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Console duel tier list
S:Shaman Gladiator Berserker Peacekeeper
A:Kensei Highlander Conqueror Lawbringer
B:Shinobi Raider Aramusha Centurion Warlord
C:Warden Nobushi Shugoki
D:Valkyrie Orochi
The purpose of this post is to keep and update a tier list for duel on console. We all know that assassins and fast attackers have the advantage compared to more reactive heroes when the game is played in 30FPS, so this tier list may be different compared to a tier list on PC.
As with all tiers lists we cannot take player skill into account, this tier list assumes the heroes are played by a skilled player who knows the whole moveset and how to play and react against the whole cast of heroes.
I have started the framework of the list but the list is not supposed to ever be "finished" or to be based on my opinion alone. If enough people agree that a hero should be moved to another tier, it will be moved. Any suggestions to move a hero must be motivated with reasons why. Not just with "because I think hero X is OP". Snarky replies will be ignored.
Tier categories (listed first means higher in the respective tier)
S: Heroes that have a strong moveset with little to no weaknesses. Has a good match up against all other heroes.
A: Heroes that have a strong moveset with one or two weaknesses. Has a good match up against most other heroes.
B: Heroes that have an good moveset with a few weaknesses. Has a good match up against some heroes, weak against others.
C: Heroes that have a below average moveset. Has a weak match up against some heroes, average against others.
D: Heroes that have a mediocre moveset. Has a weak match up against almost all other heroes.
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Senior Member
I second Herbstlicht's comment, except for switching seats between Shugoki and Kensei, and Valkyrie and Orochi.
- Kensei is pretty deadly in good hands, has good range, hyperarmored finisher, a great feinting game, a comboable unblockable, and his dodge attack is among the best in the game.
- Shugoki relies too much on trading, has slow attacks in general, and he's near-helpless against any good fast assassin. His best bet is to just use his light attack, feint a heavy, GB, throw, charge an unblockable. Rinse, repeat. Until he's low health, then attempt a Demon Embrace. That's pretty much the extent of Shugoki gameplay I've personally seen among players. He's not a good hero overall, and he's definitely very hard and uncomfy to use.
- Valkyrie has low-damage attacks in most of her kit and has to rely on her shield bash, headbutt charge, and overhead heavy punish to be actually dangerous. Leg sweep is situational as any competent player can easily dodge it, but it helps a lot with the heavy punish when it lands. Most of her attacks are easily read. She's best at support, never at the offensive. Although, she does have one of the most efficient ways to drain an opponent's stamina; however this alone, imo, should not classify her above Orochi.
- Orochi is the other general-purpose hero, next to Warden. He's great at dealing with most other heroes. Amazing dashes, Storm Rush, Riptide, can feint really well, has quick light attacks, quick zone, useful and deadly deflect, etc. I do think in a fair matchup of skilled Valkyrie vs skilled Orochi, Valkyrie wouldn't stand a chance.
Senior Member
Hm, actually, it's rather difficult to generalize. Orochi, on my opinion, has the upper hand against the valk. As pretty much all assassin's do. But this requires more then average skill too. Bronze to silver players, even into gold, will get hit by pretty much everything valk throws at them. Not all the time, but enough to hurt them. Furthermore, the valk can easily capitalize on mistakes and has a stronger defence. Now add in not so good latency and reflex guard will hurt orochi even more.
When it comes to Shugoki Vs Kensei, I simply added in opportunity kills. Kensei has the better moveset hands down. But one parry as Shugoki can net you a wallsplat hug or can get you ledger across large distances. Furthermore, defensive counterplay with light + headbutt can provide some mistakes that help create suitable situations.
Anyway, even the D rank heroes can manage to fight decently. And everyone who is good at assassin's might already have realized how far a push the shaman can give you and how steep the drop is once you go back to the likes of Orochi. Or worse. Highlander.
Happily, at some point the matchmaking makes the world nice again. And clouds a lot of statistics as well ;-)
Senior Member
I had forgotten about Shugo's light-headbutt combo... I blame my own lack of knowledge in fighting Shugokis simply because I rarely ever meet Shugoki mains. They're almost non-existent these days. You're right, this, coupled with the large throw distance upon GB, coupled with wallsplat Demon Embrace, Shugoki can deal way more damage than Kensei. With Kensei, the player has to work more to deal that kind of damage. Kensei has much better kit for sure, but still.
I'm not too sure about Valk, most Valks I meet are easily dealt with, the only troublesome Valk being a level 3 bot, which also isn't as hard as other level 3 bots. The thing about Valk, you cannot attempt a GB in-between her pokes if you block one and she quickly follows up with another. And she can deal a lot of stamina damage, which is reinforced with defense using her shield. I like her, I like fighting her, but I don't like using her...
Any hero can be deadly in the right hands; it's just that some heroes perform better in some actions than other heroes, hence why they gain upper ranks.
I sure hope in the future, tier differences between the heroes get greyed out more, and each hero can be as deadly as the next. I hope the character reworks won't mess this up.
Senior Member
imo)
S tier: Shaman, gladiator, peace keeper.
A tier: warlord/shinobi, Centurion, Warden, Shugoki.
B tier: Berzerker, Nobushi, Aramusha, Orochi, Valk.
C tier: Kensei, Highlander, conq.
Think that is everyone.
S tier heros have no bad matchups. and can either break open a turtle or ignore turtling.
A tier heros can in some way or form open up heros or massively benefit from turtling. But have bad matchups.
B tier heros can't reliably open up turtles. Might be gimmicky in some fashion. But are still strong enough to perform decent with a capable player.
C tier heros are screwed against super passive/defensive players. Have very stacked matchups. Require most effort to pull a win compared to the rest of the cast.
and yes this is ordered from best to worst in each tier.
EDIT: I forgot law daddy and mr legendary raider D':
Not sure who to put them above in a specfic tier. But i'm confident in placing them both in B tier.
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Senior Member
I wonder. Am I the only one considering shaman the strongest without downside?
In a typical match pulling off at least one bite isn't too hard. And this alone makes like all the difference. Ultra high damage, heal, stamina back up ... I think it is wrong, especially in a duel scenario where range and Teamplay are less effective, to consider any hero on shamans level right now. She still is superior in almost every aspect to all others. A multitude of mixups, super fast, always a wide array of options including the direction of jump attacks or your bleeds.
Senior Member
I can't speak for others. I do think she's the best hero in the game right now based on how many tools she has alone. But I think she does have a weakness. Which is ranged attacks. She herself has pretty poor range outside super telegraphed things like wildcats range and pounce. And her punishes against ranged attacks are also pretty bad. (unless you are a god at deflecting then disregard.) She also doesn't fair well against level headed aggressive players. As her pounce mix up game isn't very good in cqc and neither is her unblockable side mix up game. Both can easily be beaten out with a fast attack. This issue is only made worse by heros who can fight at range. I'm of the opinion that Nobushi is probably her hardest matchup.Originally Posted by Herbstlicht Go to original post
Of course this demands that the person fighting shaman has strong knowledge of her kit and is very good at predicting what the shaman will do next. But still.
