MultiVersus: best characters to unlock first

If there’s one thing fighting games and free-to-play games have in common, it’s unlocking new content. In the old days before nearly every game was online, fighters would hide extra characters for you to unlock behind accomplishing different tasks such as beating certain modes or doing certain things as specific characters. Now, new characters are unlocked differently, which is how MultiVersus handles the process of expanding your roster.

MultiVersus launched with 16 characters in the roster, but you will need to unlock the vast majority of them before you can start playing as some of your favorites like Batman, Superman, or Arya Stark. Each character is also relegated to a specific role, meaning that what character you will want to unlock first will be dependent on how you like to play the game. Whether you’re just trying to unlock your childhood favorite, or want to play the current strongest character in the MultiVersus meta, here are the best characters to unlock first.

Further reading

Best Bruiser characters

Taz

If you remember the days of Super Smash. Bros Brawl and how insane Meta Knight was, well, Taz isn’t quite broken to that level, but he’s close. Not only is he the best Bruiser character, but he’s arguably the strongest character in MultiVersus, period (at least until any balance patches come through). He’s not only crazy fast, but can output an insane amount of damage that also inflicts the Tasty status. When this status fills, any enemy will temporarily turn into a cooked chicken that can’t attack and drops healing items for Taz and his partner whenever hit.

Shaggy

Shaggy is an unexpected top-tier character, especially since he’s the one you first touch in the tutorial. All his moves are easy to understand but pack a heavy punch. He’s very balanced in all scenarios, with plenty of options close up, at range, and in the air. Plus, his super sayain-inspired power-up move gives him armor and lets him apply the Weakened status to enemies. Shaggy shares a lot of moves with other popular fighters like Ryu from the Street Fighter series, such as an uppercut or fireball (or thrown sandwich in this case), which make him very easy to pick up and play.

Best Tank character

Superman

Sure, he might be the most overpowering comic book character of all time, but Superman is not all that great in the grand scheme of things in MultiVersus. Still, he tops the list for the tank class thanks to his ability for, well, tankyness. Since nearly all his normal attacks buff him with armor, he’s quite hard to ring out, plus his side special moves give him a ton of air mobility to recover if he does get knocked off the stage. His ability to freeze enemies or projectiles is good, but not game-changing.

Wonder Woman

On the other hand, Wonder Woman offers a bit more offensive bite to the tank class. The downside to her strong moves is that many of them come with cooldowns that can leave her without options when she needs them. Her lasso is handy for helping out a teammate, as is her special to buff herself and teammates with a shield that absorbs damage. She’s quite sturdy on her own, so you won’t be knocked around. We almost consider her to be a mix of a tank and support at heart.

Best Assassin/ Mage characters

Harley Quinn

Our pick for the top assassin is none other than the brutal Harley Quinn. As you would expect from a character in this class, she can lay down a ton of damage with her attacks, but what gives her a boost in the rankings is how many movement options she has to get out of trouble. Add to that her ranged attacks, and she can be a major annoyance to opponents who are too aggressive trying to get a quick KO on her. She can also inflict a Confetti status on enemies that deal burning damage as an extra way to irritate foes.

Tom and Jerry

This pair have teamed up, in a sense, for MultiVersusbut are some of the most complex characters to get a grip on. If you can get a feel for this duo, though, they’re right up there with Harley. Tom and Jerry’s best options are their ranged attacks, which is also where the difficulty comes in since you need to be very precise and reactive to hit these shots. Just like their cartoons, this pair has some wild moves that are very hard to predict, and if you figure them out, can lead to some very creative combos and juggles.

Best Support characters

Reindog

We hate to say it, but none of the support characters are currently very high ranked in the MultiVersus tier lists out there. On one hand, it makes sense since they’re not really about getting KOs or dealing a ton of damage, but, obviously, supporting their partner. For that, the one character made explicitly for MultiVersus, Reindog, is the best one to pick. That being said, he will still lose just about any direct engagement with a character from any other class. Reindog is large, not very fast, but his real utility is his tether ability. This connects you to your partner and will let you yank them towards you, either away from danger or back onto the stage, whenever needed.

Steven Universe

Steven is all about giving status effects to enemies and your partner, but also has some nice ways to avoid damage. His most notable move is that his dodge also comes with damage absorbing bubble that can protect him and his teammates, as well as his down special actually healing his ally. Otherwise, without repeating ourselves too much, this support character isn’t going to hold his own in a fight. You can go in for a few hits, sure, but don’t try and solo any encounters.

When in doubt, experiment in training mode

While you can’t play online matches with any character until you spend either in-game or real-world money to unlock them via the store, MultiVersus is at least generous enough to let you get a feel for any character you want by unlocking the entire roster in training mode. This lets you see all a character’s moves, and let you acclimate to how they operate on a base level, before actually investing in unlocking them.

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