Gunfire Reborn is an addictive FPS rogue-like that combines bizarre weapons and chaotic gunplay with a cast of unique and loveable characters that offers dozens of hours of replayability. With a wide range of characters to choose from in Gunfire Reborn, there is a character to fit everyone’s playstyle. Even with the game’s good grip on character balancing, some Heroes will always rise above the rest.
Disclaimer for Out Gunfire Reborn Character Rankings
Before we begin, we must give a disclaimer; if a Hero is ranked below the rest, it doesn’t mean they aren’t fun to play or impossible to have godlike runs. We are ranking the characters of Gunfire Reborn based on their weaknesses, strengths, and how consistent they are on the average run.
Every character in Gunfire Reborn requires a fixed amount of Ascension and Occult Scrolls to perform well, with some requiring more setup than others. We will also rank these characters based on Reincarnation 8 difficulty since any Reincarnation mode also brings extra gameplay changes that aren’t available in lower difficulties.
Reincarnation Difficulty
If you are new to Gunfire Reborn, Reincarnation is one of the highest challenge settings in the game. Reincarnation is unlocked after completing one run on Nightmare difficulty and has a total of eight levels to unlock. Each level of Reincarnation difficulty in Gunfire Reborn gets progressively harder up to level eight, where there are new changes that are only available in this mode.
In addition to these changes, the following only occurs while playing on Reincarnation 1-8:
- A Spiritual Remnant will appear at the start of each act, offering three spiritual blessings that can be purchased with Soul Essence. These spiritual blessings are extremely powerful and can alter your character’s power in various ways.
- The Bizarre Dream can be enabled to gain more effects or change your runs.
- The Phantom Peddler will randomly appear in stages, similar to the typical Peddler. They offer three enhanced weapons and one enhanced Occult Scroll that can be purchased with Soul Essence.
Reincarnation 8
Reincarnation eight adds even more challenges and changes to gameplay:
- Multiple Challenge events can appear in each act or multiple times per stage. However, only one challenge event per act will drop an Occult Scroll.
- Boss stages will always have a challenge event.
- Each challenge event grants ten extra Soul Essence.
- New Reincarnation 8 challenges have been added to the event challenge table.
Now that we have explained the difficulty setting that we will be ranking all the current characters in Gunfire Reborn let’s begin with our characters tier list. The lowest quality characters are called “C-Tier.” They then work their way up to best through the “B”, “A,” and “S” tiers.
C-Tier Characters in Gunfire Reborn
Gunfire Reborn characters this low on our tier list are hard to play for a very long time. While they may have some great strengths, their deficiencies outweigh them and make them very challenging to play with. This does not mean you should play C-tier list characters, it just means you will find a much greater challenge doing so.
Lei Luo (Aka the Tiger)
Lei Luo is among some of the more fragile characters throughout the roster of Gunfire Reborn Heros but has some amazing potential to deal some of the highest single-target burst damage in the game. We rank him this low on this list because of the lack of utility and survivability options he has in his Ascension trees and his unique spiritual blessings.
It is very challenging to pull off a long-lived Lei Luo build in Gunfire Reborn. While we have described other characters on this list as glass cannons, Lei Luo is primarily and only balanced around dealing loads of damage and nothing else.
Lei Luo’s strengths are that he has the highest base movement speed, he excels with Snipers, has built-in Lightning damage on both of his abilities, and he excels at landing critical hits better than other characters.
Lei Luo Lacks Defense and AOE
However, he lacks any defensive options in his Ascension apart from two, called Super Charge and Voltaic Aegis, and every other upgrade is loaded with increasing his Crit power, Lightning damage, or proficiency with Snipers.
He lacks significant AOE, and since his playstyle incentivizes using high crit chance Snipers, he can become overwhelmed unless he has a teammate to take the pressure off him. He is unbelievably fun to play, especially since he has the potential to be the highest damaging character, but there are so many drawbacks or requirements that require more luck than average to make him shine.
His somewhat restrictive playstyle can turn away players, but if you enjoydealing out massive amounts of damage, by all means, give him a shot.
