Highguard unexpectedly released after a long period of silence following its announcement at The Game Awards 2025, immediately attracting a large number of players. It’s a 3v3 hero shooter where teams compete in a mode called Raid. In Raid, the goal is to capture the Shieldbreaker and use it to destroy the enemy base, securing a win for your team.
In the hero shooter Highguard, players choose from a roster of characters called Wardens. Each Warden has special abilities, and while they’re all viable, some are currently more powerful and popular than others. This guide ranks every character in Highguard, and provides detailed strategies for playing them effectively.
S-Tier: God Tier Wardens
Scarlet
| Sandstorm (Tactical Power) | Shifting Sands (Passive) | Whirling Blades (Ultimate Power) |
|---|---|---|
| Enter stealth mode, making yourself hidden to enemies who are far away. | Shift a destructible wall into sand temporarily, making it passable. | Throw up to 6 deadly daggers. Killing a player resets your cooldowns. |
Okay, so Scarlet? She’s insane. Seriously, she jumped straight to S-Tier the moment she dropped. Not everyone needs her, because she’s best when you’re flanking enemies with stealth, but she’s still a top pick. The real game-changer is her Shifting Sands ability. It lets me bust through walls, floors, and ceilings like they’re nothing, which is huge for getting around the map, opening up locked rooms when we’re grabbing loot, or just surprising enemies in a fight. It’s a total game changer!
Scarlet excels at stealth, especially with her Sandstorm Tactical Power. Players can use this power to sneak around enemies and objectives, making it easier to flank them. It’s also great for getting out of tough situations – you can use it to break line of sight, escape from danger, and quickly move to a safer location when you’re being attacked.
Her ultimate ability, Whirling Blades, is incredibly powerful, dealing huge damage with direct hits and headshots. What makes it unique is that, unlike most ultimates, players can charge it up and activate it whenever they choose, allowing for strategic use behind cover or before engaging enemies. However, it requires precise aiming and is most effective in close-quarters, one-on-one fights.
Atticus
| Shockspear (Tactical Power) | Supercharged Axe (Passive) | Powerstorm (Ultimate Power) |
|---|---|---|
| Throws a charged spear that shocks nearby opponents. Continuous damage charges his passive. | Charged Axe releases an electrical explosion that damages nearby resource nodes. | Rise into the air and rain lightning spears that do heavy damage to players and structures. |
Atticus represents the essence of Highguard, and he’s also a top-tier Warden in the game. He excels at dealing high damage while still being reasonably durable, making him a great choice for aggressive players. Currently, his strongest ability is Shockspear – he throws a spear that stays planted and sends out electricity to surrounding enemies, causing consistent, rapid damage. Players can even retrieve the spear to recharge the ability for future use.
The Shockspear is effective for base defense or protecting the Shieldbreaker, and can also be thrown into rooms during combat. Its special ability, Supercharged Axe, lets players power up their axe by mining Vesper. When fully charged, the axe sends out electricity to surrounding nodes, speeding up resource gathering and allowing players to collect a lot of materials for trading.
His main attack, Powerstorm, is a powerful move that deals huge damage to a wide area by summoning multiple spears. It can quickly defeat unaware opponents. However, using Powerstorm leaves him vulnerable – he floats in the air while casting, making him an easy target if enemies react quickly.
A-Tier: Great Meta Wardens
Redmane
| Pounce (Tactical Power) | Enraged (Passive) | Beast’s Roar (Ultimate Power) |
|---|---|---|
| Smash through breakable walls. Hold to charge a powerful leap. | Gains a movement and reload speed buff after killing an enemy. | Roar to destroy walls and other breakable objects in front of you. It also damages enemies. |
Although Scarlet has a wider range of skills and can handle more situations, Redmane is the strongest when it comes to breaking through walls. He excels at this thanks to his two key abilities, which both make destroying walls simple. His first ability, Pounce, lets players quickly break through walls with a single button press, or hold the button to use it for faster movement.
The Beast’s Roar Ultimate can easily break down walls and also sends out a damaging wave to nearby players. Both of these effects are great for quickly opening up bomb sites and allowing your whole team to rush in.
Redmane’s unique ability makes him a great choice for players who prefer a fast-paced style, unlike the typically slower gameplay of Highguard. Every time he defeats an opponent, he gets a speed boost, making him ideal for aggressive players who enjoy quickly eliminating enemies and keeping the action going.
Kai
| Ice Wall (Tactical Power) | Frozen Repair (Passive) | Frost Giant (Ultimate Power) |
|---|---|---|
| Create an ice wall at the target location. | Restore broken walls with ice. | Transforms into Kai’s Inner Ice Demon. |
If you’re like me and constantly worried about Redmane breaking through, or just want a super solid base, you need to check out Kai. Seriously, he’s the best when it comes to defense – everything he does is about making your base stronger and keeping you covered. What’s really amazing is his Frozen Repair ability – he can actually repair walls, letting you quickly patch up any holes in your defenses!
His Ice Wall offers similar benefits and can be placed anywhere on the map. This lets players create temporary cover in open areas or block off enemy flanking routes. Unlike just repairing, the Ice Wall can also form ledges and provide safe spots to heal or revive teammates, making it a much more flexible ability.
