The fan-favorite beat-em-up game, Castle Crashers, has entertained its audience since 2008. It is no surprise that Castle Crashers continues to be a classic, from its quirky humor and colorful art style to fast-paced action.
The game’s most exciting part is this wide array of playable characters, each with unique abilities, weapons, and magical attacks. Not every character in the game is equal in power or utility. Whether you’re a new player or an experienced veteran looking to push the envelope and possibly optimize your strategy, this Castle Crashers character tier list is going to help guide you to make the right decisions.
Table of Contents
Understanding the Castle Crashers Character Tier List
Before we dive into the rankings, let’s first understand how we’ve categorized these characters. Characters are ranked based on several factors:
- Overall power and strength: This is how good a character is in battle, regarding damage from both attack and defense abilities.
- Magic effectiveness: This is one of the first things to consider when ranking characters. Those with good, all-around magical attacks seem to be at the top.
- Versatility and easiness of use: Some characters are more accessible for new players, while others will require mastery of their ability sets and combos.
- Unlockability and Accessibility: How difficult is it to unlock the character? Some are unlocked from the beginning while others will require special conditions to be fulfilled beforehand.
We would rank the characters into 5 tiers: S-Tier (Top Tier), A-Tier, B-Tier, C-Tier, and D-Tier (Bottom Tier). These tiers would represent differing performances. The S-Tiers would be the cream of the crop where the best characters lie, and the D-Tiers would be the worst to least versatile.
S-Tier: The Gods of Combat
Industrialist
- Magic: Oil Spill
- Advantages: According to the in-game content, The Industrialist is featured as the greatest hero in both the single and multiplayer modes of this game. His magic, Oil Spill, is incredibly strong and with its incredibly high attack speed, an invincible warrior on the battlefield. Besides that, the Industrialist also possesses good attacking and defensive playing abilities which let gamers deal huge damage while retreating from incoming ones.
- Unlockability: This character is unlocked with the “Alien Hominid” DLC or by completing the game’s secret level.
Fencer
- Magic: Aerial Strike
- Strengths: The Fencer is extremely versatile with an air combat theme. Her magic is among the most versatile; players kill hundreds of enemies in no time. Balanced approach, good strength, speed, and magic efficiency, thus making her great for a player who requires a reliable all-rounder.
- Unlockability: This character is available in the “King’s Pack” DLC.
Gray Knight
- Magic: Lightning Strike
- Strengths: The Gray Knight has balanced stats. Lightning Strike is a powerful magic used for area effect crowd control, and his speed also allows for hit-and-run. His range and damage output make him one of the most productive characters in almost any situation. With a solid defense, he comes in handy as a reliable character against tougher enemies and more difficulty levels.
- Unlockability: Available in the “King’s Pack” DLC.
A-Tier: Top Performers
Red Knight
- Magic: Fireball
- Strengths: The Red Knight is a powerhouse, with Fireball magic dealing significant damage, especially in multiplayer scenarios. His melee attacks are also top-tier and his general speed makes him a formidable opponent. The only drawback of the Red Knight is that his magic has a longer cooldown compared to some other characters, but his raw power makes up for it.
- Unlockability: Unlocked at the start of the game.
Blue Knight
- Magic: Ice
- Strengths: The Blue Knight has the unique advantage of Ice magic, which freezes the enemy in place; crowd control is a great use for him. His attacks are well above average, and his defense makes him an excellent tank character to plow through rough levels. He would work well for both starter and experienced players.
- Unlockability: Unlocked at the beginning of the game.
Barbarian
- Magic: Fireball
- Strengths: King has a super useful magic ability that brings small allies for help in fighting. His total stats are all right but not as mighty as some characters in the high tier. His magic would be excellent for players needing more help in battle; however, he lacks raw damage output compared to S-Tier characters.
- Unlockability: Defeated in the game by the Barbarian Boss.
B-Tier: Solid Choices
King
- Magic: Summon
- Strengths: The Green Knight has poison magic that goes both close and long-range. Though melee damage is not the highest, he can poison clusters of mobs with his magic ability, which is fantastic for crowd clearing. Speed is another of his strength.
- Unlockability: Available from the start of the game.
Green Knight
- Magic: Poison Cloud
- Strong Point: The Ninja is very appealing for players who like their characters to play fast and hard, hit and run. They have a way of engaging from the distance with their Shuriken magic, and it moves fast enough to sidestep many counterattacks. His final damage though does not hold up as well with other higher-tier characters.
- Unlockability: Available from the start of the game.
Ninja
- Magic: Shuriken
- Strengths: The Ninja is an excellent character for players who prefer a quick, hit-and-run playstyle. His Shuriken magic is useful for dealing damage at a distance, and his speed allows him to dodge enemy attacks easily. However, his overall damage output is not as strong as the higher-tier characters.
- Unlockable: Unlocked after completion of the “Ninja” DLC.
C-Tier: Average Performers
Orange Knight
- Magic: Lightning
- Strengths: The Orange Knight is mid-statted but frequently outgunned by other characters in raw damage and overall effectiveness. His Lightning magic is decent for both offense and defense though lacks the flexibility and might some characters provide.
- Unlockability: Unlocked after the game is completed once.
Peasant
- Magic: None
- Strengths: Peasant is a basic simple character without spellcasting ability. He is played in melee only, and compared to most characters, has little health. So it is not much fun playing with this character against tough enemies or on higher difficulty levels.
- Unlockability: Unlocked from the start of the game.
Skeleton
- Magic: Curse
- Strengths: The Skeleton’s magic, Curse, is the only one that can turn enemies into skeletons, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. However, his overall stats are average, and his effectiveness usually gets outshined by other characters who have better skills or more powerful abilities.
- Unlockability: Unlocked by completing the “Skeleton” DLC.
D-Tier: Underperformers
Bear
- Magic: Roar
- Strengths: Though Bear has several interesting abilities, in combat power, magic, or overall power, he is weaker than everyone else. His Roar can knock out enemies, but its low health and attack rate make it not recommendable for serious game plays.
- Unlockability: Unlocked after completing the “Bear” DLC.
Alien Hominid
- Magic: Alien Beam
- Strengths: The Alien Hominid character is funny, but his magic is less strong in comparison with other characters from this list. Alien Beam damages less, and he performs worse than other characters who have more credible skills overall.
- Unlockability: This could be unlocked by purchasing the “Alien Hominid” DLC.
Conclusion
You will choose a character based on the playstyle, how difficult you are tackling, and what kind of offense you prefer to defend. S-Tier: For competitive or high difficulty, this guy is the real winner. The Industrialist and Gray Knight are two of the highest-performing characters in the game. There’s then A-Tier and B-Tier; it depends on you as these are nicely rounded units.
Finally, while the S-Tier characters are probably the best ones as far as stats and abilities go, Castle Crashers is primarily all about having a good time, and sometimes playing your favorite character from a lower tier can even up the stakes of the game. So gear up, choose your character, and dive headfirst into the chaotic, action-packed world of Castle Crashers.
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