As a character-based game, Destiny: Rising has a respective meta. There are characters that dominate the leaderboards, niche characters, sleeper picks, and characters that are simply not as fun to play in their current state.
Here’s our tier list of the best characters in Destiny: Rising as of the Season of Daybreak.
This tier list focuses on PvE content. In PvP, the character choice depends a lot on the weapons you want to run.
Best Destiny Rising characters, ranked
| Tier | Characters |
|---|---|
| S-Tier | Tan-2, Gwynn, Jolder |
| A-Tier | Estela, Umeko, Ning Fei, Wolf |
| B-Tier | Kabr, Attal |
| C-Tier | Ikora, , Xuan Wei, Finnala |
The meta is bound to shift as the game grows and new characters are added. Some of the characters might yet reveal their true strength, depending on the new content, too, so make sure to inspect what each of them does and check back for any meta changes.
S-Tier
Tan-2 and Gwynn are both the best in their own respective categories. You can’t go wrong with these characters, and they will always be welcome regardless of whether you’re doing a strike or loading up into a raid.
Tan-2 is the best support thanks to his Blessing of Dawn/Dusk Super (Well is meta, what a surprise). The Blessing of Dawn provides continuous healing, and the Blessing of Dusk provides a damage increase to everyone in the area. Outside of his Super, Tan-2 offers healing to the team with the Sunrise ability, as well as some damage with the Sunset ability.
Gwynn, however, is the best DPS character. She’s a close-range fighter who can dish out tons of damage with her Void Dance ability, especially when you stack six Void Spirits, while also healing you. You can then chain it into her Super that grants maximum Void Spirits and deals high damage.
Among tanks, Jolder is the number one choice. She provides plenty of sustain to herself with healing and overshields, but the best part of her kit is the Super, Barrier of Starlight (aka bubble). Unlike the Ward of Dawn in Destiny 2, you can shoot from this bubble, and Jolder’s submachine gun constantly reloads for great DPS.
A-Tier
Characters in A-Tier are all strong picks and are suitable for most activities in Destiny: Rising. They’re just not as decisively dominant as characters in S-Tier.
The new additions to the A-Tier are Estela and Umeko. Estela is a Solar DPS character centered around summons. She can deal solid damage and has high use across multiple endgame activities, including Calamity Ops and certain encounters of Gauntlet: Onslaught, but is still below Gwynn, at least for now.
Umeko is a Void support character and is one of the best four-stars in the game. She can heal herself and nearby teammates and debuff enemies with her abilities. Umeko may not deal as much ability damage, but she can remain somewhat competitive with the right weapons, like Izanagi’s Burden.
Ning Fei is another Hunter in this tier. He’s an Arc offensive character, with the ability to spawn clones that distract enemies on top of dealing damage. His kit becomes even more impactful in higher-end content, where you might need to redirect enemies’ attention away from yourself.
Wolf is a surprisingly strong starting character for a gacha game, dealing respectable damage and keeping themselves alive with overshields. For activities like raids, Gwynn will still be better, especially when paired with good supports, but Wolf is a close runner-up. Wolf is great for any solo or matchmade activities where you may not communicate with the team as much and need a Solar character.
B-Tier
Characters in B-Tier are either situational or more generalist options, with only a few things holding them back from being in A-Tier.
Attal mixes healing from her Mint Mend and Delightful Companion passive with damage from Arc Missile and Mini Missile abilities. She’s a jack of all trades, but falls behind characters like Tan-2 and Umeko mainly due to the weapon loadout.
On the other hand, Kabr is a more situational pick. He provides decent utility by blinding enemies, which is mainly needed only in high-difficulty content. In regular Strikes, Singularity, or early Calamity Ops, you can get away by using other characters.
C-Tier
The remaining characters are underwhelming compared to their alternatives in higher tiers. Whether it’s the weapon loadout or ability kits, they need some love to perform decently.
Ikora can deal decent damage with her Nova Bomb, but her playstyle, using crowd control and a breech-loaded grenade launcher, isn’t rewarding enough. The same goes for Xuan Wei, who’s wielding a fusion rifle as a primary weapon.
Finnala is a character with the most potential on the list. She has a solid defensive kit, especially with the right Artifacts, and great weapon options. It doesn’t feel like she can provide the same level of impact as characters in higher tiers, though.
