Dinotica Totem and Relic Build Tier List

Totems drop from rooms. Relics (buffs) sit beside them. Together they are the actual roguelike, more than the species list. This build tier list ranks stack archetypes that players describe in reviews and that patch notes bother to name. Exact item names move with localization; the jobs do not.

S — stacks that win chapters

Rider readability. Anything that tightens spread, speeds projectiles, or shortens gaps between shots. Vexora’s patch — faster barrage, shorter interval — is the design team telling you this direction is intended. If a totem makes the basic shot harder to parse, it is not S even if the damage number jumps.

Pet multipliers on AI partners. Relics that buff the two dinosaurs you do not steer. They create coverage in cramped rooms where you cannot physically be. Pair with roaming kits from the Combat Tier List.

Geometry modifiers. Walls that explode, tethers that beam, bounces that turn a lob into a room wipe. One Steam review’s favourite moment was a “lame” wall kit plus relics that made the walls lethal. That is the S-tier fantasy.

A — honest clears

Sustain and defense. Shields, lifesteal-style totems, and slow auras. They make Casual a teaching tool and Challenge less spiky. They feel weak only after you already have an S combo.

Speed relics. Movement speed on the rider is an upgrade currency goal and a relic goal. Cramped maps punish stillness. A and sometimes S depending on the biome.

Pulls and grouping. Gluttony’s devour is the named version. Pulls are A until they fail to fire; keep a backup shot.

B — spicy, then sorry

Particle storms. Screen-filling extra projectiles look like S and then crash the process. Reviews mention this explicitly. B-tier unless your hardware is comfortable — System Requirements.

Greedy glass cannons. Damage relics that delete your margin on Dark Forest telegraphs. Fine in Emerald Forest, expensive later.

Cornered Beast and other named relics. Patch 1.9.4 had to fix Cornered Beast’s damage bonus. Named items get hotfixes; do not build your identity on one relic until a week after a patch.

C — skip unless a challenge asks

Totems that rewrite a kit you do not have in the party. If nobody lobs rocks, bounce relics are clutter. Unequip and reroll the next door.

Duplicate copies of the same small buff. Stacking identical crumbs is how menus get noisy in co-op. Let one player own the totem UI — Co-op.

How to build in a live run

1. Lock a rider kit you can steer without totems.
2. Take the first two totems that reinforce that kit, not the rarest icon.
3. Give pet relics to AI, not to a worker you left at home.
4. If the frame rate stutters, unequip before you die.
5. After the boss, spend fruit on the rider — How to Breed — instead of rerolling the whole stack.

Encyclopedia names and counts live on Totems and Relics. Chapter structure is on Dungeons and Bosses. If combat is already trivial, that is the documented Late-EA problem: synergies overkill the warning banner. Raise difficulty or ban your S combo on purpose.

Do not copy a list from a different dinosaur game. Dinotica’s totems modify this shooter, not a stamina-bite sandbox.