Which Is The Best For Honor Class?
For Honor: Marching Fire has been out for close to two weeks at this point, and the meta’s finally beginning to stabilize as players adjust to the new characters.
As a result, we’ve decided to rank the For Honor classes as they stand, so that new and returning players might be able to have some sort of idea of where to start or what’s good in the current patch. This list is also applicable for players who’re interested in upping their competitive game, and choosing new heroes to learn for that purpose. The information here is a combination of data and guides from Youtube, and Reddit, as well as the competitive Tier List. Disclaimer, as with all articles of this nature: I've done my best to rank them emprically according to my experience. Again: my experience. This guide is not meant to be definitive in any way, nor objective; it is simply a subjective compilation of my experience and research, in the hopes that it will be helpful to players new, returning, and old.
Similarly, this guide is more based upon higher level gameplay. I am painfully aware of how dangerous a Centurion or Shugoki can be to a player that is inexperienced or unready, but I simply preferred to create a guide based upon higher level game play, rather than introductory combat.
I’m also going to be adding in my speculative rankings for the new heroes of the Wulin faction, given my time spent playing them; there is little written on them so far. Full disclosure: I may be a bit biased towards them because of how much I love their cultural references.
Let’s dive in!
22. Arumusha
The most anime of heroes.
You’re the Aramusha, a deadly warrior wielding dual katanas, like the great warrior Miyamoto Musashi before you. You’re an elite enforcer for the noble houses of the samurai.
And… you kind of suck at your job. You might be able to get away with some stuff at lower levels, but as soon as you get anywhere near an experienced warrior, you’re going to be taken apart like the broken straw hat you wear.
At least you’ll be able to die in style — I’ll be the first to admit that the dual katanas are pretty cool to look at. And, if you manage to pull of an execution, you can pull out the dragon fist execution, where you nail them with a glowing fist until they die.
In more concrete terms, your offense requires far too much effort for too little reward, and your defensive centerpiece, the full block, opens you up entirely to a guardbreak. Your only really decent move is your opening attack, and that’s got at best, limited usage. The unblockable, while feintable, is easy enough to parry and predict, and in a team fight, almost all of your attacks can simply be blocked if your opponent chooses to lock onto another foe. The final, and perhaps most damning point, is that your attacks have such a short range that a simple back dodge can negate your entire offense.
Ironically, the Aramusha level 3 bots that sometimes show up can actually be dangerous from time to time, but that’s because the AI has an inhuman reaction time, not because the Aramusha’s kit is actually good.
Leave this one to the bots.
21. Shugoki
Sit on them.
You’re the biggest, baddest, meanest son-of-a-gun around, and your weapon proves it. Like Wario on steroids, you kill people by sitting on them, and it feels good. Sadly, however, Shugoki just isn’t viable for most competitive scenarios.
You can capitalize on a teamfighting situation decently with a demon’s embrace and charged heavies, but when it comes to brawls or duels you’re outright outclassed. It is possible to make the most of Shugoki with dedication and time, but overall his kit is incredibly lacking — his armor can be removed with a single GB, and also causes him to take 1.25x damage when down. His charged attacks are easy to parry or GB, and his light attacks are similarly slow, meaning that his only true utility will be in a large fight when he doesn’t have an opponent. Sadly, he’s often too slow to reach a teamfight of that type in time, so even that’s quite hard to pull off.
He’s definitely a one-trick pony; the GB into Demon’s Embrace combo is effective and crazy annoying if you can pull it off, but nearly impossible to do anywhere outside of a gank.
Even with the subpar kit and slow speed, he’s still intensely fun to play. You always feel like the biggest, baddest guy in town as you swing your ridiculously large kanabo around, shrugging off the hits of lesser enemies. It’s especially satisfying if you manage to one shot multiple opponents through the use of revenge.
20. Centurion
Alea iacta est.
