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Tier List
August 26, 2026 at 02:53 PM
Added Zankou, Chaos, Shinku and Iroi as an unplaced-additions section with element, role and release version, updated the element table to the Version 1.3 roster, replaced the stale Version 1.1 banner note, and flagged Linko as announced but unreleased
Version 1.3 update: the placements below were last set against the Version 1.1 meta and have not been re-cut for the four S-Class Espers added since. Shinku and Iroi arrived in Version 1.2 on July 8 and July 29, and Zankou arrived with Version 1.3 on August 19 on the "Alluring Shadows" Limited Board, running to September 9. Nanally is rerunning on "The Ichi-daime" over the same window. Read the tables below as a launch-window and Version 1.1 snapshot, and read the unplaced-additions section for what has changed since.
This tier list ranks all confirmed launch-roster characters in Neverness to Everness by their overall effectiveness in combat, team utility, and Esper Cycle Passive value. Rankings reflect beta-test impressions from the Containment Test and Co-Ex Test, refined against community consensus and early post-launch play from the Mainland China open beta that went live on April 23, 2026 and the global launch on April 29, 2026.
The first global banner rotation runs from April 29 through June 3, 2026, with Nanally featured on The Ichi-Daime (April 29 to May 13) and Hotori featured on Misty Tipsy Style (May 13 to June 3). Tier placements within this window assume the player has had access to both featured characters on their banners and includes a post-launch confirmation section reflecting Hotori's confirmed S-tier Support placement.
Important: the rankings in the tables above were fixed early in the launch window and refreshed once for Version 1.1. They have not been re-cut since. Four S-Class Espers have released in the meantime, an off-field damage-over-time archetype has entered the game with Zankou, and balance changes have landed in every version, so treat any single placement as a starting point rather than a current verdict. The Version 1.1 banner page and the Patch Notes hub carry the release history behind these shifts.
Tier | Description |
|---|---|
S Tier | Top-performing characters with exceptional kits, strong Esper Cycle Passives, and high value in multiple team compositions |
A Tier | Strong characters that perform well in their intended role and offer meaningful team contributions |
B Tier | Solid characters that fulfill their role competently but may lack the standout qualities of higher tiers |
Tier | Character | Element | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
S | Best main DPS in the game. Follow-up attacks trigger automatically when teammates hit enemies, giving her exceptional sustained output. Anchors Charge teams as the primary carry with high critical damage scaling. | ||
S | Highest boss DPS potential in the roster through his Power Words mechanic and Execution finisher. However, his kit demands careful HP management and precise combo timing, making him one of the hardest characters to play well. | ||
A | Can rival S-rank DPS characters when fully set up. His Sunya summon applies Incantation DoT while his shield keeps the team safe, letting him function as both a damage dealer and support simultaneously. | ||
A | DPS and healing hybrid who attacks from range while restoring party HP. The dual-role compression frees a team slot that would otherwise go to a dedicated healer. | ||
A | Hyper-mobile DPS with Blade Wings. Stacks Express Delivery Power for enhanced damage and benefits enormously from Stain's 50% Lakshana vulnerability. Also is the roster's primary energy battery. | ||
A | Off-field sustained DPS through Chaos constructs. Irreplaceable in Discord teams due to her stacking Break capacity reduction passive. Available on her Version 1.1 banner; not playable during the Version 1.0 launch window. | ||
A | Fast dual-blade melee DPS with wind manipulation for multi-target damage. Despite being A-Class, her Esper Cycle Passive that doubles Blossom projectiles makes her arguably the best support unit for Charge teams. | ||
A | Shadow manipulation provides persistent off-field Lakshana damage. Reduces enemy Lakshana resistance, synergizing with Stain. Core member of the ETD-4 team. |
Tier | Character | Element | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
S | The only full healer in the game. Her damage redirection mechanic creates a unique offense-through-defense loop. Essential for all hard content including Discord and Stain teams as the primary Psyche option. Increases team max HP by 10%. | |||
S | Premier support character using time manipulation. Provides healing through Non-Closed Timepiece and replays teammate attacks for additional damage. The go-to support for Charge teams. Featured on Misty Tipsy Style (May 13 to June 3, 2026). | |||
S | Strongest team-wide ATK buffer (15% of her base ATK for 20 seconds). Her Esper Cycle Passive applies random debuffs on Scorch triggers, adding crowd control and utility to any Scorch-focused team. Fights alongside companion | |||
A | Budget Psyche support and alternative to Fadia. Provides team buffs and Psyche element coverage for Nova and Stain reactions. Available for free through pre-registration. | |||
A | Secondary healer who provides area healing zones. Requires teammates to stay within range, making him stronger in stationary fights. Budget Cosmos support option. | |||
A | Provides teamwide shields through Evil's Bane and 20% DEF increase. His Temperance Esper Cycle Passive transfers Scorch between enemies, making him universally useful in Scorch compositions. |
Several characters provide specialized utility that does not fit neatly into DPS or support categories. Their value depends heavily on the content and team composition.
