vanessa
- Pygmalien
I don't feel like there are big balance discrepancies amongst each hero. However, they don't have the same chance to build for the current environment. Then, I ranked them based on how reliable each feels. Pygmalien is last due to its need to find certain specific items in time to scale their power, while the others can typically find ways to compete in the early days in most scenarios.
I still feel like Pygmalien is the king of the late game, but that part of a run feels very volatile at a moment, hence why I ranked it last.
Dooley
I consider Dooley to be the most reliable pick at the moment, mostly because it is close to impossible to get a bad start. With the expansion bringing plenty of new friends, the Companion Core is once again a good pick, while the burn or damage options were decent already. Then, paired with an enchanted item from your starting kit, Dooley is often a strong hero in the early days, able to quickly secure a bronze run.
The late game can be a little trickier to navigate than with Vanessa or Mak, as positioning and nitpicking items matters much more. Still, the mighty Power Drill is too strong and versatile not to rank as a top tier foundational item. In this enchantment heavy metagame, Power Drill will always find a way to be extremely fast, and create a barely stoppable loop once it goes off.
| Build | Early | Late | Projected Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Drill | Good | Great | 7-10 | A+ |
| Friends | Below Average | Good | 4-10 | A |
| Tech items | Great | Below average | 4-7 | B+ |
Example Best Build
Power Drill can make a lot of support items shine, so don't be too attached to the featured build above. Ideally, you want a way to constantly trigger Power Drill, which in return will charge other items through Metronome and Fiber Optics.
Here, I focused on being disruptive through Slow and Freeze, while applying as much burn as possible with Incendiary Rounds. Yet, as long as you manage to create that loop of unending Power Drill triggers, your build should click.
Mak
Mak is a fairly safe pick to complete a bronze run, as the mix of Regeneration and Poison this hero typically goes for early on is great for the first four to five days. However, unless you manage to transition to something else, find a powerful enchantment, or weaken your early game to focus on finding weapons you'll then support with Poppy Field, Mak can run out of gas before the finish line.
| Build | Early | Late | Projected Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poison / Weapon Hybrid | Above Average | Fantastic | 4-10 | A+ |
| Vat of Acid | Below Average | Great | Inconsistent | B+ |
| Reagent | Above Average | Below Average | 4-7 | B- |
Example Best Build
Poppy Field, Spider Mace and Floor Spike are the core items here. The rest just makes the build even stronger. Ouroboros Statue can be swapped if we find some healing through an enchantment or Runic Potion.
Vanessa
Vanessa doesn't have many builds available, but they complement each other very well. Before the start of the season, the Aquatic build was the best performer, able to build tons of shield while stacking enough poison to threaten the opponent.
Mak has emerged as a tough opponent for that strategy, limiting the power of the Aquatic build. Fortunately, the Mono-Weapon build, especially with Flagship, can be difficult for Mak to deal with, while able to compete with the most common builds out there.
For most characters, I will favor the enchanted item as the best starting kit. However, due to Vanessa's need to specialize its build, the Gold Skill tends to be stronger with this particular hero.
| Build | Early | Late | Projected Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mono-Weapon | Average | Good | 4-10 | A |
| Aquatic | Good | Average | 4-7 | B |
| Multi-Weapon | Good | Average | 4-7 | B |
Example Best Build
The Mono Weapon build will be weaker against disruption compared to the other two. However, until there is less of Mak around, it is also the build most likely to bypass the new character's regeneration.
You can build it multiple ways, as long as you deal huge chunks of damage. It can be through a multicast weapon, the typical route, or through inflicting a ton of burn onto your opponent, which will act as your second blow on top of your weapon's damage.
Captain's Wheel and [/item]Catfish are flexible items here. Both synergize with [item]Flagship to grant it multicast. Yet, a potion could also do the trick as it is an ammo item, while Captain's Wheel has multiple potential replacements available.
Pygmalien
I feel like Pygmalien's best build at the moment is the Medium weapons one, particularly due to Caltrops being a nutty item in this loop based metagame and that build having the best chance to win early in a run. However, that build is also quite volatile, as you need to both find the necessary items and upgrade them to not run out of steam. Plus, if Caltrops are playing hide and seek, you will typically get steam rolled by other character's loops once the later days come around.
Typically, I would start with a Regal Blade or Dog as my scaling item, and then branch to a medium item build as I see Crook on my way. Doing so, I'm not locked into a specific direction, and can adapt depending on what I get offered during the early part of my run.
If I happen to run into Beast of Burden or Fixer Upper, I'll then have the ability to operate a switch and follow that route. If you get either item offered and haven't started to heavily invest into a build, you can simply play to make either as powerful as possible and march to level 10 for an enchantment.
All those builds are great when they click. I simply feel they don't click as often as what is available for the other heroes at the moment.
| Build | Early | Late | Projected Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium Weapons | Average | Good | Inconsistent | A- |
| Beast of Burden | Below Average | Great | Inconsistent | B+ |
| Fixer Upper | Below Average | Great | Inconsistent | B |
Example Best Build
Phonograph will just serve to make your enchanted, multicast or highest damage count item as fast as possible. Note that picking it will also function alongside Beast of Burden or Fixer Upper, although Balcony tends to be stronger with properties. Paired with Caltrops, this gives us a reasonable chance at quickly beating the other heroes and their typically limited health pool.
Closing Words
I hope this metagame overview was helpful, and hopefully can become a regular occurrence from now on. Let me know in the comments if this is a good format to cover the state of the game.
If you have any questions or would be looking for coaching, feel free to reach out on Discord @den_ccg.
Good Game Everyone.
