So I've put in a good number of hours in This War of Mine and you know, I'm trying to figure out what I want to do next with this game. But just for fun, it's time for my complete tier list of all (adult, obviously) survivors of the game.
The 15 survivors will be divided into 6 tiers, and survivors in the same tier are within the same strength scale. I've also included my reasons as to why I place them there.
Anyway, some notes before starting:
1. This list takes both theoretical and actual strength into account. Since I haven't bothered much with custom characters, no, I won't include them.
2. Survivors from The Little Ones DLC are marked with an asterisk (*).
3. This list only ranks the survivors gameplay-wise. Character lore/story is not factored in.
4. This list is not a perfect system. Everyone has their own different playstyles, so perspective will differ depending on that. No one is inherently right.
5. This is just a matter of opinion. Feel free to disagree, but don't take everything too seriously. It's an opinion, after all.
6. Lastly, this is done just for fun. I'm not trying to sound like an expert who judges other people.
So, without further ado, let's get started.
Tier 1 (Godlike):
Basically, these survivors are almost perfect, and deserve to be worshipped. They're, in other words, so game-changing that any weaknesses they might have are virtually cancelled out.
1. Katia: Any trading bases without her are pretty much 75% less effective, and she's still powerful in other playstyles. Add to that her decent 12 backpack capacity, you've got an awesome money-maker. And while not factored in, you can use her to literally cheat the game. She's just that terrifying.
2. Boris: Many people are so bothered about his sluggish speed, they all have overlooked this fact. He has 17 backpack slots AND high combat skills. That just makes him an extremely powerful survivor, as the only one who is good (good, not just decent) at both scavenging and fighting. His speed is only relevant in places like Sniper Junction (where slow speed = death), and while his very high morality prevents him from killing too many bad guys, you can just use another survivor to do the really easy part. Simply put, he's an awesome 2-in-1.
Tier 2 (Extraordinary):
These survivors are also very impressive in their own right, but they would really love a slight buff to become godlike. Nevertheless, you'll want them, cherish them, and if they die, mourn their deaths.
3. Marko: He's worse than Boris, as the point of scavenging is to bring back as much supplies as possible, not to stash them in one spot as quickly as possible. However, as the only jack-of-all-trades in the game that is actually good at something (scavenging, in particular), he's understandably the fan-favorite.
4. Roman: He has everything a good fighter needs to have: stone-cold attitude, flawless backstabs, high mobility, large HP pool, the ability to lure enemies to their deaths, and very high damage output in general. Since all other 14 survivors lack at least one of them, he's simply the go-to guy for killing evil people. Not only that, but he can also guard your shelter twice as effectively as most other survivors. He would even enter godlike territory, if combat weren't so easy. Anyone except Cveta can pull off an instant kill, and alcoves are scattered virtually everywhere. This means with good enough strategy, one would expect Anton to slaughter the entire Military Outpost effortlessly.
Tier 3 (Solid):
These survivors are good, but not as game-changing as those in the 2 previous tiers, mostly because they usually take a more supportive role. Still, have them for long enough, and you'll notice the dramatic improvements in your shelter.
5. Marin: Another survivor worth a slot in the first tier. He can be amazing if you happen to have him right from the start. His materials-saving skill can really boost your crafting speed, so you will reach near self-sufficiency earlier, thus depending less on scavenging and trading. Unfortunately, much like every other resources-saving survivors, he fares worse if he joins halfway through - much worse, since by that point you'll have built pretty much every workshop available, rendering him mostly redundant.
6. Bruno: His discount on cooked meals makes the early game much less painful, especially if you cannot get the improved stove early for some reasons. But that's not all. The moonshine trading path is the most rewarding, and he discounts on both moonshine and pure alcohol. And though not intended, he can make medications using half the amounts of ingredients everyone else needs. He's a must-have in any trading bases, but unlike Katia, he's of much less use in other playstyles.
7. Irina*: Despite general beliefs, she's not at all a late-game survivor. You can usually have the vegetable garden in the middle of the second week, and that's when she starts being useful. She saves a lot of water, much more than Bruno does. However, unlike him, she only saves water, and nothing else. She'd be better if she could also use less water when growing herbs, but that's left out of the game for some unknown reasons, and probably unintentionally.
