Climbing the ranked ladder in Honor of Kings (HOK) can be a thrilling but challenging grind. Whether you’re solo queuing or in a duo, picking the right heroes can make a huge difference in how smoothly you ascend. The meta shifts from time to time, but as of 2025, we’ve got a clear picture of who the powerhouses are in each role. So we’ve compiled a tier list and some insights so you know which heroes are your best bet to carry games and push rank effectively.

Before we dive in, a quick note: A hero being strong doesn’t guarantee wins – you still need practice and game sense. But selecting a top-tier hero certainly tilts the odds in your favor. So, let’s break down the heroes into tiers S, A, and B, and discuss why they’re strong.

(And hey, if you’re missing any of these heroes and want to unlock them or get some sweet skins to flex in ranked, you can grab HOK tokens or packs via the Carry1st Shop here. It’s a safe way to top up and jumpstart your hero collection.)

S-Tier Heroes – The Overpowered Meta Picks

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These are the heroes that, when mastered, can take over games. They have either high carry potential, strong presence in team fights, or both. If you’re serious about ranking up, learning one or two of these S-tiers is a smart move.

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• Lam (Assassin/Fighter, Jungle): Lam is a monster in the jungle. His ultimate, Death From Below, is basically a high-damage gap closer: he throws a dagger forward, then dashes to it after a short delay, dragging all enemies in his path and slicing them up. What makes it insane is the synergy with his playstyle – you can engage or execute fleeing enemies, and if you time it with his Submerged (which can cancel the ult’s cast time), it becomes almost undodgeable. Lam’s mobility and burst let him delete squishy targets and still escape or reposition. In the right hands, he snowballs out of control. If you’re jungling and want someone who can both split-push and team fight well, Lam is your guy.
  
  
  
• Feyd (Assassin/Fighter, Jungle): Feyd is another top jungler with a kit built for outplay and sustain. His ult Hardened Jade Mark initially marks nearby enemies with damage, then if you reactivate, he unleashes four strikes that deal massive damage and heal him. The kicker: if a marked enemy’s health falls below a threshold, the final strike deals huge execute damage. It’s devastating in fights – basically assuring someone will die if Feyd combos correctly. He can also jump off walls with it, adding surprise engage angles. Between the lifesteal, damage, and outplay potential (good Feyd players time that second hit perfectly or use walls to their advantage), he’s a nightmare to deal with. He’s a bit harder to master than Lam, but equally rewarding.
  
  
  
• Loong (Marksman, Dragon Lane/Bot): Marksmen carry late-game, and Loong currently sits at the top of that food chain. His ultimate Infinite Vastness literally takes him to the skies for a few seconds, letting him dive forward and crash down, dealing damage and slowing enemies in a big area. While airborne, he gains attack speed and range, and his basic attacks can hit two extra targets with added effects. He can also switch Dragon Souls mid-flight (unique to him, altering his attack bonuses). In short, Loong has both AOE presence and single-target shred. Early game he’s decent, but late game he’s a beast who can melt entire teams if protected. The ability to reposition with ult and rain damage safely is what makes him special – many fights, he ults, dodges key abilities while in air, then lands to clean up. A fed Loong is often unstoppable.
  
  
  
• Yaria (Support, Roam/Observer): Supports don’t always get the glory, but Yaria is one that can hard-carry teamfights by enabling allies. Her ultimate Verdant Predator lets her attach to an ally, granting them a big shield and amplifying the effects of their skills. Essentially, she piggybacks on a carry (like your fed marksman or assassin) and makes them even more powerful. If the shield breaks or after a time, she detaches (or she can manually detach early). She also enhances her own skills while attached. The ability to jump to an ally in need with a shield is clutch for saving lives, and boosting your carry’s output can swing fights. Also, attached Yaria can’t be targeted easily, so she’s safe while buffing. In coordinated play or even solo, stick to your superstar teammate and make them super-duper. It’s like giving your team two in one – a support and an extra buff.
  
  
  
• Da Qiao (Support, Roam/Observer): Da Qiao has always been strong with her unique map control. Her ult Eye of the Whirlpool places a magic circle on the ground. Allies can click it to teleport to that circle’s location – effectively it’s like creating a portal. This is huge for macro play: you can send your team back to heal and then instantly port them to the fight, or use it for creative ganks (e.g., drop it in base, have someone recall and take it to appear in lane out of nowhere). The circle also buffs attack speed of allies inside it. A good Da Qiao creates chaos for the enemy because they can’t track your team’s movements – you might all vanish into a portal and reappear at Lord pit, or escape a bad fight by porting out. Beyond the ult, her other skills deal decent damage and knockbacks. But the strategic value of that teleport – especially in solo queue where communication is minimal, surprising enemies with sudden 5-man collapse or quick split pushing – makes her S tier. She essentially breaks the normal rules of movement on the map.
  
