Etheria: Restart Tier List

Categories

Here are the categories we're rating the characters in:

• Generic PVE - how the character helps with progressing and clearing PVE modes, including those that don't have their own tier list (Grim Pursuit, Ember Trek, EtherNet Rally),
• Threshold (Aurora, DokiDoki, Terrormaton) - how the characters performs against the three module farming bosses - each boss requires a different approach and also punishes some elements, so you can't use the same team against all three,
• Union Boss + Phantom Theatre - how the characters perform in both modes against the 5 bosses you fight there (5 per mode).
• PVP - PVP is an important part of Etheria: Restart and this ratings shows how they perform in both AI and RTA PVP.

Criteria

• Characters are rated at level 50,
• Characters are rated with their skills upgraded to level 5,
• But we have marked characters that heavily rely on their Skill Ups to reach their full potential,
• Characters are rated as if they are equipped with optimal Modules - that includes the correct sets and stats,
• Characters are rated as if they are equipped with their Best in Slot Shell,
• Characters are rated based on auto play (because let's not kid ourselves, nobody will farm bosses daily on manual in the long run),
• For characters that rely on specific teams or teammates, we're assuming you're using them with them (it's not a solo ranking),
• For the three Threshold bosses, we're rating the characters based on their Inferno performance (so the highest difficulty) - you can bruteforce most lower difficulties, but Inferno requires better planning and investment.

Roles

• DPS - Units that focus on dealing damage first, but they also may help the team (or hinder the enemy) in some other ways.
• Debuff - Units that debuff enemies and disrupt enemies battle flow manipulation via Turn Meter/Speed decrease or Crowd Debuff. They usually can also still do damage, but their primary role is to hinder enemies.
• Support - Units that focus on providing buffs to allies.
• Sustain - Units that focus on keeping the team alive via Healing, Shielding or being a tank.

Tags

Tags represent the most defining features of a character's kit.

• Hybrid (X) - This character can fulfill multiple roles in the team and you can find the additional role in the brackets (that's on top of the default role decided by the placement in one of the columns).
• Advance - This character can advance their team by manipulating Turn Meter.
• Buff - This character can buff their allies by improving their stats or damage.
• CC - This character can stun or hinder enemies in another way, preventing them from taking action (Stun, Sleep, Frozen etc.).
• Cleanse - This character can cleanse debuffs from allies.
• Cooldown - This character can reduce the cooldown of their allies skills.
• Debuff - This character can debuff enemies by reducing their stats or damage.
• Delay - This character can reduce enemy's Turn Meter or reduce their Speed.
• Dispel - This character can dispel buffs from enemies - either by removing, stealing or converting them to debuffs.
• Speed - This character can buff their team's Speed.
• Sustain - This character can heal or shield allies or provide leach to them - though if the character is placed in Sustain category, the tag isn't applied to them as they do it by default.
• Fragile - This character needs protection from allies to be effective.
• Niche - This character excels only in specific situations, making them less effective in others.
• Lattice Hungry - This character requires their skills upgraded to perform at their full potential. If you don't give them what they want, they will perform at a tier below than they are rated.
• Windup - This character needs time to build up effectiveness.
• Counter - This character can do counterattacks.
• DoT - This character can deal Damage over Time (DoT, Bleed, etc).
• Follow-Up - This character can follow up on attacks, or make others follow up on attacks.
• Revive - This character can revive allies.
• Taunt - This character can Taunt enemies, focusing their attention on themselves.

