Drill to Earth's Core Class Tiers After Gunsmith

Academy classes are the long-term spend in Drill to Earth’s Core. You buy them with Cores, level them on one character, and take one kit into each 30-player descent. This page ranks those kits as community opinion in September 2026 — the same S–D shape players used after the Gunsmith update — not as a developer leaderboard. Coin upgrades still decide whether the shared drill breaks a wall; the drill upgrade tier list covers that. Shop guns still decide whether you live in a dungeon; the weapons and gear tier list covers that. Come back here when you are choosing a Core sink.

Verified prices only. Miner is 100 Cores. Scout and Healer are 3,000. Tank, Gunslinger, Mechanic, Driller, and Bruiser are 5,000. Demolitionist, Reaper, Princess, and Lucky Looter are 10,000. Goblin King, Bounty Hunter, Pirate, and Executioner are 30,000. Recruit, Racer, Witch (shipped 19 August with roughly 20,000 unlocks), Salvager (28 August), Crafter, Nightcrawler, Gunsmith, and Priest do not have a verified Core cost on this wiki. They still appear in the table where the community placed them. The class cost tool is the live price sheet; how to get Cores is the farm route.

Community S–D table (September 2026)

Tier	Classes	Why they sit here
S	Lucky Looter, Driller, Pirate	Loot engine, discounted wall damage, gold economy
A	Reaper, Bruiser, Gunslinger, Goblin King, Bounty Hunter	Sustain, melee, guns, summons, bounties
B	Miner (starter), Mechanic, Tank, Demolitionist, Executioner	First buy, fuel, HP, explosives, boss damage
C	Scout, Healer, Princess, Nightcrawler	Speed, heals, diamond sales, niche night kit
D	Recruit, Racer	Fine if you like the fantasy, weak as a plan

S-tier changes the run. Lucky Looter still multi-drops chests and ores (cap 4), still pays bonus chest coins, and still feeds Money Fog even after the Gunsmith nerf. That is loot, not a damage aura, which is why a lobby with one or two Looters funds everyone else’s Drill Power. Driller is the wall class: +50% Drill Power, cheaper Drill Power / Mega Drill / Power Slam, and a strong drill-focused kit that belongs on any 100 km attempt. Pirate is the expensive gold class: gold bar drops, +100% gold sell, a flintlock, and a level 3 cannon that is one per run unless a church save stores it. If you can only afford one S-tier kit, buy Driller for depth or Lucky Looter for income. Pirate waits for 30,000 Cores.

A-tier wins rooms. Reaper’s 20% soul-orb heal (25 HP) and Soul Lantern keep a fighter standing without camping Bandages; the August buff made the lantern and orb loop less of a gimmick. Bruiser’s +50% melee is the Life Steal partner. Gunslinger’s +50% gun damage is the Rifle and Void Shotgun partner. Goblin King spends 30,000 Cores to recruit goblins so the cart has extra bodies. Bounty Hunter turns marked enemies into Coin spikes. None of these replace a Driller when rock HP spikes, but a 30-player lobby that only stacks Looters will still wipe in a goblin ring.

B-tier is honest work. Miner is the correct first purchase — +50% pickaxe damage, team bonus at 500,000 total depth — and it is B because it is a starter, not because it is a trap. Mechanic’s +50% fuel contribution keeps the vehicle from stalling when everyone else is mining. Tank’s +100 HP is a simple deep-layer buffer. Demolitionist (+50% explosive, team bonus at 10,000,000 depth) is a specialist; explosives are not the default wall plan. Executioner brings an Executioner Sword and +100% boss damage, which matters at the glowing core and almost nowhere in the early mineshaft.

C-tier asks the lobby to carry the kit. Scout’s +20% move speed is comfort. Healer’s +10% healing is real but weaker than Reaper orbs plus Health Regen. Princess is a 10,000-Core support with staff heals and diamond-sale toys that do not print the same Coin river as Lucky Looter. Nightcrawler is a community C with no verified price here. D-tier is Recruit and Racer: play them if the fantasy is the point. Do not save a week of dailies for them while Miner, Driller, and Lucky Looter exist.

Roles: loot, drill, combat, support

Loot is Lucky Looter first, Pirate second, Miner a distant third while you still swing a pickaxe. Drill is Driller, then Mechanic’s fuel, then anyone who dumps Coins into the upgrade menu instead of a fourth shotgun. Combat is Reaper, Bruiser, Gunslinger, Goblin King, Bounty Hunter, Demolitionist, Executioner. Support is Healer, Tank, Princess, Scout. A class can wear two hats — Pirate is loot and a cannon, Reaper is combat and sustain — but you should still pick a primary job before you click Buy at the Academy.

Team bonuses are always the level 4 node. Depth gates are 500,000 for Miner, 3,000,000 for Scout and Healer, 5,000,000 for the 5,000-Core block, 10,000,000 for Demolitionist and Reaper, and 20–30 million for the 30,000-Core block. Until you hit those totals, the bonus is personal. The players hub explains Academy leveling and the 2,500-Core passive reroll that copies a node from a class you already own.

A 30-player mix that actually moves

A full server does not need 30 Drillers. Two Drillers keep wall damage honest. Two Lucky Looters keep Coin income honest. One Mechanic watching fuel is worth more than a third Scout. Fill the rest with combat: a Reaper or two, a Bruiser if someone stacked Life Steal, a Gunslinger if the lobby bought rifles, a Goblin King or Bounty Hunter if those 30,000-Core kits are on the account. One Tank is plenty. One Healer is optional if Reaper orbs and Health Regen are already in play. Princess is a luxury. If the lobby is a pub of random Miners, you can still carry as Driller — the discounted upgrades apply to the shared vehicle, not only to your personal pride.

Do not lock a 100 km attempt behind “everyone must be S-tier.” A Miner who sells ore and dumps Coins into Drill Power is more useful than a Nightcrawler who never opens the upgrade menu. Use the tier list hub when you need the other two ranks, and use the five featured class guides when you are ready to spend a specific Core pile.

Lucky Looter after the Gunsmith nerf

Lucky Looter was the default “just buy this” answer for months. The Gunsmith update cut the loot fantasy hard enough that creators called it a huge nerf, and they were not wrong. Multi-drop still caps at four, chest coins still exist, Money Fog still exists, and dungeon chests still pay more on a Looter than on a Tank. The kit is S because the remaining loot is still the best Coin printer, not because the old screenshot still applies. If you already own it, keep running dungeons. If you are 8,000 Cores short, Driller at 5,000 is the better next buy for depth, then come back for Looter when the Core pile allows.

Witch, Salvager, Crafter, Gunsmith, and Priest may move this table the next time Season 1 ships a class pass. Until a Core price is verified, they stay unlabeled. That is intentional.