Character | Utility Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Energy Battery | Generates energy for the team, accelerating skill and ultimate rotations. Pairs with Main DPS characters to ensure their ultimates cycle as often as possible. | |
Time Freeze CC | Time manipulation provides crowd control through attack replays and team healing. Locks down groups of enemies while supporting teammates. | |
Dodge DPS / Break | Specializes in breaking boss stagger bars and provides Chaos element application for Scorch and Discord teams. Valuable for boss-focused content where breaking the stagger gauge is the primary strategy. | |
Flexible Starter | Free protagonist with reliable Cosmos application. Can trigger instant Esper Cycle meter charges. Competent but outperformed by specialized characters. |
Tier | Characters | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
S | |||||||||
A | |||||||||
B |
Aurelia is confirmed as an A-Class Psyche character with her kit fully revealed at the May 13 launch window. Her B-tier placement here is conservative against the S-tier Psyche option (Fadia); for players without a built Psyche character she is a serviceable pick. Chiz and Esper Zero are functional but outperformed by specialized alternatives in their roles. Lacrimosa drops from S to A pending her Version 1.1 banner; her stacking Break-cap reduction is irreplaceable in Discord teams but the off-field damage profile depends on team composition.
Four S-Class Espers have released since the tables above were last cut, and none of them appear in the DPS, support, or summary tables yet. Placing them would mean guessing, so they are listed here with what is actually known: element, class, role, and when they became playable. Each one has a dedicated page with its kit.
Character | Element | Role | Playable From | Placement Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Main DPS | Jun 24, 2026 (Version 1.1 Phase 2) | A high-end Lakshana main DPS. Lakshana previously had one S-Class option, so his arrival is the single largest change to Stain and Remora lane building since launch. | ||
Main DPS | Jul 8, 2026 (Version 1.2 Phase 1) | A Cosmos main DPS built around her Surging Crimson transformation. Version 1.3 changed her further, letting her interact out of Surging Crimson and out of the hold-dodge state. | ||
Healer with a damage buff | Jul 29, 2026 (Version 1.2 Phase 2) | The first Anima healer. Before her, an Anima lane that wanted healing had to run Jiuyuan in the damage slot. | ||
Main DPS, damage over time, follow-up | Aug 19, 2026 (Version 1.3 Phase 1) | Swaps between a Reality Form and an Illusion Form and spreads damage-over-time effects from one target to everything nearby, with a large share of her output counting as follow-up attack damage. The Incantation and Chaos Scorch lane is the obvious home for her. |
One further Esper has been announced and has not released. Linko is an S-Class Anima Esper who fights alongside an anomaly partner named Xiaozhen, with the Arc Voice of the Voyager. She was shown on the Version 1.3 preview broadcast as the Phase 2 featured character opening September 9, 2026, alongside a Hotori rerun. Her banner name, her release date, and her combat role all come from broadcast coverage rather than a published patch note, so nothing about her belongs in a tier table yet.