Similarly to Shugoki, Centurion can be really tough for newer players to handle, simply because of how much damage he can dish out. He’s also much better in a duel situation, comparatively because of his ability to dish out feints and combos. As a trade-off for this, however, he’s slow, and not in a “I’m a slow and heavy tank” sort of way, but rather, a “I’m a slow glass cannon” kind of way. His abysmal health pool has been a source of many memes in the community, and is on par with Shinobi’s, despite the fact that he wears fully metal armor. He doesn’t get any defensive mechanics to compensate, so he’s basically stuck.
On the other hand, he has some good offensive shticks, ranging from his literal ‘shtick’ of stabbing people, to his kicks and feinting into guard breaks. But all of this only comes into play if you can manage to survive long enough, and high-level fights have a well-known bias towards defense.
He is, however, effective at ganks. Being able to capitalize on a downed opponent, or punch someone to the ground is incredibly useful if you can get a buddy to distract your opponent and allow your damage to shine. That said, there are still better gankers out there.
Still, his armor is definitely some of the best looking in the game. I’ll admit I’m a sucker for Grecian fashion, but the combination of face plate muscle cuirass, and plumed helmet make for some truly awesome looking combinations. Sadly, I’m not accounting for looks in this rating. Maybe another time.
19. Raider
The Raider’s most effective move — ledging. Or spiking, as the situation requires.
Raider’s basically a two-trick pony. Or three trick, depending on how good you are. Basically, you fight as a raider by grabbing people and tossing them to the ground, then hitting them. Mix in a couple feinted zones into stunning taps, and that’s basically all the good parts in your kit. Again, fairly strong in dominion, simply because you can dish out a lot of damage in short order against an unsuspecting foe. The grab, toss, and knee to the face allow other gankers to dish out loads of damage against a opponent whose screen has gone white, but isn’t super useful in fair fights.
Defensively, you’ve got a fair amount of health as a vanguard, and a fairly lenient dodge timing to boot, but that’s unimpressive compared to the mind games that some other heroes kits afford, like the full block or hidden stance.
Overall, you’ve got very few defensive options and only a few offensive ones, so it’s a rough road to tread, but I imagine that’s exactly what raiders want; they’re all about that “I’m a tough badass so I can play hard heroes”. And more power to them — I’ve got nothing but respect for people who want to challenge themselves.
In the end, though, there’s no real changing the fact that raider just isn’t at a good place in the current meta.
18. Lawbringer
Lawbringer. A.K.A Ponyboy
So, Lawbringer’s both very bad and very good. Let’s start with the good: His bomb feats are ridiculous, he has a good parry punish, a decent shove, and a decent health pool. He’s also got an unblockable, and the ridiculous thing where he grabs you with the end of his polearm; he can also push you to the nearest wall, giving him a good ganking tool as his buddies smack you. The bad? Pretty much everything else. Few ways to open up an opponent, and little ability to punish any mistakes, his damage options are mostly subpar.
Because of this combination, he’s quite viable in dominion, where you can play bomberman and have staying power throughout teamfights. His feats allow him to have a bomb — or four — in practically every fight, due to the short recharge time, and the fact he can pack up to four bombs. It’s basically an exercise in frustration to play against a Lawbro that’s gotten all of their perks. It’s also possible to pull off a gank that’s literally unblockable if you time his polearm grab properly; if a buddy manages to grab an opponent, even if they counter guard break, there’s enough time for your to grab and flip them over your head, giving free hits and a stunning top heavy.
In duel or brawl modes, though, where fights are even by nature, the Lawbringer tends to struggle more, as feats are removed and they’re forced to fight on even terms; without a strong kit, the polearms master will often find themselves caught flat-footed.
17. Valkyrie
Women have their secrets...
I’ve always thought it’s a pity that Valkyrie has consistently been a weaker character, because of how interesting her kit is. That said, I’m hardly going to dispute the almost universal consensus that she is, in fact, weak — mostly because I believe it’s correct.
Let’s break it down: She needs to land two lights in order to knock an opponent down, has slow and easily read heavies, and back dodge bash attack is basically pointless against an experienced enemy. Combined with low damage and mediocre health, she’s generally not particularly dangerous as an opponent in a duel.
