Gotham Knights: Who Is the Best Character In the Game?

While some fans are disappointed that you can’t play as Batman in Gotham Knights, the fact of the matter is that the game’s four playable protagonists are one of its best features. Actually, deciding which character to pick in Gotham Knights quickly becomes one of the game’s toughest challenges. 

While you can swap characters throughout your Gotham Knights playthrough, it’s not a bad idea to focus on one or two of them at a time. That not only makes it that much easier to unlock all of their abilities but their additional costumes and gear as well. There’s also something to be said for taking the time to really get to know a particular character and the unique aspects of their play style. 

While it’s certainly possible to beat Gotham Knights with Batgirl, Red Hood, Nightwing, or Robin and never feel like you’ve made the wrong decision, each character certainly offers a slightly different playstyle. Furthermore, there is a surprising power gap between some of the characters that becomes harder to ignore during the later parts of the game. Before we talk about that, though, let’s take a look at what each character brings to the party. 

Gotham Knights Best Character: Nightwing Is a Combo Focused Hero With Incredible Co-Op Abilities

Nightwing is a fascinating character. He’s certainly the fastest hero in the game, which is nice given that so many of his skills require you to bounce between enemies rather than focus on one at a time. By the time you get deep into Nightwing’s skill tree, you’ll be leaping off enemies, stunning them in the process, and using your momentum to unleash devastating attacks on the next group of helpless thugs. I’ve heard some say that Nightwing’s playstyle is closer to Spider-Man rather than Batman, and I’d agree with that assessment. He’s a lot of fun. 

Curiously, Nightwing’s skill tree also includes some multiplayer-focused abilities that allow you to support allies from a distance. So, if you like the idea of playing the “support” role on your team (meaning you’ll spend some time healing your partner and even reviving them from far away), Nightwing is certainly your best choice. 

Furthermore, Nightwing’s impressive array of AoE abilities (combined with his general mobility) makes him an ideal choice in situations when you find yourself surrounded on all sides. He’s a capable character with a ton of upside. 

Gotham Knights Best Character: Robin Is a Stealth Master Who Relies on Gadgets and Elemental Damage

Robin’s emphasis on stealth gameplay is as obvious as it is unique. While some of Gotham Knights‘ other characters offer a slightly more rounded set of skills, nearly all of Robin’s primary abilities revolve around stealth in some way. In fact, he’s the only character that can pull off the specific kinds of “perch takedowns” Batman performed in the Arkham games. There’s even a skill that allows you to turn Robin invisible for a brief time! If you prefer using stealth takedowns in these kinds of games, your choices are “Robin” followed by everyone else. 

In those situations where Robin can’t utilize stealth, he primarily relies on gadgets to get the job done. Some of those gadgets will stun enemies, while others will allow you to perform quick escapes and regain the advantage. Robin’s staff also offers some nice melee range, though he’s certainly not a melee specialist. 

Interestingly, Robin also relies on Gotham Knights’ “elements” system more than other characters. Equipping Robin with the right gear and successfully utilizing his elemental decoy ability will allow you to deal more damage with him than you ever could through more straightforward combat options.

Gotham Knights Best Character: Red Hood Is a Ranged Artist Who Is Also a Brute In Close Quarters

While most of Gotham Knight’s other characters certainly have aspects of Batman in them, Red Hood kind of does his own thing in a lot of ways. Hell, he even brings pistols into combat. While playing as Red Hood doesn’t suddenly turn Gotham Knights into Max Payne, you will need to use those pistols to get the most out of the character. Most Red Hood fights will see you build up your combos and momentum by picking apart enemies from a distance and then diving into the fray. 

Despite his impressive ranged abilities, Red Hood really is Gotham Knights’ best brawler. He’s an absolute powerhouse whose basic attacks deal quite a lot of damage. Once you unlock the ability to toss one enemy into a group of foes and essentially make them “explode” for massive AoE damage, you’ll find that there are few groups of enemies in the game that can stand up to you for too long. Oh, and Red Hood can also deploy portable turrets in battle, which is honestly just shy of cheating. 

Red Hood also often relies on a “fear” mechanic that allows him to essentially stun nearby enemies whenever he unleashes devastating damage (which is often). He’s a straightforward character, but he’s pretty effective. 

Gotham Knights Best Character: Batgirl Is a Well-Rounded Hero With Some Amazing Hacking Abilities

Given that Barbara Gordon went through a lot to make it to Gotham Knights’ roster, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that she is one of the game’s most durable characters. In fact, many of her abilities are focused on staying alive. The highlight of that specialized skill package is undoubtedly Second Wind: an irreplaceable ability that allows you to revive yourself. 

While Barbara excels at staying in a fight, she’s also quite good at ending them as well. With the right perk combos, Batgirl is able to dish out an absurd amount of critical damage in most fights. Hell, there are times when you might welcome being knocked down just to enjoy the bonuses you receive when you get back up again. 

Finally, Batgirl offers an array of hacking abilities that allow her to control aspects of her environment such as cameras, turrets, and lasers. Those hacks enhance her combat and stealth capabilities as well as the various ways her drone can aid her in both those common scenarios

Gotham Knights: Who Is the Best Character In the Game?

Player preferences aside, the best character in Gotham Knights is Batgirl followed closely by Red Hood and Nightwing. 

Batgirl just has no notable weaknesses. She’s not quite as strong in certain areas as some of the game’s specialized characters, but she’s honestly not that far removed from being the best in any specific category. Her hacking offers her Robin-like stealth options, her critical damage capabilities come close to matting Red Hood’s DPS numbers, and only Nightwing offers a more versatile array of unique combat abilities. Most importantly, Barbara is built to tank her way through a variety of scenarios. You’ll be able to instantly come back from what little damage you can’t shake off. At the very least, she’s the best soloplay character. 

Red Hood is right behind Barbara in that particular category, though. His stealth abilities are certainly basic, but they get the job done when you need to go that route. However, for those times when you can’t avoid combat (which is quite often) Red Hood is able to tear through enemies quicker than most other characters. There isn’t a single combat situation in the game that Red Hood doesn’t excel at.

Nightwing is a real wild card of a pick. Once you’ve unlocked some of Nightwing’s key abilities, you’ll find that there is basically no combat scenario in the game that he can’t handle. It’s also a lot of fun to play as such an agile and dodge-dependant character. The trade-off to Nightwing’s exceptional late-game abilities are his (relatively minor) struggles in the early game. It will take you a little while longer to see what he can really do. It’s basically impossible to replace him as a co-op partner, though. 

Finally, there’s Robin. Again, you can certainly beat Gotham Knights as Robin with relatively few problems, and he can be a pretty devastating character in his own right. Seriously, you should see what you can do with all his late-game elemental abilities unlocked. The biggest problem with Robin is that he’s a stealth character in a game with a surprising number of unavoidable (or difficult-to-avoid) combat scenarios. Robin’s attack range makes up for some of his initial combat shortcomings, but you really have to enjoy this game’s stealth mechanics in order to reach Robin’s full late-game potential.