Best characters and Duos in Wild Bastards, ranked

The main difficulty and feature of Wild Bastards requires you to use a multitude of characters in a multitude of situations. While some are better suited for certain types of enemies, specific characters can really start to excel on their own and with the right partner. So let’s saddle up and take a look at the best characters and Duos in Wild Bastards.

Best characters in Wild Bastards, ranked

Our list is going to cover all 13 characters you can collect during your time playing the game’s story. During your first playthrough, there’s a specific order you unlock the Bastards, so knowing which ones work the best will be handy info. Furthermore, we gauge how well a character performs based on their abilities as well as how they fight on their own.

The characters are ranked from the most useless of the Bastards to the most OP. That being said, each character and their weapons are unique enough to allow players to build almost any character in a superpowered way. So if our list ranks your favorite characters at the bottom, don’t worry about it. Just focus on stuffing as many Aces into them as possible and pay attention to the best Duo groups further down.

With all that out of the way, let’s start with the least effective character in the game, who’s just itchin’ to make you some beans.

#13 — Kaboom

Kaboom’s kit isn’t all that bad, but when compared to the rest of the squad he isn’t exactly the thickest cosmic cloud in the bunch. That being said, if you were to focus on leveling Kaboom’s throw distance along with the dynamite blast radius, his stick of dynamite can start to become viable. Aside from this, his Mist Form Stunt is pretty useful in a bind, however, if you have to run across an entire area just to perform his stunt, you might get yourself cornered.

But with so many other options in terms of characters, and the fact that sometimes enemies can feel like they’re dodging dead-on attacks, Kaboom is sadly relegated to the “worst” character in the game.

#12 — Smoky

Again, same as Kaboom, Smoky’s Skinnin’ Sauce weapon and his Cookout Stunt aren’t the worst abilities in the game but combined they make for a less-than-ideal combat experience. His base ammo along with his reload (that feels way longer than 2 seconds in-game) make for a few sticky situations.

I found myself staring down the barrel of multiple Bushwhackers and Kyotes with no ammo, and the fact that your characters don’t reload when you swap makes Smoky a last-resort effort when deciding who should explore the planets. On the bright side, if you can reduce his reload time and increase his ammo via Aces, Smoky starts to become a bit more useful.

#11 — Hopalong

Now Hopalong is a bit of an odd situation for me, as I never ended up playing Hopalong in my entire campaign playthrough. This isn’t because he’s the worst character, but more due to the fact that you start to unlock better Bastards around the time you find him.

His weapon of choice is a lasso that doesn’t fire any type of object. Instead, he grabs an enemy in front of him and immobilizes them while dealing damage over time. This is great for early-world exploration when you have to only worry about a handful of enemies. But when you start to deal with mobile barrel sentries and enemies teleporting everywhere, his kit starts to be less useful.

However, his Whip Crack Stunt is probably one of the best in the early game, as it stuns all enemies for 10 seconds. This makes him a great character for Duos, but overall a fairly weak standalone character as you progress through the game.

#10 — Spike

Our rambunctious rebel Spike rounds out the list at number 10, and he may be a lot lower on your priority list depending on the type of player you are. I enjoy dealing massive crit damage at the expense of total rounds, and Spike is perfect for this. Granted, the travel distance and arc of his Man Opener weapon leaves a little to be desired, he’s perfect for those with great aim.

Additionally, his Stunt Hack Security turns the enemy turrets against them or supplies your very own Gunbucket to help in combat. This makes for a great ability when your back’s against a corner and you have multiple turrets pinning you down (which happens a lot). If only his main weapon was a hitscan and not a projectile.

#9 — Casino

One of the default Bastards you get in the game, the jackpot machine Casino is a fairly safe bet throughout the entire first half of the Wild Bastards campaign. His shotgun deals great damage, and if you can find gear that reduces the spread of your shot, it makes Casino a deadly shot from a further distance.

What’s more, his Roulette Stunt ability explodes a random enemy, dealing big damage and potentially killing them. This move is great for dealing with the last few enemies, and it saved my run a few times when I was less than 5 health away from dying. There’s nothing inherently negative about Casino, but characters with better weapons await as we break further into the top 10.

#8 — Preach

Our first character who starts to separate the low-tier from the top-tier, Preach utilizes her Sermon .58 chaingun to decimate any foes within her God-given path. While the gun technically takes time to spin up to the full rate of fire, it still fires a few bullets when you press the fire button. Additionally, her Damnation Stunt heals her for every bullet she hits on the enemy for 15 seconds.

Her stunt alone puts her in this rank, but it’s her gun that holds her back from greatness. It’s great for enemies within short/mid-range gun fights, but the second they get further away it becomes increasingly harder to hit shots as all the enemies are deadeyes and will whittle down her health. Keep this in mind if you use Preach, and try to combine her abilities with that of a long-range character.

#7 — Spider Rosa

Spider Rosa is the second Bastard the game gives you by default at the beginning of the game, and I couldn’t think of a better character to start with alongside Casino. While she isn’t insanely overpowered, her four arms allow her to reload her dual pistols while still firing. This combined with her Decoy Stunt can give you a little break if you start to get overwhelmed by the enemies shooting at you.

She marks the approximate mid-point of the list, which I think speaks greatly to the choice of letting players use her at the beginning of the campaign. Because while she isn’t a bad character, there are others you acquire that wash her down the water spout.

#6 — The Judge

Next up on our list of the best characters in Wild Bastards is the deadeye character known as The Judge. He’s the second Wild Bastard you find on your campaign journey, and he starts to show the benefits of having a long-range weapon with his Verdict .50 long rifle.