Ratings explained

• T0 - Characters who almost always represent the strongest option within their teams/role.
• These characters are highly versatile and can be seamlessly integrated into various team compositions. They consistently outperform their alternatives within their respective roles.
• These characters significantly impact their teams’ performance by contributing an incredible amount of value - either as potent damage dealers or through powerful utility built into their kits.
• T0.5 - Characters not strong enough to be T0, but notably stronger than the average T1.
• While we tried to be as explicit as possible in our rating methodology, there will inevitably be characters that toe the line regardless how we go about it. In the interest of capturing this, this half-tier exists as an in-between.
• Certain characters excel in their niche, but may have a significant amount of their “value” tied to enabling some other (T0) character. These characters are undeniably important, especially given that this is a team game with heavy focus around character synergy, but to best reflect this relationship, they have been added to T0.5 tier.
• T1 - Characters that excel in their role or in a frequently occurring niche.
• These characters excel at what they do and are regularly called upon to fill that niche. These characters are staples to the roster and see frequent use across various game modes.
• T2 - Characters that excel in an uncommon, but important niche.
• These can be highly specialized or highly situational characters who, owing to some external factor, only see limited play.
• T3 & T4 - Characters playable if you like them.
• These characters struggle to make a noticeable impact or have big competition in their niches.
• T5 - Weak characters or those that can't be played at all.
• In this tier we're placing characters that don't offer anything worthwhile or characters that simply can't be used in that content due to for example elemental disadvantage (Inferno difficulty has additional 200% damage increase against the weak element, so they are simply one-shot by the boss).

15.06.2025

After our initial testing of both Hoyan and Holden we’re adding both to all current tier lists.

• 
  Hoyan
• In PvE Hoyan has her uses in longer game modes where her or her teammates deaths can be controlled, allowing her to exploit her stackable passive. With that said, she still often equals or falls short of similar options already available, while also being more challenging and risky to make work. In PVE Hoyan’s main benefit is her ability to frequently defy death despite building full glass cannon and ramp up her damage output in longer fights.
• In PVP Hoyan can be incredibly threatening when correctly drafted or built around. As long as you’re able to kill, disable or dodge her hard counters (Massiah, Borgne, Heinrich for example), Hoyan is quite the challenge to take out for opponents without also losing one or multiple of their party members in the process. Under the right circumstances she’s incredible, but cannot be picked or played in every situation due to her reliance on her passive.
• 
  Holden
• In PVE Holden has a place as a top tier debuff-focused unit, thanks to his enemy buff removal, RES Shred, DEF Shred, ATK% Down and Delay, but he can also hold his own as a tanky DPS option in fights where kill speed isn’t a priority. Where there is demand for his debuff capabilities, Holden is top tier and for Holden players willing to invest into his modules, shell and prowess he is also a service damage dealer as well.
• Everything that makes Holden strong in PVE also makes him a menace in PVP with the added benefit of his personal damage being a lot more relevant. A tanky Bulwark Holden serves as interruption to enemy team plans (able to counterattack them constantly), a counter to enemies own immunity (S3 buff removal) all while also sporting great damage and control elements of his own thanks to his S2. He has the full package.

On top of adding those two, we have updated all tier lists again to take into account the meta shifts and what people use in the various modes (in Hell and Inferno difficulty). For the PVP ratings, we also talked with one of the top RTA players to get their feedback and make the ratings more accurate in the category.

List of changes:

• Generic PVE:
• 
  Diting T0.5 T0. Outside of Massiah, Diting is the most universal DPS. You can use him anywhere where you need single target damage specialist and due to his element, you don't have to worry about him being at disadvantage.
• 
  Sania &
  
