Updated for Early Access launch — October 16, 2025
Fellowship is a cooperative dungeon-crawling action RPG built around endgame PvE challenges. It removes traditional MMO barriers like mandatory quest chains or subscriptions, focusing entirely on skill-based dungeon runs and group coordination. Players select from a roster of distinct Heroes—each with their own combat mechanics, roles, and growth paths—and form balanced four-person teams to take on increasingly difficult leagues and modifiers.
In this guide we’ll cover:
- Full tier list overview for all launch Heroes
- Role breakdowns across Tanks, DPS, and Healers
- Core mechanics and resource systems for each Hero
- Spirit Abilities and how they define each playstyle
- Early Access stat priorities and gearing focus
- Recommended team compositions for different goals and playstyles
Game Overview
In Fellowship, parties are composed of four players, typically consisting of one tank, two DPS, and one healer. As groups progress through various leagues, the difficulty scales, and new modifiers (called Curses or Ascensions in-game) are introduced to the dungeons. Higher difficulty levels yield better gear, allowing for character progression and specialization.
Fellowship Heroes Tier List (Early Access Snapshot)
Tiers in this fellowship tier list reflect several factors, including endgame utility, accessibility, survivability, and group synergy. Perceptions carried over from the open beta have shifted with launch-day balance changes, shaping the current meta. Ultimately, player skill and group coordination can make any hero viable, and the best character often depends on the situation.
| Role | Hero | Tier | One-line rationale |
| Tank | Helena | S | The most reliable mitigation loop; exceptionally safe and easy to stabilize groups with. |
| Tank | Meiko | S | Unmatched potential with high personal damage and self-sustain; S-Tier in skilled hands. |
| Healer | Sylvie | S | Exceptional sustained healing and damage contribution for proactive, coordinated groups. |
| Healer | Vigour | S | Powerful and reliable reactive healing, making him a very strong and accessible choice. |
| DPS | Ardeos | S | Dominant AoE damage after launch buffs; a top choice for clearing dungeons quickly. |
| DPS | Rime | S | Accessible rotation with powerful burst for both single-target and AoE situations. |
| DPS | Mara | A | Unrivaled single-target boss damage at high gear/skill levels, but requires mastery. |
Tiers are based on a mix of damage/healing output, survivability, group utility, and learning curve.
How Power Grows (Quick Reference)
A hero’s effectiveness is defined by more than their base kit. Progression is central to unlocking their full potential for all types of dungeon running.
- Talent Tree (per hero): Unlock augments and playstyle variants as you gain experience.
- Skill/Ability Unlocks: Core buttons, passives, and an ultimate Spirit Ability unlock over time by progressing through the Starmap.
- Leagues & Modifiers: Dungeon difficulty scales by league. Higher leagues add challenging affixes and reward better gear. Curses are rotating weekly modifiers, while Ascensions are static difficulty scalers added at each level.
- Why it matters for tiers: Scaling dungeons reward reliable mitigation, proactive healing, and kits with flexible damage profiles, supporting clears at all tiers.
The Tanks
The launch roster includes two tanks, each with a distinct playstyle. They are responsible for drawing the attention of enemies, absorbing damage, and leading the group through dungeons.
Warmaster Helena
At-a-Glance
Role: Tank | Complexity: Low
Strengths: Mitigation uptime, route control
Weaknesses: Limited burst threat without cooldowns
Helena is a straightforward and effective tank. Her playstyle revolves around managing her unique Toughness mechanic, a damage-reduction shield represented by a blue bar. The higher the Toughness, the less damage she takes. Helena sits in S-tier due to her immense reliability.
Core Mechanic: Toughness
- Toughness: This acts as a damage-reduction shield. It decreases as damage is taken and must be actively generated.
- Shields Up: This is the primary ability for generating Toughness. It will “Increase Toughness by 60% and Block Chance for 12s.” Haste is a valuable stat as it reduces the cooldown of Shields Up.
Abilities and Rotation
- Measured Strike & Power Strike: Core attacks that reduce the cooldown of Shield Slam and Shield Throw.
- Shield Slam: A powerful AoE attack that also generates Toughness.
- Shield Throw: A bouncing shield that reduces the cooldown of Shockwave.
- Shockwave: A large AoE attack that lowers the cooldown of Shields Up.
- Bash: An interrupt to stop enemy spellcasting.
- Her Spirit Ability, Siegebreaker, allows Helena to become nearly invincible for a short period, perfect for surviving massive damage.
Openers & Mistakes to Avoid
- Opener: Shields Up → Charge → Shield Slam → Shield Throw → Shockwave → Measured/Power Strikes to cycle cooldowns.
