Not selected by raw play stats, only the ones which struck my imagination the most, and which make me smile when I daydream about this masterpiece of a game. Feel free to critique and counter in the comments. Let’s begin.
Mountain Dwarf Fighter of Qazlal - It’s just like bringing the Storm Domain Cleric from D&D 5e to the computer screen. Dodging? Stealth? Spellcasting? Haha, you have such a funny way of spelling “Invocations”! Uses nuclear weapons at the slightest provocation.
Minotaur Berserker of Trog - The antique, two-decades-old smooth-brained otab build. Utterly timeless. I still think it’s not the best thing to impose on new players who still aren’t convinced this game is actually fun.
Merfolk Gladiator of Okawaru - Why yes, there are lots of weapon types in the game! Such as, Garbage, Trash, Rubbish, Useless, Polearms and Nonsense.
Gargoyle Earth Elementalist of Vehumet - Adder? Did you mean “Mobile Potion of Experience”? The magical counterpart to the Minotaur Berserker. You always know when one passed by - you just need to notice the absence of walls.
Draconian Shapeshifter of Wu Jian - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I BEG YOU RNGESUS JUST ONE DRAGON-BLOOD TALISMAN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I BEG YOU. This was my favourite combo (in the Transmuter form) before I was inoculated with toxoplasmosis and started worshipping Felids.
Troll Fighter of Wu Jian - Ascended to memehood. Never attacks, only menacingly walks towards the Orb like an unstoppable force and things randomly die in its path. The widest HP pool you have ever seen.
Deep Elf Conjurer of Vehumet - Oh, hello. “Mystic BLAST!!” Long time no see! “Bom-BARD!!” I see you still miss Iron Shot. “Plasma BEAM!!” You know, one day you’ll have to learn how to hold up a conversation without randomly remote-detonating bystanders. “Fire STORM!!”
Armataur Conjurer of Ru - Iskenderun’s Mystic Blast. Rampage to the knocked back enemies, get a mana refund. Iskenderun’s Mystic Blast. Rince and repeat. Then, Draw Out Power and do it all over again, or Power Leap away for even more rampage opportunities. Most Armataurs are melee brutes indistinguishable to Minotaurs and their true “iconic” combo is Berserker, so I hope this build gains in popularity.
Gnoll Wanderer of Cheibriados - It just does it all. Cast level 9 magic in heavy armour. Blast with handcannons and a tower shield. Oneshot uniques with wands of acid. Do your taxes. There’s just one thing it can’t do: running away.
Human Conjurer of Sif Muna - For when you just feel like being a wizard. Uses any, and I mean, ANY spell. Made or broken by the floor god, because Sif Muna has hoarding tendencies and needs ten rounds of begging until they finally give you a single book.
Kobold Ice Elementalist of Qazlal - I know Brigand of Dithmenos is much more common, I just had to put this one here because of its much more memorable synergy. Flood your entire line-of-sight with Frozen Ramparts, then push your Disaster Area through a hydraulic press until it deals 500+ damage to everything on the screen.
Demonspawn Gladiator of Gozag - Gozag? No, it’s Go Zig or Go Home. If you didn’t get Powered by Death and Mana Shield, just Ctrl-Q already. Draws its name in experience potions and called merchants on Depths:2 that doesn’t have a single wall remaining. Thinks DCSS is Minecraft.
Djinni Fire Elementalist of Ashenzari - HP Regen: 12.67/turn. Breaks its monitor because it got offered 3 Ranged and Evocations curses in a row. Then breaks the computer too because it got Death’s Door as its final spell. If I had to introduce a new player to DCSS, I would probably choose this.
Spriggan Hunter of Hepliaqkana - If DCSS had a PvP mode, this would be the most cancerous thing to face imaginable. I feel pity for the monsters. Just kites for days and shoots bolts faster than you can reach it. If you somehow close the gap, here’s an Idealized Knight Ancestor in your face. I know Enchanter is more iconic. Let me have this.
Ghoul Monk of Makhleb - It’s like a mosquito. Its existence is dependent on its ability to land hits and abuse its deranged lifesteal. Then, it just gets pathetically swatted and can’t outheal the barrage of Dispel Undead the cackling Tzitzi-however-you-spell-it are throwing out.
Tengu Air Elementalist of Vehumet - What fire is to ice, this is to Gargoyle Earth Elementalist. They both hurt, in completely opposite ways, and if you ever see one of those menacingly staring at you without doing anything, you are probably eating infinite damage in the following turn.
Oni Warper of Sif Muna - Step 1: Acquire Giant Spiked Club. Step 2: Acquire Manifold Assault. Step 3: Channel Magic. It’s like they have wizmode cheats turned on that just deletes any monster that appears on their screen. The problem is that they need to get out of the Dungeon.
Barachi Ice Elementalist of Cheibriados - Psychological observation: people are much more likely to accept making something terrible if it was already bad. Will still utterly tremble in fear when a single step in the Elven Halls results in 75% of their HP being deleted.
Coglin Hunter of Okawaru - What do you mean, DCSS is a traditional roguelike? I thought those had to be turnbased. Looks more like an Enter the Gungeon spin-off to me. You’ve got two guns and you run around blasting fools. No difference.
Vine Stalker Fighter of Uskayaw - THE lowest IQ build in DCSS, your real-life Felid could play it if you rebound every key to O and TAB. Heavy armour. Tower shield. Quickblade. DEX so high it scrapes at the heavens. It’s a meditative experience, you’ll never have an independent thought for the entire 3 hours your run will last.
Vampire Enchanter of Dithmenos - Ye olde stabber build. It’s actually really good in the modern DCSS era, you can Aphotic Marionette any foe with Invisibility/Might/Haste and turn your quickblade into a deluxe kitchen blender. Very painful early game, late game spoken of in whispered tales of oneshotted orbs of fire.
Demigod Wanderer of Itself - dgwn[1/2]: when I first started playing I met some Japanese players who were remarkably better than anyone I’ve seen play, to this day, and they said that Demigod Wanderers were so easy to ascend with that they classified runs as DgWn runs and Non-DgWn runs [Source: crawl learndb]
Formicid Fighter of Nemelex Xobeh - These scrolls are terrible! I’ll make my own scrolls! With Pandemonium Lords! And spawnable walls I can dig out of! Has an executioner’s axe, a tower shield, a deck full of pain, and Lady Luck’s smile shining down on their glorious O-TAB. +2 Invocations, turn it on and forget it.
Naga Alchemist of Cheibriados - It’s just like the Barachi of Cheibriados but with even less moving around. It’s like a tank that lifts its little finger and expunges you out of reality (very slowly). It just doesn’t die. Then, suddenly, it does. Back to the character selection screen with you.
Octopode Shapeshifter of Gozag - POV: You’ve spent 2000 gold on merchants and you’ve still not gotten a single jewelry store. “Don’t give up, it scales for the late game”. O-TABs a little bit around Dungeon:2 with visions of extremely OP shenanigans in Cocytus, then gets two-shotted by halberd gnolls.
Felid Summoner of Jiyva - Hey, I swear this isn’t advertising, the statistics back me up if you check with the crawl database bots. Why do you need AC when there is no tile on the screen that doesn’t have an ally on it? Attraction, Immolation, Death’s Door. First, you fear the oneshot. Then, you understand the oneshot. Finally, you become the oneshot.
Mummy Monk of Nothing - NO GODS NOR MAGICS, ONLY MuMo. REVIVE the CURSE OF EGYPT AND LEARN TO FEAR AGAIN. FACE the TEN THOUSAND DEATHS OF THE TRUE PHARAOH