One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 just had a rebirth in interest thanks to the new DLC three years later, but it changes up a LOT of game dynamics. The new characters and various tweaks to the system have given a whole new power scaling that turns the tables on some characters. A few are even more broken than they were before too, but these are the best characters to play in Pirate Warriors 4 to decimate the enemy.
This will contain light spoilers for One Piece as far as characters and powers, so catch up on the manga through Viz or MangaPlus before reading on. However, if you’ve played the game, you likely know what’s going on!
Ranking Determinations
The Onigashima DLC changes up a ton of the power scaling for a lot of characters, and some took an unfortunate nerf. Others though, got an insanely powerful boost, and this ranking is determined by playing the same mission “True Pirate Warriors” as each character. Most are at max level, but the basis comes from how quickly they’re able to mow through enemies, as well as how fun they are to play. Even if someone is powerful, a clunky move set can kill any sort of fun in playing since it just becomes a slog.
17. X Drake
While he’s not one of the strongest to play, he does have a fun balance of power and speed type that gives him a great edge against enemies. Drake attacks fast while also dealing some great damage, and he’s able to dash in and out of enemies’ reach in between hits. Not only does he have the massive speed, but his specials also have some great damage output. That’s only the start of Drake’s greatness though.
His Full Force Burst form allows a full Zoan transformation, turning Drake into his massive dinosaur form. Every stomp damages enemies around, and the insane powers he gets from it make chomping through enemies a breeze. He’s someone who can give one hundred percent towards a battle in either form.
16. Nami
An underrated pick thanks to the bias against Technique-type characters in the game, but Nami can really blow away a crowd. Literally, most of her attacks have massive areas of effect damage, and a lot of times will gather enemies around her in a cyclone for further beatings. She really doesn’t pull punches, and her incredible variety of moves allows her combat ability to shine in stringing together combos.
Once she earns the Full Force Burst that allows her to summon Zeus though, it’s all over. She becomes insanely powerful, with Zeus forming massive thunderclouds around the entire screen. Her speed and stamina are amazing as well, which really blends well with her wide-reaching attacks and lightning from Zeus.
15. Marco
Look, a lot of people can make fun of his pineapple head all they want, but dammit if Marco isn’t fun to play. He’s incredibly fast, strong once properly leveled, and really, really tears into a wide area of enemies during his combos. Marco is a Sky Type, which fits with his wings and Phoenix form when he enters his Zoan transformation. It’s incredibly powerful too, and gives him some extended airtime and reduced stamina that makes stringing together combos easy, even into the thousand-hit ranges.
His Phoenix abilities give him even better advantages, especially in the higher Treasure Log levels as well. Many of his special moves will heal Marco as well as damage enemies, and he’s able to clear out multiple crowds in seconds while maintaining a full health bar. His Skill, Doctor’s Wisdom, also restores health steadily on its own.
14. Kuzan
Everyone still holds issues with Technique types despite the standouts more than making up for the weaker characters. Case in point is Kuzan, whose Chilly-Chilly Fruit lets him absolutely shatter enemies into pieces no matter where they are. A lot of his moves involve repeatedly mashing the strong attack to further boost the area, and at max, they can cover the entire screen. Especially Ice Age, which freezes every enemy on the map in the process of doing damage.
His freezing abilities are what make Kuzan stand out as a playable character, and a pain in the ass to fight against. It’s an overpowered mechanic in Pirate Warriors 4, and opponents will stay frozen for a considerable time while taking punishing damage. Kuzan can even freeze the major giant characters like Kaido and Big Mom, which gives him a huge advantage.
13. Blackbeard
The Emperor of the Sea with two Devil Fruits has one of the most terrifying villains on the Grand Line, and a fierce fighter. It’s kind of a bummer he doesn’t have his Pre-Timeskip moveset from Pirate Warriors 3, but the amount of power behind his attacks makes up for it. Blackbeard is able to capture tons of enemies in his Dark-Dark Fruit abilities before sending them flying with earth-shattering hits.
His real shining move is the counter ability he has, which absorbs enemies’ hits for a brief time. Once it takes enough damage, he expels it in a counterattack with huge damage to the surrounding area, blasting a wave of darkness outward. He’s a fearsome killer on the battlefield, and able to take care of enemies with ease.
