Character Tier List
S-Tier: The OG, the GOAT, the Top Tier
Dicehead – The permanent crit chance stacking from his passive (increases crit chance every level) combined with the Dice weapon creates exponential scaling, resulting in a “snowballing” (that part of the game where you’re lawnmowing the enemies) pretty early. Rolling 6s permanently increases Dice crit chance, which compounds throughout the run. By late game, Dicehead has absurd crit rates, and there’s not much competition. He’s late game for a reason.
CL4NK – Starting weapon is Revolver, and his passive increases crit chance with every level. The 40 base HP with 50 shield creates a different survivability model: you’re fragile if shields break, but the shield regenerates quickly, so jump and run, baby. The “glass cannon”-type crit scaling passive is what makes him top tier. He’s one of the most skill-based characters because he’s so frail, but if you’re good at the game, he’s your best bet until unlocking Dicehead.
Revolver’s just a really, really great weapon in general, and it pairs well with most other weapons. That’s what carries CL4NK the most.
Robinette – Starting weapon (Bow) is strong with piercing and crit scaling. The gold-scaling passive increases damage based on gold collected, which compounds throughout runs, though it’s a bit slow to start in the early game. Robinette is pretty skill-based, and she’ll be better as you’ve unlocked more stuff. Robinette has no significant weaknesses besides that and excels at all stages of the game. Workable early, stronger late, versatile across maps.
A-Tier: Strong With Caveats
Megachad – Objectively the funniest character in the game. Debatable for S tier, though his aura comes with the downside of having to be up close to opponents to kill, so he’s reliant on projectile weapon pulls to maintain distance until you can build an aura that is both wide-reaching and damaging enough to kill them quickly. His luck stats are some of the worst in the game, but his Flex mechanic covers for a lot of that by having him simply ignore taking damage if it’s been a while since he was damaged. If you pair this with even a 5 HP Armor you’ll benefit tremendously from both mechanics, because the Flex will only activate once you’ve lost some Armor, so you have two separate cooldowns as a barrier before you take damage.
Megachad also benefits from jumping heavily, as he can do damage to enemies on the ground while in the air. I don’t think Megachad will be top tier for long though, as more strats are discovered. Honestly, Megachad’s not that hard to do well with. Build aura. Get a projectile weapon. Find the goal. As long as you’re building you’ll be fine.
Monke – Monke is hard to place. He’s got a solid primary and can climb walls, which is huge for survival in places that have walls. You can expect to gain about +50 Max HP by the end of a Tier, too. Problem is, he’s kinda slow unless you’re jumping (you should be jumping anyway) and he gets crowded easily when he can’t climb walls. Monke, I think, is at his best when he’s focused on his primary Bananarang and has upgraded it tremendously, and invested in some movement speed options.
Calcium – Easily your best option in the early game, before you’ve unlocked most other characters. The movement speed is excellent for map traversal and resource collection, and map travel is really really important (though the 1.0.12 patch nerfed his speed). He’s partially a skill issue, because his whole schtick is dependent on “don’t get hit bro”, and when he does get hit he loses speed and damage. His projectile isn’t a great option, but you can cover for that with a second weapon. I use Calcium as an easy level beater and for silver grinding.
Tony McZoom – Fastest mover in the game, and a great pickup speed. Problem is, pickup is only useful if you’re netting lots of kills. Tony McZoom is at his best once you’ve unlocked the upgrade that has XP gems slice through enemies to deal damage (the name escapes me at the moment). If you get him in the early or mid game, he’s not going to be as useful, so you’re probably best off waiting until you have the unlocks needed to make use of him.
B-Tier: Situational Strengths
Birdo – Named after a Mario character who looks like he’s out of Star Fox. Birdo has a “get out of jail free” card with his floating, but his Tornadoes kind of mitigate that benefit by knocking opponents backwards… which is where he’ll land. It’s helpful to think ahead a second or two about where you’ll jump versus where you’ll knock your opponents back to. Still, movement is a huge benefit in this game and he’s got that going for him.
