Monster Hunter Outlanders Tier List

Why Support Adventurers sit at the top

Hunts in Monster Hunter Outlanders are built for a squad of four, and the Co-Op Skill shows why that matters. The whole squad draws on one shared energy pool. When one Adventurer triggers the skill, the others have to hit the same part of the monster for it to land. That rewards a group that stays close, stays alive and attacks together.

On your own, you control one Adventurer and three more can join as automatically controlled squadmates, so Squad value is about what those three add around you. Our Monster Hunter Outlanders best team page builds full squads from that idea. In online co-op we expect each player to control their own Adventurer, but no source has confirmed that yet.

A Support kit fits that pattern. Madelyn’s spores boost Madelyn and nearby allies, so their value grows with every teammate in range. A pure damage dealer mostly raises one number: their own. A team buff raises everyone’s and helps keep the squad standing long enough to set up the next Co-Op Skill.

Arkaya is a different case. The official skill video shows a full-Resolve blow that grants a large shield, but it does not say who receives it. Player videos from the closed beta tests fill that gap: when Arkaya gained a shield, every squad member gained it too, and the ultimate is one way to trigger it. Testers in the closed beta also report that Arkaya’s own damage is low and that the gear that helps arrives late. The same tests also confirm that Arkaya raises affinity for the whole party. Arkaya stays in S because shielding the whole squad is worth more than the missing personal damage. Now that the game is live, we will recheck that.

This also matters more as you progress. Your Ecological Rank climbs over the course of the adventure and the monsters get stronger with it, so a spare shield or buff becomes more valuable in later hunts, not less.

What changes for solo players

Playing solo does not mean hunting alone. You control one Adventurer, and three more fight beside you as automatically controlled squadmates, so on paper a team buff or shield still reaches all four Adventurers in the squad, AI squadmates included. Pick those three for what they add around the one you control.

You can also leave the squadmate slots empty. Hunting truly alone shifts the math. A team buff that covers one Adventurer is worth less than one that covers four, so the gap between the Support picks and the rest gets smaller.

In that case, two Assault Adventurers gain the most. Luka’s mobility and piercing arrows matter more when nobody else is drawing the monster’s attention, and the Bow also leads our Monster Hunter Outlanders weapon tier list. Pyro’s burst ends fights faster when no one else is adding damage, as long as Pyro can afford the hits that power it. Arkaya’s heavy Resolve strike still lands when nobody else is around, and Madelyn’s spores still buff the Adventurer who places them. If you are new to the series, our list of the best Adventurers for beginners ranks the same 13 by how forgiving they are.

What we will update after launch

Servers opened on October 28, 2026 at 22:00 UTC (October 29 in Asia) in North America, Japan and Europe, all at the same moment. This list targets Monster Hunter Outlanders version 1.0.9 and rests on the official class, weapon and skill descriptions. We have not graded anyone on real hunts yet, and the full method is in how we rank Monster Hunter Outlanders Adventurers.

That will change. Once people have time with each kit, we will check the questions this list leaves open: whether Arkaya’s squad shield works at launch the way it did in the closed beta tests, how control works in online co-op, whether Pyro’s need to take damage is worth the burst, whether Ryunosuke’s Well-fed setup feels shorter in practice, and whether Raya’s stamina cost is as limiting as it looks on paper. Every move up or down goes into the changelog at the bottom of this page, with the date and the reason.

Since launch, Japanese guide sites mostly put Midori first, and some post-launch player rankings place Arkaya lower than we do. So far these are opinions with no timed or damage data behind them, so we keep the paper ranking for now. On November 1, 2026 we recheck Midori, Arkaya and Pepper, and if 2 or more independent player tests with numbers agree, from arena solo rankings or timed runs, we move the placement under our method.