(1.8.5) Meta Tier List for Dark Deception: Monsters and Mortals (Discontinued)

Competitive tier list for Dark Deception: Monsters and Mortals

Intro

After a very long time of waiting and working, the time has finally come. The competitive tier list for Dark Deception: Monsters and Mortals took a lot of effort to create, so I hope I met everyone's expectations. Yes, I'm aware that Mastermind has a tier list of his own, but after talking to him, we agreed that this tier list can coexist with his. This took a long time to create, so I hope you take our opinions to heart.

Wait, OUR opinions? Yeah, you heard it right. I might consider myself a professional player of this game, but I don't see myself as a top level genius like a few others are. As a result, this guide is the result of a collaboration with many different above-average and top players respectfully. With that said, massive thank you to the following users listed below. This wouldn't have been possible without them taking time out of their day to lend their opinions and help construct the list. Finally, with enough chit chat out of the way, let's get the ball rolling and start discussing the tier list!


Steam/Discord Users that helped in the making of the guide, besides Ketchup (myself):

Gift Card
Jellybean
Jrquic1
BossBruteGaming
SDB
Joy Joy Lucky
Impaster Men

Maze Escape (Mortals)

This list is designated for every Mortal's overall performance in the game mode, Maze Escape.



Bierce (S): Bierce being a Support Mortal grants her good overall stats, but what makes her truly shine is her ability to heal herself back to full HP at any time thanks to her Ult. This makes her notoriously hard to kill for many Monsters if the Bierce player is competent thanks to that plus her high HP overall. Being fast also makes her a good shard collector for the gamemode, and her fast attack speed and okay damage in combination to this makes her able to extend fights for long periods of time, being able to fend off Monsters if she needs to thanks to her obscenely good hitboxes due to dedicated servers. However, what keeps her out of S+ is the fact is that she's a Support Mortal who hogs all the support to herself, making her a "self-support" character. Helping Hand does heal teammates, but only by 25% which usually doesn't really make much of a difference if Bierce isn't using her heavy attack on them to stack more healing. Helping Hand also doesn't help other Support classes, meaning they don't get to benefit from Bierce unless they're the target of heavy heal slap spam. Primal Fear is able to cancel Helping Hand, leaving Bierce pretty much helpless should she be in the low-mid range of HP. Finally, there are a few prominent Monsters with Ults that are able to outdamage her rate of healing, such as Malak, Brute, Dread Ducky, and Robbie if she doesn't deal with the clones, meaning Helping Hand isn't a complete solution to every single problem, even if it usually is in most cases. Overall, Bierce is a very reliable Mortal for the gamemode, but she does have her counters available and she sucks as an actual Support character

Detective Evans (B): Detective Evans has Freeze Flash...that's literally all he's good for. Everything about him besides that Ult is completely average. Without Freeze Flash at the ready, Evans is a very easy target for the Monster players to go after and kill, since he has average damage output and speed thanks to being a Balanced class, as well as lacking anything special to help him besides Freeze Flash. The reason he's in Mid Tier after all that slander is because of just how useful Freeze Flash is. The most optimal use of it is to use it to interrupt Monster Ults and use their 5 second stun to your advantage by using the opportunity to flee. However, if the Monster is stunned and on low health, it's a good idea to finish them off in order to take them out of the game for a bit, allowing unopposed shard collection AND their Ult is reset by the time they respawn. Overall, Detective Evans is a good character, but he is largely carried by Freeze Flash's utility, and is not very good without it.

Doug Houser (B): To put it bluntly, Doug Houser is not at all a bad Mortal to use. He's designed for beginners, so he's naturally easy to play. However, he has more depth than it might seem at first. While he cannot defend himself well, he is able to play the role as a distraction well, as he can keep the Monster player busy while everyone else is collecting shards. If he gets low on health, he can simply dip with Escape Plan and give himself time to heal up. He can do this especially well after the Portal opens; targeting Doug when the portal's open is a big mistake since Escape Plan lets him automatically escape if the portal's open, meaning he can simply just farm items until he gets his autowin button ready if he's the only one left. That said, he isn't good at fighting compared to the other Mortals, so finding ways to maneuver around Monsters is important if you aim to keep them busy. If Trap and/or Boss Time is active, Escape Plan prior to the portal opening can potentially backfire on him, as the RNG nature of the Ult can send him right into a trap or a boss, forcing him to take damage or just die instantly. Overall, Doug's not horrible, but he is severely outclassed by the vast majority of Mortals who can do his job better.

Glowstick Vince (A): Glowstick Vince is the textbook example of what a Power Mortal should be. In our holy trinity of Power Mortals, Vince is the most defensive one out of the three, as he has respectable strength and an absolutely amazing "get off me" tool in the form of You'll See. Granted, he's really slow, so he isn't good at shard collecting and running from the Monster player, which forces him to rely on You'll See and his own fighting strength in order to threaten the Monster away from him. On top of this, You'll See is only stopped by stuns, Bunny Barrage, and Ducky Surprise, so unless the Monster brought Primal Fear, snuck a banana on him, or he got sniped by the notorious ducky, caution must be taken when fighting him and immediately disengage if he pops You'll See out. Overall, while he's the worst of the Power Mortals at the moment, you should still take Vince seriously, as he can cause a lot of problems for the Monster player if they choose to engage against him.

Nikson (D): Thanks to Patch 1.6.6 reworking Shard Hack, the only saving grace Nikson had at being viable has been butchered. Shark Hack is now essentially a free Shard Bundle item that gives five extra shards, and that's just in best case scenario. The Ult only works in a 20 meter radius and picks up a maximum of 30 shards, meaning his status as a shard collector is drastically reduced. Combine this with his inability to fight Monsters thanks to his poor offensive ability, as well as his terrible disadvantage state, average health and his average speed means Nikson should have zero business being used in Maze Escape in a serious setting. This is exasperated even further by Maze Escape now being a 4v2 team game and the increase in shards on all maps bar Silent Sacrifice. On the bright side, he has a slightly easier time escaping thanks to two portals existing, but this is only one positive out of a seemingly endless amount of downsides. When a character has such high odds to just fail horribly even WITH team support means Nikson is just not worth the time and effort at the moment.

PenPen (C): I've said it before, and I'm sure as hell gonna say it again: DO NOT FIGHT IF YOU'RE PLAYING AS PENPEN!!! PenPen's primary strength is similar to Nikson's, which is shard collecting. However, PenPen is far better at this thanks to being a Speed class Mortal, giving her the highest speed in the game on the Mortals side, allowing her to gather large amounts of shards very quickly, as well as Nikson being ruined in the 1.6.6 update. However, while she's good at collecting shards, and a strong PenPen player can absolutely put in work, she has a ton of issues to contend with. The first of many includes that the rest of her stats apart from her speed are absolutely miserable, meaning you should not be fighting if you're playing as her, as PenPen will be near guaranteed to lose almost every time. She also does not take Ults well from the Monsters, as every single one bar maybe Clown, Robbie, and Nurse's Ults screw her over. She drops 42 shards upon dying, which puts a massive dent into the shard count, further reinforcing that attempting to fight back as PenPen is suicidal and can cost your team the game, which is more threatening thanks to two Monsters now existing. Her Ult, Shooting Star, may sound good on paper, but all it's really useful for is giving PenPen a small boost to help her in escaping the Monster should she be cornered. The stun hitbox is wonky on it, and her damage output is so low to the point where unless the Monster is dangerously close to death, stunlocking isn't going to work. This also doesn't take into account other Monster Ults that can interfere or outrun Shooting Star. Overall, PenPen is best suited for passive playstyles. Do NOT play her if you focus on attacking or are a beginner.

