I asked you guys which of four Digimon World 3 rookies was the best, mostly because YouTube will only let me put four choices in a poll. I figured somebody would pull away. Instead I got 26%, 25%, 26%, and 24%. Basically useless. So I made this Digimon World 3 Rookie Tier list.
While I was trying to figure out why it was so close, I realized I’ve been judging these Digimon the same way since I was a kid. If I knew you from the TV show, I already wanted you. If you were some weird new Rookie I’d never seen before, you had a much harder time getting into my party.
So this time I ranked all eight properly. I compared their starting stats, growth, equipment, natural Digivolutions, EXP curves, and how much Digivolution grinding their best endgame routes eventually ask from you. This Digimon World 3 rookie tier list is about who I’d actually want carrying a playthrough, and one of the Digimon I spent years scrolling past made a much stronger case than I ever expected.
My answer: Kotemon is my best overall Rookie, Monmon might be my first choice for tearing through the normal campaign, and Guilmon is the easy winner if Beelzemon is your goal. The annoying part is that all three are making completely different arguments.
Last checked: August 26, 2026. I rechecked the Rookie stats, growth values, Level 40 EXP totals, and Digivolution requirements used throughout the ranking.
If you want to see where all of these evolution paths eventually lead, I also ranked all 20 Mega Digimon in Digimon World 3. Going back for my Digimon World review made me realize how many things I had completely misunderstood as a kid, and apparently the sequel wasn’t done embarrassing me either.
Kotemon
Guilmon
Monmon
Veemon
Agumon
Renamon
Kumamon
PatamonHow I ranked them: I looked at what each Rookie gives you at the beginning, how quickly they develop, what they can equip, where their natural Digivolutions take them, and whether they actually make the normal game easier.
The Four Kings: I also used GranKuwagamon, Beelzemon, Diaboromon, and Imperialdramon Paladin Mode as four endgame benchmarks. The DVEXP numbers are the prerequisite totals for that specific Rookie’s route, not one universal price attached to the Mega.
The Veemon problem: Veemon is one of the eight playable Rookies, but you can’t choose him in a starter pack. You have to recruit him later, and I can’t pretend all that lost development time doesn’t matter.
What Is the Best Starter Pack in Digimon World 3?
Kotemon wins my individual ranking, but that doesn’t automatically make the Balanced Pack the best full team.
If I had to choose one complete starter pack, I’d take the Powerful Pack. Monmon is S tier, Agumon and Renamon are both A tier, and none of the three feels like a passenger. The Balanced Pack gives you my number one Rookie in Kotemon, but it also gives you Patamon, who finished last. Maniac has Guilmon and a strong early Kumamon, but Patamon drags that trio down too.
| Starter Pack | Rookies | My Read |
|---|---|---|
| Balanced | Kotemon, Renamon, Patamon | My best individual Rookie, one strong magic user, and my lowest-ranked partner. |
| Powerful | Agumon, Renamon, Monmon | No weak pick: one S-tier Rookie and two A-tier Rookies. |
| Maniac | Guilmon, Kumamon, Patamon | Guilmon is excellent and Kumamon starts strong, but Patamon keeps it from matching Powerful. |
My pick: Powerful is the safest starter pack overall. Balanced is still the one I’d choose if getting Kotemon matters more to you than having the strongest full trio.
Every Digimon World 3 Rookie Ranked
I started with the choices childhood me never had to think about.
Agumon
Slow, tough, flexible, and one of those rare times when picking the childhood favorite actually works.
Second-slowest curve, tied with Patamon
Agumon was basically an automatic pick for me when I was younger. I watched the original show, I knew WarGreymon existed, and if Agumon was sitting there in the Powerful Pack, I didn’t really need any more information.
The funny thing is that this is one of those times where picking your favorite actually works out pretty well. Agumon is tough. His HP and Defense are good, his Spirit is solid, and his equipment gives you a lot of flexibility. You can build him more offensively, give him a shield, or just lean further into how difficult he already is to kill.
The downside is Speed. Agumon has the lowest starting Speed of all eight Rookies, his Speed growth is also the worst, and he needs 60,774 EXP to reach Rookie Level 40. If you give him a greatsword that drops his Speed even further, you’re definitely going to feel it.
