Sorry for the wait! I’ll do better!
Hi, I’m lzzy. I know the tier list has been outdated for a while now. I started writing for Nikke.gg in May, but I didn’t get access to edit the tier list until September. After that, I was really busy with work and personal commitments, so I haven’t been able to update it since the beginning of the year. Thankfully, N3x is back to help post patch notes, and I really appreciate their help.
I’m sorry the website hasn’t been updated as often as it should. I’m working on improving things and will make future guides and tier lists more current. This will also free me up to create more content. Just to clarify, these updates only apply to PvE (Player vs. Environment) content. I’ll cover PvP (Player vs. Player) and the new Wishlist Rating system separately. Now, here are the tier list changes to reflect the current meta, in no specific order.
Red Hood
Story Rating down from SSS to SS. Boss Rating from SS to S. Combined Rating unchanged.
Red Hood is still a strong character in the story mode, especially because of her powerful B1 buff and ability to quickly defeat groups of enemies, particularly if you manually tap to attack. However, other characters with B3 skills now offer even more damage and are generally better at handling large groups of enemies than Red Hood.
She’s become much less useful for challenging bosses. The Iron element has a lot of strong damage-dealing characters, and she doesn’t deal much damage herself unless the boss has clearly defined weak points.
Important: Red Hare remains a top choice for progressing through the Pilgrim or Over-Spec Tower, particularly for new accounts just starting out with Pilgrim units.
Modernia
Story Rating down from SS to A. Combined Rating down to A. Boss Rating unchanged.
As a gamer, I’ve noticed off-burst DPS just isn’t what it used to be. It feels like the game really rewards focusing all your damage into those big burst windows now. Crown doesn’t help units that aren’t bursting, and honestly, there are so many supports and support pairs that boost the two main DPS characters when they are bursting. It’s gotten to the point where it’s super hard – maybe even impossible – to fit a third DPS who relies on consistent, smaller damage into a team.
Modernia isn’t used much in campaign levels anymore, except when you need a unit that can withstand repeated attacks, like from multiple Glasses raptures or a barrage of Dagger projectiles that can quickly defeat your troops. Because of this decline in usefulness, interest in her story updates has significantly decreased.
Fire isn’t a bad choice against enemies weak to it, but there are now stronger elements available overall. However, she can still be effective if her team is specifically built to maximize her strengths.
Tia
Story Rating down from SS to S. Combined Rating unchanged.
Tia is still a good teammate for Naga, but her long-range taunt often puts her in danger and leads to her being defeated. This happens frequently if you’re not careful with her attacks. Managing both Tia and Naga can be difficult during a campaign, especially when you’re already behind.
Okay, so as a big fan, I just want to say Tia is still amazing in Missilis Tower, even if you don’t have Naga. But honestly? She’s incredible with Naga. Definitely bring her if you can!
Blanc
Story, Boss and Combined Rating down from S to A.
Currently, her and Noir aren’t very strong as a team in PvE battles. Buffing teammates is much more effective than weakening enemies, especially with constantly spawning opponents. While she does offer healing, remember that dealing damage is often the best way to win in Nikke.
While the Damage Taken debuff is strong against bosses, the damage boost it gives to teammates isn’t significant unless those teammates already heavily buff themselves. Additionally, some bosses are immune to debuffs or gain temporary immunity, which further reduces the debuff’s effectiveness.
Important: Even if you don’t have Ade: Agent Bunny (bAde), Blanc remains the strongest second B2 character for Tetra Tower, especially when teamed up with Rouge and Noir.
Alice
Story Rating down from SSS to S. Alice Boss and Combined Rating down from SSS to SS.
Alice remains a strong Nikke, but she requires significant investment – fully leveling her Skill 1 and Burst is essential – to be effective. Her damage output against bosses is less impactful now unless those bosses have both their core and all parts intact. While she generates Burst well during regular gameplay, getting hit even slightly can reset this, putting her at a disadvantage.
Although she can still deal good damage with Fire when played skillfully, her main strength now is supporting Scarlet: Black Shadow – that was true, at least, before Liberalio became available. Even so, she remains a valuable character to invest in, especially since she works well alongside a top-tier Wind damage dealer and shines when fighting enemies with her own elemental advantage. Just be prepared for a lot of tapping!
