Which minions (tomes) are best?
The best is Tome of Sprouts
Tome of Sprouts (141 DPS per minion at Lv.20).
Start with what you can get
Begin with a low-level tome such as Tome of the Dark, then switch to stronger ones.
More minions helps the most
Each minion attacks on its own, so raising your max minion count multiplies your damage by that number.
Minion (tome) ranking
Sorted by the DPS of one minion at Lv.20. Projectile count, attack interval and damage over time such as burning are included.
| Rank | Tome | How it attacks | DPS (Lv.20) | Base | How to get |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tome of Sprouts |
Fires 3 projectiles in a fan | 141 | Lv.10 | Azeos the Sky Titan, Scarlet Chest, etc. |
| 2 |  Tome of Ashes |
Attacks up close + burning | 90 | Lv.7 | Malugaz the Corrupted, Iron Chest, etc. |
| 3 |  Tome of the Dead |
Attacks up close | 62 | Lv.10 | Mold Dungeon Chest, World Chest Nature, etc. |
| 4 |  Tome of the Dark |
Fires a projectile | 52 | Lv.2 | Wingling, Copper Chest, etc. |
Projectile counts, attack intervals (wind-up + attack + cooldown) and the base burn and radiation values are read from each minion's settings in the game files (Core Keeper 1.3.0.6). How damage and burn grow up to Lv.20 is based on the Core Keeper Wiki (Fandom) per-level data (CC BY-SA 3.0). The calculation is explained in detail on the best minion build page.
Recommended minions for each stage
- From Lv.2: Tome of the Dark (fires a projectile)
- From Lv.7: Tome of Ashes (attacks up close + burning)
- From Lv.10: Tome of Sprouts (fires 3 projectiles in a fan)
- From Lv.10: Tome of the Dead (attacks up close)
If you start as a Warlock, you begin with a tome (Warlock).
Special minions (orbiting, digging)
- Tome of the Deep: Circles you (2 tiles) and hits enemies it touches
- Tome of Decay: Circles you and hits enemies it touches + radiation (5-tile radius)
- Tome of Breach: Digs walls (for mining)
Gear that makes minions stronger
The best combination of gear and food for minion damage and max minion count is on the best minion build page. Your own "all damage" and critical bonuses do not apply to minions. In the game's code, minion damage only uses minion damage, minion critical hit chance and damage, and minion damage against bosses, plus effects such as “Minion damage is increased by X% of your magic damage increase”.
Unless a note on the page says otherwise, numbers are read from the game files of Core Keeper 1.3.0.6 (prefabs, configuration files, drop tables and the game's program) and calculated by this site, including upgraded (per-level) values, sell prices and mana costs. Names and descriptions are the game's official English text. Only reinforcing materials, minion and pet attacks and some food values are based on the Core Keeper Wiki (Fandom) data (CC BY-SA 3.0). Core Keeper and its images are © Pugstorm. This is an unofficial fan site.