Dragon Ball FighterZ came out nearly four years ago, and while the game has seen a myriad of changes over the years, no other patch has had such a major impact on the game as the Season 4 Dragon Ball FighterZ update back in August. Since then, in light of the sweeping adjustments and gameplay changes ushered in by that patch, a new meta has been firmly established. In some respects, the Season 4 patch was very effective at mixing up the previous tier lists, but a few familiar faces still maintain their positions at the top.
With all of the changes in Season 4 of Dragon Ball FighterZ, the patch has tended to favor characters with excellent close-range abilities and gap closing potential. A generally faster pace to the game ultimately means that the members of the roster that exploit the new pace best are the ones who landed on top.
S-Tier
The latest season has ushered in a rather expansive S-Tier. With plenty of characters nearing game-breaking levels of overpowered, it's difficult to pick a few standouts. Within the S-Tier, the majority of characters have built-in mix-ups, outstanding neutral game ability, or tend to lean towards aggressive playstyles.
Fortunately, the current state of the game might also be the most open Dragon Ball FighterZ has ever been in terms of character choice and team composition. If players are hard-pressed to find the absolute best of the best though, the current consensus best in the game are SS4 Gogeta, Android 21, and Broly.
- Android 21
- Base Goku
- Base Vegeta
- Broly
- SS4 Gogeta
- SSB Vegito
- Teen Gohan
- Ultra Instinct Goku
A-Tier
Sometimes, the A-Tier choices miss the S-Tier mark by quite a bit, but in the current state of Dragon Ball FighterZ, the A-Tier list is more or less an extension of the S-Tier choices. In the A-Tier, there are plenty of characters capable of making the S-Tier in the right hands, but their relative difficulty means that most players won't utilize them to their full potential.
Gotenks, Kid Buu, and Piccolo are examples of three characters that arguably could have cracked S-Tier, but are a bit too reliant on team composition and player ability. The A-Tier also finally hosts Nappa, previously one of the lowest tier character picks, who has risen to become a formidable choice in the recent meta with his Saibamen ability.
- Adult Gohan
- Android 17
- Android 18
- Bardock
- Beerus
- Cell
- Gotenks
- Janemba
- Jiren
- Kefla
- Kid Buu
- Krillin
- Nappa
- Piccolo
- SSB Goku
- Tien
B-Tier
It's borderline disrespectful to call most of these characters B-Tier choices, but everything on a tier list is relative. It's important, however, to be clear: all of these characters are completely viable options and fully capable of winning over characters from the aforementioned lists. The main difference is that characters in the B-Tier, like Super Baby 2, are high-risk, high-reward characters that tend to punish their user's mistakes rather severely.
Also, characters in the B-Tier tend to have weak neutrals and limited mix-up ability. Unfortunately, a lot of the characters in this mid-level tier are familiar faces, such as Goku Black, and while he has gotten marginally better with Season 4, he is yet to escape the lower tier rankings.
- Android 16
- Cooler
- Frieza
- GT Goku
- Goku Black
- Hit
- Majin Buu
- SS Goku
- SSB Gogeta
- SSB Vegeta
- Super Baby 2
- Videl
- Zamasu
C-Tier
The biggest issue with the C-Tier characters is the lack of reward afforded to players for their efforts. For instance, Master Roshi already has arguably the most unusual mechanics in the game, and on top of that, he lacks a Super Dash and has bizarre aerial mobility.
Again, it's completely possible to win against the upper tiers with these characters, but in bouts between two evenly matched opponents, these choices are going to put a player at a fairly significant disadvantage. Still, these characters might be decent picks for experienced players who are looking for a bit more of a challenge in Dragon Ball FighterZ.
- Captain Ginyu
- Master Roshi
- S Broly
- SS Vegeta
- Trunks
D-Tier
Poor Yamcha sits at the bottom by his lonesome. He was already struggling to find a place as a viable character before Season 4, but he was largely ignored by the sweeping buffs that were instituted, and even received a brutal nerf to his Wolf Gang Fist that made it even slower.
While he may not be unplayable, the current state of Yamcha reaffirms his status as a joke character in the majority of Dragon Ball fighting games. As before, for truly elite players, using Yamcha can be the ultimate way to pour salt into the wound of an opponent.
- Yamcha
Dragon Ball FighterZ is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One