NOTE: Alice is still one of the strongest units for Tetra Tower.
D: Killer Wife
Story Rating down from S to A. Combined Rating unchanged.
Among the recently added cooldown units, Killer Wife (DKW) is the weakest. Her damage boost for allies is significantly lower than other similar units, and it doesn’t apply to everything in Skill 1. Her main strength is that her cooldown is immediately available if you invest in it properly. While she’s useful in boss fights for providing cooldown reduction, she’s most at risk of being replaced by newer cooldown units.
NOTE: DKW is still Elysion Tower’s best B1 support unit at the current moment.
Scarlet and Trina
Boss and Combined rating up from A to S.
People aren’t recognizing how strong Trina and Scarlet are as Electric damage dealers. They performed exceptionally well in the solo raid against Merciless Judge, and as a result, many players found Jill Valentine, a collaboration unit, to be less useful, especially given her own weaknesses.
These units are strong against enemies weak to Electric attacks, but they require a significant investment of resources and skill to perform well. Because of this, they shouldn’t be prioritized as highly as other Electric damage dealers, especially in PvE content.
Please keep in mind: this score reflects Scarlet and Trina working together. When separated, Scarlet isn’t as strong as expected, and Trina’s significant improvement doesn’t benefit the character she primarily supports.
Maxwell
Story Rating down from S to C. Maxwell Combined Rating down from S to A.
Maxwell now primarily functions as a support unit. While her burst ability works in the main story, it’s too risky to use against enemies that are easily defeated. She also struggles to generate burst points in the story due to a lack of pierce. Although her Skill 1 attack buff is helpful for damage dealers during burst, many newer units offer more impactful support beyond just boosting a single DPS.
Dorothy
Story Rating down from A to B. Dorothy Boss and Combined Rating down from S to A.
Dorothy’s abilities feel very weak and haven’t been updated to keep up with the game. While she starts battles quickly, she can’t benefit much from boosts and struggles, particularly when behind. Her ultimate attack only gets stronger with her attack power, ignoring other important damage types, which limits how effective she can be.
She also hasn’t had a chance to really shine without Privaty, who is rarely used in boss fights anymore because other support characters are more effective. While Water teams still need strong damage dealers, Dorothy’s damage output isn’t high enough to compete with units that consistently deal good neutral damage. Plus, the fact that her primary damage skill doesn’t benefit from many common boosts significantly limits her overall potential.
Privaty: Unkind Maid
Boss Rating down from S to A. Combined Rating unchanged.
Privaty’s recent performance drop is due to two main issues with her unit, Unkind Maid. First, she requires two support units to deal significant damage, and one of them, Leona, isn’t very effective anymore. Second, the other support unit designed to enhance her abilities, Dorothy: Serendipity, works better with standard B2 buffers. These buffers benefit the team more broadly, while Privaty needs a high volume of pellets to maintain her damage output – without it, her damage suffers noticeably.
If the shotgun team needs to focus on dealing electric damage, Arcana and Isabel work much better together than Leona and mPriv. Arcana significantly boosts Isabel’s damage output – and the team’s overall damage to a lesser extent – compared to the buffs Leona gives to mPriv and the team. It’s often more effective to invest resources in building Arcana and Isabel as a duo rather than focusing on leveling up mPriv and Leona.
NOTE: mPriv is still one of the best Elec DPS units for non-boss stages in Elysion Tower.
Harran
The story’s difficulty has been increased, and the boss in Harran is now easier. Overall, the combined difficulty is slightly improved.
This seems like a clear mistake. Harran struggles significantly against bosses because she can’t build up her poison effect. However, she excels in regular stages. She’s very powerful in the early parts of the game, but becomes less effective as the regular stages get harder.
Scarlet: Black Shadow
Boss Rating down from SSS to SS. Story and Combined Rating unchanged.
Black Shadow remains a strong Wind damage dealer, but her damage output isn’t as exceptional in battles where elemental advantages don’t matter, compared to the very best units. If you don’t have those top-tier options, though, she can still be very effective, particularly when paired with the right team and strategy.
Isabel and Arcana
Boss Rating up from S to SS. Combined Rating up from B to A.
