Monster Hunter Outlanders Character Tier List (October 2026)

Monster Hunter Outlanders gives you several Adventurers to choose from, but not every character brings the same value to your team. Some are excellent at dealing damage and taking down monsters quickly, while others focus more on healing, shields, buffs, and keeping the entire squad alive during difficult hunts.

If you’re just starting out or trying to decide which characters deserve your upgrade materials, choosing the right Adventurers can make a big difference. I recommend focusing on characters who can perform well without requiring too much setup, especially if you’re still learning the combat mechanics. However, some characters become much stronger when paired with the right teammates and elemental combinations.

In this guide, I’ve ranked all the currently available characters in Monster Hunter Outlanders based on their damage potential, team support, overall usefulness, and how easily you can fit them into different team compositions. I’ll also explain what makes each character worth using, where they struggle, and which Adventurers I would prioritize when building my squad.

Monster Hunter Outlanders Character Tier List – All

MHO Best Characters

Before we get into individual character explanations, here’s how I would rank the Adventurers based on their current performance.

The characters in S Tier are my top recommendations because they offer excellent damage, valuable team abilities, or flexibility that makes them useful in different situations.

A Tier characters are also strong choices, but they generally need a particular team setup or playstyle to reach their full potential. B Tier characters aren’t necessarily bad, but they have certain limitations that make them harder to recommend over the higher-ranked Adventurers.

Keep in mind that these rankings are based on early character performance, so I expect some placements to change as we learn more about their abilities and different team combinations.

How I Ranked the Characters

I didn’t rank these Adventurers based on damage alone. In Monster Hunter Outlanders, having a character who can keep your team alive, control monsters, or increase everyone’s damage can be just as valuable as having another dedicated damage dealer.

Here are the main things I considered:

• Damage Output: How much damage a character can deal during regular combat and against stronger monsters. I also considered how difficult it is to maintain their damage potential.

• Team Support: Characters who provide healing, shields, buffs, debuffs, paralysis, or other useful effects receive additional consideration.

• Versatility: I gave higher priority to Adventurers who can fit into different team compositions instead of depending on one specific elemental setup.

• Ease of Use: A character might have excellent damage potential, but if their abilities require complicated timing or specific conditions, that can make them less practical for everyday hunts.

S Tier – Best Characters in Monster Hunter Outlanders

These are the characters I would prioritize if you’re looking to build a strong team. They offer some of the best combinations of damage, utility, and flexibility currently available.

1. Fated Adventurer

Rating: S Tier | Damage: 5/5 | Utility: 4/5 | Versatility: 5/5

The Fated Adventurer is one of the most flexible characters in Monster Hunter Outlanders, and that’s the biggest reason I would put them at the top of the tier list.

Unlike other Adventurers who are restricted to particular weapons, elements, and adventure classes, the Fated Adventurer can use different weapons, elements, and classes. This gives you plenty of freedom when building your squad.

What makes this especially useful is that you don’t have to completely change your team whenever you want to experiment with a different setup. You can adjust the Fated Adventurer to complement the rest of your squad and fill whatever role you’re missing.

Another advantage is progression. You can obtain their Insights simply by playing through the game, making it easier to develop the character without depending entirely on luck.

Why I recommend the Fated Adventurer:

• Can use different weapons and elements.

• Fits into a wide variety of team compositions.

• Offers excellent flexibility when experimenting with builds.

• Their Insights are obtainable through normal progression.

• Can adapt to different monsters and combat situations.

My verdict: If you want one character who can adapt to almost any situation, the Fated Adventurer is an excellent choice. Their flexibility makes them one of the safest characters to invest in.

2. Midori

Rating: S Tier | Damage: 5/5 | Utility: 4/5 | Versatility: 5/5

Midori is one of the strongest damage dealers in Monster Hunter Outlanders right now. If your main goal is to defeat monsters as quickly as possible, she’s definitely a character I would consider building around.

Her biggest strength comes from the Rupture mechanic, which allows her to deal impressive damage when used correctly. She also benefits from the fact that several monsters in the current content are weak to Fire, making her particularly effective against those enemies.

Another thing I like about Midori is her parry ability. It isn’t just a defensive tool; it can also deal considerable damage when you get the timing right. This gives her a nice combination of offensive pressure and defensive options.

Ideally, you’ll want to use Midori in a Fire-focused team to get the most out of her abilities. However, her damage is good enough that I wouldn’t completely rule her out when building teams around other elements.

Why Midori is worth building:

• Excellent damage potential through Rupture.

• Strong performance against Fire-weak monsters.

• Parry mechanic provides additional damage.

• Can still perform well outside dedicated Fire teams.

• Great choice for players who prefer aggressive combat.

