Class tier list

[Mikeavelli]

What are everyone's thoughts on the relative usefulness of each class? Here are mine in the form of ranking them according to the popular S/A/B/C/D/F tier system.

S tier: probably overpowered.

- Snipers are easily the best class in the game. JTAC and Strike Zone alone are a force multiplier that let you annihilate guards. A sniper rifle with a high level silencer will have a range that greatly exceeds its noise radius, allowing you to delete enemy guards from across the map. At endgame I'm clearing 1000+ damage per shot on a critical. Theoretically this is balanced by being unable to hit in-close enemies, but it is usually pretty trivial to manage your positioning such that this is never an issue.

A Tier: Great classes. Useful in almost every mission

- Cyber Knight, which is fitting as the main character. Has a good mix of abilities that let you specialize into a number of different niches. Tactical Surge is probably the best talent in the game, Rewind is in direct competition for best talent, and Atomic Stutter is the best stun ability in the game.

- Vanguard; in a game primarily about stealth, the stealthy infiltrator is a must have for everything except pure combat missions. Anticipation lets you see where guards are going, while Lure and Pinger let you just decide where guards are moving next turn if they aren't doing what you want. K-protocol is great for those missions where you feel like ending at a security level of 0.

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B Tier: Either good at their role but in a role that comes up less often, or a class with a broad range of talents that don't synergize well.

- Soldier: Damn good at killing stuff, indispensable on a full combat mission, but in a role that doesn't come up as much in other mission types. In stealth missions he rarely has anything to do since my sniper will clean up before he's even in range to fire a shot.

- Agent EX: kind of a mix between a Vanguard and Soldier, but worse than either one in practice. SMGs buffed by Aimlock are worse than just using an Assault Rifle. Line Crawler is a neat idea, but the RNG never seems to work out for me, and I am rarely in the position where a bunch of security systems are clustered together and I want to wait for it to maybe spread out. It ends up being a worse Jamkit.

C Tier: Tries to fulfill the same niche as some other class, but is worse at it.

- Gunslinger: Fills the same niche as soldier, but with pistols instead of ARs. Generally worse than just having a soldier on your team. Holdup and thrown bullet give them a little more utility while stealthing. You could spend a talent on Fanning or Gun Kata, or you could just use an automatic weapon with a different class.

- Cybersword: don't me wrong here, cyberswords are a ton of fun to play, but mechanically melee is just not very effective. Having AP and MP be (mostly) the same resource means you're going to be better off with a ranged weapon 90% of the time. The talents that make you invulnerable to 1 or 2 shots are great in a pinch, but I find that if there are only 1 or 2 enemies threatening you, you can just kill them and don't need to tank. If there are more than that, you don't want to be standing there in melee range exposed to their fire. Question for the community: do melee attacks get a hidden accuracy buff? Melee attacks seem to hit far more consistently than the percentage shown on the UI.


D Tier: I have to go out of my way to make this class worthwhile. Talents don't synergize well:

- Scourge. I don't really know what the design intent is with this class, but it just doesn't seem to work as intended. Shotguns suck as weapon class in general, so having talents that depend on using them is bad. I know the Damage over Time abilities don't alert guards, but they don't do enough damage to be worth using and a few of them can inflict friendly fire, which is unique to this class. Morass is just a weaker Strike Zone that will also debuff your allies if they enter it. Callus is pretty neat for full combat slugfests and BrainWorm almost single-handedly bumps this back up a tier to being worthwhile, but I just cannot get over the need to use shotguns.


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That's it. Nothing in this game merits an F tier.

I've left off Hackers because Hackers are their own thing that doesn't really fit into a tier. They don't have any meatspace abilities worth using outside of packet loss, but they're the only way to engage with hacking, which is occasionally mandatory.

[ulzgoroth]

I find it wild to put a class at S for ability to kill enemies alone. I'm not sure I'd give a character with an active talent that just said 'all enemies on the map die' a higher rating than the cyber knight, and the Sniper is a long way short of that on their best day.


I don't think melee has a hidden accuracy buff, but it does have guaranteed glancing hits - you cannot completely miss a melee attack. Though frequently a glancing hit will mean you need a second swing to finish the job.

Melee is probably worse than guns for the kind of 'kill them all' you seem to be coming from. It's very competitive, however, for silent, selective killing. Even for non-specialist classes, there are a lot of situations where running up and swinging a sword is more lethal than using the same amount of AP on a silent gun. For a cybersword, slashslide almost guarantees it. (And can kill multiple enemies at once on rare occasions.)