Isabel can deal massive damage against enemies weak to electricity, especially when combined with the Arcana character. Arcana’s buffs are currently the strongest in the game, and they significantly boost Isabel, who was previously considered average. Since Arcana’s arrival, Isabel hasn’t needed Tove’s support to be a strong electric damage dealer. In fact, their combination is powerful enough to be considered one of the best teams available right now.
Okay, so I’ve been testing out different damage dealer (DPS) combos, and this one really stands out. Unlike some others that need a super-powered support character to shine, this duo doesn’t require as much grinding to get going, which is awesome. It’s a great pick for those Electric-weak raids, especially if you’ve got Tove on your team! Basically, Isabel doesn’t need a ton of skill upgrades – just focus on her Operator Levels (OLs). Arcana, though, does need all the skill books you can get her. It’s the opposite for Scarlet – she needs those OLs, and both her and Trina benefit a lot from skill investment.
Important note: This rating applies to Scarlet and Trina as a pair. They rely on each other and aren’t effective when working separately.
Soda: Twinkling Bunny
Boss Rating down from SS to S. Combined Rating down from S to A.
Since the release of sDoro, bSoda (Twinkling Bunny) isn’t the top choice for dealing damage with Tove and ‘shotgun’ teams anymore. Players have also noticed that bSoda’s extended burst duration can actually lower her overall damage output against bosses, as it leads to fewer bursts and awkward timing. Even with good burst generation, her cooldown doesn’t quite align, and she simply can’t match sDoro’s damage, especially when it affects the team’s overall burst potential.
Ein
Story, Boss and Combined Rating up from S to SS.
Ein has become a valuable Nikke with the addition of more support characters, including those focused on both true damage and attack damage. Her consistent true damage output is particularly helpful in campaign mode, especially when you’re falling behind. She’s a key asset for progressing through the campaign, as her true damage significantly simplifies content and boss battles around chapter 30, where many enemies are weak to Electric damage.
NOTE: Ein is also one of the best Missilis Tower DPS units, in both regular stages AND boss stages.
Asuka
Story Rating down from SS to S. Combined Rating unchanged.
Asuka isn’t the best choice for the story mode anymore. While she can pierce defenses and boost her own stats, her ability to quickly defeat large groups of enemies is only decent compared to other, consistently available characters who perform better in campaign.
Grave
Story Rating down from SS to S. Grave Combined Rating unchanged.
Okay, so Grave is still a really solid choice if you need a damage buff for solo content. But honestly, this new unit, bAde, is a game changer. Not only is bAde way easier to get, but they’re just better in more teams. They give a bigger damage boost and a general magic attack buff that anyone can use, which is way more useful than just a stronger pierce buff. I think bAde is going to be in a lot more of my setups from now on.
Although Grave deals slightly more damage on his own than bAde, this difference isn’t big enough to matter in most missions. bAde’s ability to boost more teammates is usually more helpful, and a skilled player can make bAde generate almost as much burst damage for the team as Grave.
Helm (Treasure)
Story Rating and Combined Rating up from SS to SSS.
It’s about time we addressed this. Players should prioritize getting Helm and fully upgrading her Treasure as quickly as possible. I meant to update the rankings sooner, but I didn’t have the ability to at the time, and it slipped my mind until now.
Miranda (Treasure)
Boss Rating up from S to SS. Combined Rating up from A to S.
Okay, so Miranda’s really become a key player in my team comps lately. It’s because there are more characters now who can really benefit from her boost to critical hit rate – some of them can even guarantee crits for a full ten seconds, which is insane! Yeah, she doesn’t have a cooldown reduction ability herself, but the sheer power she gives to one character makes it totally worth bringing another character who does have cooldown reduction to keep her skill up. She’s a game changer!
I’m planning to write an article about this topic soon, as it’s been discussed a lot lately. It first gained attention with Mihara: Bonding Chain, but really took off with the recent release of Nayuta.
Diesel (Treasure)
Story Rating up from D to C. Combined Rating is unchanged.
Even without a lot of resources, Diesel remains a top-tier tank for campaign mode, especially when her Burst ability is active, making her incredibly difficult to defeat. However, activating Burst means you can’t benefit from significant damage boosts from B2 buffers. While she’s a viable option, consider Diesel only as a last resort.
Bready
Story Rating up from B to S. Combined Rating up from A to S.