Maze Escape (Mortals Part 2)

Prisoner Borisov (S): Prisoner Borisov is sort of a mixture between a Support and Power Mortal thanks to having Power stats and Cool Down as his Ult. In our holy trinity of Power Mortals, Borisov is the most supportive one of the three. What makes Borisov a good support character despite not being a Support class Mortal is the utility he provides with Cool Down. He can use it to slow even the fastest Monsters to a crawl, allowing himself and anyone else in the area a free chance of escape. Likewise, it also leaves the Monster wide open to getting attacked, which can be taken advantage of. However, the Monster is still able to attack, use Ults, and use items to defend themselves, which is what keeps Borisov out of S+ tier. Overall, a very solid Mortal for the gamemode, as he can provide a good amount of pressure to the Monster player, but not an overwhelming amount like 8-BitRyan can.

Heather Mason (A): Heather, while having been severely nerfed in the 1.6.6 Patch, is still a very viable character in Maze Escape. Having solid stats and above average speed makes her already decent at surviving and collecting shards, but Seal of Metatron increases these attributes even further and spreads them to all Mortals in the match. This provides a lot of assistance to the team, allowing them to run away faster or take hits better than they would normally in combat. PenPen and Supports (especially Bierce) become more difficult to kill, Nikson and Doug have a better time in fights, and Powers become even more busted as hell under this effect. Unfortunately, in a game where every hit counts, she has new competition as of the now discontinued YanSim DLC update in the form of Info-Chan, who can buff herself and her teammates with increased damage, as well as giving herself extra self healing. Long story short, Heather remains a very viable choice in Maze Escape, but she is much easier to take care of compared to before her nerf, where she and her entire team were near unkillable with Seal of Metatron up.

Cybil Bennett (A): After the 1.5.1 update, Cybil Bennett got slammed with nerfs in the form of getting her own character class. Unfortunately, this leaves her with a lot of negative traits she once never had, such as having pitiful damage, average health, average speed, and overall iffy Ult. While she does have the range advantage and she can reliably take on Power Monsters and Dread Ducky, the rest of the Monsters are able to close in on her and kill her off easily. However, being able to remove Ults is a big deal, and with the game's state currently involving a yandere ruling with an iron fist, Cybil is one of the few ways to stand a chance against her, as well as other infamous Ult characters, making her a character that's hard to learn, but worth the mastery if you get good with her.

SuperHorrorBro (C): As rare as he is, SuperHorrorBro is actually a surprisingly decent character. He isn't as "plug in and play" like many other Mortals, as he can have deceptive hitboxes and a delayed start on his heavy attack. However, he is able to deal a lot of damage if he consistently lands the tips of his scissors on his opponents, and A Thousand Cuts can be used as a finisher, and well as a "get off me" option if it lands. It also goes through walls if aimed properly, making him dangerous to engage against if a plan isn't thought of first. Overall, a very underrated Mortal in our opinion, but he is rewarding if his skill curve is overcome.

8-BitRyan (S+): Here it is...the most offensive Mortal in the entire game. In our holy trinity of Power Mortals, 8-BitRyan is the most offensive-based one, as well as the most dangerous one to go along with it. He might be slow in collecting shards, but that is pretty much his only weakness, as he is very oppressive towards Monster players. Having some of the most generous hitboxes in the game is great, especially for a Power class, but what really makes him threatening is 8-Bit Beatdown. It's basically Ducky Surprise 2.0, but it only takes 50% of health. Being a Power class makes him already dicey to engage against, but having an Ult that removes 50% of HP instantly makes 8-BitRyan a very dangerous Mortal to fight, the better option being to just leave him be unless there's no other options. This is reinforced further by the fact he barely drops any shards, which makes killing him not worth the pain. As a result of these, we agreed these traits and 8-BitRyan's very oppressive nature make him easily the strongest Mortal in the entire game, capable of scaring just about any Monster.

Dawko (A): Dawko used to be a niche, but overall good alternative to Heather on less chaotic maps since immunity to light and heavy hits via Darkest Desire is really good. Having Support stats and the healing heavy attack are also good traits to have as well. However, thanks to Heather's drastic nerf in Patch 1.6.6, Dawko has caught up with her again in viability. Darkest Desire buffing the Monsters isn't entirely desirable until you realize that this still shuts down about half the Monster cast for 15 seconds, forcing stalemates. This list includes Murder Monkey (if you can dodge), Clown Gremlin (unless he has clones), Reaper Nurse, Brute (same as Monkey), Fiend, Agatha (she can only do 80 damage thanks to Hello Friend's nerf, making it unlikely to kill if Darkest Desire was properly timed), and both Nurse and Robbie (Robbie is if you weren't hit while Rabbit Rampage was active prior to activation). A downside of the Ult, however, is that direct damage Ults bypass the effect, as well as traps and bosses still being able to hit you. Overall, thanks to Heather's nerf and player experimentation, this nets Dawko the right to be considered a high tier in professional play. He just isn't as straightforward to use as the other Supports in the game and requires attention to teammates to be effective.

Maze Escape (Mortals Part 3)

Senpai (B): Now an unavailable character thanks to YanSim's scandal getting him and the rest of the DLC removed from the Steam Store, Senpai is special in the case that very limited amounts of people have him. However, he plays very similarly to another character on the Mortal roster, Dawko. The differences here primarily involve stats, as Senpai is a Balanced class, and has the appropriate damage, health, and speed as such.This makes him able to deal more damage, but can't take as many hits and is slower to compensate. However, his Ult, Simp For Senpai, allows him to charm opponents and the frames, making opponents unable to attack him with light and heavy attacks while he can, as well as making your computer explode without the proper precautions, making being around him while he's Ulting very dangerous. Unfortunately, this affects his own team as well, making it a bit of a double edged sword in some cases. Overall, he's a nice alternative to Dawko with his own benefits and weaknesses, but please do be careful if you use him. Your computer isn't gonna like it.

Hanako (B): Now an unavailable character thanks to YanSim's scandal getting her and the rest of the DLC removed from the Steam Store, Hanako is special in the case that very limited amounts of people have her. Hanako is one of the most unique Mortals in the game, as she acts very similarly to Penny in playstyle. However, unlike Penny, Hanako is actually good! This is because Mortals are defenders to begin with, making the playstyle more viable on her, as well as the hearts she shoots are able to go through walls, allowing for some killer plays if she predicts well. However, the projectiles are slow to compensate. Furthermore, her Ult is one of the worst ones in the game in 90% of situations, only really being useful for the slight health recovery. Overall, Hanako is VERY fun to play and worth learning if you own the YanSim DLC, as she allows for plenty of skill expression, although she can be tricky initially due to her uniqueness.

Info-Chan (S): Now an unavailable character thanks to YanSim's scandal getting her and the rest of the DLC removed from the Steam Store, Info-Chan is special in the case that very limited amounts of people have her. However, this is probably a good thing, as Info-Chan is one of the best Mortals in the game, and a serious contender for the best Support in Maze Escape. This is due to having similarly busted hitboxes and partial self healing like Bierce, but she also buffs everyone's attack as well, making the Mortals a lot scarier to face while this is active, especially the Powers and Supports. This can make Info-Chan extremely scary if she's in the match, as she can drastically change the outcome of the game to the Mortals' favor with only one power usage if she times it right. As a result, Info-Chan is the strongest of the new Mortals added with YanSim, and it is suggested to not underestimate her simply because of Bierce existing; she can hold her own extremely well and can actually do supporting duty well compared to her.

