Time Wasters is an action roguelite auto-shooter, basicallyVampire Survivors,but IN SPAAAACE! Of course, that doesn’t make it any less fun, especially since the characters are pretty interesting. They not only each provide their own gimmicks to the field, but they can be recruited in a run to provide your chosen captain with their unique abilities.

Some Captains are better than others, however, and choosing the right ones is especially important, since they not only determine your starting weapon, but unlock a special functionality with that weapon. Which Captains do you want to bring with you to fight off the space hordes? Here they are, ranked.

Ram, a ship equipped with boxing gloves faces off against a swarm of enemies, some of which have been exploded

These captains are arranged in this order based on their gameplay effectiveness and impact, with their rankings determined by factors such as their starting weapons, abilities, and overall in-game performance.

12Ram

The Melee Captain

Ram is one of the more interesting Captains, but unfortunately, he’s also the worst performing one. This is largely due to his starting weapon, the Boxing Gloves. They hit a melee range and do very little direct damage, with a high knockback. Repelled enemies deal damage to other enemies they impact, for more reasonable damage.

Unfortunately, this isn’t super reliable, since you don’t control the trajectory of flung enemies, and bigger enemies are resistant. His Captain upgrades emphasize melee durability, and are only so-so.

Rosanova at the center of her ability, all enemies deflected by golden waves. She fires off a spiral of pink waves

11Rosanova

The Defensive Strategist

A defense-oriented Captain, Rosanova specializes at keeping enemies at bay with her 360 Nova, a weapon that fires waves around the ship to slow down enemies, but can also be focused in one direction to send enemies flying. Her personal version fires pink novas every few shots.

Rosanova suffers from a shortage of damage, which falls off hard relatively early in a run. This makes her less than ideal as a main Captain, since she can be overwhelmed if you don’t pick up other weapons, but as additional crew, she at least adds a nice defensive component. Her personal upgrades give you invincibility on boost and extra Hull, which can be a lifesaver.

Vermillion swarmed by red enemy ships. Her Fire Balls have exploded a cluster of enemies

10Vermillion

Master Of Late-Game Power

Initially, Vermillion can feel bad to play, since she has an okay early game and a rough midgame, but if you keep upgrading her main weapon, she’s actually beastly in the late game. Fire Balls are a short range weapon that automatically attack nearby enemies, or if you attack in a direction, they repeatedly strike in a roughly circular shape.

Even with the extra Fire Balls and range that Vermillion’s version has, it takes a long time for the weapon to feel effective. Her non-Fire Ball related upgrades similarly feel unintuitive. For these reasons, Vermillion works best as an additional crew member.

Ravebow at the center of the screen, which is split into sections by pink and blue lasers

9Ravebow

The Laser Master

Ravebow is another Captain who’s a bit of a sleeper and functions better as a crew member. The Laser Strike, summons map-bisecting lasers that deal massive damage and a moderate slowdown that obliterates small ships and heavily damages larger ones. However, it also has a big cooldown that leaves you vulnerable until you get enough upgrades to minimize the downtime.

Ravebow’s personal Laser Strike mitigates this somewhat by having a pink laser that she can deploy between the normal laser strikes, whose placement you can control, but you’re still at the mercy of some long timers. Her upgrades focus on invincibility when you’re hit, which will at least help you last long enough to pop off.

Raven, a single space ships in an area mostly free of enemies. On the top right is a cluster of exploded missiles and enemies

8Raven

Missile Expert

Though Raven has a bit of a rough start, it doesn’t take too long for her to start blowing up whole fleets’ worth of ships. Her Seekings Rockets fire off missiles that track enemies and explode over an area. While her initial missile capabilities are limited, Raven’s upgrades focus on boosting survivability and providing additional missiles, allowing her to become a formidable force in the game.

Invest your level-ups wisely and by the time you’re halfway through the Silver Waves, you become a fireworks machine, obliterating small ships. By Gold Waves, you’re chunking down bigger ships.

Luna surrounded by friendly ships, which are blue and fire off yellow waves

7Luna

The Fleet Commander

One of the stranger Captains in Time Wasters. Instead of firing on enemies directly with her own armaments, Luna instead summons her own fleet of ships to fight on her behalf with her signature weapon,the Wolf Pack.

Wolf Pack ships are slow, but pack a massive punch, even to level beefier ships and bosses quickly. The downside is that unless you have some levels on them, they’re not super reliable, especially if you zip around the map. Thankfully, she has some rather nice personal upgrades, providing extra boosts and damage block on boosts, as well as increased shield regen as long as she’s moving.

Azurene facing off against a boss enemy. Blue shots pepper the enemy as well as some Fire Balls

6Azurene

The Balanced Option

As the first character available, Azurene is suitably mid. Her Plasma Cannon fires off blue shots that make short work of most enemies early on, but fall off in effectiveness by the time midgame rolls around. This is because of her weapon’s modest scaling and its tendency to spray scattershot across the screen.

Though not the most powerful, her upgrades mitigate her weapon’s spread and damage drop-off, making her a suitable crew choice for boosted defenses as you zip around the map.

Green lasers connect a bunch of ships to a single ship, The 1.0. Enemy ships clash against the controlled ships, some of which explode

5The 1.0

A Unique Playstyle

The last Captain you unlock in the game, only available after you’ve won a run with every other character. The 1.0 is…fine. The Hacking Beam is the most unique weapon in the game, able to possess enemy ships and force them to fight for you, but it’s cooler than it is effective.

You can only control a few ships at a time, and you can’t control the bigger ships, those just take damage from the hacking beam. Smaller ships have extra health, and ram (or shoot, if they’ve got guns) their former compatriots. You can either unleash them or control them, turning them into a potent barricade and battering ram against enemy ships.

Doc’s ship at the center of the Static Field. Enemies explode at the edges of it.

4Doc

Shielding Your Way To Victory

Doc has one of the best defensive weapons in the game, the Static Field, which makes an area around the ship deal damage and slow enemies who are in it. This field can get quite big, covering most of the screen if you really push the upgrades. It routinely makes short work of smaller ships, but can take longer to chip down larger ones.

The version that Doc gets also deploys Static Mines, which explode upon enemy contact and deal damage. Doc’s personal upgrades are robust, giving you a boost to your shields and shield regen on enemy kills, as well as increased magnetism range for gold and power-ups.

Corrosia at the center of a barrier of slime. Enemies explode or are damaged upon contact with it

3Corrosia

The Slime Master

The best defensive weapon of the game is the Slime Trail, bar none, and it happens to be Corrosia’s weapon of choice. It might seem strange at first, but correct application of the Slime Trail will leave you nearly untouchable. Undirected, this weapon leaves a trail of slime that damages and slows enemies.

However, you can direct the trail as well, which allows you to draw a barrier around yourself that poisons, slows, and eventually destroys most enemies. Corrosia’s version increases the slow effectiveness and the potential length of the Slime Trail, allowing you to paint the whole screen, given enough time.