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The Bazaar Guide

The Bazaar Meta Builds (Patch 0.1.6)

Meta
Heroes
Updated on Feb 17, 2025
Feb 17, 2025

Overview: State of The Bazaar's Meta

Patch 0.1.6 introduces a number of very relevant mechanical changes. Once again, the devs have made some key adjustments that reshape how we play the game. Before we get into the details, overall I think this patch is a step in the right direction.

While there certainly are some numbers that need fixing, it feels like we're getting closer to a more stable baseline of The Bazaar. After all, the level-up rewards structure has mostly remained the same, which is a pretty big deal given how many iterations we've seen.

Note: We're working on getting all of our tooltips up to date. Thank you for your patience.

Enchantment Changes

First and foremost, by far the biggest impact of the patch is the single adjustment they made to level-up rewards. The level 10 (and 19) guaranteed enchantment reward now no longer gives three options to choose from. Instead we're offered one random visible option, or the choice to apply a random enchantment to an item.

This takes away the "opportunistic enchantment" play-style of the prior patch, and is ultimately a good change. Having the choice between three options led to some very skewed games where the one lucky enchant could define the entire run. It was to the point where players would hoard items just in case a particular enchantment showed up, which isn't exactly ideal.

While there was some strategy behind making these opportune purchases, overall there really wasn't much agency for the player. It felt especially bad when all three options were useless, because if you missed, you still had to fight players who didn't miss their's. These changes do add more RNG, but overall feels more balanced since your opponents won't always find what they need either.

One exception to this is items like that have few possible enchantments. "The Artist" can roll the rare Shiny enchant, which doesn't appear as a selectable enchant option like everything else. In the case of you get a 50/50 shot at getting Shiny which is an insane power spike. Thankfully this isn't a big issue due to item rarity, but it is a unique example of where these changes can technically be a buff.

Last but definitely not least, the changes to make the Fiery and Toxic enchants scale to an item's Damage/Shield/Heal values (usually 10%) is a huge buff to enchantments as a whole. These were powerful picks for certain items, but absolute garbage for others. Following a similar belief to the Restorative and Shielded enchants, it's now possible to create some wildly powerful Burn/Poison items.

Bronze Buffs

Many items have been rebalanced to have stronger base values at Bronze and Silver, but weaker values at Gold and Diamond. This is a big buff to early game builds while only slightly harming later viability. This is because much of a build's late game power usually comes from scaling skills. A small boost to base Damage is nowhere near as important.

This has made the Day 1 level-up strategy (picking the XP option twice, shopping once) even more preferable, as having the extra board space is much more relevant when Bronze items are more impactful.

Drop rate tables have also been adjusted to offer higher tier items earlier in the game. So while Bronze items are a lot stronger, it won't take long until you start picking up Silver items (or better).

Other Changes

The XP rate has actually been slightly reduced. Previously there was a bug which granted players an additional 1 XP during certain level-up rewards.

When offered the choice between three options that included an item, gold + Loot, and a random third option... choosing option one or two would grant an additional 1 XP. This is now fixed, and worth noting as it does actually impact the rate at which players level-up.

A large amount of Freeze items and effects now only apply to items of their size or smaller. This is an indirect buff to Large items as they are now far less vulnerable to Freeze (or at least most repeatable ones).

It's definitely a big nerf to the previously overpowered Freeze enchant, and is a good fix since the Rapid Thaw (reduces Freeze duration) skill no longer exists.

Lastly, Crit Chance is quite a bit harder to come by now that is finally nerfed. The builds that rely on Crit will often need to lean more into items in order to reach 100%.

Other builds will often need to combine certain skills and/or enchants if they want to solely rely on skills for scaling. For everything else, just pickup whatever flat buffs you can find (ex. ) and hope you get some Crits every now and then.

Closing Thoughts

There are a ton of viable builds right now across all Heroes, but many of them need to win earlier or else they can fall off in the late game. With Property builds on the rise, Pyg's late game prowess is really coming to life, so it's important to learn how far a build can go in case you need to pivot to a different strategy.

The following builds are just a few examples of what you can expect to play and encounter in The Bazaar. There are far more variations than what can realistically be included, so take the placements with a grain of salt and embrace the game's random nature!

Vanessa

Vanessa can now benefit a lot more from her early game Weapons. Many of them have been readjusted so that their Damage values are higher at Bronze/Silver, but weaker at Gold/Diamond.

This makes multi-Weapon aggro strategies a lot more viable, allowing Vanessa to get back some of her roots. It's well worth the trade-off of having lower Damage at Gold/Diamond, as later power eventually comes more from skills rather than upgrades.

is a standout from the patch with its powerful and fast Damage output, but there's many other Weapons that received considerable buffs. Ammo items such as and deal a considerable amount of burst and can be worth using even without additional support.