She’s still usable, in many ways, though — she has excellent chase potential, and her dodge attacks are solid to use in a team fight. Moreover, her sweep is an excellent tool against an unprepared opponent, allowing for consistent ganks, and isn’t terribly difficult to throw out, given her fast lights. Her feats in dominion are also strong: between her javelin and bloodlust, she can easily remove a fighter during crucial battles.
Just don’t expect to win a fight against someone of roughly equivalent skill level head-on; you’ll have to use your wits to make the most of this lady.
16. Orochi
Nothin' personnel, kid.
I’m honestly tempted to rate this one higher because of my own personal traumas, but that only really shows how much I still have to learn when it comes to For Honor.
The premier weeb hero combines lightning-fast katana strikes with a fast dodge, as well as the back-and-forth slidy thing (a.k.a Riptide Strike), in order to contend for the spot of fastest hero. His ridiculously fast light attacks also can make short work of a player lacking in the defensive department. Toss in his Kiai feet and sharpen blade, and the Orochi has potential to be downright nasty when the situation requires.
This is, however, at the expense of several things — Orochi’s low health, when coupled with his reflex guard, means that if an enemy has a way to fake out your dodges, you’re likely to be on the back foot for much of the fight. Also, sadly, his damage is subpar; his lights only hit for 15 damage, while landing a top light combo only nets you 19 points altogether. Similarly, his top heavy only nets 35 damage, setting him amongst lower damage heroes.
He also has few ways to open an opponent up, with very little variety; no unblockable attacks mean that only guard breaks can punch through an opponent’s guard, if they’re properly defending. The counterpoint to this, however, is that the 400 ms light attacks are ridiculously hard to block, requiring a person to constantly be on their toes. They’re also a nightmare for newer players who haven’t yet mastered defensive skills, allowing an experienced Orochi to mince them into fresh meat.
15. Nuxia
For someone that wields dual swords, she's very pokey; almost as much as Nobushi.
My personal opinion after playing Nuxia for a fair amount of time is that she gets a bad rap, simply because she’s not as strong as some of the other Wulin heroes. While it’s true she’s not a beast, she’s definitely not weak either, and is plenty dangerous in the hands of a skilled player.
Her ability to toss out traps along with flexible chains is incredibly dangerous in the hands of a player that knows how to make use of it, especially in a 1v1 or 2v2 scenario, and her ability to toss out 400 ms lights along with dodge attacks make her into an Orochi-like.
She’s not as mobile as Orochi is, however, and doesn’t have the undodgeable attacks that Orochi can pull out. Frankly speaking, she’s not as fast or mobile as he is, sacrificing that mobility for the ability to punch through enemy guards.
Traps, her unique mechanic, are a bit of an oddity; they’ll allow you to punch through an opponent’s guard, meaning you’ve got a way to get force reactions, but they can also be countered in a myriad of ways, the fastest of which is simply switching guards, or alternatively, simply attacking, meaning that an aggressive opponent can simply render that part of your kit useless.
Still, forcing an opponent into offense is precisely what Nuxia wants, as her fast lights and deflects allow you to dish out damage against an aggressive opponent. In that manner, her overall weakness is simply having a low health pool in a prolonged fight.
14. Gladiator
Fortuna audaces iuvat — Fortune favors the bold.
Toss a coin into the arena, and hear the roar of the crowd. That’s what the Gladiator’s all about — blood, riches, and the intoxication of battle.
I was honestly a little miffed to see one of my favorite heroes ranked so low, but, in truth, I understand. They’ve got a fairly decent kit, between the punches, skewers, and fuscina ictus, they’re solid. But their overall stats and abilities don’t really lend themselves well to a larger teamfight or 2v2, because they just don’t hit hard enough. And, against higher level players, I’ve found even the nastiest combos I can throw out tend to have ways to counter them. Parry the skewer, dodge the toe stab, block the lights, dodge the punches.
That said, however, gladiator ranks as one of the best duelists in the game for one reason — their zone. Gladiator’s zone is basically free damage; it’s nigh-unpunishable, feintable, and nearly impossible to react to, meaning that a dueling gladiator can just throw them out with abandon, so long as they still have stamina.
