Long Overdue PvE Tier List Changes and more

Sorry for the wait! I’ll do better!

Hello, this is lzzy. I’m well aware that the tier list is in need of updating for a long while. Despite writing for Nikke.gg since around May, I didn’t have access to edit the tier list until September. Even then, the ‘holiday season’ for work and real life kept me really busy, to the point I couldn’t find a way to update a tier list that hasn’t been properly updated since the start of the year. N3x has thankfully returned to help out with posting the patch notes for now, and for that, I am grateful.

I apologize if the website has gone derelict; While I am trying, I definitely could do better. I will streamline future guides and tier list placements and writings to be more timely. Ideally, this will help me cover other content, finally. Please keep in mind that this will only cover changes in PvE. PvP nor the soon to be introduced Wishlist Rating do not factor into the Combined rating, and thus, will be discussed another time. Without further ado, here are all the much needed tier list shifts to match what is expected of today’s meta, in no particular order.

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Red Hood

Story Rating down from SSS to SS. Boss Rating down from SS to S. Combined Rating unchanged.

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Modernia

Story Rating down from SS to A. Combined Rating down from S to A. Boss Rating unchanged.

The value of off-burst DPS has fallen drastically over the years. Not only does Crown not buff units that don’t use their burst, but multiple secondary and tertiary support units, alongside dedicated support duos have appeared that benefit the two main DPS units using their burst, making it difficult or impossible to fit in an off-burst DPS unit.

Outside of content where you need multi-hit, such as being swarmed by Glasses raptures, or Dagger projectiles before they one shot your units, Modernia has now become a pretty niche unit to bring out in campaign. For that reason, her story update took a drastic drop.

While still good vs Fire-weak bosses, Fire is also an element that is simply full of better options nowadays. Still, she does pop up occassionally if she has a team built to her strengths.

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Tia

Story Rating down from SS to S. Combined Rating unchanged.

While Tia remains a great option to pair with Naga, we’ve all experienced the situation where her screen-wide taunt inadvertently gets her killed more often than not. This isn’t just some minor inconvenience either, it happens a lot if her attacks aren’t kept in check. Too much to keep track of can be detrimental in campaign, especially at a deficit.

NOTE: Tia is still one of the best support units to bring to Missilis Tower, even without Naga, though especially with Naga.

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Blanc

Story, Boss and Combined Rating down from S to A.

Not only are her and Noir one of the weaker duo units nowadays in PvE content, but the difference in value of buffing allies directly compared to debuffing enemies is incredible when new enemies keep spawning in. The major thing she has going for her is her heal, but the adage that offense is the best defense is very relevant in Nikke.

Even though Damage Taken is a powerful debuff against bosses, the DPS up it provides to allies isn’t a lot compared to more buffing unless they already provide themselves so much self-buffing in the first place. It also doesn’t help that there exist bosses that are either immune to debuffs, or grant themselves debuff immunity occasionally, rendering her burst even weaker than one would hope.

NOTE: If you lack Ade: Agent Bunny (bAde), Blanc is still the best B2 option for Tetra Tower, if paired alongside Rouge/Noir.

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Alice

Story Rating down from SSS to S. Boss and Combined Rating down from SSS to SS.

While Alice is still one of the best Nikkes from Tetra, she suffers from needing incredible investment (maxing out Skill 1 and Burst is a necessity) to perform well compared to other units, and her DPS against bosses if they lack core and/or parts is not as relevant as it used to be. Her burst gen in campaign is good, but getting grazed gets rid of it, especially at a deficit.

While her Fire DPS is still up there with good manual play, she is more notable nowadays for being a buffer for Scarlet: Black Shadow, at least, before Liberalio showed up. Still, as a unit that has relevance alongside one of the strongest Wind DPS and excels in her own element, she’s still worthwhile raising to fight against bosses primarily. Just apologize to your hands later.

NOTE: Alice is still one of the strongest units for Tetra Tower.

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D: Killer Wife

Story Rating down from S to A. Combined Rating unchanged.

Out of the new cooldown units, D: Killer Wife (DKW) is the worst. The DPS buff she gives to allies compared to other cooldown units is paltry by comparison, and selective in S1’s case. The only thing she really has going for her is that her cooldown doesn’t have a ramp-up period, as long as it’s properly invested into. While relevant in bossing content primarily by providing cooldown, she’s the most directly threatened in relevance by a new cooldown unit.

