Summary
WithInkulinatileaving Early Access and releasing on more platforms, even more players can now pick up this uniqueturn-based strategy gamethat brings medieval illuminated manuscripts to life. Throughout the main story, Journey Mode, players will choose a Master who simply acts as an avatar. From there, players can customize their Beast army, Hand Actions, and Talents.
In Duel Mode, however, players can take on their friends or the AI in large single battles. In this mode, there are twelve Inkulinati Masters to choose from, all with their own unique play styles. Each Master comes with their own set of Beasts, three additional Hand Actions on top of Move Left and Move Right, as well as four talents. While in theory, all Masters should be equally balanced, some Inkulinati Masters are not only stronger but also more fun to play.
Minimal Chaos Effect
Desperate Reinforcement
Godfrey is arguably the simplest Inkulinati Master, but his ability to damage foes and even crush up to three at once withhis literal Hand Actionsmakes him incredibly fun to play. To use Swat and Strike, players will have to move Godfrey close enough to enemy Beasts. Thankfully, his exceptionally high starting health allows this aggressive play style.
His simplicity also makes him strong for new players. This also goes for four of his five Beasts, who are all Dogs and primarily focused on dealing damage. The more fun aspect of Godfrey’s retinue is the Donkey Bard, who can use his flatulence to give enemy Beasts Headaches.
Anointed Halo
Desperate Cunning
Hildegard Von Bingen was one of the most influential women in the Middle Ages, and has fittingly been brought to life as Master inInkulinati. Her three most common Beasts are all flatulent Rabbits, who can put enemies to sleep with their foul smells. As an Abbess and Saint, it is also fitting that she has a Bishop Cat who deals more damage to Heretics while healing friendly units. Hildegard herself also has a Hand Action that heals.
What makes her one of the best Inkulinati Masters, however, is her ability to draw and deploy arguablythe best Beast inInkulinati, Sir Snail. Instead of damaging enemies, Sir Snail devours them, regardless of how high their health is; a true one-shot ability. In Journey Mode, however, using the same Beasts over and over willcause a buildup of Boredom, meaning they will cost more Living Ink.
Fiery Business
Thorned Fingers
Dante Alighieri is best known for his epic poem theDivine Comedy, and the iconic first section of this is known as theInferno.Its theme of fire, hell, and devilsis what theInkulinatiMaster Dante is based on. All of Dante’s Beasts can produce Fire Sparks on the map, which deal damage at the end of each chapter, while they themselves are immune.
The Bellow-Wielding Devil is the best of these devils, and can deal a whopping 15 damage to any target standing on Fire Sparks. Even better, however, is the three-headed dog Cerberus. Each head is capable of sending a deadly fireball, which will additionally create Fire Sparks. As the Tiny Inkulinati of Dante himself is immune to Fire Sparks as well, players should aim to litter the battlefield with fire.
Mourning Business
Bleeding-Proof
Saint Francis is known for his love ofbirds and animals in general, and so it makes sense that his army is made up primarily of Pigeons. When Pigeons are standing next to each other, they will Coo together to restore their health and gain bonus damage. Francis can also pet his Beasts with a Hand Action to heal them for 8 HP and remove any negative effects. His Stigmat Laser also damages a target and creates Fire Sparks.
Francis' other two Beasts are the Wolf Pilgrim and Sheep Devotee. The latter uses bells to either force the enemy into naps, or wake up allies, allowing for extra turns. The Wolf Pilgrim, on the other hand, is the only passive Beast in the game, and instead makes use of a Shrine and can also bore enemies to sleep.
Healing Explosions
Love For Explosions
With an army of Beasts that all have the title of Exploder, it is easy to see why Master is considered one of the best Inkulinati Masters, and certainly the most annoying to face. Each of his Beasts will explode upon death, and, thanks to the Healing Explosions Talent, will even heal the player’s Tiny Inkulinati. The Cook Exploder is particularly interesting as it can fling a massive exploding stew. It also feeds Beans to allied Beasts, healing them and causing them to become even more Bloated. In other words, they will deal more damage with their death explosion.
By using the Hand Actions of their Tiny Inkulinati, players can further Bloating even more and choose to explode any Beast or Pot of Beans in range, even enemy Beasts. Master’s strongest Beast is the Head Exploder, which is a fire-breathing head that can fly, breathe fire, and unleash a piercing scream. With all this chaos, however,newInkulinatiplayers might want to avoidplaying Master at first.
