Picking Dudes in How Many Dudes? looks simple until your roster starts falling apart halfway through a run and you realize that having six characters who can deal damage doesn’t necessarily make a good team.
A strong roster needs some actual structure behind it. You need somebody keeping everyone alive, someone capable of taking the punishment, reliable damage dealers, and ideally at least one Dude bringing useful support or economy bonuses to the group.
And then there are characters like Cyborg Dude and Finance Dude that can become ridiculous when everything comes together.
This How Many Dudes tier list is based around version 1.0.5 and separates characters by what they’re actually good at rather than trying to force every Dude into one enormous S-to-D ranking. We’ll look at healers, tanks, DPS, utility characters, Dude Families, and finally some beginner tips for getting through your first Tier 1 run.
Keep in mind that relics matter enormously in this game. A Dude who looks mediocre by himself can become dramatically better with the right relics, while some characters practically need their innate relics before their build really starts working.
Best Dude Families in How Many Dudes
Before getting into individual characters, it’s worth looking at the six Dude Families.
Based on their characters, family relics, and overall usefulness, I’d rank them roughly like this:
| Rank | Dude Family | Overall Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Employed | S Tier |
| 2 | Action | S Tier |
| 3 | Undead | S Tier |
| 4 | Sci-Fi | A Tier |
| 5 | Fantasy | B Tier |
| 6 | Warrior | B Tier |
The bottom two are close enough that you could realistically swap Fantasy and Warrior depending on your preferred characters.
Employed
Employed takes the top spot.
Finance Dude is one of the strongest characters in the game, and the family also has access to several relics that become incredibly valuable on higher difficulties.
Not every Employed character is amazing. Electrician, Manager, and Farmer can require more specific setups, but the strength of the family’s best characters and relics more than makes up for that.
Action
Action is another excellent family because you’re getting both strong characters and some fantastic family relics.
Pirate, Explorer, and Assassin are particular standouts, while Agent, Cowboy, Caveman, and Hacker can all comfortably contribute to good builds.
Relics such as Vault, Ticking Clock, Bullet Time, and Plot Armor are also extremely useful.
Undead
If we’re talking about family synergy rather than just individual strength, Undead might be my favorite of the bunch.
Vampire, Franken, Zombie, Lich, and several other Undead characters can be extremely powerful.
Even better, their family relics are consistently useful.
Mummy is one of the weaker members, but even Mummy isn’t terrible. That makes Undead one of the safest families to invest in because there aren’t many characters I’d be unhappy to see.
Sci-Fi
Sci-Fi has some absolute monsters.
Most notably:
Cyborg Dude.
We’ll talk about him plenty later.
Psionic, Alien, Quantum, and Mutant are also strong picks, while Time Dude sits closer to the middle.
Trooper is the character that drags the family down slightly. His ability has an extremely long cooldown and generally needs considerable relic support before he feels worthwhile.
Fantasy
Fantasy is much more inconsistent.
Paladin and Warlock are excellent, while Bard, Cleric, and Ranger can perform well with proper relic support.
Wizard and Druid are much harder to get excited about.
The family relics are similarly inconsistent. Some are useful, while others simply aren’t something I’d spend precious money buying during a serious run.
Warrior
Warrior is probably the weakest overall family right now.
That doesn’t mean every Warrior is bad.
Knight and Viking are genuinely good characters. General and Samurai are serviceable too.
The problem is that characters such as Ninja, Medic, and Spartan can feel underwhelming compared with alternatives from stronger families.
Their family relic selection doesn’t do enough to compensate either, with Hidden Daggers being one of the more noteworthy options.
How Many Dudes Healer Tier List
A healer should probably be one of the first roles you secure for your roster.
Here’s how the healers currently stack up:
| Tier | Dudes |
|---|---|
| S | Franken Dude, Explorer Dude |
| A | Quantum Dude, Mutant Dude, Chef Dude, Ghost Dude |
| B | Cleric Dude, Medic Dude |
| C / Off-Healer | General, Vampire, Mummy, Necro, Dentist, Manager, Farmer, Alien, Cowboy, Agent |
There’s quite a bit of context behind these rankings, especially at the top.
Franken Dude – S Tier Healer
Franken Dude has a major advantage over conventional healers:
His healing isn’t based on normal healing or DPS scaling.