Amog – Poison build specialist—the size and duration bonuses make poison effects substantially stronger. If you’re building poison (Moldy Cheese, poison weapons, etc.), Amog is excellent. If you’re not, the bonuses are mediocre. Very build-dependent character, and that makes him risky because you may not pull the poison builds you need. Also, poison takes time to kill, so you’ll end up running away from bosses while the poison does the work.
Noelle -B tier is a bit generous for Noelle, but we’ll roll with it as Noelle fans are rabid. (Pun thoroughly intended). Noelle’s functional but relies on that freeze, so you’ll need to pull a second weapon. I recommend a projectile, just to keep some distance between you and the enemies. Don’t run Aura with this guy.
Ninja – He’s starting with melee, but really seems built to just run around and open pots instead of fighting enemies properly. Sure, he’s got a chance to instantly execute an enemy if he evades them… but you can only evade an enemy if you get hit in the first place. You don’t want to get hit! So his upsides are mitigated quite heavily.
Ogre – The upside of Ogre is that he does more damage as he levels up, and it stacks. The downside is that his primary is a melee, and not a great one either. I’m not surprised Ogre isn’t that great, to be honest – he doesn’t have much going for him without a solid secondary weapon, and that’s not reliable.
C-Tier: I Hope I’m Wrong About These Guys
Bush – It sucks to try to unlock this dude. His sniper rifle can be manually aimed, which is unique… but honestly not that helpful until you get to bosses or if you’re majorly good at the game. Scramble early to get a second weapon that’s automatic so you can have ’em both. Still, despite the skill issues of the character, he’s got real potential. Just doesn’t play well with skill issues.
Bandit – Bandit’s a real toss-up, because if you manage to level up quickly he benefits a lot from that 1% attack speed gain per level up. But getting to that snowball is the hard part, and while having a second weapon is nice, it’s not always enough to hit the snowball period. Some people think he’s top tier. I… am not convinced. I will say, he’s dominating the leaderboard because there’s a strategy where you can build him correctly so he survives really far into the final swarm wave. But that’s a specific goal, and doesn’t help us with nearly any other situation.
Fox – This isn’t Melee. Fox is probably the better of the two characters you start with early on because of his speed and improved luck, but once you’ve unlocked some of the upgrades with silver Sir Oofie’s the better choice. Still, you’re more likely to get better pulls with him, and if you play pretty well he can function. He’s just… a worse version of the projectile archetype than most of the other characters.
Vlad – Vlad is too heavily reliant on early level ups, which are inherently unpredictable, to be of extreme use. And his benefit (improved lifesteal as he levels up) is only a benefit when he’s taking damage… which we don’t want. I’m stretched to see a use case for him.
Athena – Similar to Vlad, her mechanics require taking damage. Why would you want to take damage in a game where you can go from full HP to nothing in less than a second?
Sir Chadwell – The game gets harder by design as he gets better. Let’s not waste time on this.
Sir Oofie – The whole point of Sir Oofie is that he’s tanky and straightforward so you can make mistakes in the endgame when you’re getting swarmed. A good place to start the game on… but not worth returning to at any point after your first character unlock.
D-Tier: Actively Disadvantaged
Spaceman – Currently bugged, expect this to change.
Weapon Tier List
Weapons are evaluated on their utility as a primary or secondary weapon, and their ability to do most of the work for you, basically. Base damages are subject to patches, and your success with a weapon will also vary based on what you have unlocked.
S-Tier: Good Stuff
Sniper Rifle – 22 base damage (highest in the game), pierces enemies, can be manually aimed. Only upgrades damage, projectile count, and size. Having only three upgrade stats means you see damage upgrades more frequently. Piercing is extremely valuable for swarm control. Manual aim is situational but useful for bosses. Scales exceptionally well throughout the game.
I’ll admit I’m not sold on the Sniper Rifle but everyone I know who is better than me at this game swears by it.
Lightning Staff – 7 base damage, bounces between enemies, upgrades damage and the projectiles bounce. Projectile bounces make this excellent for dense enemy groups. Each projectile can hit multiple enemies, making projectile count extremely effective. Strong early weapon that remains relevant late. I combine it with Fire Staff if I get a chance.
