Class Tier List 2026

All 13 classes ranked for the May 2026 meta — including Egg Hunter, Grenadier, Feaster, Nightcrawler & Gunslinger.

Current Meta Tier List (13 Classes)

🛡️
Expert Verified & Fact-Checked

Reviewed and updated for May 2026 by 99 Nights Strategy Editors (Sarah & Deepak).

Status: v3.2 Active
🆕 May 28, 2026 Update: Meta updated to include the new Egg Hunter class (A-Tier) from the Easter update, and recent balance tweaks. Total classes in the game is now 13.

S-Tier

Mammoth, Deer, Trader, Grenadier, Gunslinger

Game-changers. Grenadier's area denial and Gunslinger's burst DPS make them immediate S-Tier entries for the May 2026 meta.

A-Tier

Bunny, Fairy, Fox, Nightcrawler, Egg Hunter

Excellent utility. Nightcrawler is the new A-Tier king for solo players, while Egg Hunter's +15% speed and double harvests dominate collection runs.

B-Tier

Alien, Polar Bear, Feaster

Niche picks. Feaster is deceptively powerful in the right hands — its health-drain-to-resources ability scales well in long runs.

Class Database

🦣 Mammoth

S-Tier
  • Role: Tank / Defense
  • Passive: 2x Health Pool
  • Ability: Damage Resistance
  • Strategy: Frontline defense against cultists. Body block for team.

🦌 Deer

S-Tier
  • Role: Scout / Speed
  • Passive: Night Camouflage
  • Ability: Sprint Burst
  • Strategy: Resource gathering at night. Baiting enemies.

🧚 Fairy

A-Tier
  • Role: Support / Healer
  • Passive: Glow (Light Source)
  • Ability: Heal Ally
  • Strategy: Stick to the group. Save heals for emergencies.

🐰 Bunny

A-Tier
  • Role: Evasion / Kiter
  • Passive: High Jump
  • Ability: Speed Boost
  • Strategy: Distract enemies. Escape impossible situations.

💣 Grenadier NEW Feb 2026

S-Tier
  • Role: Explosive / Area Denial
  • Passive: Blast Radius +30%
  • Ability 1: Frag Grenade (8s cooldown) — deals 120 damage in a 6-stud radius
  • Ability 2: Smoke Screen (25s cooldown) — obscures enemy vision for 5 seconds
  • Unlock: Survive Night 30 with a full team
  • Best Build: Pair with Corrupted Detonator for 2x blast damage. Always lead your team's push with Smoke Screen first.
  • Team Synergy: Gunslinger (for cleanup after grenades) + Fairy (healing during pushes)

🔫 Gunslinger NEW Feb 2026

S-Tier
  • Role: Ranged DPS / Single Target
  • Passive: Bullet Count +2 per mag, Reload speed +20%
  • Ability 1: Quickdraw (3s cooldown) — instant draw, next shot deals 3x damage
  • Ability 2: Hip Fire (15s cooldown) — unloads all ammo in 2 seconds at 80% accuracy
  • Unlock: Deal 5,000 ranged damage in a single session
  • Best Build: Corrupted Revolver + Bandolier accessory. Use Quickdraw on bosses and high-value targets.
  • Team Synergy: Grenadier (disoriented enemies are easy Quickdraw targets) + Mammoth (body-blocks so Gunslinger can DPS safely)

🌑 Nightcrawler NEW Feb 2026

A-Tier
  • Role: Stealth / Assassin / Solo Play
  • Passive: Invisible when standing still for 3+ seconds at night
  • Ability 1: Shadow Step (12s cooldown) — teleport 15 studs in any direction
  • Ability 2: Night Shroud (60s cooldown) — become fully invisible for 8 seconds, even while moving
  • Unlock: Spend 10 full nights without being spotted by The Deer (Wendigo)
  • Best Build: Corrupted Dagger for backstab bonus + Shadow Cloak accessory for reduced cooldowns. Essential for Hard Mode solo runs.
  • Team Synergy: Best as solo infiltrator. In team play, use Shadow Step to plant Grenadier's grenades behind enemy lines.

🦷 Feaster NEW Feb 2026

B-Tier
  • Role: Sustain / Resource Generation / Bruiser
  • Passive: Killing an enemy restores 15 HP and drops 1 bonus resource
  • Ability 1: Devour (20s cooldown) — consume an enemy corpse to fully restore hunger and gain a 60-second 25% damage buff
  • Ability 2: Feral Hunger (45s cooldown) — enter a frenzy for 10 seconds with 2x attack speed and life-steal
  • Unlock: Kill 200 Cultists total across any number of sessions
  • Best Build: Corrupted Cleaver (melee) + Predator Instinct perk for extended Feral Hunger duration. Works best in wave-heavy Hard Mode.
  • Team Synergy: Pairs with Fairy to keep Feaster alive in prolonged melee. Grenadier weakens clusters so Feaster can clean up and heal.