While these are great changes, the biggest challenge is that more emphasis has been put on Vanessa to win much earlier. Pyg is proving to be dominant in the late game, and unfortunately when it comes to the early game, Dooley still has an edge over Vanessa in terms of consistency.

Vanessa has many viable builds and is far from unplayable, but you will have to be a little more mindful of the clock. The longer the run goes, the more likely you'll match into builds that far out-scale yours.

#1 Double Barrel

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is one of Vanessa's most reliable Weapons thanks to its low Cooldown and Multicast. So long as you can solve its limited Ammo, it can easily slot into a variety of builds.

is often enough to support it during the early game, but is definitely a worthwhile upgrade later on. It's important to remember that if your Reload item is disrupted, so is the .

You can take this build in many different directions, as both one-Weapon and multi-Weapon setups are viable. Even a variant can work if you're able to get enough Haste and Lifesteal/Heal/Shield effects (either via or enchantments).

variants tend to be the most reliable in the late game, which essentially puts this into the broad "One Weapon Silencer" category. However, the more aggressive wide-Weapon boards definitely have potential as long as you can finish the run early enough.

Build Guide:

#2 One-Weapon Silencer

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One-Weapon builds actually received a solid buff to their early game. Most notably, the and had their Silver tier Damage values doubled (25 -> 50), along with a 50% increase at Gold tier (50 -> 75).

benefits the most from this as the doubled value also applies to its Shield capabilities. It's now become one of the easier single Weapons to pivot towards, because unlike it doesn't require specific tags to be useful. On top of that, its inherent Shield means that Lifesteal is far less needed, so you can actually drop without sacrificing major defenses.

is one of the reasons is worth using, as it's one of the strongest and most reliable Crit-scaling skills available (especially now that is nerfed). Alongside it gets ridiculous scaling value that benefits both its Damage and Shield.

, , and are all still great options as before, but can have some consistency issues. The main challenge now is that there's more competition in the late game, so if you lose too much early on, you're at the mercy of RNG in the end.

Build Guides:

#3 Pufferfish

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has been toned down from the previous patch but is still a viable option. Aside from its increased Cooldown, one of the more relevant nerfs was to . While its rate of Shield scaling is still super strong (despite being weakened), it's now less accessible since it was moved back to Gold as its starting tier.

This lowers its overall consistency as generally can't hold up in the later days of the game. More emphasis is now on the early game and making sure the build can win before it's too late.

is ideal in order to get the double setup, and having extra s can be good as well. Board positioning will definitely vary depending on the Aquatic items and/or Poison skills you find.

Build Guide:

Pygmalien

Pygmalien is a big winner of the patch thanks to the way the Fiery/Toxic enchants now scale. Property builds based on scaling their item's Value can effectively convert that into absurd amounts of Burn/Poison.

While Pyg can struggle a bit during the first few days, thanks to his insane Income and out of combat scaling abilities, he has a ton of ways to turn the tide in his favor.

With the Jungle Ruins event being guaranteed on Day 2, Pyg gets access to an extra two Income that other Heroes can't get. Pyg also has a chance to gain Income as his random hero-specific level-up reward, allowing him a great benefit during the "lesser level-ups" whereas Vanessa and Dooley often get nothing valuable.

finally being re-enabled gives Pyg an amazing item to upgrade and enchant via level-up rewards. Alongside his insane Income he can end up upgrading and enchanting multiple items instead of just choosing one.

Even though was immediately banned, other new (and reworked) items such as and give Pyg many new interesting options to explore during a run. With so many solid angles and pivots available, it's a great time to be a Pygmalien player!

#1 Fixer Upper

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Property builds have emerged and are taking over the meta. Their late game scaling potential leads to some truly insane numbers as gold Values get multiplied by the likes of and/or .

What's really brought them to the forefront is the rebalancing of Burn/Poison enchants. Now that many of these are based on a percentage (usually 10%) of an item's Damage/Shield/Heal stat, players can exploit this by Value stacking their Properties.

is incredibly efficient at this as a three second Cooldown Property that Shields equal to 4x its Value. As an item obtainable at Bronze tier that self-upgrades at the start of each day, it's extremely cost effective to get going.

When you put it all together and line it up with a Fiery/Toxic enchant it becomes extremely easy to dish out hundreds (if not thousands) of Burn/Poison within a few seconds. Worst case scenario, if you miss the enchant, you can just convert the insane Shield stacking into Damage with .

This enables a very flexible and consistent strategy that's solid in the early game and incredible in the late game. Unlike many other builds which fall off during the later days, takes full advantage of any extra days, only getting stronger with time.

Build Guide:

#2 Crook Atlatl

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It's hard to imagine a world where isn't present in the meta. While it may not be the king it once was, to say it's "just okay" would be a massive understatement. Being able to find one early gives Pyg an easy immediate pivot if the current build isn't working. Plus even if it is, there's definitely an argument to be made to shift gears.

is still a dominant build in the early to mid game. What's mainly changed is its late game viability, and that's generally when matching against Property Pyg builds.

