If you want to dominate the 20v20 battlegrounds of Combat Cat Studio's anthro tactical shooter, you need to know exactly which Valiants are leading the pack. Our Wild Assault best Vanguards tier list breaks down the current PVP meta, ranking every character based on their mobility, utility, and objective control. While mechanical gunplay matters, Wild Assault is ultimately a game of positioning, ability synergy, and map geometry. A perfectly timed gas grenade or a coordinated tactical sprint push will break a defensive line faster than raw aim ever could.
Since the game's full 1.0 launch and the introduction of seasonal updates, the roster has expanded significantly. We now have a diverse cast of Assault, Scout, Expert, and Support classes, each bringing unique animal-instinct abilities to the field. Whether you are attacking the linear choke points of Crescent Bay or flanking across the wide-open valleys of Ricky Mountain, picking the right hero is half the battle.
Here is the definitive ranking of every character in the game right now.
How We Structure the Wild Assault Best Vanguards Tier List
Before we dive into the individual character rankings, it is crucial to understand the criteria that dictate the current meta. Wild Assault is not a traditional arena shooter; its 20v20 format requires a blend of macro-strategy and micro-tactics.
We evaluated the roster based on three core pillars:
- Mobility and Tactical Sprint: By pressing the shift key twice, characters drop onto all fours for a high-speed tactical sprint that consumes stamina. Characters with passives that enhance this state—such as higher jump arcs or faster stamina regeneration—inherently possess a massive advantage in both flanking and escaping.
- Area Denial and Objective Control: In game modes centered around capturing strongholds (like the infamous Charlie Flag on Crescent Bay), abilities that physically block enemy advancement or blanket cover in damage-over-time effects are invaluable.
- Healing and Sustain: Healing in Wild Assault is capped at one source per character at a time. You cannot stack two bunny healing circles and two cat beams simultaneously. Therefore, the value of a Support character is measured by their flexibility and combat uptime rather than raw, stackable healing output.
With these parameters in mind, let us break down the tiers.
Wild Assault Best Vanguards Tier List: The S-Tier Meta-Definers
These characters are currently overpowered in the right hands. They dictate the flow of the match, force the enemy team to adapt, and should be priority picks in almost every lobby.
Akaihime (The Fox) – Assault
Akaihime is, without a doubt, the most lethal flanker in the game. Her kit is entirely built around getting behind enemy lines and dismantling their backline before they can react. Her signature ability is a devastating slide attack that allows her to ambush opponents, transitioning seamlessly into a melee combo that can one-shot lighter targets. Because her crouched stance shrinks her hitbox significantly, she is incredibly difficult to track during a chaotic firefight.
Furthermore, Akaihime's access to a suppressed assault rifle allows her to pick off stragglers without immediately lighting up the minimap. Add in her temporary invisibility skills, and you have a Vanguard that can single-handedly break a defensive stalemate. If you master her mobility, she is an unstoppable force.
Marquez (The Skunk) – Expert
If Akaihime rules the flanks, Marquez rules the objective. Marquez is the undisputed king of area denial, armed with a suite of gas-related skillsets that punish teams for grouping up. In linear maps like Crescent Bay—which is notoriously defender-sided—Marquez is practically mandatory.
His toxic gas clouds obscure vision, deal ticking damage, and flush snipers out of their nests. His ultimate ability is a massive tactical nuke of gas that can completely cover an enemy stronghold, forcing them to abandon the point or die suffocating. When you need to clear the Charlie Flag, Marquez is your best friend.
Hongying (The Rabbit) – Support
Hongying redefines what it means to be a Support class in a fast-paced shooter. While most medics are relegated to the backline, Hongying is designed to be right in the thick of the action. Her passive ability grants her a significantly higher tactical sprint jump than any other character in the game. This allows her to leap over environmental hazards, bypass Marquez's gas clouds, and reach elevated positions that are normally inaccessible.
Her healing comes in the form of deployable AoE healing circles. Because she can drop these circles on a contested point and immediately reposition using her superior mobility, she provides immense value to a 20-player frontline without making herself an easy target.
Wild Assault Best Vanguards Tier List: The A-Tier Stalwarts
These Vanguards are exceptionally strong and reliable. While they might lack the game-breaking mobility or area denial of the S-Tier, they are foundational to a winning team composition.
Zhenshan (The Panda) – Expert
Zhenshan is the anchor of any successful offensive push. As a heavy-duty Expert, he acts as the primary tank for your squad. His "Vanguard Will" ability allows him to project a massive energy shield that protects his teammates from incoming fire. In wide-open maps like Ricky Mountain, where crossfire can shred an advancing team, Zhenshan's shielding is essential.
He requires good situational awareness to play effectively, as his large hitbox makes him a bullet magnet when his shield is down. However, a well-supported Zhenshan can slowly march a team to victory.
