The new Street Fighter: Duel has made its way to the western market, allowing us to download and install it on our PCs with BlueStacks and take a look at everything it has to offer. And as is usual with most gacha RPGs, one of the most prevalent aspects in this game is the character roster, which is composed of many of the series’ most iconic fighters, which you can freely recruit and use to create powerful squads.

Every character in Street Fighter: Duel has their own stats, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses, and finding out which ones are worth keeping around and which are better off avoiding will quickly become an important part of your progression in this game. Particularly since it’s very difficult to obtain top-tier characters from the gacha, this knowledge will help you save a lot of time while also giving you insights that will be pivotal if you’re rerolling in Street Fighter: Duel.

With that being said, we’re going to explore some of the strongest characters in Street Fighter: Duel, and arrange them into a tier list that you can use as a quick reference. Moreover, further down on this article, we’ll also be taking a closer look at the characters in our tier and give a more detailed explanation on why each of them have earned their respective spots on the list. The idea here is to not only help guide your rerolling efforts, but also to help you understand what makes a good character in this game, so that you can hopefully put together your own tier lists in the future.

Let’s begin!

The Best Street Fighter: Duel Tier List

1. S Tier
2. A Tier
3. B Tier
4. C Tier

As is the case with most of these gacha RPGs, the main way to obtain new characters in SF: Duel is through the gacha system. In a nutshell, you need to save up premium currency in order to purchase pulls from the gacha, which will always result in a randomized hero. The bad part about this is that the highest rarity of heroes is always the least likely to result from pulls. Moreover, the odds of getting SPECIFIC high rarity heroes is even lower, often dipping far below 1% chance per pull.

It goes without saying that it might be a long, long time before you get a powerful rare hero from the gacha, which is why most users would often opt to reroll in Street Fighter: Duel and other gacha games, in order to try and summon top tier heroes from the very beginning. The exact process for rerolling varies per game, and we have detailed the method for this game in our Street Fighter: Duel reroll guide. In a nutshell, they all revolve around the concept of starting a new game, progressing until you can get your first free summoning, and then restarting your progression as many times as necessary until you get one or two top tier units.

There are three main banners in Street Fighter: Duel as of the game’s launch, each of which offers different odds of obtaining certain characters. Here’s how each of these banners work:

• Standard Recruit: The standard summoning banner with the base rates for all rarities:

• • 4.61% chance to obtain an A Grade fighter, with 0.019% to 0.197% odds of resulting in a specific character in this rarity.
  • 43.7% chance to obtain a B Grade fighter, with 4.855% odds of resulting in a specific character in this rarity.
  • 51.69% chance to obtain a C Grade fighter, with a 4.699% odds of resulting in a specific character in this rarity.

• Faction Recruit: This banner will result only in characters of a specific faction (Wind, Thunder, Flame, Master, or Infernal):

• • The total odds of this banner are the same as the above (4.61% for A Grade; 43.7% for B Grade, and 51.69% for C Grade.
  • The lower variety of characters of heroes in this banner means that the odds of obtaining specific characters are higher: 0.555% for A Grade; 14.566% for B Grade, and 12.922% for C Grade.

• Friend Recruit: This banner uses Heart Gems obtained from friends to perform summonings. The odds are the same as the ones in the Standard Recruit banner.

From these numbers we can extrapolate that the best way to reroll in Street Fighter: Duel is through the Standard Recruit banner, UNLESS the Faction Recruit banner has a hero that you want. In the case of the latter, you should always try to pull on the Faction Recruit banner, though this one requires a specific type of currency (Faction Coins) instead of Gems. As such, the banner for rerolling in this game will almost always be the Standard Recruit variant.

Nevertheless, especially if you’re thinking of rerolling in Street Fighter: Duel, knowing which are the best characters in the game will be pivotal to your success. Luckily, we’ve assembled a list of the best (and worst) characters in the game, so you know exactly who to aim for and who to ignore. 

