What makes a Gundam Top Tier? Is it power? is it speed? both? Ever since Gundam anime was around, people have been debating about which Gundam is better, which Gundam is stronger and most of the time they never come to an agreement. So for this article, we’ve decided to put each Gundam in two scenarios. One where they’ll have to destroy an enemy base by themselves and the other on how well they’ll do fighting enemy mobile suits. We’ll then rank them based on how well they’ll do each job.
With that said, let’s get to the Gundams!
10. Sandrock
Being one of the Gundam that was sent to Earth for Operation Meteor, Sandrock is a powerful machine indeed. Being a command-type mobile suit, it features fewer offensive capabilities compared to the other Gundams of operation meteor. It’s mainly a close-range mobile suit but it can also fight up to mid-range by either throwing its superheated shotels or by firing missiles from its shoulders.
In the second half of Gundam Wing, the Sandrock got upgraded giving it the ability to fly in space, and is now equipped with a submachine gun however, the shotels are no longer superheated. With its new ability to move in space, the Sandrock dashes towards enemies slashing all that stand in its way.
When it comes to speed and mobility, the Sandrock isn’t the best. It can’t operate in space and it can’t move fast even on Earth. Such drawbacks, including that of its mid-tier weaponry, make the Sandrock not that great of a mobile suit for mid-long-range combat. However, when it comes to close-range combat, the Sandrock can slice up enemy mobile suits easily with its superheated shotels and thanks to its gundanium armor, it can take in a lot of damage before it can even be considered slightly damaged.
How about destroying enemy bases? The Sandrock can do it by iteself but given its offensive capabilities, it has to do so either by slicing up each enemy mobile suit, tank, and building one by one or by using its submachine gun to take them all down. Either way, with its lack of firepower and speed, it could take the Sandrock quite a long time to finish the job.
9. Heavyarms
When it comes to overwhelming enemy forces with a barrage of missiles and bullets, the Heavyarms has got it covered. Designed specifically as the artillery type Gundam for operation meteor, the Heavyarms can dish out a ton of damage in a short amount of time. Being an artillery-type Gundam, it’s packed with long-ranged weaponry from its head to its legs. In combat, the Heavyarms can launch a great number of missiles and bullets at one time that can take down fleets of enemy mobile suits, and just like the Sandrock, its gundanium armor protects it from most enemy attacks it receives.
Unlike the Sandrock however, the Heavyarms suffers a great drawback when it comes to close combat as its only true close-range weapon is a retractable combat knife that is mounted on its right arm. It can slice through enemy mobile suits but it’s nothing compared to beam sabers or the superheated shotels of the Sandrock. Its main weapon, a large minigun mounted on its left arm, can also be used to knock down enemy mobile suits. The main weapon of the Heavyarms, which is a large minigun, can also be used in close-combat fights to knockdown enemy Mobile Suits
Just like the Sandrock, the Heavyarms is a slow-moving Gundam. It’s probably the slowest of the five operation meteor Gundams, which makes sense as it was never designed to fight up close. However, long fights are disadvantageous for this Gundam as when it runs out of ammunition, it loses most of its offensive capabilities and can be easily forced into a close combat fight.
When it comes to destroying an enemy base, the Heavyarms can tear it down easy as long as the base isn’t so large that the Heavyarms runs out of ammo before it finishes destroying it. If the Heavyarms does run out of ammo before completely destroying the base, then it’ll have to retreat cause even though it has Gundanium armor, it’s not invincible and a barrage of enemy missiles will destroy it eventually.
8. Vayeate
The Vayeate was created along side the Mercurius, however, it’s the exact opposite of it. This Gundam is made for offense. Its only weapon is a large beam cannon that is powerful enough to compete with Wing Gundam Buster Rifle. Vayeate’s cannon beam is connected with a back-mounted particle accelerator that enabled it to fire continuous shots.
It is not faster than any other mobile suit so, if an enemy manages to get up close to it, then it would probably get destroyed as it has no close-range defense weapons. However, the beam cannon of the Vayeate is not only powerful, it also has a ridiculous range. It’s safe to say that this beam cannon has the longest range out of all the weapons in Gundam Wing.
How would the Vayeate do against an enemy Mobile Suit? Well it could stand a good chance if it manages to lock-on to its target from a great distance but if the battle turned into a close combat one, it’ll probably lose due to lack of defensive close-combat weapons.
As for taking down an entire base, the Vayeate can easily do this with ease using its powerful, long-range beam cannon. The only danger it’ll have is if the base manages to send Mobile Suits that can force the Vayeate into a close-combat fight.
