There are 19 playable characters in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, plus the two extra forms of Mysterious Construct (Golem) that can be switched at any time. This guide will provide you with a tier list of the best characters in the game, including their main strengths and weaknesses.
Top Characters Tier List for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
| Tier | Heroes |
|---|---|
| S | Rauru, Qia, Mysterious Construct (One-Handed), Zelda |
| A | Ardi, Calamo, Mineru, Mysterious Construct (Spear) |
| B | Agraston, Raphica, Cadlan, Ronza, Pinnec |
| C | Typhan, Quino, Lago, Vence, Mysterious Construct (Two-Handed) |
| D | Sholani, Braton, Pastos |
S-Tier Characters
| Heroes | Features |
|---|---|
| Rauru | Produces vast AoE coverage with incredibly powerful light-based sweeps and combos, and has Ultrahand grabs for projectiles. Easy to learn and straightforward hero with strong moves and boss damage, and great for Sync Strikes, such as double light beams with Zelda. |
| Qia | Has an incredible speed and mobility, using her air-swim dashes and flowing combos for fast repositioning and chases. Very effective for crowd control and elemental synergy with Water abilities, freezing enemies with Hydrant + Freeze Emitter combo. |
| Mysterious Construct (One-Handed) | Extremely versatile hero who can switch weapons mid-combo, but be sure to mostly use its one-handed sword for shredding hordes. Able to integrate Zonai devices, use Flurry Rush dodges, and storm enemies with elemental fruitbombs. |
| Zelda | Has a wide AoE and time rewind abilities for multi-hits, mobstunning and scaling combos. You can unlock her early on and use her Syncs, such as bubble-bursts with Qia, for crowd control and weak-point damage. |
A-Tier Characters
| Heroes | Features |
|---|---|
| Ardi | Delivers strong Lightning stuns that paralyze enemies and has some very fast combos that absolutely shred enemies weak to the Water element. Has a short sword range, which demands close play, and can be a little weaker than Qia or Zelda without the elemental synergies. |
| Calamo | Use this hero’s explosive fruit barrages for breaking out a real chaos while clearing hordes, but don’t forget about all the speed and mobility boosts. Can often be found with low HP, and its fruit RNG limits Calamo’s consistency, especially when battling bosses. |
| Mineru | Summons massive Zonai mechs that provide AoE clears and set up traps, making Mineru an expert in zoning and crowd control. Can have a pretty slow and detached startup, and often feels distant from action. |
| Mysterious Construct (Spear) | Very effective for its long-range spear pokes that easily hit flying enemies, and has an ability to swap forms when needed. Not as good as the one-handed version, which is far more effective against hordes, and the form swaps also take time, disrupting the flow of the gameplay. |
B-Tier Characters
| Heroes | Features |
|---|---|
| Agraston | Has access to the boulder rolls, which can be used either for traversing the map or clearing hordes, and his fire summons easily melt ice enemies. Since Agroston uses a two-handed weapon, he can often be slow on attacks, which leaves him vulnerable. |
| Raphica | Here’s another strong hero against flying enemies, using her aerial wind vortexes that can be used in elemental combos. Use her mostly in the ranged position, as she can be quite vulnerable and too aim-dependent when she’s fighting up close. |
| Cadlan | This spear wielder delivers some very agile pokes that can reach distant enemies for consistent damage. Doesn’t have any unique spear skills like Qia, so keep Cadlan only as an alternative but not as a priority. |
| Ronza | Her heavy timed swings can seriously boost power in the late game, making her a powerhouse for endgame content. But you have to be careful with her Rhythm mechanic, which punishes mistiming and makes you slow. |
| Pinnec | This birdy can be great for flight sprinting and reaching, especially when using its Vehement Charge skill. Not as effective as Raphica when dealing with flying enemies, but can still be useful mid-game. |
Note that the remaining eight characters are viable only in the early game, as they’re much weaker and slower than the ones listed above.
