Dark Scrolls Hero Tier List: All 7 Heroes Ranked 2026

This Dark Scrolls hero tier list ranks all nine characters by consistency, Shoppe synergy, and ceiling. The game doesn't have a lot of wrong hero picks. Every one of doinksoft's nine characters can clear the game. What the tier list actually measures is how much the hero helps itself, how forgiving it is when you make a mistake, and how high its ceiling gets once the Shoppe starts stacking perks. Some heroes demand almost nothing of you. Others hand you the tools to wreck a dungeon if you put in the work.

TL;DR: Grizz is the safest top-tier pick, consistent from the first room to the final boss. Pigeon is stronger in skilled hands but needs positioning discipline. Biscuit and Nezumi sit in A tier once unlocked: Biscuit is the best co-op hero in the game, Nezumi rewards players willing to learn its note-sequence system. Emerys, Saturn, and Confit are solid B/C tier picks with narrower ceiling or fewer documented synergies. Two heroes remain undocumented by name in community sources as of this writing.

Dark Scrolls hero tier list: quick answer

Grizz and Pigeon are the top two. Grizz wins on accessibility, Pigeon wins on ceiling. Biscuit is the best co-op pick in the game once you free it. Nezumi takes real learning but pays off. The rest are playable but hit walls sooner.

S tier: Grizz and Pigeon

Grizz throws axes in an arc that naturally covers multiple enemy heights at once. Most heroes need to aim or time their attack to connect across a crowded screen. Grizz's arc does that work passively. The ground pound chains from the axe throw: hit an enemy with an axe, the follow-up pound hits clustered enemies below, star meter builds fast. When the burst fires, dozens of axes fill the screen simultaneously.

Shoppe compatibility is the other reason Grizz sits at the top. Shuriken applies a ricochet effect to each thrown axe, which multiplies fast in tight corridors. Allies add independent damage while Grizz pushes forward. Thorns punishes melee enemies during the ground pound contact. Almost nothing in the Shoppe is wasted on Grizz. That flexibility makes him reliable across run variations.

Pigeon is faster and more agile than any other character. The dagger attack comes out at high speed and can angle downward, letting skilled players target enemies below platforms without requiring a jump. Shuriken on Pigeon's daggers turns the entire floor into a ricochet zone when the angle is right. The burst fires a spread of daggers in multiple directions.

What Pigeon asks for in return is scroll discipline. Moving faster means approaching the left edge faster if you're not managing your position. Players who instinctively run at enemies do well. Players who back up under pressure need to adjust before Pigeon clicks. Once it does, Pigeon pulls slightly ahead of Grizz in raw damage output by mid-dungeon.

GODEEPER: The Shoppe is where both heroes multiply. Understand which perks compound and which ones don't before your next run. Dark Scrolls Best Builds: All 9 Heroes Ranked 2026 →

Each hero in Dark Scrolls has a completely different attack pattern: the tier list separates consistent performers from high-ceiling picks based on Shoppe synergy and attack coverage.

A tier: Biscuit and Nezumi

Biscuit requires an in-run unlock: free the dog from its cage during the stage 1 boss fight. Missing the cage means no Biscuit. Once unlocked, Biscuit is permanently on the roster and immediately competes with Grizz for second-best overall.

Biscuit's bark attack hits in a wide horizontal spread and stuns enemies briefly. The crowd control creates clear windows to follow up or push through clusters without taking hits. The special move is a spinning pinball form that bounces off enemies, dealing contact damage on every surface it touches. Thorns perks from the Shoppe apply during the pinball bounce, punishing every enemy in the path. Ally perks fire independently while Biscuit spins, meaning forward damage continues even when Biscuit is mid-bounce.

In co-op, Biscuit is the best character in the game. The bark stun covers partner heroes during ghost recovery, and the pinball form's self-contained damage lets Biscuit hold a corridor independently while a partner resets.

Nezumi is the saxophone rat. The Devolver marketing told players not to pick Nezumi, which was a deliberate bit to make it the most-picked hero at launch. The honest assessment: Nezumi is the hardest hero to play and the most rewarding once it makes sense.

Nezumi fires saxophone notes in directional sequences. Each sequence equips a different Shoppe ability for free, giving access to more than 16 effect combinations without spending coins. Other heroes pay for those effects at the Shoppe. Nezumi gets them mid-run by playing the right tune. A player who knows three or four sequences reliably enters the back half of the dungeon with a fuller perk set than most Shoppe-dependent heroes.

The cost is attention split between movement, enemies, and note sequences simultaneously. During learning runs Nezumi underperforms. After practice, the gap closes fast.

B/C tier: Emerys, Saturn, Confit

Emerys floats rather than walks. The movement change affects how scroll pressure reads: Emerys drifts rather than sprinting, which can buy fractional seconds at the left edge. The magic orbs bounce off walls and floors, providing passive screen coverage without aimed attacks. An orb shield deploys on the special, adding a defensive buffer no other hero has.

The ceiling on Emerys is lower than Grizz or Pigeon. The orbs bounce unpredictably enough that Shuriken interactions are harder to control. Ally perks work well. Thorns doesn't apply since Emerys doesn't make sustained contact. Emerys is the best pick for players who naturally back up under pressure and want the game's most forgiving movement pattern, but it's harder to build into a late-dungeon wrecker.