NOTE: DKW is still Elysion Tower’s best B1 support unit at the current moment.

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Scarlet and Trina

Boss and Combined rating up from A to S.

This underestimation needs to be rectified. Both Trina and Scarlet combine to provide excellent Electric DPS, as was proven in the solo raid vs Merciless Judge, to the point of making one of the collab units, Jill Valentine, nearly irrelevant for most users after her own shortcomings became too obvious.

The main issue is that two units require serious investment skill investment to make the DPS work. Due to this, despite their power vs Electric-weak content, they definitely deserve a lower priority compared to other Electric DPS units, at least when it comes to PvE.

NOTE: This rating is with the two of them combined. If they are apart, Scarlet is a lot weaker than she should be, and Trina’s huge buff doesn’t go to the unit she is most dedicated to.

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Maxwell

Story Rating down from S to C. Maxwell Combined Rating down from S to A.

Maxwell is definitely just a bossing unit nowadays. Her burst, while usable in campaign, is too committal to waste on individually weak raptures. Her lack of Pierce in normal conditions also gives her poor burst gen in Campaign. While her ATK buff from S1 is useful for any DPS unit mid-burst time, there exist many more B3 units nowadays that can do more than just buff the main DPS unit.

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Dorothy

Story Rating down from A to B. Dorothy Boss and Combined Rating down from S to A.

Dorothy’s Brand is incredibly outdated. Despite its high base %, the fact that her burst is unable to receive most buffs (due to the nature of being the first to cast a skill) render it unexpectedly weak in all content, especially at a deficit. Even without the deficit, the fact that her Burst doesn’t scale with Elemental Damage nor Distributed Damage really holds back her potential, it strictly scales with ATK only.

She also hasn’t had relevant cooldown without Privaty in a long time, another unit that has fallen out of use in Boss content due to better supportive off-burst options. Even though Water is currently lacking big water DPS units still, Dorothy’s DPS isn’t enough to beat out units that have high neutral elemental DPS. The fact that her main DPS ability benefits from so little hurts her potential too much.

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Privaty: Unkind Maid

Boss Rating down from S to A. Combined Rating unchanged.

There are two factors that caused this drop for Privaty: Unkind Maid (mPriv). The first is that she needs TWO support units to have very boss relevant DPS. One of them, Leona, is just not that good nowadays. The second unit introduced to make use of her bonus pellets, Dorothy: Serendipity (sDoro), prefers regular B2 buffers, which has the added benefit of providing buffs allies can use better, while mPriv needs to shoot more pellets, or it’s a notable DPS down.

Second thing, if the shotgun team needs to output Electric DPS, there’s a much better duo option in Arcana and Isabel. The buffs Arcana provides to Isabel are downright absurd, and to a lesser extent, the rest of the team, compared to what Leona provides to mPriv and the rest of the team. It really is worthwhile using Dolla just to make Arcana, and by extension, Isabel work, compared to raising up mPriv and Leona.

NOTE: mPriv is still one of the best Elec DPS units for non-boss stages in Elysion Tower.

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Harran

Story Rating changed from E to A. Harran Boss Rating changed from B to E. Combined Rating changed from D to C.

This one just seems like a major typo. Harran definitely falls apart vs bosses where she can’t gain stacks and spread her poison. Conversely, she actually performs amazing in normal stages. She is one of the strongest Nikkes in the early chapters, but plummets as regular stages get more difficult.

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Scarlet: Black Shadow

Boss Rating down from SSS to SS. Story and Combined Rating unchanged.

Scarlet: Black Shadow is still one of the best Wind DPS units in the game. However, her DPS is becoming less relevant in element neutral content, unlike the DPS units found at the very top. If you lack the options, though, don’t underestimate her DPS, especially with the proper team and setup built for it.

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Isabel and Arcana

Boss Rating up from S to SS. Combined Rating up from B to A.

Isabel’s DPS vs Electric-weak content is no joke when buffed by Arcana. The strongest buffs in the game currently, going to a unit that is normally considered mediocre is a very powerful duo. mPriv hasn’t been the best elec DPS for Tove to support since Arcana was introduced to breathe new life into Isabel. The DPS vs Electric-weak is powerful enough to be a top 2 team currently.

