How Many Dudes drops a 42-Dude roster on you every run, and only a handful of them reliably decide whether you survive the late waves. Some units carry a fight on their own numbers, while others only pay off when the roster around them supports their ability. Knowing which Dudes anchor a composition saves you from wasting recruits on filler.
Quick answer: Prioritize Hacker for late-game burst, Quantum and Cleric for sustain, Farmer and Frankendude for the frontline, Necrodude for death-scaling builds, and Cowboy or General as buff and defensive support. Match the pick to the job your roster is missing rather than chasing raw damage.
Best damage dealers for late-game burst
The Hacker is the roster’s strongest single-source damage dealer once it is fully set up. In a strong end-game build it outputs around 232,000 total damage, and Exploit alone accounts for roughly 74% of that at about 172,000. The rest comes from standard attacks, Ticking Clock, and Cleave.
The trade-off is timing. The Hacker needs the run to reach a point where its Exploit stacks and supporting relics are online. Once that happens, it becomes your primary burst window and handles both single targets and grouped enemies. Because it leans on crit and exploit stacking, it wants relic support to hit its ceiling rather than performing out of the box.
Best frontline tanks
A tank slot in How Many Dudes needs to absorb pressure and keep passively feeding the squad. The Farmer does both. It carries high natural toughness and donates 50% of restored HP to the most injured ally, so it soaks damage while quietly healing the rest of the team. That combination makes it one of the most dependable front-line options in the game.
Frankendude is the aggressive-scaling alternative. It has high natural regeneration and donates 10% of its HP to the two most injured allies, adding a sustain layer on top of its own growth. It gets stronger as the fight drags on rather than weaker, which is exactly what you want against long enemy waves. It also pairs naturally with minion-heavy or healing builds.
| Stat | Farmer | Frankendude |
|---|---|---|
| HP | 170 | 180 |
| DPS | 20 | 20 |
| Attack Power | 10 | 16.7 |
| Attack Speed | 2 | 1.2 |
| Run Speed | 20 | — |
| Toughness | 20% | — |
| Cleave | — | 50% |
| Regeneration | — | 5% |
Best healers and sustain units
Quantum is the standout sustain-and-support pick. It generates an Echo Dude every five seconds and heals the most injured ally for 50% of its DPS, which means steady healing without dedicating a full roster slot to a pure healer. Its own damage lands around 87,000 total, with standard attacks at 61%, Exploit at 20%, Ticking Clock at 10%, and Cleave at 8%. The healing on top of that output is what makes it exceptional value.
The Cleric is the better choice when survival over long waves is the priority. Its Divine Pulse heals injured Dudes within its radius every two seconds, keeping the whole frontline topped up when a single burst heal would not be enough. In late-game waves where damage is relentless, that constant area healing is what holds the line.
The Dentist rounds out the sustain group through mitigation instead of healing. It provides Novocaine to other Dudes, reducing incoming attack by 3% per stack. Across a long wave-based run, that damage reduction compounds into meaningful survivability for the squad. Its own damage sits around 52,000, split across attacks at 60%, Exploit at 22%, Cleave at 9%, and Ticking Clock at 9%. Treat it as a mid-roster pick that handles passive protection while your damage dealers do the heavy lifting.
Death-scaling and minion enablers
Necrodude is the linchpin of any minion-heavy or undead composition. It spawns skeleton units that count as fallen allies, which triggers death-based and healing-based passive effects for the rest of the team. Its own stat line is modest, so its value is entirely in what its presence enables around it.
| Stat | Necrodude |
|---|---|
| HP | 120 |
| DPS | 20 |
| Attack Power | 15.4 |
| Attack Speed | 1.3 |
| Run Speed | 16 |
Frankendude belongs in this conversation too. Its own healing and health gains scale as units drop, so pairing it with Necrodude’s skeleton supply creates a loop where fallen bodies feed both survivability and damage. If your composition leans into undead synergies, these two form the core.
Best buff and defensive support
The Cowboy is a buffer first and a damage dealer second. Its total output lands around 112,000, with the Bandoleer passive contributing the most at 49%, followed by standard attacks at 17% and Six Shooter at 16%. Folding Chair and Exploit fill in the rest. The damage is a bonus, though. Its real job is boosting attack power, so it performs best next to units that scale hard off attack buffs.
The General is the defensive counterpart, and it is heavily roster-dependent. Its Tactical Command reads: “Every 4 seconds, he commands a random Dude of the Dude Type immediately below him on the Roster to Taunt up to 3 nearby enemies.” That taunt redirect pulls enemy focus off your squishier units and gives damage dealers room to work.
Because Tactical Command reaches the Dude directly beneath it, roster order matters. Place a tanky or high-value unit in that slot so the taunt lands where you want it. Paired with a durable damage dealer, the General is one of the strongest defensive picks; on its own it loses most of its value.
How to pick the right Dudes for your run
A viable squad covers three jobs at once. You want a frontline that absorbs enemy focus, at least one or two reliable damage sources, and a sustain unit that keeps the roster alive through long waves. Fill the missing job first rather than stacking another copy of a role you already have.
| Role | Priority picks | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Late-game damage | Hacker | Exploit-driven burst once set up |
| Frontline tank | Farmer, Frankendude | Toughness plus passive squad healing |
| Healing | Cleric, Quantum | Radius healing and per-DPS sustain |
| Mitigation | Dentist | Stacking incoming-damage reduction |
| Death-scaling core | Necrodude | Skeletons trigger death and heal passives |
| Buff / defense | Cowboy, General | Attack buffs and taunt redirection |
Because relics can raise or lower a Dude’s ceiling, treat these picks as strong defaults rather than fixed rankings. The Hacker needs its exploit support, the General needs the right neighbor beneath it, and the Cowboy needs allies who convert its buffs into damage. Read the roster you actually draw, cover the three roles, and build around the strongest synergy in front of you.
