Best characters in Vampire Survivors Operation Guns ranked

There are 12 new characters to play with in the Operation Guns DLC. Each one has a shiny new gun, but some deserve your time more than others. With this in mind, here are the best characters in Vampire Survivors Operation Guns ranked.

Every character in Vampire Survivors Operation Guns ranked

Before we dive in, I want to preface this list by saying you can easily beat the game with any of the new characters. There are so many powerful weapons in Vampire Survivors that you can pick your favorites and ignore your hero’s base equipment. With this in mind, I’ve rated each character based on their stats and starting gear.

You can find my reasoning below, but here’s my tier list of every character in the Operation Guns DLC:

S-Tier

• Bahamut
• Lucia Zero
• Sheena

A-Tier

• Bill
• Stanley
• Brad
• Simondo

B- Tier

• Lance
• Ariana
• Browny
• Probotector

C-Tier

• Newt Plissken

Vampire Survivors Operation Guns Tier List Explained

Before you get upset at me burying your favorite character, let me explain the placements.

S-Tier

These characters are the cream of the crop. Perfect for when you just want to get something done or switch your brain off.

Bahamut

Colonel Bahamut is an absolute monster with base stats that are so incredible that it’s hard to lose. This character has the highest Might stat in the DLC, which means he hits extremely hard. Bahamut is also ridiculously fast and can effortlessly glide around the map. His Metal Claw is a decent close-range weapon and becomes the Big Fuzzy Fist, which targets high-level threats.  

Bahamut does it all and is a fitting reward for beating the final boss of the Neo Galuga map.

Lucia Zero

Lucia starts with the C-U-Laser, arguably the strongest starting weapon in the DLC. While it’s a little tricky to aim initially, it quickly becomes hard to miss and is downright overpowered when evolved into the Pronto Beam. You can effortlessly fill the screen with Lasers, and it’s great to start with such a powerful piece of kit.

If that wasn’t enough, Lucia also gains a stat boost if you spend a Revive. You can do this tactically at the start of a run for a noticeable increase. Lucia also starts with 10 Rerolls because she clearly wasn’t strong enough without them.

Sheena

Rounding off the S-Tier, we have Sheena, who’s easily my favorite character in the DLC and is outright busted in all the right ways. To kick things off, Sheena starts with the Blade Crossbow, which tracks targets and is extremely easy to use. Her movement speed is way above average, and she’s almost unstoppable when her weapon evolves.

Sheena is catapulted into S-Tier because of her passive, which reduces cooldown based on movement speed. I rarely dip under -70% cooldown when I use this character, which makes every weapon shoot like a machine gun.

Like Lucia, Sheena also has 10 Rerolls, which offers unrivaled build customization.   

A-Tier

A-Tier characters are fantastic and can breeze through any content you throw at them. While not utterly broken like the S-Tier, you can use these characters with confidence.

Bill

Bill may be better suited to B Tier, but I think he’s better than other characters in that tier, hence the placement. This hero has mediocre stats, but his starting weapon, the Long Gun, is accessible and easy to use.

The Long Gun has a superb evolution and becomes Prototype A, which fills the screen with missiles. Bill is likely the first character you’ll unlock in Operation Guns and is an excellent introduction to the DLC.

Stanley

Stanley is built like a tank, with a tremendous health pool and respectable Might stat. He’s pretty slow, but his Homing Miss weapon is so good that it almost doesn’t matter. Homing Miss does mountains of damage even without upgrades and requires zero aim. You’ll crush the early waves and should be well ahead in the arms race when the going gets tough.

Homing Miss becomes the Multistage Missiles when evolved and effortlessly clears the screen. I recommend pairing Stanley with a precision weapon like the Magic Wand, as missiles don’t always go where you want.

Brad

Brad Fang has similar base stats to Stanley with the same massive health pool and decent Might stat. His weapon is also pretty decent, with a gigantic projectile. When evolved, Brad’s Firearm becomes the Fire-L3GS, which hits a massive area and deals excellent damage.

I went with a full-fire build with Brad, complete with the Fire Wand, and quickly became unkillable. The Firearm is weak without upgrades, but everything else about Brad is stellar.

Simondo

This will be a polarizing placement, but hear me out. I’ve already seen many players declare Simondo as the best character in the DLC. He summons random Contra powerups, and his projectile stat can reach +4 if you level him enough.  

The issue is that Simondo starts with no weapons, and his base stats are pretty mediocre. You can break Vampire Survivors with the right weapons and a +4 projectile stat, but he’s not as effortless to use as the monsters in S-Tier. If we’re looking strictly at the fun factor, Simondo is up there with the best characters in the game.

B-Tier

These characters are still decent but don’t bring anything too exciting to the table.

Lance

Lance is sadly unremarkable in Operation Guns, with mediocre stats. His Short Gun is underwhelming without upgrades, although its evolution, Prototype C, is pretty good. Lance’s cooldown slowly decreases through time, increasing the fire rate across the board.  

If the cooldown decrease was more impactful than 25%, Lance may hop up a tier. As it stands, he’s an average character.

Ariana

Ariana starts with the Spread Gun, which is easy to use and allows her to plow through the early waves. Beyond that, her stats are average. Ariana has a good Movement stat, and her speed is tied to her Armor rating, which can have some interesting synergies.

If you build Ariana for speed, she’s exceptionally tanky, but this passive ability ties you into a particular build and playstyle.  

Browny

Browny narrowly escapes a date with the C-Tier thanks to a decent movement stat and fun weapon evolution. This character starts with the Sonic Bloom, which evolves into the much more exciting Wave Beam.

The Wave Beam is unique as it has a different effect if you move or stand still. Both firing modes do a ton of damage and open up exciting synergies with niche weapons like Shadow Pinion. Sonic Bloom is rough to use initially, hence the lower placement.

Probotector

Probotector is a little slow for my taste but has a colossal health pool if you enjoy a more tanky play style. Stats-wise, Probotector is almost identical to Stanley but without the broken Healing Miss weapon.  

This character starts with the Prism Lass, a decent weapon but not the best in the DLC. The result is a serviceable, if average, character, even if he looks the part.

C-Tier

We only have one character in the C-Tier. He’s useable but hard to get going.

Newt

It pains me to put Newt in the C-Tier because I dig his design, but he’s a chore to use. Newt starts with the Diver Mine, and it’s a real slog to hit anything with it. The mines have an odd trajectory and run along the scenery. The issue is that the mines can get wrapped around trees and are exceptionally hard to aim, even against large targets.

Considering how difficult the mines are to use, the damage payoff isn’t even that good. Once you factor in Newt’s mediocre stats, he pales compared to the rest of the DLC cast. 

As I said at the start of the guide, you can win with every character, and that’s the beauty of Vampire Survivors. Some characters are better than others, but in a strictly PVE game, it really doesn’t matter!

If you’re new to the Operation Guns DLC, make sure to grab the Prism Lass sword from the new map. It’s a little hard to reach, but well worth the effort.