7. Mercurius
The Mercurius is what you would call a Gundam that maxed out it’s defensive stats. It’s the exact opposite of the Heavyarms. This machine focuses on its defense and it’s easy to see that its really good at it. Being one of the newer models of Gundams, it showcases a new technology that it uses for both offense and defense. This technology is called “Planet Defensor” are round metal disks that float around the Mercurius. It uses these metal disks to form an energy shield around itself and this shield is very strong. It’s not an overstatement to say that it could be the strongest energy shield in all of Gundam Wing as the shield was able to protect the Mercurius after a direct attack from the double barrel beam rifle of the Wing Zero.
It’s offensive capabilities are sorely lacking though. It’s equipped with a small beam gun but its range and power is less than that of the beam rifle. The Mercurius can also link two of its disks together creating a stream of energy between them. It can then ram these disks towards the enemy to either land a killing blow or as a distraction.
The Mercurius is also the only Gundam that can defend itself completely while being able to attack at the same time. Each disk that can generate the energy shield can also project a beam sword from its center stabbing any enemy Mobile Suit that gets too close to it.
How could the Mercurius fight off enemy Mobile Suits? Well unlike the Sandrock and Heavyarms, the Mercurius is a fast Gundam and with that kind of defensive power, it can simply dash towards them and then slice them up one by one.
What about an enemy base? Although it lacks firepower, it’s undeniably strong defense allows it to dash in and slice the enemy base while taking in an insane amount of enemy attack and it probably wouldn’t break the shield. Even if the shield is broken, the Mercurius is made of Gundanium alloy which in itself is very tough armor. With that said, the Mercurius can take down an enemy base easily but it won’t be a quick one.
6. Tallgeese
Tallgeese is the original mobile suit in the Gundam Wing Timeline, and many other future mobile suits follow its design and powerful system. Despite being an old mobile suit, it is still very powerful compared to modern suits. It has a powerful beam cannon that can destroy most mobile suits with one single shot.
Tallgeese’s most useful feature is the tremendous speed that allows it to dodge most of the enemy fire. It can also get close to the enemy and then use its two beam sabers to destroy them. However, this godly speed comes with a big price as it puts a great amount of load on the pilot’s body.
Zechs Marquise, the elite soldier of the OZ organization, suffered fatal pain while piloting the Tallgeese. It is also famous because it is on par with the mighty Gundams in battle.
It is made from Titanium alloy which is inferior to the Gundanium Alloy, which might be one of its drawbacks. It is safe to call Tallgeese, one of the most powerful mobile suits ever built in the Gundam Wing Franchise.
5. Altron
Coming in at number 3, is the upgraded version of the Shenlong, the Altron. The most prominent upgrade are dragon fangs. Unlike the Shenlong that could only extend one arm, the Altron can extend both of its arms can extend with enough force to tear their way through armor. Now if that isn’t enough, each arm can also use powerful flamethrowers, further extending the fighting range of the Altron.
This Altron is also equipped with wings which giving it greater speed and mobility compared to the Shenlong. Although the Altron can fight at mid-range, it’s close-combat fighting capabilities are no joke. It’s main melee weapon is a twin beam trident which when not used is stored on the wings to charge.
Using its speed and weaponry, the Altron can dash towards enemy Mobile Suits and or bases and either tear them down with its beam trident or blast them away with its powerful flamethrower.
4. Deathscythe Hell
The Deathscythe Hell is an upgraded version of the original Deathscythe Gundam. Unlike all the Gundams in this list before it, the Deathscythe Hell takes a different approach when it comes to fighting off enemy forces.
Although it shares similarities with the Altron as being an amazing fighting machine when it comes to close-combat fighting, It has a feature that allows it to take a rank higher than the Altron and that feature is its cloaking ability. Enemy mobile suits could be casually patrolling and the Deathscythe Hell could just pop up right in their faces out of nowhere and when this machine is close to you, you can bet you are done for.
Equipped with its twin beam scythe, the Deathscythe Hell can cut through enemy Mobile Suits like butter. Just like the original Deathscythe, this machine is fast. It’s also equipped with a physical shield for defense but can be thrown to destroy enemies at mid-range.
The Deathscythe Hell is also equipped with wings that act as extra armor which is resilient enough to take shots from the beam cannon and also boosts its mobility.
It is safe to say though that the most impressive element of the suit is its “Hyper Jammer” ECM (electronic countermeasure) system, which releases jamming particles that render the Gundam virtually undetectable to electronic sensors and provide it with unrivaled stealth in combat.