His later progression makes that slow start easier to forgive. Agumon naturally gets WarGreymon at Level 40, while some of the other routes toward WarGreymon eventually run into a Level 99 MetalGreymon requirement. Agumon doesn’t have to deal with that.
For Imperialdramon Paladin Mode, Agumon only needs 4,150 prerequisite DVEXP. That’s the best Paladin Mode route in the entire roster.
Agumon goes in A tier.
So far, younger me’s strategy of picking the Digimon from the TV show was working perfectly. Renamon wasn’t about to ruin it.
Renamon
Fantastic when her magic works, very fragile when it doesn’t.
Second-fastest curve, tied with Guilmon
Renamon was another one I didn’t need convincing on. I already liked her, I liked magic-based characters, and that was basically enough.
Going back now, she’s still really good, but for completely different reasons than Agumon. Renamon starts with the highest MP and Spirit of every Rookie, and when you’re fighting something vulnerable to the magic she specializes in, she can absolutely destroy it.
She also develops pretty quickly. Getting her to Rookie Level 40 only takes 47,935 EXP, which is one of the better EXP curves in the game.
The tradeoff is that she’s fragile. Renamon has the lowest Defense in the roster, poor Strength, and terrible starting Machine resistance. If her magic is doing what you need it to do, she feels fantastic. If you’re fighting something that resists it and gets a clean hit back, things can fall apart pretty quickly.
Her equipment gives her a little more flexibility than I remembered too. Staffs are the obvious choice, but she can also use spears and halberds, so some of her later forms aren’t completely dependent on magic.
Then I checked GranKuwagamon. Renamon only needs 2,080 prerequisite DVEXP, one of the best routes in the game. Paladin Mode goes completely the other direction at 6,930, which is actually the worst route of all eight Rookies.
And that’s kind of Renamon in general. She’s excellent at certain things, but her weaknesses are very real.
Renamon goes in A tier.
Two childhood favorites down, and both of them were good. At this point I was starting to think maybe my incredibly advanced childhood strategy of “I recognize that one” wasn’t so bad after all. Then Guilmon made the argument even stronger.
Guilmon
Fast growth, strong offense, useful natural forms, and by far the best Beelzemon route.
Second-fastest curve, tied with Renamon
Guilmon has bad Defense. You notice it pretty quickly, especially early in the game.
Thankfully, almost everything else about him works in his favor. He’s strong, he’s fast, and he only needs 47,935 EXP to reach Rookie Level 40, the same really good curve as Renamon.
His natural Digivolutions give him a lot too. You’re getting strong physical attacks, buffs, counters, stealing techniques, and eventually Gallantmon. His equipment is flexible enough that you can push his offense harder or add some protection when you need it.
Then I looked at Beelzemon. Beelzemon requires Gallantmon and MaloMyotismon at Skill Level 40. Guilmon already gets Gallantmon naturally, so a huge part of that route is built into something you were probably going to do anyway.
His total prerequisite grind is only 3,290 DVEXP. Nobody else is close. Guilmon isn’t being rescued by one good endgame route. He’s already fast, strong, and quick to develop. Then Beelzemon just makes everything better.
Guilmon goes in S tier.
Agumon was good. Renamon was good. Guilmon was even better. The Digimon I already knew were doing exactly what I’d expected. Then I got to Patamon.
Patamon
A great support Digimon in a game that doesn’t really need one.
Second-slowest curve, tied with Agumon
This one was a lot less fun. Patamon has always been one of my favorite Digimon. If I could put him in the party when I was younger, I usually wanted to.
I wasn’t checking his stats. I wasn’t thinking about how useful his natural Digivolutions would be. It was Patamon. That was enough.
Going through everything now, I think I was giving him a lot of credit for things that had nothing to do with Digimon World 3. Patamon is naturally more of a support Digimon. You’ve got healing, recovery, and defensive utility, and obviously those things have value.
The problem is that this game doesn’t reward a dedicated support Digimon as much as another RPG might.
Only one partner fights at a time. Healing items exist. Other Digimon eventually learn recovery techniques. Once your main attacker becomes strong enough, ending the fight can be easier than spending turns recovering from it.
Patamon also starts with the lowest HP and Strength of all eight Rookies. His Speed isn’t particularly impressive either, and he still needs 60,774 EXP to reach Rookie Level 40.