Jason (A): Jason is a great character to use in Maze Escape thanks to largely the same strengths as Cybil: attacking from a distance is really good and playing well makes you really hard to kill. However, he is ranked a tad lower for a few reasons. One reason is due to his lack of team support and instead of Incapacitate, he has Game Over, an Ultimate that deals a ton of damage at once. This, while nice for fighting, isn't helpful for supporting. This actually leads to his biggest weakness: Game Over has friendly fire enabled. This means he can hurt himself and his own team with it when used recklessly, causing accidental shard losses. This makes it so care needs to be taken when Ulting with Jason, as killing your own team and losing because of it is never fun. As a result, he's on the lower end of A tier.

Salim (D): Salim is a character held back to such a crazy degree for one simple reason: Emergency Flare sucks so much as an Ultimate Ability. Blinding and killing the opponent's eyeballs is great, but due to Player UI elements such as player health and the minimap still being present while blinded, it makes circumventing the Ult to be extremely easy. He is a better fighter at least, which is why he's above Nikson, but until Emergency Flare gets tweaked to disable UI's while affected, Salim will remain a bottom tier in Maze Escape.

Maze Escape (Monsters)

This list is designated for every Monster's overall performance in the game mode, Maze Escape.



Murder Monkey (C): Unfortunately, Murder Monkey isn't exactly what we call "meta" in this gamemode. The reason for this is because while Slicer Dicer got buffed thanks to dedicated servers making it more consistent, and Murder Monkey in general has the potential to be an absolute menace if some of his weaknesses were addressed, this is not the case, as he has a lot of them. The most minor of them is his tall frame, meaning he is an easy target to hit. The second one is how heavily exploitable Slicer Dicer is, as it can be evaded easily on maps not called "Monkey Business," due to the hitboxes on it being wonky and not covering the sides of Murder Monkey, allowing Mortals to weave around it. Finally, Murder Monkey's hitboxes on his light and heavy attack are not the best, meaning it is difficult to consistently hit and kill his targets unless he's right on top of them. Overall, Murder Monkey doesn't hold a strong presence in Maze Escape, but at least Slicer Dicer does damage and provides a speed boost, giving him some use in the mode if someone really wants to use him.

Agatha (A): Ah yes, the bratty child that most players despise. Being a Speed Monster, she already outruns every Mortal in the game besides PenPen, who she ties with. She has no special properties on her attacks, but what makes her a threat is her Ult, Hello Friend!. This move is hated by the community and for good reason, as it allows her to play hit-and-run extremely well, killing off anyone as soon as they reach 80 HP or less. However, what keeps her out of Top Tier is that she is incredibly frail, meaning she can die quickly. Her own notoriety works against her as well, which means players can sometimes actively hunt her down solely to get rid of her before Hello Friend! is ready. Finally, she is somewhat reliant on Hello Friend!, as her damage output, frailty, and vulnerability to many prominent Ults can give her plenty of hard times without it. Overall, while Hello Friend did get nerfed in 1.6.6 to deal 80 damage instead of 100, Agatha is still remarkable in Maze Escape, although this is mainly due to Mortals having lower stats. The nerf was much more impactful in Shard Mayhem, which will be gone over in a bit.

Gold Watcher (B): Gold Watcher is seen as almost identical to Malak. However, what makes him the worse option is the fact that Golden Demise isn't as good at killing as Eye of Suffering is, making Malak a more consistent option. However, Gold Watcher isn't completely outclassed, as his footsteps are quieter than Malak's and he has more range than Malak thanks to the axes he swings. Granted, it isn't much range, but it is still above average. On top of this, his overall hitboxes are much more generous than Malak's meaning he can hit his targets easier than him. Overall, the two characters are near interchangeable, but Malak having a more consistent Ult is what makes him superior to Gold Watcher. Both are still very viable choices, however.

Dread Ducky (B): Unlike Shard Mayhem, where Dread Ducky is absolutely absurd, it is still very powerful in Maze Escape, but is held back thanks to the overall meta lowering its effectiveness a touch. Having a long range light hit means it can peck at Mortals from a distance and a decent heavy attack for close range makes it very strong. However, the prominence of Mortals such as 8-BitRyan, Prisoner Borisov, Detective Evans, and Heather Mason all give Dread Ducky a harder time than in Shard Mayhem. Overall, Dread Ducky is very strong, especially with Ducky Surprise, but he does have counterplay available, unlike in Shard Mayhem. That and Mortals such as Bierce and Cybil have a much better time against it if it lacks Ducky Surprise.

Clown Gremlin (B): The former king of the gamemode, Clown Gremlin is Mid Tier for a reason: he is very RNG reliant. While his long ranged heavy attack already makes him powerful on his own, the nature of Clown Patrol determines how viable he actually is; the clones themselves are easily dealt with in 2 heavy hits, but if they all gang up on their target by spawning close to each other, it is easy to squad wipe the entire Mortal team. Combine this with the fact that many prominent Mortals have ways to deal with the clones (Vince with You'll See, Heather with Seal of Metatron, Bierce with Helping Hand, etc.) means Clown Gremlin has a good shot at success, but also has a good shot at failing if Clown Patrol RNG isn't on his side. Due to this, we agreed he's around Mid Tier status since there's luck in play when using him, as many Mortals are able to reasonably fight him if the clones aren't being useful.

Reaper Nurse (S+): Ever since the Halloween Update dropped, Reaper Nurse has proved herself to be an oppressive Monster in Maze Escape since day 1. The best way to describe her is "she's Fiend on crack," as she has plenty of traits that exceeds the ethereal Monster's talents. The first is that she is a Speed Monster with Clown Gremlin's heavy attack. This already makes her a nuisance since she can use it frequently and from a distance. Her fluid movement also make it easy to weave around attacks, making her a very slippery character to fight against. But what really makes her oppressive is these traits combined with Vaccination Time, as her ability to be difficult to keep track of, as well as increased speed and damage makes her very difficult to deal with in combat. Vaccination Time is also helpful for aiding her ambushes and traversing the map unnoticed. As a result of all these traits and that Vaccination Time is one of the best and versatile Ults in the game allow her to overcome her frailty and narrow hitbox issues and make her one of the most unpredictable Monsters in the game. Because of this, we agreed that Reaper Nurse is the second best Maze Escape Monster, as these all allow her to give Supports and even on occasion, POWER classes a hard time to play against. She has counters such as Borisov and Dawko, but they are few and far between, and those two are the more consistent ones. The addition of granting her fear to Vaccination Time in the 1.6.5.1 patch allows her to somewhat mitigate her frailty issue, making her even more difficult to kill and as a result, makes her even stronger, and she is finally pushed over the edge thanks to this.

Maze Escape (Monsters Part 2)

Malak (S): He and Gold Watcher share competition on which one's the better one. The general consensus is that while Malak lacks the additional range Gold Watcher has on basic attacks and Golden Demise, he makes up for it by Eye of Suffering being a lot more dangerous. This means Malak has a slightly harder time catching Mortals, but if someone's in his vicinity when Eye of Suffering is ready, that Mortal is pretty much dead, as it does so much damage, even threatening Supports while Seal of Metatron is up. This kind of Ult combined with being branded as a Power class makes him very risky to engage against without proper prep in Maze Escape, and in our eyes, worthy of Top Tier. He requires skill in Maze Escape thanks to his low speed compared to the rest of the Mortals, but he is able to make up for it with map knowledge and his Ult when mastered.

