LawBreakers has arrived, introducing a new angle on competitive online FPS with an emphasis of teamwork, and a cast of personable characters.
One of the first decisions you’ll make is what character you want to play as. While you can swap easily, the time investment you put into a character can be a good or bad thing depending on current game balance. Few people enjoy maining underpowered characters, so understanding what’s hot and what’s not is important for your competitiveness.
Not all roles are created equal, and LawBreakers has nine of them that range from best to worst. In this guide we’ll quickly go over the basics of each character, and then give you an idea of how they fare in the current meta.
Note that these tiers are based on the launch build of LawBreakers. Also, lower tier roles aren’t necessarily irrelevant, they are just at a disadvantage due to current tuning. If you are highly skilled at any role you can perform well.
A Tier
Assassin
Characters: Hellion, Kitsune
Description: With two razor-sharp blades and an energy shotgun at her disposal, the Assassin excels in close-quarters-combat. Capable of grappling to any surface or target, dashing in any direction, and disorienting incoming enemies and projectiles, the Assassin is a deceptive enemy that can traverse the battlefield with a deadly grace.
Weapons and Abilities:
- Arc Blades – Coupled taser machetes with grapple.
- Romerus – Energy Shotgun with burst and charge firing modes.
- Dash – Quickly strafe along move direction.
- Flux Blast – Impulse grenade that displaces enemies and projectiles.
- Frenzy – Damage attack reveals enemies, increases damage and life steal.
Explanation: While difficult to play, Assassin has incredible damage throughput. When played by someone who can fully harness its agility while delivering accurate shots, this role is extremely challenging to counter. Dash is one of the best mobility skills in the game, and when combined with the Romerus you can quickly jump into your optimal range, or get out of a bad situation when needed.
Juggernaut
Characters: Aegis (Law), Nash (Breakers)
Description: The fearsome Juggernaut units can barrel through defenses just as easily as they can take the punishment. With an armored protocol system and a deployable energy shield, Juggernauts can hold out long enough to get close, then finish their targets with a devastating shotgun and blade capable of tearing through any personal armor.
Weapons and Abilities:
- Instigator – High damage pump-action shotgun.
- Impale – Close quarter bayonette attached to the Instigator.
- Armor Protocol – Armored plates increase protection and rate of fire.
- Charge – Sprint for faster traversal and leaping momentum.
- Holo-Deflector – Temporary shield wall. Deters enemy movement and deflects projectiles.
Explanation: While Juggernaut suffers at range, most maps allow you to approach all important areas within tight corridors. This allows Juggernaut to shine with his shotgun and bayonette, which have incredible burst damage potential. His defensive cooldowns are simple yet powerful, allowing him to take a few hits when fighting for objectives.
B Tier
Battle Medic
Characters: Tokki (Law), Feng (Breakers)
Description: The high-flying Battle Medic can rain explosives from up on high while simultaneously keeping multiple teammates alive. Their cohort of medical drones, a deadly grenade launcher, and a backup energy pistol allow the Battle Medic to weave between contributing to the carnage and helping their allies achieve greatness.
Weapons and Abilities:
- Lobber – Grenade launcher with dual firing mode.
- Firefly – Burst fire energy pistol.
- Defense Grid – Protective dome-impulses enemies, heals and shields projectiles.
- Hoverpack – Traversal glide pack. Includes thrusters for vertical ascension.
- Support Drones – Two drones that attach to heal two teammates.
Explanation: Support characters are important to have in high level play as they greatly increase the sustain of the team. Battle Medic is your most basic healer, with two cooldowns that deliver reliable healing, as well as weapons that deliver surprisingly high damage. Hoverpack is also a fantastic mobility skill that helps the Battle Medic reach high areas that are contested.
Enforcer
Characters: Axel (Law), Kintaro (Breakers)
Description: Agile and armed to the teeth, the Enforcer comes loaded with a shoulder-mounted launcher, an assault rifle, a shock pistol, and ability-disabling grenades. With a well-rounded arsenal suitable for many situations, and a time-distorting ability capable of increasing weapon and movement speeds for nearby allies, the Enforcer is both a stalwart ally and a fearsome enemy.
Weapons and Abilities:
- Aerator – Fully automatic assault rifle.
- Badger – Shock pistol effective in close-quarter combat.
- Distortion Field – Boosts movement, rate of fire, and reload speeds for team and self.
- Electromag Charge – EMP grenade that temporarily neutralizes enemy abilities.
- Bloodhound Launcher – Salvo launcher that locks-on and fires homing rockets.
Explanation: Enforcer is a pain to deal with. Not only does it have incredible damage potential, but it’s able to lock-out opponent skills. Although situational in many circumstances, this is a unique trait that makes Enforcer highly desirable among many top-tier setups.
Vanguard
Characters: Maverick (Law), Toska-9 (Breakers)
Description: Vanguards feature full-flight capabilities with afterburners strapped to their backs, a powerful tri-core cannon mounted to their suits, and an array of cluster grenades that can carpet a location in anti-personnel explosives. Once charged up, their suits can turn a Vanguard into a veritable fireball, capable of shattering enemies on impact and distorting gravity around them.