Finally, kit issues aside, Gladiator is simply weak in the defensive department. They’re incredibly fast, much like the Orochi, allowing you to interrupt or dodge a foe, but there’s only so much that can be done against two enemies. With the assassin’s health pool, it’s no wonder that Gladiator gets quickly deleted if they’re double teamed.
13. Shaman
She’ll bite your legs off!
It’s season 4. Tribute mode, along with the Gauntlet and Market town maps have just released.
It’s finally your time to shine. You take to the battlefield, biting and rending with wild abandon, amidst scores of ‘Wow!’s from your foes and ironic spamming of ‘Good fight!’ At night, you go on reddit. The front page is filled with posts about nerfing you.
You are… the shaman.
People still claim that Shaman is OP, usually after having their throats torn out by one hungry girl, but in truth, Ubisoft did an excellent job of nerfing her. She’s still the premier hero on dominion, no doubt about it, but the nerfs she took brought her down from the outright terror she was to something far more manageable in a fight.
Just don’t let her pounce on you from behind.
She has some nasty punishes, allowing her to bleed you off a parry or land a pounce off of a light parry, but her damage has been nerfed enough that she’s not a major threat one-on-one, unless you’re playing a Centurion or Shinobi. The question, then, is why she’s the prime hero on dominion. The answer, of course, is that if you’re on the ground, being eaten by her, your other foes can take free potshots at you, making her quite possibly the best ganker around. If you’re up against just a shaman, take the fight. Up against a shaman and her buddy? You should probably run for it.
12. Shinobi
The flying kusari is a deadly weapon.
Shinobi are the fastest hero around — you’d better believe it!
Almost the exact opposite of the Shaman, Shinobi is a strong duelist in dominion, and decent in dueling gamemodes. The secret lies in the mobility — they can stall ganks by simply running away, and win one-on-one fights with a decent success rate. Their ranged attack can also be a useful tool when in a teamfight, and allow them to isolate enemies in a chaotic battlefield. Their slide tackle also works as a good way to interrupt a fight; it’s not uncommon for a finishing blow to be interrupted by the flying side tackle.
Their kit, however, is mostly lower-damage, aside from the grab and a few select attacks. They also have absolutely abysmal health — the lowest of all the characters. That means that against a dedicated heavy or vanguard, they’re at something of a disadvantage.
Thankfully, they can compensate for this defensively with a handful of options. Their double dodge allows them to slide out of sticky situations, and with a bit of distance they can throw their kusarigama from relative safety.
They also can toss out a very quick and safe double-light, which can quickly delete the unprepared player, and if you allow them to confirm a grab, they can easily bleed you for a sizeable portion of your health.
Overall, they have their uses, especially as they can be anywhere they need to be on a battlefield in short order, courtesy of their sprint ability.
11. Tiandi
Let’s get down to business — to defeat the Knights!
A new challenger has arrived!
Now the premier dodge-dancing hero, Mulan Tiandi joins the fray!
I’ve got no idea why, but the devs seem to really be into the idea of feintable dodge attacks and 400 ms lights with the Wulin, with Tiandi being the poster child for both features.
For the most part, the devs seem to intend for Tiandi to be primarily a defensive character, making use of extended heavy attack dodges to dance around an opponent (hopefully they patch the i-frames on them), and light attack dodges to punish strikes.
Offensively, they’ve got a pair decent options, with the 400 ms lights and follow up palm strike to make things difficult for an opponent. Their Dragon Kick also makes for a useful teamfighting tool, and they have a fast zone which can be useful in revenge.
Frankly speaking, they don’t have a lot of variation or mixup potential, but much like our next entry illustrates, that’s not required to be a solid fighter. The fast lights are incredibly hard to block, but combining them with the ability to palm strike means that, offensively, Tiandi functions like an Orochi++.
Defensively, they’re (as of 10/27) still bugged, and can be hit by light attacks while doing a heavy dodge attack. That said, though, they’re still defensively formidable, as it’s not an easy task to track a moving Tiandi, and the light dodge attacks still function as intended, meaning that Tiandi is very much still capable of turtling.