- Avoid: Letting Shields Up lapse before a pull; overusing Charge without having a follow-up defensive window ready.
Meiko
At-a-Glance
Role: Tank | Complexity: High
Strengths: High personal damage, self-sustain, high skill ceiling
Weaknesses: Punishing if combos are dropped, lower baseline mitigation than Helena
Meiko sits in S-tier, reflecting her high potential. Her abilities are based on combining three core techniques to produce one of six powerful finishers: Spirit Palm (Pink/Purple), Wind Kick (Blue), and Earth Fist (Yellow).
Core Mechanic: Combo Finishers
The game remembers the last two techniques used and transforms the Fighting Techniques ability into a unique finisher. The order matters.
Combo Cheat-Sheet
| Starter | Finisher | Use Case |
| Pink → Blue | Double Palm Strike | Magic damage reduction + parry (defensive buff) |
| Pink → Yellow | Spirited Vortex | Aura, dodge, slow (control/defensive buff) |
| Blue → Pink | Rising Storm | AoE builder (generates Stormfall stacks) |
| Blue → Yellow | Lashing Stormkick | AoE spender (consumes Stormfall) |
| Yellow → Pink | Rising Earth | Single-target builder (generates Earthfall stacks) |
| Yellow → Blue | Earthfist Barrage | Single-target spender (consumes Earthfall) |
Defensive Cadence: Maintain at least one Pink-starter defensive buff (Double Palm Strike or Spirited Vortex). Layer Stone Shield, her primary defensive cooldown, for large incoming damage spikes. Her Spirit Ability, Twin Souls: Army of One, unleashes a powerful spiritual combo that deals massive damage and grants a significant haste buff.
The Damage Dealers (DPS)
The role of a DPS hero is to defeat enemies as quickly as possible. The initial roster focused on three DPS heroes, now expanded for launch.
Rime
At-a-Glance
Role: Ranged DPS | Complexity: Low
Strengths: Flexible burst (ST/AoE), accessible rotation
Weaknesses: Reliant on orb generation for burst windows
Rime is a frost mage and arguably one of the strongest characters for new players.
Core Mechanic: Anima and Winter Orbs
- Anima: A resource that builds up as Rime uses certain abilities.
- Winter Orbs: When the Anima bar fills, it converts into a Winter Orb, which is spent on her most powerful abilities that deliver instant damage. Her Spirit Ability, Wrath of Winter, summons a blizzard that deals AoE damage and generates Winter Orbs.
Spender Priority: Use a 2-Orb Glacial Blast for single-target. Use a 2-Orb Ice Comet for 3+ targets. Use Cold Snap to generate an orb quickly.
Defensive Timing: Use Frost Ward to mitigate predictable boss attacks. Use Ice Dash to quickly move out of damaging ground effects.
Mara
At-a-Glance
Role: Melee DPS | Complexity: High
Strengths: Top-tier single-target damage, decent mobility
Weaknesses: Resource-starved if played incorrectly, weaker in early gearing
Mara is a single-target melee assassin who can be challenging due to her resource management.
Core Mechanic: Energy and Combo Points
- Energy: The primary resource that regenerates over time.
- Combo Points: Built up by “builder” abilities and are required to use powerful “spender” abilities. Her Spirit Ability, Matriarch Macabre, is a short burst window that spawns shadow clones to mimic her finishers, massively increasing her damage output.
The Key to Resource Management: Rule of Three
The biggest hurdle for new Mara players is energy starvation. To avoid this, follow a simple cadence:
Builder (Backstab) → Widow’s Bite (generates Combo Points and restores Energy) → Spender.
This balances energy consumption with cooldown usage, allowing for peak boss damage.
Ardeos
At-a-Glance
Role: Ranged DPS | Complexity: Medium
Strengths: Dominant AoE damage, safe playstyle
Weaknesses: Damage is ramp-up based (DoTs), lower immediate burst than Rime
Ardeos is a fire mage focused on applying multiple damage-over-time effects and then detonating them for burst damage.
Core Mechanic: Cinder and Burning Embers
- Cinder: A passive resource that builds with ability use.
- Burning Embers: When enough Cinder is generated, it creates a Burning Ember, which is spent on his key ability, Detonate. His Spirit Ability, Incinerate, greatly empowers his fire spells, allowing for rapid-fire Detonations.
- Rotation Summary: DoT Uptime → Detonate
- The gameplay loop is simple: maintain Engulfing Flames and Searing Blaze, pool Burning Embers, and use Detonate when targets are stacked. Drop Fire Ball on stationary packs. Detonate does not consume the DoTs themselves.