So I started going through his evolution routes looking for the thing that would make me feel better. His GranKuwagamon route is the worst in the roster. His Diaboromon route is also the worst. Paladin Mode is almost the worst.
I kept looking for something I could use to move him higher, and eventually I realized I was doing exactly what I’d done as a kid. I was trying to justify Patamon because I already liked Patamon.
Patamon goes in C tier.
That was the first time this ranking really went against the way I’d always thought about these Digimon. Three familiar faces had done well, then one of my absolute favorites ended up at the bottom. Right after that came one of the Rookies I barely cared about.
Kumamon
Incredible early, painfully slow later, and somehow starting with less MP than his own attack costs.
Slowest curve in the roster
Kumamon was one of those Digimon I felt like I understood just by looking at him. That’s the tank. And to be fair, that part was completely correct.
Kumamon starts with the highest HP, Strength, and Defense of every Rookie. Somehow his Speed is pretty good too. Early in the game, he’s ridiculous. You can throw him into fights and he just works.
Then you look at his MP.
10.
His own starting technique costs 20 MP. I don’t know what happened there (great start), but it gives you a pretty good preview of Kumamon. Physically he’s fantastic. Once you move away from that, the cracks start appearing.
He has the lowest Spirit in the roster. His Wisdom isn’t great. Then there’s his EXP curve. Getting Kumamon to Rookie Level 40 takes 67,194 EXP, the slowest of everybody here.
His equipment is also really limited. Other Rookies are choosing between swords, shields, bows, guns, staffs, and all kinds of other stuff. Kumamon gets gauntlets. They’re good gauntlets, but still.
I barely used this guy when I was younger, and looking at him now, I probably would’ve loved him early in the game. He wasn’t secretly the best Rookie or anything, but he was much better than I’d ever given him credit for.
Kumamon goes in B tier.
And now this ranking was starting to get interesting. One of my favorite Digimon was sitting in C. One of the Rookies I’d barely looked at was above him. Then Veemon came along and made the familiar guys look pretty good again.
Veemon
He might win on paper. The problem is that the game makes him show up late.
Middle-of-the-pack growth
Veemon is probably one of the hardest Digimon here to rank because if I were doing this entirely from a spreadsheet, he might win.
His stats are balanced. His EXP curve is completely reasonable at 54,355 to Rookie Level 40. His equipment selection is excellent.
Then you start looking at his evolution tree. ExVeemon. Stingmon. Paildramon. Imperialdramon. Veemon is connected to a lot of things you eventually want.
His Four Kings numbers make the argument even stronger. Veemon needs only 1,950 prerequisite DVEXP for GranKuwagamon and 6,660 for Diaboromon. Both are the best routes in the roster. For a minute, I thought Guilmon had just lost the top spot.
But then there’s the one problem none of these calculations can really show you. You don’t start the game with Veemon. He’s the only one of these eight Rookies who has to be recruited later.
By the time he actually joins, your starter has already been fighting, gaining levels, collecting equipment, and building Digivolution EXP. Now you’re bringing Veemon in and asking him to catch up.
If Veemon were sitting on the starter screen at the very beginning, I think there’s a good chance he wins this ranking. But he isn’t. That was the first time the numbers themselves started bothering me a little.
Veemon goes in high A tier.
Still excellent, just not quite my number one. Now there were only two Digimon left that younger me really didn’t care about. The first one was the guy in the helmet.
Kotemon
I kept waiting for the bad part. It never really showed up.
Middle-of-the-pack growth
Kotemon was probably the Digimon I paid the least attention to when I originally played this game. There wasn’t some complicated reason. I just didn’t know him.
I’d look at Agumon and know exactly who he was. Renamon, Guilmon, Patamon, Veemon, same thing. Then I’d get to Kotemon and see this little guy with a giant helmet. I had no attachment to him, so I moved on.
Going through him now, the weird thing about Kotemon is that there isn’t one stat that immediately explains why he’s good. His stats are solid. He needs 54,355 EXP to reach Rookie Level 40, which is perfectly reasonable. His equipment is good. Katanas, swords, greatswords.
Then you get Dinohumon, who gives you healing, buffs, and multi-hit physical attacks fairly early. Kyukimon keeps that physical pressure going later.
