Runner Shell Tier List (Squad Mode)

Triage

Triage is above and beyond one of, if not, the strongest squad based shells in the game. All of his abilities provide some sort of utility that can benefit your squad in one way or another, and can be argued to be included in any squad composition. Reboot+ is absurdly strong, giving you the ability to fully revive any downed teammate, and this includes thirsted ones.

Med-Drone let's you provide constant healing and shields to any teammate that has one attached to them. Shareware.exe pairs perfectly with the Med-Drone, as anyone who has one attached to them, gains the benefits of any consumable Triage uses.

Recon

Recon accompanies Triage is S-Tier, again providing team-based benefits through their abilities and traits. Echo Pulse pinging all nearby enemies in the radius is phenomenal for gaining any sort of intel, allowing your squad to better position themselves for an upcoming fight, or to know what is around you when entering an area.

Tracker Drone is also great for intel, but even better for kicking off a fight with an advantage, as overheating any enemy caught in the explosion is going to instantly give you the upper hand, since they won't be able to get away as easy.

Interrogation is not only beneficial to you, as you know when you have been pinged by an enemy runner, but also allowing you to get key information in a fight when you fully thirst an enemy, pinging all remaining enemies for you and your team.

Stalker Protocol is similar, proving intel to an enemy you may have cracked their shields, leaving footprints behind them, so you can track them down and finish them off before they can fully heal up.

Destroyer

Destroyer is exactly what their name says, a Destroyer in fights. Providing tons of usage in any sort of fight, either giving your team a way out of a bad situation with Riot Barricade, or putting down continuous damage with Search and Destroy, also immobilizing enemies. Add in the movement tech with Tactical Sprint and Thruster, and you can close the gap on enemies with ease, taking away precious time they may need to get heals off.

Sentinel

The Sentinel is the best Runner for controlling space and tight spaces, and the two highest loot yield maps are Outpost and Cryo Archive which both feature tight corridors and halls. However, the other two maps, Perimeter and Dire Marsh, have a lot more open sightlines and wide areas, meaning they lose a lot of effectiveness there. Since the Sentinel is situationally really good, their rank basically changes based on map with them leaning toward S for tighter maps and toward B for wider maps.

Vandal

Vandal plays a similar role to Destroyer in Squads, providing hyper-aggressive gameplay and the ability to get in and out of fights much faster than all the other shells.

Amplify allowing you to increase your total heat capacity, providing more opportunities to utilize the movement traits Microjets and Power Slide.

Disrupt Cannon is also fantastic, providing the ability to not only launch enemies away from cover, dealing damage in the process, but also can be utilized for movement as well on yourself.

Thief

Thief rounds out A-Tier, one we haven't had the opportunity to play as yet, but off of her kit alone, seems to be a great option. Pickpocket Drone can provide intel to your team without needing to go in yourself, being a slightly less useful Echo Pulse from Recon, but also allowing you to pull loot out of enemies backpacks.

Grapple Device comes in to give advanced movement, letting you close gaps, and also get out of sticky situations in fights. X-Ray Visor is also similar to Echo Pulse, but as of right now, we are unsure if this pings enemies for your team as well as yourself. Being able to know loot around you can be beneficial though.

Assassin

Assassin sits in B-Tier, not because it is inherently a bad shell in Squads, but because it doesn't provide nearly as much team-based benefits as the other shells. Assassin on it's own can be very strong in the hands of a good player, but due to it's kit, it just isn't as strong purely on it's own compared to others.

However, Assassin's are still very good, being able to turn fights in favor of your team with well-timed flanks, and causing chaos up close. If you have teammates running thermal sights, you can utilize your Smoke Screen & Shadow Dive to smoke out enemies and cause chaos, while your teammates pick them off inside the smoke.