10. Peacekeeper
The closest thing that the Knights will ever have to a ninja.
She’s fast, she’s dangerous, and she likes to make her opponents bleed.
The Peacekeeper has half a dozen ways to bleed, making for great synergy with any Shamans or Nobushi around. Bleeding also does a good job at applying pressure to your opponent — you’ve already confirmed the damage, but if you stack enough bleed most enemies will feel pressured to attack you.
To boot, her moveset is solid — her guard break is high damage and allows allies to follow up, while her zone and dagger cancels deal decent damage and difficult to react to. She’s also got a fast dodge, as well as a decent deflect mechanic. Side dodge abilities also allow for ways to slip past guard breaks and bashes.
Oddly enough, her greatest failing, in my eyes, is boredom. She’s a very one-dimensional hero to play, and nearly everyone who plays her is forced to resorted to the same moves, over and over again. Most Peacekeeper players are simply relegated to throwing out dagger cancels with occasional zones as they dodge enemy attacks.
Despite being one of the most solid all-round characters, her short list of moves and small kit mean that she’s often just dull to play, despite being good.
9. Highlander
The fury of the Northmen.
Dunmaglass! Pretty much everyone who play For Honor has heard this quote by now, the signature battlecry of the claymore-toting Highlander. His shtick is the shift between offensive and defensive styles — if you give him a chance to shift into offense, say goodbye to your health bar. The risk, however, is that he is practically a sitting duck with his claymore out, so every highlander player has to account for that when preparing to Dunmaglass the foe.
His defense is hardly lacking, despite what would seem to be an offensive focus. Between the superior block on lights and super armor on heavies, fighting in defensive style is reminiscent of playing as Warlord or Shugoki. The Celtic Curse with cancellation is also a solid engagement tool, or soft feint, as the situation requires, allowing you to quickly shift attack directions.
Offensively, the Fomorian Might soft-feint into Caber Toss is vaguely reminiscent of Warden’s old 50/50 vortex spam, with good reason, as it’s near-impossible to avoid, and allows you to follow up with a truly nasty amount of damage.
Overall, Highlander tends to be more of a glass cannon in teamfights, as the cry of ‘Dunmaglass’ immediately draws the attention of all enemies around them. But with brawls and duels, they can more reliably shift back and forth between defense, making them a foe to be reckoned with.
8. Warlord
AND HIS NAME... IS JOHN CENA!!
What happens when you give a viking a shield? Nothing good, that’s what. Teaching a Viking to actually protect themselves makes them into a Warlord, and damn if they aren’t hard to kill. My advice for handling a Warlord?
Don’t.
They consistently place amongst the strongest duelists due to how difficult they are to kill in a 1v1 situation, but their danger drops swiftly as more players become involved, because a Warlord’s damage is subpar, and their kit centers around defense.
Crashing charge is basically their only offensive ability, unless you count headbutt as offensive; every other ability or move is reactive or defensive in nature; their full block can shift into a heavy undodgeable on reaction; their light attacks have superior block and heavies have uninterruptible.This basically makes Warlords the kings of turtling. Somewhat dull to play, in any situation, but reliable and consistent, if frustrating to your enemies.
7. Nobushi
Float like a butterfly; sting like a bee.
Another one of my personal favorites, Nobushi is primarily a defensive character, but much less of a turtle than Warlord, relying more on constant mobility to win fights. Her Hidden Stance is essentially her focal point, allowing her to soft cancel any attack into a dodge, which can be followed with a kick, light, heavy, or zone. She can also cancel recovery with dodges, and is one of the only heroes to have a dodged light and heavy. Her zone is also quick, and the follow up is feintable.
Her main issue is the lack of offensive abilities. She has an excellent follow up, but opening up a turtling foe requires feints or the use of hidden stance, often, so most Nobushi simply prefer to defend. If offense is required, they enter a difficult position, where feints and hidden stances must be used in order to force a reaction.
