DC Universe Online is one of the most beloved games for DC fans, though Batman series remains unparalleled. It allows you to customize your abilities and appearance, letting you play as either a villain or a hero.
DC Universe Online categorizes heroes' abilities into 15 types based on their comic book counterparts. These determine your combat style, such as melee, ranged, DPS, or tank, and their visual effects. The developers sometimes adjust these abilities to try and maintain balance, but as you know, absolute balance is impossible. Therefore, below is a simple ranking of abilities in the current meta.
Tier D
Mental (Control And DPS)
The representative hero of Mental category is Martian Manhunter. While this ability is incredibly cool in the comics, its performance falls short in the game. Mentals offer DPS and control, performing reasonably well in PvP, but are very rare in PvE endgame content because their DPS and trolling abilities are largely unremarkable.
Celestial (Healer And DPS)
Celestial's healing ability is decent, with long range. However, its damage output, especially AoE damage, is weak, and its core skill mechanics are clunky. One of its skills even has a taunt effect, easily leading to player death in elite raids. While the design is cool, it's very weak to play.
Tier C
Water (Healer And DPS)
Like Celestial, Water has healing abilities, but Water's healing relies too heavily on shields, resulting in insufficient actual healing. However, its supercharge is better than Celestial's.
Earth (Tank And DPS)
As you see the ability, you know it is for tanking. Earth is very challenging to play, requiring high skill. Its damage output is decent, but not top-tier. It's a superpower with a large skill ceiling and floor, heavily reliant on your skill.
Tier B
Sorcery (Healing And DPS)
Sorcery is a very versatile and interesting class, providing reliable healing. It can also summon creatures and benefit from pet buffs. Their single-target DPS is very strong, and its AoE damage is also decent, though the latter is slightly weaker, and it is considered above average among healing superpowers.
Light (Control And DPS)
As the representative ability of Green Lantern Corps, Light has high DPS potential and can quickly cast Omega Spam, and Its trolling and supercharge abilities are also excellent. However, achieving high damage requires a very specific build and skillful execution, making it a high-barrier class.
Tier A
Fire (Tank And DPS)
Fire relies on regeneration to withstand a lot of damage, making it one of the top tanking superpowers. However, its single-target DPS is also overpowered. Only its AoE is relatively weak.
Quantum (Control And DPS)
Quantum's performance can not be as strong as the comic hero Booster Gold, but it possesses the strongest crowd control skills and a powerful supercharge. Its DPS mainly relies on the supercharge, Oblivion, requiring careful management. As a troll, Quantum is more popular than Mental.
Munitions (Control And DPS)
Munitions has strong single-target DPS and trolling capabilities, able to fight like Deathstroke and Deadshot using heavy weapons, missiles, and machine guns, resulting in very high DPS.
Ice (Tank And DPS)
Ice is also one of the top tanking superpowers, its strength mainly lying in its shields. Its DPS (damage per second) is also very strong, capable of rapidly casting Omega skills, with single-target damage comparable to Fire.
Tier S
Atomic (Tank And DPS)
Atomic ability is as powerful as Captain Atom. Besides being a powerful tank, it boasts the game's strongest Supercharge, high Mass Density, and powerful self-healing, eliminating the need to waste DC Universe Online Cash on Soder Cola. Its DPS is also very high in both single-target and AoE damage, and it possesses one of the best pull abilities.
Nature (Healer And DPS)
Nature is versatile and powerful. In terms of DPS, Wolf Form provides Crits, and Gorilla Form provides Might, offering excellent single-target and large-area damage. Its healing ability is also top-tier in the game, indispensable for clearing high-difficulty dungeons.
Rage (Tank And DPS)
Rage is undoubtedly an S-tier DPS. The combination of Berserker form and Neo-Venom Boost deals extremely high damage. Even without considering its signature skill, Lacerate, its rotation is very structured and performs exceptionally well in Elite Raids. Its tanking ability is also good, but be aware of Rage Crash mechanic.
Gadgets (Control And DPS)
Gadgets has consistently been one of the top-tier superpowers, possessing extremely strong trolling capabilities and dealing considerable damage even with support gear. They perform exceptionally well in both PvP and PvE, making them one of the strongest all-around classes.
Electricity (Healer And DPS)
Electricity is simple yet powerful to play. Skills like Tesla Ball and Circuit Breaker are very useful. It excels in critical strike chance. Having dedicated allies like Static makes a character exceptionally strong overall.
The above list represents the current version's ability ranking, and note that once you choose an ability and create a character, you cannot easily change it. To change an ability, you either need to create a new character or use a Respec Token: Power Type (which cannot be traded with DC Universe Online Cash).
The various abilities in DC Universe Online are not singular in function; they generally possess DPS, tanking, healing, or control capabilities simultaneously. Each ability has its own unique characteristics, so it's not recommended to choose your abilities based on strength alone; it's best to choose abilities based on your preferences.
