Idol Showdown is a free-to-play fighting game. It is a fan-made 2D project where you control one of several fighters based on actual Hololive Production personalities, otherwise known as VTubers. The controls are easy to learn and its fighters have a variety of skills you can take into battle.
There are eight playable characters, each with their own movesets, star levels to determine their difficulty, and skills spread across five categories. With any fighting game, you'll find that some are much more powerful than others if you learn to master them. Once you understand each one's strengths, you can choose your Idol Showdown main and conquer the hololive scene.
8 Tokino Sora
Tokino Sora is labeled the Virtuous Pure Idol with an Advanced star rating in Idol Showdown. Her skills are fairly balanced with her offensive and zone categories receiving a bit of a boost over the likes of speed, damage, and defense.
She is unfortunately a lower-tier fighter. Her movelist is pretty lackluster when compared to her balanced skill categories. While Sora does well in ranged combat, she is utterly ineffective up close. That's where most other fighters shine, so she will have trouble keeping her distance and being useful.
7 Inugami Korone
The Retro Fighting Dog known as Inugami Korone is considered a high endurance brawler. She only has a 1-Star difficulty level, which is Beginner and tied for the lowest in Idol Showdown. Beginners will have fun with high offense, speed, and defense skills.
Korone's style is very aggressive, however. You need to be constantly attacking to truly dish out damage. One block with a retaliative hit from your opponent and Korone will be rendered useless. If you can keep the onslaught going, you'll be fine, but that is a tough task.
6 Shirakami Fubuki
Shirakami Fubuki is known as the Versatile Fox Spirit. Her stats are mainly focused on damage and defense. This beginner-level character is great for learning the ropes, but you'll quickly graduate to a more advanced fighter. And really, you should aim to do so.
Fubuki doesn't stand out compared to other characters, despite her versatility. Her moveset is also based on having a bit of luck. Her specials are pretty powerful, but they are completely randomized. You could get a super strong variant or a basic version that feels like a waste.
5 Hoshimachi Suisei
The hardest character to master in Idol Showdown is definitely Hoshimachi Suisei. That has many of you pushing her aside right away. It is understandable, but if you can learn her advanced techniques, you'll have a great character to main that opponents won't expect to be up against.
The sheer chaos of Suisei in battle and attempting to control her is why she isn't considered one of the best fighters. She is very time-consuming, but the Stellar Stylish Idol, with her immense offense and speed stats, can be a nightmare to deal with up close.
4 Kiryu Coco
Kiryu Coco is the 4th Chairman of the Kiryu Clan. Her intermediate-level star rating in Idol Showdown is accompanied by solid offense and defense, along with incredible damage output. She has a ton of special moves to unleash that will drop the health of your opponent in no time.
Her biggest weakness is her speed. If you don't fall back to avoid enemy attacks before sending out your own, anyone with high speed will dismantle Kiryu Coco. That makes her a high-risk, high-reward type of fighter. When you master her combos, you'll be nearly unstoppable.
3 Nakiri Ayame
The Play Giggling Ojou known as Nakiri Ayame is considered to be a fighter with "Nonstop Oni Offense." Her speed is the highest you can find in Idol Showdown, and it is complimented by high offense and acceptable defense. This is hands down the best fighter for beginner players.
She has two katanas to use in battle, which allow her to strike from a further distance than most short-ranged fighters. It also allows you to close in on your opponents much quicker as the stun from the katana hit opens the door for a variety of combos. Powerful, yet easy-to-learn combos and counter-attacks make her a wonderful choice.
2 Aki Rosenthal
Aki Rosenthal, the Half-Elf From Another World, boasts high offense and zone stats. The rest of the categories are commendable, too. Her balance and moveset are tough for any opponent to overcome. This is due to her wide range of teleportation attacks.
If you take Rosenthal into a hololive fight in Idol Showdown, you can warp to your enemy, teleport behind them, or strike and teleport away to safety. She has virtually zero weaknesses, which makes her all the more difficult to face.
1 Shishiro Botan
Shishiro Botan has quickly risen to the top spot in Idol Showdown. The Special Forces La~Lion has good speed, great damage, and an unmatched zone statistic. She is, at the same time, the most versatile and powerful fighter in the game.
Botan delivers high damage with both close combat and ranged attacks. She offers you the ability to play her to your style. You don't have to utilize Shishiro Botan in one singular way, making her very unpredictable and hard to counter. Use that to your advantage and you'll see why she's number one.