Blue Archive Tier List: Ranking the Best Students in the Game (January 2024)

A few more months have come and gone, and a slew of new faces have been added to Blue Archive Global’s roster. With a ton of new content and new raid bosses, it’s time to reevaluate our current roster, and thus, this updated tier list.

Whether you’re a new, returning, or old player, you may want advice on who to raise, what a student excels at, or just want to make your own appraisal of a student based on their skills. If so you’ve come to the right place.

A Foreword

A short foreword before I begin:

• This is a generalist tier list, mostly intended for new players.
• Characters are listed here in their role for general purposes (ex: clearing stages, lower level raids, events, etc.) This means that characters that are niche but very important for certain content (Chihiro, for example, is pretty much required for Hod but I would not advise bringing her anywhere else) may be marked lower.
• Please check addenda for characters with an asterisk on the tier list. This means that they have an alternate use; indeed, many of them are hard requirements or are surprisingly useful picks for certain content.
• Characters may not necessarily be in the role the game assigns them; some characters are more valued for their stuns and support capabilities over their raw DPS even though the game touts them as one.
• Characters are ranked from S to D-tier and are sorted by their listed role in the game (Dealer, Tank, Support, etc).
  • S-tier characters excel at their roles, whether that’s single or AOE damage, buffing their allies, keeping their health topped up, or some other thing. There’s almost no reason to not put these characters on your team.
  • A-tier characters are above average. Many characters will fall into this segment. A-tier characters aren’t quite excellent, but they’re very reliable and you’ll be using them a lot.
  • B-tier characters are okay. They’ll do a decent job, but they’ll be among the first to be replaced when you inevitably pull better students.
  • C-tier characters are eh. They’re either niche, have bad stats, or have very finicky movesets and will likely see use in limited modes. If you need to pause to consider and list down a character’s before adding them to your current team, they’re probably C-tier.
  • D-tier characters are pretty much outclassed by everyone else. While they can some use, you must either be a masochist or playing a self-imposed challenge to seriously consider using D-tiers for the long hall. Side note: my Kayoko copium pulled through and her New Year version (not yet in Global) is amazing.
• All skills are listed with their minimum and maximum values, with level-specific upgrades (such as reduced cost) indicated separately. I also tend to refer to Skill Cost as “EX Skill gauge” or “bar”, or sometimes “meter”. Force of habit.

As always, I’ll end with this disclaimer to any readers: remember that no tier list is 100% correct – all tier lists have some form of bias – and your own mileage can and will vary. I firmly believe that Blue Archive is best enjoyed by playing with your favorites – and technically, any content is clearable if you’re persistent enough. Take my rankings with a grain of salt, and ultimately, play who you want to play – I know I do.

With that said, we present to you our detailed Blue Archive tier list, as we rank the best students in the game!

Single-Target DPS: Explosive Tier List

S	Azusa
A	Toki, Nonomi (Swimsuit), Aru
B	Saori*, Shiroko*, Hina, Toki (Bunny)
C	Serika
D	Shun (Small), Izumi

S-Tier

Shirasu Azusa

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Intulit Mortem	Deals 1065% - 2023% damage to 1 enemy.
(Basic) Sagitta Mortis	Deals 299% - 468% damage to 1 enemy and decreases their DEF by 18.9% - 24.6% for 20 seconds.
(Enhanced) Grueling Training	Increases Azusa’s crit rate by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Kick ‘em While They’re Down	Azusa’s attacks deal 46.6% - 88.5% of ATK as extra damage to enemies that have status ailments.

Her lack of AOE aside and despite her background in guerilla warfare, creating forward emplacements, and explosives, Azusa is good at one thing alone: killing Light Armor bosses, and it’s hard to find anyone that can do as good a job as she can.

Note that her EX Skill is actually a whole bunch of smaller hits strung together, making her good at breaking Kaiten’s shield on higher difficulties.

A-Tier

Asuma Toki

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Elastic Armor, No Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2/5 bars) System: Abi-Eshuh	If not in Abi-Eshuh Mode: Use 2 bars to switch to Abi-Eshuh Mode. Gains 26.1% - 41.8% ATK, 13.9% - 18.1% ACC, and 12.2% EVA. Abi-Eshuh Mode persists until consumed. If in Abi-Eshuh Mode: Use 5 bars to deal 87.5% - 167% damage in a straight line twice, 607% - 1153% damage in a straight line once, then 121% - 230% damage to all enemies not hit by the previous attack. All attacks ignore 60% DEF. After three uses of this EX Skill, removes Abi-Eshuh Mode.
(Basic) Tactical Decision	Deals 486% - 778% damage to one target. If in Abi-Eshuh Mode, this skill ignores 30% - 60% DEF. 35 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Codename Zero-Four	Increases Toki’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Eye for an Eye	Strengthens System: Abi-Eshuh’s Abi-Eshuh Mode EX Skill: • First use deals an additional 17.6% - 25.6% damage. • Second use deals an additional 35.2% - 51.1% damage. • Third use deals an additional 52.9% - 76.7% damage. • EX Skill also ignores an additional 30% - 60% DEF.