For players starting fresh and looking to reroll for the strongest possible start, the following characters offer the most value across multiple team compositions:
Character | Recommendation |
|---|---|
The strongest confirmed melee DPS with high sustained output and critical damage scaling. She anchors Charge teams as the primary carry. Available now on The Ichi-daime through May 13, 2026. | |
Provides the strongest team-wide ATK buff (15% of her base ATK) and versatile Scorch synergies. She fits in any Incantation team and enables Discord compositions. Available through the Standard Banner pool. | |
The best healer and support who provides essential Cosmos element coverage. She slots into Charge teams naturally. Available on Misty Tipsy Style starting May 13, 2026. | |
Irreplaceable in Discord teams due to her stacking Break cap reduction passive. If you plan to focus on boss content, Lacrimosa is essential. Coming on a Version 1.1 banner; players can save through the version close on June 3, 2026. | |
Highest damage ceiling but hardest to play. Recommended only for experienced players comfortable with HP management mechanics. Available through the Standard Banner pool. |
Element | S-Class | A-Class | Primary Reactions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Blossom, Remora, Charge | ||||
Blossom, Hexed, Charge | ||||
Hexed, Scorch, Discord | ||||
None confirmed | None confirmed | Scorch, Nova, Discord | ||
Aurelia (placement pending) | Nova, Stain, Discord | |||
None confirmed | None confirmed | Stain, Remora, Charge |
The launch meta centres on two main strategies: Charge teams (Cosmos + Anima + Lakshana) for sustained fights with high ultimate uptime, and Discord teams (Incantation + Chaos + Psyche) for boss encounters where break meter depletion is critical. Stain teams offer a simpler but effective burst-damage alternative.
As new characters are released after launch, the meta will evolve. Elements with fewer options (Chaos currently has no A-Class characters confirmed in the launch roster, Psyche has only one S-Class) may see significant tier shifts as new additions fill those gaps. The Version 1.1 cycle is expected to add Lacrimosa as the second S-Class Chaos option and Chaos as a new playable Esper, both reshaping team-building options. This tier list will be updated regularly as the game's meta develops post-launch.
Aurelia is an A-Class Psyche character and the first post-launch addition to the roster. She was previously known as Mitsuki during beta testing. As an ex-band member, she brings a unique creative background to the team. She is distributed free through the launch check-in login event, with 12 Solid Dice and a Stellar Veil Arc bundled into the same campaign. Her provisional B-tier placement higher on this page predates the on-stream reveal of her kit; she is a serviceable pick for players who have not yet rolled a Psyche character at launch.
The Mainland China open beta for NTE went live on April 23, 2026, six days ahead of the global April 29, 2026 launch. The notes below consolidate early post-launch observations from the 1.0 content patch that the global rollout also ships with. They update, but do not replace, the higher sections of this page. Positions marked as changed here should be treated as the current read; positions not listed below are unchanged from the pre-launch ranking above.
Nanally holds her S-tier DPS placement and is widely treated as the strongest main-damage unit through the first banner rotation. Her automatic follow-up attack, multi-hit normal combo, lightning-chain strikes, and the Underboss ultimate all perform as described in her character page, and the aerial pull on her ultimate clears ordinary mob groups without requiring her team to build around break. Players who rolled her on her launch banner should expect to keep her as their anchor DPS through the 1.0 version window.
Hotori joins the S-tier support pool effective May 13, 2026 with the launch of Misty Tipsy Style. Early post-launch play places her as the premier launch support; her time-stop ultimate compounds with high-tempo DPS such as Nanally, Baicang, and Daffodill. Players who pulled both Nanally and Hotori during the 1.0 banner cycle should expect to run them together as the launch core team through the 1.0 close on June 3, 2026.
