Stonewards Characters: Every Playable Dwarf, Unlock Path and Squad Role

Stonewards launched into Early Access on August 11, 2026 with two confirmed starter characters, the Miner and the Warrior, available in the demo and Early Access builds. Beyond the starters, six more names — Archer, Artificer, Healer, Hunter, Mage and Rogue — are each backed by an official "character unlocked" achievement in the game's 20 Steam achievements, although their full ability kits are not yet officially documented. This page separates what the official sources confirm from what is still unverified, and explains how unlocking works as of Hotfix 0.1.7.

The Confirmed Starters: Miner and Warrior

Banana Tiger Studio's public demo and Early Access builds highlight two entry dwarves. The Miner archetype leans into the economy phase of each run: procedural cave time, ore yield, and efficient returns to the surface before the next monster horn. Miners still fight when horns sound, but their value comes from feeding the forge so the squad has arrows, repairs, and upgrades between waves. One recurring balance note from launch reviews is that mining speed currently favors the miner role so heavily that groups feel someone has to volunteer as the dedicated miner every run rather than freely choosing a class.

The Warrior archetype anchors surface defense. Warriors hold primary approach lanes during horns, spend stone on wall repair for segments monsters actually use, protect campfire revive windows so downed teammates return before the next mine phase, and body-block breaches heading toward the King. In the common four-player split described in community tips — three defenders, one primary miner — Warriors are the backbone of the defending three.

Neither starter's exact stats or unique ability values are published by the developer, and community sources explicitly warn that balance passes move numbers between patches. Treat in-game tooltips as the authority for current ability text rather than any wiki or guide, including this one.

The Six Unlockable Characters (Achievement-Confirmed)

The Steam store page confirms the game includes 20 Steam Achievements, and those achievements include unlock entries named Archer, Artificer, Healer, Hunter, Mage, and Rogue — all six names are backed by official Steam achievement metadata, so none of them should be treated as rumor. What the achievements do not tell you is what each kit actually does in full; that is where official documentation stops and patch-note fragments begin. For broader context on the game's systems, see the game info overview.

What official patch notes do confirm is that these characters exist in some playable form, because the developers keep balancing them:

• The Archer had its ranged attack damage and charged attack damage slightly reduced in Hotfix 0.1.6 (August 18, 2026), confirming both a standard and a charged ranged attack. A reviewer also praised the Archer's bow-draw mechanic and dedicated arrow inventory slot, though that is a player description, not official documentation.
• The Artificer throws bombs: patches fixed a resource duplication issue triggered by throwing bombs at a specific distance from terrain (0.1.6), adjusted Gold Coin drops from bombs (0.1.5), and fixed bombs destroying resource veins without dropping all expected resources (0.1.4). Hotfix 0.1.7 also let each block destroyed by a bomb roll its own Gold Coin drop.
• The Mage and Healer both received Projectile Bonus upgrade support in 0.1.6, implying projectile-based kits.
• The Hunter has a Companion pet whose Attack and Health were increased in Hotfix 0.1.4, then buffed again in 0.1.7 — faster movement, more health, and Poison and Fire damage that now scale with the player's Attack Damage.

Beyond these patch-note fragments, specific abilities, stats, and cooldowns for every one of these characters remain unverified. Nothing official describes what the Rogue or Healer kits actually do in full, and no source this page trusts publishes complete unlock requirements per character.

What Changed for Characters in Hotfix 0.1.7

The August 21, 2026 patch made several class-specific changes that shift the current balance snapshot:

• Hunter's Companion moves faster and can travel farther, with increased health and slightly increased damage. Its Poison and Fire damage now scale with the player's Attack Damage, while Poison duration was reduced. Full details are on the Hunter guide.
• Artificer bombs can now roll a Gold Coin drop for each block destroyed, instead of an explosion being capped at one coin — a meaningful economy change covered in the Artificer guide.
• Hunter's Companion can now be healed — at the Fireplace with the relevant upgrade, and by the Healer, making Healer a documented pairing partner for Hunter players.
• Healer and Mage projectiles received hit-detection improvements, and the Healer's healing projectile now has a small area-of-effect heal that also lets Healers heal themselves by shooting at their feet.
• The Companion Damage Ring gains more damage per upgrade, while most other Rings (Jump Height, Knockback Chance, Life Steal, Enemy Item Drop Chance, Sprint Speed) were reduced per upgrade.

Character Child Pages

Deeper guides for individual characters, built the same way as this page — only officially verifiable facts:

• Rogue — what is and isn't confirmed about the least-documented unlock.
• Artificer — bombs, Gold Coin drops, and the full 0.1.4–0.1.7 patch history.
• Hunter — the Companion kit, healing interactions, and the 0.1.7 buffs.

Guides for the remaining unlockables will follow the same rule: publish only when there is enough verified material to be useful, which today means Archer, Healer, and Mage stay on this hub page until the developer documents more about their kits.