(I can't really speak in defense of the cybersword's middle-tree bullet-proofing abilities, because getting shot at is usually a bad time for me independent of the actual damage caused.)


I'd probably say:
S) CK, if you could take more than one you would.
A) Vanguard for stealth missions, Sniper for certain combat-required jobs on open maps, especially assassination, soldier for any combat required job.
B) Cybersword for stealth jobs
C) Vanguard on combat-focused missions. Hacker outside the matrix on stealth missions.
D) Sniper the rest of the time, Soldier on missions that stay quiet.

Other classes not listed: can't really rate what I haven't played.

[EasyOut]

one thing scourge is good for is a battle medic in a combat squad, also his reknit and repair armor skills allow him to rush in, take a hit or two, then the next turn blow everyone away with his almost instakill shotgun. then he heals himself, and repairs his own armor if he took any hits.

i think he's like a combat mage but i've never found him useful in go quiet squads and i don't use his favored abilities that other people like.

[Insane]

You're wrong about hacker tho. Main meatspace skills are Faking bodies and Prank. Prank needs a combo from Pinger (Vanguard) in which case it helps to create the most absurd "Lure" in entire game, capable of moving multiple guards all over the map regardless of distance. It's very strong but requires additional planning. I don't agree with Sniper being better than Soldier.

JTAC and Strike Zone requires a lot of points which isn't easy to come by. For 5 PTS you can get Targeting mark from Soldier which can be combined with Vanguard's Lure to mark all guards with one use and there is 2 additional PTS to use elsewhere. That's 25% crit vulnerability and -25% evasion with a very fast cooldown. And then unlike Sniper, Soldier is able to use auto fire, has recoil control talent and can get additional AP for crits. Soldier will outperform Sniper in total damage if there's more than 1 guard. Soldier is #2 damage dealer in the game in full auto and especially with E-Rifle. CK-Soldier being #1 due to absurd crit build. Sniper is #3. Also, Sniper always lagging behind the team.

Personally I think Soldier has the most reliable talents unlike sniper.

[Mikeavelli]

The reason why I rank snipers so highly is that they're hands down the best at both sneaky, selective killing and all out combat. A cybersword would need 2-3 turns (one of which is just reaching the enemies) to match what a sniper can do in one turn. In both cases you generate zero tally, since no-one is close enough to hear your gunshots.

[ulzgoroth]

Originally posted by Mikeavelli:

The reason why I rank snipers so highly is that they're hands down the best at both sneaky, selective killing and all out combat. A cybersword would need 2-3 turns (one of which is just reaching the enemies) to match what a sniper can do in one turn. In both cases you generate zero tally, since no-one is close enough to hear your gunshots.

I don't think a sniper can kill more than three people in one turn? Maybe 4 with perfect luck and no overhead AP use? Unless they're not using a sniper rifle, but you seem to be talking about using a sniper rifle. A cybersword definitely can do so, though that ability isn't particularly valuable since normally you need to kill only one or two people at a time. Which a cybersword can do with just 2 AP. (Slashslide, get back 2 AP for Choppa and maybe 2 MP for Whisperkill, use those to kill the second target if present.)

The cybersword has to be on the scene to kill people, yes, but if you aren't there then there's no motive to be killing them in the first place.

(Meanwhile a soldier can kill 5 people with 3 AP, under the right conditions. Though they're unusual conditions.)

[Imperialus]

Ehhh... for a very specific playstyle I guess... Early on though I don't think the sniper brings enough to the table to justify the S tier. Until you get that high tier silencer you have a mediocre pistol shooter with some solid support talents.

Also, some of the classes do very, very well when combined with another. I agree that AgentEX and Soldier are B tier as individual classes, but AgentEX combined with some recoil control from soldier is a terrifying monstrosity. Get aimlock, then get iron grip. Then extra automatic, and run and gun. Finish things off with Recoup. My record bodycount was 6 full health guards in one turn. Likewise, the Cybersword combined with Vanguard is a blender on two legs. Also, really your best option if you want to quietly shred armour.

Scourge shines in some of the harder missions like VIP assassinations, escorts, or 'kill 3 captains' where you end up with a huge amount of tally. Being able to blast a boom stick, stun 3 or 4 guards and GTFO has saved my ass a few times.

