Fallout Shelter Online, the official sequel to Fallout Shelter, brings back its predecessor’s Vault management features while introducing a PvP multiplayer mode.
Dwellers form the backbone of your Vault, as they make the operations of resource-generating rooms more efficient. However, they may also be assigned to teams that explore the Wasteland, or fight against other teams in the Combat Zone.
While dwellers have perks and abilities that make them useful in different situations, players should rely on heroes – dwellers with the SSR and SR rarity – in forming both their PvE and PvP teams. Fallout Shelter Online’s heroes are based on characters from the Fallout franchise, so fans of the series may also enjoy collecting their favorite personalities.
SSR heroes are generally stronger than SR heroes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will find it hard to advance in PvE dungeons or that you will always lose in PvP matches. The key is making the most with the units that you have, experimenting which line-ups work, and upgrading the heroes that work best for you.
Some heroes, however, are more worthy of upgrades, as they will prove to be more useful to your team. We have compiled a detailed Fallout Shelter Online tier list, including the best SSR and SR dwellers. So stay with us and read on, as we showcase the best characters in Fallout Shelter Online that you should spend your hard-earned resources on.
Tier S Dwellers
Danse – Attacker
Danse is the strongest long-range attacker in Fallout Shelter Online, with an ability that accumulates AP upon a kill and perks that further increase his damage depending on the number of enemies killed and the presence of radiation. This is particularly strong in late-game dungeons, where radiation is almost always a factor.
Dr. Zimmer – Attacker
Dr. Zimmer, by himself, is capable of surviving through massive damage due to his life-stealing perk. Combined with an ability that deals damage to a small area and applies a bleeding effect that weakens the enemies’ damage, and another perk that increases the damage of a critical hit, Dr. Zimmer can outlast most, if not all, other heroes.
Father – Healer
Father’s ability not only heals allies, but also makes them immune to damage. With the proper timing, he can save the whole team from a massive attack by opponents. Father also comes with a perk that boosts all allies’ defense, further making sure that the whole teams stays longer on the battlefield.
Related: Fallout Shelter Online Beginner’s Guide: Tips, Tricks & Strategies to Build the Perfect Vault
Neriah – Healer
While Father grants brief immunity, Neriah offers overflowing healing capabilities. Her ability not only heals teammates, but also creates a shield that can absorb damage, which then heals allies again upon dissipation. Her perks provide additional support by boosting an ally’s AP and increasing the damage of the entire team, but healing is limited to one teammate.
Tier A Dwellers
Sarah – Support
Sarah’s ability weakens enemies’ defenses, and she comes with a perk that makes all your other heroes deal more damage. She may be acquired for free as a reward for completing 7-day login requirement under Overseer Provision, which makes her a popular support hero.
Nick – Support
Nick’s ability and normal attacks freeze enemies, effectively removing them from combat for a few seconds. With a team built to take advantage of this, a few seconds may be enough to take down all opponents.
Strong – Tank
Strong has a perk that recovers his health upon taking damage, and an ability that deals more damage depending on the amount of damage that he receives while charging it up. With innate durability, Strong not only soaks up a significant amount of damage, but is also capable of dealing a massive blow to opponents.
The Silver Shroud – Attacker
The Silver Shroud has the unique ability of bypassing the enemy’s frontline to deal damage to the back row, while also silencing them and reducing their hit rate. That is usually where opponents place their healers and strongest long-range attackers, so The Silver Shroud can turn the tide of the battle in a flash.
Kellogg – Support
Kellogg swings the fight in favor of your team through an ability that reduces all enemies’ damage and a perk that boosts your allies’ defenses. Kellogg also comes with a perk that allows him to deal damage to an opponent and the unit behind them, to further take advantage of his ability.
Antagonizer – Tank
Antagonizer is not only capable of protecting your team, but she also reflects damage to the opponents. She can survive through multiple attacks as her ability also improves her defenses, and when combined with a perk that reduces the defense of opponents, presents a tough challenge for the enemy team.
Desdemona – Attacker
Desdemona’s ability already deals massive damage on its own, but it becomes even better later on in a fight because it becomes even stronger when there are less opponents left on the battlefield. This makes her even better during PvE boss fights where the team will face only one enemy.
Hancock – Attacker
Hancock’s primary purpose is clearing the opponents’ side of the field, with an ability that deals damage to all enemies. Hancock also comes with a park that boosts all allies’ damage when his health falls to below 50%, though if you are losing badly at that point, the boost might not matter.
Madison – Healer
Madison’s ability places a robot that heals nearby allies and removes radiation, which is a very important ability to have as radiation is what will kill you in the late-game dungeons. Her usefulness is slightly reduced in PvP matches, where radiation is rarely a factor, but she retains her value due to the potency of her healing.
Cade – Healer
While Madison specializes in healing the entire team, Cade’s ability provides much more potent healing and likewise removes all radiation, but only to a single ally. Cade works best when paired with a tank so that it can survive much longer while protecting the team from damage.
Cait – Tank
Cait’s value as a tank is not in a capability to absorb damage, but in an ability that applies the rare stun effect to enemies in a small area in front of her. She might need some healing to keep her alive, but stunning your opponents’ frontline for a few seconds may be what your team would need to win.
Piper – Support
Piper’s ability, which improves allies’ damage, attack speed, and lifesteal, is only as strong as the rest of your team. The harder your heroes hit, the bigger the boost that they will receive from Piper.
Alien – Attacker
Alien can quickly blast through opponents with an ability that boosts critical hits and damage, which feeds into a life-stealing perk that keeps him alive longer. However, even with the health recovery perk, his survivability is not good.