Instead, his donation-style healing is tied to Franken’s health.
This becomes particularly valuable when you encounter enemies that reduce incoming healing. Those effects can hurt conventional healing strategies considerably, whereas Franken isn’t affected in quite the same way.
His enormous survivability also helps.
Franken already has high base health and can gain regeneration, toughness, additional maximum health, and even resurrection effects through his relics.
So you’re getting a healer who can also become extremely difficult to kill.
Definitely S Tier.
Explorer Dude – S Tier Healer
Explorer Dude becomes particularly interesting when you’re aiming for long or endless runs.
The reason is Fountain of Youth.
It gives Explorer an infinite scaling mechanic for his healing, meaning his potential doesn’t simply stop at a fixed ceiling.
For a regular short run, you might not always see the full benefit. The longer your run continues, however, the more valuable that scaling becomes.
That’s enough to put Explorer alongside Franken in S Tier.
Quantum, Mutant, Chef & Ghost – A Tier
These are all extremely dependable healers.
If one appears when your roster desperately needs sustain, you shouldn’t feel bad about taking them.
Quantum Dude and Mutant Dude are particularly attractive because they’re strong characters beyond simply providing healing.
Chef Dude is another very reliable option and can comfortably serve as your main healer.
Ghost Dude rounds out the A Tier and provides enough healing performance to fit into plenty of successful rosters.
They’re not quite Franken/Explorer level for specialized long-term scaling or unusual healing mechanics, but they’re excellent nonetheless.
Cleric & Medic – B Tier
Neither of these characters is unusable.
The problem is the amount of setup they require compared with the characters above them.
With appropriate relic investment, both can absolutely do their job.
But that’s the key phrase:
With appropriate relic investment.
If I can take an A or S Tier healer that becomes effective more easily, I’d generally prefer doing that rather than spending additional resources fixing a B Tier option.
Off-Role Healers
Several characters aren’t dedicated healers but can gain healing functionality through specific innate relics.
These include:
| Dude | Healing Relic/Method |
|---|---|
| General Dude | Frilled Shoulderpads |
| Vampire Dude | Soul Reliquary |
| Mummy Dude | Anubis Statue |
| Necro Dude | Calcium Pills |
| Dentist Dude | Mouthwash |
| Manager Dude | Pizza Party |
| Farmer Dude | Healing interactions through abilities, Coffee Time & Sprinkler |
| Alien Dude | Brain Implant & Dissection Kit |
| Cowboy Dude | Bite Stick |
| Agent Dude | Bulletproof Suit |
I wouldn’t necessarily build my entire run around one of these as my only source of healing, but they’re excellent for adding extra sustain alongside your main healer.
Medical License Can Turn Any Dude Into a Healer
There’s another mechanic beginners should know about:
Medical License.
Give the Medical License trinket to a Dude and they’ll produce healing whenever they deal 100 damage to a target.
That means high-DPS characters can become surprisingly effective secondary healers.
The more damage they’re pumping out, the more opportunities they have to trigger the healing effect.
Medic has a similar concept built into his healing, except he only requires 50 damage.
If you already have one dedicated healer, putting Medical License on a powerful DPS character is one of my favorite ways to give the roster some backup sustain.
Vampire Dude Can Give Other Dudes Lifesteal
Vampire deserves an additional mention because of his ability to provide lifesteal to other Dudes.
That’s not the same thing as having a conventional healer, but it gives your roster another method of recovering health.
And when your characters are already dealing ridiculous amounts of damage, lifesteal can become very noticeable.
How Many Dudes Tank Tier List
A proper tank needs two things:
The ability to attract enemy attention and the survivability to handle it.
In other words, being difficult to kill isn’t enough by itself. For the main tank rankings, we’re looking primarily at characters who can taunt naturally or gain taunting through their innate setup.
| Tier | Dudes |
|---|---|
| S | Psionic Dude |
| A | Construction Dude, Pirate Dude, Zombie Dude, Knight Dude, Warlock Dude |
| B | Necro Dude, Lich Dude |
| C | Farmer Dude |
Psionic Dude – Best Tank
Psionic Dude currently earns the top position among dedicated tanks.
If you need somebody whose primary job is controlling enemy attention and surviving the resulting punishment, Psionic is an excellent choice.