  Valerian T0.5 T0. Both of them and Lingluo are the most universal healers you can use. Each shines in different scenarios and has their strenghts (Lingluo = great cleanse and immunity; Sania = highest raw healing output in the game and revive; Valerian = cheat death, buffs and shields) so having them at different tiers didn't make sense. That's why all of them sit now in T0.
• 
  Sania [Vengeful Thorn] T1 T0.5. The news about Shadow Sania demise were greatly exaggerated. Yes, Aurora is now immune to DoT, but other bosses aren't. Inferno Shell bosses are stronger than they were in the final beta and outside of Sharon, the DoT team is the best to tackle them. On top of that, she can be also used in Ember Trek and other recurring modes where bosses aren't DoT immune.
• 
  Sybil T5 T3. Sybil is one of the best single-target Revelation abusers who can outdamage other characters under right circumstances. Expect more information about Revelation to be revealed soon - and how to use it to your advantage to clear content easier.
• 
  Rosa T0 T0.5. Rosa is still insanely strong DPS, but she's not as universal as Massiah and Diting - their element just allows you to use them to be used everywhere. So don't worry, Rosa didn't become weaker - she's just not as universal as them (the elemental penalty in this game is just too rough).
• 
  Tiamat T0.5 T1. Tiamat nerfs on her release sadly impacted her more than we anticipated - her damage was already lower than other DPS, but she made it up with her utility and this was slashed a bit on release. She's still working, but she's slower than others and requires more investment.
• 
  Lian T1 T2. Lian combines decent damage and utility, but her S2 being so random as it is, creates a lot of issues for her - especially when you need to kill a target fast and the fireballs just go anywhere but where you need them to go.
• 
  Victor T2 T3. Similar case to Tiamat - the nerfs on the release hit him harder than we thought, so we're dropping him.
• Aurora:
• 
  Diting T0.5 T0. Best single target DPS in the game - that should be enough to justify his placement in T0 for Aurora. You can either use him in one-shot teams or build slower ones - he works well in both.
• 
  Xiada T1 T0.5. Despite being an AoE-focused character, her damage output in single target is still really good - since she can abuse Revelation really well, and it adds quite a lot damage, making her one of the better choices for Aurora too.
• 
  Sybil T5 T1. She's single-target multi hit specialist who can abuse Revelation to deal a lot of burst damage, making her way stronger than we anticipated. Guess the HP increase to bosses actually helped some niche characters.
• 
  Viper T0.5 T1. With the release of Holden, who fills the same role and offers more than Viper, we have dropped him down half a tier.
• 
  Yang T2 T0.5. Yang offers a nice combination of great buffs, turn meter push and dispel - everything you want on Aurora.
• DokiDoki:
• 
  Xiada T0.5 T0. With the increase to enemies HP, Revelation became even better - in Inferno, Xiada can actually outperform Rilmocha if you use it. Because of that, we're raising her to T0 as she's the best alternative to Ril.
• 
  Rosa T1 T0.5. Another Revelation abuser that became better with the release changes to the monster HP.
• 
  Tiamat T0.5 T1. Sadly, while others performance increased, the opposite happened to Tiamat. She still works well as a hybrid DPS/Sustain, but she's a lot slower than other damage dealers.
• 
  Sania [Vengeful Thorn] T1 T2. We tried to make Shadow Sania work in DokiDoki, but with the nerfs to Obol (his AoE DoT application got reduced by a lot), Sania lacks a good AoE partner to DoT enemies, so she can explode them. Still, once an AoE DoT character is released, we expect her to go up in the tier list again.
• 
  Heinrich
  
  Kraken
  
  Lilith
  
  Marvell T0.5 T1. Everyone here lost a bit value as a debuffer/CC after Mio's release, since she can not only provide CC, but also pushback enemies back AND buff the team at the same time.
• 
  Sania &
  