Toki is the first of many things in Blue Archive. For starters, she boasts the new Elastic Armor type, which is resistant to Explosive, neutral to Piercing and Special, and weak to Sonic. All this to say that Toki is safe to bring in any encounter that doesn’t use the new Sonic damage type. She also boasts the first very heavy mode-type EX Skill, which is the crux of her kit.

While Toki takes a while to get going due to first needing to deploy into Abi-Eshuh Mode, when she hits, she hits hard not only due to her hefty damage multipliers but also due to her stat boosts in Abi-Eshuh Mode and her DEF-ignoring attacks. Eye for an Eye further incentivizes you to use System: Abi-Eshuh until it depletes due to the large extra damage it grants each use of the EX Skill.

This also means that Toki generally only sees use in raids thanks to her slow but strong kit, and even then she’s competing against Azusa. While Toki is unquestionably strong, you’ll need a bit of practice to bring out her full potential. For starters, you’ll want to slot System: Abi-Eshuh in your initial skill lineup just to get that passive stat boost.

Izayoi Nonomi (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Special Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 6 bars) Time to Cool Off!	Instantly reloads Nonomi’s weapon. Deals 695% - 1113% damage to one enemy. Changes Nonomi’s attacks to ignore attack delay 2 – 4 times until 100 bullets have been spent.
(Basic) Everyone Get Pumped!	Increases attack speed for allies in a circular AOE by 11.4% - 21.6%. Lasts 30 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) I Can’t Wait!	Increases Nonomi’s attack speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) It’s Gonna Be Cold!	While under the effect of Time to Cool Off!, normal attacks deal 10.9% - 20.9% of ATK as extra damage.

Regular Nonomi is a good yellow sweeper, but Swimsuit Nonomi likes to focus her fire. And how! With an attack speed buff, an attack speed passive, an EX that ignores attack delay alongside a respectable nuke and a Sub Skill that boosts her already boosted normal attacks, Nonomi will chew through light Armor enemies like paper – especially in raids.

Rikuhachima Aru

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Hardboiled Shot	Aru fires a shot that deals 274% - 521% damage to one opponent. The shot explodes after a few seconds, dealing 292% - 554% in a circular AOE around the initial target.
(Basic) Noir Attack	Every 25 seconds, Aru fires a shot that deals 152% - 290% to one enemy. This shot has a 50% chance to explode after a short while, dealing 251% - 476% in a circular AOE around the initial target.
(Enhanced) The Gravity of a Boss	Increases Aru’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Way of the Outlaw	Increases Aru’s crit by 20.1% - 38.3% when using Hardboiled Shot.

Problem Solver 68’s dork of a boss remains a potent pick. Like Haruna, Aru has both single-target damage and AOE at her disposal, allowing her to easily find a place in red raid teams. The AOE nature of her EX Skill is also nice as it gives Aru a place in general content clearing teams.

B-Tier

Joumae Saori

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: S-Tier in Hieronymus but requires the rest of Arius squad. This is not a suggestion – it’s a requirement to have a full Arius team if you want to use Saori for harder Hieronymus at all.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Et Omnia Vanitas!	Deals 671% - 1275% damage as a guaranteed crit to one enemy.
(Basic) Oriented Shooting	Increases crit damage by 19.1% - 24.8%. Deals 208% - 334% damage as a guaranteed crit to one enemy. Buff lasts 16 seconds. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) The Fruits of Training	Increases Saori’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Responsibility of a Leader	Saori gains 19.3% - 36.7% / 28.9% - 55% / 38.6% - 73.4% ATK if there are at least 2 / 3 /4 Arius Squad students in her team. Saori herself counts towards this bonus. Azusa and Swimsuit Azusa are counted as Arius students for this bonus.

After putting a bullet through us, Saori is finally playable. She doesn’t disappoint either: her skills are high-power, guaranteed crits that will leave huge dents in whatever she hits. Guaranteed crits can also mean that you want to build crit damage over base attack, but your mileage may vary.

Do note that for how powerful Saori is, she’s not a plug-and-play character; Saori functions best in a team that’s built around her. And who better to bring alongside her than the rest of Arius Squad to trigger Saori’s very respectable attack buff?

Sorasaki Hina

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: C
Indoor Combat Power: C

Skills	Effect
(EX, 7 bars) Denouement : Ishbosheth	Hina blasts enemies in a fan-shaped area for 636% - 1208% damage.
(Basic) Lock & Load	Hina reloads instantly. Reloading increases Hina’s ATK by 21% - 39.9% for 16 seconds.
(Enhanced) Prefect Team Member Judgment	Increases Hina’s attack speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Out-and-Out	Hina deals 2.7% - 5.2% of her ATK as extra damage to enemies that aren’t in cover.