[lebeststratege]

Well that show how different we all feel about the game.
Ranking based on a normal/hard difficulty playthrough

SSS Tier =>
- CK : team action economy is never useless, and that's only one comp, without tacsurge... he is SS tier to

A Tier =>
- Scourge : Can use both AoE stun, AoE non alert DoT, dissolve bodies, get juiced with no AP cost (don't underestimate the power of free 4 juices in a mission).. Useful in every missions.
- CyberSword : Multi AP/MP gain, AoE Melee, and several move speed boosts (including nodes), can also get several invicibilities leading to heavy durability, and can stun with the power baton. With access to "Lure" it would go up to S tier (you cluster 2 to 5 guys together only to swordrush them... that's often enough)
- Soldier : Would need a tiny bit more stealth, but don't forget it already have Marker Sight (AoE crit and accuracy), Coordinated charge (Move poind and ms for team) and Recoup (AP). Boosted range on throwable items means a TON of Dmg or AoE Stun, also note that they can be bounced on certain terrains to go further than max range. Overall it's a great "solo" class for it's versatility which can ramp up as you unlock more items because you can probably rush the item slots with him because he use them better.

B+ (almost A tier... almost) Tier =>

- Gunslinger : Access to multikill solo setup with pistols in stealth and really good firepower with revolvers. Loses point because it require the best slot of cyberware in current patch (1 Move point) and because it would probably need to use his own class of weapons (dual wielding pistols or revolver each taking one slot and comps working with this pair).

B Tier =>
- Vanguard : The ultimate stealth guy. Don't expect him to hold is own in a fight, but you probably use him the most. in his role he is S tier, but taking combat into account, he falls to B. GlassWalker is still a premium.

C Tier =>
- Agent EX : While SMGs are king in later parts of the game (they replace pistols due to autofire) Aimlock not giving it's bonus on the first shot is a big let down. But paired with stealth needing classes like Sword, it can provide the means to get close while still opening mid-range fight. Paired with crit needing class, White noise is also good.
- Sniper : Only good at very long range fight (check out penalties for "outside of optimal range" ^^), in a game where you can be sure if you'll have the Line of Sight, saved by the double overwatch combo with soldier/gunslinger. To me Sniper is a subpar Soldier/gunslinger mainly because most of the game is close range, and sniper rifles are way too loud. That being said, when the mission is good for them, they are great.

D Tier =>
- None

[Trese Brothers]

Love to see these tier lists and reading just how different everyone is building squads!

[tayon1990]

Originally posted by lebeststratege:

Well that show how different we all feel about the game.
Ranking based on a normal/hard difficulty playthrough

Lol. I'd easy give Agent EX an A-tier. The best stealth class, capable of getting into places no one else can.
A multiclass with a Cyberblade easily gets not even a S, but a SS-tier, because this creature can teleport to the center of the enemy line in battle, work there with a knife and then cover itself with a cloud of nanites until the next turn. The turn when this thing will cut everyone down.
With this build I have Zasha, whose traits are, to put it mildly, crap for an attacking character. But that doesn't stop her from being a goddess of the battlefield.

Yes, I'm too lazy to make a full tier list because I can't say anything about the other classes that hasn't already been said. Only the injustice that the Agent suffered made me write something XD

It seems to me that the classes that we praise in the tier list are, first of all, the classes that suit our playstyle and that we have mastered well. For example, from the previous post with the tier list, I can say that the player prefers open combat... I can only express my respect to the developers that they were able to create a set of classes in which everyone finds something for themselves.

[Mikeavelli]

Yes, a cybersword is physically capable of killing as many guards as you can fit into their AoE. In practice it's rare to fit more than 1 at a time, and you can get a second guard if they're close enough together. The sniper can consistently kill 3 per turn in a very wide area, which is something that comes up every single map.

Originally posted by ulzgoroth:

The cybersword has to be on the scene to kill people, yes, but if you aren't there then there's no motive to be killing them in the first place.

I think a lot of people aren't using the sniper correctly. You set your sniper up at maximum range and 2-3 guards in a group, completely unheard because you're using a silencer and far enough away that no-one can hear you.

You do this because either because that's where your objective is and you want to be able to move the rest of your team through there completely undisturbed, or you shoot guards off on the other end of the map because you want the sec AI to eventually notice dead guards and dispatch the remainder of the guards to go investigate, allowing you to complete your objective free of interference.

This isn't open combat, you don't generate tally doing this if you're doing it properly. Most of the time you won't even raise the security level past 1 or 2.

