TIER LIST: ALL-AROUND SOLO SPECIALIZATIONS

[Beloved Stray]

==================================================================
HEROES OF HAMMERWATCH II — ALL-AROUND SOLO SPECIALIZATIONS TIER LIST
==================================================================
[updated as of Feb 1, 2025]

I will try to keep this tier list will be updated - but I currently have played all classes at lvl 20, and this is a tier list of the best all-around specializations. Specializations are available at level 10, and you can currently freely change between them with no penalty.

[ S TIER ] – Top picks with outstanding synergy (offense + defense)
• Radiance (Paladin)
- Massive Fire AoE (Immolation) clears groups effortlessly.
- Inner Flames aura scales both damage and resistance for immense survivability.
- One of the most balanced high-tier classes for all NG+ levels.

• Chaos (Warlock) ⬆ (Promoted from A Tier)
- Chaos Blade delivers insane Lightning damage with self-sustaining rifts.
- Lifeleech talents make this one of the most durable high-DPS builds.
- Scales well in NG+ and is a top-tier boss killer.

• Fire (Sorcerer) ⬆ (Promoted from B Tier)
- Firewall melting bosses and self-healing from Fire crits make this the best NG+ Sorc build.
- Endgame proven (NG+5-10 viable), offering absurd mana regen and survivability.
- Outperforms Lightning Sorcerer at higher difficulties.

• Berserker (Warrior)
- Leap stun + whirlwind burst makes for aggressive gameplay.
- Rage mechanic (huge crit boosts and mitigation) remains strong into NG+10.
- Still an S-tier pick, but requires skillful HP management at higher NG+.

[ A TIER ] – Powerful builds with few significant weaknesses
• Divine (Paladin)
- Blind enemies, gain invulnerability at low HP.
- Excellent mix of offense and support with one of the safest playstyles.
- Close to S-tier, but lacks the outright burst of Radiance.

• Sabotage (Rogue) ⬆ (Promoted from B Tier, previously Demolitions)
- Dodge dropping bombs for free makes this a top-tier mob clearer.
- AoE bomb spam keeps the Rogue’s squishiness manageable.
- Much better than previously ranked due to the hidden power in orbs.

• Lightning (Sorcerer) ⬇ (Demoted from S Tier)
- Still one of the best mobbing classes in the game.
- Struggles against bosses compared to Fire Sorcerer.
- Should be considered A-tier due to single-target weaknesses at NG+.

• Warden (Ranger) ⬆ (Promoted from D Tier)
- Tornadoes scale incredibly well with attack speed.
- Entangle provides strong area control, making it better in NG+ than initially thought.
- Underrated—far more viable with high AS stacking.

[ B TIER ] – Solid options, but overshadowed by higher-tier specializations
• Beastmaster (Ranger) ⬆ (Reworked to focus on Mage playstyle)
- Should be played as a Mage, stacking spell power rather than weapon damage.
- Icy Wolf spirit does ridiculous single-target damage.
- Better than before but still reliant on scaling for high-end NG+.

• Tyrant (Warrior)
- Cripple + Bleed stacks = high consistent melee DPS.
- Falls off in NG+ without significant investment.
- Solid, but lacks the sheer carnage of Berserker.

• Justice (Paladin)
- Balanced offense and CC with slows via Shackles.
- Doesn’t explode enemies quite like Radiance, but reliable.
- Good for those who prefer tanky, steady DPS over burst.

• Poisoner (Rogue) ⬆ (Promoted from C Tier)
- Poison Cloud is one of the best area denial skills.
- Scales well into NG+, making it arguably an A-tier pick.
- Can feel slow early, but rewards patience and kiting.

[ C TIER ] – Requires more effort or gear to excel
• Blades (Rogue)
- Great single-target burst but weak against swarms.
- Excels against bosses, but requires positioning to work well.
- Good in niche scenarios, but less versatile than other Rogues.

• Primalist (Warrior)
- Totem-based damage is steady but low per hit.
- More of a fun build than a high-end competitive one.
- Eclipsed by better melee options like Berserker.

• Hydra (Conjuration Wizard) ⬆ (Improved viability based on feedback)
- Surprisingly high boss DPS, if played correctly.
- Takes effort to optimize, but worth it.
- Better than previously rated—still not top-tier, but more viable than given credit for.

• Marksman (Ranger)
- High crit potential, but heavily reliant on positioning.
- Speed penalties from bow use make it hard to recommend over Warden.
- Better as a support DPS than a solo all-rounder.

[ D TIER ] – Lowest baseline damage; niche or underwhelming for most builds
• Summoning (Warlock)
- Minions scale poorly without heavy investment.
- Overshadowed by Souls or Chaos for better self-sustain and damage.
- Viable in dedicated summon builds, but not for general play.

• Transmutation (Wizard) ⬆ (Improved based on NG+10 performance)
- Can become an absurd melee blender with 100% Haste in heavy armor.
- Still a niche playstyle, but NG+ proves it has some endgame potential.
- Worth considering if you like hybrid builds.

