One of the first things we like to know when we jump into a game like 20 Minutes Till Dawn is the overview of the characters it has to offer. As in many other roguelikes, you’ll find plenty of unique and interesting characters that let you experience different types of gameplay while running and shooting.
Our 20 Minutes Till Dawn character tier list will show you all 13 currently available characters and their pros and cons. Among other things, you’ll see which fighters are beginner-friendly, which are strong with certain combos, and which ones are able to obliterate everything in their path when used correctly.
Naturally, the characters in 20 Minutes Till Dawn are buffed not only by their special abilities but also by Runes and careful choice of the level-up upgrades. You’ll have to pay attention to those elements, too, when making your killer build, but we won’t get into them in this article. Still, the descriptions we provide will give you enough key info for each character on why they’re good or bad and how to play them best. If you’re new to the game, we suggest also checking out our 20 Minutes Till Dawn Beginner’s Guide.
S Tier
Shana
Shana is the first character you have unlocked once you start your 20 Minutes Till Dawn adventure. Her 4 HP solid HP pool, combined with her ability to reroll level-up upgrades, makes her one of the stronger options out there. Even though her special ability of rerolling upgrades doesn’t sound flashy, actually increasing your chances of getting the exact abilities that you want will help you create combos sooner, thus giving you a massive DPS as early as possible.
The game is full of different Synergies and natural combos, so when you use the reroll to set them up for yourself sooner, you’ll clear those hordes even on higher Darkness levels without too much trouble. Of course, there are no guarantees since level-up abilities are always randomized, and even after a reroll, the same ones can show up again. But, in most cases, you’ll be in a great position to create the gameplay you want, whether it’s effects-based (Burn, Freeze, Lightning) or summon-based.
Because Shana’s special ability doesn’t push you into any particular type of gameplay, any weapons can work with her.
Dasher
Dasher is an interesting one since she has a one-of-a-kind ability and is the only one that starts the game with only 2 HP. Turning into an invincible deer with a boost in Move Speed every 10 seconds gets you a huge advantage from minute one as it allows you to both kill many enemies and quickly pick up most if not all XP points from the ground.
As her deer form damage scales with both Summon damage and Move Speed, you can easily make a Summon build with her + pick up any Move Speed buffs you get on level-up. Due to her low starting HP, we would advise you to pick up Soul Heart bonuses to help with her survivability.
Hina
When playing Hina, you should know that there is a hidden perk. Well, it’s not entirely hidden, but it’s not explained clearly in her little bio that only mentions that you can right-click to summon a Shadow Clone that attacks nearby enemies dealing your Bullet Damage. However, that right-click move also lets you dash in the direction you’re facing.
This dash from Hina is one of the most useful special abilities in the game, as it helps you get out when mobs surround you and lets you pick up powerful drops from bosses quickly. Most importantly, her dash makes her the only character that can escape the red barrier that some elites spawn when fighting you. This may be the difference between a win and a loss in some matches.
A Tier
Abby
Abby is a great wave-clearer when used right. Her ability to empty the magazine of the equipped weapon can be weird at the start but builds up slowly as you level up. The key upgrades for her will be all that improve fire rate and reload time, with Kill Clip being the most important one. Kill Clip upgrade reduces reload time based on how many enemies you’ve killed while emptying the current magazine, which means you can get your reload time under 1 second.
Guns with plenty of ammo, like Dual SMGs and Flame Cannon, work great with Abby (also any upgrades giving you more ammo capacity). The goal of playing with her is to reduce your reload time so much that you can only shoot with your special ability (right-click).
Lilith
Lilith is extremely powerful when there are plenty of enemies going at you, as her special ability creates a spirit for each enemy killed that will hunt down the others still living. This means that she is best played with other summons and with Summon Damage boosted.
Be careful though when you get to the stage where you get to the worm-enemy stage. They are fewer in number with a higher HP pool, so you won’t have as many spirits spawning, which will affect your overall DPS. Nevertheless, you’ll still be able to dish out solid damage.
