Welcome back, survivors! This time, we’ll be talking about the cast of Seoul Apocalypse and ranking them from best to worst – subjectively, of course.
Not much has changed over the course of Seoul Apocalypse, with only two new characters added: Big Daddy and Butcher Jack.
A few things before we begin:
- This Seoul Apocalypse tier list is based on personal experience and ranking teams.
- A lot of the wording in skills is ambiguous, for example, some skills are AOE when there’s no indication that they are. The lack of a trial mode for characters also hurts this tier list.
- Only heroic characters will be ranked on this list. Ideally, you should only be using heroic characters as their extra skill does make a huge difference.
- Characters are sorted by their in-game role: Attack, Tank, Support, Control, and Heal. This makes it easier to sort them by their performance within their own niches.
Characters will be listed in descending tiers, with S as the highest and D as the lowest. In a nutshell, each tier means:
- S-Tier: Excellent in their selected role, very few cases in which you won’t want to use this character.
- A-Tier: Boasts good, consistent performance. Could be a little better, but generally will not disappoint.
- B-Tier: Middle of the line. Could be better, could be worse.
- C-Tier: Gimmicky or incoherent skill set. Doesn’t offer much in their role that another person can do better.
- D-Tier: Just plain bad at their role. Replace ASAP; keep them in at your own risk, and I hope you know what you’re doing.
Finally, this Seoul Apocalypse tier list is subjective, and is not a be-all, end-all guide to who to use.
Attack Tier List
| S | Crux, Bullseye, Bastard, Prime Minister |
| A | Jumbo, Stone Blade, Penny, Butcher Jack, Tiger D |
| B | Chef Choi, Thunder, Mr. Paper |
| C | Two-Tone |
S-Tier
Crux
+ High AOE and single damage output
+ Especially powerful against backrow enemies
– Melee
Of course, there’s a guy with a katana that uses Judgment Cut Beheading. Crux boasts great killing power through his normal attack and AOE damage skills. Just be wary – as a melee character, he’ll need to close in to do damage, meaning he needs the protection of a sturdy tank to do his job.
Bullseye
+ Ranged character
+ Buffs own crit rate and crit damage
“Simple and effective” is the best way to describe Bullseye. She packs a compound bow and a ton of arrows, as well as three skills that offer damage and some crowd control. Best of all, she self-buffs her own crit rate and damage.
Related: Seoul Apocalypse Beginner’s Guide: Tips, Tricks & Strategies to Level Up Fast and Crush Your Enemies
Bastard
+ Buffs own ATK
+ Gets angrier when he gets hit, increasing crit damage
– Melee
– Requires someone to boost his crit rate to get the most mileage
Yes, his name really is Bastard. Bastard boasts great snowballing ability thanks to his passive that raises his crit damage every time he gets hit – all he really needs is someone to give him more crits and he’s more than ready to go. Bastard is also a rare case in that he’s a DPS who you want to put on the frontlines to maximize his crit damage boost. He does also have decently powerful nukes at his disposal, so he’s got a way to maximize his crit damage output. Go for broke!
Prime Minister
+ Massive AOE damage.
+ One-time death protection
+ Investment adds potent debuffs to his skills
What Seoul Apocalypse really lacked was a character that deals AOE damage. Fret no more – the Prime Minister is here to rock. With an impressive 240% field-wide ultimate that can go up to 320% AND reduce defense, as well as an equally awesome array of side AOEs (that also inflict debuffs with investment), it’s hard to go wrong with the Prime Minister. Did I mention that he also has one-time death protection, which makes rushing him down less viable?
A-Tier
Jumbo
+ Free
+ Buffs own ATK
+ Lots of AOE
– ATK buff could be longer and/or more substantial
Hear me out: Jumbo is actually pretty decent for a free unit. As a ranged DPS, Jumbo can pelt his enemies while his tougher allies duke it out on the front rows. Jumbo won’t just sit on the sidelines though: two of his skills dish out formidable AOE damage, and he has a self-buff to boost his already considerable attack.