The free S-Rank Selector that unlocks after 50 standard-banner rolls without an S-Class drop lets the player pick from the six permanent S-Class starters on the standard board: Jiuyuan (Anima), Baicang (Incantation), Sakiri (Incantation), Daffodill (Chaos), Fadia (Psyche), and Hathor (Lakshana). The ranking below reflects early post-launch play and is intended for new accounts with no other S-Class character pulled yet:
Priority | Character | Role Filled | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ranged DPS and self-heal | Role-compressed damage and sustain in a single slot. Her DoT application followed by a detonation window covers both boss-window damage and mob-clearing pulls, and her self-healing removes the need for a dedicated healer in early-game teams. The single most universally useful permanent-pool pick for an F2P roster. | |
2 | Team ATK amplifier | Provides the strongest team-wide ATK buff in the launch roster (15 percent of her base ATK for 20 seconds) and her Esper Cycle Passive applies random debuffs on Scorch triggers. An excellent second pick if the player plans to pull any Incantation main-DPS (launch Nanally excepted) or if they want a universally useful support option. | |
3 | Boss-window single-target DPS | Pure single-target damage ceiling. Best used on extended boss encounters where his HP-management mechanic has time to compound. The skill floor is high enough that newer players are usually better served taking Jiuyuan or Sakiri first and revisiting Baicang in a later selector cycle once the Power Word combo rhythm is comfortable. | |
Situational | Role-specific | All three are strong picks when they fill a missing role in the roster. Daffodill is the go-to for Chaos break coverage on boss stagger bars, Fadia is the single S-Class full healer and essential for hard Discord and Stain content, and Hathor is the roster's primary energy battery for teams that need faster ultimate rotations. They rank lower only because the three picks above fill immediate universal needs regardless of team composition. |
Chiz should be treated as a functional main DPS rather than a filler unit. The post-launch view of the City Tycoon Level 18 unlock track is that the full Awakening pipeline is reachable in-game without ever pulling on her, which effectively places a maxed-out S-Class DPS on every F2P roster. Her B-tier placement in the Full Tier Summary above reflects uncertainty about her scaling, not a ceiling on her output. Players willing to invest in the City Tycoon track can expect her to carry early-game content at the same practical level as the paid S-Class DPS options.
Aurelia is confirmed as an A-Class Psyche character and is distributed free through the launch check-in login event, with 12 Solid Dice and a Stellar Veil Arc bundled into the same campaign. Her provisional B-tier placement higher on this page predates the on-stream reveal of her kit and should be read as outdated pending a post-launch pass through her full ranking. She is not expected to displace the S-tier Psyche option at full kit, but she is a serviceable pick for players who have not yet rolled a Psyche character at launch.
After Hotori's banner closes on June 3, 2026 and the version cycle moves into Version 1.1, the following placements are most likely to shift:
Lacrimosa: Will move from A-tier (provisional) into the Discord-team specialist S-tier once her banner runs and her kit's Break-cap reduction is confirmed in the live build.
Chaos: His Forsaken Path banner went live on June 24, 2026, confirming him as a Lakshana main DPS built around Crit, the What's Desired Arc, and the Street Boxer cartridge. He earns a provisional high-tier placement among Lakshana damage dealers; a firm ranking waits on data-mined multipliers, which have not been published yet.
Mint and Skia: Mid-tier A-class units whose value will depend on whether 1.1 introduces additional Wind or Lakshana DPS. Both retain their current placement until then.
Aurelia: To be re-ranked once full Psyche-team data is available; expected to settle in the A-tier band rather than displacing Fadia.
This page is re-cut when a version brings enough change to move placements rather than on a fixed schedule. The unplaced-additions section is the fastest way to see which released Espers are still missing a tier.
Version 1.1 Banners
The Ichi-Daime
Misty Tipsy Style
S-Rank Selector Guide