Bow – 9 base damage, pierces enemies, upgrades damage, crit chance, crit damage, projectile count, projectile speed, and size. Piercing plus high projectile count is powerful. Crit scaling enables dedicated crit builds. Strong at all stages of the game. You’ll want to play this like it’s a shotgun, where it kills what’s close and does damage to what’s far away.
Revolver – 5 base damage, 6 base projectile count, upgrades damage, crit chance, crit damage, projectile bounces, projectile count, and projectile speed. Starts with 6 projectiles, which makes projectile count upgrades extremely efficient. Bounces plus high projectile count means each attack hits many enemies multiple times. Crit stats enable burst damage. Excellent weapon for projectile-focused builds, and allows you to keep a distance from bosses while doing great damage.
Dice – Special mention due to Dicehead synergy. 0 base damage, deals 1-6 random damage, rolling 6 increases crit chance permanently (for Dice only). With Dicehead’s passive, this becomes the strongest weapon in the game. Without Dicehead, it’s mediocre due to random damage and slow scaling. Context-dependent S-tier.
A-Tier: Strong and Reliable
Aegis – Literally your only real option for AFK strats, otherwise… nope lol. Put it in “A” tier because it’s “A” for “Aegis is Bad except for AFK” tier.
Katana – 11 base damage, targets closest enemy, upgrades damage, crit chance, crit damage, projectile count, and size. Automatic targeting is convenient. Crit scaling enables burst builds. Solid all-around weapon. Requires finding it in tumbleweeds on Desert (5% chance), which is annoying, but worth the effort.
Firestaff – 10 base damage, explodes on impact, upgrades damage, projectile count, projectile speed, and size. Area damage is valuable. Straightforward scaling. Reliable weapon throughout the game. Not exceptional at anything but competent at everything, so pair it with Lightning Staff and enjoy the kills.
Wireless Dagger – 9 base damage, smart targeting with bounces, upgrades damage, duration, projectile bounces, projectile count, and projectile speed. The smart targeting means projectiles chase enemies effectively. Bounces make it good for group clearing. Duration scaling is unusual but allows for persistent damage.
Black Hole – 4 base damage, pulls enemies together, upgrades damage, duration, projectile count, and size. The crowd control utility is exceptional. Pulling enemies into groups makes all other weapons more effective. Lower base damage is offset by the utility. Requires Knockback Tome level 10 to unlock. Excellent support weapon.
Slutty Rocket – 11 base damage, homing missiles, upgrades damage, crit chance, projectile count, and projectile speed. Homing is reliable. Decent damage. Crit potential. Good weapon with no significant weaknesses. CL4NK’s starting weapon.
B-Tier: Situationally Useful
Axe – 6 base damage, orbits around you, upgrades damage, duration, projectile count, and size. Duration scaling means axes stay out longer, which is unique. Good with size increases for area coverage. Requires close-range positioning which is riskier. Decent for melee-range builds.
Dexecutioner – 9 base damage, piercing weapon with execute chance, upgrades damage, crit chance, projectile count, and size. The execute chance (small percentage to instantly kill) is powerful against high-HP enemies. Piercing is valuable and makes a difference towards the late game.
Frostwalker – 9 base damage, freezes and damages in area around you, upgrades damage, duration, and size. Crowd control through freezing is powerful. Area-of-effect around your character means you don’t need to aim. Duration makes freezes last longer. Good utility weapon. Requires Ice Cube to unlock (freeze 1,000 enemies), which is easy.
Flamewalker – 5 base damage, leaves fire trail behind you, upgrades damage, duration, projectile count, and size. Passive damage as you move. Duration makes trails last longer. Scales well with size. Good for high-mobility builds where you’re constantly moving. Less useful if you stand still frequently.
Poison Flask – 1 base damage, poisons enemies in area, upgrades damage, duration, projectile count, projectile speed, and size. Poison damage over time can be strong with duration stacking. Area effect is useful. Very low base damage means it needs significant investment to be effective. Good for poison-focused builds (especially Amog).
Mines – 10 base damage, deploys mines that explode near enemies, upgrades damage, duration, projectile count, and size. Defensive area denial tool. Duration makes mines persist longer. Good for controlling space. Less useful against fast-moving enemies. Requires 7,500 rocket kills to unlock.