Here’s the breakdown:

S Tier Heroes

Name	Grade	Faction
Poison	A Grade	Thunder
Juri	A Grade	Infernal
Guile	A Grade	Wind
M. Bison	A Grade	Infernal

A Tier Heroes

Name	Grade	Faction
Gen	A Grade	Master
E. Honda	A Grade	Thunder
C. Viper	A Grade	Flame
Chun Li	A Grade	Wind

B Tier Heroes

Name	Grade	Faction
Dan	B Grade	Thunder
Ibuki	B Grade	Wind
Sakura	B Grade	Thunder
Ken	B Grade	Flame

C Tier Heroes

Name	Grade	Faction
Fei Long	A Grade	Flame
Dee Jay	A Grade	Flame
Dudley	A Grade	Flame
Cody	B Grade	Wind

As is expected, the meta in this game leans heavily towards A Grade fighters. However, this rarity isn’t the be-all-end-all, particularly since there are also a lot of these fighters that can be quite mediocre, as observed from our entries in the C Tier. While it’s easy to be deceived by a character’s rarity, they almost always warrant taking a closer look to discern whether or not a character is worth keeping around.

With that being said, in the next section, we’ll be examining the characters mentioned in the tier list above in greater detail to learn what makes them so good, and in the case of the C Tier, why you should avoid these heroes altogether.

S Tier Street Fighter: Duel Heroes

These characters are the absolute best at what they do. They are capable of carrying the entire team on their backs without much support or the need to have any other companions supplementing their kits. If you’re rerolling in Street Fighter: Duel, these are the fighters you should be aiming for.

Poison

We first get a glimpse of Poison’s power in the tutorial, when we get to meet her in combat. 

In a nutshell, Poison is a very heavy hitter, specializing in inflicting massive damage with her skills, both in single-target as well as AoE modalities. Moreover, her kit gives her access to two combo skills, in the #2 and #3 slots, giving her ample versatility for playing in any of these slots in your team. If the player wants her to inflict damage to several enemies, then they can start by using her Super skill, or set her in the #2 slot. However, if you want her to do the most damage, then place her in the #3 slot and let her Thunder Whip do the heavy lifting.

Oh and Poison also has a nice 15% critical damage bonus when fighting against male fighters.

Juri

This powerful character is a self-sufficient fighter capable of not only dishing out tons of damage to both groups as well as individual enemies, but also of buffing herself to increase her own survivability in combat.

Just like Poison, Juri has a versatile skill set that lets the player choose between single-target or AoE damage as the situation demands. Moreover, while her Super skill doesn’t do any direct damage, it causes Juri to enter an empowered state, rendering herself immune to control effects. Moreover, when in this empowered state, her combos and Super gain additional effects that allow her to dish out a lot of damage while also improving her own stats. 

Of particular note here is her Super skill which, when used while Juri is already empowered, causes her to perform a powerful AoE attack that also steals critical rate from affected enemies and adds it to her own stats. Moreover, her #1 combo skill, while dealing heavy damage to a single enemy, also buffs her own dodge for a duration, making her much more difficult to take down.

Guile

Another self-sufficient fighter that, instead of buffing himself with his skills, can debuff the enemy, making them more vulnerable to follow-up attacks.

Guile has a balanced kit of AoE and single-target skills, though he leans slightly more towards the former. His skills not only deal a lot of direct damage, but can also debuff the enemy by lowering their defenses. However, in the case of his passive skill, it gives his ranged damage moves a 30% chance of granting him the Saber buff, which allows his subsequent ranged attacks to ignore 7% of the enemy’s defense stat. This buff can stack up to 5 times which, considering that Guile has a pretty beefy ranged attack repertoire, means that he’ll have it maxed out at most times.

M. Bison

Arguably the strongest character in this tier, as long as you meet the right conditions. More specifically, while Bison’s kit is a powerful mix of AoE and single-target moves, his passive is what can give him the power to single handedly destroy the enemy.

Bison’s passive is quite tricky to use as it requires him to not only take fatal damage, but also to have a teammate alive when this happens. However, when activated, it brings Bison back to life with 40% of his HP while also dealing damage to the entire enemy team. Moreover, when M. Bison is brought back in this manner, he gains the Infernal King buff for the remainder of the battle, increasing his damage output by a whopping 30%.

