The confirmed three
- Vanguard (frontline): push into the swarm, deal close-range damage and clear waves fast. Strong offense, but they need support to survive long runs. Confirmed: Dark Cherry.
- Defender (anchor): soak damage and protect your squishier ranged Cookies. Critical for keeping runs alive on tough maps. Confirmed: Berry Yogurt.
- Shooter (ranged core): sit at the back and deal sustained or burst damage while the frontline holds. High output, but exposed if the line breaks. Confirmed: Grapevine.
The fourth role
Pre-launch coverage also describes a Support class covering healing, buffs and utility effects rather than raw damage. Devsisters has not attached it to a named Cookie yet, so we are listing it separately from the three above instead of treating it as settled. If it lands as described, it changes party planning in one specific way: a Support slot is the thing that lets a Shooter-heavy party survive attrition content without adding a second Defender.
Balancing your party
Parties field up to 12 Cookies. A safe template is one to two Vanguards, at least one strong Defender, and Shooters filling the rest, with a Support folded in once the role is confirmed. Use the Party Builder to see your class balance update live.
Two failure modes are worth naming because both look fine on the roster screen. A party with no Defender clears fast and then dies to the first wave it cannot outrun. A party that is mostly frontline survives everything and finishes nothing, because the damage is not there.