  Valerian T0.5 T0. Once you hit Inferno, you will need shields to protect the team - healers are punished there by the HP lock effect added to enemies. This puts Valerian as a must use sustain there. As for Sania - before Inferno her and Lingluo just make your team safe, so we decided to put them all in T0.
• Terrormaton:
• 
  Khloros T0.5 T0. If you don't abuse Shadow Sania against the boss, Khloros paired with Diting is your best alternative - the pair is just too good together and can kill the annoying bost super fast, both on auto and manual.
• 
  Lian T0.5 T1. Terrormaton requires you to kill the left head ASAP - and due to Lian's randomness in her S2 skill, most of the fireballs can hit other targets, which will lead to wipe.
• 
  Heinrich T0 T0.5. Holden release reduced Heinrich's value a bit against Terrormaton - he can not only replace him in the DoT team where he can provide RES- debuff and ATK- debuff, but also in the Diting team when you need a dispeller. Holden makes the runs safer due to his ATK- debuff and with the RES- debuff, your other debuffers will have an easier time landing their debuffs.
• 
  Gray T0.5 T1. Gray still can be used up to Hell with ease, but in Inferno it's simply too hard to fit him in the team as now you need a dispeller. Because of that we're dropping him slightly.
• Union Boss + Phantom Theater:
• 
  Mia T1 T0.5. Mia provides some healing and great utility - dispels and buff extension. This makes her a great pick against certain bosses you face in this mode.
• 
  Valerian T1 T0.5. Well, it's the raise of Valerian patch notes. Her ability to buff the team, shield them and prevent them from dying is simply too good in some encounters.
• PVP:
• 
  Borgne T0.5 T0. Borgne is a menace in PVP. Not only he's the hardest DPS to kill due to his massive HP pool and constant self-healing, but he also provides a source of dispel, making him a great counterpick.
• 
  Rin [The Unbowed] T1 T0.5. Rin is super fast and has a lot of AoE damage - which makes her great at cleaving. She can also inflict SPD-, messing up with enemy tuning.
• 
  Kazuyo [The Reverie] T3 T0. Yeah, that's a big jump and there's a few reasons for it. Slumber is basically CC, preventing enemies from moving and on top of that she can inflict ATK- on them - AND the sleeping target will take more damage. She's used as a good opener because of that, but also since she's multi-hit, you can abuse the Revelation shell on her and turn her into a DPS that deals insane damage.
• 
  Valerian T0.5 T0. Valerian's cheat death messes with cleaving and Rilmocha, but her ability to buff a character before they move makes her just insane at cleaving - currently nobody can do what she does so she deserves to sit in T0.
• 
  Helkid &
  
  Tiamat T0 T0.5. Speed and cleave are still king in the current meta and Bruisers aren't having a good time - sure, Bulwark is now farmable, but Revelation is a big issue and hit to their performance. So for now we're dropping them from T0 and will observe how the meta shifts.
• 
  Rilmocha T0.5 T1. Rilmocha is hard-countered by Valerian who is one of the most popular picks in AI and RTA PVP - her cheat death just makes Rilmocha kit not work.
• 
  Fangus T2 T1. This is Crit Fangus, not DoT Fangus - his damage is pretty scary when you build him like a normal DPS and his constant follow-up attacks are really hard to deal with at times.
• 
  Diting T1 T2. While Diting can bypass Valerian cheat death due to his FUA, he's very squishy and it's hard to keep him alive - and since he's a single-target DPS, you can't just 'cleave' your way through the battle.
• 
  Sybil T5 T3. The best single-target Revelation abuser who can deal 50% of enemy HP via the shell due to her 4-hit ultimate. Not many can survive the burst, making her great at sniping a target.

10.06.2025 - Update 2

It seems that Aurora was changed compared to final beta and now she's immune to DoT. We have adjusted the tier list to take that into account. Characters like

10.06.2025

The dust is slowly settling after the release of Etheria: Restart and the last few days we have been working hard on testing the new characters -

Mizuki Makoto

List of changes:

• Added
  
  Mio and
  
  Mizuki Makoto to the tier lists,
• Union Boss tier list has been renamed to Union Boss + Phantom Theatre. Now that we know how the modes operate - each having 5 different bosses, one for each element, on a rotation - we can easily combine the tier list into one as the meta for the same element in both modes is roughly similar.
• Terrormaton tier list has been updated to include the increase of the boss HP in Hell and the addition of a new passive that reduces the effectiveness of Turn Meter pushbacks on the boss.
• The first change was aimed at the so called 'one-shot' teams that could kill Terror in a single rotation and every character commonly used in those got pushed down,
• The second change affects
  
  Marvell the most who could prevent the boss from moving due to all the pushback in his kit. Now he's not as effective. Other turn meter pushers also got a small decrease in ratings,
• Aurora tier list has been updated to include the increase of the boss HP in Hell and the addition of a new passive that reduces the effectiveness of Turn Meter pushbacks on the boss.
• It's the same thing as with Terrormaton.
• DokiDoki tier list has been updated too, but it received the smallest update of all tier list - since nothing really has changed here compared to final beta.
  