B-Tier Characters in Gunfire Reborn
B-tier characters in Gunfire Reborn are fairly average in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. While they may not be particularly challenging to play, they are by no means OP. If you are looking for a slight challenge or just love their gameplay mechanics, these are great options for you.
Ao Bai (Aka the Dog)
Ao Bai is one of the few heavy front-line characters in Gunfire Reborn, specializing in explosions and being the only Hero that can dual-wield weapons. The dog is a very simplistic character but requires a lot of luck and parts to get any build-up and running.
For starters, the majority of Ao Bai builds in Gunfire Reborn do incorporate dual-wielding. Even if there is one Spiritual Blessing that does break the mold and offers benefits for using only one weapon, there are so many Ascensions that encourage using two guns that it’s a bit of a handicap.
Ao Bai Has a Lot of HP Yet Requires Luck
Secondly, while his strengths include having the highest amount of HP compared to other characters, explosions have more damage/AOE, and he can endlessly fire his weapons without running out of ammunition. However, he requires having luck in acquiring weapons with great stats, and he needs a lot of luck with Ascensions, or else he can be stuck waiting for his dual-wield to come off cooldown, thus losing out on a ton of buffs.
Compared to when he is dual-wielding, a ton of buffs and quality-of-life elements are introduced. He can gain damage reduction, HP, recover from lethal blows, and have life-steal, all while gaining tons of Lucky Shot Chance and ammo back.
Ao Bai is a Blast but Can be Inconsistent During a Long Run
Yet, in runs where luck isn’t on your side, and you can’t maintain your dual-wielding mod for very long, he can struggle through some encounters. But his gameplay compares to no other character in Gunfire, and you can drown your enemies in bullets equivalent to Rambo. Ao Bai is always a blast to play but has some inconsistencies with his runs that lands him relatively low on our tier list of Gunfire Reborn characters.
Nona (Aka the Red Panda)
Nona, the tenth playable Hero in Gunfire Reborn, emerges with the new Artisan and Magician DLC. As an adorable and exceptionally skilled engineer, she wields her greatest creation, the Iron Wing, to shift the tides of battle. Nona’s Iron Wing can charge fearlessly into the fray, absorbing damage like a brawler, or maintain a steadfast position as a rapid-fire turret. Moreover, Nona’s expertise extends to various mechanical tools, including a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher, while her fondness for pistols remains unparalleled.
Nona is a Fun Playable Character in Gunfire Reborn that Requires a Lot of Micromanagement
Nona is unique in her playstyle, which makes her one of the best characters in Gunfire Reborn on our tier list of veterans looking for a change of pace. Her companion Iron Wing can be very powerful, yet players are often forced to pick either a defensive or attack-focused playstyle for her companion through her skill tree. As a result, some challenges later in the game may be harder, depending on your build choice.
The greatest downside to players looking to play with a Nona build in Gunfire Reborn is the need to manage her companion. If you don’t coordinate well with Iron Wing, you will suffer. Some players find this management to be tedious, though others have no issue with it. This is, in large part, why she ended up at this point in our Gunfire Reborn characters tier list.
Xing Zhe (Aka the Monkey)
Xing Zhe is one of the two new characters introduced in the Visitors of the Spirit Realm DLC and proves to be the master of all weapons. He is one of the highest skill-cap characters in the Gunfire Reborn, requiring excellent game knowledge to perform adequately.
Compared to other Heroes, his gunplay is the least restrictive because most characters in Gunfire Reborn often highly suggest you use a handful of weapons to excel in their play style. Xing Zhe’s playstyle revolves around buffing your weapon to ludicrous levels and summoning a clone to smash your enemies.
The monkey’s greatest strengths are buffing his guns to gain up to nine extra levels and granting them more inscriptions by siphoning a portion of his enemy’s power. His Primary Ability, compared to his Secondary ability, is something left to be desired.
His Soul Strike ability can deal a good amount of AOE damage, but it scales along with the power of his weapons. If you want to have your Soul Strike deal more damage, then you must lean into buffing Essence Chain to enhance your guns.
