Equipment is the fastest way to turn a solid unit into a run-winner in Anime Expeditions. Every piece rolls a stat bonus that touches damage, range, attack speed (SPA), crit chance, crit damage, physical damage, or magical damage. Because the game leans hard into DPS, a small handful of pieces pull far ahead of the rest, and knowing which ones to chase saves you from wasting upgrade materials on filler.
Quick answer: The three best standard pieces are the Shinigami Sword, Cursed Finger, and Bamboo Bottle, because each stacks a game-changing passive on top of its rolled stats. Everything else is a stat stick, ranked by how many useful stats it gives.
Full standard equipment tier list
This ranking covers the 17 pieces of standard equipment that any unit can wear. It reflects the current July 2026 release version. Placements weigh the passive effect first, then the number and value of rolled stats, then how flexible the piece is across damage types.
| Tier | Equipment |
|---|---|
| S | Shinigami Sword, Cursed Finger, Bamboo Bottle |
| A | Enhanced Katana, Dragon Hilt, Kunai, Katana, Warrior’s Axe, Staff of Chaos, Elf Suitcase, Soul Splitter, Raid Cape |
| B | Magic Orb, Magic Book, Three Swords From Hell |
| C | Accursed Equipment, Pirate’s Slingshot |
There is no D-tier here. Any equipped piece is better than an empty slot, so even the weakest gear is worth slotting while you hunt an upgrade.
Why the S-tier relics win: the passives
The gap between S and A comes down to one thing. The top three pieces add a passive effect that no other standard gear provides, and those passives scale with how you play rather than sitting as a flat number.
| Equipment | Stats | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Shinigami Sword | +1% to +5% Damage, +1% to +10% Crit Chance | Raises own damage by 0.5% to 1% per enemy in range (caps at 15%) |
| Cursed Finger | +1% to +10% Damage, +1% to +5% Crit Chance | Raises Bleed DoT by 2% to 5% per Bleed stack on an enemy (caps at 20%) |
| Bamboo Bottle | +1% to +10% Range | Each active ability use cuts that unit’s ability cooldown by 1% to 2% (caps at 10%) |
The Shinigami Sword is the default pick for most carries. Place a unit at a choke point where waves stack up and the per-enemy passive climbs to its 15% cap, giving you extra damage exactly when the screen is busiest. Its crit chance roll also feeds crit-based units.
The Cursed Finger is niche but powerful. It only earns its S-tier slot on units that already apply Bleed, since the passive amplifies Bleed damage-over-time as stacks build. On a Bleed carry it outperforms every generic damage piece. On anything else, it is a plain damage stat stick.
The Bamboo Bottle is the odd one out, trading raw damage for range and steady cooldown reduction. It shines on units whose active ability is the core of their kit, letting you fire that ability more often over a long stage.
Match A-tier gear to your unit’s damage type
A-tier pieces skip passives but hand you two solid stats. Their value depends entirely on pairing them with the right unit. Check whether your carry deals physical or magical damage, or scales off crits, then pick the piece that doubles down on that strength.
| Equipment | Stats | Best on |
|---|---|---|
| Enhanced Katana | +1% to +10% Crit Chance, +1% to +5% Crit Damage | Crit-scaling carries |
| Dragon Hilt | +1% to +10% Crit Damage, +1% to +5% Crit Chance | Crit-scaling carries |
| Kunai | +1% to +10% Damage, -1% to -5% SPA | Any attacker wanting faster hits |
| Katana | +1% to +5% Damage, +1% to +10% Physical Damage | Physical DPS |
| Warrior’s Axe | -1% to -5% SPA, +1% to +10% Physical Damage | Heavy physical hitters |
| Soul Splitter | +1% to +5% Range, +1% to +10% Physical Damage | Physical units needing reach |
| Staff of Chaos | -1% to -5% SPA, +1% to +10% Magical Damage | Magic DPS |
| Elf Suitcase | +1% to +5% Range, +1% to +10% Magical Damage | Magic units needing reach |
| Raid Cape | +1% to +5% Range, +1% to +10% Damage | Flexible general damage |
Note: SPA (seconds per attack) is a penalty stat, so a lower number means faster attacks. Kunai and Warrior’s Axe both cut SPA, which often adds more total output than a small flat damage bump on units that already hit hard per shot.
B and C tier: single-stat fillers
The lower tiers drop off because they roll one meaningful stat or spread their value too thin. They work as early placeholders, but replace them once a dual-stat A-tier or a passive S-tier piece drops.
| Equipment | Stats | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Magic Orb | +1% to +10% Range, +1% to +5% Damage | B |
| Magic Book | +5% to +20% Magical Damage | B |
| Three Swords From Hell | +5% to +15% Damage | B |
| Accursed Equipment | -1% to -10% SPA | C |
| Pirate’s Slingshot | +5% to +15% Range | C |
Magic Book has a high magical-damage ceiling, so it can spike a pure magic carry, but it gives nothing else. Accursed Equipment offers a strong SPA cut for debuffers who want to reapply slows or stuns quickly, yet the single stat keeps it out of the higher tiers for general DPS builds.
How this ranking was decided
Pieces were judged on three things in order: whether they carry a passive effect, how many useful stats they roll, and how high those stat ranges climb. Gear that adds a scaling passive sits at the top because those effects change how a unit performs rather than just padding a number. Dual-stat pieces sit above single-stat ones because they let you cover two needs in one slot.
One important caveat sits above this whole list. Unit-specific equipment, which is Secret rarity and locked to a single character, takes precedence over any standard piece when it is available. Each of those items enhances a unit’s own passive, so if your carry has a signature relic, build around it and use standard gear to fill the remaining slots. Keep standard equipment as the backbone for units that lack a signature piece and as filler while you push Story maps for stronger drops.