  
  

S-Tier summary: Pick these if they fit your role – they’re meta for a reason. Lam and Feyd dominate the jungle with kill pressure, Loong scales hard as a marksman, Yaria enables and protects carries like no other, and Da Qiao can out-macro opponents heavily. Ban them or grab them if you can!

A-Tier Heroes – Strong, Just a Step Below

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These heroes are still excellent and likely high meta, just maybe a bit more situational or requiring team coordination, or have slight weaknesses that can be exploited.

• Arke (Assassin, Jungle): Arke is like the stealthy dagger in the night. She goes invisible with her ultimate Phantom Dance, gaining move speed and health regen during stealth. When she breaks stealth with an enhanced attack, she gains another burst of speed and – crucially – all her skills reset if she scores a kill or assist shortly after. So a skilled Arke player will time the stealth entry, maybe soften a target, then unleash to secure a kill, then immediately go invisible again and jump to the next target. She’s an absolute terror for squishy enemies wandering alone because they won’t see her coming until it’s too late. The reason she’s A and not S is that she’s high-risk: if the enemy team sticks together or buys detection, she can struggle. Also, a flubbed combo means you’re a bit squishy and could get blown up. But in the right hands, Arke can snowball just as hard as the S-tier assassins.
  
  
  
• Fatih (Fighter, Top lane): Fatih is like that bruiser who just won’t die and messes up your whole team if you ignore him. His ultimate Sacred Tree Blessing is a self-cleanse (removes all CC on him), an AOE damage around him, and a full heal to himself (!). While his ult buff is active, his second skill and basic attacks get enhanced healing and effects. He can also choose to end the ult early to deliver a finishing blow. So basically, you think you caught Fatih out and dump spells on him, he pops ult, shrugs it all off and is back to full HP, then likely turns the fight since you wasted spells. A well-timed ult can bait enemies badly. He excels in teamfights – soak damage, heal it off, disrupt with empowered attacks. In lane, he’s hard to bully because of his sustain. The catch: he’s vulnerable to anti-heal effects and can be kited by ranged enemies if he misses his engage. But in most ranked games, coordination to punish that isn’t perfect, so Fatih can take over frontlines easily. He’s a solid pick to climb especially if your team lacks a durable initiator.
  
  
  
• Mi Yue (Mage/Fighter, Top lane): Mi Yue is a lane bully and teamfight menace thanks to her ultimate Umbral Moon. When she ults, she cleanses debuffs, gains move speed, and becomes untargetable for a short duration. Essentially she enters a shadow form. Entering and exiting that untargetable state deals damage around her. So what you have is a hero that can dodge big ultimates and then reappear in the middle of the enemy team, causing havoc. Combine that with her other skills that do damage and CC, she can dive backline, avoid damage with untargetability, then come out swinging. She’s often played as an offlane mage who can split push and then join fights, or even as a mid who roams. The ability to immune things (especially clutch to dodge assassins’ burst or tower aggro) makes her a high skill-ceiling pick. If you practice her, she can outplay many matchups. Not S-tier because if you screw up the timing or the enemy holds CC for when you exit shadow, you can be caught. But a good Mi Yue dancing in and out of fights is so oppressive.
  
  
  
• Consort Yu (Marksman, Bot lane): Consort Yu is a marksman with incredible mobility and outplay potential. Her ultimate Vaulting Shot is basically a hop that jumps to a target (damaging, stunning, and slowing them), then flips her back to her starting spot while firing two bolts at the target. The cool part: during that jump, she’s untargetable briefly and gains an attack speed boost after landing. So she can engage, deal burst, dodge skills by hopping, and reposition automatically. In lane, this means she can trade aggressively, and in teamfights she can dart around to avoid threats while still pumping damage. It’s a high-mechanic hero (timing and choosing when to vault is key), but it rewards with great dueling power. She also gets immunity during the vault and a quick double shot burst, which can chunk foes. If you find other popular marksmen too static, Consort Yu offers a very skill-expressive alternative to carry games. Just be mindful: if you mistime the vault, you could either not dodge what you intended or jump into worse danger. Practice makes perfect.
  
  
  

B-Tier Heroes – Situational or Slightly Underpowered

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These heroes aren’t necessarily bad, but compared to the above, they have more pronounced weaknesses or are more niche. They can still win games if mastered or in the right comp, but they aren’t as universally strong.