Compared to the other DPS being massively boosted by a support, this duo also needs less investment, making it a better option to raise up for Electric-weak raids, even without, but especially with Tove. Isabel’s skills scale poorly, so all she really needs is the OLs while Arcana gets all the skill books. Conversely, Scarlet will need OLs while both Scarlet and Trina need skill investment.

NOTE: Just like with Scarlet and Trina, this rating considers the two of them together. Both of them are effectively useless without the other.

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Soda: Twinkling Bunny

Boss Rating down from SS to S. Combined Rating down from S to A.

With the introduction of sDoro, Soda: Twinkling Bunny’s (bSoda) no longer the best general SG DPS to use for Tove and the ‘shotgun team’. Her burst time extension has also become a point of contention, since it means less bursts and less overall DPS vs bosses, and the unfortunate thing is that with proper burst gen, the cooldown will always be a bit off. bSoda alone doesn’t have the DPS to make up for it compared to sDoro, especially if it means the team overall gets to burst less.

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Ein

Story, Boss and Combined Rating up from S to SS.

Ein has become relevant as more supports she can work with have been introduced, both true damage and attack damage supports. On top of that, her true damage DPS is a huge deal in campaign, especially as you’re entering a deficit. She is one of the most important Nikkes to have for campaign, the amount of Electric-weak content and bosses that are made easier with her true damage around the chapter 30s is a lot.

NOTE: Ein is also one of the best Missilis Tower DPS units, in both regular stages AND boss stages.

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Asuka

Story Rating down from SS to S. Combined Rating unchanged.

There’s simply better options to use than Asuka in the story nowadays. Despite having pierce bullets and incredible self-buffs, her wave clear is only just above average compared to better units in campaign, that are also permanently available, unlike Asuka.

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Grave

Story Rating down from SS to S. Grave Combined Rating unchanged.

Grave is still one of the best solo B2 buffers in the game. However, the introduction of bAde, a unit that is both easier to obtain, and is better for more teams overall with a stronger Attack Damage buff and a general caster ATK buff that anyone can use over a stronger Pierce buff means bAde will fit into more teams a lot better.

While Grave does have better personal DPS than bAde, it’s not significant enough to make up for it in campaign content. bAde’s stronger buffs for more allies will generally be better, and if played right, bAde can approach the burst gen Grave provides for the team.

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Helm (Treasure)

Story Rating and Combined Rating up from SS to SSS.

This is long overdue. Everyone should focus on getting Helm and maxing out her Treasure ASAP. This needed to happen a while back, but again, at the time, I didn’t have access to updating the tier list. Eventually, I forgot… until now.

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Miranda (Treasure)

Boss Rating up from S to SS. Combined Rating up from A to S.

Miranda’s treasure has become more relevant as more units that can take advantage of Miranda’s critical rate buff increase, and even better, abuse ‘guaranteed’ crits for 10 seconds, have been introduced. Even though Miranda lacks cooldown, the power she can give individual units is more than worth bringing an off-burst cooldown unit to make it work.

I will write up an article exploring this soon, because of how often it has come up. It began with Mihara: Bonding Chain, and really exploded with the recently introduced Nayuta.

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Diesel (Treasure)

Story Rating up from D to C. Combined Rating is unchanged.

Still the best taunt tank for campaign, even with low investment (outside of maintenance kits). In campaign, she is nearly unkillable with Burst active. However, using Diesel’s burst, which is needed for her to taunt and become unkillable in the first place, also means no major DPS up from B2 buffers. While worth considering, make no mistake this is an absolute last resort.

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Bready

Story Rating up from B to S. Combined Rating up from A to S.

Despite needing a prerequisite Distributed OR Sustained Damage buffer to function properly, Bready’s Distributed Damage mode is incredible in campaign as a form of wave clear, especially in mid-high deficit. If combined with Maids (Mast: Romantic Maid and Anchor: Innocent Maid), a lot of regular maps don’t stand a chance, since EVERY auto will just be a natural screenwipe.

While she has excellent bossing DPS in either mode, and provides the team with a damage taken debuff against the boss with Sustained Damage mode, what holds her back in this regard is that the only viable option to buff Sustained Damage is on a Limited Unit.

NOTE: If used alongside Crust in Tetra Tower, she is one of its best units for normal maps.

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Crust

Story and Combined Rating down from A to B.