Key Takeaways from Community Feedback:

Fire Sorcerer is now the best Sorcerer for NG+ due to sustain, mana regen, and boss-killing power.

Lightning Sorcerer is great for clearing rooms but underwhelming for bosses.

Ranger-Beastmaster should be played as a spellcaster, not a weapon user.

Poisoner and Sabotage Rogue are far stronger than previously ranked.

Warden’s tornadoes + attack speed stacking make it viable in NG+.
NG+ experience (past level 20) is now taken into account, especially for late-game viability / solo carry.

[NorionV]

Lightning Sorcerer doesn't even mention the subclass skill?

Summon Warlock should be much higher. The minions decimate waves and bosses alike, blocks most enemy projectiles, and allows you to fight without actually exposing yourself to all of the danger. Essence is not an issue, especially if you get the alternate methods for generating it.

[Ostrava of Boletaria]

I appreciate the effort involved into trying to rank every class and specialization but some of these are wildly wrong lol

[Last Jackdaw]

Thanks for the effort and the great formatting!

I will give you an example of one wrong ranking you have wrong.
Chaos Warlock is far and away the NG king.

Its got broken damage.

[Intra]

• Tyrant (Warrior)
- Chains inflict Cripple and can apply Bleed stacks.
- Ruthlessness amplifies physical damage as enemies lose HP.
- Good mid‐game momentum; lacks the raw burst of Berserker.

I don't get the logic how Tyrant is worse than Berserker. Tyrant literally multiplies all physical damage by +50% damage. How is that not better than some bonus crit with a minor boost to crit damage situational on being hit or being low HP?

AND then there's the skill orb that makes your damage increase based on the lower the enemy HP?

That's multipliers on multipliers. THEN you add your crit on top.

Is the stun nice to get into range so you don't die? Yes. Chains does actual damage though. The Leap skill upgrades are useless waste of points.

[sangdel]

Originally posted by Intra:

• Tyrant (Warrior)
- Chains inflict Cripple and can apply Bleed stacks.
- Ruthlessness amplifies physical damage as enemies lose HP.
- Good mid‐game momentum; lacks the raw burst of Berserker.

I don't get the logic how Tyrant is worse than Berserker. Tyrant literally multiplies all physical damage by +50% damage. How is that not better than some bonus crit with a minor boost to crit damage situational on being hit or being low HP?

AND then there's the skill orb that makes your damage increase based on the lower the enemy HP?

That's multipliers on multipliers. THEN you add your crit on top.

Is the stun nice to get into range so you don't die? Yes. Chains does actual damage though. The Leap skill upgrades are useless waste of points.

The orb skills on berserker make it so you can basically face tank everything in the game. Even if the DPS is lower (doubt on that) being unkillable is very strong.

[Gundies]

It sounds like you didn't actually play several of the specs. Might be worth revisiting those specs or holding back judgement until you do.

Ever want to experience firing a single spell down a hallway and then see it come racing straight back towards you a few seconds later with 90%+ of the hallway cleared of enemies and proceed to murder everything in the opposite direction too? Go lightning sorc. Ball lightning isn't a shotgun, it's a force of pure destruction that can easily crit for 10,000+ at lvl 20 before you ever touch NG+ wiping out everything in it's path and then bouncing off a wall and continuing on repeating this until it eventually runs out of targets. There's a perk to chain lightning with it and another to get more range for every enemy it hits. It's probably the safest spec in the game from ever getting hit and the only time I actually want the assassins mask trinket as you can safely out range everything and get full benefit from it. S tier without hesitation.

Warden ranger has very nice auto attack damage for anyone wanting to be lazy because of the constant wind spam from any attack that clears groups nicely. My personal choice is OH crossbow. The small damage boost is drastically understated as it's similar to weapon damage and pierces whether your weapon can or not, it at minimum doubles your damage and can scale up very nicely with some skill orbs. Simply stack attack speed with ranged weapon of choice and you'll have a low effort relaxing run. Not the highest damage spec but who cares if your enjoying the zen of your run.

Conjuration wizard hydra is high dps. The number on the skill is low but it hits very fast and can get up to 5 heads melting anything that's in range. I found the passive sword was more damage per hit and more reliable damage than any other summoner spec in the game. It doesn't have hp so it's never dead and will always function in higher level ng+, it has a good amount of cleave, and it knows how to get into the fray immediately. Main drawback is perks don't scale well for it, with wolves for example you can get up to 3 of them, with sword you get a chance to freeze or 10% fire tick or something similarly weak; this is potentially beneficial as that lets you can focus skill orbs on other stuff instead.

I'd call chaos warlock the only S+ in the game. It never dies and blenders everything it comes across without break or pause. While I do really like souls warlock, chaos has consistently performed far better for me even post nerf. Main reason is vortex is a long cd and possibly only up every other fight while the chaos blade is 3 sec and you can basically alternate with lash and blade for all eternity. The chaos orbs can also wipe out a boss far faster than the souls kit can. The nerf apparently capped the orbs to 6, but I think ones from skill perks can go over and above that limit as I swear I had 10+ a few times yesterday.

