Hey heroes, Kolz here! Today, I'm diving into the best heroes for the arena.
Only a handful of heroes truly shine in this tight battleground, where kiting horde is key. If you're not bringing some form of disruption or invulnerability, you're just not adding much to the event.
This is not an Arena guide. If you're looking for that, I have another detailed section on how to clear the Arena. This rundown will only look at the 10 best heroes for the Arena.
Now, of course, tier lists are always subjective, but I firmly believe there's a clear-cut S-tier with three or four standouts, a couple of solid A-tiers, and then—well, the rest mostly fall into the B or C tier.
So, let's break them all down. And hey, if I offended your favorite hero… deal with it. Let's get into it!
#10 Nutcracker (A-)
Nutcracker is a super interesting hero—he's actually my new favorite right now. I've been playing him for fun and have him at three-star Forge, which provides a great global buff by adding a 5% damage multiplier. His two-star Forge upgrade is also a game-changer, giving his basic attack a stun.
I just cleared Arena 20 this week using Nutcracker, running boomerangs priority. With his stun, it was surprisingly easy—something I haven't been able to do with every hero. However, to make him viable, you'll need him at star level 2 and Forge level 2.
Overall, I'd rate him around A- in the arena, maybe B+ during the early game before forge, but he is definitely a strong hero with forge.
#9 Necromancer (A-)
Unfortunately, I don't own Necromancer, so this is going based on my experience and reading about him.
Disruption in his kit is basically built around his minions taking the damage for him, so that's why he's really strong in Hero Clash.
I imagine something similar might translate over to Arena, where he might be able to let you push levels earlier than you otherwise would. It's the kiting afforded to him by the minions.
#8 Paladin (A-)
Paladin is actually quite strong. He has invulnerability like the Monk. And he's overall like a weaker Monk.
Let's say A-.
If you can get him enough projectiles to get his hammer to start giving him invulnerability pretty consistently, combined with the pushback in his ultimate, you can clear some levels that you might not otherwise be able to.
Definitely a strong arena champion.
#7 Monk (A)
Monk is A tier with 4* Forge.
Monk has invulnerability built into his kit, and then if you can get him to four-sta,r that's where he'll really shine.
He's also just like a very good hero generally, so you want him at 4*. You will still be relying on Boomerang evolution plus all of his damage to get through stages. And even 4* might have trouble with later stages.
#6 Tide Warden (A+)
I don't have Tidewarden, so I've never played with her, but after reading through her kit, she seems pretty solid. She has a built-in slow, and at higher evolution levels, her Forge weapon bounces off the sides of the screen, making her somewhat similar to Monk in how she can keep enemies slowed for extended periods.
Without firsthand experience, I'm placing her at A+ purely based on what I've read and heard. I know she doesn't deal massive damage, but I'm assuming she can push levels fairly well with her built-in disruption.
Right now, I own 31 of the 51 available heroes, so I can't compare her directly from experience, but based on her kit, she seems solid—probably landing somewhere in the A-tier range.
#5 Pirate Queen (S-)
Pirate Queen is interesting. She's S+ early game in the Arena. And so much so that she has her own build and cheese for it.
So until you can Blademaster Cheese, you can cheese with the Pirate Queen.
Her big advantage is instant kill. Instant kill is not disabled in the arena so if you run crossbow plus her base attacks, you can generate enough projectiles to instantly clear enough horde to push stages.
She's not going to be able to get past like stage 16 or 17. She caps out because the elites will get to her before she can kill anything, but up until that point you can instant kill your way through a decent chunk of content.
She's very good in the early game arena (S+), but falls off at higher stages and later into the game.
#4 Knight (S-)
Knight is right on the edge of S- tier—maybe A+. However, you must have him at four-star Forge. Regular Knight is completely unplayable in the arena.
At four stars, though, he becomes much stronger, landing somewhere between S- and A+.
To make him viable, you need to evolve Rune Sword during the initial weapon phase. If you do, he's capable of clearing the arena.
Since he's slow, I'd recommend running a couple of move speed jewels to help with mobility. That said, his knockback provides solid survivability.
To get the best results, you'll need to evolve both Rune Sword and Boomerang quickly, but if you do, I've personally cleared Arena 20 with him.
#3 Santa (S-)
A bit of a sleeper pick here is Santa. I rank him as S- tier for the arena. Not because he's great for pushing high levels, but because he's incredibly useful once you've progressed further into the game.
Once you have the arena on farm, Santa becomes the go-to pick for clearing levels 1 through 15. Sometimes, even 16 or 17. The key reason? He provides an extra keychance, which is the most valuable resource for farming.
I personally use Santa to run arenas 1 through 16 every week, and he's been great for throwing off extra gold keys. I know someone will call me out for this take, but deal with it.
#2 Blademaster (S)
All right, Blademaster—let's go.
He is pure S-tier for the arena. The Blademaster Cheese is well-known for allowing you to clear the arena with far less gear than you'd typically need, all thanks to his invulnerability mechanic.
However, to make Blade Master reliable, you need to build up global buffs. Specifically, he needs to be level 80, and you must have enough global cooldown and global crit chance for him to work effectively. He won't be able to clear the arena right away, but he's often the first hero who will allow you to do so once properly built.
Since Blade Master relies heavily on crit, keep in mind that if crit is disabled by a modifier, he won't be able to clear the arena in that run.
#1 Clockwork Mage (S+)
Clockwork Mage is the single best Arena hero. Talking about Disruption this whole time, every attack she does slows, and that's the whole key to the ballgame in the Arena. You can kite way before you should be able to and clear the Arena way before you'd be able to with Clockwork Mage. So she even beats the Blademaster team. So she's S+.My Methodology
The way I think about heroes in Heroes vs Hordes is that each event will have four or five specialty heroes that truly shine. Then, you've got a bunch who just deal massive damage, and finally, a handful whose kits simply don't make sense for the event.
Top-Tier Heroes - The Best for Arena
If you want to beat the arena as early as possible, Clockwork Mage and Blademaster are your go-to picks.
They have abilities built into their kits that make them exceptionally strong in this mode.
Pirate Queen is a great early-game option, while Knight (at 4-star Forge) and Monk (at 4-star Forge) will also help you clear the arena efficiently.
Strong Contenders - Good Damage & Crowd Control
Heroes like Tidewarden, Paladin, Necromancer, and Nutcracker have solid damage and stuns, making them reliable once you've forged their weapons. They won't clear the arena as quickly as the top-tier picks, but they'll still get the job done.
The Big Mid-Tier & The Damage Race
Beyond these, most heroes fall into a large middle tier where the difference between A+ and C- is relatively small. At this point, it's mostly a DPS race—you're just trying to out-damage elites in the later stages.
Special Case
One exception here is Santa—he's not the best for initial clears, but once you've beaten the arena, he becomes the go-to hero. I use him all the time now for farming as many stages as I can.
Alright, I'm Kolz, a high-level HVH player. I've been putting together guides here and on YouTube, so check those out.
And remember—always do your adventures!