If you combine this massive damage boost with Bison’s #1 combo, he can effectively dish out tons of damage, while also keeping himself alive with the lifesteal component of this skill.

A Tier Street Fighter: Duel Heroes

While they aren’t as strong as their S Tier counterparts, these fighters are very strong in their own right. However, in order to realize their full potential, they might require assistance from other characters, as well as an appropriate team composition. Nevertheless, once set up correctly these heroes can be just as strong as the ones in the above tier.

Gen

While he can be really quirky and difficult to use, Gen has the potential of being up there with the S tier characters. His kit revolves around dealing heavy damage to single targets, though depending on how he is used, he can also trade some of his damage for inflicting a variety of status effects on the enemy, opening them up for more damage in subsequent turns.

Gen’s passive is what makes him so difficult to use, as he can alternate between Mantis and Crane styles, which not only change his faction depending on his stance, but also gives him access to different skills depending on his current stance. This flexibility allows him to tweak his approach depending on the situation at hand, though no matter his stance he will always be able to inflict tons of damage to the enemy. On top of that, Gen always begins fights by conjuring a mirror image that shares his same stats, and who can launch basic attacks and even skills. 

In short, Gen is a hero you won’t want to mess with, and that you’ll definitely want on your team.

E. Honda

With his hefty physique worthy of the best sumo fighters in the world, it’s no surprise that E. Honda can perform the role of a tank in Street Fighter: Duel.

The main way that Honda protects his teammates is using his Super skill, which deals decent damage to a single target, while also granting DMG Sharing for his entire team, redirecting 30% of the damage his teammates would take back unto himself. On top of that, Honda can also stun enemies with his #1 combo, giving him the ability to control enemies on top of hurting them. His #3 combo, on the other hand, inflicts heavy damage to a single enemy while also creating a Bullet Wall that blocks the 8 next projectile attacks. 

And as if that wasn’t enough, Honda passively becomes exceedingly tanky whenever his HP drops below 20% thanks to his passive, gaining complete immunity for 2 seconds once he drops below this threshold, followed by getting a 30% DMG Resist buff as long as his HP remains below this percentage.

C. Viper

While C. Viper requires a bit of setup and upgrading to access her full potential, she’s absolutely devastating in combo settings.

Her #2 combo deals light damage by itself, but gains a 50% chance to detonate when you upgrade it to level 2. This detonation causes 30% extra damage while removing all stacks of Burning from the enemy, inflicting an extra 100% damage per stack of Burning removed. This effect alone is enough to keep her around, but she has more to offer. For instance, her passive grants her a stack of Armor Energy whenever she uses a Super or a combo skill, with each stack increasing her damage and Effect Accuracy by 5% per stack, up to a maximum of 25%, which in turn makes it much easier for her to inflict Burning and capitalize on it with her #2 combo.

Lastly, Viper’s #3 combo inflicts both Thunder and Flame damage, and gains the ability to inflict both Shock and Burning when the skill reaches level 3, greatly enhancing her damage potential at this point.

Chun Li

This character is great for AoE clearing of minor enemies, mostly because two of her skills are able to hit multiple targets for decent damage. And in the case of her Super, it not only affects several targets and deals multiple hits, but it also has a chance of reducing their DMG Resist for a duration. Meanwhile, her #2 combo simply deals damage to the entire enemy with multiple hits. Both of these multi-hit abilities feed directly into Chun-Li’s passive, which grants her 100 to her Super gauge every time she inflicts a critical hit with her skills.

Lastly, her #3 combo is simply a single-target skill that deals excellent damage, giving her an option for when fighting against tougher targets.

B Tier Street Fighter: Duel Heroes

The more average characters that you’ll find most commonly from the gacha. These champions are neither excellent nor bad, making them into great choices for the early game. However, as you continue progressing through the main story levels, you’ll want to replace these heroes as soon as you get a chance.

Dan

While Dan is usually a joke character whenever he shows up in any Street Fighter game, he’s actually quite competent in SF Duel, at least if you’re looking for a decent tank. 