Everything I checked was good. Nothing was amazing enough to immediately jump off the page. So I kept waiting for the bad part.
Agumon had his Speed. Patamon had several problems. Kumamon developed slowly. Renamon was fragile. Veemon joined late. Kotemon had to have something.
Then I checked his endgame routes. Veemon has the best GranKuwagamon route at 1,950 DVEXP. Kotemon needs 2,070, only 120 more. For Diaboromon, Veemon needs 6,660. Kotemon needs 6,690. Thirty Digivolution EXP. That’s basically nothing.
Unlike Veemon, Kotemon can actually be in your party from the beginning. That was the point where I started going back through everything because I genuinely thought I’d missed something.
He isn’t the strongest Rookie. He isn’t the fastest. He doesn’t have the best EXP curve. He doesn’t own every Four Kings route. But I also couldn’t find the part where using Kotemon becomes a pain.
After spending this entire ranking finding some annoying downside attached to almost everybody else, that started looking really good.
Kotemon was making an SS-tier argument, but I wasn’t ready to give him number one yet.
For the first time, the Rookie I would’ve scrolled right past as a kid was seriously competing for number one. But I wasn’t ready to give it to him yet, because there was still Monmon.
Monmon
Fastest leveling Rookie, highest Speed, monkey with a gun. Younger me somehow ignored him.
Fastest curve in the roster
Monmon might be the funniest possible Digimon to save for last because younger me would’ve taken one look at him and been done.
Monkey with a gun. I’m going back to Agumon.
Unfortunately for younger me, Monmon is ridiculous. Remember Kumamon needing 67,194 EXP to reach Rookie Level 40? Monmon needs 41,516. That’s the fastest EXP curve of all eight Rookies.
He also has the highest starting Speed and the best Speed growth. So not only is Monmon leveling faster than everybody else, he’s also fast when you’re actually fighting.
His equipment works really well with that too. Guns, bows, halberds. If a weapon comes with some kind of Speed penalty, Monmon is much better equipped to deal with it than somebody like Agumon.
Eventually you get Cannondramon and a strong physical Mega, but that wasn’t really the thing that changed my mind about him. It was everything before that.
Monmon develops quickly. He acts early. He hits hard. He makes a lot of the normal game easier.
I’d spent all this time comparing endgame routes, but most of Digimon World 3 isn’t you already having Paladin Mode or Diaboromon. It’s getting there.
Monmon’s Four Kings numbers are fine. He’s not dominating any of them, but he isn’t awful either. And suddenly I had to ask whether that even mattered as much as I’d been assuming.
If somebody asked me which Rookie I’d want purely to make the normal campaign as easy as possible, I might pick Monmon. That’s a much bigger compliment than I expected to give him.
Monmon goes in S tier.
Now I had three Digimon making three completely different arguments. Guilmon had the ridiculous Beelzemon route. Monmon might be the best choice for simply getting through the game. Kotemon wasn’t really number one at anything, but I still couldn’t find a major reason not to use him. So I finally stopped looking at them one at a time.
The Four Kings Route Comparison
These are the route winners that changed the ranking most.
| Endgame Digimon | Best Rookie Route | Prerequisite DVEXP | Useful Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| GranKuwagamon | Veemon | 1,950 | Kotemon needs 2,070 and Renamon needs 2,080, so Veemon’s lead is small. |
| Beelzemon | Guilmon | 3,290 | Guilmon receives Gallantmon naturally, removing a major part of the grind. |
| Diaboromon | Veemon | 6,660 | Kotemon is only 30 DVEXP behind at 6,690 and can join at the start. |
| Imperialdramon PM | Agumon | 4,150 | Renamon sits at the opposite end with the roster’s worst route at 6,930. |
DVEXP note: These totals compare the prerequisite forms each Rookie has to level along that route. They don’t mean the named Mega has one fixed DVEXP cost for every partner.
What Does “Best” Actually Mean Here?
That ended up being the real problem with the entire ranking.
Once I put all of the routes next to each other, the poll started making a lot more sense. Nobody wins everything.
If Beelzemon is your goal, Guilmon is easily the best choice. If you want the lowest raw routes to GranKuwagamon or Diaboromon, Veemon wins. If you want Paladin Mode, Agumon has the best route. If you just want somebody who levels quickly and makes the normal campaign easier, Monmon has one of the strongest arguments here.
