Solo Leveling: Arise Overdrive has 22 playable hunters besides Sung Jinwoo as of November 2026: the 20 in the base game plus Goto Ryuji and Tawata Kanae, who arrived with a paid DLC pack in June 2026. Lee Joohee and Song Chiyul join through the story, and almost everyone else is recruited with Hunt Coins in a negotiation once recruitment opens after Chapter 3. There is no gacha banner for any of them.
We compiled this from Destructoid's roster and recruitment guide, NoobFeed's walkthrough of the negotiation screen, the Steam DLC page and Netmarble's patch notes and developer notes, checked in November 2026.
Every Hunter by Role and Element
The base roster splits across six roles (tank, fighter, mage, assassin, archer and support) and five elements (Fire, Aqua, Wind, Light and Dark). Roles and elements below come from Destructoid's roster table; the two DLC hunters are listed separately because no reliable source has published their role and element in that format yet.
| Hunter | Role | Element |
|---|---|---|
| Seo Jiwoo | Tank | Aqua |
| Emma Laurent | Tank | Fire |
| Kim Chul | Tank | Light |
| Yoo Jinho | Tank | Light |
| Baek Yoonho | Fighter | Light |
| Cha Hae-In | Fighter | Light |
| Woo Jinchul | Fighter | Wind |
| Alicia Blanche | Mage | Aqua |
| Choi Jong-In | Mage | Fire |
| Lee Bora | Mage | Dark |
| Park Heejin | Mage | Wind |
| Song Chiyul | Mage | Fire |
| Amamiya Mirei | Assassin | Wind |
| Kang Taeshik | Assassin | Dark |
| Han Song-Yi | Assassin | Aqua |
| Esil Radiru | Archer | Fire |
| Lim Tae-Gyu | Archer | Dark |
| Nam Chae-Young | Archer | Aqua |
| Lee Joohee | Support | Aqua |
| Min Byung-Gu | Support | Light |
| Goto Ryuji | Paid DLC (June 2026) | |
| Tawata Kanae | Paid DLC (June 2026) | |
A quick read of the table shows why element coverage takes some planning. Light and Aqua have the most options (five hunters each) and Fire has four, while Wind and Dark have only three each, so a Dark-weak boss leaves you choosing between Lee Bora, Lim Tae-Gyu and Kang Taeshik.
How Hunter Recruitment Works
Overdrive replaces gacha with a contract negotiation. NoobFeed's guide explains the flow: go to the lower floor of the lobby hub, talk to the recruitment NPC, open the Hunter Recruitment menu and select Connect to see who is available. Not every hunter shows up at once; the list grows as you progress through the story. Destructoid notes that this feature unlocks after you complete Chapter 3.
- Pick a hunter from the list. Each one shows a difficulty level that hints at the success rate and how many coins the negotiation is likely to need.
- Make an offer in Hunt Coins. Bigger offers raise the success chance, but nothing is certain.
- If the bid fails, part of your coins are returned, not all of them, and you can try again with a different amount.
That refund rule is the key strategic point: lowballing a hard hunter repeatedly can cost more than one solid offer. Netmarble's own developer note framed recruitment as offering each hunter "a payment worthy of their abilities," and later patch notes refer to hunters "currently in Contract Negotiation," so the system is the same on PC and console.
The recruitment screens have had their share of fixes. A December 2025 patch made the hunter recruitment mission clearable even if you had recruited everyone before opening Chapter 8, and the 4 November 2026 patch stopped the "Hunter Recruitment available" pop-up from appearing after the whole roster was already recruited. If you still see that pop-up with a full roster on console, the launch-day patch has not installed yet, so close the game fully and restart it.
Where Hunt Coins and Hunter Reports Come From
Hunt Coins are earned mainly from World Map content. In November 2025 Netmarble increased the Hunt Coins earned from Chapter 1 to 10 Gates and Dungeon Breaks across every difficulty, after players said they could not afford the hunters they wanted. The March 2026 update raised Hunt Coin acquisition again, and the June 2026 update increased Gold and Hunt Coin clear rewards across World Map content.
Hunter Reports are the other recruiting resource. Netmarble has used them as gifts: with the free winter DLC in December 2025, it mailed every player five Hunter Reports specifically so anyone who had not yet recruited Amamiya Mirei could add her to the team. For where reports come from in regular play and how best to spend them, read our Hunter Reports guide.
A practical tip: decide which two or three hunters you want before you start spending, because coins spread across failed bids on several hunters go much less far than coins focused on one.
The Two DLC Hunters: Goto Ryuji and Tawata Kanae
Goto Ryuji and Tawata Kanae are the only hunters you cannot recruit through play. They come with the Jeju Island Raid Special Pack, released on Steam on 17 June 2026 and listed at $4.99 there in November 2026. According to the Steam page and Netmarble's DLC notice, buying the pack dispatches both hunters together with their exclusive weapons (Distorted Dreams for Goto Ryuji, The Path a Hero Must Take for Tawata Kanae), their profile icons, several costumes and hairstyles each, and a new weapon for Jinwoo called Razor Frost.