Xing Zhe can be a Challenging Character to Play in Gunfire Reborn due to Limited Abilities Outside of Gunplay
Outside of this gameplay loop, he doesn’t offer much. The majority of his luck involves obtaining extremely good weapons so he can skyrocket their power with buffs from Essence Chain. While he does have Ascensions that offer utility, damage reduction, and helps elevate his weapons, he doesn’t have many other options than simply buffing his guns. Another Xing Zhe build in Gunfire Reborn would fall short in comparison, but he does have a lot of intricate tech to his kit, which is hard to master.
The power of Xing Zhe’s runs relies on the hands of weapon RNG more than any other character since his entire playstyle is buffing those guns. However, he is the only character that can elevate bad guns to decent power levels, but if you enjoy a primary weapon-focused character, Xing Zhe is your best pick.
Qian Sui (Aka the Turtle)
Qian Sui is the opposite of our previous entry on this list, sporting a close-quarters bulwark playstyle that makes him a tank brawler. The turtle is unique because he is one of the least weapon-focused Heroes in Gunfire Reborn. Qian Sui excels at punches, going fast, and having a barrier that makes him immune to all damage wherever he is facing.
His tanky and fast playstyle is heaps of fun, but he struggles a lot. For starters, every boss battle is fairly difficult since very few Ascensions aid in strengthening his weapons.
These limitations are present even in the best Qian Sui Turle builds in Gunfire Reborn, making him need to be in melee range to punch the boss. This gameplay loop is extremely enjoyable between stages, and he can bulldoze through hordes of enemies while ignoring any retaliation.
Without a Lot of Movement, Higher Difficulties are Challenging
However, if he runs out of his Secondary Skill and his Primary Skill is on cooldown, he can feel next to useless. He needs movement speed to punch harder, on Reincarnation 8, there are a lot of situations that he cannot survive in unless he has his barrier, and he requires more reliance on Ascensions than other characters.
What makes him extremely fun is his simplistic play style. Running into crowds and beating them all down into the dirt with your bare hands. He excels in melee combat, at times better than other Heroes, but he struggles with bosses and doesn’t have many different builds due to his lack of other options for combat.
We have put Qian Sui at the top of the B-tier. Don’t let his ranking discourage you from playing him; he is a blast to steam through levels with, especially in multiplayer.
A-Tier Characters in Gunfire Reborn
Gunfire Reborn characters this high up on our tier list are among the very best in the game. They should be fun and exciting to use. The game, of course, still offers a challenge, especially on higher difficulties, yet the strengths of these characters outweigh their weaknesses.
Qing Yan (Aka the Bird)
Qing Yan is a master at close-range combat and has immense defensive capabilities. His defensive strengths come from his Primary Skill, and he is the only Hero that uses Armor instead of Shields. Armor is significantly stronger than Shields since you don’t have to wait for a delay or avoid damage to start charging.
His Primary Skill, Leap, restores huge chunks of Armor depending on how many enemies he hits in an AOE. With this combination, he can always stay in the thick of a fight if he manages his cooldowns properly.
On top of Leap restoring his Armor from damaging enemies, its lunge also gives him invincibility frames until he hits the ground. Mastering this window of invulnerability is critical to mastering the power of Qing Yan and allows him to avoid severe burst damage. However, every Hero has drawbacks, and Qing Yan is no different.
Even as effective and powerful as having Armor is, many Occult Scrolls don’t synergize with Armor and primarily focus on Sheilds. Qing Yan also doesn’t deal insane amounts of damage since Leap is primarily used for defensive purposes, and his Secondarily skill, Cleave, deals decent damage but requires being in melee.
Qing Yan’s High Mobility is Fantastic on High Difficulties
He has no weapon restrictions, but since his Primary and Secondary skills require being in melee range to use, close-ranged weapons like shotguns or Swords are highly recommended. Overall, he has more quality of life and defensive Ascensions than offensive options.
So, he typically won’t deal more damage than Lei Luo. Yet, he truly starts to shine brighter on Reincarnation difficulty, and that’s why he is this high on our Gunfire Reborn characters tier list.
