Rogue Legacy: Sir Judson V, the hypochondriac paladin

I am Sir Judson, the fifth of my name. So many generations of my family have entered this accursed castle, squandering my family’s fortune, and causing only pain and suffering. All has been in the service of opening the large gold door I now stand in front of. The door that is now open. I pray that whatever stands behind this door is worth the toll we have paid to open it.

After the jump, all the secrets — spoiler! — laid bare

The knight is the first class that is available when you start playing Rogue Legacy. It is a strong, all-around class. It has a fairly large mana pool, has ample health, and has a chance to critical hit. In other words, it is the perfect class to introduce players to the game. While you may not be able to kill a lot of enemies with the magic pool, it is enough to teach the importance of mixing magic into the melee combat that can drive the game.

When the knight is upgraded to the paladin, special abilities are gained that can really increase the survivability of the character. First, a shield can be used to block incoming damage. Even more important, though, is the ability to transform into a stone statue, Super Mario Bros 3 Tanooki suit style. This makes you invulnerable to all damage. Plus, who doesn’t like turning into a statue?

Sir Judson was a hypochondriac, which causes the game to display astronomically high damage numbers when you are hit. While this is purely aesthetic, it can make it difficult to track how much damage is being done if you don’t glance at the hit point bar in the corner. This trait is particularly insidious when combined with the congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP) trait. This trait removes the hit point bar, leading to a lot of sudden deaths, as you cannot track the health of your character without keeping a mental tally of all the damage done to you. However, as a hypochondriac, the exaggerated damage numbers mean that you cannot keep this tally, and it simply becomes a guessing game.

When you have finally finished off all four bosses in all four areas, the golden door at the entrance to the castle will open. When you enter this area, you will have a moment of deja vu, as the area behind it is the tutorial from the beginning of the game. When you reach the top, you will find the final journal entry, completing the story told throughout the game if you have found all the previous entries. In it you learn the true history of your family, and the cause of the ill that has befallen your family.

When you pass through the final door, you come face to face with the family patriarch, a knight once revered, who is now corrupted by power or immortality. Who can say? Your only choice is to cross blades at the base of the fountain of youth. Sir Judson fell rapidly to the speed and power of Sir Johannes, but if Rogue Legacy has taught me anything, it’s that I can overcome any challenge the game presents, even a family patriarch. It’s just a matter of persistence.

Click here for the previous Rogue Legacy entry.

Andrew Kneller is a chemistry graduate student and avid gamer. When he isn’t busy kicking laser tables and trying to teach undergrads, he and his wife play videogames and watch movies together. You can find him on the Quarter to Three forums as TREOS.