The best characters in Back 4 Blood: what is the best team for Nightmare difficulty?

Want to know which are the best characters in Back 4 Blood? B4B looks a lot like Left 4 Dead on the surface, but there are some key differences you will need to learn about to succeed on Nightmare difficulty. One of the biggest is Back 4 Blood’s characters, each of whom have unique abilities that aid your team and shape how you play the campaign.

You will need to choose your team wisely to beat Nightmare difficulty, and we're here to help with our guide to Back 4 Blood’s best characters.

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The best characters in Back 4 Blood

Let’s cut to the chase - the best characters in Back 4 Blood are Hoffman, Mom, Doc, and Holly. If you’re struggling to beat Nightmare or even Veteran difficulty, this combination is your best bet. Resources are incredibly scarce in Back 4 Blood, and this team will help you survive when your inventories are empty and things are looking bleak. However, if you want to play as Hoffman or Doc, you'll need to know how to unlock all the cleaners in Back 4 Blood first.

Hoffman, Doc, Mom, and Holly have some very potent abilities that benefit the whole team in all situations. For starters, the ammo dropped when Hoffman kills a Ridden can be picked up by the whole team. Ammo is very scarce in Back 4 Blood, even relative to Left 4 Dead, so keeping your team stocked up is massive on higher difficulties.

Mom and Doc, meanwhile, are great for just keeping the team alive. You are going to be getting hit and going down on higher difficulties; it’s just inevitable. An instant pick-up, extra lives, boosted Trauma resistance, free healing, and extra healing items are all invaluable. The only way to beat Back 4 Blood’s campaign is to stay alive. Mom and Doc make that a lot easier.

Holly is a big help for that too, albeit in a less obvious way. You need Stamina to sprint and use melee attacks in Back 4 Blood. The game’s special Ridden are all incredibly dangerous up close, so reliably having the stamina to turn and run is massive. Plus, if you run out of ammo with your best weapon, you’re going to be swinging a melee weapon a lot. Running out of stamina gets you killed more than you might think so that extra boost for the team is a big deal.

Back 4 Blood character abilities

Here’s a full breakdown of each character’s abilities and how they work. Of course, you'll need a deck filled with the best cards if you want to make these characters even better.

Mom

• Can instantly revive one downed teammate per level
• +1 support inventory slot (for healing items like Med Kits and Painkillers)
• One additional team life. This means every team member can be downed an extra time before dying. It is NOT an extra continue.

If you want to play the supporter role in Back 4 Blood, check out our Mom build.

Doc

• Can heal low-health teammates without using healing items
• Improved healing efficiency
• Increased team Trauma resistance (Trauma is the decrease you take to your maximum health as you take damage during a campaign)

Become the resident healer on your team with our Doc build.

Hoffman

• Ridden Hoffman kills have a chance to drop ammo
• +1 offensive inventory slot (for pipe bombs, grenades, etc.)
• +10% team max ammo capacity

Put the Ridden to rest with our powerful Hoffman build.

Holly

• Recovers 10 stamina on kill
• +10% increased damage resistance
• +25 team stamina

Slash through the competition with our Holly build.

Walker

• Precision kills (headshots on normal Ridden, glowing red weakspots on special Ridden) grant Walker 20% increased accuracy for five seconds
• Walker deals 10% increased damage
• +10 team max health

Check out our Walker build to get more out of every headshot.

Karlee

• Can sense nearby hazards
• +1 quick inventory slot (this is the slot where things like ammo pouches and defibrillators go)
• +50% team use speed (opening crates, interacting with medical cabinets)

Turn Back 4 Blood into a looter shooter with our Karlee build.

Jim

• Precision kills increase damage by 2.5% (this stacks until you take damage)
• +25% Aim Down Sight speed
• Increased team weakspot damage

Stack up the damage with our Jim build.

Evangelo

• Can break out of Special Ridden’s grab effects once per minute, and has 75% increased breakout speed
• 25% increased stamina regeneration
• +5% team movement speed

Take a look at our Evangelo build to make him a melee machine.

Every character in Back 4 Blood has strengths, and you can absolutely beat Nightmare difficulty with any one of them. However, at least for the moment, Hoffman, Mom, Doc, and Holly look like clear leaders of the pack.

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Now you’re armed with all the knowledge you need to assemble the best Back 4 Blood team. If you're still struggling to survive the apocalypse, check out our Back 4 Blood tips page to increase your chances of survival! If you want some help fighting the infected, take a look at our Special Ridden guide. If you want to unlock new cards so that you can build the perfect deck for your character, check out our Supply Lines guide.