Kai’s strongest ability is his Ultimate, which transforms him into a powerful Frost Giant. Tap the fire button for a long-range ice blast that deals huge damage, or hold the aim button to create a shield that protects you and your allies. This ability is fantastic for quickly eliminating enemies and safeguarding teammates, but it can also be used to destroy enemy structures and push into their base.
B-Tier: Neat Niche Wardens
Slade
| Heatwave (Tactical Power) | Firebomb (Passive) | Firestorm (Ultimate Power) |
|---|---|---|
| Sends out a cascading wave of molten fire. | Explodes and spreads magma to an area. | Rains down fire upon the targeted area. |
Slade is now a solid B-Tier character, a strong attacker who excels in specific situations. He’s great at getting kills and controlling areas, making him a valuable addition to any team looking to boost their offensive power. He’s particularly effective inside bases, especially during raids, because two of his abilities are incredibly powerful in close quarters.
Heatwave and Firebomb both create pools of fire on the ground that continuously damage enemies. Heatwave works best in tight hallways, while Firebomb covers a larger area and is good for rooms or doorways. Both abilities are very powerful when combined with regular weapon fire and can be used effectively to both clear a path and hold strategic locations.
Slade’s Ultimate Power requires a bit of planning, letting players unleash a large area-of-effect attack from above. This creates a dangerous zone, making it great for hitting several players who are close together. However, Slade’s other abilities take a long time to recharge, and he isn’t very strong in wide-open spaces without his Ultimate.
Mara
| Soul Armor (Tactical Power) | Sacrifice (Passive) | Immortal Coil (Ultimate Power) |
|---|---|---|
| Grants allies an overshield that absorbs damage. | Sacrifices downed enemies to recharge your tactical. | Create a spawn point for your team. |
Mara is a strong support character who excels at helping her team and preventing enemies from being revived. Though not essential, she’s a valuable addition to coordinated team play. Her best skill is the Soul Armor Tactical, which lets players deploy temporary overshields for themselves and their allies.
Soul Armor provides a significant boost to your defenses, and any extra protection can be crucial. It’s best to activate this armor before a fight, as it doesn’t stack with other defenses and is much less effective once you’re already being attacked.
Mara’s passive ability is valuable because it lets you regain your tactical ability after defeating an enemy, and also prevents them from being revived. Her Immortal Coil can be a game-changer in certain scenarios. You can use it at the Shieldbreaker spawn to help your team quickly respawn and secure the objective, or place it in locations that aren’t normally accessible by default respawn points. Just be cautious – placing the Coil in an exposed area could create a dangerous trap for your own team.
C-Tier: Average Wardens
Condor
| Eyes in the Sky (Tactical Power) | Hunter’s Instinct (Passive) | Soaring Guardian (Ultimate Power) |
|---|---|---|
| Send out her bird, which scans to detect enemies that move. | Condor’s Bird warns her when enemies are nearby. | Launch 3 smoke clouds that reveal enemies within its wake. |
Condor is now ranked in C-Tier. On paper, they’re a strong Warden, but one ability holds them back. Condor’s skills focus on finding enemies – they either collect information about their location or directly show teammates where enemies are, acting like a built-in wallhack.
Her most-used ability, Eyes in the Sky, briefly reveals enemy locations nearby. However, it’s currently quite weak because enemies are alerted when she starts using it. This gives them time to stand still and avoid being detected, and the ability’s short range makes it even less effective. The warning signal and limited range really hold this ability back.
Her other skills are quite helpful. Hunter’s Instinct both shows and announces when an enemy is close, which can help you avoid being surprised. Soaring Guardian is an improved version of her Eyes in the Sky ability, and it’s great for revealing enemy locations on or around bases, sharing that information with your whole team.
Una
| Forest Wisps (Tactical Power) | Helping Hand (Passive) | Tree Walker (Ultimate Power) |
|---|---|---|
| Summon mischievous spirits who lob concussion grenades at enemies. | Spirits appear to give Una loot. | Summon a large forest spirit that throws smaller explosive spirits at enemies. |
While a small number of players might find Una helpful, she’s generally one of the least effective characters in Highguard. Her powers focus on using different Spirits, but currently, none of them are strong enough to significantly impact gameplay, or offer benefits that are truly valuable.
The Helping Hand seems appealing initially. It lets players get powerful armor and good items sooner than usual, which cuts down on luck-based searching. However, it’s not a game-changer, as players can already find rare items in chests using other Wardens fairly easily.
Her Forest Wisps aren’t particularly strong, but they can be used defensively to stun enemies trying to attack your base, or placed behind obstacles. They’re easily defeated with a little gunfire, so they work best when placed carefully at entrances or used in groups to focus on a single opponent. Tree Walker can be mildly helpful, effectively adding a fourth player to your team for both attack and defense. While it has a powerful ranged attack and is fairly durable, it doesn’t stand out compared to other options and mostly serves as an extra distraction that enemies will need to deal with.
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2026-01-28 03:39