12. Hybrid Kaido
First of the newest DLC characters on this list, Hybrid Kaido isn’t quite what everyone was hoping for, but still right to play. The Speed-type decision is a little strange at first considering how stupidly slow he moves in his base state, but works out in Full Force Burst. This gives him a huge speed boost, and combined with the new Rocketman skill available in the Soul Map, gives him dangerous speed with massive strength. Just one swing from this monster is usually enough to send a whole crowd flying to their deaths.
The specials Kaido pulls out are devastating too. His big new final attack conjures a flame dragon that has an incredible area of effect, sweeping enemies up over the entire area of the map. It does great damage, and will easily take out bars on major enemies.
11. Okiku
The Demon of the Snow is one of the most terrifying epithets One Piece might have, and Okiku definitely lives up to it here. She puts on her mask for Full Force Burst, becoming that demonic figure with an incredible boost to speed and damage. She’s able to chip away life like a blizzard rushing past, and if the right skills are set, she becomes an incredible danger to anyone in her sight.
Her main attacks have a surprisingly wide area of attack for a Speed Type character, and she can zip through enemies. The important thing to know when using her is that she’ll keep advancing as she attacks, so waves of enemies are easy to gather if done right.
10. Reiju
A surprising addition and the only viable option for Sanji’s siblings in the game, Reiju is a killer Sky Type fighter. Not only is she fast, but she’s able to juggle groups of enemies high up in the air, ensuring they won’t be able to get up for a counter. That’s even before she goes into her Full Force Burst mode, which gives her an incredible boost in speed as well as added abilities for aerial combos.
The best part about Reiju though is that she inherently poisons whoever she comes in contact with during Full Force Burst. She gets the Poison Pink name with Germa for a damn good reason, and this is a solid way to chip down Armor Bars on enemies. Reiju is just a fantastic character for all-around melting away enemies.
9. Ace
Ace is so stupidly overpowered it’s almost kind of sad when other characters see him coming. A ton of his attacks have far-reaching consequences, and his speed in base form is just incredible. Ace literally melts enemies with his massive flames, and there’s a very easy way to take down entire crowds at once. The trick for Ace is to hold down the button for his final strong attack in a combo. Just hold the button, and it’ll automatically release at max power with whatever combo finisher that’s being used. This gives Ace a HUGE boost in not just area but raw power, and can take down boss characters like Kaido easily.
Even better is when Ace activates his Full-Force Burst, enabling his Logia-type powers to attack enemies. This gives him a huge damage and speed boost, plus if combined with Indomitable Spirit for a skill, restores health. Ace is the quickest way to burn through a battlefield for those who need to get done fast.
8. Onigashima Luffy
Let’s all be honest, the base Onigashima Luffy is kind of a letdown. It’s a carbon copy of regular Luffy, but with two new Finishers and Gear Fifth as a Full Force Burst Form Change. The Gum-Gum Roc Gatling and Red Roc are cool and all, but it seems like wasted potential for what could’ve been something more. Plus it doesn’t allow Gear Four in any capacity, which is kind of disappointing.
Until Gear Fifth happens. The form change gives Luffy a stupid high boost in damage, area, and speed while turning him into a Sky type that runs like a Roadrunner. It’s hilarious fun to play as, and his combos are incredibly strong over a wide area, it’s just learning to master them. There’s a lot more that can happen when Pirate Warriors 5 comes along, but for now, Luffy’s Gear Fifth is a ton of fun to play.
7. Trafalgar D Water Law
If anyone needs to grind levels to earn money or coins for character maps, this is the way to do it. Law is one of the best for taking out huge crowds of enemies while also getting the most rewards. His Shambles ability will steal items from anyone caught in ROOM, but it only gets better when his Full Force Burst almost triples the size of the ability, bringing in even greater prizes.
Law is really just an amazing fighter through and through for a Technique type. He’s incredibly agile, with great speed, and his Burst that expands ROOM gives him some of the best area for one of the human-size characters. He’s certainly not a slouch, but it would be nice to get an update on his Onigashima special move.
6. Kozuki Oden
Oden is a huge character, which already gives him a significant advantage over a lot of others. Add to it though that his massive size is also able to draw in dozens of enemies through his huge sword swings and he’s incredible. Oden is a character that doesn’t stay in one place for long, and constantly advances through the battlefield while swinging his swords every way possible. He’ll juggle enemies with blades and just keep picking up more as they come by, leading to huge counts by the end.