New Heroes in Early Access
The launch roster expanded from the original seven characters to also include two additional DPS heroes:
- Tariq: A burst melee DPS built around tempo-based combos that accelerate damage and stagger enemies.
- Elarion: A celestial archer using Focus; damage scales with movement/spacing.
The Healers
Healers are tasked with keeping the party alive. The game offers two healers, and the debate for best healer is ongoing.
Healer Tip: Hover Casting
Fellowship has “hover casting” enabled by default. You can heal a party member by hovering your mouse over their party frame and casting a heal, regardless of who you are currently targeting. This allows you to keep an enemy targeted for damage while healing allies.
Sylvie
At-a-Glance
Role: Healer | Complexity: Medium
Strengths: High sustained healing (HoTs), significant damage contribution
Weaknesses: Less effective at reactive burst healing, requires proactive setup
Sylvie is a nature-based healer who utilizes heals-over-time (HoTs) and damage-dealing abilities to generate resources.
Damage and Healing Synergy
Sylvie’s damage is integral to her healing. Using Nettlebolt reduces the cooldown of her powerful Life Petal heal. When her damage abilities expire, they spawn mushrooms, which can be consumed by Shroomsplosion for AoE damage.
Targeting and Priority
- Place Life Petal proactively in areas where the party will stand.
- Keep the blue Fluttercall: Protect butterfly on the tank by default to amplify your healing on them.
Vigour
At-a-Glance
Role: Healer | Complexity: Medium
Strengths: Powerful reactive burst healing, strong shields
Weaknesses: Vigour struggles if forced to be purely defensive, relying heavily on dealing damage to heal.
Vigour sits in S-tier, a holy-light-wielding healer focused on reactive, direct healing. His entire healing kit is fueled by dealing damage to generate Radiant Runes.
Core Mechanic: Radiant Runes
Vigour’s healing power is tied to generating and spending Radiant Runes. His ultimate empowers him with light, making his healing and damage abilities more potent and often instant-cast.
Rune Budget Rubric
An effective Vigour player is constantly dealing damage to build Runes. Spend them wisely:
- Default Spend: Rune of Renewal on the tank to maintain the healing buff.
- Emergency Spend: Luminous Barrier for instant, on-the-move safety shields.
- Last Resort: Greater Heal should only be used when you are out of Runes and a teammate is in immediate danger.
Endgame Stat Priorities
The below table outlines Early Access stat priorities; these may shift with patches. See dedicated hero guides for the most up-to-date information.
| Hero | Primary Stat* | Secondary Priority |
| Helena | Strength | Haste → Spirit → Expertise → Crit |
| Meiko | Strength | Spirit → Expertise → Crit → Haste |
| Rime | Intellect | Haste → Crit → Expertise → Spirit |
| Mara | Agility | Haste → Crit → Expertise (Provisional) |
| Ardeos | Intellect | Haste → Expertise → Crit → Spirit (Provisional) |
| Tariq | Strength/Agility | Crit → Haste ≈ Expertise → Spirit |
| Elarion | Agility | Crit → Haste → Expertise → Spirit |
| Sylvie | Intellect | Haste → Crit → Expertise → Spirit (Provisional) |
| Vigour | Intellect | Crit → Haste → Expertise → Spirit |
*Tanks use Strength as their primary attribute; Armor and Stamina are key defensive gearing priorities.
Team Composition Tips
- Safe Climb (for pick-up groups): Helena + Vigour + Rime + Mara
This team offers a stable frontline, powerful reactive healing, and a flexible damage profile. - Fast Clears (trash priority): Meiko + Sylvie + Rime + Ardeos
This composition leverages Meiko’s personal damage and dual ranged DPS to clear groups of enemies quickly. - Boss-Burst Leaning: Meiko + Vigour + Mara + Ardeos
Focused on creating large damage windows for bosses, this team can be very effective but is less forgiving of mistakes.
A double-ranged DPS setup is generally safer on punishing affixes; a double-melee setup brings more interrupts but requires cleaner positioning.
Glossary
- AoE: Area of Effect. An ability that affects a region, not just a single target.
- DoT: Damage Over Time. An effect that deals damage periodically.
- DR: Damage Reduction.
- HoT: Heal Over Time. An effect that heals periodically.
- ST: Single Target. An ability that affects only one target.
Frequently Asked Questions
What tier is Meiko in Fellowship?
Meiko is currently ranked B Tier, serving as a balanced melee hero with a focus on sustained damage and adaptability. She excels in prolonged encounters thanks to her Vigour-based talents and self-buff mechanics, which allow her to maintain consistent performance against both elite enemies and dungeon bosses.