Where You Pick a Character

Character selection does not happen mid-mission. According to the fan wiki's description of the hub flow — consistent with how the store page frames a base camp you launch missions from — you return to the persistent hub after each run, pick your dwarf at a character station, choose a mission from the board, shop for meta upgrades, and then launch with your squad. Groups that skip the hub check-in and re-queue instantly are the ones that accidentally bring the wrong role mix into the first horn.

One co-op quirk from the patch history is relevant here: online sessions enforce the same game version across the squad, a rule the demo patches applied strictly. Since Stonewards has been patching almost daily during launch week, a teammate on an older build can block the whole group from queuing — worth a quick version check before everyone commits to a character.

How Character Unlocks Appear to Work

The clearest official statement is the Hotfix 0.1.6 changelog entry (August 18, 2026): the Character Screen was updated to show the missions required to unlock each character. That means exact per-character unlock conditions are now visible in game, and the in-game screen should be treated as the source of truth rather than any secondary site.

Older material describes the mechanism more loosely. The fan wiki claims hub meta progression — mission completion, quest rewards, and shop purchases — contributes to unlocking more dwarves over time, but the wiki itself admits exact unlock paths were not yet published. One detailed player report from a Steam review (August 13, 2026, unverified) compares the meta progression to Megabonk: you spend meta currency to purchase unlocked characters, relics, and rerolls, and you can also upgrade each character's health, stamina, and special ability individually — meaning a freshly unlocked character starts with relatively lower stats than an upgraded one.

There is also a fixed multiplayer bug worth knowing about. Before Hotfix 0.1.3, progression including character unlocks was awarded only to the host in multiplayer sessions; the patch notes state "Character unlocks are now correctly shared," so joined players no longer miss unlocks their host earns.

Character Roles in a Squad

Stonewards supports one to four players, and character choice is squad preparation, not mid-mission customization — the fan wiki describes selection happening at a character station in the persistent hub between runs, which fits the store page's description of medium-to-long-term unlock systems. Community guidance is consistent on one point: do not stack four of the same archetype. Four miners tend to lose horns while sitting on ore; four warriors tend to run empty forges and starve the ammo economy.

A practical squad shape that survives patches:

1. One economy specialist (a Miner profile) committing to ore during safe windows.
2. Two or three defenders (Warrior profiles and ranged unlockables) covering lanes, repairs, and revives.
3. Rotating miner duty every horn so no single player is trapped in the role — especially relevant while mining speed balance still favors the miner class.

Stations interact with roles even though any dwarf can physically use them. Community tips pair Crafting Camp arrow output with defenders who need ammo before the next horn, wall repair with lane holders, and the campfire with whoever is securing revives before the miner dives again. None of this is class-restricted — it is about matching the character's strength to the station that needs attention, which is why the roster question and the build question are really one decision.

If you are planning a two-player session, the two-player co-op guide covers how to split dig and defend duties with a smaller crew, and the build guide explains how forge upgrades and rings layer on top of your character's baseline. For the one unlockable whose kit is least documented, the Rogue character page tracks what is and is not confirmed.

Solo Versus Co-op Considerations

The same roster is used solo and in co-op, but the experience differs sharply according to player reports. Multiple reviewers describe the game as fully playable solo but harder, because one player must mine, forge, and defend sequentially; one negative reviewer went further and called solo "mostly unplayable" due to enemy speed and attack range, while others simply note a slower, more methodical pace. These are player opinions, not official statements — solo difficulty tuning has not been addressed in patch notes so far.

Class choice changes in solo according to the same reports. A discussion post from a solo player describes ranged and Mage builds as feeling weak compared to melee when swarmed, since the Mage's fireball charges run out and leave a weaker melee weapon; balance changes since then (including the 0.1.6 Projectile Bonus support for Mage and Healer) may or may not have shifted this. Mark all of it as player report rather than settled fact.

Early Access Means the Roster Keeps Moving

Every character fact on this page carries an Early Access caveat. The store page states Stonewards is planned to remain in Early Access for approximately 9 to 12 months, and the developer's full-version plans explicitly include additional playable characters, more cosmetics for character customization, and continuously refined progression and balance based on player data. Hotfixes have already shipped roughly every one to two days since launch — 0.1.3, 0.1.4, 0.1.5 and 0.1.6 all landed within the first week — and the 0.1.6 announcement says another update with a focus on coin distribution was planned for that Friday.

That cadence cuts both ways. Balance for named characters has already changed multiple times (Archer nerfed, Hunter's Companion buffed, Mage and Healer given new upgrade support), and the 0.1.6 Character Screen update itself changed how unlock information is displayed. Any specific number, ability description, or unlock requirement in this article can be outdated within days; check the in-game Character Screen and the official patch announcements for the current state.

Sources

• https://store.steampowered.com/app/4502710/Stonewards/
• https://steamcommunity.com/app/4502710/
• https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/4502710/view/663862479542026877
• https://playwanderer.online/game-reviews/stonewards