Shotgun – 9 base damage, spread shot stronger at close range, can be manually aimed, upgrades damage, crit chance, projectile count, knockback, and size. High burst damage at close range. Manual aiming is awkward for fast-paced content. Good for boss killing but mediocre for swarm control. Requires finding in tumbleweeds on Desert Tier 2 (5% chance).
Tornado – 8 base damage, sends tornadoes that knock enemies back, upgrades damage, knockback, projectile count, projectile speed, and size. Knockback is defensive utility. Tornadoes push enemies away, which can be good or bad depending on your build. Decent weapon but the knockback can be counterproductive. Requires charging shrine during sandstorm on Desert.
Dragon’s Breath – 15 base damage, fires in movement direction, upgrades damage, duration, and size. High base damage. Only upgrades three stats (frequent damage increases). Directional firing means you need to aim by moving. Awkward to use effectively. Strong if you master the aiming but clunky otherwise.
C-Tier: Functional But Limited
Sword/Hero Sword/Corrupted Sword – Melee range is a significant limitation. Knockback pushes enemies away from you, which is counterproductive for a melee weapon, but does keep room between you and taking damage. The Hero Sword fires projectile slashes which helps, and Corrupted Sword deals bonus damage at low HP. All three versions are functional but melee range makes them less efficient than ranged alternatives.
Bananarang – 9 base damage, returns to you, upgrades damage, projectile count, projectile speed, and size. The return mechanic means projectiles can hit enemies twice (going out and coming back). Decent damage. Projectile count scaling is good. Nothing exceptional but serviceable. Hidden banana unlock is easy.
Chunkers – 12 base damage, rocks orbit around you, upgrades damage, knockback, projectile count, projectile speed, and size. Similar to Axe but with knockback. Close-range positioning required. Knockback can push enemies away which reduces effectiveness. Size scaling makes it better. Decent but requires specific build support.
Bone – 11 base damage, bounces off enemies, upgrades damage, knockback, projectile bounces, projectile count, and projectile speed. Bouncing projectiles are good for group damage. Five upgrade stats dilutes scaling. Knockback has the usual issues. Functional but not exceptional.
Aura – 6 base damage, damages enemies around you, upgrades damage and size. Only two upgrade stats means frequent damage increases. Constant area damage is useful. Requires being near enemies which is risky. Scales well with size but base damage is low.
D-Tier: Niche or Problematic
Space Noodle – 10 base damage, attaches to enemy and damages enemies in between, upgrades damage, duration, and size. The mechanic keeps the attached enemy alive until duration expires, which is terrible—you’re intentionally not killing an enemy. Only useful against bosses where you want to use them as an anchor point. Actively bad against normal enemies. Requires Desert Tier 2 completion as Tony McZoom.
Blood Magic – 9 base damage, 5% chance to increase Max HP on kill, upgrades damage, projectile count, and size. The HP increase is minor and inconsistent. The weapon itself is fine but nothing special. You’re using this for the HP stacking gimmick, not for combat effectiveness. Requires Bloody Tome level 12 to unlock.
Weapon Tier List Summary
S-Tier: Sniper Rifle, Lightning Staff, Bow, Revolver, Dexecutioner, Dice (with Dicehead)
A-Tier: Aegis, Katana, Firestaff, Wireless Dagger, Black Hole, Slutty Rocket
B-Tier: Axe, Frostwalker, Flamewalker, Poison Flask, Mines, Shotgun, Tornado, Dragon’s Breath
C-Tier: Sword variants, Bananarang, Chunkers, Bone, Aura
D-Tier: Space Noodle, Blood Magic
Tome Tier List
Tomes affect character stats and apply to all weapons. All tomes max at level 99. Evaluated on universal applicability and scaling efficiency.
S-Tier: Build-Defining Essential Tomes
XP Tome – Increases XP gain from all sources by 9% per level. Leveling up faster means more upgrades means more power. This compounds throughout the run. Every build wants XP Tome. There is no situation where more levels is bad. Mandatory in every run. Unlocked by breaking 20 pots in a single run (trivial).