Why is Meiko considered B Tier instead of A Tier?
Meiko is placed in B Tier mainly because her power curve is steady but not explosive. She relies heavily on cooldown management and self-buffs to reach full efficiency, which means she can’t deliver instant burst damage like top-tier classes such as Helena. Despite this, Meiko remains a dependable pick in dungeon crawler scenarios where consistency outweighs raw output.
What is Meiko’s main role in Fellowship?
Meiko’s main role is that of a sustained fighter, combining offensive abilities with defensive uptime. She bridges the gap between a damage dealer and a secondary support, providing utility through self-buffs that enhance both personal survivability and team performance. Her design favors calculated aggression and precise timing rather than reckless offense.
What are the best Meiko builds for damage?
The best Meiko builds focus on Vigour scaling, critical chance, and cooldown reduction. Players should enhance her buff duration and ability uptime to fully benefit from her self-synergizing damage potential. Pairing her with items that increase attack speed and energy recovery results in optimal long-term performance in dungeons and boss arenas.
How do Meiko’s self buffs work?
Meiko’s self buffs are short-term enhancements that temporarily raise her attack speed, physical resistance, and overall damage output. Each buff can stack with others depending on talent investment. Timing them before or during key combat phases allows Meiko to outlast her opponents and steadily increase her damage numbers over time.
What talents should I prioritize for Meiko?
Prioritize Vigour, Focus, and Fortitude in Meiko’s talent tree to achieve balance between offense and endurance. Vigour strengthens her self-buff potential, Focus enhances skill effectiveness, and Fortitude improves her ability to endure longer encounters. This combination allows her to operate efficiently without over-relying on external support.
How does Meiko compare to Helena in Fellowship?
Tier Helena is built around rapid burst damage and area control, while Tier Meiko focuses on consistent, single-target output. Helena’s strength lies in fast wave clearing and quick critical strikes, whereas Meiko’s value comes from her steady uptime and resilience. For players who prefer tactical pacing, Meiko offers a more controlled combat style.
Is Meiko good for dungeon crawler content?
Yes, Meiko is a solid choice for dungeon crawler content due to her self-sustaining mechanics and adaptive playstyle. Her defensive scaling makes her well-suited to prolonged encounters, where managing buffs and cooldowns determines success. She thrives in environments where players must balance aggression with endurance rather than burst-only tactics.
Can Meiko solo dungeon bosses?
Meiko is capable of soloing dungeon bosses effectively when built correctly. Her self-buffs and Vigour talents allow her to maintain pressure and recover from incoming damage. To maximize efficiency, players should focus on cooldown cycling, timed parries, and buff synchronization, turning her into a self-reliant duelist during endgame encounters.
How do I increase Meiko’s damage numbers?
Increasing Meiko’s damage numbers involves enhancing her gear synergy and buff timing. Prioritize critical chance, attack power, and cooldown efficiency to sustain offensive flow. Upgrading weapons and infusing abilities with Vigour-based scaling further boosts her consistent output, especially when maintaining uptime between buff cycles.
Does Meiko appear in all the content or only certain modes?
Meiko is accessible across all Fellowship content, including main quests, story missions, and dungeon crawlers. Her flexible kit allows her to adapt to different encounter types, whether solo or in a team setting. Because of her versatile design, Meiko remains relevant throughout the game’s evolving content updates.
Are there more stories featuring Meiko in Fellowship?
Yes, new lore chapters and stories for Meiko are planned in future Fellowship content updates. These expansions explore her personal history, discipline as a martial artist, and her connection to the Fellowship’s greater narrative. Players can expect more dialogue-driven missions and character development tied to her journey.
Is there a post tag or affiliate link related to Meiko builds?
Some Fellowship build guides and class breakdowns include post tags or small affiliate commissions to support content creators. These tagged posts often include detailed loadouts, rotation guides, and optimal builds for Meiko. They are useful for players seeking trustworthy, community-tested configurations.
What is the best Meiko team composition?
The best team composition for Meiko includes support allies that enhance her damage uptime or defensive scaling. Pairing her with healers or buffer classes helps her stay in the fight longer, while offensive allies benefit from her ability to hold aggro and deal steady DPS. A balanced setup allows Meiko to fulfill both offensive and supportive roles effectively.
What should players expect from Meiko’s learning curve?
Meiko’s learning curve is moderate, focusing on timing, rhythm, and resource management. Players must learn to coordinate her self-buffs with ability rotations for optimal efficiency. Once mastered, Meiko provides a deeply satisfying experience, rewarding patience and precision rather than raw speed, making her one of the most reliable B Tier heroes in Fellowship.