How would the Deathscythe Hell fair against an enemy Mobile Suit? or destroy an enemy base? I think the more appropriate question is how can the enemy Mobile Suit defend itself against the Deathscythe Hell? It’s practically invisible. How do you even fight something you cannot see? With that said, the Deathscythe Hell, although lacking in long-range capabilities can easily get close to an enemy base using its active cloak and then destroy it.
3. Wing Gundam
Among the Gundams featured in Operation Meteor, the Wing Gundam is the best when it comes to mobility, defense and offense. It can be operated in space as well on Earth and it can even enter earths atmosphere on its own.
Wing Gundam’s firepower is impressive as its Buster Rifle can take out multiple targets and even ships with only one shot. Even more impressive is the ability of this weapon to destroy an entire space colony with a single shot. For close combat, its equipped with a vulcan cannons on its head, a beam saber to cut down enemy Mobile Suits, and a large shield for defense but can also be used as a stabbing weapon.
A unique feature of the Wing Gundam is ability to shift into bird mode, a mobile armor form of the Gundam where it takes the shape of a bird. This feature allowed the wing gundam to fly in Earth’s atmosphere.
How would the Wing Gundam do against an enemy Mobile Suit? being one of the best Gundams, it’d do very well, if the opponent Mobile Suit is not a strong Gundam then the Wing Gundam would probably win. One hit from its beam rifle would blast away any ordinary Mobile Suit.
What about an enemy base? How would the Wing Zero do against one? There’s no contest here. The Wing Gundam doesn’t even need to get close to it. With its overpowered beam rifle, it could just take one shot and the enemy base would be destroyed.
2. Epyon
Now we get to the top two. Here, these Gundams are insanely powerful that you could even say that the only machine that can rival them is each other.
One of these machines is the Gundam Epyon. A Gundam designed by Treize Khushrenada with the intent of having it as the ultimate dueling Gundam and indeed it is second to none when it came to close-combat. Using its speed, its system and its main weapon, a large beam sword, the Epyon can easily slice through a fleet of enemy Mobile Suits.
It also features a unique weapon, in the form of a metal whip, that can either grab opponents’ weapons away from them or can easily cut through their armor while not being affected by energy shields.
Epyon’s main weapon is a large beam sword which is plugged straight into its main reactor which means the power of the sword can be increased to insane levels, being powerful enough to destroy a station in one strike. This sword is very fast which allows it to destroy multiple targets in the blink of an eye.
Epyon can transform itself into a flying mobile which is called dragon mode. In this mode, it can travel long distances easily. The most revolutionary feature of Epyon Gundam is its Altered Zero system.
This system can calculate every scenario of a battle and feed that information directly to the mind of the pilot. With this system in place, victory is almost guaranteed.
Furthermore, it also shows the scenarios where it can be destroyed. It is up to the pilot to separate victory from defeat using the information he gets from Epyon’s scenarios. Another side effect is that with all this raw data streaming into the pilot’s brain, severe hallucinations that can occur and can make the pilot to go insane.
With its system, speed and power, the Epyon could easily dash towards enemy Mobile Suits or an enemy base and slice them up until there’s nothing left.
1. Wing Zero
Taking the number one spot is the predecessor of the Wing Gundam, the Wing Zero. The Wing Gundam Zero is the actually the first Gundam ever designed by the five great scientists but it was not manufactured because of they deemed it too dangerous because of its unique Zero System.
For offense, Wing Zero has two powerful Vulcan cannons stored in its shoulders; these canons can shred through most armors. It also has two beam sabers mounted on both shoulders for close-range combat. Wing Zero’s main weapon is a twin-barrel buster rifle that can destroy a colony with one single shot.
This buster rifle can be separated into two buster rifles for multi-target engagements. It has the capacity to morph into a “Neo-Bird Mode,” which allows it to fly in both atmospheric and space settings. Wing Zero is equipped with its namesake system (Zero System).
This system can predict the outcome of every battle, but as I have explained before, it puts a lot of strain on the pilot’s mind and can lead to hallucinations. In the entire Gundam Wing Series, only Heero and Zechs were able to master this system.
How would the Wing Zero do against an enemy base? or an enemy Mobile Suit? or a fleet of enemy Mobile Suits? It doesn’t matter, this overpowered machine can just use its twin-barrel buster rifle and anything it hits is gone. This Gundam is also a beast when it comes to close combat as well because of its speed and its Zero system. All in all, with the right pilot, this machine can take down anything in its path.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this article be sure to checkout our other Gundam articles for more things Gundam!