Among Us Tier List: Current Rankings

Q: How many maps are there?

Five: The Skeld, MIRA HQ, Polus, The Airship and The Fungle. The Skeld is the smallest and the best place to learn, and The Airship is the largest by a wide margin.

Q: How many players can join a lobby?

Up to 15, with 1 to 3 Impostors depending on host settings. Games below six players tend to be too small for meaningful deduction because there is barely anyone to alibi you.

Q: What are the roles and when were they added?

The 2021 roles update added Scientist and Engineer for Crewmates, Guardian Angel for ghosts and Shapeshifter for Impostors. The 2023 Fungle update added Tracker and Noisemaker for the crew and Phantom for Impostors. Each role is set as a percentage chance, so a host can disable any of them.

Q: Is Among Us still worth playing?

As a group game with friends on voice, yes. Public lobbies vary enormously in quality, and the game lives or dies on whether the other fourteen people are willing to argue in good faith.

Q: What is Hide n Seek?

A separate mode added in 2022 where the Impostor is visible to everyone and hunts crewmates who have to finish tasks while running. There is no voting and no discussion, so it plays as a chase game rather than social deduction.

Among Us tier list ranking every build and equipment option. Updated rankings with detailed reasoning.

EarlyGuides Editorial Team

Researched and editorially reviewed. Updated August 12, 2026.

This Among Us tier list ranks every major option by overall effectiveness. Rankings factor in damage output, survivability, versatility, gear requirements, and how well each option scales.

Tier definitions: S = best in class, always a strong pick. A = strong and competitive, minor weaknesses. B = solid but clearly outperformed in most situations. C = viable only for players who enjoy the playstyle.

Builds Rankings

Tier	Build	Rating	Playstyle
A	Crewmate	8.5/10	Balanced approach
A	Impostor	8.5/10	Balanced approach
A	Engineer	8.5/10	Vent only when nobody is watching and only to reach a task faster. Claim the role at the very first meeting if you were seen, because nobody believes it later.
A	Scientist	8.5/10	Check vitals at intervals rather than draining the battery, then call a meeting with the exact moment a heart stopped and who was nearby.
S	Shapeshifter	9.5/10	Shift, get seen doing something incriminating, then revert somewhere private. A shift seen ending is worse evidence against you than a vent.

Detailed Builds Analysis

Crewmate (A-Tier)

Crewmate is a competitive option in the current meta.

Best with: Kill. See our builds guide for full setup. Stat focus: Balanced stats

Impostor (A-Tier)

Impostor is a competitive option in the current meta.

Best with: Vent travel. See our builds guide for full setup. Stat focus: Balanced stats

Engineer (A-Tier)

A Crewmate who can use vents, which is either a large mobility edge or an instant ejection if anyone sees it. A cooldown limits how often you can travel that way.

Best with: Vent network, task list. See our builds guide for full setup. Stat focus: Task speed and map coverage

Scientist (A-Tier)

Carries a portable vitals reader powered by a battery that recharges as you complete tasks. Live vitals are the strongest crew information available because they timestamp a death.

Best with: Portable vitals, task list. See our builds guide for full setup. Stat focus: Task completion to keep the battery charged

Shapeshifter (S-Tier)

An Impostor who takes another player's appearance for a limited time and leaves visible evidence when the shift ends. Framing works, but only if the person you copy has no witness of their own.

Best with: Shapeshift ability, kill button, vents. See our builds guide for full setup. Stat focus: Timing over frequency

Equipment Rankings

Equipment	Best With	Notes
Kill	Isolated targets in rooms with no camera coverage and little foot traffic, such as Lower Engine on The Skeld or Specimen Room on Polus.	The Impostor's only direct action, gated by a host-set cooldown that usually runs between 10 and 45 seconds.
Vent travel	Escaping a kill room and repositioning far from the body before anyone reports it.	Vents move Impostors and Engineers between fixed points on each map.
Lights sabotage	Setting up kills in open areas such as Cafeteria or the Airship's Main Hall, where visibility is normally far too good.	Cuts crewmate vision down to a small circle while Impostor vision stays full.
Reactor and Oxygen sabotage	Splitting a group that has clumped together, and stalling a meeting that was about to eject you.	Timed sabotages that end the game if unfixed, and both require two players at separate panels.
Comms sabotage	Long games where the crew has been winning arguments using camera and Admin data.	Disables Admin, cameras and vitals and hides the task bar, and on MIRA HQ it scrambles the task list itself.

Check our weapons guide for in-depth stats and comparisons.

Equipment Analysis

Kill: The Impostor's only direct action, gated by a host-set cooldown that usually runs between 10 and 45 seconds. Kills are instant and silent to anyone outside the room, and the body stays until reported.

Vent travel: Vents move Impostors and Engineers between fixed points on each map. Electrical, MedBay and Security are linked on The Skeld, which is why a kill there can vanish instantly.

Lights sabotage: Cuts crewmate vision down to a small circle while Impostor vision stays full. There is no timer, so the crew has to choose between fixing it and finishing tasks.

Reactor and Oxygen sabotage: Timed sabotages that end the game if unfixed, and both require two players at separate panels. They are as useful for forcing crew movement as for actually winning outright.

Comms sabotage: Disables Admin, cameras and vitals and hides the task bar, and on MIRA HQ it scrambles the task list itself. It removes the crew's evidence trail without ever threatening them directly.

Meta Analysis

The current meta in Among Us centers on Tasks and the task bar and Sabotage timers. Builds that leverage both systems outperform those that focus on only one. Our combat guide explains these interactions in depth.

What's strong right now:

Crewmate with Kill is the benchmark. Everything else is measured against it.
Vents and kill cooldown builds are gaining ground as players find new combinations.
Engineer remains essential for learning hard content. See the boss guide.

What's underrated:

Impostor is consistently overlooked despite being the most flexible option.
Lights sabotage offers excellent performance for its investment level.

What's overhyped:

Pure Shapeshifter builds. High ceiling but the consistency isn't there for most players.

Quick Picks by Situation

Situation	Best Build	Best Gear	Why
Overall best	Crewmate	Kill	Highest consistent performance
New player	Impostor	Vent travel	Most forgiving, teaches mechanics
Hard content	Engineer	Lights sabotage	Survivability when you need it
Group play	Scientist	Reactor and Oxygen sabotage	Utility and team support
Experienced player	Shapeshifter	Comms sabotage	Unique challenge and high ceiling

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