Overall, her kit is very solid, and incredibly versatile, offering a solution for pretty much every situation — except offense.
This means that she shines in modes with many heroes, where she is able to make use of her long reach and myriad of punishing abilities to bleed enemies or punish foes during teamfights; her abilities are also generally useful for zone control, if not particularly notable in that area.
6. Jiang Jun
A jade can be smashed, but its white cannot be altered. A bamboo can be incinerated, but its roots cannot be destroyed. — Guan Yu, the Saint of War
On some level, I’m kind of happy that people are calling Jiang Jun OP. On another level, detailed analysis shows that this is clearly untrue; he’s nowhere near as strong as the heroes higher on the tier list, and I personally think that I may be overrating him simply because of my bias towards the character. (I’m a sucker for Romance of the Three Kingdoms lore.)
Still, though, he’s no slouch, this much is true. His attack timings and animations are funky, meaning that he’s hard to parry, as well as the fact that he has easy access to unblockable attacks, not to mention his soft-feint to kick, which is particularly tricky to dodge. He also has a 400 ms light follow up strike. His most formidable ability, however, I’ve found to be the side dodge heavy to light soft feint, which nobody seems able to block or parry properly, for whatever reason. Although I figure this will fade with time, it’ll likely remain strong, as the fast soft feint allows you to dodge while countering guard breaks.
Furthermore, his Sifu stance allows him to recharge stamina at an absurd rate while providing a back dodge, meaning that, while he’s no Gladiator or Centurion with mixups, he’s still quite capable of sustaining and offense, rather than having to reactively strike.
Overall, his abilities are incredibly solid; while he’s not as well rounded as the Kensei or Warden, he’s still got a bevy of abilities that make him a formidable threat.
5. Kensei
Hey, buddy. You dropped something.
Dangerous in a group fight of any kind, the Kensei’s soft feints and dodge are the centerpiece of their kit, allowing them to soft feint from any top heavy attack into a dodge or hyper armored side. This gives them incredible versatility in terms of offensive options, as well as a solid defense due to the long dodge window. The Kensei kit also includes unblockable attacks such as the pommel strike and heavy attack finisher; the former is fast and difficult to defend against, and the latter pressures the opponent into reacting while providing opportunities to feint. Kensei also make use of the grasping pounce, allowing them to toss out a quick guard break at unexpected timings, which can then chain into any of their other abilities.
Overall, Kensei play as very solid characters, with a well-rounded kit for any situation. Neither specialized for defense or offense, they simply do everything well. Typically, in Dominion, their strong kit couples with strong feats such as Chilling Stare or Unblockable Attacks, making them dangerous in group fights, while in duels their kit is usually enough to handle a lesser foe.
4. Shaolin
Don’t worry, old Sun Wukong will sock you one! — Sun Wukong
Again, possibly biased. I’m doing the best I can here, but these guys were some of my childhood heroes — I’ll leave it to you to decide how accurate my judgements are.
The Shaolin, based upon the famous Sun Wukong, is a highly versatile fighter; kind of like if Orochi and Highlander were to have a lovechild. His Qi stance is vaguely reminiscent of Highlander’s offensive stance, while his attacks are fast and track, much like those of Orochi. His damage, sadly, hails from his Orochi-esque roots. You can hardly expect a staff to hit as hard as a claymore anyways, so it only makes sense. That said, the Shaolin is easily the character with the most versatile kit in the game, with his Qi stance allowing him to use feintable tracking dodges, an unblockable, a kick, or a light attack with superior block. In theory, he can react to pretty much any form of attack from Qi stance. Outside of that, he has his 3-hit zone and 3-hit staff blows: if he manages to land a light attack through the left or right guards, he gets not one, but two follow up attacks, totalling 22 damage altogether. His kick also can chain into a confirmed light, unblockable heavy, or sweep, all of which are quite useful.
I literally don’t recommend throwing out any heavies which aren’t confirmed, simply because of how slow they are — they’ll act as free parries for your opponent, so you should generally avoid their usage. Aside from the singular point, however, he’s quite strong; even more so when you consider the teleporting feats which he can pull out in dominion.
