Deadly Days Roadtrip Character Tier List: First Clear

This ranking answers a narrow question: which survivor gives you the best chance to finish a normal run at MKing Response Level 3 or below? It is not a ranking of maximum power at 200 hours, and it is not a ranking of fun. A character that requires a finished account to function is a bad first-clear pick even if its ceiling is higher.

Official source: Deadly Days: Roadtrip store page

More sources: Pixelsplit — Deadly Days: Roadtrip and Steam news hub.

The criteria

• Floor. How well the character performs with ordinary drops and no rare items.
• Build independence. Whether the character item works with many weapons or demands one specific package.
• Early game. The first two days decide most runs; a character that struggles there rarely reaches the boss.
• Unlock cost. A tier is not useful if the character takes twenty hours to unlock.

S tier — the reliable clears

The Survivor (default)

The default is S for a reason that tier lists usually undervalue: it has no rule that can go wrong. A pistol, a normal backpack, and no forced build. Every item in the game is usable, every layout is legal, and the character teaches the systems you need for everyone else. If you are struggling to clear, go back to the default and fix the build rather than the character.

Best with: any weapon. Weakness: no unique engine, so the ceiling is your item luck.

Bushy

Trap Seeds root enemies, and rooted enemies take bonus crit. That is a complete control package in one item: it solves the "enemies will not stand in the fire" problem, it sets up crit builds, and it works from the first biome. Bushy also has one of the most straightforward unlocks — 1000 rifle kills, which happens naturally if you use rifles.

Best with: burn zones, area damage, crit weapons. Weakness: the traps need enemies to walk into them; fast ranged enemies can ignore the setup.

The Carver

Pumpkin Turrets turn every trigger into extra damage. The Carver is the best character for players who like building a machine rather than aiming a gun: stack triggers, add a Cogwheel, and the turrets do the work while you loot. The unlock is a learnable route rather than an achievement grind.

Best with: Cogwheel, fast weapons, trigger grids. Weakness: the turret damage depends on trigger frequency, so a slow weapon leaves the build idle.

A tier — strong with a plan

Penny the Clown

The Funny Balloon is flexible: it can be periodic or triggered, it homes, it scales with level, and it self-pops. That flexibility is also the problem — Penny has no single dominant build, so you have to choose one. In the hands of a player who commits to a trigger grid, she is S-adjacent. In the hands of a player who spreads items, she is average.

Best with: trigger frequency, area damage. Weakness: no clear identity.

The Vampire

The Vampire has the highest ceiling of any survivor and the worst first day. Starting with no weapon means every early fight is a melee commitment, and the bats only become a swarm after several levels. If you survive to level ten, the life-steal makes the run self-sustaining. If you die on day one, the tier does not matter.

Best with: attack speed, life steal, XP. Weakness: the first two days, and any ranged enemy.

Santa

Airstrikes are strong against packs, and the gift collection gives Santa a reason to move through the aftermath. The character is less consistent than Bushy because the strike placement is not fully controllable, but the area damage is real and the gifts add sustain.

Best with: crowd control, area damage. Weakness: bosses that move out of the strike zone.

The Surfer

Surfing instead of dashing is a movement upgrade in the right hands: faster, longer, and more committed. It rewards players who plan a line and punishes panic. The unlock — six dashes' worth of stamina — is easy to meet.

Best with: kiting builds, open biomes. Weakness: tight corridors and panic inputs.

B tier — situational

The Astronaut

A map-event unlock with a kit that does not obviously beat the A tier. It is a fine character once you have it, but the unlock is random and the payoff is not a new rule.

The Banana

A joke character with a real build. The costume and character steps overlap, which makes it a fun project and a poor first-clear recommendation.

The Sheriff

A themed kit with a straightforward gunplan. Nothing wrong with it; nothing that solves a problem the default does not.

The Chicken

A community-favourite challenge character. It is a challenge for a reason; do not take it into a first clear.

C tier — the secret

The Reaper / Death

The Reaper is the hardest unlock and the highest skill floor. Its kit assumes you know every boss pattern and can survive the overstay that spawns it. Ranking it low is not a comment on its power; it is a comment on the cost of getting there. If you have unlocked it, you are past the point where this list applies.

Co-op rankings

In co-op the ranking shifts:

• Bushy becomes the best enabler: roots set up both players' area damage.
• The Carver becomes a strong carry if the partner supplies triggers.
• The Vampire becomes much safer with a partner drawing aggro.
• The default remains the best choice for a player who wants to learn the seam layout without a second rule.

The co-op guide covers the carry/enabler split.

Unlock order for a new account

1. Default until you clear a run or reach the first boss consistently.
2. Bushy via rifle kills — the most useful unlock per hour.
3. The Carver via the Pumpkin Patch — the most distinct build.
4. Penny via Rubber Balls — flexible, cheap.
5. The Vampire when you want a project.
6. The Reaper last.

FAQ

Is the default survivor viable at high response levels? Yes. It has no weakness, which matters more than a gimmick when the enemy scaling is high.

Which character is best for the weekly? Bushy and the Carver, because the weekly's fixed modifiers reward control and triggers more than raw damage.

Does the tier list change with patches? It can. The page is dated; check the current build before treating a placement as permanent.

Related

• Characters guide: items and unlock steps
• How to unlock Death
• Best builds: the engines behind each survivor