Brute (A): The Brute is a hulking magma monster that has a strong presence in Maze Escape, and this is because while he has good, but not great hitboxes on his light and heavy hit, he makes up for it with Magma Charge. Compared to Eye of Suffering and Golden Demise, Magma Charge lets him stand out among the other Power characters, as what holds Malak, Hangry, and Gold Watcher back are their low speeds. Magma Charge fixes the speed problem, allowing Brute to outrun every Mortal character in the game that isn't PenPen with Shooting Star active. On top of this, basically getting hit by this is a death sentence for Mortals since it does 75 damage normally, then 20 damage per second for 3 seconds afterwards, totalling to 135 damage. However, there is one thing that keeps Brute back from complete annihilation: he is the most vulnerable to bananas out of the Powers. The banana item is usually useless in most cases, but Brute can't do anything about them if there's one in his way, as it will cancel Magma Charge if he steps on it. As a result, maps like Monkey Business and Elementary Evil are good for him normally, but if Trap Time (MB) or the banana items are placed in the corridors, he has no choice but to back off. Overall, very strong place in Maze Escape, but banana vulnerability and similar weaknesses to Slicer Dicer hold him back.

Fiend (A): Fiend is an underrated, yet MASSIVE threat in Maze Escape. This is because on the offensive side of things, he has many tricks up his sleeves, such as being near totally silent, having a gravitation effect on his heavy attack, being able to bring targets right to him with Mind Pull, and the sheer creativity factor of the previous two traits allowing him to create some pretty neat setups. On top of this, the unfortunate victim from Mind Pull suffers from the Fear status after being pulled over, making Fiend that much more likely to win that matchup if the target didn't have an item or their Ult ready to defend themselves. However, once Maze Escape became a 4v2 game, Fiend's performance completely went through the roof, likely being one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Monsters in that update. His attacks' hitboxes are incredibly consistent and have decent range to boot, and he is considered to be one of, if not THE best teammate Monster in Maze Escape, as when he has a friend to help him with Mind Pull shenanigans, the sky's the limit on what he's capable of doing. His main comparison in this role, Silent Nurse, is very good at team support, but is very bad when left on her own. However, Fiend is very self-sufficient on his own and is an amazing teammate for just about the entire Monster cast (the only ones he doesn't synergize with are Agatha and Penny). While on the offensive side, he's outclassed by fellow Speed class Reaper Nurse, his creative trickery and team management skills far surpass her, allowing Fiend to hold a role unique to himself: a supportive, intelligent-minded glass canon. However, the days of dedicated servers have ended, which has resulted in Fiend's heavy attacking hitboxes to become inconsistent depending on who's hosting the server. While they're still good, this change resulted in Fiend going down from his S tier position, but he remains a very strong Monster in Maze Escape regardless.

Silent Nurse (C): Oh dear...Nurse is atrocious in Maze Escape, to the point of being worse than Murder Monkey when she's on her own. While being able to just barely outpace Supports, having acceptable damage, high health, and the ability to buff damage to yourself and nerf the damage and attack speed of Mortals are absolutely good traits...that's about where the good ends. The problem with Nurse is the fact that nearly all Mortals have ways to completely neuter Fear Cuts Deep. Not only that, but her hitboxes are below average as well, meaning she can have a hard time landing her attacks. However, these all change when she has a friend alongside her. Being a Support class allows her to heal up her Monster teammate at any time gradually, and Fear Cuts Deep is massively beneficial for them, as it makes them much more likely to take out their target thanks to the reduced damage and attack frequency the targets receive. Overall, if you decide to play Nurse in this mode, you must be able to stay with your teammate for backup, as Nurse is very lackluster offensively, but one of the best teammates in the game when used as a team support character.

Robbie (A): Unlike Nurse, Robbie is incredibly strong in Maze Escape offensively. While he seems very generic at first, and being easy to kill normally, if Rabbit Rampage is up, you better get the hell away from him. Rabbit Rampage is what makes Robbie very strong in this mode, as the clones he spawns all stick together and outrun more than half the Mortal roster, only being slower than PenPen and the Supports. As a result, most Mortals kinda just die if Robbie successfully lands a hit on them while Rabbit Rampage is up, as the clones can swarm and easily kill them in return. Power classes not named Vince hate this Ult as well, mainly because of their slow attack speed making it hard to remove the clones. Vince is the only exception, as You'll See allows him to have the clones turn on Robbie via redirected damage. Overall, Robbie is a very strong pick in this mode, and is seen by pros to be superior to Clown Gremlin.

Maze Escape (Final)

Lucky (S): The leader of the Joy Joy Gang, Lucky proves himself to be a very over-centralizing and over used Monster in Maze Escape. There are multiple reasons for this, the first being that he has incredibly generous hitboxes on his attacks, letting him land them without much trouble. Another perk is that he is really quiet in the movement department, so it's hard to hear him coming. Finally, Bunny Barrage is a variation of 8-Bit Beatdown on a Balanced Monster, but it only does 96 damage in total. However, the stun lasts long enough to deal a heavy attack to increase the total damage to 156 damage, making him very good at depleting large amounts of health very quickly if he lands Bunny Barrage. He also applies Fear to the target he hits, dealing 10% bonus damage thanks to the effect being a copy & paste of the one Fiend uses, which increases the total damage further to exactly 180, allowing him to basically one shot Balance class Mortals and heavily wound Supports and Powers. However, player and environmental experimentation and proper exploitation of the game's engine and bugs allow Bunny Barrage to be played around when done right. Additionally, Ults such as Freeze Flash, Incapacitate, Seal of Metatron, and Cool Down are able to significantly reduce Bunny Barrage's effectiveness, allowing Lucky to be more easily played around. This in combination with Reaper Nurse being a LOT more oppressive than him and Ayano making both of them look balanced by comparison, resulted in Lucky losing his S+ ranking, but do not be fooled. He is still one of the best Monsters in the game, just less effective as time went on thanks to players looking for ways to stop the most cracked part about him and got better at it over time.

Hangry (B): Hangry is a major threat in Maze Escape now that his hitboxes have improved in the YanSim update. What makes Hangry such a threat beyond those? The answer involves his Ult, Rib Crusher. Hangry can use this to deal 120 instantaneously, meaning he can shred health bars very fast if he's within range. More importantly, if he lands a heavy hit first, then uses Rib Crusher, he can do an absurd 200 damage in 2 seconds. This means he pretty much deletes everything in front and around him that isn't a fully healthy Power Mortal, as they'll live on 40 health. however, Hangry does outspeed them, so he can finish the job easily if the Ult didn't disorient the Hangry player very much. Oh yeah, he's also really quiet as well. Overall, while he lacks range like Gold Watcher and Malak, or speed like Brute, Hangry's gameplan of just pulverizing whatever's in front of him makes him a ridiculously high threat in Maze Escape, and straight up busted if walls don't block Rib Crusher.