Damage Tome – Increases damage multiplicatively by 0.08x per level. Applies to all weapons. Scales multiplicatively with weapon damage, which means it becomes more valuable the higher your weapon damage gets. Every build needs damage. Universal scaling makes this essential. Available from the start.
Quantity Tome – Adds +1 projectile to character projectile count per level. Affects all weapons that use projectile count. More projectiles means more hits means more damage. Extremely powerful for projectile-heavy builds. Less useful for melee or area weapons that don’t benefit from projectile count. Still S-tier because projectile weapons dominate the meta. Unlocked by firing 5,000 projectiles (automatic).
Cooldown Tome – Increases attack speed by 7.5% per level. Makes all weapons fire/activate faster. More attacks per second means more damage. Universal benefit across all weapon types. Particularly strong with weapons that have hit-based effects (lifesteal, poison, etc.). Essential for most builds. Available from the start.
A-Tier: Powerful and Versatile
Bloody Tome – Adds lifesteal chance by 10% per level. At 100% lifesteal you heal 1 HP per hit, at 200% you heal 2 HP per hit, etc. Sustain is critical for surviving final swarms and difficult content. Scales with attack speed and projectile count—more hits means more healing. Excellent defensive tome that enables aggressive play. Unlocked by killing 12,500 enemies (automatic).
Agility Tome – Increases movement speed by 15% per level. Speed is useful for resource collection, enemy evasion, and certain builds (Bob, for example). Compounds with drift boosting for extreme speed. Not directly combat-focused but the utility is substantial. High value for experienced players. Available from the start.
Cursed Tome – Increases difficulty by 3.5% per level. More enemies means more XP means faster leveling. Pairs extremely well with XP Tome. Increases challenge but the XP gain justifies it if your build can handle the difficulty. Unlocked by beating boss in under 5 minutes (moderate difficulty).
Size Tome – Increases size by 10% per level. Makes projectiles and areas larger. Particularly strong for area weapons (Aura, Frostwalker, Flamewalker) and piercing weapons. Less useful for single-target or homing weapons. High value when paired with appropriate weapons. Available from the start.
B-Tier: Situationally Strong
Armor Tome – Increases armor by 12% per level (with hyperbolic diminishing returns). Reduces incoming damage. Essential for tank builds. Less useful for evasion or speed builds. The diminishing returns make high armor investment inefficient. Good defensive tome but not universally applicable. Unlocked by killing 5,000 enemies as Sir Oofie.
Evasion Tome – Increases evasion by 10% per level (with hyperbolic diminishing returns). Chance to dodge attacks entirely. Strong defensive option that doesn’t require HP investment. Diminishing returns limit high investment. Good for survival but not mandatory. Available from the start.
HP Tome – Increases Max HP by 25 per level. More HP means more survivability. Simple and effective. Less efficient than armor or evasion percentage-wise but reliable. Good for tank builds or characters with low base HP. Available from the start.
Regen Tome – Increases HP regeneration by 40 per minute per level. Passive healing over time. Good for sustain in long runs. Less effective than lifesteal for combat healing because it’s time-based rather than action-based. Useful for builds that don’t attack frequently. Unlocked by upgrading tome to level 8 (easy).
Precision Tome – Increases crit chance by 7% per level. Essential for crit builds. Useless otherwise until you reach very high values. Overcrits (past 100%) provide additional damage but exact scaling is unclear. Build-specific tome. Unlocked at level 10 (gives Sniper Rifle).
Luck Tome – Increases luck by 7% per level. Higher rarity upgrades appear more frequently. More legendary and epic offerings means faster scaling. Strong throughout the game but doesn’t directly increase combat power. Good for long runs where you have time to capitalize on better RNG. Unlocked from random enemy drop (0.01% chance), which is terrible, but finding it once unlocks it permanently.
Attraction Tome – Increases pickup range by 75% per level (multiplicatively with base). Larger pickup range means you collect XP automatically from further away. Quality of life improvement that becomes essential at high difficulty when you can’t safely approach XP drops. Moderate priority. Unlocked by using Shrine of Succ 8 times (easy).
