Have you Struggled grinding rank only to get destroyed by characters who you hardly recognize? Well, I have and it sucks. So in this list I will share with you the best characters to play solo, heading into Season 5.
This list will be based off the pre season patch notes and watching various tournament placements.
10. Daniel
The Barber not from Fleet Street
Our demonic barber squeaks into the bottom of the list. He has been receiving nerfs for the last 2 patches now but all well earned. Give this man an inch and he will take much more than a mile from you.
Personally I find him slippery as a fish in water, he has high mobility, decent burst and an execute that makes him the best character to get ahead with and maintain that advantage. He is extremely viable in solo but takes a lot of practice to be played effectively.
The recent nerfs have made him a lot slower with his skill rotation and removes his ability to kite unless you can predict like a god. I know I can't, so here are the good and bad points of note.
Pros
- High damage
- Ultimate is an execute, escape tool, and self protection
- Can dash through walls
- High mobility
- Good Escape tools
Cons
- Almost 0 CC
- Growing Inspiration (W) takes getting used to before it is used properly
- Q has a relatively long cooldown so landing it is crucial
- Needs to be ahead to stay relevant
- Almost no catch up potential.
9. Aya
Sniper, Rifles, Pistols, all of these and more
This gun toting dame takes the 9th slot as I have averaged the performances of her three weapon styles. Each style has their own playstyle and effectiveness, however for this list we are looking at her solo performance.
I personally think that Assault Rifle Aya is the best for Solo but her performance as Sniper Aya is a strong contender depending on your play style. If you like a more ability heavy caster like build where you have to land your skill shots then Sniper is the way to go, if you want to kite and right click the enemies down then Assault rifle is for you.
She remains balanced even after five seasons of this game, stating how stable she is as a character.. However with the changes to the scaling of weapon mastery we can expect a big change and buff to her already strong sniper build.
Pros
- Has a build for almost any occasion
- Strong ranged damage and a kit that attacks from a safe distance
- Gains a shield when she attacks making her tankier than expected
- Can dash over walls and attack while moving
- Fast Build that can be completed in 3-4 zones
Cons
- She can only do 1 thing at a time either burst or DPS
- Ult is a liability as it makes you stand still
- Still really easy to kill once caught
- Needs room to fight/ needs to kite
- Has to be ahead or else is too weak
8. Echion
This character uses a unique weapon, the VF Prosthetic. Along with mana he also has a blood gauge to manage while fighting. He may seem weak but you better watch out because this guy has a lot more than meets the eye.
Personally I find this character an extreme nuisance when fighting against. While he takes awhile to get to full build and requires a lot of the rare materials like meteorites, or Trees of Life, even at a disadvantage his skills are strong enough to win convincingly.
He is one of the newer characters introduced before season 5 and takes a surprising amount of skill to learn and play competitively. However once you have learned his basics you will only win more as you master him. He is by no means a simple character but he rewards hard work well.
Pros
- Extremely high mobility
- High consistent damage
- Good burst potential
- Can survive burst from 1 character
- Really good at 1 vs 1
Cons
- High skill floor
- On the slower side for building (5-6 zones)
- Needs to get lucky with Meteorite/ Tree of Life
- Weak when VF meter is empty
- Most abilities are hard to aim and land while moving fast.
7. Jackie
Here's Jackie!
This crazed axe murderer goes around with a chainsaw and has 4 styles of play, however the stronger ones are the Axe and Two handed sword. She is a tanky bruiser with a Sword, and a damage dealing tank with the Axe. So let's see what makes her tick.
Recent changes have buffed her so that when she uses her ultimate and pulls out the chainsaw it is near impossible to beat her in a duel. Along with her passive that gives her flat damage she hits like a truck and moves like one as well.
I played Jackie a lot when I was getting out of silver and even when it is your first time playing her it is hard to get punished as your basic abilities gather a lot of mileage even with only a few points of investment.
Pros
- Easy to Learn and master
- Hits hard and fast
- Can jump over walls
- Skills have relatively low cooldowns
- Tanky and depending on weapon either mobile or hits harder.
Cons
- Slow build (5-6 Zones)
- Easily Kited once movement is on cooldown
- Hard to stick to enemies (no slows or stuns)
- Needs to auto attack for damage
- Lacks Complexity for outplaying
6. Aiden
The most recent addition to the Eternal Return roster (as of this article) this lighting wielder is an interesting character to play as he is both ranged and melee. Combine that with a series of skills that rely on landing them for the damage half to be dealt leads to a bruiser with the potential to chase characters down to the end of the earth.
I have not played as Aiden much but I have played against plenty of Aidens. He is the kind of character where if you dodge his skill shots then he does no damage, but if lands them in succession then you will see that gray screen faster than you can even type GG.
As he is new there are no changes made to him yet, but because he is new they are testing new mechanics and his transformation mechanic is on the strong side. As you fight with him he will slowly gain energy to turn into a ranged character, and once you try to escape him he will shoot you down.