Crust is mainly a last resort for regular campaign maps, especially to get her to work with Bready. While she does have one of the strongest Distributed Damage buffs in a single slot, she has little else to provide for teams in general play. Her ATK buff is mediocre, and her dispel, while amazing compared to other units that have a full dispel, still remains niche.

NOTE: If used alongside Bready in Tetra Tower, the two have wonderful wave clear in normal maps.

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EVE

Boss Rating up from S to SS. Combined Rating unchanged.

EVE was definitely underestimated. Her great iron DPS and debuff to Iron-weak enemies make her valuable to bring to Iron-weak content. However, she definitely does need specific lines to work well, unlike her fellow collab unit Raven.

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Emma: Tactical Upgrade

Story and Combined Rating up from B to S.

When Emma: Tactical Upgrade (tEmma) is on the same team with Eunhwa: Tactical Upgrade (tEunhwa), the two of them combine to provide Vesti: Tactical Upgrade (tVesti), one of the strongest units for the campaign some of the strongest wave clear possible currently, especially at massive deficits. Enemies will be decimated by the combined True Damage of both tEunhwa and tVesti.

NOTE: This rating is only true if tEunhwa is on the same team. If she isn’t, tEmma is too detrimental to herself to function properly.

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Vesti: Tactical Upgrade

Story Rating up from SS to SSS. Combined Rating up from S to SS.

I actually requested someone else to make this change on my behalf months ago, as I was busy in reality, but now I am making a note of it. Even though I overestimated her DPS vs bosses in my guide and never correcting the guide (though corrected the rating), her DPS vs normal enemies is no joke, one of the best in the game.

For a regular, non-pilgrim, she will remain relevant in campaign for the foreseeable future. Her wave clear and her AoE true damage ensures that even at the highest of deficits, she will destroy regular raptures for you. While tVesti is actually so superb in this regard, that she doesn’t need her to be buffed by Absolute team, the three of them can combine when you need tVesti to deal damage sooner, as tEmma and tEunhwa combine give tVesti a big true damage buff before Burst Time begins.

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Delta: Ninja Thief

Story Rating down from B to C. Boss Rating down from S to A. Combined Rating down from A to B.

While I had the general right idea that she would be usable vs bosses without Crown, I still overestimated her in so many regards, I don’t know what I was thinking then. Even though she is capable of functioning without Crown, the synergy between her, Crown and Little Mermaid is by far the best thing she can do in boss content.

I overestimated her survivability in the main story. The shield while she is the only defender, while spammable, is too small without enough investment. At a deficit, she will just die too quick to make any use of it, especially without some way of decreasing the damage she takes.

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Rumani

Story and Combined Rating down from B to C.

Rumani has great burst gen, but that’s all she really has going for her in campaign. It’s not that hard to find a B1 unit that will outclass her in this regard, as she provides way too little for the team in Campaign to make use of, other than burst gen.

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Asuka: WILLE

Story Rating down from S to A. Boss Rating down from SSS to SS. Combined Rating down from SS to S.

Asuka: WILLE (AsukaW), similar to SBS, was relevant for neutral element content for quite some time since her introduction, but it hasn’t been true for a long time now. While she is an MG with a powerful S1 effect, it’s just not as good as it used to be, even with her dedicated support, Rei: Tentative Name, who is not worth bringing into element-neutral content anyway.

Even with how hard-hitting her S1 is vs singular enemies, it’s far too single target to consider for campaign nowadays. Even with Burst active, its damage to other enemies is very small compared to more proper AoE, even if she can activate it really fast.

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What now?

These are all the notable tier list changes that I caught that needed some serious updating. If anymore individual ones are caught over time, I will update it silently. This long article will only happen again when it’s time for a major overhaul.

I will introduce the Wishlist Tier List shortly, and afterwards, focus on adding required text for the Nikkes when you hover over their icon on the website.

I will streamline the process of writing articles for new Nikkes by writing about things that appear beforehand. I actually wrote everything all at once, which, in retrospect, is incredibly foolish. I can make it a lot easier on myself by writing down the Nikke’s attributes and skills, which are revealed prior to their release, before I get down to writing the article.

Ideally, this will help me get back on track with writing about other topics. I know for a fact those are massively overdue.

Thank you for your time, I hope you enjoyed the long read showing off my reasoning, hope you agree and have a good day!