The Cretaceous balance patch nerfed
a lot of the top builds, but one of the builds that managed to get
through unscathed was the Rodent. They survived by using a weak but versatile and
intelligent Generalist playstyle. But, with the Dinosaurs out of the way,
they began to diversify into a bunch of different niches and incorporate a wide variety of different
strategies into their playstyles. Some of them were kind of janky, to be honest, but many of them have stood the test of time to become
a mainstay of the current meta. Rodents all have one attribute in common:
their signature Incisor Teeth, Which, while not very useful in combat, can deal
severe damage to structures. Making the most of this ability is a core
component of rodent gameplay. Rodents are on the weaker side when
it comes to combat, and most stick to the "Evasive Generalist" strategy, relying on their Intelligence stat and
special abilities to remain competitive. Mastering this type of gameplay is difficult, but luckily, their relatively short spawn time helps
mitigate this challenge. Even though their bread-and-butter moveset
is pretty consistent, there are several unique builds that stand out
as particularly viable. So, let's get into the tier list now. So, bottom of the tier list is ____________, So, bottom of the tier list is the Lemming, but NOT for the reason you might think. It's a common misconception that Lemmings
have such a low Intelligence stat that the only thing they're good at is
getting a big group together,
jumping off the stage, and uninstalling. This isn't true—
although, to be honest, if you're maining
the Lemming, you might be better off uninstalling— but anyways, those Twitch clips are fake.
Don't be fooled! The actual lemming playstyle is only
slightly more effective though. It revolves entirely around hoping that
the "Blizzard" world event happens
and creates the Deep Snow biome. If it happens, Lemmings can use it as cover and build
extensive tunnel networks through the snow. But, if not... ...Lemmings have zero defensive options
and end up getting bodied left and right, to the point where their playerbase drops hard
until the next big snowfall. As we all know, rising global temperatures are making
snow biomes disappear across many servers. And so, this already pretty unviable strategy is
becoming even less viable as the meta progresses towards getting
wetter and more tropical. Moving on up the tier list,
we have the Capybara. The Capybara is at an awkward place in the meta, in that it hasn't quite spent enough Evolution Points
to actually get much use out of its bulkiness. This is because, unfortunately, their home server
is the Amazon rainforest, which is also the home server of many of the most
powerful S-tier predators in the game, such as the Harpy Eagle,
______ and ______, such as the Harpy Eagle,
Caiman and ______, such as the Harpy Eagle,
Caiman and Jaguar, all of which have no problem dealing enough
damage to bring down a Capybara. Their main method of defense is hiding underwater, which works against aerial builds
like the Harpy Eagle but is a pretty terrible strategy against the vast
majority of predators in the rainforest. Anacondas, Jaguars and Caimans all thrive
in the Aquatic biome, and hiding underwater won't do you
any good against them. To move up in viability, I recommend boosting
your defensive stats even further or spend some Evolution Points unlocking at least
some sort of solid damage-dealing ability. Also in D-Tier, I'm placing the _______________. Also in D-Tier, I'm placing the Naked Mole-rat. The Naked Mole-rat is unique in that it's the only
mammal to ever unlock the Eusocial ability. But, to be honest, as cool as that is,
the Naked Mole-rat uses it quite poorly and doesn't really benefit much from implementing
RTS tactics into its gameplay. Yes, Naked Mole-rats have a queen,
workers and drones, just like Eusocial insects, but the only thing that makes Eusociality such
an unbelievably strong strategy is that it enables a group of individuals
to achieve things that would be impossible alone, like taking down a huge boss, traversing a huge barrier, or surviving a catastrophe. You never see Naked Mole-rats doing
something like this. It kind of makes sense why while other
Eusocial creatures live on almost
every single terrestrial server, Naked Mole-rats are confined to just
a small area in Africa. Sure, they do have the coveted
Cancer Resistance ability, but spending Points to unlock an extremely
rare power that benefits the individual makes no sense when playing as a Eusocial colony. Your abilities should serve the colony,
not the colony's units. The one impressive thing they do achieve is
creating a large base, but there are other rodents who do this better,
like the next contender on this list. Jumping up to C-Tier, we have the ______, Jumping up to C-Tier, we have the Beaver, one of the most well known
Builder classes in the entire game. This is where it becomes important
that a rodent's teeth
deal high damage to the environment. Beavers have iron-reinforced teeth that can be
used to bring down trees— this isn't optional, by the way. Like all rodents, their teeth have a
passive regeneration ability that mitigates loss of durability. But, this also means that if they
don't continuously use them, they'll eventually become overgrown
and deal damage to the user. Anyways, the resources they gather are
used to construct dams in rivers. This serves as their home base and
main method of defense. Once fully completed, it works great, but the strategy does have its drawbacks that