My verdict: Midori is one of my favorite offensive recommendations in this tier list. If you want a powerful damage dealer who can carry a large part of your team’s offensive pressure, she’s absolutely worth investing in.

3. Arkaya

Rating: S Tier | Damage: 4/5 | Utility: 5/5 | Versatility: 5/5

Arkaya might not be the first character you think about when looking for maximum damage, but don’t underestimate what he brings to a team.

His biggest advantage is his ability to provide shields. These shields can stack, giving your squad an additional layer of protection during difficult fights. This is particularly useful if you’re still learning monster attack patterns or struggling to survive longer encounters.

Arkaya also brings something valuable through his Ultimate, which grants Affinity to the team. This can improve your squad’s overall offensive performance while he continues providing defensive support.

What makes him even better is that he isn’t limited to just one particular team composition. You can slot him into different squads without needing to rebuild everything around his abilities.

Why Arkaya is worth building:

• Provides stackable shields for better survivability.

• Ultimate grants Affinity to the entire team.

• Offers useful defensive and offensive support.

• Deals respectable damage despite being a support-focused character.

• Works well with different team compositions.

My verdict: I would strongly recommend Arkaya, especially if you’re struggling with survivability. He provides enough team value to remain useful even when you’re building around powerful damage dealers like Midori.

A Tier – Strong Characters Worth Building

A Tier characters are still excellent choices. Some of them can even outperform S Tier Adventurers in the right situations. The main difference is that they usually need a more specific setup or have certain limitations that prevent them from being universally useful.

4. Pepper

Rating: A Tier | Damage: 4/5 | Utility: 4/5 | Versatility: 4/5

Pepper is an interesting character because she has some useful combat options, even though changes to her kit and Heavy Bowgun damage have affected her overall ranking.

Her airborne combo is one of the most interesting parts of her gameplay. It allows her to avoid incoming attacks while continuing to deal damage. Against certain monsters, this can be extremely useful because you can stay airborne and avoid several attacks that would otherwise interrupt your damage.

Her Ultimate is another reason to consider using Pepper. It applies Paralysis, giving your team an opportunity to attack while the monster is unable to move normally.

However, the removal of her dodge and the reduction in Heavy Bowgun’s overall damage make her less impressive than before.

Why Pepper is worth building:

• Airborne combos provide useful damage opportunities.

• Can avoid certain monster attacks while airborne.

• Ultimate applies Paralysis.

• Provides additional crowd-control opportunities.

• Useful against monsters where aerial combat is effective.

My verdict: Pepper is still a solid character, particularly if you enjoy ranged combat and want some additional control over monsters. However, I wouldn’t prioritize her over Midori or Arkaya right now.

5. Luka

Rating: A Tier | Damage: 5/5 | Utility: 4/5 | Versatility: 4/5

Luka is a strong Lightning Bow damage dealer who becomes available relatively early in the game. This makes him a good option for players who want a reliable character without waiting too long to build their team.

His biggest strength is his damage potential. With proper positioning and stamina management, Luka can consistently deal impressive damage while maintaining pressure on enemies from a distance.

However, you’ll need to pay attention to how you position yourself during fights. Simply attacking whenever you get the opportunity won’t always give you the best results. Managing stamina and maintaining the right distance from monsters are important parts of playing Luka effectively.

Why Luka is worth building:

• Excellent Lightning damage potential.

• Available early in the game.

• Strong ranged damage capabilities.

• Performs well with proper positioning.

• Good option for players who enjoy Bow gameplay.

My verdict: Luka is a character I would definitely consider building, especially during early progression. His damage potential is excellent, but you’ll need to learn his positioning and stamina requirements to get the most out of him.

6. Keres

Rating: A Tier | Damage: 5/5 | Utility: 5/5 | Versatility: 3/5

Keres is a particularly strong choice if you’re planning to build a team around the Dragon element.

Her entire kit revolves around increasing Dragon damage, which makes her extremely valuable in the right elemental composition. When paired with the appropriate teammates, she can contribute significant damage while also improving the overall effectiveness of the squad.

One of her most useful abilities is Evasive Fang. This ability allows Keres to become invulnerable during its execution, giving her an aggressive playstyle without exposing herself to every incoming attack.

The main drawback is her limited versatility. Since so much of her value comes from Dragon-focused bonuses, she isn’t quite as flexible as characters like Arkaya or the Fated Adventurer.

Why Keres is worth building:

• Excellent damage potential in Dragon teams.

• Provides valuable Dragon damage bonuses.

• Evasive Fang offers invulnerability.

• Strong aggressive combat options.

• Can contribute considerable damage despite her Disruptor role.

