Character tier list (Endless)

Each character's three best Danger 5 builds, 200 endless runs each; score = the best average wave the runs died on.

Tiers by rank: the top 8% are S, the next 17% A, then 25% B, 25% C and the rest D.

• Every Danger level and endless mode, Crash Zone; each starting weapon gets a first pass and the best ones many more runs. The game's waves (enemy groups, sizes, repeats and wave lengths from its wave files, the boss at wave 20, two on Danger 5), enemy HP and damage by wave and Danger.
• Every material dropped is picked up; it is also XP. Harvesting pays at the end of each wave and grows 5% a wave. Crates drop at the enemies' own rates (more with Luck) and give an item of the wave's tier.
• Shop: 4 slots a wave, each a weapon 35% of the time (a copy of one you hold 20%, one of the same class 35%), tier by the game's odds for the wave and Luck, prices by the game's formula; up to 3 rerolls. Two copies of a weapon combine into the next tier. Level-ups offer 4 upgrades of the game's tiers for that level.
• Purchases and level-ups are chosen greedily: whatever raises damage-to-clear and survival most per material. Damage: every weapon's DPS by the game's formulas plus pierce, bounce, burning, explosions, lightning and other on-hit projectiles, turrets, landmines and pets; 60% of the wave spent hitting; melee hits 1.5 enemies, explosions 3.
• Survival: 1% of a wave's enemies land a hit when the wave is cleared in time, more the longer they live; damage reduced by armor and dodge (the game's formulas), healed by HP regeneration and life steal. A run ends when a wave's hits exceed what the character can take. That share is the one tuned number: it was set so that the strongest builds win most Danger 5 runs, the weakest few.
• Endless: after wave 20 the game repeats waves 11–20 at 60 s each and adds int(wave ÷ 10 × 2) groups of its endless enemies; enemy HP grows by the endless factor × 2.25 and damage by the endless factor (RunData.get_endless_factor), prices and rerolls too, and harvesting shrinks 20% a wave. Runs stop at wave 100.
• Not modelled: dodging by moving, knockback, elites and hordes, curses, item effects that trigger on conditions (on dodge, on pickup, below HP…), consumables' healing, recycling and locking.