Best Back 4 Blood Characters And Cleaners

Each of the best Back 4 Blood characters offers something slightly different and while some, like Holly, are geared towards a certain playstyle, their team effects can be massive and can make or break your nightmare difficulty runs. We have all the characters in Back 4 Blood ranked from worst to best, so you know who to have in your team of Cleaners. If you just want to know the best Back 4 Blood character then scroll down to the bottom and work your way up, or kick things off with Evangelo for the full list. If you haven't got all the characters yet, make sure you read our guide on how to unlock characters in Back 4 Blood.

Best Back 4 Blood Characters: Evangelo (#8)

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Evangelo can quickly break out of grabs once every 60 seconds. He also gains +25% stamina regen and gives his team +5% move speed.

While none of the cleaners in Back 4 Blood are bad, some are certainly more useful than others. Unfortunately for Angelo, his comparatively weak team effect means that he takes our last spot. The +5% movement speed is simply not that useful when compared to some of the bonuses offered by the other cleaners and while being able to break out of grabs gives him a great active perk, this can easily just be recreated on other Cleaners by just taking the Breakout card in your deck. His +25% stamina regen does make him great as a run and gun or melee option, but he is still outshone in the melee role by Holly. One plus is that Evangelo does start with one of the best Back 4 Blood weapons from the get-go.

Best Back 4 Blood Characters: Walker (#7)

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Walker gains +20% accuracy for 5 seconds whenever he gets a precision kill. He also has +10% boost to his damage and grants all his teammates a +10 health boost. 

Walker has great bonuses but unfortunately, like Evangelo, he doesn’t quite offer enough to the team to be higher up in this list. His +20% accuracy can be really helpful depending on what gun you are running, especially if you are using a shotgun or a gun with high recoil and his flat bonus to his damage makes him very effective in combat. His team bonus giving extra health is nice, but the bonus only being +10 limits how useful this really is in a long run - most Cleaners will have health bonuses from their decks anyway.

Best Back 4 Blood Characters: Karlee (#6)

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Karlee can sense nearby hazards and mutations through walls. She also has + 1 extra quick inventory item and +50% use speed.

Karlee’s place on this list depends on how competent your team is and what difficulty you are playing on. Her team bonus and extra quick item are both useful, but it’s her ability to sense nearby mutations and alarms that will get her picked. She can sense alarmed doors and cars helping your team to avoid alerting the horde which can be really helpful to those just starting out and an absolute necessity to those attempting nightmare runs, where a single horde could mean failing a run. Being able to sense mutations like the sleepers through walls also makes it much easier to avoid unnecessary downs. She also starts with the best sidearm in the game, the Tec 9.

Best Back 4 Blood Characters: Jim (#5)

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Jim gains a stacking 2.5% damage bonus whenever he gets a precision kill. This bonus can stack 10 times (+25% damage at max) and is lost whenever he takes damage. He also has +25% aim down sight speed and grants his team +10% bonus weakspot damage.

Jim is essentially a better version of Walker, since he's able to get a +25% bonus to all his damage - more than double that of Walker’s +10% damage boost. His team effect of +10% weakspot damage also makes everyone in Jim’s team better at taking down the mutated Ridden. Jim’s main role in a team will be taking out the mutations and he is by far the best cleaner suited to this role. Something to bear in mind is that his damage bonus is lost when taking friendly fire, so try to stay out of the way of careless teammates.

Best Back 4 Blood Characters: Holly (#4)

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Holly recovers 10 stamina whenever she kills a Ridden and has a + 10% damage resistance. She also grants her whole team + 25 stamina. 

Holly is the melee cleaner. Her whole kit is geared around being effective in melee combat, having more stamina and being able to gain stamina on every kill, meaning she is able to keep swinging for longer and her extra damage resistance means she can stay in the fray when things get hectic. She's not just limited to melee though as the extra stamina and damage resistance can be useful on any build. Whether it be running from a horde or a quick sprint to reposition from an oncoming mutation, the +25 extra team stamina also makes her useful to have on any team. Especially when sometimes your only option is to run away. 

Best Back 4 Blood Characters: Mom (#3)

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Mom can instantly revive a teammate once per level and has +1 extra support item. She also grants everyone one her team +1 extra life. 

Mom is one of the must-pick cleaners and her kit is based around ensuring that the team can survive through particularly tough runs. Her ability to instantly revive a player once per level can literally save an entire run and make sure that your team survives when things go wrong. Her +1 extra support item is also incredibly useful for early levels before your team has managed to purchase many team upgrades, as carrying an extra healing item can help the team to patch up after intense fights. The extra lives she grants also mean that players only go down when they would otherwise instantly die, giving them the chance of being revived and fighting on.

Best Back 4 Blood Characters: Hoffman (#2)

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Hoffman has a chance to find ammo whenever he kills a Ridden and +1 offensive item. He also gives his team +10% max ammo capacity. 

Hoffman is a walking ammo dispenser and is a must pick. The ammo he finds when he kills ridden can be picked up by any member of his team and the extra ammo capacity he gives means that your team will be both picking up and able to carry more ammo - more ammo means more ridden killed. His extra offensive item also means he can carry an extra pipe bomb, making him very useful for dealing with hordes and those manic moments.

Best Back 4 Blood Characters: Doc (#1)

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Doc can heal each teammate for 25 health once per level and has +20% healing efficiency. She also grants her team +25% trauma resistance.

Doc is the best character in Back 4 Blood and is a must pick for any team. She is the dedicated medic character, although her bonuses can be useful for any sort of build in any team composition. Firstly, she has three free bandages to hand out per level and while this is limited to one per teammate, it's one of the strongest abilities in the game. She also has increased healing efficiency meaning that whenever she uses a healing item on a teammate or herself they receive more health. However, her most valuable bonus is the +25% team trauma resistance, meaning that her whole team takes less trauma damage (lowered max health). This is vital for harder difficulties as trauma damage easily stacks up and can only be healed by using a medical cabinet. 

The various cleaners in Back 4 Blood all offer different bonuses that can benefit themselves and their teammates. Finding the best team composition can be key to surviving difficult runs. Doc’s abilities to heal her teammates are invaluable and make her easily the best character, while Hoffman’s ammo finding and ammo capacity abilities mean that your team can keep fighting for longer. Mom’s extra lives and instant revive make her clutch in the manic sections of levels and can save a run from failure.

The fourth team slot is more open and can be changed to suit certain playstyles, Holly is probably the strongest of the remaining Cleaners. Her personal damage resistance makes her quite tanky and the team's stamina boost helps everyone in almost any situation. This team composition should have you beating nightmare runs in no time.

Now you know everything about the best Back 4 Blood characters, read all about the Back 4 Blood supply lines in our dedicated guide, and find our top Back 4 Blood tips.