He also comes from the already strong Sci-Fi family, making him an easy character to fit into plenty of team compositions.
Best A Tier Tanks
Construction, Pirate, Zombie, Knight, and Warlock are all strong enough to anchor a roster.
I particularly like tanks that bring something useful beyond simply being a health bar with legs.
Zombie Dude has excellent potential and belongs to the strong Undead ecosystem.
Pirate Dude comes from Action and also scores highly as a utility character.
Warlock Dude can simultaneously provide strong damage.
Those hybrid strengths become important because every roster slot matters.
Necro Dude & Lich Dude – B Tier Tanks
Necro tanks indirectly through the taunts of his Skeledudes, which makes him a little different from conventional frontline options.
Lich is also capable of tanking but has an unfortunate interaction with roster positioning.
Normally, you’ll want your tank in the final roster slot because of Caboose, which provides a substantial maximum health increase.
Lich’s Thrall mechanics make taking advantage of that setup more awkward, keeping him around B Tier despite his other strengths.
Why Your Tank Should Usually Be Last
There’s one relic every tank player should remember:
Caboose.
Caboose gives the Dude occupying the last roster position +30% maximum health.
That’s a huge survivability increase.
If you’ve got a dedicated tank and obtain Caboose, put your tank at the back unless there’s a very specific reason not to.
There is one particularly interesting exception.
Franken Dude’s healing benefits from his health rather than conventional DPS scaling. That means Franken can also benefit significantly from occupying that final position.
Roster order matters more than it initially appears.
Best Off-Tanks in How Many Dudes
Not every tank needs an innate taunt.
With Black Sheep, General Dude, Lich Dude, and other effects that can force characters into tanking situations, naturally durable Dudes can become excellent off-tanks.
Some notable options include:
Warrior: Ninja, Samurai, General, Viking, Spartan
Undead: Vampire, Franken, Mummy, Paladin, Druid
Sci-Fi: Cyborg, Time Dude, Alien, Trooper
Action: Agent, Hacker, Caveman, Assassin
These characters generally have combinations of maximum health, toughness, evasion, regeneration, lifesteal, temporary health, resurrection, or other defensive tools.
Vampire and Franken are particularly nasty survivors.
Vampire can stack lifesteal, self-healing, temporary health, and resurrection.
Franken can stack regeneration, maximum health, toughness, and resurrection.
And remember that healers are naturally decent off-tank candidates because they’re capable of restoring their own health.
How Many Dudes DPS Tier List
Now we get to the fun part.
Damage.
Every Dude can obviously deal damage, but there’s a massive difference between “can attack” and “can delete everything.”
| Tier | Dudes |
|---|---|
| S | Cyborg Dude, Finance Dude |
| A | Viking, Zombie, Vampire, Franken, Lich, Warlock, Ranger, Mutant, Caveman |
| B | Ninja, Samurai, Necro, Mummy, Wizard, Bard, Druid, Electrician, Trooper, Hacker, Assassin |
| C | Manager, Time Dude, Alien |
Characters not included here generally fall below these dedicated damage options.
Cyborg Dude – Best Dude in How Many Dudes?
If I had to pick one character as the strongest overall Dude right now, I’d go with:
Cyborg Dude.
Cyborg’s combination of damage potential, scaling, survivability, and mobility is absurd.
He has an infinite damage scaling mechanic that’s relatively easy to activate, which immediately separates him from most of the roster.
He’s not fragile either.
Cyborg has good base health and movement, while his relic options can provide additional movement speed, maximum health, toughness, stun resistance, and even self-resurrection.
You’re getting ridiculous damage without accepting the usual glass-cannon tradeoff.
That’s why Cyborg isn’t merely an S Tier DPS.
He’s arguably an S Tier character overall.
Finance Dude – S Tier DPS
Finance Dude is the other standout.
His damage can scale infinitely based around your economy, and his money-related mechanics already make him incredibly valuable even before considering the damage.
There’s obviously a catch.
You need money.
And How Many Dudes constantly gives you reasons to spend it.
Managing that balance between keeping your economy healthy and buying the relics you need is what prevents Finance from completely running away with the number-one position.
Still, when your economy is booming, Finance Dude becomes ridiculous.