keep the Beaver out of the higher tiers. For one, Beavers are very vulnerable while their
dam is still under construction. They have no good method of defense
if they're caught in the open. Even their iron teeth don't deal enough damage
to truly deter a predator, and carrying large amounts of mass through the woods
makes Stealth very difficult to maintain. Beavers also don't have much recourse
if their river their base is located in
freezes and becomes uninhabitable, as they only get a Mobility bonus in liquid water. In B-Tier, we've got the ___________, In B-Tier, we've got the Prairie Dog, the rodent that does Social Play the right way. Like Lemmings,
they create elaborate tunnel systems, but unlike Lemmings, they do it in the ground,
which is permanent, instead of the snow, which is transitory. They aren't Eusocial: each Prairie Dog is an
individual player with free control, but they do all work together to protect each other [ ! ]
but they do all work together to protect each other by keeping watch and using Team Chat to warn
each other when a Carnivore player is nearby. They have no other defensive abilities,
but somehow this strategy
makes the matchup nearly impossible for builds like the Coyote and Hawk
to actually catch them. It doesn't do the greatest job against Stealth, though, so Owls and Snakes can still be problematic for them. Also in B-Tier, we have
the ultimate jack-of-all-trades
for the low weight class meta: _______. Also in B-Tier, we have
the ultimate jack-of-all-trades
for the low weight class meta: the Rat. Rats don't have any single oppressive moves or abilities, but their high Intelligence stat makes
them extremely adaptable and has let them establish a foothold
in basically every single server in the game. Their ability to function in a wide variety
of diverse situations [Rat squeaking in Japanese]
makes them a nightmare for
new players to deal with, and their rodent teeth allow them to bypass barriers
that would be impassable for most builds. Rats rose to popularity in the meta because of
their ability to stow away on the ships
Humans used for fast travel... ...and then wreak havoc on islands that they stopped at. Island metas are always more casual, and the players there tend to have a lot less matchup
experience than mainland builds. And so, they are easily defeated by experienced and
adaptable invasive builds, like Rats. Rats are a solid choice for any experienced player, because while they have no downright
overpowered abilities, their highly versatile playstyle can be a
nightmare in the right hands. This is why you see so many Rat mains in
the Outside Hall of Fame. In A-Tier, we have a build very similar to the Rat... ...but with higher mobility and better
resource-gathering skills: ____________ ...but with higher mobility and better
resource-gathering skills: the Squirrel. Squirrels are some of the best Arboreal builds
in the game, having the highest Arboreal Movement bonus
of all time. This enables them to
evade attacks with ease and lets them access loot that's normally tough
to reach without the Flight ability. But beyond that, they also have a uniquely
strong matchup against Humans. I've got Outside's best "Lore" specialist here
to tell you about it. — [RealLifeLore]
Hey guys! So, whether you expected it or not,
Squirrels are one of modern Man's greatest enemies. They can chew through electrical wires and cables
with ease, and they love doing it, which makes Squirrels the most frequent cause
of power outages in America. They are capable of infiltrating power stations
by tunneling beneath them, and then they'll bypass
plastic animal guards with ease, squeeze through small spaces, and chew through
whatever wire insulation they come across. Just one single Squirrel in 2015 knocked out a
substation in San Francisco that shut down power to 45,000 homes! So, if you want to learn more about what these
ferocious little creatures are capable of, come and check out my video next after this one. — Now, the top tier rodent is unique in that it's the only Purely Defensive-based build
I have ever rated as top tier: _____________, in that it's the only Purely Defensive-based build
I have ever rated as top tier: the Porcupine, a build with such a high Defense level
that even the most powerful predators in the game
have terrible matchups against it. The Quill ability deals damage to any player
whose attacks make contact. This is just hilariously effective against builds
that rely on the move Bite or Swipe
to deal damage. While the initial damage from quills
isn't terribly high, every subsequent Bite or Swipe attempt
while the quills are still embedded
deals higher and higher damage, meaning that unless you have a support class
that can remove the quills... ...they can be a death sentence. They have a remarkably high lifespans
because of this. So, if you're looking to play as a class that can
do basically whatever it wants without worrying about attacks
from most of the cast, Porcupine is your best bet. The only things that can really pose a threat to them
are disjointed weapons and projectiles, but overall, Porcupines are one of the most
well-protected builds of all time. Normally, I'd recommend maybe relocating some of
their defensive stats towards Intelligence, but in this case, it seems that
their mid-level Intelligence, low Mobility,
and low Stealth do the job just fine. In a lot of ways, having a high Intelligence stat is crucial
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