Neverness to Everness leans on a tag-team combo system, so the strongest roster is the one that chains Esper Cycles cleanly while one or two main damage dealers carry the kill. The current standouts are the newest S-Class releases, with Lacrimosa and Hotori sitting at the top thanks to high damage ceilings and team-wide utility. Below is the full ranking for Version 1.1 as of June 2026, plus what each unit's Esper and role mean for your team.
Neverness to Everness tier list (June 2026)
Rankings reflect each character at base Awakening and how well they hold up in endgame content like Beyond the Rails. Free units can still clear hard content with the right teammates and a good Arc weapon, so tier placement is about ceiling and ease of use, not whether you can win.
| Tier | Characters |
|---|---|
| S | Lacrimosa, Hotori, Nanally, Sakiri |
| A | Baicang, Chiz, Daffodil, Esper Zero, Hathor, Jiuyuan |
| B | Adler, Fadia, Haniel, Mint |
| C | Aurelia, Edgar, Skia |
S-Tier characters and why they lead
Lacrimosa is a Main DPS built around stacking Damage over Time. She refreshes those DoT effects to keep damage flowing, can copy enemy combat techniques to adjust her kit, and freely swaps between melee and ranged modes. She wants Incantation and Psyche teammates to set up the Discord Esper Cycle for extra damage and Break.
Hotori is a Cosmos burst specialist. Her Skill records the Skills and Esper Cycles your team uses, and her Ultimate recasts them while stopping time for enemies, letting her drop a large burst on frozen targets. Stay on Hotori during the Ultimate and fire two other characters' Skills within five seconds of her own to maximize output. The time stop also works in the overworld, which helps in modes like Beyond the Rails.
Nanally is the most consistent single-target damage dealer in the game and the easiest top unit to pilot. Her loop is simple. Cast her Skill for the Crit Damage buff, hit her Ultimate to summon the Underboss for follow-up attacks, then spam basic attacks. As the first limited S-Class on the Ichi-daime banner, she remains a high-priority pull even without her signature Arc weapon.
Sakiri is the standout support. Her Ultimate buffs the whole team's ATK, and her crowd control pulls enemies together for stronger AoE clears. She shines in Scorch teams, where a Chaos partner grants +25% DoT damage per Scorch state. Because she is part of the standard S-Class pool, she is a strong pick from the free S-Class Selector.
Character reference: Esper, role, and Arc
Team building hinges on matching Esper types to trigger Cycles. Use this to plan synergies before you spend resources.
| Character | Esper | Role | Arc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lacrimosa | Chaos | Damage (DoT) | Liquid |
| Hotori | Cosmos | Buff / Burst DPS | Solid |
| Nanally | Anima | Damage | Plasma |
| Sakiri | Incantation | Buff | Gas |
| Esper Zero | Cosmos | Damage | Solid |
| Haniel | Psyche | Buff | Solid |
| Fadia | Psyche | Survival | Synthesis |
| Baicang | Incantation | Damage | Synthesis |
| Chiz | Cosmos | Damage | Gas |
| Daffodil | Chaos | Damage | Liquid |
| Jiuyuan | Anima | Damage | Solid |
| Hathor | Lakshana | Damage | Plasma |
| Adler | Incantation | Survival | Synthesis |
| Mint | Anima | Damage | Liquid |
| Skia | Lakshana | Damage | Gas |
| Aurelia | Psyche | Damage | Plasma |
| Edgar | Cosmos | Survival | Liquid |
A-Tier characters
These units are strong picks that fall just short of the top. Esper Zero, the protagonist, earns a high spot because their Skill has a 100 Cycle Rate that fires an Esper Cycle instantly, and a 16-second cooldown keeps it online often. Zero also Awakens to max through the main story and grants a team attack buff, making them reliable for free-to-play players.
Daffodil is a burst sub-DPS that excels at lowering the Break bar in Nova, Scorch, and Discord teams. Baicang and Chiz both hit hard but carry complex kits. Baicang switches his Ultimate based on the Power Word applied, and Chiz builds Grain stacks and times Skills during her Grain Market Ultimate. Chiz is fully free through City Tycoon progression, which makes the learning curve worth it. Hathor and Jiuyuan round out the tier as flexible burst attackers that thrive in Remora and Blossom teams.
B and C tier characters
Haniel is a textbook strong A-Class buffer who hands out team-wide ATK and comes with free Awakening copies. Fadia is the closest thing to a tank, redirecting ally damage to herself and staying alive until the rest of the team falls, which is ideal for players who miss dodges. Adler offers a one-button team shield but does not scale off attack, so attack buffers cannot improve him. Mint is a serviceable free DPS that gets outpaced once a limited damage dealer arrives.
The bottom of the list is where investment stops paying off. Skia is currently the weakest DPS, useful mainly for free stamina-saving wall traversal. Aurelia needs heavy field time to deal modest damage and cannot fill a sub-DPS slot. Edgar is the only dedicated healer, but his stationary healing zone struggles against mobile bosses, and a shielder usually does more for the same slot.
Rankings shift as new units arrive, and the newest S-Class characters have consistently topped the damage charts on release. For now, Lacrimosa and Nanally anchor most damage cores, Hotori adds time-stop burst, and Sakiri provides the buffs and crowd control that tie a team together. Build around those four and almost any current content becomes manageable.