Tekken 8 fighters tier list: All characters ranked by difficulty

The Tekken 8 fighters cover a massive array of combat styles, regions, and difficulty levels. Some people think 3D fighters are generally incredibly difficult, especially if they come from faster-paced games like anime fighters. However, it’s not too rough going, no matter who you are.

Anyone can learn fighting games like Tekken; they just require dedication and discipline. However, having characters that aren’t as complex makes it a bit less frustrating. While I did research what people were saying about the cast, when it came to difficulty, at the end of the day, it came down to my personal thoughts. You may disagree with some of my picks, and that’s perfectly fine.

Many long-time players may find that characters on the harder side of things were very easy for them to pick up.

Note: This article is subjective in nature.

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Easiest Tekken 8 fighters to pick up for new players

Asuka and anyone at this tier are pretty basic and fun (Image via Bandai Namco)

• Lars
• Leeroy
• Asuka
• Paul

It’s often memed about how easy Paul is when it comes to this franchise, and the list of Tekken 8 fighters is no exception. He’s an incredibly easy character to play and can deal tons of damage, but he does require some knowledge of the game’s mechanics to flourish. Anyone at this tier is easy to pick up, and you can be successful with them.

However, like any fighting game, you still have to grasp the fine details, put in practice, and learn combos and game mechanics. These options don’t feel bad with the Special Style controls, so feel free to try them out.

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Easy Tekken 8 fighters for new players to pick up

Alisa has some amazing multihit moves (Image via Bandai Namco)

• Jun
• Feng
• Azucena
• Shaheen
• Alisa
• Claudio
• Raven
• Kuma
• Panda
• Victor
• Dragunov

The field opens up a bit with the “easy” difficulty Tekken 8 fighters. Don’t think that just because someone is classified as easy, they aren’t fun or potentially incredibly powerful.

When it comes to the new characters, Victor is very easy to pick up and play. He has a ton of amazing tools and moves that cover a wide variety of situations. He reminds me a lot of the power level Noctis had in Tekken 7. Many of his combos are beginner-friendly, and his moves are dangerous.

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Average difficulty Tekken 8 fighters for anyone to pick up

Among the many fighters, few are as frustrating to face as a skilled King (Image via Bandai Namco)

• Xiayou
• Hworang
• Lili
• Leo
• Zafina
• Jack-8
• King
• Jin

The average difficulty tier is a group of characters that pretty much anyone could pick up and get the hang of with some work. These characters have the potential to be devastating. The more you know about them, naturally, the better these Tekken 8 fighters will do in your hands.

I was torn on putting King in “easy” difficulty among the Tekken 8 fighters, to be honest. As a fan of professional wrestling, King is my favorite character to see in action. He has a solid moveset that’s easy enough to pick up, but his ceiling is limitless. His grapples are among the most terrifying in the franchise.

If you don’t know how to stop the Rolling Death Cradle, that’s the end of your match. In fact, it’s easier than ever to use many of his best tools. I stand by these choices, and if you want someone satisfying but not incredibly complex right out of the gate, these Tekken 8 fighters are good to choose.

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Harder difficulty Tekken 8 fighters for new players to choose

• Kazuya
• Devil Jin
• Law
• Yoshimitsu
• Nina
• Steve

Now we’re getting into the real frustrating territory. While these characters are much harder to master, requiring precise inputs and pretty intense combos, the rewards are great. In other cases, they just have ridiculous movesets, like Yoshimitsu. He’s one of the first characters I played with. While I felt godlike offline, as soon as I took him online, I realized I had much to learn.

His moves are incredibly difficult to master and use correctly. If you falter with an input, get ready to be comboed for most of your lifebar when it comes to the harder Tekken 8 fighters like Yoshimitsu.

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Hardest Tekken 8 fighters to master

• Lee
• Bryan
• Reina

Originally, I had Reina down in hard, but she has an absolutely insane amount of starters, combos, and other ridiculous ways to beat people down. Whether you put her in hard or the hardest Tekken 8 fighters to play, I think it’s a fair suggestion. These are the most challenging characters to play, but if you can master them, the sky is the limit.

However, “hardest” doesn’t always mean “best,” but I think Reina could be one of the most powerful characters, hands down. While she does have some pretty useful, easy moves to take advantage of, if you really want to do well, it takes way more work.

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As a fighting game, Tekken is ever-evolving. There are plenty of characters on the way, and the game has recently been patched. As the game grows and changes, so will this tier list.