The marksman ranger needs a revisit. The slowdown was drastically reduced and with the skill points invested its basically full speed. The rain of arrows does a ton of damage. It hits a target 5+ times as it passes over it, and it'll get stuck on constructs and bosses which drops the rest of the rain on them and lets you melt them far faster than most other classes. The positioning comment should be removed as that applies to most specs and is hardly an exclusive thing here. Bad positioning = bad damage and/or bad survival. If the bow passive worked with offhand crossbow I'd be using this spec.

Radiance paladin's immolation spell is too long of a charge and a great way to end up dead as you stand there not attacking trying to hit enough enemies to make it worth the cast. I found all of the paladin's specialisation spells lacking, instead I've stuck with blessed strike which gets some very good skill orbs and has always exceeded anything the other spells have managed for me. Radiance paladin is still the best though since it's passive perks are great. I still agree it's S tier regardless of my finding immolation to be a trap.

[NorionV]

Originally posted by Gundies:

Radiance paladin's immolation spell is too long of a charge and a great way to end up dead as you stand there not attacking trying to hit enough enemies to make it worth the cast. I found all of the paladin's specialisation spells lacking, instead I've stuck with blessed strike which gets some very good skill orbs and has always exceeded anything the other spells have managed for me. Radiance paladin is still the best though since it's passive perks are great. I still agree it's S tier regardless of my finding immolation to be a trap.

You can just tap immolation instead of charging it. Won't do as much damage, but it still hits hard and has a rather large AoE.

[Japzzi]

How tf is Souls Warlock above Chaos?

Getting tired of these “tier lists”

[Trance]

Gotta disagree on the Conjuration Wizard. Hydras are absolute monsters on bosses. They melt most of them in record time. They are also very good in killing large groups of enemies. The summoned sword however is not that good.

[owo]

OP should try NG+ before making a tier list.

[Ashtarte]

>Lightning Sorc not in S
Hahahaha. No.

Like they had to nerf the class in the most recent patch because it was so busted and it's STILL disgustingly strong. Lightning Ball does obscene damage with no augments, with augments it can clear entire rooms offscreen. Unless you somehow never get offered Mana Surge you have no sustain worries as the chaining means you will always get at least one crit to refund the whole spell.

>Warden and Transmute Wiz in D
Are we even playing the same game or do you have no idea how to build characters? Warden is one of the most brainless classes you can play going full attack speed stacking and your tornadoes go brrrrr. Also Entangle does exceptional damage while acting as area control. Great for higher NG content.

Meanwhile Transmute Wiz gives you disgusting amounts of bonus stats so you can go full heavy armor with a melee weapon, have 100% Haste and become a blender.

[Ashtarte]

Originally posted by sangdel:

Originally posted by Intra:

I don't get the logic how Tyrant is worse than Berserker. Tyrant literally multiplies all physical damage by +50% damage. How is that not better than some bonus crit with a minor boost to crit damage situational on being hit or being low HP?

AND then there's the skill orb that makes your damage increase based on the lower the enemy HP?

That's multipliers on multipliers. THEN you add your crit on top.

Is the stun nice to get into range so you don't die? Yes. Chains does actual damage though. The Leap skill upgrades are useless waste of points.

The orb skills on berserker make it so you can basically face tank everything in the game. Even if the DPS is lower (doubt on that) being unkillable is very strong.

Tyrant is also nigh-unkillable already because of all the damage resist Warrior gets naturally without needing Berserker's low-life damage resist. Tyrant also kills way faster between amped phys damage, constant bleed application and chains being pretty damn spammable. Berserker also tends to be more reliant on getting the +crit and auto-attack modifying trinkets while Tyrant doesn't really need anything specific, almost everything is useful. Berserker is by no means bad and safer if you want to go completely HAM, but play with even a modicum of safety in mind and Tyrant stomps everything but faster.

[Kiara]

Beastmaster is actually really solid if you build it as a caster, gear swap for bosses though.

Also transmutation is superior to evocation once geared enough to not need to reduced cost from evocation. primarily because meteor is a PBAOE and as a wizard you generally don't want to be close to things especially on ng+

[Intra]

Rage reducing damage taken is not as nice as they make it seem. "Low Life" means 35% HP. Do you really want to rely on being at 35% HP to get damage reduction in NG+?

[DeadBeMyDignity]

Originally posted by NorionV:

Lightning Sorcerer doesn't even mention the subclass skill?

Summon Warlock should be much higher. The minions decimate waves and bosses alike, blocks most enemy projectiles, and allows you to fight without actually exposing yourself to all of the danger. Essence is not an issue, especially if you get the alternate methods for generating it.

Agree. My warlock-summomer carrying me trought ng+2 and I am confident to beat the ng+3 whit it