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Caves of Qud is a wild romp across an alien wasteland that oftentimes feels overwhelming, but once players figure out how things work, it becomes an extremely fun and rewarding experience. Part of that experience, of course, is character creation, and the game presents players with the option of playing as either Mutant or True Kin.
These two are basically race options, much like the ones found in games like Skyrim. However, Mutant and True Kin offer completely different playstyles that will define how your run goes in Caves of Qud. If you’re not sure which one to pick first, here’s what you need to know.
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Should You Pick Mutant or True Kin?
There’s a massive difference between these two genotypes, and if you’re a complete beginner, we recommend messing around with Mutant first. They offer a wider variety of options in the beginning, and while Mutants have worse starting gear and stats than True Kin, the mutations themselves are generally enough to compensate for it.
When creating a Mutant, Players can choose between Chimera (Physical) and Esper (Mental) mutations. The former is generally easier to grasp, while the latter requires more understanding of the game’s mechanics. Caves of Qud isn’t like other RPGs in the market — it won’t hold your hand, and it’ll mostly leave you to figure things out for yourself. A Physical Mutant is much easier to grasp, and while you’ll likely die a lot while playing as one, the lessons you’ll learn will be invaluable, and you’ll have a lot of fun while doing so.
In summary, Mutants offer more starting build variety, while True Kin offer simpler and well-rounded experience. Mutants are more fun to play early on, though that is subjective.
Mutants, Explained
A Mutant is exactly what you think it is — a denizen of Qud with all sorts of weird mutations. One could have multiple arms, multiple legs, a turtle shell on its back, the ability to fire rays of ice and flame, and more. They start off relatively weak compared to True Kin since they often start with horrible equipment, but you can level up your mutations and earn even more as you grow more powerful.
Once you do get good gear, Mutants can become extremely powerful. Get a mutation with fire immunity and bombard the entire screen with firebombs, equip overpowered weapons on each of your four arms, or dominate the minds of your enemies and let them do your dirty work. There are plenty of crazy combinations you can do with a Mutant, but you need to be creative and resourceful.
Mutants are abhorred by Putus Templars, a faction of fanatics that can easily ruin your run if you encounter them early on.
True Kin, Explained
True Kin are descendants of an ancient civilization of Qud, and while they don’t have any mutations to help them out in the beginning, they do have decent starting gear and access to cybernetics, which basically fill the role of mutations. They play sort of like blank slates that players can mold into the character of their dreams. New players may have more difficulty playing as a True Kin early on unless they already know what they’re doing.
Generally, True Kin have better late game scaling since they earn more skill points per level compared to Mutants. However, they are more gear-dependent — think of them as default characters from famous CRPG franchises like Fallout. True Kin aren’t necessarily harder to play. In fact, they’re easier than Mutants since you won’t have to worry about mutation cooldowns early on. Pick this if you’re looking for something more vanilla.
- Released
- July 15, 2015
- Developer(s)
- Freehold Games
- Publisher(s)
- Freehold Games
- Engine
- Unity