Erwin (The Cat) – Support
Erwin is the game's premier single-target pocket healer. Utilizing a continuous healing beam, Erwin can keep a frontline tank like Zhenshan or Vladimir alive through an absurd amount of concentrated fire. She is famous in the community for her quirky third-person voice lines (like "Erwin reloading!"), but do not let her demeanor fool you—her sustain is top-tier.
The only reason she sits in A-Tier rather than S-Tier is the game's healing cap. Since healing sources do not stack, her single-target focus makes her slightly less versatile in massive 20v20 brawls compared to Hongying's fire-and-forget AoE circles.
Crock (The Crocodile) – Scout/Assassin
Introduced in Season 2: Phantom Fracture, Crock "The Mire Butcher" quickly carved out a spot in the upper echelons of the meta. As a former assassin, his kit is built around tracking, intel gathering, and rapid target elimination. He excels at breaking through secure defense systems and hunting down enemy snipers. His adaptability makes him a terror in disorganized lobbies, though highly coordinated teams can occasionally shut down his aggressive dives.
Anthea (The Snow Leopard) – Expert
Anthea, "The Frost Specter," brings invaluable crowd control to the battlefield. Her freeze abilities slow enemy pushes to a crawl, making her an exceptional defender. When the enemy team pops their tactical sprints to rush a stronghold, Anthea can stop them dead in their tracks, setting them up for easy eliminations by her team's Marksmen.
B-Tier Vanguards: Situational Picks
B-Tier characters are perfectly viable but suffer from specific weaknesses or heavy map dependency. You can absolutely carry a match with them, but you will have to work harder to achieve the same results as the higher tiers.
Norman (The Tiger) – Assault
Norman, "The Lost Claw," is the baseline Assault character. He brings heavy firepower and straightforward, aggressive abilities to the table. He is great for players learning the game, but at high-level play, his kit feels a bit too honest. He lacks the evasive tricks of Akaihime or the specialized utility of the Expert class, making him somewhat predictable in a 1v1 duel.
Jack (The Wolf) – Scout/Marksman
Jack is a phenomenal sniper, but his viability is entirely dictated by the map. On Ricky Mountain, where he can set up on a ridge and cover both the Bravo and Charlie flags from a distance, he is borderline A-Tier. However, on Crescent Bay, where sightlines are blocked by linear architecture and tight corners, he struggles to find value and is easily hunted down by flankers like Crock and Akaihime.
Vladimir (The Bear) – Expert
Vladimir is a massive, imposing tank who can soak up damage and disrupt enemy formations. Unfortunately, his sheer size is his biggest liability. His hitbox is enormous, making him incredibly easy to hit, even for players with poor aim. Without a dedicated Erwin pocketing him with a healing beam, he tends to melt under the combined fire of a 20-player enemy team.
C-Tier Vanguards: The Underdogs
These characters currently struggle in the PVP meta and require significant buffs or highly specific team compositions to shine.
Uly (The Mole) – Expert
Uly's subterranean-themed kit is interesting on paper, but in practice, it is heavily outclassed by other Experts. Anything Uly can do to disrupt an enemy position, Marquez can do better, faster, and from a safer distance. Until his utility is reworked, he remains a niche pick.
Ryan (The Bull) – Assault
Ryan is designed to be a frontline bruiser, using his heavy frame to breach defenses. However, in a game where movement is king, Ryan is simply too slow. He is easily kited by highly mobile characters and lacks the defensive shielding of Zhenshan to survive the approach.
FAQ: Wild Assault Character Meta
Who is the best support Vanguard in Wild Assault? Currently, Hongying (The Rabbit) is the best overall support due to her superior tactical sprint mobility and AoE healing circles. However, Erwin (The Cat) is the best single-target healer if you are running a heavy tank composition.
Does the tier list change for WA DEFENSE (PVE Mode)? Yes. In the WA DEFENSE PVE mode, crowd control and sustained damage are far more important than flanking. Characters like Anthea (freeze abilities) and Norman (heavy sustained firepower) jump up in viability when fighting waves of monsters and upgrading stats with Beast Soul Coins.
Are new characters overpowered at launch? Combat Cat Studio has been relatively balanced with their releases. While Crock (Season 2) is very strong, he is not unbeatable and sits comfortably in the A-Tier rather than completely breaking the S-Tier meta.
How does the tactical sprint affect character rankings? Mobility is the most important stat in the game. Characters who can manipulate the tactical sprint—like Hongying's passive high jump or Akaihime's low-profile slide—naturally rank higher because they can dictate the terms of an engagement and traverse the massive 20v20 maps faster.
Mastering the roster is a continuous journey. As the developers tweak weapon damage, adjust tactical sprint stamina costs, and introduce new maps, this meta will inevitably shift. But for now, lock in your S-Tier favorites, communicate with your squad, and claim the Charlie Flag.
Sources
- Wild Assault Official Steam Community Updates (May 2026)
- r/WildAssaultOfficial Meta Discussions and Community Tier Lists
- NamuWiki: Wild Assault Mechanics and Character Lore