His Burst mode is a pretty good enhancement as well, offering a faster speed while also maintaining a really good damage boost. Conqueror Haki flies off the blades during this form, and he’s able to cause whole twisters of it.
5. Big Mom
Another Emperor of the Sea and a giant character that can be a pain to play in cramped maps. That said, she’s incredibly powerful when allowed to rampage, and especially when her advanced abilities are unlocked. Her major one, a form change that utilizes all three of her main Homies, turns her into a Sky Type. A character this size has no business moving or attacking as fast as she does, and her hits land incredibly hard with area damage for most of them.
There are a few other abilities that make her stand out as well, such as where she can get a delivery of candy health from her minions. Or even absorb the souls of those around to restore her own health. She’s terrifying to face, but playing as her gives every feeling of being an Emperor of the Sea in One Piece.
4. Smoothie
Every DLC pack has a standout powerhouse character, and Smoothie is the big star of the very first DLC pack. She’s a big character, with incredibly far-reaching moves. Smoothie has another mechanic though that allows her to absorb the water from everywhere and everyone, strengthening her special abilities. This ranges from sending huge geysers into the air all the way to massive whirlpools to capture enemies, and it all does incredibly high damage.
Then she has a Form Change that allows her to grow into a giant using the water absorbed. This gives her a whole new moveset that reaches even further, and makes her a greater destructive force than even her mother. Smoothie’s form change lasts for some time too, meaning most can get a good distance through a fight before she changes back.
3. Katakuri
An absolute KILLER when it comes to fighting, Katakuri is absolutely a destroyer of life bars for major characters. He’s able to take down Kaido in New World missions incredibly easily, especially when he activates the Full Force Burst and starts to summon his mochi rings to spawn more limbs. Oh, and he coats most of his attacks with Armament Haki for an added boost to the pain he brings. A lot of his attacks also do some massive splash damage in turn.
The best thing about Katakuri is just how fun he is to play though. It’s one of those things that just makes sense in One Piece, this brutal character ripping through an enemy army like nothing. Katakuri achieves that in droves, and makes the game a blast to play and even easier to level other characters and grind items.
2. Whitebeard
Originally Whitebeard would have been sitting at the top of this list, but Onigashima DLC changed that really quickly. Still, the old Emperor is a slow-moving tank, but a blast to play as for feeling like a badass. Whitebeard just walks through his enemies like they’re nothing, and his moves have the devastating earthquakes that make him a famous Emperor of the Sea. He’s incredibly powerful, and with higher levels most minor enemies can be obliterated by one combo, if they survive the first few hits anyway.
Full Force Burst just makes him an even greater badass than before, and sets him up for faster combat. He gets a huge speed, damage, and area boost that catches mroe enemies in his Tremor-Tremor Fruit powers, and makes them crumble before him. If any characters make leveling up characters and grinding for experience or money a breeze, it’s Whitebeard.
1. Yamato
There are all kinds of criticisms for the handling of Onigashima Kaido and Luffy, but Yamato was a perfect addition to the cast of Pirate Warriors. His attacks hit incredibly hard, he’s easy to control, and the speed typing allows him to dash in and out of enemies for massive damage. Yamato’s big special moves are also incredibly destructive, and cover a huge range of the battleground in one hit. What really sets him apart is the option of having a regular Full Force Burst to enhance him, or the use of his hybrid Zoan Devil Fruit.
The Form Change for his Devil Fruit is incredibly powerful. Even just using the form change itself typically knocks out any minor enemies in the immediate area. Every blast of ice and Conqueror Haki ensures massive damage to whoever is in the way, and often freezes whoever is hit outside of major enemies. All of this, with an entirely different special move for the form change, makes Yamato an absolute menace for battles.
Everything is looking good for the next character pack in One Piece Pirate Warriors 4, so there will be an updated ranking when that drops around December. Until then, these are the best characters to play in the game right now, and the top five are definitely great for doing any kind of level grinding. One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 is keeping a good rhythm going three years after release though, so expect a few more additions to the best character list when new DLC drops!
One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 is available to buy on Steam, Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
