For the Hope Build, Chef is an obvious choice.

However Prince Xandos and his Dawn Crown that gives an extra teammate is a pretty good solution as well. It means one more Hope generator or damage dealer. On the plus side as soon as you find a Transform Hero potion you can turn him to Xandos The Great (Gain 1 gold every battle)

You get to keep the extra member capacity even after Xandos turns.



Other than these two, the others are irrelevant to the Hope Build and dont contribute anything useful.

The Key of the Hope Build is Free Attacks. In order for Free Attacks to occur, Hope must be contantly Generated. Below are the Best to Worst Hope Generators.

High Priestess





This one is the Best Hope Generator. Can cure 1 Health point every round to every Teammate, Including the Hero. That means for each teammate cured = 1 Hope Generated.

Being a Mage, can also equip a Healing staff and generate more Hope.

Must be kept in the back lines and/or be Multiclassed to equip shields.


Cultist, Dark Elf



Cultist is a close 2nd best.
Why?

• Hes a Fighter so can equip shields and tank damage in the front line.
  
• His greatest advantage is with Doom can mean more kills = more Hope generated. Which would mean more kills.
  

His disadvantages are two

• If he is at max health, he cannot generate Hope.
  
• If no foe is killed, he cannot generate Hope.

Battle Cleric, Dwarf




Battle Cleric is a very good Hope Generator, as a Follow up he can cure up to 3 team members, himself and 2 more, which means 3 Hope points generated.

But he MUST be multiclassed so he can equip shields, otherwise he wont last long on the front line.





Brewmaster, Dwarf



Brewmaster has Cure as Counter, which means he can Generate Hope multiple times per round or none. A mediocre choice for the front line due to his low hp pool, but a good Hope generator if armed with decent shields.

Cleric of the Path



This Cleric is a no brainer choice at start, but is lacking at harder levels. Can Follow up one cure per round, which as said at early game can mean the difference between win and lose.


Butcher



Butcher is the worst Hope Generator for the reason that only if he kills he can cure. The only good thing about him is that he Generates 3 Hope at 3rd Level.

As said, Hope Build is about Free attacks caused by Hope Generation.

It is more powerful than other builds due to it can be triggered multiple times per round and for serious damage each time. Also has 2 primary Damage Dealers that are very lethal. They work well with Doom = Hope teammates like Cultist or items.


Lyra, Elf Archer




This Elf is one of the Best of the game and the Best of the Hope Build. The downside is that hes found only at later stages.
Every time Hope occurs he attacks on top of his normal per round attack. While at first his 1 Dmg seems insignificant a) at Overlevels he gets +1 dmg/lvl and b) he can equip bows, ballistas and more powerful items like the Inferno bow (you need to accumulate lots of gold for them to appear on merchant wares).

He definitely must be overleveled and equiped with 2 Ballistas and maybe a Cloak that summons Ravens or a +8 Speed ring. Ravens are especially useful to soak up damage and if paired with Divine Protector they will be shielded and resist one more blow.

With an Attack rating of 12,14 or above he is still dangerous even if no Hope is yet created.


His only drawback is that Archers and elves dont have items that boost hp much, only some cloaks or rings. Hes also found in Level 3 Campfires so waiting for him can be tricky.

Cleric of the Rose



Cleric can free attack whenever Hope occurs and can be found even in early camps. As every Mage she can be Multiclassed and equip shields.

Lyra or Rose Cleric? or both?
Due to their appearance hierarchy (Rose appears at early camps, Lyra after floor 22), starting with Rose then getting Lyra is a common choice.

In mid game you need them both until one is overleveled enough. Lyra needs at least 5 Overlevels and/or Bow/Ballista to start being dangerous.

The trick is not only having the damage dealers but the Hope generators as well.


If you have to choose between the two, Lyra is most useful yet fragile, unless an update allows Archers to multiclass too. Also if you get lucky with ballistas and bows, Lyra can deliver more damage than his level potential.



As shown here, Lyra has 2 Infernal Bows and a Purple Ballista that boost his Attack to 23 Damage per round and per Hope point. Rose cannot match this output. Even if somehow Rose Overleveled enough to have 20 damage per Hope, she still has a meager Attack rating of 2.

So, which one???

Has to be Lyra, that elf has Legolas like skill.

But you can keep them both though if you have a 6/6 team and there isnt a better option (Sage for example gives less power than one of these can dish out as damage every Hope occurence). But in a 5/5 team you need 1 or 2 front liners (i.e. Dwarf Cleric, Cultist, Royal Guard) 1 damage dealer and 1 or 2 Hope Generators (again Dwarf Cleric can be one).

As shown in this pic both Lyra and Rose are yet in team because a) Lyra isnt powerful enough yet or armed with Ballistas and b) Front Line is filled by Guard, Follower, Dwarf so no place for Cultist or another fighter at this point.

Besides a decent amount of Hope Generation from cures you need two specific items: Vampiric Helm and Immortal Belt.

Vampiric Helm more importantly is required to trigger the HDF circle, allowing Lyra or Rose to keep attacking long after the healers have ended their turn. If Cultist is also present, equip it to the next fighter.

For the Immortal Belt a dwarf is needed, so you must have Brewmaster or Battle Cleric. Works very well with Venom Shield on Brewmaster, who will instantly generate 2 Hope on top of any more attacks he receives & another 2 for every subsequent attack (Those snakes that strike 3 times for 1 damage each are bread n butter for this combo).