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• Garo (Marksman, Bot lane): Garo’s got a unique gimmick: her ultimate Sphere of Purity creates a magic circle, dealing damage to all enemies inside. When she stands in her own circle, she gets boosted attack speed and critical rate. She can also recast it to grant allies in the circle bonus crit rate and move speed while also doing another burst of damage to enemies. Essentially, she becomes a turret in that circle, firing super fast with high crits. The downside: it’s kind of stationary. Enemies will try to leave the circle or bait her out of it. So Garo is fantastic when fighting in confined spaces or objectives (like Lord pit fights where enemies are forced into her zone), but if fights are scattered or mobile, she can’t fully utilize her ult. Also, her early game is not as explosive as some others. She shines in coordinated teamfights where your frontline keeps enemies in the zone. In solo queue, that coordination might lack, hence B-tier. But if you main her, you can make it work by smart placement of the zone and good timing (like combo with AoE CC from allies to lock people in it).
  
  
  
• Shi (Mage, Mid lane): Shi is an artillery mage with a heavy focus on her skillshots. Her ult Sole Focus resets her second skill cooldown and “enhances” herself, giving move speed and cutting her cooldowns further for a short time. Essentially, when she ults, she can spam Skill 2 (which might be a big damage or CC skill). Also, her Skill 1 has an interesting mechanic of dragging enemies or hitting twice. She’s a bit technical. In capable hands, Shi can dish out sustained magic damage and keep enemies at bay. But her kit isn’t as foolproof as other mages – if you miss your skillshots, you lose a lot of impact. She has mobility through move speed boosts, which helps. She sits at B because other mid laners might simply offer more burst or reliability. Still, in a poke-heavy comp, Shi can shine by constantly slowing and damaging enemies from medium range. If you’re accurate and patient, she can be very rewarding. It’s just easier to make mistakes with her compared to say, a straightforward burst mage.
  
  
  
• Kui (Support/Mage, Roam): Kui is an odd hybrid support with strong area denial. His ultimate Into the Void deals multiple hits in an area around him and heavily slows enemies, and if they’re affected by his second skill, that slow becomes a stun. Essentially, he can trap people in an area with massive CC. For heroes with Skill 2 active (like some buff on them from Kui’s kit), the ult actually stuns which is huge. Kui can set up teamfights by catching multiple enemies in his domain. He’s great against melee clump comps. Why B-tier then? Mainly because he’s somewhat slow and predictable. If the enemy team has a lot of mobility or ranged poke, Kui might struggle to find good engagements. He’s at his best when enemies are forced to come to objectives or narrow corridors, where he pops ult and your team follows up. Additionally, he may not peel as well for allies like a Yaria or deal as much continuous support as a Da Qiao. But in the right matchup (vs heavy dive or multiple short-range enemies), Kui can completely shut them down. If you’re often seeing brawls and need a strong teamfight support, Kui is an underappreciated pick.
  
  
  

Honorable Mentions

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There are obviously more heroes in Honor of Kings, but from the context we got, these are the ones highlighted. Other heroes might be strong too (sometimes those not mentioned are balanced or niche picks). But if you stick to the ones above, you’re likely in good hands.

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Tips for Ranking Up with These Heroes:

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1. Focus on Mastery: It’s better to be really good at a couple of heroes than average on ten. Especially in ranked, comfort picks shine. So if you choose Lam and Loong, spam them.
   
   
   
2. Understand Your Win Condition: For example, as Loong, you scale – play safe early and farm; as Lam or Feyd, you need to snowball – gank often and secure objectives early.
   
   
   
3. Communication: Ping your teammates about your hero’s strengths. If you’re Da Qiao, ping that you have teleport ready. If you’re Fatih, let them know you can frontline and to follow you when you cleanse and go in.
   
   
   
4. Ban Smart: If you aren’t going to first pick, consider banning some S-tier threats you don’t play. Better not to face them. Conversely, if your main is an S-tier, maybe ban its counters instead.
   
   
   
5. Stay Updated: Meta can change with patches. The heroes here are top as of 2025 meta. Keep an eye on patch notes; if someone gets nerfed, be ready to adjust.
   
   
   
6. Mental Resilience: Even S-tier heroes lose games (maybe your team comp was lacking or someone fed). Don’t tilt; these heroes give you a higher chance to win, but you still need to play smart and keep a cool head after setbacks.
   
   

In closing, pushing rank is part strategy (drafting/meta) and part skill. This tier list covers the strategy part – you’re arming yourself with some of the best tools available. Now it’s on you to hone the skill part. Get into practice mode or casual games, get comfortable with their combos, then take them into ranked.

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Find the hero that clicks with you and dominate! And remember, a good player on a great hero can influence a match heavily – that’s going to be you with these picks. See you at the top of the leaderboard!

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