Hear me out: Jumbo is actually pretty decent for a free unit. As a ranged DPS, Jumbo can pelt his enemies while his tougher allies duke it out on the front rows. Jumbo won’t just sit on the sidelines though: two of his skills dish out formidable AOE damage, and he has a self-buff to boost his already considerable attack.
Stone Blade
+ Buffet of self-buffs
+ Tons of debuffs
+ Pseudo stun
– Low multipliers on his skills
If you look at the rankings on your server, you’ll likely see the same faces in the top places, and one of those faces is Stone Blade. While he doesn’t have the same killing prowess as other heroes such as Crux or Tiger D, he has a ton of both self-buffs and debuffs. What seals the deal for Stone Blade is his Flame Petrification skill, which removes the enemy with the highest ATK for up to 6 seconds!
Penny
+ Crit damage up self-buff
+ Reduces enemy Blunt Defense with ultimate
+ Durable
– Melee
While Penny has some decent skills on his own, what sets him apart is the Blunt Defense reduction he has, which paves the way for your other damage dealers.
Butcher Jack
+ Decent base multiplier on ultimate
+ Has a stun/relocate skill
+ Good bleed damage
– Ultimate skill requires good judgment and timing to maximize damage
– Passive skill requires low health
Butcher Jack packs a very powerful ultimate with a decent 300% multiplier at max level that can do up to 250% extra damage depending on how low the target’s HP is. While powerful, you’ll need to time Butcher Jack’s ultimate carefully to get the most out of his skill. The rest of his kit is decent; what particularly stands out among his other skills is his stun that pushes enemies behind him.
Tiger D
+ High-damage assassin
+ Higher ATK than most other Attackers
+ Free via release rewards and Path of the Strong
– Melee
I forgot what Tiger D’s title was: the fastest or the strongest blade. But Tiger D doesn’t disappoint in either category: he has a 300% nuke, a backstab/stun against the enemy with the least HP, and two attack speed buffs. All in all, Tiger D is a very solid character.
B-Tier
Chef Choi
+ Self-sustain and heals his allies
+ High damage on his ult with a powerful bleed
– Melee
– DOTs aren’t exactly the best way to kill enemies
Chef Choi may be a sick puppy in the story, but as a playable character, he’s pretty decent. He boasts up to 300% damage on his ultimate, along with a very respectable 40% bleed. Chef Choi also functions as an off-healer by giving allies a regen buff.
Thunder
+ Lots of damage skills
+ Free
– Melee
– Lacks a way to capitalize on his damage skills
Thunder is…Thunder. There’s not much to say about him, other than he’s squarely in the middle of the road. Could be better, could be worse.
Mr. Paper
+ Powerful ATK buff
+ Can shield allies
+ Strong bleed effect
– Low ATK multipliers on skills
– ATK buff only lasts until an enemy dies
Mr. Paper is like a ranged version of Chef Choi – powerful bleeds and some sustenance for his allies. The problem with Mr. Paper is that while he has a very respectable passive ATK boost (up to 20%!) it only lasts until an enemy dies. This means that for most of the fight, this boost won’t be active – and I’ll be honest, the ATK boost is pretty much the main draw to Mr. Paper.
C-Tier
Two-Tone
+ Great ATK boosting passive
– ATK boost passive only kicks in at less than 30% HP
– DEF buff from getting knocked down is chance based
Look: if your whole shtick is that you’re a martial artist who doesn’t give up, you’d better be sure that your rebound skill activates all the time and not at a measly 20%. Oh, and it buffs DEF too, so it means that it doesn’t help you kill faster.
Technically, Two-Tone counters teams that use a lot of knockdowns, but there aren’t too many of those, and again, his rebound skill is based on luck. I really can’t get over that.