Penny (D): I'm sorry to say this Smacknpie, but Penny is just not worth the trouble in Maze Escape. Penny at first glance shows a lot of promise, as she outruns the vast majority of Mortals and can attack from a stupidly far distance. She also has 400 health, making her extremely difficult to kill. However, defensive play is all Penny has. When used offensively, Penny's damage output is miserable, even by Monster standards, as she does even less than the Speed Monsters by a notable amount. Her eggs travel slowly and are easily dodged as a result of this. The eggs also cannot break bananas, meaning she's forced to use her delayed light hit twice in order to get past them, giving Mortals time to run from her. On top of this, a ton of Mortals' Ult completely invalidate her, and her own Ult, Power of Love, barely increases her damage to compensate. It also doesn't fix her banana problem. Overall, Penny kinda needs damage buffs and the ability to break bananas in one hit to be worth the trouble even if you do manage to aim correctly with her. She's absurd on the defensive, but she's easily the worst offensive Monster in the game, being even worse than Murder Monkey and Nurse.

Ayano (S++): Hoo boy, where do we begin...

Ayano is far and away the strongest Monster in the entire game, ruling over all modes she's allowed in with a tyrannical, bloody, iron fist. What makes her such a menace is that while she does follow Balanced stat parameters, she has stellar hitboxes, making her fantastic at combat as it is. However, the real thing that makes her nutty is her Ult, Snap Mode, which causes her to stun all players in a range just short of a primal fear, then deal continuous damage, often killing them from full health. For reference, she's able to one shot Penny in Shard Mayhem with this ability from full health. If you get hit with this Ult, you are guaranteed dead if you didn't activate the Invincibility item frame perfectly, no exceptions. What makes this worse is that Ayano is from YanSim, which means she is no longer obtainable if you didn't get her within the 3 month window prior to the YanDev situation, meaning she is literally a free win button for those who have her, and everyone else who doesn't just has to deal with it. Overall, Ayano needs a full rework to be balanced, but since YanSim is no longer supported, the chances of this happening depends on Vince's acknowledgement of her brokenness. She is a major reason as to why Dark Deception: Monsters and Mortals is in such a terrible state right now, and the strongest thing to ever exist at any point in the game's lifespan. How she got past play testing is beyond me.

Kissy Missy (A): Imagine if Penny was actually good. This is basically Kissy Missy in a nutshell. Her designation as a Ranged Monster means she keeps the above average speed, absurd health, and insane range on her attacks that Penny does, but none of the unique downsides screwing Penny over in Maze Escape. For starters, her lack of projectile and instead utilizing a disjoined hitbox like Cybil makes Kissy able to deal damage significantly more consistently, and her Ult, Toy Tornado, is devastating when it lands, dealing a lot of damage to the Mortal side thanks to their lower stat product. She is also able to kill bananas with her heavy attack, making her a lot less clunky on Monkey Business, Silent Sacrifice, and Poppy Panic. Overall, Kissy takes some time to get used to when learning, but mastering her makes her an absolute menace. Only reason she's not higher is because she's actually balanced, unlike the characters above her.

Infected Balathu (A): Fantastic hitboxes, fantastic Ult, a Power class, what's not to love. Infected Balathu is a massive threat when mastered, as he can cause devastation in his wake and straight up one shot everyone in the game except the Powers with Flaming Spear. Against PenPen, he doesn't even need the extra fire damage, as the base damage of the initial hit is 10 points higher than PenPen's health pool. Overall, very, very strong Monster, and the second best Power class in the game, assuming you have good aim and prediction. Otherwise he can struggle a lot more.

Infected Clarice (S) Speed classes are historically some of the most dangerous Monsters in the entire game, and giving one the ability to heal double the damage they do is insane. This grants them the ability to partially circumvent their frailty issue and deal a lot of damage in the process. This is Infected Clarice, a Monster who can put Fiend and Agatha to shame by having a very helpful way to deal with a lot of meta Mortals by healing up with Vampire Bite dealing 35% damage and healing for double that. This is more than what a medkit would heal 99% of the time, and with it incorporating a stun effect, this Ult completely shuts down characters like Bierce and Vince while messing with a ton of other Ult effects. Please read How To: Clarice for more info on that, I can go all day. However, she leaves herself open to attack while healing, which gives her counterplay by other teammates or Trap Time helping fend her off. Overall, very strong speed Monster, but not nearly as insane as Reaper Nurse.

Shard Mayhem (Part 1)

This list is designated for every Monster's overall performance in the game mode, Shard Mayhem.



Murder Monkey (C): If Murder Monkey has it bad in Maze Escape, what makes you think it'll be better in a mode focused on offensive characters and higher stats overall? Everything that makes Monkey bad in Maze Escape is made even worse here for those reasons. Doesn't really need to be talked about, really. He can work, but dear lord you must be very good at this game to do so. If you can dedicate time to win with Murder Monkey, your time and skill can be spent elsewhere on a better character.

Agatha (B): In Maze Escape, Agatha came just short of Top Tier primarily since many common meta Mortals have ways to counteract Hello Friend!. In Shard Mayhem...uh....she's not even close to Top Tier anymore. She was barely in S Tier already thanks to her reliance on Hello Friend! and frailty being of concern, as well as many top Monsters having ways to completely steamroll here, and after she was nerfed to 80 damage instead of 100, that pretty much sealed the deal on her fate. Don't get me wrong, she's still a very good Monster to use since she can still snipe people and is generally fast to begin with, but her DPS is much lower than Fiend and Reaper Nurse's when they're used properly. Overall, the Hello Friend! nerf was much more significant here than it was in Maze Escape, and now that he has stronger and stronger competition, she is no longer considered "The Queen of Shard Mayhem" anymore.

Gold Watcher (A): Just like in Maze Escape, having more range and more generous hitboxes makes him superior to Malak in the 1v1 without factoring Ults. If Ults do get factored in, then Malak is superior because Eye of Suffering is more consistent at killing than Golden Demise. However, thanks to the mode being focused on shard collecting and PvP, and Gold Watcher being a Power class, he can absolutely perform well if one knows what they're doing. It's just Malak and and the other Powers tend to do his job better and as a result, win more often.

Dread Ducky (S+): It's sad when the Mortals are able to fend off Dread Ducky better than the Monsters can. Dread Ducky is an extremely strong Monster in Shard Mayhem due to nearly every Monster having an offensive Ult that is unable to help prevent Ducky Surprise. As a result of this, Dread Ducky is a top PvP Monster since engaging one is risking autodeath every single time. Being able to outrange Powers with light hits, murder most Speeds with heavy hits, and Ducky Surprise everything in sight makes Dread Ducky obnoxious to play against if you aren't a Power Monster or a Ranged Monster, and easily one of the strongest Monsters in Shard Mayhem, even more than Reaper Nurse and Agatha. The nerfs to Ducky Suprise in patch 1.6.2 makes it so he cannot one shot the Power characters from full health anymore, meaning they can be potential counterplay options if they aren't weakened first. However, this is not the case anymore, as the 1.8.0 patch buffed Ducky Surprise to now one shot every character in the game, including Penny and Kissy Missy. On top of this, the addition of Hangry to the game gives him a hard counter thanks to his heavy hit + Rib Crusher combo crippling the poor ducky.

Clown Gremlin (C): Clown Gremlin having a ranged heavy attack is definitely a plus in an offensive-based meta, and being small is also beneficial in this regard. However, Clown Gremlin is held back for the same reasons as in Maze Escape; the clones are easily killed and spread out, meaning Clown Patrol is useless unless the clones all grouped together and attacked all at once. He can perform well in combat if used properly, but having an inconsistent Ult and lacking a true way to defend himself without spamming heavy attacks makes Clown Gremlin usable, but nothing special in Shard Mayhem.