For more information on how to build Qing Yan in Gunfire Reborn, check out our accompanying guide.
Zi Xiao (Aka the Owl)
Zi Xiao is a unique character in the fast-paced game Gunfire Reborn. As the second caster-type character introduced, Zi Xiao brings a fresh playstyle to the game, significantly differing from most other characters in the game.
His primary strength lies in his ability to manipulate Occult Scrolls and influence luck, giving players an edge in turning battles in their favor. His specific and complex skill set, mainly revolving around the Astrohouse mechanic, allows for various strategic playstyles, ramping up damage output and providing temporary random bonuses to weapons.
Why Some Players Really Enjoy Zi Xiao
Zi Xiao possesses unique strengths that revolve around manipulating his luck and acquiring rare items, granting him greater control over his character build and amplifying the damage of his Primary Skill and Secondary Skills. In the realm of Gunfire Reborn, Zi Xiao stands alone as the sole character capable of rerolling and upgrading Occult Scrolls within his inventory, further enhancing his capabilities.
Zi Xiao is a great character in the late stages of the game, where he can become quite powerful. Yet, his early game is usually one of the weakest among Gunfire Reborn characters.
His Unique Playstle Makes Him Challenging for Some Players
However, Zi Xiao’s unique playstyle can also be seen as a weakness. The character requires a more strategic approach compared to other characters in Gunfire Reborn, and players need to actively manage their Astrohouse to maximize Zi Xiao’s potential. His reliance on Astroaspects and Occult Scrolls might not appeal to players who prefer a more straightforward or aggressive approach.
Despite these potential challenges, Zi Xiao’s unique abilities make him a compelling choice for players seeking to explore new strategies and tactics in Gunfire Reborn. His versatile abilities and potential for high damage output, coupled with the right weapon build and Occult Scrolls, make Zi Xiao a potent character in the hands of a skilled player. The thrill of manipulating luck and strategically utilizing Occult Scrolls may just be the kind of gameplay some players find rewarding and enjoyable.
For more information on how to play one of the best characters in Gunfire Reborn, check out our companion Zi Xiao build buide.
Crown Prince (Aka the Cat)
The Crown Prince is the best Elementalist character in Gunfire Reborn, capable of dishing out serious crowd control, all while causing fusion effects to slow his foes further or wither them away. Crown Prince’s Secondary skill is Smoke Grenade, which is one of the few abilities in the game that has a 100% chance to proc an elemental effect.
After each Smoke Grenade detonates, it leaves behind an AOE that slows and deals Corrosion damage. With the ability to always apply Decay from the Corrosion AOE, Crown Prince can easily inflict Combustion with a Fire weapon or Miasma with a Lightning weapon.
The Crown Prince Master All Elemental Damage Types
Where other Gunfire Reborn characters specialize in one element, Crown Prince is a master of all three. Not only does he effortlessly inflict elemental damage, but his Ascensions also allow him to boost his elemental power with Pryodominance, Electrodominance, or Acidominance. Along with all this elemental power, Crown Prince has the best crowd control Primary Skill in the game.
Energy Orb is Crown Prince’s Primary ability, launching a small purple orb that explodes on any enemy and freezes them in time for a few seconds. This freeze also pauses any animations, allowing you to strike weak points to land critical hits easily. Energy Orb also works on bosses and elites, allowing you to freeze them in your Smoke Grenade and unload massive amounts of elemental damage.
Being one of the most versatile and well-rounded characters in Gunfire Reborn, he is also one of the most forgiving to experiment with. As a result, there are many viable, great Crown Prince builds in Gunfire Reborn.
His Only Downside
However, the downside to the Crown Prince is his movement speed, and he doesn’t perform extremely well with non-elemental weapons. Crown Prince has the lowest base movement speed in the game, even the tank Ao Bai moves faster than the Crown Prince, and speed is key to staying alive in Reincarnation eight. If it weren’t for the lack of movement speed, the Crown Prince would easily make it into the S character tier list in Gunfire Reborn.