My verdict: If you’re interested in building a Dragon-focused team, Keres is an excellent investment. Just remember that her effectiveness depends heavily on having the right teammates.

7. Madelyn

Rating: A Tier | Damage: 4/5 | Utility: 5/5 | Versatility: 4/5

Madelyn is one of those characters whose value becomes more noticeable when you’re struggling to keep your team alive.

Her healing abilities make her a useful safety net, particularly for beginners who are still learning how to avoid monster attacks. Instead of relying entirely on dodging and perfect positioning, you have additional healing support to help you survive longer encounters.

However, Madelyn isn’t limited to healing. Her Ultimate can also provide a damage boost depending on her Spore level, giving her some additional offensive value.

Since healing is useful in almost every team composition, you don’t need to build your entire squad around Madelyn to benefit from her abilities.

Why Madelyn is worth building:

• Provides useful healing for the squad.

• Helps beginners survive difficult encounters.

• Ultimate provides a damage boost based on Spore level.

• Fits into different team compositions.

• Offers both defensive and offensive utility.

My verdict: I would recommend Madelyn if you prefer a safer playstyle. She might not compete with dedicated damage dealers, but her healing can make a huge difference during longer hunts.

8. Raya

Rating: A Tier | Damage: 4/5 | Utility: 5/5 | Versatility: 4/5

Raya is another character who brings a lot of value through team support rather than relying entirely on personal damage.

Her main strengths come from her traps and monster suppression abilities. These tools can help control encounters and create better opportunities for your teammates to deal damage.

What makes Raya particularly interesting is her Fiery Inhibitor Insight. This can increase the Fire damage monsters receive, making her a valuable addition to Fire-focused teams.

Since Fire teams are particularly effective in the current content, Raya’s ability to increase incoming Fire damage gives her a useful role in those compositions.

Her Insights are also relatively easy to obtain, which makes developing her a more practical option.

Why Raya is worth building:

• Provides useful traps and monster suppression.

• Can increase Fire damage taken by monsters.

• Works particularly well with Fire-focused teams.

• Offers valuable support during monster encounters.

• Relatively accessible Insights.

My verdict: Raya is a great support option if you’re building around Fire damage. I wouldn’t necessarily use her in every team, but her elemental support makes her a strong choice for the right composition.

B Tier – Situational Characters

The characters in B Tier aren’t useless. In fact, some of them have impressive abilities and can deal considerable damage. However, their performance is generally more dependent on specific conditions, timing, or team setups.

I would consider building these Adventurers if you enjoy their playstyles or already have a team that takes advantage of their strengths.

9. Rhodes

Rating: B Tier | Damage: 4/5 | Utility: 4/5 | Versatility: 4/5

Rhodes has an interesting position in the current character lineup because he’s the only character with the Ice attribute.

This gives him some unique value when you’re looking for an Ice-focused option. He also has surprisingly good mobility for a Hammer user thanks to his Skating Charge state.

However, his damage potential comes with a few requirements. You’ll need to follow several steps to reach his maximum damage output, and consistently targeting a monster’s head is an important part of getting the best results.

This can make him harder to use effectively, especially when you’re fighting monsters that move around frequently.

Why Rhodes is worth considering:

• Currently the only Ice attribute character.

• Good mobility for a Hammer user.

• Skating Charge provides additional movement options.

• Can deal respectable damage with proper execution.

My verdict: Rhodes is worth considering if you need an Ice character, but I wouldn’t make him my first priority. His damage potential is there, although getting consistent results requires more effort.

10. Pyro

Rating: B Tier | Damage: 5/5 | Utility: 4/5 | Versatility: 3/5

Pyro is one of the more interesting characters because his damage potential is actually very high. The problem is that getting that damage consistently isn’t particularly easy.

His gameplay revolves heavily around parrying enemy attacks and using Fortifying Slash at the correct moment. If you can understand monster attack patterns and consistently time your parries, Pyro can deal impressive damage.

However, this playstyle requires practice. You can’t simply rely on his abilities without understanding when to use them.

Another issue is that monsters are frequently controlled or suppressed during certain encounters. This can reduce your opportunities to use the mechanics that make Pyro particularly powerful, forcing you to rely more on normal Charged Slashes.

Why Pyro is worth considering:

• Excellent damage potential.

• Fortifying Slash rewards successful parries.

• Strong offensive capabilities with proper timing.

• Can be effective against monsters whose attack patterns you’ve learned.

My verdict: Pyro has the potential to perform much better than his current placement suggests. However, I would only recommend prioritizing him if you’re comfortable with parry-based combat.

11. Ryunosuke

Rating: B Tier | Damage: 4/5 | Utility: 4/5 | Versatility: 4/5

Ryunosuke has a useful combination of offensive and supportive abilities, but his biggest weakness is how much setup he needs before reaching his full potential.