Defense Tier List
| S | Yelena, Big Daddy |
| A | Scar, Cerberus |
| B | Lucky, Big Bear |
S-Tier
Yelena
+ Powerful healing and shielding capabilities
+ Meaty ATK down debuff
– DEF passive kicks in late
Yelena is another face you’ll commonly see on top rankers, and for good reason. While she does lack a taunt, Yelena offers your team both healing and shields, which I would argue are more useful than a taunt in a game like Seoul Apocalypse. These shields give Yelena a consistency that’s very hard to beat.
Big Daddy
+ Disruptive AOE taunt ultimate with a 50% DEF buff for Big Daddy
+ Even more DEF buffs tied to his other skills
– Requires investment to unlock taunt on his ultimate
We finally have a tank whose taunt is tied to their ultimate. Unlike other tanks, Big Daddy can pretty much taunt on command as long as you can pay for his active skill. He has other tricks up his sleeve, such as knockbacks and even more DEF buffs. Big Daddy can also help your damage dealers finish the job faster due to his meaty 30% DEF down debuff.
A-Tier
Scar
+ Has a taunt
+ Lots of healing for both self and allies
– Taunt isn’t tied to ultimate, making it harder to control
Scar is more of a traditional tank: he’s got a taunt as well as a way to mitigate damage through his self-healing. And despite his looks, this rough-and-tumble fighter has a soft side – he heals allies when he taunts, which not only takes the heat off them but also gets them ready for when the taunt fades.
Cerberus
+ Free bodies
+ Summons are tied to his ultimate
+ Increases ally defense, which includes his summons
“Human wave tactics” is a very rare choice for a tank, but that’s what Cerberus brings to the field. The result is effective as his summons not only serve as a distraction but will also ideally force your opponent to waste their ultimate on expendable units. If that wasn’t enough, Cerberus also has an AOE defense buff his comrades.
B-Tier
Lucky
+ Snowballs with his passive
+ Eats Blunt attacks for breakfast
+ Has a taunt
– Taunt isn’t tied to ultimate, making it hard to control
– Lots of damaging skills
Lucky and Big Bear share a niche as the best X damage eater – for lucky, it’s Blunt damage that he’s strong against. He also has a taunt, which helps him control the flow of combat, though, like the other taunt tanks, it’s not his ultimate. Lucky can also pull his weight in the DPS role, as his passive not only increases Blunt Defense but also seems to increase ATK if the description isn’t lying.
Big Bear
+ Buffs allies
+ Eats Slash attacks for breakfast
– Lots of damaging skills with no way to capitalize on them, unlike Lucky
– Taunt isn’t tied to ultimate, making it hard to control
Big Bear is the premiere anti-slash tank, and he’s purely defensive. Unlike Lucky, Big Bear’s passive is dedicated entirely to eating up Slash attacks, with a bigger bonus cap and a DEF boost instead of an ATK one (again, if the tooltips aren’t LYING). Like other taunt tanks, Big Bear suffers from his taunt not being his ultimate, but he does make up for it by buffing his allies with extra ATK and DEF.
Support Tier List
| S | Jacket, Mr. Umbrella |
| B | Kendo, Lee Ga, Moses, Thrower Kim |
S-Tier
Jacket
+ Regen on demand
+ Generates rage and shields allies from debuffs
Let me start by saying this: Seoul Apocalypse blurs the line between support and control, with a lot of characters being labeled control when they’re support. I didn’t make the game, so there’s nothing I can do.
Jacket is one of the characters who’s a straightforward support. The main reason he’s the highest on this list is that his support skill, a regen buff, is tied to his ultimate. This means that you can toggle it manually when you need it the most. Jacket also grants his allies free Rage (which is much better than stripping enemies of it, IMHO) and at max level, it also gives them debuff immunity.
Mr. Umbrella
+ Crit damage and crit rate buff on his ultimate
+ Cleanses debuffs
Increases crit damage and crit rate with his ultimate. Enough said.