Bready’s ability to spread damage is really effective in campaign mode for quickly eliminating waves of enemies, particularly when you’re behind. If you use it with the Romantic Maid and Innocent Maid assists, you can easily clear most maps because every attack will wipe the screen of enemies.
She deals strong damage to bosses in both modes and can even reduce the damage the team takes with her Sustained Damage mode. However, the best way to enhance her Sustained Damage relies on a character that isn’t always available.
NOTE: If used alongside Crust in Tetra Tower, she is one of its best units for normal maps.
Crust
Story and Combined Rating down from A to B.
Crust is generally only useful in specific situations, primarily to pair with the unit Bready. Although she provides a very powerful damage boost to multiple enemies, she doesn’t offer much else to most teams. Her attack buff is just okay, and while her ability to remove harmful effects is good, it’s still only helpful in certain scenarios.
NOTE: If used alongside Bready in Tetra Tower, the two have wonderful wave clear in normal maps.
EVE
Boss Rating up from S to SS. Combined Rating unchanged.
Eve is a surprisingly strong damage dealer, especially against enemies weak to Iron. Her ability to weaken these enemies makes her a great asset in those battles. Unlike Raven, though, she requires a carefully built team to really shine.
Emma: Tactical Upgrade
Story and Combined Rating up from B to S.
If you have both Emma: Tactical Upgrade (tEmma) and Eunhwa: Tactical Upgrade (tEunhwa) on your team, they combine to create Vesti: Tactical Upgrade (tVesti). Vesti is a very powerful unit, especially when your team is behind, and provides excellent wave clear. The combined True Damage from tEunhwa and tVesti will quickly defeat enemies.
Important: This assessment only applies when Eunhwa is on the same team. Otherwise, Emma’s weaknesses significantly hinder her performance.
Vesti: Tactical Upgrade
Story Rating up from SS to SSS. Combined Rating up from S to SS.
I initially asked someone else to update this a while back when I was swamped, but I’m noting it now myself. I did overestimate her damage against bosses in my guide – I fixed the rating, but never the guide itself. However, her damage against regular enemies is exceptional – she’s one of the best in the game at that.
This character will likely remain a strong choice for a long time. She quickly eliminates standard enemies, even when behind in the game, thanks to her ability to clear waves and deal significant area-of-effect true damage. While another character, tVesti, is already very effective on her own and doesn’t need help, combining tVesti with tEmma and tEunhwa can allow tVesti to start dealing more damage earlier, specifically before her ultimate ability activates.
Delta: Ninja Thief
Story Rating down from B to C. Boss Rating down from S to A. Combined Rating down from A to B.
I thought she’d be okay in boss fights even without the Crown, but wow, I was way off! I really didn’t understand her limits back then. She can work without it, but honestly, the way she, the Crown, and Little Mermaid work together is what makes her truly shine in those tough battles. It’s by far her best setup.
I didn’t realize how fragile she’d be during the main part of the game. Her shield, while usable often, isn’t large enough to be effective unless you significantly upgrade it. If she’s already at a disadvantage, she’ll be defeated too quickly for the shield to help, especially without a way to reduce the damage she receives.
Rumani
Story and Combined Rating down from B to C.
Rumani excels at quickly generating burst damage, but that’s her main strength in campaign mode. Many basic B1 units can actually outperform her overall, because she doesn’t offer enough other benefits to the team to justify using her beyond that initial burst.
What now?
Okay, so I’ve gone through and updated the tier list with all the big changes I’ve noticed. I’ll keep tweaking it here and there as I spot smaller adjustments, but I won’t announce those. This detailed breakdown only happens when there’s a really significant update to the list, you know, a major overhaul. Basically, I’ll keep it current without bombarding you with little updates!
I’ll be sharing the Wishlist Tier List soon, and then I’ll work on writing the descriptions that appear when you hover over each Nikke’s icon on the site.
I’m going to make writing articles about new Nikkes much smoother by focusing on information released before they officially launch. I used to try and write everything all at once, but that was a mistake. Now, I’ll start by noting down each Nikke’s known abilities and characteristics as soon as they’re announced, making the full article much easier to write later.
Hopefully, this will allow me to start writing about other things again, as I’m significantly behind on those topics.
Thanks for taking the time to read my explanation. I hope it made sense and you have a great day!
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