His kit involves three separate actions that need to be activated correctly. Once you’ve completed the setup, he can deal decent damage and provide several useful benefits to the squad.

His Squadmate Skill and Ultimate are particularly valuable because they can increase Fire damage, heal the team, and provide ailment status immunity.

This makes him more of a utility-focused character rather than someone you would pick purely for personal damage.

Why Ryunosuke is worth considering:

• Can increase Fire damage.

• Provides healing through his abilities.

• Ultimate grants ailment status immunity.

• Offers useful team support.

• Can deal respectable damage after completing his setup.

My verdict: Ryunosuke is a decent choice if you want additional support in your Fire team. However, his setup requirements make him less convenient than characters who can provide immediate value.

12. Luxheart

Rating: B Tier | Damage: 3/5 | Utility: 4/5 | Versatility: 4/5

Luxheart is mainly useful because of his ability to help your team deal more damage against Dazed monsters.

His Squadmate Skill and Ultimate provide reliable sources of Daze, which can work particularly well with the Dazzling Display Insight. This Insight increases the damage monsters receive while they’re Dazed.

The idea is simple: use Luxheart to apply Daze and allow your teammates to take advantage of the additional damage opportunity.

However, his personal damage isn’t particularly impressive compared to higher-ranked characters. His value depends more on how effectively your team can use the Daze mechanic.

Why Luxheart is worth considering:

• Provides reliable Daze application.

• Works well with Dazzling Display Insight.

• Can increase team damage against Dazed monsters.

• Offers useful crowd-control support.

• Can complement teams built around exploiting monster weaknesses.

My verdict: Luxheart is a situational support character. If you’re building around Daze and want to take advantage of additional damage windows, he can be useful. Otherwise, I would prioritize more flexible characters.

13. Ouyang Varen

Rating: B Tier | Damage: 3/5 | Utility: 4/5 | Versatility: 4/5

Ouyang Varen is a Water damage dealer who can perform reasonably well, but his biggest problem is the amount of maintenance required to keep his damage output consistent.

His enhanced skill damage requires three Sharpness stacks. While this sounds manageable, maintaining those stacks during combat can become frustrating.

You can lose your Sharpness stacks if you stop attacking or fail to block successfully. This means you’ll need to remain aggressive and pay close attention to your defensive timing.

When everything works correctly, he can deal decent Water damage. However, the requirements make him less convenient than other damage dealers.

Why Ouyang Varen is worth considering:

• Provides Water damage.

• Can deal enhanced skill damage with Sharpness stacks.

• Offers respectable damage when properly maintained.

• Has a useful role in Water-focused team compositions.

My verdict: Ouyang Varen isn’t a bad character, but I find his Sharpness requirements a little too demanding. He’s worth experimenting with if you enjoy his playstyle, although I wouldn’t prioritize him over the higher-ranked Adventurers.

Unranked Characters

Some characters are currently difficult to rank because there isn’t enough reliable information about their overall performance. Rather than placing them in a tier without proper testing, I would keep them separate until their abilities and team potential become clearer.

Haze

Rating: Unranked

Haze is currently unranked because there’s not enough information to confidently compare their damage, team utility, and overall effectiveness against the other Adventurers.

I would wait until we have a better understanding of their abilities and how they perform in different team compositions before recommending an investment.

Freya

Rating: Unranked

Freya is also unranked for now. Without enough information about her combat performance and team contributions, placing her in S, A, or B Tier wouldn’t be particularly useful.

I’ll keep her separate until there’s enough information to make a fair comparison.

Which Characters Should You Prioritize?

If you’re still deciding which Adventurers to build first, I would focus on characters who offer the most value without requiring an overly specific team composition.

Here are my recommendations:

If you’re more interested in dealing damage, I would start with Midori or Luka. If you want a character who can support almost any team, Arkaya is an excellent choice.

For beginners, I particularly recommend having at least one reliable support character. It can make difficult hunts much easier, especially when you’re still learning how to deal with different monster attacks.

That’s my current Monster Hunter Outlanders character tier list. While Midori, Arkaya, and the Fated Adventurer are my top recommendations, I wouldn’t completely ignore the characters in A and B Tier.

Your team composition matters a lot in this game. A character who looks average on their own can become extremely useful when paired with teammates who complement their abilities. For example, Keres becomes much more valuable in a Dragon-focused team, while Raya can provide excellent support for Fire damage compositions.

My biggest recommendation is to avoid spending all your resources on a single damage dealer. Having a balanced team with good damage, support, and survivability will make your progression much smoother.

I’ll also keep an eye on character balance changes and new discoveries, as these could change the rankings considerably.