But if you insist, he also has a dispel that can affect the whole team with investment.
B-Tier
Kendo
+ Good accuracy debuff and great move speed debuff
– No buffs at all
– Melee, so move speed debuff isn’t particularly relevant.
Kendo’s main contribution in the support role is to hit enemies with an admittedly good accuracy debuff (20%) as well as a great move speed debuff (40%!). The problem? Kendo himself is melee, meaning that even if he hits someone with that big move speed debuff, it won’t really do much as they’ll probably already be fighting Kendo and thus have no reason to move around. Kendo also has zero supportive buffs, so he has fewer use cases than any other support on this list.
Lee Ga
+ Buffet of buffs and debuffs
– Low multiplier on most of his buffs and debuffs
If you want someone that vomits both buffs and debuffs, Lee Ga is your guy. All of his skills have a buff or debuff tied to them, meaning that all combatants will almost certainly always have some form of boost or hindrance. The problem with Lee Ga is that neither his buffs nor debuffs are particularly potent – though it’s hard to compete with him in this role.
Moses
+ Decent party heal and buff
– Buff isn’t tied to his ultimate
– Tries to do too much and thus doesn’t excel at anything.
While having an ATK + heal buff in a single skill is very nice, Moses spreads himself too thin.
Thrower Kim
+ AOE damage
+ Decent debuffs
– AOE ultimate does not have a debuff
Pretty much another auto-attacker that has some nice AOE tricks up his sleeve, as well as some decent debuffs. In particular, Thrower Kim strips foes of both DEF and Evasion by hefty amounts (30% and 40% at max level, respectively) which enables your attack units quite well. However, these debuffs are a bit harder to work with as they’re not tied to his ultimate, which is instead an AOE nuke.
Control Tier List
| S | Mr. Pump, Needle |
| A | Pwangko |
| B | Mechanic D, Crown, Emma, Jin |
| C | Racket |
S-Tier
Mr. Pump
+ Generates Rage just by existing
+ Silences enemies
All you have to say is “Mr. Pump generates rage just by being on the field” and that’s enough to propel him to S-Tier. You’ll see his face a ton in the teams of high-ranking players, and for good reason: more rage means more ultimates, which translates into faster kill time. As if that wasn’t enough, he silences too, giving him great hard CC potential.
Needle
+ Traps and pulls enemies
Needle is the other S-Tier support Kiz on this list, and just like Mr. Pump, expect to see him in every high-ranked player’s team. While Mr. Pump helps his team passively, Needle uses his needles (what did you expect?) to control enemy movement by either stitching them into the ground and making them easy pickings for your ranged characters, or by pulling enemies closer.
A-Tier
Pwangko
+ Reduces DEF
+ Versatile self-buff allows him to either tank or DPS
+ Repositions enemies
Pwangko is blessed with a versatile buff that gives him a 19.5% increase to either ATK or DEF, depending on where he’s placed. However, the real reason most people use Pwangko is his Follow Shot, which has the short and sweet effect of dealing AOE damage and dropping DEF. Add his ability to regroup enemies like a second Needle and you’ve got a pretty sweet deal.
B-Tier
Mechanic D
+ Lowers enemy ATK and DEF
+ Buffs allies
Mechanic D has a simple moveset largely consisting of debuffs for enemies and buffs for allies. Her kit is simple, yet effective: if all you really need are buffs and debuffs, Mechanic D is a great character.
Crown
+ Packs ATK debuffs, stuns, and knockdowns
+ Passive countereffect
– Melee
– Rage reduction isn’t a very good control method
Crown has a lot of hard control abilities which allow his allies to do their jobs better. With both a knockdown, a stun, and Rage reduction (the last one of which isn’t too useful IMHO), Crown is a pretty good contender if you just want to disable your enemies.