Dan’s defining trait is his ability to taunt enemies with his Super, which forces them to attack him while also moving him up to the front of the formation. This taunt feeds directly into his passive, which increases Dan’s damage output by 30% whenever he manages to inflict an enemy with this debuff. Finally, with this damage increases, he can actually burst down the squishier targets with his #1 combo skill.

Ibuki

You get Ibuki fairly early on, which is great since she can achieve one important purpose: she’s a great combo initiator since her special skill deals heavy damage to the enemy in the rear, which is usually the most valuable target. By having a proper follow-up to this skill, you can initiate a powerful combo that can wipe out the enemy’s strongest units in a matter of seconds.

Ibuki’s combo also relies heavily on the bleed status effect. As such, while her direct damage isn’t as high as others on this list, she can continue inflicting damage over time if she manages to apply this effect on the targets.

Sakura

While we’ve been focusing mostly on characters that can deal decent damage in one way or another, Sakura actually shines for her ability to heal and keep her teammates topped up and in the fight. 

Sakura’s Super skill unleashes a series of blossoms that automatically heal the ally with the lowest HP for a percentage of Sakura’s health. Moreover, her passive also gives a chance to heal an ally whenever they use a follow-up combo. Lastly, she can also do decent damage when set on slot #1, so her damage potential is not completely null, though it’s far from being her main purpose.

Ken 

This character is actually one of the options that you can choose when starting a new game, along with Ryu. We feel that while both are evenly matched, Ken is great for clearing the stage of minor enemies thanks to his strong AoE and single-target skills.

For starters, his passive is great since it gives Ken a constant flame aura that damages nearby enemies every second as long as his HP is above 60%. Meanwhile, his combo skills deal heavy damage whenever Ken is set to slot #1. Lastly, his super deals insane damage to a single target, making him perfect for dealing with tanky or high-value targets.

C Tier Street Fighter: Duel Heroes

The worst of the worst belongs in this tier. These characters are better off left sitting in your roster, as their kits don’t lend themselves very good for the current meta. In some cases, these characters are just plain awful due to their subpar stats and skills. Regardless of the circumstances, you never want any of these in your squad.

Fei Long

This is an example of a character that looks decent on paper, but that is utterly ruined by the limitations of his passive. While Fei Long has pretty decent, if unremarkable skills, his passive is completely ruined by the fact that it requires pairing him up only with Flame faction teammates in order to benefit from it. 

Fei Long’s passive triggers whenever an allied Flame faction teammate uses a combo skill, increasing his damage by 10% per stack, stacking up to 3 times. However, whenever an ally that isn’t from the Flame faction uses a skill, this bonus is lost. And while his other skills are decent, at best, they rely heavily on inflicting Burning, which also takes away from his direct damage.

All in all, Fei long is almost there, but his drawbacks greatly limit his potential.

Dee Jay

While he’s technically a tank character, Dee Jay barely has any skills to protect his team, other than a small stun with his #2 combo. And while he can withstand a lot of damage by himself, him not being able to keep his team safe definitely defeats the purpose of having a tank on the squad.

Dee Jay is a great example of a character with an identity crisis, with skills that are geared towards the offensive, but while technically being cataloged as a tank.

Dudley

While Dudley isn’t a bad character per se, he’s also not excellent, being able to deal decent damage, but not much else. His passive, in particular, is difficult to use adequately since it requires him to dodge an attack in order for it to trigger. And while this passive deals good damage whenever it activates, it’s not reliable at all.

There’s not much to say about Dudley, other than he’s pretty unremarkable—you could definitely do much better than him.

Cody

All it takes to know that Cody is awful is one glance at his damage values: Not only are his skills very mediocre in terms of additional effects, but they also deal very little damage. Moreover, just like with Dudley, his passive requires special circumstances in order to trigger. And even when these requirements are met, it still only has a 30% chance to trigger.

Cody is just an awful character all around.

And with that, you should now have a decent idea of what to look for when building your own Street Fighter: Duel tier list. Feel free to share your own suggestions in the comments below!