Reaper Nurse (S+): Oh boy, here we go. Just like in Maze Escape, Reaper Nurse has a ton going for her in Shard Mayhem. The most obvious of these is her speed, allowing her to collect shards quickly, being the fastest collector under Vaccination Time. Having Clown Gremlin's heavy attack is also massively useful for a Speed character, as it allows her to poke her opponents without being in their attack range. Having fluid movements also makes her a pain to hit at times if she's constantly swerving and dodging. To put a bow on her, Vaccination Time is one of the best Ults in the gamemode because it keeps her hidden and provides her a speed and attack increase to help her perform her duties; collecting shards and killing players. It is important to understand just how versatile and overall powerful Vaccination Time is, as it allows Reaper Nurse to play unpredictably, as she can do things like change positions of attack to confuse players, stay motionless to put players into a false sense of security, use it without the opponent knowing for a surprise attack, collect shards even faster, and even escape when she's about to die. Being a Speed Monster designed for combat, she is essentially Fiend on crack in terms of offensive prowess, as her flexibility with Vaccination Time, ability to weaken her opponents with fear, and longer range on her heavy attack allows her to even pose a threat to the Powers and even be one of, if not, the only reliable check to Dread Ducky. Overall, Reaper Nurse is an absolute beast in Shard Mayhem as well.

Shard Mayhem (Part 2)

Malak (S+): Being a PvP centered mode, it's no surprise Malak is ranked high here, as being a Power class with one of the most devastating Ults in the game backing him up makes him no slouch in combat. This means Malak is a big threat should he be in the match, as he can easily snatch up soul shards by killing anyone he ambushes. However, just like Gold Watcher, the lack of immediate speed and being poor at collecting shards without engaging in PvP holds back Malak severely. He also gets mauled by Dread Ducky and can be threatened by Reaper Nurse, two very common Monsters in the mode. Overall, Malak is a strong pick, but must be handled with care because of how often you'll be fighting.

Brute (B): Brute may not have the range that Malak has, but he makes up for it by being able to fix his speed problem with Magma Charge. The Ult also has just as much devastation as Eye of Suffering since he can outrun everyone on the Monster side except Reaper Nurse with Vaccination Time up and deals immense damage if it hits, meaning a Brute that hasn't died in a while should be avoided at all costs unless you have a banana, Invincibility, or Primal Fear to stop Magma Charge. However, the lack of range and having meh hitboxes does hold Brute back from being a Top Tier Monster, meaning he must be on top of his targets in order to consistently hurt them. Additionally, there is a bug in the game that causes Brute's kills with Magma Charge's impact damage to go to whoever is the host of the lobby instead of the Brute player. This isn't an issue in Maze Escape (hence why it wasn't mentioned there), and isn't an issue if Brute's the host, but otherwise it can rob Brute of his shards and can even cost him the game if he doesn't calculate fire damage properly. Overall, being able to fix his speed problem while doing immense damage at the same time allows this Power Monster to have a strong present, but he has very exploitable downsides that need to be considered, the aforementioned Magma Charge bug also being the reason he is a rare pick in this mode as well despite having the potential to be a menace.

Fiend (B): Fiend has a lot going for him in this mode, but also a fair bit going against him. Being an offensive Speed Monster means he is designed to fight others, which Mind Pull reinforces. Being fast also helps him keep his shard count high even without fighting, meaning he can play passively if the player so desires to. However, it takes away from his combat-oriented purpose, as the goal is to use the pull effect of the heavy attack in tandem with items and Mind Pull together to let him have an edge in fights, especially if Trap/Boss Time is up. However, he IS a Speed class, meaning he cannot afford to take repeated hits since he won't get the chance to heal very much. Having so much geared towards offense means he struggles in disadvantage if he doesn't choose to run, as many prominent Monsters such as the Powers, Agatha, Ayano, and Dread Ducky are able to give him a hard time if they have the upper hand. This is especially true with Reaper Nurse, Ayano, and Malak, as those three absolutely hard counter Fiend thanks to their own traits. Being one shot by Hangry's notorious heavy attack + Rib Crusher combo means Fiend can get severely vibe checked by a very angry pig if that gets dragged over with Mind Pull and he's not at full hp. Overall, not as good as in Maze Escape, but do not let that fool you; Fiend can easily win games in the right hands. It's just he's sort of a win hard, lose hard kind of character overall. The loss of dedicated servers making his heavy attack more consistent doesn't help, hurting him significantly more here than in Maze Escape.

Silent Nurse (B): Listen, Nurse may still be an iffy pick overall, but at least she's viable in this gamemode compared to her Maze Escape performance. Her high health and above average speed allows her to gather shards quickly and she's surprisingly good in combat if wielded with a deft hand. The issue with Nurse is that she is very reliant on Fear Cuts Deep to secure kills, and while Fear Cuts Deep is leagues stronger against Monsters as opposed to Mortals, she still needs to be wary of Ults, as it does not affect Ult damage. Fear Cuts Deep is also useful against Reaper Nurse, as the debuff arrows can reveal her position and somewhat neuter her attack increase from Vaccination Time, granting Nurse one of the better matchups against that Monster in particular. Overall, she relies heavily on Fear Cuts Deep and her poor attacking hitboxes haven't left her, but she is definitely a usable character in this mode, her weaknesses being enough to hold her back considerably, however.

Robbie (A): Robbie may seem like a worse Clown Gremlin at first, but he is much better than the Clown for one simple reason: he hard counters all the Power Monsters. That may not seem useful at first, but because of how prominent the four tend to be and how effective they are, having an Ult where all the clones are together 24/7 for a minute allows him to shred them quite effectively. Meanwhile Clown Gremlin's clones are all spread out and he has to pray on RNG that most of them target the person he wants, whereas Robbie can choose. The downside to this is that Robbie has less map control than Clown Gremlin does, but being able to have control over the clones and who they target is worth the payoff. Granted, Robbie is a vulnerable Monster on his own, but he does have generous hitboxes at the very least, so he can fight decently on his own despite not having anything else special. Overall, Robbie is an underrated Monster in Shard Mayhem, as his ability to seriously dent/outright kill the Power classes and fight consistently because of generous hitboxes are especially notable for a Balanced Monster, being granted a spot on High Tier as a result.

Shard Mayhem (Final)

Lucky (S): Just like in Maze Escape, Lucky remains powerful for all the same reasons in Shard Mayhem. 156 damage is still a hefty chunk toward Monsters, which can heavily skew many matchups to his favor. His ability to use Bunny Barrage as a speed increase allows him to flee from encounters he cannot win in or use it to collect shards a little better for 5 seconds, although that's considered pushing it. Overall, thanks to generous hitboxes and the crippling ability of Bunny Barrage, Lucky remains a powerful option in Shard Mayhem.

Hangry (A): Thanks to the heavy hit + Rib Crusher combo putting a huge dent into Monsters as well, Hangry is a huge threat in Shard Mayhem. An especially notable trait he has here is that he deletes the Speed classes in an instant, which is incredibly key since they've very common in this mode. Being able to cancel their life subscriptions instantly makes him already good, but since it severely cripples the Balanced and Support Monsters as well, Hangry can have no trouble weakening first, then sit on everyone in the game. The only Monsters that stand a reasonable chance against the Notorious P.I.G are the other Power classes since their Ults are able to shred him quickly. While his speed's a problem on maps like Stranger Sewers, if he gets the means to catch up to someone, that player is most likely gonna get clapped since Hangry's initial damage potential is insanely high.

