Best XDefiant factions, ranked

In Ubsioft’s XDefiant, players have five factions to choose from, each representing a Ubisoft game and sporting its own ultimate ability, passive, and two primary abilities.

At the time of writing, there are five factions in XDefiant: Cleaners, Phantoms, Libertad, Echelon, and DedSec. Each of these factions caters to a different playstyle and some are better suited for some modes than others. All in all, there are really no bad faction choices in XDefiant, but everything considered, which is the best?

The best XDefiant factions, in order

5) DedSec

The DedSec faction is all about shutting down the opponent’s abilities. From stunning enemies with the Spiderbot, to hacking and controlling an enemy’s tech, and preventing other factions from deploying their abilities—there’s certainly a place for the DedSec faction.

However the Hijack ability has a small radius, and Spiderbot can be easily shot down by average or above players that are paying attention. The Lockout ultra stops enemies from using their abilities, but it still relies on you and your team to hit your shots, and doesn’t provide any value or assistance in dealing damage.

4) Cleaners

Cleaners are fun to use, their time-to-kill gets a little boost from their incendiary rounds passive, and their ultra flamethrower has a surprisingly long range. The downside to Cleaners comes in the form of longer ability cooldowns and a larger hitbox.

3) Libertad

Libertad are the perfect factions for both beginners and support characters. Libertad faction members recover health faster, and can pop one of two different area-of-effect healing abilities, all of which help allies too. After narrowly surviving a gunfight, a well-timed BioVida can get you back on your feet faster than your opponent.

The only real downside to the Libertad faction is that it’s very one-dimensional: literally all the abilities are area-of-effect healing abilities. But if the team needs a healer, a single Libertad member can do so much.

2) Phantoms

Phantoms have the most useful team-oriented abilities of perhaps any faction. Mag Barrier in particular is such a useful ability, as it blocks incoming enemy fire and grenades while letting you and allies shoot through, which can completely throttle chokepoints. In addition to passive increased health, the Aegis ultra is the perfect tool for capturing points, as it surrounds you with a larger shield and equips you with an absurdly powerful electro-scattergun.

1) Echelon

The Echelon is the most powerful faction, with characters that are absolutely lethal in the hands of elite aimers. The Digital Ghillies Suit enables players to go nearly completely invisible, letting you pull off flanks that no other character can do. The Low Passive trait also lets you avoid detection no matter what you do, the Sonar Goggles ultra provides enemy locations, and the faction’s super-powered pistol is overpowered.

Echelon may not provide the same amount of team value as other factions, but in the right hands, a deadly Echelon player can shift momentum at any moment.