Pros
- Good CC
- Can fight from melee and ranged forcing duels to the death
- Strong abilities and Ultimate
- Can cut off Escape routes
- High chase potential
Cons
- Relatively long cooldowns
- Needs to land skills otherwise low damage
- Can get chased down if he does not win on engagement
- Sometimes the change in attack range causes a crucial skill to miss
- Loses to characters who can sustain or out damage him
5. Luke
Always Stuck on Cleanup Duty
This Janitor- assassin is here to clean up the competition. If you have ever wanted to play a secret agent who is great at finishing enemies off then this man is the one for you, He has only 1 weapon so his builds are relatively similar and are quick to finish.
While at first he seems complicated with his evolution mechanic it is deceptively easy to learn his kit and how to best apply it. His entire kit screams “let me at them” as he has no utility in his base skills, so when you go in, be confident that you will win the fight.
Unlike the other assassin on this list, this janitor does less sneaking around and escaping, he focuses more on deleting the enemy off the map and pressuring them into engaging into him.
Pros
- Has a skill with siphon (Lifesteal) with big damage
- Skills literally evolve while leveling up to gain more utility
- High burst in a 1 vs 1 situation
- Has a slow and a stun along with high damage
- If combo’d correctly he can repeatedly cast his skills until the target is dead.
Cons
- Cannot escape if in a bad engagement
- Must constantly be farming, (weak if animals are denied)
- Can be killed easilyif any of his skills miss
- Deceptively squishy (He survives with his Siphon)
- Has no dashes
4. Adela
A little castling never hurt anyone
The chessmaster is here to play 4D chess while everyone else is still playing checkers. Once mastered this lady will destroy anyone who comes her way both in melee and in mid range. If you want to show how much larger your brain is, and enjoy predictions and preparations then this lady is for you.
She is a difficult to learn and master character however the pay off is immense as the depths of skill she can go and setup into will absolutely destroy any unready competitor.
While you could say that she is a duelist, she is much more vulnerable to attacks and more often then not tries to avoid those close encounters.
Pros
- High CC
- Can CC lock certain characters to death
- Has a skill that grants invulnerability
- Turns into a mid ranged character once leveled
- Good survivability and self protection
Cons
- Easy to kill once skills are on cooldown
- Requires a lot of prediction and planning to use skills properly
- A misclick will ruin the entire combo
- High skill floor
- Can run out of mana fast in an extended fight.
3. Chloe
The puppeteer never fights alone, with Nina at her side any 1 vs 1 easily turns into a 2 vs 1. While gathering resources or crafting, Nina is always available to kill animals or scout out any enemies you may hear heading towards you.
I think that she requires a lot of micro control, something I am horrible at. However her power and damage speaks for itself when in competent hands. She goes hard and hits harder so watch out if you see the small doll heading towards you.
How fast are your hands? Because if you think you are fast enough then this character will absolutely destroy people, especially with her shuriken weapon skill she can slow anyone while zooming at them at mach speeds.
Pros
- Can gain weapon levels while gathering and crafting
- Basically turns any fight into a 2 vs 1
- High sustained damage
- Can easily get ahead and maintain the lead
- High movement speed and has a dash
Cons
- Squishy
- Gets extremely weak if Nina dies
- Hard to come back if griefed early on
- Requires a high hand speed and micro control
- Nina is easily killed
2. Nadine
The huntress is one of two characters who can scale infinitely in this game, so the longer this goes on the stronger she gets. Combine that and her mobility and ranged nature lets her be an absolute beast at kiting enemies till death and chasing them down if they run away.
I have played both as her and against her and I will say that a fully charged Q feels amazing to hit late game, likewise it feels dreadful if it hits you at that stage. She is mobile and has zoning tools to keep enemies from jumping on her too fast.
With the new boar mechanics in the game Nadine has an even easier time farming the animals as she can move along via boar express. She can spot animals on the minimap and knows when they are taken by enemies. So if you know how to get ahead in your farming she is the character to maintain that advantage.
Pros
- Disgustingly strong poke
- Good at sustained fights
- Can zone and slow characters approaching her
- A versatile dash that can curve and juke if placed correctly
- Scales infinitely
Cons
- Weak early on in the game
- Really squishy
- More often dies when the enemy reaches her
- People focus you early because it is hard to kill you later in the game
- Requires knowledge in pathing (for herself and enemies) for killing the most animals fastest.
1. Xiukai
This is the last scaling character and unlike Nadine his scaling increases his HP and damage. It's the full set and since there is very little percent health damage in the game you can usually outlast anyone you run into late game.
Personally I find this character difficult but rewarding, relatively low cooldowns mixed with high scaling leads this guy to destroy most 1 vs 1 fights, and even against characters designed to kite he can close in and slowly whittle them down to death.
This Chef requires knowledge in the cooking recipes and where to get ingredients. So there is a level of game knowledge required to play him correctly as he scales based on the food he cooks.
Pros
- Really tanky late game
- Some of his skills scale based on his Max HP so it does tons of damage later on
- Is always cooking so you always have food and SP regen on hand
- Can easily “Wok” away if the fight gets tough
- Has good CC to combo someone to death
Cons
- Cooking eats up a lot of SP, so SP management is a must
- Knowledge of Cooking recipes and ingredient locations are a necessity
- Really weak early on
- People will focus you because your food is empowered and you will scale too hard
So that is the list. While there were many contenders to make it into any of these spots, these are the characters that are fun to play and make you say “wow” when you manage to learn them and skillfully win all your matches.
