Weird West is host to several, well, weird playable characters. The game is split into five chapters, each with its own playable character with their own abilities, advantages, and disadvantages. For players interested in building a single character with a hyper specialized skill set, this isn’t the best news, however for those who have trouble deciding on a character to play, or what build to go into, this may come as a welcome breath of fresh air.
All characters are not, however, created equally. Some are better than others in their own unique ways, while others are better than their counterparts because they do the same thing as another character, only better. So, then, which character gets the title of best, and which gets the lowly spot of the worst?
5 The Oneirist
Ah the Oneirist, the last character you get to play as in Weird West, also happens to be one of the worst. Not because she is bad, by any means. Even down at the bottom, the Oneirist has some seriously impressive, and very powerful abilities at her disposal. Her abilities consist of shift, which lets you teleport forward a little ways and stun enemies, astral projection, which lets you create a clone of yourself while you go invisible, spirit ward which cause ranged damage to heal you instead of hurt you, and summon wisps, which are three tracking missiles that also stun enemies.
Here’s why the Oneirist is at the bottom of the list. She has lots of crowd control abilities, which is great, but she plays like a worse Protector, another character you play earlier in the game. Despite being able to stun enemies a lot, she also tries to let you sneak around and through danger, which the Protector does better. It just seems like half her kit of abilities is trying to be what is already another character’s full kit.
4 The Pigman
The Pigman. For anyone interested in melee or tank focused abilities, the Pigman is for you. His kit includes rubber skin which causes bullets to reflect off of you, unstoppable charge which lets you charge forward, dealing damage and stunning enemies, putrid cloud which makes a trail of poisonous gas eminate from you, and shockwave which lets you hit the ground and stun enemies in a 360 degree area-of-effect.
His kit is awesome, so why is he so far down the list? Well, because the other characters are just more fun to play. While it is extremely fun to charge in with reckless abandon, and chop enemies to death, it’s a very simple play style that isn’t quite as engaging as some other characters. The Werewolf, another melee focused character later down the list, has a similar play style, but requires you to be slightly more engaged, making them a bit more interesting to play.
3 The Protector
A half rogue, half mage character, the Protector is seriously fun to play. First, his abilities.Thunderbird Strike calls down a lightning strike on top of you, causing some area-of-effect damage if you’re surrounded. Cousin bear summons a bear that serves as your tank while it deals damage and takes enemy aggression while you sneak around the sidelines, and surefooted increases your stealth capabilities and makes you completely silent. Finally, western wind causes a tornado you can send toward your enemies that gets even more powerful when mixed with other elements it encounters on its way.
The Protector’s kit lets you dish out some serious damage, and cousin bear is a companion that can take and deal some great damage on its own. This play style lets you sneak around until the time is right and then decimate your enemies. He isn’t higher on the list not because he’s bad, but because the next couple characters are just that good.
2 The Werewolf
Lycanthropy, arguably the coolest supernatural affliction out there. The Werewolf lets you do one thing the other characters can’t - transform into a beast! The Werewolf’s abilities include Yeb’s invisibility which allows you and your allies to go invisible for a moment or two, Yeb’s fire which causes an area-of-effect ring of fire to swirl around you, Inun’s healing which is an area-of-effect healing ability, and Inun’s strength which increases your and your ally’s armor by a solid 20 percent.
As you might have been able to tell, the Werewolf’s suite of abilities is very support heavy. Healing, invisibility, and armor increase for you and allies, which is great since you and your group will be in the fray constantly. The Werewolf ranks this high partly because he’s such a different play style from the others. If you hadn’t played with NPC allies up until this point, then the Werewolf makes the best case out of any of the other characters to give them a try.
1 The Bounty Hunter
Jane Bell, bounty hunter. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Her abilities include shrapnel mine which is an explosive trap you can place, quick thinker which slows down time and speeds you up, charm that briefly turns enemies into allies, and roundhouse kick that gives your melee attack an extra umph!
Number one, really? Yes, and here’s why. Her kit of abilities is great, and allows you to really play that ranged, gun toting wild west character. Be honest, when you think about the wild west, what comes to your mind? An occultist? A werewolf? A half-pig, half-man monstrosity? Or a tough as nails, gun twirling bounty hunter that settles her disputes in the main street at high noon? The bounty hunter lets you fulfill those dreams in the wild world of Weird West.