Best A Tier DPS Dudes
The A Tier is packed with excellent options:
Viking Dude
Zombie Dude
Vampire Dude
Franken Dude
Lich Dude
Warlock Dude
Ranger Dude
Mutant Dude
Caveman Dude
These characters generally combine strong base damage, useful abilities, and powerful innate relic interactions.
Several also contribute significantly outside DPS.
Franken can heal.
Vampire brings lifesteal and survivability.
Warlock can tank.
Mutant is an excellent healer.
That’s exactly what I like seeing in a roster slot: strong damage without being completely one-dimensional.
Manager, Time & Alien – C Tier DPS Explained
The C Tier is slightly unusual.
Manager, Time Dude, and Alien can potentially produce very high damage, but their performance is conditional because their relevant damage relic can essentially copy another Dude’s damage.
Copy something mediocre and their performance isn’t impressive.
Copy an absurdly powerful Cyborg?
Now things get interesting.
That’s why I wouldn’t call them inherently bad characters. Their damage ceiling can be excellent; it’s just much more dependent on what’s happening elsewhere in your build.
How Many Dudes Utility Tier List
Damage numbers aren’t everything.
Some of the strongest characters are valuable because they improve your economy, reposition characters, buff allies, debuff enemies, or provide other effects that don’t neatly fit into tank/healer/DPS categories.
| Tier | Dudes |
|---|---|
| S | Finance Dude, Alien Dude, Assassin Dude |
| A | General, Paladin, Bard, Manager, Chef, Pirate, Agent, Explorer, Cowboy, Hacker |
| B | Medic, Ghost, Franken, Lich, Dentist, Farmer, Time, Caveman |
| C | Spartan, Mummy, Psionic, Trooper |
Finance being S Tier probably isn’t surprising.
Economy is incredibly important, particularly because of how Investment Dude works later in a run.
Alien and Assassin also bring exceptional utility that can justify their roster slots even when you’re not building specifically around their damage.
Best Overall Dudes in How Many Dudes
Considering performance across multiple roles rather than one specific category, a few characters stand above the rest.
Cyborg Dude
Excellent damage scaling.
Excellent survivability.
Excellent movement.
Can become completely ridiculous with the right setup.
He’s currently the Dude I’d be happiest to build a run around.
Finance Dude
Finance is simultaneously one of the best DPS characters and one of the best utility characters.
Generating extra money is already powerful.
Having damage that can scale alongside your wealth pushes him into another league entirely.
Franken Dude
Franken appears all over this tier list for a reason.
He’s an S Tier healer, A Tier DPS, useful as an off-tank, and extremely difficult to kill once his defensive relics start coming together.
He’s one of those characters who solves several roster problems at once.
Vampire Dude
Vampire brings strong damage, huge lifesteal potential, self-healing, resurrection options, and the ability to help other characters through lifesteal.
Another incredibly flexible pick.
Explorer Dude
Explorer’s infinite healing scaling makes him especially appealing for long/endless runs, while his utility is excellent as well.
If you’re planning to keep a run alive for as long as possible, Explorer becomes much more valuable than his first impression might suggest.
Best Team Strategy for Beginners
If you’re struggling to complete your first Tier 1 run, forget about creating the perfect six-Dude meta roster.
Your first priority should simply be:
Get reliable healing.
After Round 1, you’ll be offered your first Dude.
Look at their ability.
If you don’t have a healer and none of the offered characters says “Heals” in their power description, consider using a Dice to reroll.
If necessary, restarting this early isn’t a disaster either.
Starting with proper sustain makes the rest of Tier 1 dramatically easier.
Get a Second Healer or Off-Healer
Once you have your primary healer, start thinking about backup sustain.
You don’t necessarily need two dedicated healers.
One option is:
Primary healer + strong DPS holding Medical License.
Medical License becomes available as a trinket option and can turn a powerful damage dealer into an off-healer.
Now your roster has two independent sources of recovery.
On Tier 1, that’s usually enough sustain to give you considerable freedom with the rest of your character selections.
Defensive Relics Are Better Than They Look
Beginners naturally gravitate toward damage.
Big numbers are fun.
But dead Dudes deal exactly zero DPS.
Early in a run, prioritize defensive relics—particularly anything providing self-resurrection or death prevention.
Then start looking for relics that improve your healer.