[tayon1990]

Originally posted by ulzgoroth:

I don't think a sniper can kill more than three people in one turn?

Five. Cyber ​​Knight Sniper can kill five. 7 AP at the start (0.4 is given by the Cyber ​​Knight tree, 0.6 can be obtained with properly crafted armor), Ult Pump for another +2, 9 AP in total. Three shots. Plus Skullshot, plus Deathwatch.
Cyber ​​Knight Sniper is a beast. Huge Tech, 12-13 at start, somewhere around 30 at peak. Lots of ways to buff crit chance and lots of nodes on the sniper tree that passively increase it. As a result, you can have 50%-60% crit passively and the ability to boost it to 100% with Ult Pump and Skullshot. And, as the icing on the cake, five shots. Five freaking shots from a sniper rifle.

[Cyber Psience]

Honest opinion from a long time player:
S Tier: CK and Face. you can't have more than one for good reason. OP.
A Tier: Gunslinger. It stealths. It slays. Scourge. Ultimate utility class.
B Tier: Agent-Ex. Vanguard. Cybersword. Quiet and deadly if you let them get to cloose.
Sniper. Regularly killing 3 enemies per turn from across the map. It is all about the Crits. Nest is a beast.
C Tier: Vanilla Soldier. Too slow. Good defender, but too loud.
The Other A Tier: Van-CS. SolgentEx. SnipGuard. Vangourge.

Multi-classing talent combos are amazing.

[King Banhammer]

I admittedly haven't played with a few classes yet, but I've been getting a lot done with August as a starting Scourge - body disposal (occasionally - I do like the utility of using bodies to herd alarmed enemies), poison mines (which fully powered up are strong enough to take out some weaker enemies), his mind control (forget the name right now) on two targets right as things go loud to disrupt enemy formations (though I notice some times those targets will veg out rather than shoot at anyone, which feels odd)

He's excellent as a disruptor, which can work for both stealthy and loud play.

[DarkHorse]

This is the team I basically finished the game with.. I spent quite a bit of time finding the mix that fit my play style.... Which is go quiet until you have to go loud. In combat only missions I swap out my hacker for a Soldier.. but my hacker / Soldier is pretty formidable as well.

For Me
S Tier is going to be -
-ShadowKnight/Cybersword ... Lets face it Rewind /Atomic Stutter and Tactical Surge. Nuff said.

-Gunslinger/Sniper .. I need Jtac and Strike Zone .. mixed with Ricochet he can take out 3 targets coupled with rewind he can take out 3 targets every round for 3 rounds.

A Tier is going to be -
-Scourge/Cybersword My scourge can run around clean up bodies and pass through most security systems and get my loot boxes I need. With slash slide I can take out multiple targets and I only bring a shotgun on combat only missions.

-Sniper- I need the Sniper skills on my team.

Cybersword as you can see from my pic below .. I regard Slashslide invaluable to my silent team.

B Tier -
Agent Ex - I want to like him and if I could take more than 4 I would probably have an Agent Ex.

Vanguard - Although geared for stealth the kit doesn't fit my play-style-

Hacker - I think a pure hacker to excel at hacking is invaluable to the team and hack only missions.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3510473697

[tayon1990]

If we talk about teams, then mine usually consists of:
CK-Sniper. I already said above, five corpses in one turn is easy. High crit chance allows you to switch to SMG and kill a bunch of enemies at a short distance, if necessary. The ultimate killing machine.

Sword Agent. Multiclass Cybersword and Agent EX. The most mobile build in the game, capable of crossing the map in a couple of turns even without a high Reaction. And if the swordsman runs to the enemy, you all know the result. But Agent EX gives not only Glitch, it is also gives a free smoke grenade every three turns, which does not require not only consumables, but also AP in general. And since long-range attacks do not work in smoke, this is, in fact. invulnerability. Especially in combination with parry (I know that it does not work now, but the developers promise to fix it).

VanHacker. Can hack your computer so that you won't even notice, standing three meters away from it. Because Blend. The ultimate hacker, who has the ability to neutralize enemy gadgets for free at close range, and with the expenditure of one AP - at long range. Plus the ability to reduce Tally, plus, at high levels, a Projection that allows you to pass through any security... In general, this is a living master key and a hacker who does not need to be covered.

Well, and the Great Ultimate Free Slot. It's occupied by the situation. Open Battle or Siege? Soldier or Scourge. Assassination? Sweetie Rhino, Gunslinger/Sniper. Stealth? Agent EX/Soldier.