Survive The Swarm Classes: Requirements, Weapons & Abilities

In Survive The Swarm, a bullet-heaven roguelite where you fight off endless enemy waves, classes are part of the unlock economy. Essence — one of the game's two currencies — covers the cost of new classes, and each class purchased this way comes bundled with its own weapon set and a unique special ability. Buying a class changes your starting weapons and gives you one class-exclusive ability on top of the base game.

Reported class names and prices

Only three class names can be reported with confidence, and they come from gameplay footage of the in-game class store, so treat them as observed rather than an official roster:

• Mage — shown at a price of 19,000, with the currency type not stated in the footage. The player in that recording estimated it would take roughly ten runs on that difficulty, reaching that wave each time, to afford her.
• Knight — described in the same price range as the mage.
• Archer — reported as affordable to that player at the point they recorded.

There is a pricing inconsistency to check in-game: guides consistently describe Essence as the class-unlock currency, but the footage shows a five-figure price without labeling which currency the store uses. Treat the 19,000 figure and its currency as unresolved until you see the class store yourself.

The same footage also noted that roughly half of the game's weapons were locked behind Robux at the time, with the bow, hammer, mage staff, and javelin among the locked ones.

What each class purchase includes

What's established is the class-level package: a unique weapon set plus one unique special ability per class. Which weapons belong to which class, and each class's actual special ability, its input, and its timing, remain unclear — check the class panel in-game before spending Essence.

Saving toward a class unlock

Essence is earned through play and can also be spent on eggs (pets), while Coins cover general shop purchases and between-run stat upgrades, so plan your purchases. Reported codes are the fastest free source of both currencies — the codes page lists the current reported rewards and last-checked date. These payouts are reported but unverified in-game, and codes can expire, so redeem them via the Store's code redemption section and check whether they still work before counting on them.

Before you unlock

Because per-class Essence costs, weapon lists, and ability details aren't confirmed in-game, the practical checklist is: open the class store in-game, confirm the exact price and currency for the class you want, preview its weapon set and unique ability on the class panel, and only then commit your Essence.