Duration Tome – Increases duration by 15% per level. Affects weapons with duration stats (Axe, Mines, Black Hole, Flamewalker, etc.) and status effects (poison, freeze). Build-specific but powerful for duration-focused builds. Unlocked by upgrading Axe to level 10.
C-Tier: Niche or Low Priority
Knockback Tome – Increases knockback by 20% per level. Pushes enemies further away when hit. Defensive utility for keeping enemies at range. Can be counterproductive for melee builds. Not particularly valuable in most contexts. Unlocked at level 10 (gives Black Hole weapon).
Shield Tome – Adds shield value by 25 per level. Shield absorbs damage before HP is affected and regenerates quickly. Good for builds focused on shield stacking. Less universally useful than HP or armor. Specific to shield-focused strategies. Available from the start.
Thorns Tome – Adds thorns damage by 15 per level. Damages enemies when they hit you. Only useful if you’re building around taking damage intentionally (tank builds, Athena, etc.). Very niche. Strong in that niche but irrelevant otherwise. Unlocked by blocking 250 attacks with Aegis.
Projectile Speed Tome – Increases projectile speed by 15% per level. Makes projectiles travel faster. Doesn’t increase damage, just speed. Minimal practical impact for most content—enemies are usually close enough that projectile travel time doesn’t matter. Low priority. Available from the start.
Golden Tome – Increases gold gain by 12% per level. More gold means more chest purchases. Chests are good but gold is usually sufficient without this tome. Economic tome that doesn’t increase combat power. Low priority unless you’re specifically farming gold. Available from the start.
Silver Tome – Increases silver gain by 12% per level. Silver is used for permanent shop unlocks. After you’ve purchased everything from the shop, this tome becomes useless. Only valuable during account progression phase. Actively bad once you’re done with shop purchases because it takes up tome slots. Available from the start.
D-Tier: Extremely Niche
Chaos Tome – Randomly boosts a stat each level. Unpredictable and unreliable. You can’t plan around random upgrades. Might give you useful stats, might give you garbage. Fun for variety runs but mechanically inferior to targeted stat selection. Requires charging all shrines on Tier 3 run without leaving zones (difficult achievement).
Tome Tier List Summary
S-Tier: XP Tome, Damage Tome, Quantity Tome, Cooldown Tome
A-Tier: Bloody Tome, Agility Tome, Cursed Tome, Size Tome
B-Tier: Armor Tome, Evasion Tome, HP Tome, Regen Tome, Precision Tome, Luck Tome, Attraction Tome, Duration Tome
C-Tier: Knockback Tome, Shield Tome, Thorns Tome, Projectile Speed Tome, Golden Tome, Silver Tome
D-Tier: Chaos Tome
Understanding the Disagreements
The character tier list disagreements reflect legitimate differences in evaluation criteria. Some analyses prioritize accessibility (how good is the character for average players), others prioritize peak potential (how good is the character with perfect play and optimal items).
Monke’s placement variance (S-tier versus B-tier) demonstrates this split. Players who master wall jumping and positioning exploit Monke’s 1.2x damage multiplier effectively. Players who don’t utilize the mobility find him merely decent. Both evaluations are correct for their respective skill levels.
Bandit’s extreme variance (S-tier versus C-tier) reflects build dependency. With perfect items (attack speed scaling, crit weapons), Bandit becomes extremely powerful. Without those items, he’s mediocre. The S-tier rating values theoretical maximum potential. The C-tier rating values practical average performance.
Fox’s underrating in some analyses likely stems from undervaluing the 15% luck bonus. Luck doesn’t directly increase damage or survivability, which makes it seem weak in isolation. But luck compounds over long runs by providing better upgrades consistently, which translates to significant power differences by late game.
The consensus on Dicehead, CL4NK, and Robinette being top tier reflects that these characters have powerful mechanics that work consistently without requiring specific items or perfect execution. They’re good for average players and excellent for skilled players.
Use tier lists as reference points, not commandments. A skilled player can make C-tier characters work. A poor player will struggle with S-tier options. Context and personal playstyle matter more than abstract rankings.
Amiibo Doctor 