🥚 Egg Hunter NEW March 2026

A-Tier
  • Role: Utility / Scouting / Speed
  • Passive 1: Swift Foot (+15% movement speed boost at all times)
  • Passive 2: Double Harvest (collects double the amount of dropped seeds and event tokens)
  • Ability 1: Carrot Bomb (10s CD) — Throws a decoy carrot explosive dealing 50 damage and distracting beasts
  • Ability 2: Speed Dash (8s CD) — Dashes 8 studs forward with 0.5s of invulnerability frames
  • Unlock: Complete the "Master Egg Hunter" badge (Sacrifice 10 Golden Eggs to the Easter Shrine)
  • Best Build: Swift Boots + Carrot Pouch accessory. Perfect for quick collection runs.
  • Team Synergy: Bunny (for extreme map looting speed) + Mammoth (to secure areas during resource gathering)

💰 Trader

S-Tier
  • Role: Economy / Base Support
  • Passive: Merchant Discount (15% cheaper item blueprint costs)
  • Ability 1: Spawn Crate (45s CD) — Drops a supply crate containing random basic resources
  • Ability 2: Gold Magnet (30s CD) — Automatically pulls nearby coins and diamonds
  • Unlock: Spend 5,000 total gold in the in-game shop
  • Best Build: Diamond Magnet accessory + Resource Pouch. Keep base structures fully funded.
  • Team Synergy: Mammoth (bodyguards Trader while farming) + Fairy (heals Trader if caught outside)

🦊 Fox

A-Tier
  • Role: Trapper / Support / Scout
  • Passive: Trap Master (cannot trigger friendly Bear Traps or Spikes)
  • Ability 1: Frost Trap (15s CD) — Places a trap that slows enemies by 50% for 6 seconds
  • Ability 2: Fox Senses (25s CD) — Highlights all nearby resources and caves for the team
  • Unlock: Catch 15 wild animals using traps in a single session
  • Best Build: Camouflage Cloak + Trap Bag. Setup choke points around base entrances.
  • Team Synergy: Gunslinger (shreds slowed enemies in Frost Traps) + Nightcrawler

🐻 Polar Bear

B-Tier
  • Role: Bruiser / Melee DPS
  • Passive: Thick Fur (+20% resistance to cold and frostbite effects)
  • Ability 1: Ice Slam (12s CD) — Strikes the ground, dealing 60 damage and freezing targets for 2s
  • Ability 2: Frost Roar (35s CD) — Intimidates surrounding enemies, reducing their attack damage by 30%
  • Unlock: Survive 15 nights in the Tundra zone
  • Best Build: Heavy Iron Cleaver + Frozen Heart amulet. Ideal for frontline melee brawling.
  • Team Synergy: Mammoth (joint frontline tanking) + Fairy (sustained healing in close quarters)

👽 Alien

B-Tier
  • Role: Crowd Control / Utility
  • Passive: Shield Generator (gains a rechargeable 30-HP energy shield)
  • Ability 1: Gravity Well (20s CD) — Pulls enemies together into a tight cluster
  • Ability 2: Telekinesis (15s CD) — Flings a target enemy or object back, dealing knockback damage
  • Unlock: Discover the hidden crash site in the Deep Woods
  • Best Build: Energy Core accessory + Laser Rifle weapon. Great for grouping up horde waves.
  • Team Synergy: Grenadier (perfectly pairs with Gravity Well for explosive group wipes) + Gunslinger

Hidden Passives

The game doesn't tell you everything. These hidden class mechanics were discovered by our community testers.

🦌 Deer: "One of Us"

Effect: Shadow Crawlers will not aggro onto a Deer player unless provoked. This allows Deer players to walk safely through infested areas at night.

🦣 Mammoth: "Heavy Steps"

Effect: Sprinting shakes the ground. This actually scares away smaller animals (rabbits), making hunting much harder for Mammoth mains.

🧚 Fairy: "Photosynthesis"

Effect: Stand in direct sunlight to regenerate Hunger. This passive is inactive during rain or night.

🦊 Fox: "Trap Master"

Effect: Can walk over friendly Bear Traps without triggering them. Essential for baited trap corridors.

Community Builds

Build Name Class Loadout Playstyle
"The Ambulance" Fairy Bandages + Rifle Stay back. Snipe threats to your tank, rush in only to heal.
"Wall Breaker" Mammoth Chainsaw + Armor Used for clearing forests rapidly. Needs a Bunny player to ferry wood back to base.
"Ninja Looter" Bunny Katana + Light Shoes Max evasion. Enters high-danger zones to steal medallions and runs out before aggro resets.
"AFK Farmer" Trader Turrets + Seeds Lives inside the base. Maintains the food supply and auto-defenses. Never leaves the perimeter.

How to Unlock

Class Requirement Difficulty
Mammoth Survive 10 Nights Easy
Bunny Complete Tutorial Very Easy
Deer Survive Night Deer (5x) Hard
Fairy Heal 20 Teammates Medium
Arctic Fox Survive 25 Nights (No Deaths) Very Hard
💣 Grenadier 🆕 Survive Night 30 with a full team Medium-Hard
🔫 Gunslinger 🆕 Deal 5,000 ranged damage in one session Medium
🌑 Nightcrawler 🆕 Spend 10 full nights without being spotted by The Deer Very Hard
🦷 Feaster 🆕 Kill 200 Cultists total Easy-Medium
🥚 Egg Hunter 🆕 Complete "Master Egg Hunter" badge (Sacrifice 10 Golden Eggs to the Easter Shrine) Medium

Team Compositions

Surviving 99 nights is nearly impossible alone. Here are the best class combinations for a 4-player squad.

The Fortress

Best for: Defense & Base Building

  • 2x Mammoth: Create a wall of defense.
  • 1x Fairy: Constant healing for the tanks.
  • 1x Deer: Ranged damage from behind the line.

Speed Runners

Best for: Looting & Exploration

  • 3x Bunny: Maximize mobility to loot faster.
  • 1x Fox: Scouting ahead for traps.

Boss Killers

Best for: Hunting the Wendigo

  • 1x Mammoth: Distracts the boss.
  • 2x Arctic Fox: High DPS with frostbite DoT.
  • 1x Fairy: Keeps the Mammoth alive.