There are a lot of different Spells in the beautiful part 2D, part 3D, neon-wonder roguelite that isLone Ruin. When players first start a regular run, they’ll find they’re able to pick from any of the Primary Weapon Spells. But,during their shockingly short run, they’ll also have multiple chances to pick other spells, and oftentimes these are spells that weren’t in the initial lineup of options.
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These are Secondary Spell Abilities, and most of them also deal damage while also providing some area of effect or crowd control benefit as well. So, before players make a choice and regret it, let’s go through all of them and rank them from worst to best.
7Barrier: A Pointless Summonable Wall
First up is Barrier, and it earns last place on the rankings simply because it doesn’t really do anything. Barrier is a spell where the player is able to place a wall of ice at their cursor location, and that wall can block enemies from moving through it. But, the waves inLone Ruinare never so large as to warrant this and the player can’t even fire through the wall either.
So, more often than not, it’s used to prevent one enemy from getting closer whichfeels almost entirely uselessin the grand scheme of things.
6Berserk: An Instant-Cooldown Spell In A Game With Short Cooldowns
Next up is Berserk, another Secondary that doesn’t have any offense of its own. Berserk is pretty simple, when used, it refreshes every other cooldown instantly on repeat for a set duration, and also speeds the player character up for that same duration.
The only problem is, there aren’t many instances where using it really saves that much time. At most, it’ll let a player use an ability three times instead of two in the same span of time, but that isn’t worth the slot that Berserk takes up. Maybe this option is actually only badin the hands of a beginnerand there’s something we’re missing, but at the time of writing this there just isn’t any reason to place Berserk any higher.
5Flame Breath: Just A Basic Flamethrower Spell
Now this list has progressed to the most damage-oriented Secondary Ability there is with Flame Breath. This ability, when used, has the player character expel a torrent of flame in a mid-range cone in front of them. It’s notthe most creative pyro-based technique, sure, but it is pretty handy overall.
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Compared to many of the other Secondaries that may block enemies, pull them in, or so on, Flame Breath might seem too simplistic. But, frankly, it’s good enough for a player to sell their Primary Spell and focus entirely on using it.
4Black Hole: The Crowd Control King
Black Hole has to be the most useful CC Secondary inthis fun little indie game. The reason for this is that enemies inLone Ruin, unless at a later stage of a Hard-mode run, tend to stay relatively far apart. More often than not players are waiting for spawns more than they’re avoiding enemies.
But, with Black Hole, players can gather all the enemies in a certain direction up all at once to lay into them with their Primary Spell. And, depending on the upgrade, Black Hole can even take out enemies on its own as well.
3Grenade Toss: Basic But Effective
Probably the most basic Secondary of the bunch, Grenade Toss does exactly as its name would suggest, it tosses a grenade. Of course, the ‘grenade’ in this context is a ball of arcane energy rather than a practical explosive, but they both serve the same function.
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Grenade Toss is a bit basic, sure, but its AoE and damage potential are almost second to none. And, in a game where there are a variety of high-intensity visuals, widely different spells, and fast-approaching enemies, sometimes it’s nice to have something simple to rely on.
2Nova: You Are The Grenade
Next up is Nova, and it basically functions the same as Grenade Toss but the explosion of projectiles comes from the player rather than being thrown by the player. Additionally, the upgrade path and default AoE of Nova seem to be a bit more useful than Grenade Toss.
Still, picking between Nova and Grenade Toss rely on just comes down to player preference and what they need more whether thats a ranged AoE tool or a panic button for when enemies are a bit too close. And who knows, based on what shows up in a run, a playercan simply combine both spells into one buildso they have an option for enemies at both close and long ranges.
1Blizzard: The Most Versatile Option
Last up and in ‘first place’ is Blizzard. Initially, Blizzard looks like a Secondary that would be more toward the bottom of this list considering the small area it affects. But, again,Lone Ruinplayers are going to be walking up to enemy spawns constantly, and Blizzard basically allows them to ‘close one off’, killing anything that spawns from it.
Additionally, Blizzard is a fantastic boss tool since most of the bosses in this game stand still or only move within a small area.
Lone Ruinis available on PC and the Nintendo Switch.