8. Arica: Her ability to emit less noise while running and doing some other actions during scavenging, coupled with her high combat skills, makes you think at first that she's the best choice for combat. That is, until you realize that it effectively prevents her from using sounds to bait enemies to her place. Baiting an enemy to an alcove and strike them from there is by far the best way to do combat, but with Arica, you're forced to run to their back and stab them, which is much more risky, even with her talent. Chopping furniture with a hatchet is possible, but the very loud noise can attract more than one person, which you definitely won't like at all. She's excellent in places that require little to no luring, but otherwise she's not as good, and maybe even terrible.
Tier 4 (Meh):
These survivors are simply average. They can do their jobs decently if needed, but if there are other better survivors, they'll be less useful, and can be outright expendable.
9. Pavle: He's good in that he's better than other 12-slot survivors at scavenging, and also better than other average fighters at combat, both due to his fast speed. Which means in a group full of average survivors, he's arguably the best, and that's why he's the highest ranked survivor in this tier. Otherwise, he's decent at everything, and therefore just decent.
10. Christo*: He spends less time sleeping during the day than anyone else, so he's the one in case of emergency. However, such situations shouldn't exist in the first place with the better survivors. Moreover, if there are better survivors, he may be the one sleeping at night, nullifying his skill. Other than that, just another jack-of-all-trades.
11. Zlata: Her decent 12-slot carrying capacity is the only good thing about her. Her morale-boosting aura, sadly, only works if the others' morale is below-average, and doesn't help improve their moods to 'content'. And low morale can be easily prevented with sufficient good deeds and good health anyway, so her talent doesn't come into play most of the time.
Tier 5 (Detrimental):
These survivors are more drawbacks than advantages. They'll only play a role if everyone else in their group drops their health really badly for some random reasons. And, because these survivors are most likely worse than the others, that will rarely ever happen.
12. Henrik*: To be honest, I feel that the cigarette trading path is much worse than the moonshine one. Cigarettes are very cheap, unless it's the tobacco crisis, or you're trading in the Military Outpost. The crisis is not guaranteed to happen, and the trader at the Military Outpost also favors booze, so you're better off bringing moonshine and/or pure alcohol instead. Another glaring downside about him is that unlike other smokers, he goes through 4 cigarettes a day, instead of 3. Because of this, he can even eat a lot into his own product, making him less effective than he should.
13. Emilia: Out of all survivors, she's the most resistant to depression. That's not necessarily good or bad, since it also prevents her from becoming content more easily. And with a modest backpack, and average combat skills, she's not at all remarkable.
14. Anton: His ability to catch rats faster using animal traps is mostly limited and unclear. He's still somewhat of use, but he only has a tiny backpack, low combat skills and rather slow running speed, making him the second worst survivor in the game.
Tier 6 (Garbage):
Originally, this list only had 5 tiers, but I created an entire standalone tier, just for...
15. Cveta: She has her own tier, and that's enough to show that she's terrible, and nothing short of a deadweight. Her backpack is ridiculously small, and even worse, she cannot pull off an instant kill under any circumstances. This means she can't participate in combat at all, and if you want to get her through a fight alive, expect a few Alt-F4s. Her ability requires a $5 DLC to actually be meaningful. But the worst fact of all is that...
...even with that DLC, she's still useless.
Really, she can form a bond with an orphan faster, and can cheer depressed children more effectively. But literally anyone, even the most cold-blooded survivors, can form that bond with time. And by having that bond, all you get gameplay-wise is that the adult and the child can share a bed, and both are more affected by each other's statuses and actions. That's not much at all, and you can make all adults in your group pay equal attention to the child, without any drawbacks. And secondly, preventing low morale (especially a child's) is easy and effortless, making her talent, just like Zlata's, redundant.
Obviously, my list is not perfect, so I'd really appreciate any constructive comments. You can argue about a survivor's rank, or give your own entire tier list.