S-Tier Characters in Gunfire Reborn
The heroes in the S tier list section are the very best characters in Gunfire Reborn. They can excel in almost all areas of the game and are your best choices for the challenging Reincarnation 8 difficulty mode.
Tao (Aka the Bunny)
Tao is an amazing character who dominates mid-ranged combat and can pump out some somewhat consistent burst damage with both of her abilities. Typically, most characters in Gunfire Reborn have one powerful ability that popularized the majority of their builds, and their other ability has lesser results. Yet, both Toa’s Swords Out and Fatal Bloom are exceptionally strong. This gives you a lot of options when working out the best Tao build in Gunfire Reborn.
Tao’s Abilities Favor High Fire-Rate
Both Swords out and Fatal Bloom work hand and hand with Tao’s high rate of fire and ammo consumption playstyle. Even more, both abilities require having high fire rates to proc their damage. Swords Out gives her extra swords to barrage her enemies with, based on how much ammo she has spent, and Fatal Bloom can deal extra burst damage if the target is struck 12 times after the mark is applied.
Tao is One of the Strongest Gunfire Reborn Characters with Upgrades
Tao also has Ascensions that increase her Shield gain, movement speed, damage reduction, and a lot of offensive options. She also has a few weaknesses outside the standard luck involved with rouge-like games. Tao needs a high rate of fire weapons to allow both of her abilities to shine or at least a way to consume ammo for her Swords Out ability quickly. Her only other weakness is she is a class cannon as well.
However, with the right upgrades and her lack of HP or Shields becomes less of a problem once you leave the first two stages. Her Ascensions easily make up for her lack of initial heartiness. Tao is extremely strong and proves to shine no matter the build or the situation, so long as she has the right weapon. That is why she made the top spot on our Gunfire Reborn characters tier list.
For more insights into the best weapons in Gunfire Reborn, check out our companion guide.
Li (Aka the Fox)
Li is the newest character added to Gunfire Reborn and comes with Xing Zhe in the Visitors of the Spirit Realm DLC. Where Lei Luo masters Lightning, Qian Sui wields water, and Crown Prince mixes all elements, Li is the master of Fire.
Li Can Deal Insane Amounts of Fire Damage
Almost everything about her gameplay encourages you to use Fire damage or weapons for a powerful Li build in Gunfire Reborn. Her unique talents and Ascensions all incentivize dealing as much Fire damage as possible to inflict the Burning status effect on your enemies, which chain reacts into a multitude of things.
She is a Glass Cannon Character in Gunfire Reborn
Li gains more, deals more damage to those who are Burning along with gaining more Shields, and charges up energy to unleash a devastating fireball that can clear an entire room of enemies and take massive chunks out of bosses. Li is the definition of a glass cannon, but her Ascensions give her the defensive capabilities and utility to shred through dozens of enemies with waves of flame.
Like Tao, both of Li’s abilities have amazing builds. She has nearly limitless potential to deal insane amounts of damage, no matter if she focuses on a Spiritual Flame or Blazing Meteor build. If Lei Luo has the game’s highest single target damage potential, Li has the biggest AOE potential. However, she does have drawbacks, like all characters in Gunfire Reborn.
Li’s Only Downside
Li is tied in movement speed with Ao Bai but doesn’t have the HP or Shields to make up for it, causing her to be very fragile without upgrades. Even with those downsides, since she uses Fire damage in nearly everything.
She also inflicts a lot of elemental fusion effects when combining her flames with Lighting or Corrosive damage. Between Li and Tao, they are nearly tied for being the best character in Gunfire Reborn, but it all comes down to which playstyle you prefer.
Final Thoughts on the Best Characters in Gunfire Reborn
That’s our Gunfire Reborn character tier list, including the new Visitors of the Spirit Realm DLC. No matter who you decide to play, all play styles and characters are incredibly unique and a blast to play. Hopefully, somewhere in the near future, the characters who ranked lower on our
If you saw your favorite Hero in Gunfire Reborn rank lower than you hoped on our character tier list, that doesn’t mean they aren’t awesome, or they can’t have godlike runs. If you are new to the game, check out our picks for the best guns in Gunfire Reborn.
