DNF Duel is shaping up to be the big fighting game release of 2022. Based on the Korean online action RPG Dungeon Fighter Online, DNF’s strengths are in big flashy moves and a surprising amount of accessibility for newcomers. The game is fairly well balanced, with a lot of the cast able to pull out some truly impressive onslaughts. Especially at low health, when each character receives a unique “awakening”, making their strengths even stronger and comebacks well within reach.
While new techniques and playstyles are yet to be discovered, some characters have already stuck out as being even stronger than the rest of the cast.
7 Berserker
Taking on the role as the DNF’s all-around character, Berserker has access to a solid move set including projectiles, good range, and good damage. What makes or breaks him though, is his use of HP as a resource. Through his “frenzy” move, Berserker can increase his own damage and speed, at the cost of his own life.
However, the lost life can be used to his advantage thanks to DNF’s “conversion” system. This allows him to sacrifice recoverable health to immediately cancel any animation. On top of that, at low health his awakening allows him to restore HP with every hit, without losing the benefits of awakening. It’s an extremely risky playstyle, but in the right hands, Berserker can outlast and out-damage most opponents.
6 Lost Warrior
New players won’t have access to Lost Warrior until they complete the story mode of at least 1 character, as he is the game’s unlockable boss character. As one might expect from a boss character, he has some of the strongest tools in the game. While he suffers from slow startup on his attacks, he has the ability to attack from anywhere on the screen, and teleport straight to his opponent.
Furthermore, if he manages to hit opponents with 5 MP skills, he literally freezes time, making them susceptible to any number of combos. It remains to be seen how often this will actually happen, but it’s a terrifying tool to have in a character's arsenal.
5 Swift Master
High speed is usually a sign of a good character in fighting games, and Swift Master is no different. Despite having some of the lowest health in the game, Swift Master is a force to be reckoned with. He has everything one could ask for, including high speed, projectiles, anti-projectile tools, big range, and strong air options.
Especially dangerous in the hands of creative and flexible players, he also has several moves that pull the enemy in, forcing them to be exactly where he wants them. Despite his strength, mastering Swift Master does require mastery of the “negative edge” mechanic(which activates a move when a button is released, instead of when it is pressed), which is often quite difficult for players to get their heads around, no matter what game it appears in.
4 Ranger
A lot of players already find it hard to deal with zoners, as the archetype excels at keeping foes at a distance. Ranger is a zoner that really shows off DNF’s unique identity.
Not only can some of his fastest moves hit from across the screen, but his stronger moves aren’t lacking on range either. It can become very infuriating trying to make it past Ranger’s onslaught, especially with his grenade and other traps that fill the screen with more obstacles for his opponents to deal with. He also possesses the tools to exploit how they deal with these traps, forcing them to either play near-perfect or get punished.
3 Crusader
Crusader was one of the strongest characters in DNF’s Beta, and now that the game has fully released, he’s managed to retain much of what made him so strong. Despite having the highest HP in the game, Crusader might seem weak due to his relatively slow speed. Luckily for him, he has several tools that make up for this.
His range is impressive, especially when he uses his deflect wall to reduce the size of the screen. This one move can lock opponents in a cage with him, which he is more than equipped to deal with since he has access to super armor, a counter, and several projectiles. Opponents might be able to keep him out for a while, but once he is in, they won’t be allowed to get away.
2 Dragon Knight
As the name implies, Dragon Knight’s strength comes from her dragon partner. The little dragon can be controlled separately to the knight, and can even act as a turret of sorts, firing off fireballs even if the knight gets hit. Sometimes the dragon can save her from an enemy’s combo, and can help start and extend her own combos in turn.
On top of the increased MP every character gets at low health, she also gets increased MP recovery, making a low health Dragon Knight player capable of throwing out nigh infinite MP skills in order to secure the victory. She’s also able to fly, giving her by far the highest air mobility in the game.
1 Troubleshooter
Unassuming at first, the Troubleshooter has a surprising amount of tools to make life very difficult. He’s one of the bigger ranged characters, so he has no trouble getting hits. Similar to Berserker, he can also abuse the game’s conversion system. For Troubleshooter, this is thanks to his ability to buff his damage in exchange for some of his health. This lost health can then be used for conversions, combining with the aforementioned attack buff to give him insane damage potential.
He also has the advantage of one of the more effective awakenings in the game. While other characters might have more niche use awakening buffs, Troubleshooter gets a straight buff to some of his best moves, including his grenade trap, which is arguably even more useful than Ranger’s grande.
DNF Duel is available on PC, PS4, and PS5.