Penny (C): Penny is certainly better here than in Maze Escape, and if she chooses not to fight and simple collect shards, Penny is a very strong choice. However, the reason she's in C is because of her very poor offensive potential. Basically, she has to get shard leader and maintain it the entire game through shard collecting, as her poor damage makes her unable to take back the lead if she isn't targeting an extremely crippled opponent. All her issues return here as well. Overall, Penny's usable, but only passively. Even Murder Monkey and Nurse are better at fighting than she is.

Ayano (S+): See the Maze Escape analysis. I have nothing more to add about Ayano. She's just as obscene here as she is in Maze Escape.

Kissy Missy (S): Kissy remains as a strong, but balanced Monster in Shard Mayhem, but is a tad bit worse here than in Maze Escape pretty much exclusively because of her poor damage output. However, due to her lack of reliance on a slow egg projectile from a certain animatronic chicken character, that just means she has to work a bit harder to secure her kills. Her high health and speed let her be great at shard collecting and staying alive as well, although it's debatable if Penny is the better shard collector or not because of Power of Love granting Penny a massive speed boost. However, it is no question that Kissy Missy is the stronger one of the two overall, and s a great choice for the gamemode, especially when mastered, since she can feel and sometimes be unkillable when in the right hands.

Infected Balathu (A) With the lack of defensive Ults being present, Infected Balathu is so close to being a top tier in this gamemode thanks to his extremely high damage output and high bulk. What's screwing with him here is that opposing Monsters can shred him quickly as well. This is also further emphasized with the big four in this gamemode giving Balathu a run for his money, and one of those big four members is Malak, a Power class who basically outclasses him in consistency, and Eye of Suffering being broken beyond belief. Overall, very good character just like in Maze, but just held back mainly because of Malak.

Infected Clarice (S): Higher stats? Sounds like more health regen to Clarice. Clarice being a Speed class already puts her as a solid pick, but her ability to heal near instantly from the majority of the roster while denting them in return is incredibly valuable for a Speed. However, she does need to pay a bit more attention due to all the damaging Ults running around, but it's perfectly reasonable for Clarice unless she's against Ducky or Ayano. Extremely strong character overall, and definitely worth playing if you have her!

Soul Collection (Part 1)

This list is designated for every Mortal's overall performance in the game mode, Soul Collection.



Bierce (S+): Bierce is absurd in Soul Collection...that's the end of the explanation. Seriously, think about it: if the Monsters already struggle to kill Bierce thanks to Helping Hand healing her all the way back up, what makes you think the less offensive Mortal class will do any better? On top of this, this is not a team game, so her weakness of being a Support that doesn't know how to support is nonexistent in this gamemode. On top of that, because Mortals are generally more defensive, literally no one can kill her reliably except 8-BitRyan and maybe Detective Evans since their stuns can disable Helping Hand. As a result, apart from iffy damage output, Bierce is just about perfect here. No further explaining needed.

Detective Evans (B): Detective Evans isn't exactly bad in this mode, but he isn't exactly good either. His primary use is to stun Mortals in order to kill them much easier. While Freeze Flash is still a very useful tool for him in this gamemode, he tends to come up just short of kills if he's against a healthy opponent. As a result of this plus the lack of other notable attributes, Evans is usable, but inconsistent in this gamemode, unfortunately.

Doug Houser (C): Doug Houser may sound usable in this gamemode because of Escape Plan letting him teleport to other shard locations, he really isn't worth it in most cases. This is because of the same issues that plague him in Maze Escape; Escape Plan is RNG at its finest, and it can even screw him over in some cases. He also isn't able to defend himself well as a result of this as well. Overall, Doug at least has more speed, and as a result, isn't Vince tier, but he's probably the worst Mortal that isn't him. Speaking of Vince...

Glowstick Vince (D): Unlike Maze Escape, where Glowstick Vince is a top Mortal in the mode, he is THE worst one in Soul Collection. This is largely because of his speed being really bad and not having a way to compensate for it. His strength is able to kill most Mortals should they choose to engage against him...but why would they? He's a Power class, of course he's going to be a risky fight. You'll See also negatively effects him here as well, as it encourages Mortals to stay away from him even more. Borisov has Cool Down, 8-BitRyan can cripple Mortals reliably, Vince can't really do a lot unless the Mortal players are greedy around him. Overall, he is severely outclassed by all the other characters in this mode, and using his isn't recommended unless you want a challenge.

Nikson (B): Despite no longer being able to completely hog all the shards in the match like he used to, Nikson is still a decent pick in Soul Collection. Shard Hack's rework basically makes Nikson unviable in Maze Escape, but it remains just good enough to be worth considering in Soul Collection thanks to the emphasis on shard collecting. Thanks to everyone having lower stats, Nikson is able to fight significantly better, but thanks to all the self buffs and debuffs flying around, he can still struggle at times, meaning Nikson still requires skill to play effectively. Overall, solid pick if you can master him, but he is a lot harder to win with consistently thanks to the questionable Shard Hack nerf.

PenPen (S): PenPen remains as a high risk, high reward character in this mode like she is in Maze Escape. Unlike that mode, however, she can actually attempt to fight some of the weaker Mortals if she really wants to, as the lower stats everything has makes fights more manageable, although still somewhat not recommended for PenPen. However, she is EXCELLENT at gathering shards, which is her primary strength anyway, and an uncontested PenPen can easily win the game since she's the fastest thing in a match. Unfortunately, she can have a decent chance of losing as well thanks to her frailty and massive shard loss every death. Overall, PenPen is a lot stronger here than in Maze Escape, but the player should still play passively if they're serious about winning the game.

Prisoner Borisov (S): Prisoner Borisov may seem like a bad choice at first, but he is actually a very solid Mortal in this gamemode since he's the only character with speed control. For a Power class, this is an absolutely amazing trait, as it allows him to catch up to and finish off the large majority of the roster, allowing him to catch up to shard counts easily by lowering everyone else's. He hard counters a ton of Mortals in this gamemode as a result of this, even potentially giving Bierce a hard time. Granted, his low speed can hold him down and potentially cost him games, but overall, Borisov is a very underrated, yet very potent Mortal in this game mode, easily the best Power class in the shard focused mode.

Heather Mason (A): Heather may only be supporting herself in this gamemode, but that doesn't matter as much as the rest of her traits in comparison. Being bulky and fast is the reason Supports tend to be very strong in this mode, as it allows them to collect shards quickly without being crippled by literally any attack. What keeps Heather back, however is that Seal of Metatron just doesn't compare to Bierce's Helping Hand. Seal of Metatron is still good even after its nerf, and can make her much harder to kill in most cases, but Bierce has more generous hitboxes plus the ability to restore all of her health. Overall, Heather is a great pick in Soul Collection as she is in Maze Escape, but Bierce tends to perform better on average thanks to having a ton of opportunities to heal, whereas Heather only takes reduced damage, which can still potentially still screw her over if she’s low on health when used, even moreso since she only takes 50% less damage now.