So there really isn’t one completely objective answer. I had to decide what I actually meant when I said “best.”
If somebody started Digimon World 3 tonight and said, “I don’t care about all these numbers. Just tell me who to use,” who would I feel safest recommending?
That’s where everybody’s weaknesses started mattering more. Agumon is really good, but he’s slow. Renamon can be fragile. Guilmon can be fragile too. Patamon struggles to carry. Kumamon develops painfully slowly. Veemon would be one of my top choices if the game actually gave him to me from the beginning. Monmon is fantastic through the campaign, but his endgame routing isn’t as impressive as some of the others.
Then I got back to Kotemon, and I still couldn’t really find the warning label. That’s what finally decided it.
Final Digimon World 3 Rookie Tier List
The complete answer is less tidy than the poll wanted it to be.
| Tier | Rookies | My Take |
|---|---|---|
| SS | Kotemon | He doesn’t dominate every category. He just gives me the least to warn you about. |
| S | Guilmon, Monmon | Guilmon owns the Beelzemon route. Monmon makes the normal campaign easier. |
| A | Veemon, Agumon, Renamon | All three are really good, but each one has something holding them back. |
| B | Kumamon | A dominant early-game tank slowed down by his EXP curve and narrow build. |
| C | Patamon | I still love him, but I don’t think he gives you enough compared with everybody else. |
Why Kotemon Is My Number-One Rookie
I know it’s strange to put somebody in first when he doesn’t actually dominate most of these categories, but that’s exactly what kept bringing me back to him.
He doesn’t need to be the strongest because he’s strong enough. He doesn’t need the fastest EXP curve because his is still good. He doesn’t have to beat Veemon’s endgame routes because he’s barely behind him and I can actually use him from the start.
Every time I found some weakness that bothered me with another Rookie, I went back to Kotemon and couldn’t find the equivalent. So the Digimon I probably cared about least when I first played this game is going in SS tier.
And I think that’s the part of this ranking I’ll actually remember. When I was younger, if a game gave me somebody I already knew and somebody completely new, I almost always went with the familiar one.
I didn’t know Kotemon, so I barely gave him a chance. I didn’t know Monmon, so I barely gave him one either. Now they’re two of the Rookies I came away the most impressed by.
So the next time a game gives me some weird new guy and my first reaction is basically, “Who is this? Give me the character I know,” maybe I’ll actually use him first.
It only took me twenty-something years and a little guy wearing a giant helmet to figure that out.
Digimon World 3 Rookie Tier List FAQ
What is the best Rookie in Digimon World 3?
Kotemon is my best overall Rookie because his stats, equipment, natural Digivolutions, EXP growth, and endgame routes are all good, and I can’t find one major weakness that makes him annoying to recommend. Monmon is my favorite choice for making the normal campaign easier.
Which Digimon World 3 Rookie levels fastest?
Monmon levels fastest. He needs 41,516 total EXP to reach Rookie Level 40. Renamon and Guilmon are tied for second at 47,935 EXP.
Which Rookie levels slowest?
Kumamon has the slowest EXP curve, requiring 67,194 EXP to reach Rookie Level 40. Agumon and Patamon are tied for the next-slowest curve at 60,774 EXP.
Can you choose Veemon as a starter?
No. Veemon is one of the eight playable Rookie Digimon, but he doesn’t appear in any of the three starter packs. You recruit him later by completing his DRI Agent DNA quest.
What is the best Rookie for Beelzemon?
Guilmon has the best Beelzemon route. Because Guilmon receives Gallantmon naturally at Rookie Level 40, his total prerequisite route is only 3,290 DVEXP, far below the other Rookies.
Are any of the Rookies unusable?
No. Every Rookie can eventually access the same pool of Digivolutions, and training can patch weak stats. This ranking is about who makes the journey easier, not whether you can finish the game with them.
If you’re starting another playthrough on PC, my fast and easy DuckStation setup guide covers the emulator side before the grinding begins. Once it’s running, these DuckStation tips and hidden features show you how I use fast-forward to make the backtracking and DVEXP grind much easier to live with.
Reference note: Rookie stats, growth values, EXP totals, and Digivolution requirements were checked against the detailed Digimon World 3 Digivolution Guide. The tier placements and route comparisons are my own.