Without any of these two items, your Damage Dealer(s) will be lacking.

Sword Dancer, Elf



Sword dancer is a decent warrior for the early stages of the Tower, being fast, inexhaustible and with good damage. However he has no Hope synergy other than he must be in full health to utilize his full potential.

Sage of the Word



Gives up to +2 Power to a random ally whenever Hope is generated. While he seems a good option, he has NO place in a team with Rose. Rose Cleric's Free Attacks are a set amount of damage (i.e. 3 at 3rd Level, +1 at overlevel) so his Hope = Power Generation wouldnt be of much help.

Can enhance Lyra's Free Attacks that follow the standard one thus being helpful as long as you dont need another Hope Generator; between a +2 or +4 boost to Lyra, and 1 or 2 Hope points that would mean 2 more attacks that would trigger full blown Doom=Hope=Attacks circle.
The choice is obvious.

Would've been more useful if by overleveling he gave more.

Even if you have Xandos and adequate Hope Generation there are still better options like a Fighter to man the front line, like the next one presented.

Royal Guard



Due to his high hp and Power giving to Hero, he is a very decent option for the front line as a tank. Equipped with 2 Andromalius shields and a Vampiric Helm he can soak a lot of damage. His ability to boost the Hero is overpowering when paired with the Hope: Gain +1 Power to Hero Artifact. When the Hero gets to attack his Attack Rating could be 30 or more.

Nyx, of the Old Moon



Totally unrelated to Hope, can excellently supplement Lyra or Rose damage, or both, via his Curse on Doom ability. Tests have shown that if he curses the right foes, the ones that will be struck by Lyra or Rose, the map will be cleared in seconds.

Holy Blade Hope: Gain +1 Power for Hero

explained

Battle start: Allied Archers attack twice

For a Lyra build, doing 24 or 30 damage before round 1 isnt a small thing. Multiclassed allies attack twice too.

Allied Mages cant be exhausted

A must have. Multiclassed allies and Mages can move positions each round and still follow up with their attacks and cures.

+3 Speed to all allies

For hitting those pesky foes that are too fast before they start hammering your team.

Battle Start: Gain +3 Power and Shield for Hero

Having a shield in case things get rough isnt a bad option.

Clypaen Shield: Grant Shield to the first ally that takes damage

Useful to lessen the damage on your most fragile front liners.

Bathin's Book Receive 1 Gold at Battle Start

Without lots of gold the Infernal collection will not appear. Combine with Xandos's gold income.

Lyra's Quiver Allied Archers get +1 to attack

Not a high priority but +1 to every multiclassed ally and Lyra is useful.

Traditional builds


Chef, Lyra, Rose, Dwarf, Cultist, Loyal Follower

As explained theres no point in having both Lyra and Rose on the team unless you want to have a backup if one dies. The Loyal Follower is a damage sponge addition, otherwise useless.




Xandos, Lyra, Dawn, 2 Dwarves, Royal Guard, Loyal Follower

2 Dwarves healing the front line was so useful it offset that Lyra and Rose are in the team again. ( whos the most useful at least in two playthroughs had to be tested). Note that the Dwarf Mages are Multiclassed.

Non Traditional builds

In case you dont get the ally you need, you may need to fill a vacant spot.



Since the front line is occupied and High Priestess wouldnt show in this camp (not until you spend 12 gold by refreshing) a good option may be this Fencing Master; Multiclassed, Inexhaustible, and most importantly can strike from the back. And when Follower dies, he can take his place at the front.



A Hope related option could be the Butcher; he can strike from the rear and IF he kills anyone he will generate Hope x 3.



This one is totally unrelated to Hope but could be useful; with the right items (rings, staves etc) that boost attack, he can deliver 20 or 24 damage when Soulcasting. The tricky part is getting 3 souls for it.


To summarize, any of these options is totally temporary until the next camp and the High Priestess.



This one is rather unconventional too. Selecting Nyx for the Doom = Curse ability to double Lyra's damage. They may not always synergize, as Lyra's attacks are random not in lane, but when their abilities meet they are lethal. Here, Lyra cleared the map by doing 40 damage in most attacks. And when Follower dies, Nyx can take the front with no delay, since he's inexhaustible.




Should we bother making a Loyal Follower?

As shown is this one, Follower is doing what he knows best; getting ready to die to save the team.



He will soak up the first foe damage, die in the second, and Nyx's Shield will negate the whopping 16 Dmg of the Boss. Otherwise someone, Guard or Dwarf had to bite the dust in the 1st round.
Hope build usually takes 1 round to start delivering destruction and is its only weakness.

The Hope Build is the most effective and efficient, in terms of delivering damage and recovering from it. As demonstrated in this video, the Doom = Hope = Free attacks circle is deadly. https://www.reddit.com/r/TheDungeonBeneath/comments/1cnovo3/tower_above_floor_86_hope_build/


No other build can perform like it:

• Poison does do a lot of damage (not as much as Hope though) but is more fragile.
  
• Armor is sturdy but doesnt have damage dealers (Javelineer's damage is laughable).
  
• Summons is decent until you meet a Boss that deals 2 damage each Doom, then your team is doomed.
  
• Doom is strong but not strong enough to make it to the Final Boss. Failed around 84th Floor.

Power and other builds (beast, undead etc) are yet to be tested but they dont hold much promise.