What makes him one of my most used characters (at least until #2 on the list) in the game, is his Judgement Time Stunt move, which essentially freezes enemies for 10 whole seconds. I was able to easily activate my stunt, weave behind enemy shields and cover, and blast their head off with a properly placed headshot. The Judge is probably the best early-game character in all of the Wild Bastards.

#5 — Rawhide

Coming up to the top 5 characters in the game, we have the amalgamation known as Rawhide. Its overall kit is a bit situational, but once you start dealing with enemies with green shields, Rawhide is gonna be your best friend. This is because Rawhide’s weapon Ol’ Yeller is the only weapon to penetrate forcefields and still deal damage to enemies.

I lost countless battles with Yellowbellies hiding behind shields, only for Rawhide to come around and 2-tap most of them behind their cover. Couple this with their Call of the Wild Stunt that turns enemy critters into allies, or creates your own little critters, and Rawhide easily makes up for their semi-efficient weapon in spades.

#4 — Billy the Squid

Just barely missing out on the top 3 is everyone’s favorite mollusk, Billy the Squid. Personally, I believe Spider Rosa and Billy are interchangeable to a certain degree, but what puts Billy over the top for me is his fast rate of fire with his pistols when compared to Rosa.

With that, his Rapid Fire Stunt unleashes every bullet in the chamber to deal massive damage quickly. He will reload both guns quickly, giving you more time to shoot more bullets.

#3 — Roswell

The alien among aliens, Roswell is the third-best character out of all the Wild Bastards for a few reasons. First, his gun runs on energy instead of bullets, allowing you to get a lot of shots off before it overheats. And even when the gun overheats I never felt like I had the same issue that I did with Smoky, and I could start shooting again fairly quickly.

But above all else, his Blast Off Stunt shoots Roswell into the sky for 10 seconds, creating a large blast zone on the ground every time you touch it and bounce. I can’t explain how many times I’ve decimated enemy forces simply by picking up a few Blast Off abilities and firing them one after the other. Firmly putting Roswell’s ability as the best Stunt in the game.

#2 — Sarge

Nearing the top of the list is a robotic horse that looks fresh out of the Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon DLC, Sarge. Since he’s the second to last Bastard you collect in the campaign, you can bet his gun and ability are some of the best around. His Retier 10MM utilizes precision aim along with Sarge’s metal eye. With this, he marks any enemies within his range making it much easier to see where people are.

Sarge’s Fortify Stunt projects a shield in front of him for 10 seconds, allowing you to push into enemies without the fear of dying immediately. Unfortunately, his shield does not block energy weapons, so Yellowbelly’s and enemies with Sonic damage have no trouble taking you down even with this ability. If it blocked every attack possible, it would be hard not to make Sarge #1.

#1 — Fletch

Finally, the number one best character out of all the Wild Bastards has to be Fletch. Coincidentally, this is the very last character you find during your time playing the campaign, and for very good reason. She wields the Tempus Fugit bow that when knocked, will target an enemy within sight and track them when you release the arrow for massive damage.

On top of this, her Arrow Storm Stunt launches a fatal homing arrow at every enemy in the arena. The only downside is that if the enemies happen to be behind cover, or if you are inside a building, the arrows track through the wall and will break. As long as you make sure to use her ability at the highest point of the map in the open, you should be able to quickly deplete the enemies.

Best Duos in Wild Bastards

Now that we have a grasp on the characters and their weapons/abilities, it’s time to look at how they work together. In Wild Bastards, if two characters are pals (either by coincidence or forced via beans) they provide passive benefits to each other while they aren’t on the field fighting.

For example, if Spider Rosa and Casino are pals and you enter a showdown and take three hits of damage as Casino, Rosa will throw out one of her decoys. Each character has their own unique passive, that either replicates their stunts or gives you items. We’re going to quickly go down the list of the top three best Duo teams in Wild Bastards in no particular order. So make sure to save up those beans, and don’t be afraid to share a little with your fellow Bastards.

#3 — Billy & Sarge

Our first partner duo is an unlikely one, the pair of Billy the Squid and Sarge. This is primarily due to Billy’s Pal passive which sets three enemies’ health to one. Combining this with Sarge’s quick-firing long rifle makes for some quick getaways from certain death.

One moment you could be hiding as enemies close in on your position, the next they could be one health making it all the easier to quickly dispatch them. This was undoubtedly the best pairing in the entire game, and I found myself calling these two down to planets more than almost any other character.

#2 — Spider Rosa & Fletch

While it might not be easy to have Rosa and Fletch be pals in the main campaign, their abilities work wonderfully with each other. Fletch’s Pal passive makes her partner invulnerable for a few moments as you collect your breath and maybe deal some quick damage.

Paired with a pistol character like Spider Rosa, you can take the damage, get invulnerability, and rush into the enemies to try and eliminate as many as possible before it ends.

#1 — Preach & Roswell

As you play the game and come to learn about the Bastards, this pairing shouldn’t surprise you that much. However, upon further inspection, Preach’s Pal passive throws out three health items in front of you and Roswell’s throws out three armor items. This means if you start to run low on either health or armor, you can easily gain a fair amount of it back just by taking the damage. Easily making up for Preach’s less ideal weapon, this duo is one you want to keep an eye out for using in some tough situations.

Each partner pairing can end up being viable, and much like characters just need a bit of TLC in a run in order to make it work. Keep that in mind when storming the sectors and fighting off the children of Jebediah Chaste, and maybe take a look at the Wild Bastards’ enemy data for an even greater leg up on the deadly showdowns to come.