Neverness to Everness is now deep into Version 1.0 Phase 2, and the roster has settled into a clearer pecking order following Hotori's addition. The strongest characters lean on team utility, reaction enablers, and damage scaling that survives the jump into Beyond the Rails and High Risk Commission, the two endgame modes that decide how much a character's kit actually matters.
Full Neverness to Everness tier list
Placements are weighted toward endgame performance with a fully built console, signature Arc, and max skills. Open-world content is not a meaningful filter since almost every Esper clears it without trouble.
| Tier | Characters |
|---|---|
| S+ | Sakiri, Nanally, Chiz, Hotori |
| S | Baicang, Haniel, Jiuyuan, Esper Zero |
| A | Hathor, Daffodill |
| B | Aurelia, Fadia, Mint, Adler |
| C | Skia, Edgar |
| TBD | Lacrimosa |
Tier definitions are simple. S+ characters are meta-defining and either irreplaceable or extremely hard to substitute. S-tier units are excellent alternatives that anchor most teams. A-tier characters work in specific compositions but have notable limitations. B and C-tier characters underperform compared to the rest of the roster in current endgame content.
S+ tier breakdown
Sakiri is the most valuable buffer in the game. Her ultimate grants a team-wide attack buff equal to 30% of her base attack for 20 seconds, and her skill, Devour Whole, either knocks enemies down on tap or levitates them on hold. That combination of grouping plus a hard offensive multiplier means she slots into nearly every team, especially Anima reaction setups, where she enables Hex.
Nanally is the strongest pure DPS at launch. Her Underboss summon adds follow-up hits to her normal rotation, and the small pull effect helps her stick to mobile bosses. She scales hard with attack buffs, which is exactly what Sakiri and Haniel provide, and she handles both single-target and AoE without changing teams.
Chiz is the free unit you receive at full awakening through story progression, which is unusual for a gacha launch. Her Grain mechanic generates stacks from basic attacks and skills, and her ultimate enters a Grain Market state where timing skills at price peaks produces her biggest hits. She is mechanically the most demanding character in the roster, but she also reduces enemy Cosmos resistance, which gives her a clear role even past the early game. With three or more dupes, the Grain RNG smooths out considerably.
Hotori joined the S+ tier with the most recent update. She functions as a sub-DPS who copies an ally's skill while generating extra resources for that teammate, and a large portion of her personal damage lands during a time-stop window. She raises reaction uptime and trims clear times in essentially every endgame fight, which is why she went straight to the top of the list.
S tier breakdown
Baicang is the current king of damage over time. His kit lets you layer stacks before detonating them, and his execute mechanic accelerates boss kills. He fits naturally into Scorch teams and handles high-mobility bosses better than most, since his DoTs continue ticking even when the target jumps away.
Haniel is the best free-to-play support after the standard banner. She layers attack and crit damage buffs onto her team, enables Stain for Lakshana DPS, and pairs cleanly with Nova compositions. Her ceiling is highest when running alongside Daffodill, but she contributes solid value in nearly every team.
Jiuyuan is a low-field-time sub-DPS with the best AoE gather tool in the game. She regenerates her own energy, pairs strongly with Nanally and Baicang, and even gains healing with one dupe. Charge teams built around her with a Lakshana DPS are a reliable core composition.
Esper Zero is the only character with an instant Esper cycle mechanic, which makes them a permanent fixture in Anima and Lakshana reaction teams. They are not a primary damage dealer, but their cycle utility is irreplaceable for now, and a healing Arc option turns them into a flexible Charge-team enabler.
A tier breakdown
Hathor has the highest A-rank ceiling in the game, but her optimal playstyle leans on her charged skill, which takes time to set up. She works best as a burst sub-DPS in Nova teams and pairs cleanly with Daffodill thanks to her 10% crit rate buff.
Daffodill is the only Chaos character with access to both Nova and Scorch, which gives her a guaranteed slot in those compositions and strong Discord synergy. She needs one dupe (A5) to fully come online as a top break-focused DPS, which is why she sits here rather than in S+.
B tier breakdown
Aurelia has a high damage ceiling and reduces team Psyche damage thresholds at max awakening, but she struggles against aggressive boss patterns and gets outclassed by Hathor in Nova teams.
Fadia uses a damage-sharing mechanic that sounds strong on paper but is awkward in practice, since the optimal play is to avoid being hit at all. Her post-ultimate enhanced state does push her ahead of pure sustain options in damage.
Mint is reliable for early progression with low cooldowns on her parry and healing tools, but her scaling drops off in endgame content. She does not require heavy investment to function, which keeps her usable on younger accounts.
Adler provides team-wide shielding with about 75% uptime and is currently the only source of break-efficiency and Esper resistance debuffs. He fits the Scorch break archetype well when paired with The Great Thief.
C tier breakdown
Skia has a workable damage profile, but his ultimate hits a small AoE around his position, which clashes with how mobile and erratic most bosses are. Until enemy behavior or his kit changes, his real output trails his theoretical numbers.
Edgar is a pure healer in a meta where shields, buffs, and damage matter more than raw HP recovery. He also interferes with the Charge reaction that many teams build around, which limits his use cases further.
TBD
Lacrimosa has not yet locked into a confirmed placement. She is on the community watchlist alongside future banners, and her position will firm up once optimal builds and team setups are tested at scale.
Who to build first
Resource bottlenecks from Character Pixels mean you cannot realistically build everyone. The most efficient early investments are one main DPS, one buffer, and one cycle enabler. Nanally or Chiz cover DPS, Sakiri or Haniel cover buffing, and Esper Zero or Jiuyuan cover the enabler slot.
For free-to-play accounts, Chiz, Haniel, and Esper Zero are the highest-value targets because all three are accessible without limited banner pulls. If you have a free S-class selector available, Sakiri is the safest pick when you do not already own her, since her grouping and attack buff scale with every DPS you might pull later. Jiuyuan, Daffodill, and Baicang are the next-best selector choices depending on which DPS anchors your team.
Expect movement on this list as Version 1.1 approaches and new Esper banners arrive. Hotori's promotion to S+ already shifted Phase 2's meta, and Lacrimosa's eventual placement, plus any balance passes on characters like Skia or Edgar, could reshape the lower tiers further.