Warhammer Survivors characters include over 40 playable champions from Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Age of Sigmar, with distinct weapons and starting stats. The launch guides list Malum Caedo, Neave Blacktalon, and Lorai among the characters available by default, while other champions require purchases, rescues, or specific objectives. The roster below covers selected champions, their documented weapons, and any requirements to make them playable. GameRant said it would expand its own launch tables as it found and unlocked more champions.
Default characters and coin purchases
Malum Caedo is a Space Marine Sternguard Veteran whose listed starting weapon is the Chainsword, and the guides mark him as available by default. Neave Blacktalon, described by the developer as a lightning-forged Stormcast, is also available by default and uses Tempest Axes. Both launch guides list Lorai as available by default; GameRant calls the character Lorai, Child of the Abyss, and lists Nebulous Sea-Fog as the weapon.
If you're choosing a champion to buy with coins, Brother Luca Amasius costs 200 coins and starts with a Boltgun. Sister Superior Amalia Novena costs 400 coins, with Shield of Faith listed as her weapon. The Steam description separately explains why gold matters even after a run ends: collecting it helps you become more powerful in later runs.
Warhammer 40,000 characters unlocked through rescues
Imperial Bastion is the first stage, available by default, and contains the rescue unlocks for Trooper Bartosz Kozlowski and The Legend of Catachan. Bartosz uses a Lasgun, while The Legend of Catachan uses a Frag Grenade and also needs to be found and rescued on Imperial Bastion. GameRant places Bartosz at a crossroads north of the starting point, past the first military building; clear all the blue-outlined enemies there and approach him once the pointer appears. Rescuing Bartosz unlocks him as a playable champion and gives you a companion for the rest of that run, with his weapon upgrading whenever you upgrade your own character's default weapon.
Each of the following rescues takes place on a different stage. To unlock K9 Mastiff, who uses Mechanical Bite, find and rescue the character on Gallowdark. GameRant lists the Power Klaw as Commissar Sebastian Yarrick's weapon; both GameRant and Destructoid say to rescue him on Ork Stronghold. To unlock Saint Celestine, who uses the Ardent Blade, find and rescue her on Imperial Shipyard, which GameRant says opens after you reach Level 50 on Ork Stronghold.
Characters with enemy defeat requirements
Max Mahon uses a Combat Shotgun and requires defeating 1,000 Nurglings in a single run. Captain Tor Garadon uses a Whirlwind Battery and requires defeating 10,000 enemies cumulatively across runs. If you're working on another unlock and aren't hunting Nurglings, the enemies you defeat along the way can still count toward Garadon's unlock.
Knight-Commander Pask has a Battle Cannon listed as his weapon, with an unlock requirement of defeating 100 Ork vehicles. On the Age of Sigmar side of the roster, Sharynn Azurwrath is a Stormcast Eternals Vanquisher. The launch guides associate her unlock with defeating 10 Troggoths.
Status effects, passives, Relics, and Wounds
Canones Aurora Veritas uses a Flamer, and the guides list applying the Burning status effect to 100 Death Guard enemies as her unlock requirement. Sergeant Furan's weapon is the Storm Bolter, but his objective centers on two passives. To unlock him, get both the Gauntlet and Lightning Bolt passives to Level 5 while playing on Ork Stronghold, the same stage where you can rescue Commissar Sebastian Yarrick.
Celestian Sacresant Aveline Aboye uses Spear of the Faithful and requires collecting 10 Relics. Chaplain Fo'Baran's weapon is Crozius Arcanum, and his unlock measures how many Wounds you recover. For Fo'Baran, recover a total of 1,000 Wounds in 'Eavy Metal mode, the mode specifically named in the guides.
Age of Sigmar rescue characters
To unlock Armand Callis and Hanniver Toll, find and rescue them on The Great Parch. Armand Callis uses Brace of Pistols, while Hanniver Toll uses Flintlock Pistols. Find and rescue Gotrek Gurnisson on Skrappa Spill, the stage named by both launch guides. GameRant lists his weapon as Firestorm Greataxe.
Characters associated with paint pots
Maleneth Witchblade uses Poisoned Throwing Knives, and the launch guides associate her unlock with finding the Leadbelcher paint pot. Leadbelcher also appears on the list for Lyssa Revenya, so it's a paint to look for if you're pursuing either champion. Lyssa's list also includes Abaddon Black, Agrax Earthshade, and Mechanicus Standard Grey.
The official game description says you'll find paint pots on the battlefield. It describes paint collection as a way to uncover secrets and unlock new character forms. The launch guides also give paint collection a place in expanding the playable roster: they list the paint pots above as requirements for unlocking Maleneth and Lyssa themselves.
Morvenn Vahl and her evolving warsuit weapon
Morvenn Vahl was a Celestian Superior before becoming High Abbess Sanctorum, the supreme commander of the Adepta Sororitas. She leads crusades in person, and the developer describes her as one of the game's larger characters in her ornate Paragon Warsuit. Her weapon is Heavy Bolter Fidelis, which fires projectiles in an arc. Fidelis can also trigger a miracle that increases its rate of fire.
Fidelis can evolve into Purgator Mirabilis, which unlocks the Paragon Missile Launcher mounted on Vahl's warsuit. The evolved weapon still fires Fidelis' spray of bolter shells, with intermittent missile salvos adding explosions across the battlefield. This is one example of the game's wider weapon evolution system, in which weapons can be combined with power-ups and developed into new forms.
Lyssa Revenya, Rope and Grapnel, and Rhea
Lyssa Revenya is a thief from Lethis who knows her way through the city's trapped crypts and catacombs. She is also a member of the Saviours of Cinderfall, the band of heroes that foiled a plot against Hammerhal. Her Rope and Grapnel launches hooks from random screen edges toward specific points on the battlefield. The hooks damage the enemies they hit, then drag away any that survive, so the weapon can move enemies as well as hurt them.
Evolving Rope and Grapnel adds an attack that ends in a burst of damaging ghostly fog after Rhea's spirit crosses the battlefield. Rhea was Lyssa's ally and mentor and appears in the evolution as a banshee. The developer suggests trying to pull enemies toward the Ghost of Rhea with the grapnel.