3. Berserker
Stick close and make ‘em hurt.
Berserkers, contrary to the typical assassin, and the name, tend to do best in battles of attrition. It's a classic case of 'how did the Vikings do assassinations?' Answer? They didn't, not really. They kind of just ran at people and hit them until they died, so what you see is what you get.
Sticking close to the enemy, and tossing out many little hits is basically the name of the game with them. The main failing that they have to deal with is absolutely abysmal range. The length of their axes means that any foe a longer weapon can easily keep their distance, if they’re careful.
The Berserker kit, however, is designed to prevent enemies from pulling too far away or interrupting your flow of attacks. Your infinite chain becomes hyper-armored after 2 hits, and can chain into an unblockable hyper armored top heavy, while dodges can be used at almost any time to soft feint attacks. The dodge also has other functions, namely chaining into side attacks, as well as deflecting. A skilled Berserker can deflect most attacks from a soft feint, allowing them to follow up with a guard break.
Berserker’s biggest failing is, perhaps, simply that they are difficult to learn and master. A good Berserker is a force to be reckoned with, simply because they have few weaknesses, but getting there is no easy feat, because of the coordination that mastery requires.
2. Warden
Deus Vult!
For Honor’s flagship hero, one of the most popular characters, and the original Tin CanTM, the Warden is a dangerous combatant on the battlefield. Though recently reworked to remove the soft feint into vortex spam, the shoulder bash is still a dangerous move that provides a strong opening ability. The new heavy unblockable also forces an opponent reaction, and makes for an excellent move to feint. The zone remains one of the best in the game as well, with a laser-quick timing of 400 ms, making it one of the fastest attacks in the game, and difficult to parry on reaction. Finally, his forward dodge heavy is fast, and can close a gap in an instant, punishing unprepared enemies.
His feats in dominion are no slouch either, with morale booster increasing feat damage on allies, and thick blood preventing bleed, effectively shutting down Shaman, and to a lesser extent Nobushi. Wardens also lack any salient weaknesses, making them an excellent team combatant who doesn’t need to be wary of taking a hit or two.
Overall, the only real notable weakness in a Warden’s kit is the speed which a shoulder bash can take to charge up, meaning that an interruption by a quick light attack can prevent them from using it, but besides that, they lack for very little, making them a solid fighter in all aspects.
Oh, and you can end your foes rightly. Pommel throw!
1. Conqueror
You! Shall! Not! Pass!
Our final entry, Conqueror, takes first place by a small margin, being very strong in duels, and brawls, while being ‘merely’ strong in dominion. Conquerors have something of an unusual kit, due to the flail-and-shield combination that they wield, which sees them constantly tossing out shield bashes to chain into flail attacks.
And boy, are those shield bashes nasty. They track fairly well onto side dodges, and can be delayed, to boot, meaning that if you dodge too early, they’ll still manage to get you. Combine the bash with the full block mechanic, which allows them to turtle up, as well as the superior block on zone. They also have the ability to soft feint a heavy into a shield bash, as well as follow up a light with a shield bash.
In short, everything is a shield bash with Conquerors. For anyone fighting a Conqueror, focus on their left arm; you can forget about the flail, because that’s not all that dangerous. It’s the shield that’ll get you, every time.
Honestly, a good Conqueror has very few weaknesses, the primary one being unblockable attacks. This results in Highlanders being a reliable counter for them, but even that requires some skill, as a decent Conqueror will strive to prevent you from entering offensive stance when possible.
It’s fairly rare to find highly skilled Conquerors, however. Thankfully, they seem to be rather unpopular, and somewhat difficult to learn, despite their effectiveness.
Afterword
Hopefully this has given you a more detailed insight into which hero you'd like to pick up, as well as how to handle your foes better, even if only a little. I highly recommend looking into Youtube guides as well as the competitive For Honor subreddit, at r/ForHonorCompetitive for more detailed, in depth guides, but very little can replace actual time spent on the battlefield.
May you ever find honor on the battlefield!