Weapons and Abilities:
- Hydra – Gatling gun that becomes more accurate as you fire.
- Pulsar – Fuel blast that inflicts damage and pushes enemies.
- Afterburners – Allows for jet-like mobility via direction of aim.
- Meteor Shells – Cluster of 5 grenades best used in combo w/ the Hydra.
- Starfall – Dive-bomb and leave low gravity pocket.
Explanation: Vanguard is fantastic for suppressing a group of enemies that is trying to move around the map. Its barrage of offensive skills place great pressure on enemies, and deal good damage if they aren’t careful. Many of its skills can be easily countered by good players who know what they’re doing, resulting in Vanguard falling short of being top tier.
Wraith
Characters: Deadlock (Law), Helix (Breakers)
Description: Armed with an automatic pistol in one hand and an explosive blade in the other, Wraiths can leap off walls and air pockets just as easily as they can slide through enemy defenses. To even the field of play when the odds aren’t in their favor, Wraiths can tap into the dormant gravitational energy around them to distort time to slow their targets into submission.
Weapons and Abilities:
- Spektor – Full-auto machine pistol.
- Wasp – Short sword with sharp dash.
- Chrono Switch – Projection of time waves that temporarily slows enemies.
- Slide – Forward slide kick or backward evasive measure.
- Stinger – Ejected blade that detonates when shot.
Explanation: Wraith is adept at beginning a focus fire on a target using Chrono Switch, before smashing the enemy with a barrage of skills. It’s a very good thing to have in many compositions, although against better teams support can counter the focus. This usually leads to Wraith being best used for slowing down flag runners or weighing down a hot player, which doesn’t have all that much value. Nonetheless, it can deliver outstanding damage, making it a solid choice.
C Tier
Gunslinger
Characters: Abaddon (Law), Faust (Breakers)
Description: An expert at precision combat, capable of unleashing a flurry of shots from simultaneously wielding two very different guns, the Gunslinger is a lethal marksman with unpredictable movement. Combined with the ability to teleport short distances, and a tactical knife that reveals enemy positions, the Gunslinger can rip through enemy defenses before they even knew he was there.
Weapons and Abilities:
- Alpha – Semi-automatic pistol that 3d prints ammo.
- Equalizer – Auto barrage of bullets from both weapons. Unlimited ammo.
- Omega – Precision pistol with single or charged projectile.
- Warp – Brief teleport in direction of movement.
- Tac-Knife – Tactical blade used for scouting and as a weapon.
Explanation: The unlimited ammo perks of the Gunslinger are admittedly underwhelming. The highlight here is the sheer damage throughout, which can chew through armor like a hot knife through butter. Unfortunately, this role is very limited defensively, which can be a major problem on some maps where cover isn’t readily available. This makes the Gunslinger susceptible to being shut down in many situations.
Harrier
Characters: Sunshine (Law), Baron (Breakers)
Description: Laser guns, laser boots, laser blasts. The Harrier wields intense energy as deftly as a martial artist wields their fists, not only using its power as a weapon, but also as a way to cut across the combat zone. Capable of dealing a constant stream of damage from a distance, the Harrier also provides their allies with a resupply point for them to rally towards.
Weapons and Abilities:
- Shoc-Croc – Long-range persistent laser beam rifle.
- Raycasters – Hadronium fused laser propulsion boots that enable omni-directional mobility.
- Convergence – High-power unified laser beam that blasts out from the Harrier’s core for a duration of time.
- Supercharger – Deploy-able station that provides Health and Fuel recharge to allies.
Explanation: The offensive pacing of Harrier simply doesn’t stack up well against other options. In addition, Supercharger simply doesn’t have the on-demand usability of the Battle Medic, making this an underwhelming support hero. It can have moments of glory with high damage Shoc-Croc hits, but it usually isn’t sustainable.
Titan
Characters: Bomchelle (Law), Cronos (Breakers)
Description: No one is as capable of pulverizing through the enemy’s defensive line quite like the Titan. With a chain lightning gun and rocket launcher in tow, and the ability to lock enemies down with a dense gravity bomb, Titans can dispatch multiple enemies just as easily as a single one. Enrage them enough and they’ll go into a berserker rage, unleashing a devastating stream of electrical mayhem while pushing their stamina to the limits.
Weapons and Abilities:
- Hammerhead Launcher – Rocket launcher that deals both splash and direct damage.
- Crisper – Lightning gun that chains to enemies. Deals damage over time.
- Berserk – Electric attack that amps damage output and health.
- Neutron Mine – Proximity mine that impedes speed of enemies.
- Pulverize – Electric leap that deals damage on impact in an area.
Explanation: The problem with Titan isn’t that it isn’t capable of dealing incredible damage, it’s that smart teams won’t group up close enough to provide the Titan a chance to deliver the AoE damage it is so great at. This leaves it with some moderate damage capability, and a toolkit of skills that don’t typically have a huge impact.
