Mario Kart 8 Deluxe best character and kart builds

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe recently received its latest wave of DLC from the Booster Course Pass, so now’s a great time to think about the best character and kart builds for those looking to get into the nitty gritty of things.

If you’ve played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe online, you’ve likely come across a lot of players using Waluigi with the Wild Wiggler, Rollers, and Paper Glider. Although part of the reason for this might be the humorous contrast of watching Waluigi ride on a caterpillar, the main factor behind this build’s ubiquity is that it is one of the most optimal character and kart combinations in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This naturally leads into the question of why this build is so good, and if there are other builds in the game that might be able to compete with it. This guide will aim to answer both of those questions, first by explaining some of the hidden mechanics that make certain builds more viable than others, and then by providing examples of some of the more competitive builds Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has to offer.

When it comes to the best character, kart builds, and setup in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, first and foremost, it should be made clear that while the character and kart used certainly have an impact on a player’s performance, individual player skill is by far the most important factor in winning races. A competitive player can beat an average one even while using the worst possible character and kart, while an inexperienced player will still struggle against a more skilled opponent even with an optimal setup. This is just to say that if there is a particular character or kart you enjoy using, it’s absolutely possible to compete with it in all but the most competitive scenarios.

That being said, stats do have an impact, and it’s time to get into what that impact is. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sadly leaves out a fair amount of information related to the stats assigned to gear. For starters, individual characters have specific stats themselves, despite these not being shown in-game. This is why you’ll often see a bevy of Waluigi players online, as he is one of the characters with the most ideal stat spread relative to the builds we want.

Speaking of stats, what exactly are they? Well, the game offers five different stats for players to customize, these being Speed, Acceleration, Weight, Handling, and Traction. However, the game actually accounts for a total of fourteen different hidden stats, which are the true determining factors in a build’s performance. These are Weight, Acceleration, On-Road Traction, Off-Road Traction, Mini-Turbo, Invincibility, and Ground, Water, Air, and Anti-gravity variants for Speed and Handling. This may seem like a lot to consider, but in reality, there are only two important stats here in determining a build’s effectiveness: Ground Speed and Mini-Turbo. 

Ground Speed is straightforward, it’s simply the maximum potential speed of the vehicle while on the ground. Given that most races will take place almost entirely driving on the ground, wanting to optimize this value makes a lot of sense. Mini-Turbo is a bit more interesting; it affects Mini-Turbo boosts, the small boost in speed obtained after drifting shown by the presence of blue, yellow or purple sparks. The Mini-Turbo stat affects the charging speed and duration of Mini-Turbo boosts; in essence, the higher the stat, the faster and longer your Mini-Turbo boosts will be. This is a crucial stat to be focusing on, as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe places huge emphasis on Mini-Turbos, with these arguably being the most important technique in the game when it comes to building up and maintaining speed.

With that out of the way, the character and kart setups we are going to look at for our Mario Kart 8 Deluxe guide are all ones that focus on these two attributes, Ground Speed and Mini-Turbo. However, a balance needs to be struck between the two, as it’s impossible for any one kart to max out both of these stats. As such, three builds will be offered below; one which tries to maintain a comfortable balance between both stats, one which prioritizes Mini-Turbo, and a final one which prioritizes Ground Speed.

Balanced Build

Waluigi/Wild Wiggler/Roller/Paper Glider

Note: Several characters and kart elements actually share stats with others; for instance, Waluigi is interchangeable with Roy or Donkey Kong, Roller wheels can be swapped with the Azure Rollers and the Paper Glider can be exchanged for the Parachute, Cloud Glider, or Flower Glider.

The most common kart setup seen online, this build strikes a very nice balance between Ground Speed and Mini-Turbo, making it a comfortable choice for any track on any speed. This build also possesses a decent amount of Weight, letting it push lighter karts out of the way while not being completely knocked aside by heavier karts. As mentioned above, several elements of this build can actually be swapped out for others, but this is the most common setup for visibility and hitbox reasons (hitboxes do vary between characters and karts, but differences are typically negligible).

However, I do want to offer a similar, equally viable build, which can be made by swapping out the Wild Wiggler for the Biddybuggy or Mr. Scooty (both of those vehicles share the same stats). While a little bit of Ground Speed and Weight will be lost, this kart combination offers higher Mini-Turbo and Acceleration, as well as a little bit more Handling. This makes the build a little bit more Mini-Turbo-friendly while maintaining most of the qualities of the previous one, making it another very solid competitive option.

Mini-Turbo Build

Baby Peach/Biddybuggy/Roller/Paper Glider

Note: Baby Peach can be swapped for Baby Daisy, Biddybuggy for Mr. Scooty, Roller for Azure Roller, and Paper Glider for Parachute/Cloud Glider/Flower Glider.

This is one of the best character, builds, and setups in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe thanks to the highest possible Mini-Turbo stat, and as such excels on curve-heavy tracks that encourage heavy amounts of drifting, such as Yoshi Circuit or Cheese Land. Although this build might not perform as well as the balanced one on every track, it still works very well on most of them, and can pull ahead of its competition through the speed and frequency of its Mini-Turbos.

One other factor to consider is that this build has a lot of Acceleration, a by-product of its focus on the Mini-Turbo stat. The main reason that this is important is that higher Acceleration makes it easier to return to top speed after getting hit, which can be incredibly important in races where you are constantly getting pelted with various items. This lends the build a slight edge in hectic scenarios over the Balanced or Ground Speed-focused ones.

Ground Speed Build

Wario/Sneeker/Slim/Hylian Kite

Note: Wario can be swapped for Dry Bowser, Sneeker for Gold Standard/Master Cycle, Slim for Wooden/Crimson Slim, and Hylian Kite for Super Glider/Waddle Wing.

On the other end of the spectrum, this is a more niche build that focuses heavily on Ground Speed. Do note that this build still tries to maintain a little bit of Mini-Turbo stat in spite of this different focus, since Mini-Turbos are still a valuable tool and no course is going to be completely devoid of turns you’ll have to drift around. Regardless, this build will perform best on tracks with a limited amount of Mini-Turbo opportunities such as Toad Circuit or Wario’s Gold Mine, so that the kart can take full advantage of its high maximum Ground Speed.

Of note, although the Master Cycle has the same stats as the Sneeker, it is one of the few bikes in the game with an inside drift pattern. While still viable, these bikes tend to be more difficult to use because the lines they take while drifting don’t align very well with the turns of most tracks. As such, there are only a handful of courses (such as Toad’s Turnpike) where these bikes are able to take full advantage of their unique drifting quirk.

And those are some of the best characters, karts, builds, and setups in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe! To be clear, determining a single best character/kart combination in this game is difficult, since every build will end up with benefits and drawbacks, or might simply not align with how everyone wants to play the game. For instance, if playing on 200cc, you might want to replace the Balanced build’s Waluigi with Link or Yoshi to improve Handling and help prevent yourself from veering off-track due to the increased speed. Or for mostly water-based stages like Dolphin Shoals, you might want to consider using the Streetle, which boasts a surprisingly high Water Speed stat. As such, while the builds suggested here are competitively viable baselines, players do have the freedom of experimenting with different setups without a tremendous loss in performance. If players do find themselves wanting to experiment with other builds, there are many online resources that can help with that, such as this very helpful Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Builder website which will also show every character and kart element’s hidden stats.