note that character =/= route, there's already a route guide (even though it's kinda short) so i'll be talking solely about the character and their starting gear.
The cultist and the convict are the two classes that have been used so far, i'll edit the guide when another character enters the meta but right now expect the cultist and convict to be the only accurate ones. Actually, let's start with them.
The cultist's passive makes guns change very rapidly. This means that good guns will be thrown away faster but so will the bad ones. Overall i would say cultist is the most consistent due to how they work; The constantly changing guns ironically makes the run less random due to how many things are happening and they end up being more skill-based as a result.
The convict gets an attack buff if they get hit. This essentially turns health into a resource; You can spend it from time to time to buff up a makeshift cannon, for example. The convict likely has a lot of potential that we haven't realized yet due to this.
The pilot's shop dicount could be useful if you use the shop, but due to the time costs pilot does not seem like a good character in the meta. They're completely useless in no chest% due to not being allowed to use shops at all.
The bullet gets to ignore contact damage, allowing them to play a bit more aggressively. Dodge rolling doesn't damage enemies at all, and because most of the weapons are ranged the bullet doesn't really benefit much from their item.
The robot being able to trigger a blank might be useful, but pickups aren't very plentiful. It sacrifices a constant powerup for an occasional, very powerful effect.
The hunter's dog allows pickups to automatically be grabbed. This is a risk-reward as being able to focus on enemies and being healed automatically from time to time is pretty good, if an aged bell spawns you will be wasting a lot of time in slowmotion.
The marine's accuracy buff makes it easier to kill things fast, especially with shotguns. There's really not much to add here because of how simple it is