  Rilmocha still rocks.
• Generic PVE tier list has been updated to include the meta shifts that happened because of the release balance patch + feedback we have received.
• PVP tier list has been updated to include the first week meta with
  
  Mio and
  
  Marvell running rampart and destroying everyone dreams. The meta will shift again soon since Immunity sets will become available and Dispel characters are expected to raise with it. Expect another update soon.

03.06.2025

We have adjusted the tier list based on the release patch notes. Just keep in mind, nothing listed there could be tested and the changes are based on our calculations/understanding of the game. One week after launch, we will again update the tier list when needed. Also, the two new characters

Mizuki Makoto

• 
  Victor Victor is the biggest loser of this patch. The DMG% multiplier reduction is especially bad, because it's a straight up multiplier to all his damage - and not only his, but any Shell he uses. So he's being dropped by 0.5 tier in every PVE content because of that. We kept his PVP rating unchanged for now, pending further observations.
• 
  Freya Freya nerf hurts her especially bad in content that features enemies with high Effect RES. Her pushback now is like any other debuff, so you need to 'land' it and it's no longer guaranteed. This hurts her on DokiDoki the most as enemies there have the highest Effect RES in the game. As a result of the change, you will have to build more Effect ACC on her and sacrifice HP for that, making her squishier. That's why we dropped her from T0 DokiDoki content (by 0.5 tier). We will monitor how she performs in PVP and other modes post release, to check if further changes are needed.
• 
  Marvell Marvell nerf brings him in line with other pushback debuffers. Let's not kid ourselves, he was broken and the nerf is deserved. He still will be a great character to bring to PVE and PVP content, but no longer he will be able to keep the boss/enemies from moving. That's why we have dropped him by 0.5 tier in Generic, Aurora and PVP - he will stay T0 in Terror and DokiDoki.
• 
  Kloss For generic PVE content, the changes made to Kloss' kit are a buff - now she can instantly apply a maxed SPD debuff on her S3 without having to wait to stack it. That's why we have increased her rating to T0 in Generic category.
• 
  Veronika Veronika nerf was reverted and now she is able to share all stolen buffs with her allies - this will make her quite annoying to face in PVP, so we're raising her to T0.5 (with the potential of upgrade a week into).
• 
  Rahu Rahu was already one of the best endgame DPS in the game that shines in Unions Bosses and PVP and somehow, he was buffed. Because of this we're raising his Generic rating to T0.5 - but keep in mind he's very gear dependent, so early on he's not that good.

Some other comments:

• 
  Tiamat self heal net could potentially drop her from T0 in PVP, but we want to see how she performs first - despite the nerf, she still has so much in her kit, it's hard to replace her.
• We will keep an eye on
  
  Sania before dropping her. The bug fix could have big impact on her performance, especially in PVP, but we want to wait and see first.
• 
  Chiaki received quite sizable buffs, making her stronger, but same as with Sania, we need to check how she performs now.

17.05.2025 - 29.05.2025

• Made small adjustments to all tier lists - to include all feedback we have received and what we have learned during the final beta. Especially about the new characters that proven to be stronger than we anticipated.

12.05.2025

• Made small adjustments to the PVP tier lists:
  
  Lian
  
  Helkid and
  
  Gray ratings have been increased.

10.05.2025

• Made small adjustments to the PVP tier lists:
  
  Marvell has been raised to T0 as he's a menace in PVP with his debuffs.

09.05.2025

• Made small adjustments to the DokiDoki tier list:
  
  Kazuyo [The Reverie] has been raised to T0 there as she's the best performing debuffer against her.