Soul Collection (Part 2)

Cybil Bennett (A): 1.5.1 Cybil remains a decent Mortal to use in this mode. Despite her damage nerf, she still has absurd range and is slightly faster than Balanced classes. This makes her good at chipping players and playing from a distance like her Ranged class suggests. Her real utility is Incapacitate, and it allows her to basically invalidate characters like Borisov, Evans, and Nikson since they are all basically Ult reliant. However, her vulnerability to Supports and Speed classes (which are very common here) can give her a hard time since they can close the distance on her. Her low damage is also problematic as well since she can come up short of kills. Overall, Cybil is quite good in this gamemode primarily to lower stats, but still has to be mindful of her weaknesses.

SuperHorrorBro (C): SuperHorrorBro is a somewhat underwhelming character in Soul Collection for reasons similar to Doug; he lacks tools to help him out effectively. In this case, SuperHorrorBro lacks RNG and has ranged heavy attack, which make him better than Doug at the very least, but A Thousand Cuts doesn't really help him out all that much in a Mortal only meta unless it's against a Murder Monkey. That's not to say it doesn't have its uses at times, it's just not as efficient as many other Ults in this mode are. As a result, SuperHorrorBro sorta takes an L on this mode, as his traits aren't suited well for it.

8-BitRyan (A): In Maze Escape, 8-BitRyan is an absolute monster against the Monster players. However, this is nowhere near the case in Soul Collection, as many of Ryan's advantages are diminished. The fact that he doesn't get shards from securing kills and he is among the slowest Mortals in the game already puts him in a bad position, and while his ability to kill and 8-Bit Beatdown still being very good in this mode, it is far more inconsistent since basically every relevant Mortal except Borisov can outrun him, making him unable to kill even with 8-Bit Beatdown unless the opponent is near half health or he has the speed boost item. Overall, 8-BitRyan isn't horrible, but he lacks consistency compared to his Maze Escape counterpart, and Borisov tends to do his job much more reliably as a result.

Dawko (A): Having Support stats are already a plus for Dawko, and the fact that pretty much every Mortal aside from 8-BitRyan and SuperHorrorBro are unable to hurt him with Darkest Desire up makes him a solid pick in Soul Collection. The problem, however, is the exact same thing that plagues him there; Darkest Desire affects opponents as well. As a result, he is the most passive of the Support Mortals since he can't fight while his own freakin' Ult is active, and it's basically why he's in High Tier and not Top Tier; Heather and Bierce outclass him and fighting is an important part of the mode in order to lower shard counts.

Senpai (B): Senpai was seen as a niche, but fun alternative that could be played over Dawko in Maze Escape. In Soul Collection, he is pretty much completely outclassed by him due to just how much Support stats matter in this gamemode. This doesn't make Senpai himself bad, and he can absolutely still put in work, especially since he can still fight while Simping. It's just, again, Support stats are just that cracked in this gamemode. That and you can't get him anymore. Overall, good character, just outdone by his alternative due to stat differences and preferences.

Hanako (B) : Hanako is an interesting Mortal in Soul Collection for largely the same reasons as Maze Escape, but has the advantage of facing characters with similar stats to her. This allows her hearts, both heavy hit and Ult, to be a lot more impactful over the course of the game. Her small amounts of healing and ability to attack through walls are also more impactful as well, making Hanako worth it if the person using her is skilled enough, as well as good at predicting.

Info-Chan (S): Info-Chan being a support class makes her automatically a high tier by default due to how good being a Support is in this mode, but her ability to self-heal and increase her damage, as well as having fantastic hitboxes, makes Info-Chan damn near Bierce levels of scary to face, being one of the most offensively threatening characters in the game, and definitely the scariest Support Mortal to fight overall. The one thing keeping Info-Chan out of S+ is the fact that she cannot restore ALL of her health unlike Bierce, meaning she is not nearly as unkillable as she is, meaning she is able to be taken advantage of easier by characters such as Borisov, PenPen, 8-BitRyan, Cybil, and Evans. However, this weakness is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, making Info-Chan an extremely dangerous character to play against if the person using her is good, and is very much one of the best characters in the mode as a result. Shame she's not available to obtain anymore though.

Soul Collection (Final)

Jason (C): Jason is in a bit of a weird position in Soul Collection. On one hand, he isn't weak, as he can absolutely blow things to smithereens when played well, but on another, he is outdone by many other characters in this mode for various reasons, such as better and more useful Ults, or are more effective at collecting shards and fighting other players. If you really want to play Jason, go right on ahead, as again, he's not bad. There's just better options and he isn't as good as he is in Maze Escape.

Salim (C): Salim is unfortunately the same case here as in Maze Escape: his lack of useful Ultimate Ability really screws him over. Thankfully he isn't in D this time mainly since he at least has more speed than Vince, but he's the second worst Mortal in the mode since Doug and SuperHorrorBro at least have Ults that have their uses from time to time, whereas Salim pretty much doesn't really have an Ultimate to help him.

Closing

Dear lord, this took a long time to make. This was made over the course of about two weeks or so since I've also been really busy lately. Either way, this concludes our discussion over the tier list and why we think each mortal/monster is where they are. We even took the time to put them in order instead of just slapping a tier on them and calling it a day. Again, massive thanks to the individuals listed in the Overview tab for helping with this guide.

As for when updates are made...I'll update this guide whenever characters receive balance changes that could potentially affect their tier placing. As for new characters, I'll give it a few days or a week after they drop before including them on the list since...yknow...new characters and all. Take care everyone, and be on the lookout for more How To: guides pretty soon now that this massive project is done :)

[ItsJustKetchup]

Oh yeah, thank heavens you didn't join this game prior to the 1.5.1 patch. Cybil was absurdly stupid back then, and her current state is a lot healthier and, imo, more interesting.

[Lizardo]

This was a *huge* read atop of all the other guide binging I was doing but it's nice to get somewhat of advantage understanding these characters through a competitive lens before blinding jumping in (as someone who was going to pick-up Cybil off of the Showcase trailer alone, I would've been in for a rude awakening). Hopefully Jason ends up being pretty decent with the bar set by the other Mortals. :v

Thanks for compiling this

[Patric [WEEGEE]]

true lol, i js like using her cuz of her eggs and she goes literally super sonic speed with her ultimate lmao

[ItsJustKetchup]

She’s extremely inconsistent though, and 100% map dependent. As of the Poppy DLC, there is basically zero reason to use her if you have Kissy, as she outdoes Penny in pretty much every single way as of 1.8 lmao

[Patric [WEEGEE]]

while penny is very bad, shes very good if u can aim it. I play penny sometimes when im bored and soemtimes win

[ItsJustKetchup]

After a long delay thanks to losing interest in the game (thanks Ayano), the tier list has finally been updated with the YanSim DLC information. Keep in mind that thanks to the scandal, the YanSim DLC is no longer available to get, so this information only really applies if you're facing someone who got the DLC before it was removed.

[ItsJustKetchup]

This is planned to be updated in the coming weeks. My current work schedule regarding the guides is this

-Get the new character guides out
-Update existing character guides
-Update Tier List

[Snowpi]

For Soul Collection?

[Snowpi]

Would Doug possibly be put in a C+ tier, the Escape Plan can be pretty useful ( Depending on the map, and example could be Monkey Business ) due to the fact if the boss was active and he was being chased, it is a nice way to get away from the boss ( Of course it can backfire with the Crazy Carnevil map ), I think the only thing keeping him out of the B tier is the glitch with the Ultm as it doesn't always teleport you, it bugs out and put you back where you were before.

[ItsJustKetchup]

@Crevice; Abyssal Storm ...she still sucks lmao