Once you’ve stacked enough healing and survivability, your entire roster becomes incredibly difficult to wipe out.
You can worry about pushing ridiculous damage afterward.
Save Money for Investment Dude
This is probably one of the most important economy tricks for completing runs.
Starting during the second act, Investment Dude appears three times:
| Appearance | Round |
|---|---|
| First | 38 |
| Second | 58 |
| Third | 78 |
Investment Dude offers to take some of your cash and return double the amount later.
Invest as much as you reasonably can.
Ideally:
Invest everything.
Then do it again when he returns.
And again.
If you manage your economy properly, the final return can leave you sitting on something like 40,000–60,000 cash, giving you enough buying power to clean out a huge number of remaining relics.
Coupon Changes How You Should Spend Money
If you’re running an Employed Dude and have access to Coupon, your economy strategy becomes even stronger.
Try to avoid spending unnecessarily before the final Investment Dude cycle.
Every bit of money you spend early is money that isn’t being multiplied through your investments.
Obviously, don’t destroy your run just to save cash. If buying a relic is necessary to survive, buy it.
A dead roster doesn’t care how impressive your savings account looked.
Without Coupon, there’s another factor to consider:
Relic prices increase as the run progresses.
They begin around 500 and can reach roughly 1,101 by Round 100.
That means very cheap relics—roughly 550 or below—can actually be worth buying early because you’re avoiding the later price increase.
Pay Attention to Roster Position
Roster order isn’t cosmetic.
Certain relics specifically interact with positions.
Two especially important examples are:
Captain’s Hat – First position gets +30% Attack Rating
Caboose – Last position gets +30% Maximum Health
Put your primary DPS in the first slot when Captain’s Hat benefits them.
You can also consider placing your main healer there because many healers scale their healing from DPS.
Then put your tank in the final position to benefit from Caboose.
Again, Franken is an interesting exception because his healing scales with his health rather than traditional DPS. Increasing Franken’s maximum health can therefore contribute to both survivability and healing performance.
You Don’t Always Need to Pick the Right Fight
When choosing between encounters, don’t assume the right-side option is mandatory.
The right fight provides better money, but it’s also significantly harder.
Right-side enemies have stronger underlying stats, including more health and damage.
Early encounters such as Shotgun Turtles and the Huge Bee swarm can absolutely destroy an unprepared roster.
If the right-side fight looks dangerous, take the left.
You’ll earn less money, but you’ll still progress.
The important thing is not making this a habit. Constantly taking easier left-side encounters will hurt your economy.
Think of the left path as your emergency option.
If your roster isn’t ready for the harder encounter, there’s no shame in taking less money and keeping everyone alive.
Best Beginner Tier 1 Game Plan
If you just want a straightforward plan for your first successful run, here’s what I’d do:
Early game: Secure a main healer immediately.
Next: Find either another healer or a high-DPS character who can eventually use Medical License.
Then: Start buying defensive and resurrection relics.
Roster: Put your tank last when using Caboose and your primary DPS/healing scaler first when using Captain’s Hat.
Economy: Save aggressively for Investment Dude at Rounds 38, 58, and 78.
Encounters: Prioritize right-side fights for money when you’re strong enough, but take the left side if the alternative could wipe your roster.
Late game: Once your sustain and economy are established, start filling gaps and buying the offensive relics needed to push your damage higher.
You don’t need six S Tier characters to win.
A well-built B Tier Dude with good relics can contribute far more than an S Tier character thrown into a roster with no synergy.
Which Dudes Should You Avoid?
I wouldn’t say there’s currently a character that’s completely worthless.
There are, however, a few that require noticeably more effort.
Trooper Dude suffers from an extremely long ability cooldown and needs significant relic investment.
Electrician Dude has an interesting damage setup, but his self-stunning/knockback behavior can limit his potential unless you’re deliberately building around it with characters such as Alien or Cowboy.
Manager and Farmer are versatile but can suffer from the classic jack-of-all-trades problem: they do several things without necessarily being the best choice for any one of them.
Several Fantasy and Warrior characters similarly need more setup than the strongest alternatives.
That doesn’t mean you should automatically reroll them.
How Many Dudes is heavily influenced by the relics you’ve already found, the characters currently on your roster, and what role you’re missing.
Context matters more than a letter on a tier list.