Saturn and Confit round out the named roster in B/C tier based on available community documentation. Saturn's ability involves abducting enemies, pulling a large portion of the screen into one cluster. The crowd control is strong in theory, but the downstream Shoppe interactions are less documented than the top-tier heroes. Confit is the steak-throwing chef, a projectile hero occupying similar build space to Grizz and Pigeon without the same established synergy data.

Both are worth exploring if you've cleared runs with the top four. They aren't weak characters. They're characters where the community understanding of optimal Shoppe builds is still developing.

Two additional heroes remain unnamed in community sources post-launch. The builds guide identified weapon types for both before release: an archer and one other. Tier placement will update when names and full mechanics are documented.

GODEEPER: Co-op changes which heroes matter most. Biscuit in particular jumps a full tier in group play. Dark Scrolls Co-op Guide: Ghost System and Hero Pairings →

Solo vs co-op tier differences

The tier list above is calibrated for solo play. Co-op reshapes it.

Biscuit moves into S tier in co-op. The bark stun has obvious partner value, and the pinball form's self-contained damage means Biscuit contributes independently while a downed partner recovers in ghost form. Grizz stays in S tier: the ground pound's area effect becomes more reliable when a partner is pushing enemies toward the center of the screen.

Nezumi drops slightly in co-op viability, not because it's weaker, but because managing note sequences while coordinating with a partner is cognitively heavier. Experienced Nezumi players can still carry games. For new co-op pairs, Grizz and Biscuit is the strongest pairing.

Emerys and Pigeon pair well together: Pigeon handles aggressive forward positioning while Emerys provides safe rear screen coverage. The playstyle types complement each other without competing for the same dungeon space.

Co-op changes the tier picture: Biscuit jumps to S tier for its stun coverage on recovering partners, while Pigeon and Emerys pair well because they occupy different spatial roles.

How Shoppe perks change the tier picture

The rankings above assume a mixed Shoppe. If you're building around a specific perk, the picture shifts.

Shuriken runs strongly favor Grizz and Pigeon: both have frequent projectile outputs that multiply ricochet bounces. A full Shuriken build on Grizz by the second Shoppe is one of the game's highest-damage configurations.

Ally builds favor Biscuit in co-op and Emerys in solo. Allies provide steady screen coverage and don't require the hero to stay at front range, which suits Emerys's float pattern.

Thorns build works on any hero who sustains contact: Biscuit in pinball form is the clearest example, but Grizz's ground pound also benefits from a Thorns proc on each slam.

Don't split perks between categories without a reason. The star meter feeds burst attacks and threshold perks on every hero, which means consistent attacking is always the right instinct regardless of which category you're building.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the best hero in Dark Scrolls? Grizz is the best all-around hero. His arcing axes hit enemies at multiple heights, his ground pound chains reliably, and his sneeze burst fires dozens of axes at once when the star meter fills. He works with every major Shoppe perk type and has the lowest skill floor of the top-tier picks.

Is Pigeon better than Grizz in Dark Scrolls? Pigeon has a higher ceiling than Grizz but a steeper learning curve. Pigeon's downward dagger angle lets skilled players control spacing in ways Grizz can't. If you're comfortable managing scroll position and angling attacks, Pigeon pulls ahead in late dungeon. For most players, Grizz is the safer pick.

How do you unlock Biscuit in Dark Scrolls? Free the dog from the cage during the first stage's boss fight. Biscuit joins your permanent roster immediately and can be selected from the hero screen on any future run. Missing the cage means no Biscuit until you attempt that stage again.

Is Nezumi good in Dark Scrolls? Nezumi is very strong once you know the note sequences. Playing the right sequence equips a Shoppe ability for free, giving access to 16+ effects without spending coins. The learning investment is higher than any other hero, but once it clicks Nezumi has one of the largest mid-run power gaps in the game.

What makes Emerys different from the other heroes? Emerys floats, which changes how scroll pressure affects movement. His orbs bounce off walls and floors, giving passive screen coverage without requiring aim adjustments. The orb shield also provides a defensive buffer that other heroes don't have. He's the most forgiving hero for players who instinctively retreat instead of pushing into enemies.

How many heroes are in Dark Scrolls total? Dark Scrolls has 9 heroes. Three start unlocked: Grizz, Pigeon, and Emerys. Six more unlock through in-run actions, including Biscuit (free from a cage at the stage 1 boss fight) and Nezumi. The game launched June 22, 2026 and community documentation of all 9 names is still developing.

Related Reading

• Dark Scrolls Best Builds: All 9 Heroes Ranked 2026: Shoppe perk synergies for every hero, including which categories to stack and which to ignore.
• Dark Scrolls Co-op Guide: Ghost System and Hero Pairings: How hero choice affects co-op, ghost recovery mechanics, and the best two-player pairings.
• Dark Scrolls Dungeon Guide: All Floors and Stage Threats: Floor-by-floor breakdown of enemy patterns and how hero choice affects stage priorities.
• Dark Scrolls Review: 9 Heroes, One Sharp Roguelite: Full assessment of the game's design, Shoppe system, and co-op performance.
• Dark Scrolls Tips: Beginner Guide for New Players: First-run fundamentals including star meter use and Shoppe decision-making.

References

• Dark Scrolls on Steam: Release info, features, community hub
• Devolver Digital: Dark Scrolls: Publisher page, official character descriptions
• Gamespress: Dark Scrolls launch release: Official press release with character descriptions including Confit and Saturn
• Nintendo Life: Dark Scrolls review: Independent review with hero analysis