Raven
Playing with Raven is pretty straightforward as she is the character with a simple bonus – a Crow that flies around inflicting a Curse that you otherwise get through level-up upgrades. This effect is very powerful because it lets you clear plenty of enemies at once. Make sure you boost it with the Dark Arts upgrade tree; that will make your Curse more deadly.
Another smart thing to do with Raven is to pick up other on-hit effects like Freeze and Burn, which also kill enemies over time.
B Tier
Diamond
Diamond isn’t the best, but she isn’t the worst character out there, either. She doesn’t have a special ability, apart from the fact that she starts the match with 7 HP, which gives you plenty of breathing space when fighting the alien army. This big HP pool will allow you to skip some survivability level-up upgrades you would usually take and focus solely on damage.
Playing with Diamond is great if you’re a beginner still trying to figure out how things work in 20 Minutes Till Dawn.
Luna
Like manipulating enemies? Then Luna’s your hero! Every time she reloads, she creates a Black Hole in the direction you’re facing, which drags enemies in. This creates a perfect setup for weapons such as the Grenade Launcher, Crossbow, or Shotgun.
Even though the ability is solid, it doesn’t help you enough for Luna to be kicked to a higher rank in our 20 Minutes Till Dawn character tier list. Grouping enemies in one place, killing them, and picking up the piled-up XP points is practical, but getting perfect Black Holes and maneuvering around them isn’t that easy and can sometimes even work against you.
Spark
As her name says, Spark likes to cause some sparks in the shape of Lightning that hits enemies occasionally. Even though this ability isn’t too powerful on its own, we decided to put Spark in the middle of our tier list as her ability can be paired in a great way with other level-up upgrades in the game.
The important things you should chase down when playing Spark are any upgrades and boss drop buffs that let you shoot extra Lightning and a Synergy called Overload that creates explosions and helps you clear enemies.
C Tier
Katana
When Katana reloads her main weapon, she shoots out a Magic Sword that deals 22 damage. While it’s always great to have additional damage output, this ability of hers doesn’t really give you a great advantage that you can hold on to and that will allow you to clear enemies with ease.
The best way to play her is with the Summon build, where your Magic Sword will simply be another source of damage, flying around and clearing the enemy horde.
Hastur
Similarly to Katana, Hastur spawns a helper, in her case, Tentacles that spawn around the map, hitting aliens for 30 damage. Picking up other summons and building Summon Damage and Summon Attack Speed can be useful, but Hastur won’t impress you more than that.
D tier
Scarlett
Scarlett shoots out a fire wave every 3 shots, burning enemies in its path. This ability can be paired well with the Pyromancy upgrades tree for big burn damage that applies to many enemies at once.
But the main reason Scarlett is in D Tier is that we simply haven’t seen powerful effects of her special ability. She is, at best, okayish at taking out groups of enemies, but as time passes and as you go into higher Darkness levels, playing with her becomes more difficult.
F Tier
Yuki
Yuki is all the way down on our list for a couple of reasons. Firstly, her special ability lets her send out a Frost Butterfly that freezes enemies on every 6th shot. This renders many of the available weapons useless in Yuki’s hands because they can’t fire 6 shots quickly, and Frost Butterfly won’t be seen often.
Secondly, the freezing effect of her Butterfly isn’t that strong, and simply picking up the Frost Mage upgrade will let you freeze more enemies and allow you to access boosting upgrades from its tree.
Conclusion
The 20 Minutes Till Dawn tier list of characters could be built in many different ways, as they are all unique, as is the playstyle of each player. Ranking some of these characters lower doesn’t mean that you can’t beat all levels of Darkness with them or that they will remain in that position forever (updates change the balance often).
Regardless of who is your favorite character, playing and getting to know the 13 currently available ones will surely be fun. Going around and playing with different weapons and upgrades combos might make you want to create your own tier list where you’ll question some of our decisions. All of that is encouraged as this roguelike doesn’t have any definitive best or worst characters, and the final decision on which one is the most fun to play falls down on you.
If you’re interested in more games like 20 Minutes Till Dawn, make sure you check out our piece 5 Best Rougelike Games for Mobile.
Photo credits: Erabit.
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