Certain playable Guardians in Destiny Rising have risen to the meta, with Tan-2, Jolder, and Gwynn as the game’s top-tier characters for PvE. This tier list will explain what makes certain Guardians very powerful and others extremely weak in the sandbox. We'll also include a list of unreleased characters at the bottom!
S-Tier
Tan-2
He is one of the best support Guardians in the game, with his Super, Well of Radiance, being the most crucial Super for providing the team with extreme health regen and increased weapon damage. Tan-2’s abilities can also deal good damage with his Solar Grenade, which can be switched to a Healing Grenade for survivability. His Exotic Weapon, Izanagi’s Burden, has one of the highest damage per shot in the game, where the weapon can convert all 4 shots in the magazine into one powerful shot.
Jolder
Befitting her Titan heritage, Jolder is very tanky while dishing out solid DPS at the same time. She has access to Overshields that she can give to herself and her team, especially with her Barrier of Starlight Super. This Super gives the entire team more Overshields, weapon damage, and 360 cover that anyone inside can shoot through. Jolder uses Swords, which have one of the best damage uptimes since they require no reloading.
Gwynn
She is a pure damage dealer that specializes in burst damage as opposed to Wolf’s DPS, making her a consistent Major enemy killer, giving her a place in the add clear role.
A-Tier
Wolf
For a starter character, Wolf has very solid damage output, with his Solar damage having a potent DoT effect. His exclusive Exotic Weapon, Satiyaaliksni Smart Bomb, further leans into his AoE damage as the weapon can be charged up to increase both its damage and blast radius. Wolf can also debuff targets by inflicting Scorch, which then causes targets to explode, dealing a massive burst of damage.
Ning Fei
As an Arc user, Ning Fei has one of the fastest movement speeds in the game, as well as access to chain lightning that can kill groups of Minor enemies, as well as an Arc clone that draws enemy aggro. His chain lightning can be easy to hit entire groups with, but it sorely lacks the damage needed to be lethal, especially when fighting Majors.
B-Tier
Xuan Wei
He is a close-range brawler, able to lasso enemies together and pull them towards him. He also has access to some powerful weapon archetypes, including a shotgun and a fusion rifle. Xuan Wei’s Exotic weapon, Octant Riot Disperser, is very powerful as it can unload its entire magazine in one shot, dealing high burst damage. However, his weakness is that much of his kit is focused on close-range combat. This can be lethal in endgame content as long-ranged weapons become more viable.
Attal
While Attal seems good on paper as a support, she is sorely outclassed by Tan-2 in both team utility and damage. Her heals require active focus to land, while Tan-2’s abilities are fire and forget. She also lacks the weapon damage multipliers that he has, which makes her less viable in the endgame.
Finnala
She is a solid tank character with her ability to taunt nearby enemies and reduce incoming ranged damage by 50%. However, that’s the only strength she has. Compared to Jolder, who also has teamwide support with her Overshields and solid ability damage, Finnala is a weaker option.
C-Tier
Ikora
Ikora’s abilities have the longest cooldowns in the game, which already hamstrings her DPS in many situations. Not only do her abilities require kills to cool down faster (which can be difficult in higher-end content), but they also lack any PvE utility. Her only saving grace is that her abilities are quite powerful in PvP.
Kabr
His abilities, just like Finnala's, pale in comparison to the massive utility that Jolder can provide. His barricade ability is too squishy to justify bringing it into the endgame, as high-level enemies can break it easily and can only blind enemies for a short time with his Arc abilities.
Unreleased Characters
Umeko
Her abilities are centered around AoE and Void damage. Umeko can debuff enemies, causing them to take more damage from her and the entire team, making her potent against bosses in multiplayer content. She also possesses an invisibility skill, which can be applied to her squad, providing the team with some breathing room during a difficult encounter.
Estela
Estela’s one niche is dealing high ability damage, with no bonuses for weapon damage whatsoever. Since she plays a caster role, Estela has high ability uptime with her short cooldowns. Estela lacks any weapon damage buffs or multipliers, which makes her extremely reliant on her abilities to output DPS.
