Pirate is ridiculous. Heās the second fastest in the game, his cutlass has speed yet deals huge damage (you can spam A for harass/poke and itās viable), fastest ranged weapon (only character with a gun), best parry and can use the grenade for mindgames/mixup.
Ninja has the best midrange and black egg is by far the best tool in the game, his mobility is amazing and his dodges are the best in the game.
Centurion is well balanced in all aspects except for maybe ranged if you chose pilum which is kinda slow. Heās also the only one in the upper tiers with a shield and has good midrange keepaway with spears. Also because of his general balance heās not completely screwed if he loses his shield like everyone else.
Spartan is pretty much a slightly weaker Centurion.
Viking was once considered S tier because of his infamous double spear spam but after a while it became apparent that he was a one trick pony. His shield is around the weakest, he generally lacks in reach and his only true defensive move is his quick āget off meā knockdown combo which has to be hit confirmed just for him to catch a break from pressure.
Rajput has flexibility in his movelist, has great stamina and can kinda do everything, but he suffers from every jack of all trades character in that he doesnāt excel in any particular area.
Knight is a tank through and through with the best armor in the game; whenever you face him youāll feel like he takes a lot longer to die than everyone else. However, he has arguably the slowest ranged game, and his mobility is subpar. You have to tank and guess to edge out a win with Knight.
Apache is basically Ninja with even less armor and shorter range and no black egg.
Zande has the worst shield in the game, his attacks have long range but are too vertical so most of the cast can dance around him. His ranged game isnāt much to write about either.
Shaolin Monk is a matter of extremes matchup wise, heās so low on the tier list because his mid range is abysmal and he has mediocre dodging but he can actually go toe to toe with Ninja/Centurion because flying knives and hook swords are amazing at scoring kills. He ironically suffers against the mid tiers because they can shrug them off for the most part.
Samurai is just pathetic. No shield, way too slow, armor is made of paper, bow is downright the worst ranged move in the game, worst dodge in the game, can be lamed out by poison. His only saving grace is the Kanabo which just demolishes even the Knight on hit but getting in with Samurai is hell because of his sluggishness.