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 Providence.
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 | Gwynn, Helhest, Tan-2, Jaren |
| A-Tier | Estela, Jolder, Kabr the Resolute, Umeko, Ning Fei, Maru |
| B-Tier | Kabr, Rossi-11, Attal, Wolf |
| C-Tier | Xuan Wei, Ikora, 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 content and seasonal modifiers, too, so make sure to inspect what each of them does and check back for any meta changes.
S-Tier
Gwynn and Helhest 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.
Gwynn is a close-range DPS 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.
Helhest is taking Tan-2‘s place as the best support, thanks to the immense amount of damage she can deal with a linear fusion rifle. She also generates Heavy ammo, sustains the team, and increases everyone’s damage.
Tan-2 is still a solid option, though, 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.
If you need a Solar DPS, there’s Jaren Ward – an iconic Hunter from the Destiny lore. His kit features high Super damage, add-clear, mobility, and self-healing. On top of that, his kit can deal with both precision and spread Shinkas in high-end content.
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.
Estela may not have as much burst damage as Gwynn or Jaren, but she has enough sustain and DPS to shine in every endgame activity. A pulse rifle and a machine gun aren’t the best for damage, but they can quickly build Corruption for Bewitched Illusions.
Jolder is the first defensive character on the list. She provides plenty of sustain to herself with healing and overshields, but the best part of her kit is the Super, Barrier of Starlight, which you can shoot from (Jolder’s submachine gun also constantly reloads inside the bubble for good damage). The main reason Jolder is in A-Tier is that her defensive kit doesn’t feel as impactful.
Kabr the Resolute is also a defensive character who provides much more utility. The Mythic version does the same thing as the Legendary Kabr, but better. With up to three barriers from Signature Abilities, another barrier from the Super, and a ton of blind from everything. These are still early days for the Mythic Kabr, so his placement might shift as time goes on.
Umeko is a Void support character and is the best four-star 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 competitive with the right weapons, like Izanagi’s Burden.
Ning Fei is a character who’s on the verge of being S-Tier. His kit distracts enemies with clones on top of dealing damage, which becomes increasingly impactful in higher-end content. There are more definitive picks for each role, but Ning Fei is still a great option for any activity.
Lastly, there’s Maru – a character who can put out great damage in a challenging environment, but has some of the most underwhelming weapon choices. It’s not as fun to play with two grenade launchers as it is with other weapons. This is why she’s a more niche pick in the tier list.
B-Tier
Characters in B-Tier are still pretty good picks, but often have much stronger counterparts from A and S-Tiers.
With the launch of Kabr the Resolute, regular Kabr drops down to B-Tier. He still provides decent utility by blinding enemies and creating barriers, but the Mythic version just does it better. Similarly, Rossi-11 also offers good utility in the form of crowd control, overshields, and a barrier, but slightly falls behind other characters in the category.
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.
After so many new Mythic characters, it’s time for Wolf to step down to B-Tier. While they are a surprisingly strong starting character for a gacha game, dealing respectable damage and keeping themselves alive with overshields, most five-stars can do the same, but better.
C-Tier
The remaining characters are underwhelming compared to their alternatives in higher tiers. Whether it’s the weapon loadout, overall damage, 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.