Emma
+ High multipliers coupled with decent ATK
+ Charm is a very good status
– Charm doesn’t last long
– Rage reduction isn’t a very good control method
Emma is a control/DPS hybrid that has very beefy multipliers on her skills; pair this with her decent ATK stat and watch the sparks fly. In terms of control, Emma only offers one thing, but it’s a very good thing – charm. Charmed enemies will fight on your side for a short amount of time, which not only deprives your opponent of a fighter but gives you some extra damage. On the downside, it doesn’t last very long, and Emma’s last skill, which reduces Rage, is nifty but not strictly crowd control.
Jin
+ Has an AOE knockdown for his ultimate
+ Targeted debuff that lowers damage output and lowers Blunt DEF by a large amount
– Passive boosts his damage, which isn’t important
There isn’t much to say about Jin, and simple is good. All Jin has is both an AOE knockdown and a targeted debuff against the strongest enemy, which drops both their ATK and their Blunt Defense by up to 25%. While he won’t always be in your team, Jin is perfect for clearing the way for your other character to focus down the enemy’s carry.
Jin also has a passive that boosts his attack damage when he has low health. Jin’s just here to support, not kill.
C-Tier
Racket
+ Lots of damage skills
+ Move speed debuff
– Uses a blind for CC
In the hierarchy of crowd control, blinding effects are pretty low on the list. Sure, blinds may negate an enemy’s attacks, but they’re still chance based. Blinds also do absolutely nothing against Kiz that are tanks, buffers, or healers.
On the plus side, Racket does have some damage skills coupled with their other skills, as well as a movement speed reduction. But the lack of hard CC hurts Racket’s case.
Healer Tier List
| S | Doctor H |
| A | Shaman, Monica |
| B | Scalpel |
S-Tier
Doctor H
+ Powerful regen buffs
+ Ultimate is a heal
+ Rage regeneration passive helps him heal more
– Regen isn’t as effective as a burst heal
Most high-ranked players use Doctor H in their team, and it isn’t hard to see why. Couple his powerful regeneration buffs with a passive that boosts his Rage gain whether he’s attacking or being attacked, and you’ve got a wonderfully consistent healer that can keep his allies topped up more regularly than anyone else. Oh, and he has an accuracy debuff too.
A-Tier
Shaman
+ Powerful regen buffs
+ Ultimate is a heal
– Regen isn’t as effective as a burst heal
haman is a serviceable healer with great regen buffs as well as some damage mitigation for her (his?) allies. Shaman also has skills that allow them to rescue allies in danger, although that’s somewhat dampened by his (her?) heals being regeneration instead of burst heals.
Monica
+ Nice array of debuffs.
+ ATK debuff targets enemy carry.
– Heal is meh.
Despite being designated a healer, Monica’s real strengths don’t lie in her ability to heal, but rather her debuffs. If you need someone to keep your guys alive, bring someone like Doctor H; if you need help actually killing your enemies, take Monica.
B-Tier
Scalpel
+ Powerful regen buffs
+ Ultimate is a heal
+ Burst heal + regen on an ally with the least health
– Regen isn’t as effective as a burst heal
While he’s last on the Healer tier list, Scalpel does have an advantage over both Doctor H and Shaman in that he has a burst heal. Sadly, it’s tied to one of his non-ultimate skills, but I’ll take it. Apart from this, he’s pretty similar to the other two healers, except his ultimate also deals damage; I prefer Doctor H with his debuffs, but Scalpel can still find use on most teams.
Play Who You Want to Play
As I said at the beginning of this tier list, this one is subjective, and at the end of the day, you are ultimately free to play who you want to play – though hopefully, this list gave you a general overview of what each character can do, and help you look for good matches for your play style.
That concludes our Seoul Apocalypse tier list. If you have anything to add, or any tips of your own, feel free to drop us a line!
Kim Jong Un
Friday 3rd of February 2023
nice list. update pls
Raven
Wednesday 18th of January 2023
a very cool shooting list compared to others