Both have been tuned since release. The 26 June patch added buff effects to their QTE skills and fixed Goto Ryuji's Ultimate Skill charge speed, and the 4 November 2026 patch fixed Tawata Kanae's revival animation in co-op and her costume weapon color. Netmarble also added both to the Hunter Archive in the June update. Console players should check their own store's add-ons for the pack.
How Hunters Fight Alongside Jinwoo
In most missions you play Jinwoo and bring three recruited hunters as backup. Each hunter has a Support Skill that triggers when a condition is met, such as using a QTE skill or dropping below half HP, and Alcasthq's build guides note each can fire at most once every 45 seconds. Hunters also have their own Overdrive abilities; the developers' example was Choi Jong-In calling down meteors after applying Burn enough times.
When you control hunters directly, each one plays like a small character of its own rather than a reskin. Netmarble's patch notes show the variety: Baek Yoonho has a transformation state with its own gauge, which Synchro Chain skills consume; Yoo Jinho has a Guard Reflect that punishes attackers while he blocks; Emma Laurent fills her Overdrive gauge by landing heavy attacks; and Lee Bora summons Phantom Foxes with her Summoned Beast Charm skill. Switching between hunters happens through QTE skills, and a well-timed swap into a Synchro Chain is how the game expects you to string damage across the team.
You are not limited to Jinwoo, either. The Steam page says players can fight as Jinwoo or as a party of other hunters, and Netmarble's developer note describes co-op parties built from any mix: a full four-Jinwoo party or three hunters with one Jinwoo. Players can even duel each other in the Co-Op Lobby. If you plan to play hunters with friends on other platforms, our crossplay guide covers what is supported.
Which Hunters to Recruit First
With limited coins, prioritize breakers and element coverage over favorite characters. Hunters who break guards quickly and deal damage (Esil Radiru for Fire, Amamiya Mirei for Wind, Lim Tae-Gyu for Dark, Baek Yoonho for Light) shorten boss fights more than pure damage dealers, and Mirei's support skill fits every Jinwoo build. A healer is worth an early slot too: Lee Joohee comes free through the story, and Min Byung-Gu's healing was buffed in March 2026.
By role, a sensible early plan looks like this:
- One breaker of the element you struggle with most. Archers and fighters cover most of these jobs.
- One support. Lee Joohee is free; Min Byung-Gu adds Power Gauge recovery on top of healing.
- One damage hunter you enjoy controlling, since you will swap into them during QTEs and co-op.
- Tanks later. Seo Jiwoo and Yoo Jinho arrive early and cheaply; Emma Laurent and Kim Chul add team buffs when you need a frontline for hard bosses.
Our hunter tier list ranks the whole roster with the latest balance changes. Once you have your core, gear matters as much as the hunter: artifacts can be swapped between Jinwoo and hunters with presets, and the right set bonuses lift a mid-tier hunter a long way. See our artifacts guide for which sets to chase.
Hunter Archive, Codex and Gate Dispatch
Recruited hunters do more than fight. The Hunter Codex tracks the roster (patch notes mention a magnifying-glass shortcut from a hunter in Contract Negotiation straight to their Codex entry), and the Hunter Archive holds story entries for each hunter. Netmarble fixed a bug in March 2026 where Archive entries for previously obtained hunters were inaccessible, so update the game if yours look locked.
Idle hunters can also earn rewards through Gate Dispatch in Jinho's Strike Squad, where you deploy hunters to gates and later claim the rewards. Netmarble expanded Gate Dispatch levels in the June 2026 update alongside Jinwoo's level cap, which makes a deep bench useful even for hunters you rarely take into combat.
Getting the Whole Roster at Once
Recruiting and leveling every hunter is the longest grind in the game. If you would rather start with the roster built, the store's Complete Save includes a large hunter roster at level 75, Tier 10 and Tier 11 artifacts at +5, five pets, a large costume collection and every currency at 999,999,999, with the story already finished.
It is a modded save for PS5 and PC only (no Xbox), the game is not included, and the platinum trophy is sold separately. The Solo Leveling: Arise Overdrive hub lists the store's other saves.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hunters are in Solo Leveling: Arise Overdrive?
22 as of November 2026: 20 in the base game and two (Goto Ryuji and Tawata Kanae) from the June 2026 paid DLC, plus Sung Jinwoo himself.
Can you play as other characters?
Yes. The Steam page says you can fight as Jinwoo or as a party of other hunters, and co-op parties can mix hunters and Jinwoo freely.
Is there gacha for hunters?
No. Hunters are recruited through Hunt Coin negotiations or join through the story. The success rate depends on your offer, so recruitment is not fully certain, but there are no paid banners.
How do you get Goto Ryuji?
Goto Ryuji and Tawata Kanae come only with the paid Jeju Island Raid Special Pack, which adds both hunters and their exclusive weapons.
Which hunters are free from the story?
Destructoid lists Lee Joohee and Song Chiyul as the first two, joining once you finish the introductory missions and unlock the hunters' guild.
When can you recruit hunters?
Recruitment opens after Chapter 3. More hunters appear in the Hunter Recruitment list as your story progresses.