Tier B Dwellers
Amari – Healer
Amari comes with an ability and perk that offers the ever-important radiation removal, though with the drawback that she takes on some of that radiation herself, and the effectiveness of her skills depend on actually having radiation on her. This makes her a potent but risky healer even in late-game dungeons, but limited in PvP matches.
Maxson – Attacker
Maxson’s ability and perks are focused on one thing – dishing out as much damage as possible to the opposing team. However, there is a cap to his burning damage, which limits his potential compared to other attackers.
Mother Isolde – Attacker
Mother Isolde has an ability and a perk that take advantages of radiation on her, which is unique as players often want radiation off of their heroes. She is also capable of decreasing the effectiveness of opponents’ healing, and she is more potent in PvP as players usually do not prepare to deal with radiation.
Preston – Attacker
Preston’s ability that deals significant damage to a single enemy while reducing the target’s defenses. However, even with a life-stealing perk, he is overshadowed by other heroes who can deal more damage to one target or to several enemies at a time.
MacCready – Attacker
MacCready’s ability targets the enemy with the lowest health, and in the early game, deals a massive amount of damage. However, it needs proper timing as you wouldn’t want to waste it on an opponent who is already almost defeated.
Deacon – Attacker
Deacon’s ability is similar to MacCready’s, dealing burst damage to the enemy with the lowest health. Deacon, however, has a life-stealing perk, which improves his survivability.
Moira – Support
Moira’s role in a team is to lower your opponents’ damage and hit rate through her ability, with a perk that allows her to target the farthest enemy, which is usually a healer or a damaging long-range attacker. She also has a perk that allows her to survive a bit longer in order to use her ability.
Irma – Support
Irma’s ability, like Moira’s perk, targets the enemy’s back line, but in addition to damage, also stuns the units for a few seconds. While your team may not yet be able to take down the back line units immediately as the front line units are in the way, stopping the opponent’s healers and long-range attackers is a valuable assist.
Zeke – Tank
Zeke functions similarly as Antagonizer, with an ability that protects the team and reflects damage back at enemies. He works well in the early game, but he folds fast when the enemies’ attacks start getting stronger.
Tom – Tank
Similar to Zeke, Tom is another less impressive version of Antagonizer, trading a longer ability cooldown for a few more seconds of defense and additional defense. Also like Zeke, he struggles once enemies start upgrading their arsenal.
Father Clifford – Healer
Father Clifford features variety in his healing skills, with a perk that heals a single ally while boosting damage, and an ability that heals all team members while reducing the damage that they receive. Father Cliffod’s ability also has a short cooldown, which makes it a valuable tool in preparing for incoming enemy abilities.
Z2-47 – Support
Z2-57’s ability and one of his perks reduce your opponents’ defenses, which is always a useful ability. He is a great asset in the early game, but he should be replaced by other heroes such as Sarah and Kellogg as soon as you acquire them.
Miss Bobbie – Support
Miss Bobbie’s ability deals damage to all opponents and silences them for a few seconds, potentially giving your team enough time to pull ahead in the match. She is great in the early game, but should eventually be upgraded to heroes such as Nick or Cait.
Three Dog – Support
Three Dog’s ability, which has a short cooldown, and one of his perks greatly increases the team’s physical resistance. Unfortunately, the boost will not help against energy attacks, so it will not be useful about half the time.
Tier C Dwellers
Carrington – Healer
Carrington’s ability heals all team members, and has a short cooldown. He also comes with a perk that heals one ally, while providing a small damage boost. The healing Carrington provides is potent, but he is limited by the fact that he does not do much of anything else.
Curie – Healer
Curie specializes in healing the whole team through one of her perks and her ability, which has a long cooldown. Similar to Carrington, her usefulness in a team is limited because she doesn’t do much else.
Jack – Healer
Jack continues the trend of healers who do not provide much else to the team, but unlike Carrington and Curie, both his ability and perk only heals one team member, though with much higher potency. The small damage boost from his perk is a nice bonus, but other healers can make your team much better.
Dogmeat – Tank
As a tank, Dogmeat doesn’t really protect the team as his ability and one of his perks deals damage, applies a bleeding effect, and reduces an opponent’s damage. One of his perks increases his dodge rate, but tanks are supposed to help your team survive, not just himself.
Cross – Tank
Similar to Dogmeat, Cross’ damage-dealing ability doesn’t match his role as a tank. His perks improve his defense and health, which will allow him to last longer, but most other tank units will be more useful to your team.
Ingram – Support
Ingram’s ability creates a shield that increases the whole team’s defense. While this is useful in certain situations, such as when opponents are preparing to fire their abilities, you may want to have a tank instead if you want protection for your team.
Tara – Support
Tara’s perk that restores AP and health at the end of battles may prove to be useful in long dungeons. However, her ability is a hit-or-miss as it deals damage to a random target, and the boost in damage when the target is suffering from a status effect is unreliable as she doesn’t apply them on her own.
Kells – Support
Kells’ ability deals damage and reduces the defense of a random target, which pales in comparison to the capabilities of support heroes who can reduce the defenses of all opponents.
XPN-20A – Tank
XPN-20A’s ability improves his own defenses, but tanks in Fallout Shelter Online are required to do more. He has a perk with the rare stun, but the low chance of it happening, and only on a single target, limits how much XPN-20A can help your team.
Magnolia – Support
Magnolia’s ability is a toned down version of Sarah’s and Piper’s, as it only boosts your team’s critical damage and critical rate for several seconds. Her perks allow her to survive long enough to at least get to use her ability once, but the bonus is not as significant.
And this wraps up our tier list for Fallout Shelter Online. Do you agree with our picks? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!