One of its core strengths remains the same, which is the ability to capitalize on a wide variety of Weapons outside of Pyg's own pool. There are definitely times where 's late game potential is far greater than usual, making it ultimately come down to the items/enchants/skills you encounter.

Build Guide:

#3 Pyg's Gym

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is becoming another popular Property build that also has excellent scaling potential. Once you've scaled enough Value, it can singlehandedly support common powerhouse Weapons like , , and .

Its Damage output is very strong during the mid game. At this stage there's usually enough time to scale up its Weapons, then burst down the opponent. The added Max Health is most relevant during this point before other builds reach their crazy numbers.

This is another build that can sometimes struggle and fall off towards the late game. At that point it's important to have some form of sustain, usually with a Restorative/Shielded/Obsidian enchant (or if you're lucky).

Where it shines is against matchups that allow it to scale. Its Weapons are exceptionally fast and can definitely keep you alive with the right enchant. However, if you die in one hit it doesn't matter, which is why the end game can be rough.

Dooley

Dooley has an incredibly consistent early game. All three Damage-based Cores plus the received significant buffs to their Bronze/Silver tier forms. Just like the other changes, more power has been put into Bronze/Silver and reduced at Gold/Diamond.

and are by far the biggest winners, as both Cores also had their scaling values adjusted in the same way. Bronze Cores are now as good as their previous Silver counterparts, which is a massive deal.

Most notably, + carries even harder during the first few days which can often snowball into a strong build. This alone gives Dooley a highly favorable early game over the other Heroes.

Additionally, since many of Dooley's items are interchangeable by design, it's very easy to put together a decent build with very little. Just throw together some Small utility items that Charge the Core, then let some form of scaling take over. makes it even easier by being a super simple build-around with powerful payoff.

If there's one area Dooley can struggle this patch, it's during the later stages of the game. Dooley's scaling doesn't quite hold up to some of the new big threats of the meta, unless you're able to find some very important skills and/or enchants. While it is possible to compete, often the more reliable approach is to win the run as early as you can. Take advantage of that early snowball!

#1 Force Field

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+ is one of the strongest openers in the game, especially now that has twice the scaling it previously did at Bronze tier. This alongside the fact that is extremely accessible (and fully functional at Bronze) gives Dooley a strong build that's available from Day 1.

Consistency is what makes this so strong, as it's very easy for Dooley to get several "free" wins during the early days of PvP. You can pretty much flex in whatever Small items you like so long as they're placed to the left of the Core.

Powerful skills like the Dooley-exclusive define its later viability, giving the build a ton of Shield scaling to help it fend off (and hopefully outpace) Weapon and Burn matchups.

The main downside is that is required, but when chosen becomes one of the easiest cookie-cutter builds to assemble. It's strong, super consistent, and wins a lot early. And while it can still compete in the late game, it often doesn't have to!

Build Guide:

#2 Railgun

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is one the most dominant archetypes in the early and mid game. It deals a ridiculous amount of Damage relative to how early it can be acquired, and its rate of fire can be pushed to pretty absurd levels.

Aside from acquiring the itself, putting together the rest of the build is really simple. In general, you can pretty much just include the fastest Small Tech items you find alongside and your Core.

Since there's a plethora of options it's very easy to make the build functional, then upgrade it as better parts are found. One big advantage is that every Core aside from is viable. It's all about spam Charging your Tech.

In the later stages of the game can fall off if you haven't found a strong form of Damage scaling. Skills like can certainly help, but if you really want to break the build in half, pray for a second .

makes this a realistic possibility. Provided you leave at least three slots open in your Stash before each level-up, there's a small chance of it spawning a . Combining two s lets them chain off each other, constantly Charging and dishing out a ton of Damage. Add in some key enchantments and things really get out of hand.

#3 Power Drill

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is still one of Dooley's best and most flexible items. You can slot it into a number of builds, and because of the nature of enchantments, what you end up with can greatly differ between runs.

is still the ideal Core despite being nerfed. The inherent Burn synergy creates a much easier baseline to work with, allowing an easier pivot into once enough support is found.

As of this patch, it's a fair bit less consistent to land a relevant enchantment. Now that you're only given one visible option, the odds of guaranteeing either Haste/Slow/Freeze/Burn/Poison are much lower. Sometimes you have to take the gamble with The Artist's random enchantment, even though you may miss.

Despite the changes, definitely has the potential to over-perform and carry the run. Just like , it can also make great use of Damage scaling skills like . Or even better, it can go absolutely nuts with . The build's layout will definitely vary depending on the items/skills/enchants, but what's great is there's so much variety.

Build Guide:

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