Repeat after me: “I will not use Hina’s EX skill”. Denouement: Ishbosheth is the main problem with her kit as it’s far too expensive for what it does. I mean, you can use it if you really have to, and it can close a close battle in PVP – that is, if you can pay the whopping SEVEN ENERGY BARS it costs. Very rarely does something not die in a cheaper nuke, and the only viable use I can think of is for Kaiten and -maybe- Greg (though again, you will want debuffs).

Despite these misgivings, Hina is still a really good auto-attacker, though I have to say that her Basic skill is a bit misleading as instead of reloading, it has her do a special animation (which is technically still a reload).

Sunaookami Shiroko

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

[Addendum: A-Tier for Kaiten Phase 2. The drone fires exactly 10 shots – enough to break the shield – and the incredibly low cost makes Shiroko one of the best (if not the best) at breaking said shield.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) Drone Support	Shiroko’s attack drone opens fire on a single enemy, dealing 400% - 760% damage to that target over multiple hits.
(Basic) Grenade Lob	Chucks a grenade at a random enemy every 25 seconds, dealing 193% - 368% damage in a circular AOE.
(Enhanced) Target Weaknesses	Increases Shiroko’s crit rate by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Very Rapid Fire	Shiroko’s normal attacks have a 20% chance to give her a 30.2% - 57.4% attack speed buff that lasts for 30 seconds. This has a 25 second cooldown.

Shiroko sits squarely in the middle of my Single-Target DPS: Explosive tier list. Like her placement, she doesn’t really lack for anything, but doesn’t shine in any particular regard. This leads to a specific problem: if you have someone better for a specific role than Shiroko, then you’d probably pick that student over her. Nonetheless, this wolf packs solid performance and is a good all-rounder for a Light armor squad.

I will say that one thing that Shiroko has going for her is the very low cost of her EX skill – at just 2 bars, Drone Support can be cycled very quickly through your skill cards.

Asuma Toki (Bunny)

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, No Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

[Addendum: SS-Tier against Kaiten Phase 2as she can both break the shield easily while still providing crit damage resistance debuffs.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) Special Weapon: Gauntlet	Deals 550% - 1045% damage to one target.
(Basic) Covert Agent Tool	Deals 311% - 591% damage to one target and reduces its crit damage resistance by 19.9% - 25.9% for 30 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Agent’s Expertise	Increases Toki’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Weapon Mastery	Special Weapon: Gauntlet also boosts Toki’s Explosive Effectiveness by 18.6% - 35.4% for 20 seconds.

Toki’s bunny form trades raw power for utility. 1045% damage on a 2-bar skill is great but note that this still pales in comparison to other Light armor killers (Azusa, for example, is 2023% on a 5-bar skill and comes with built-in DEF reduction and bonus damage versus debuffed enemies).

Bunny Toki is a good pick if you’re still lacking in red boss killers, though, and the low cost of her EX Skill as well as the extra Effectiveness granted by her Weapon Mastery allows her to deal some good damage of her own.

C-Tier

Kuromi Serika

Rarity: **
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) Outta My Way!	Instantly reloads Serika’s weapon after the animation completes. Gives Serika a 35.5% - 67.7% ATK boost for 30 seconds.
(Basic) Focused Fire	Every 25 seconds, Serika deals 223% - 425% damage to one enemy.
(Enhanced) Part-Time Worker’s Spirit!	Increases Serika’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Wrath of the Task Force!	Using Outta My Way! also boosts Serika’s attack speed by 20.1% - 38.3%. This buff lasts for 30 seconds.

Serika is your basic autoattacker. With an EX Skill that boosts her ATK and a Sub Skill that augments her attack speed, Serika won’t be doing anything flashy – but she’ll be decent enough at her job. Very apropos for her character, I feel.

D-Tier

Sunohara Shun (Small)

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Someone’s Been Naughty	Deals 593% - 803% damage to target enemy. Ignores 28% - 44% DEF.
(Basic) You Need a Talking To!	Deals 167% - 317% damage to 1 enemy. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Bundle of Energy	Increases Shun’s attack speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Sooo Heavy!	Decreases Shun’s ATK by 21.7% when she uses Someone’s Been Naughty for 20 seconds. 20 seconds later, gains 34.6% - 65.7% ATK for 20 seconds.

Too finicky to properly utilize. That’s it.

Shishidou Izumi

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Cheese ‘n’ Chocolate Hamburger!	Heals Izumi for 145% - 254% of her Healing. Level 3+: Increases Izumi’s attack speed by 38.4% for 21 seconds.
(Basic) Ready, Set, Boom!	Normal attacks have a 20% chance to deal 275% - 523% damage to a single enemy. 10 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) What to Eat Next?	Increases Izumi’s Recovery Boost by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Savor the Flavor!	Izumi deals 0.4% - 2.2% (level 1) to 0.7% - 4.1% (max level) of her current HP as additional damage.

A DPS that heals herself and scales very poorly with her HP.

Single-Target DPS: Piercing Tier List

These characters excel at dealing high amounts of Piercing damage to single targets.

S	Mika
A	Iori, Kazusa, Karin*
B	Maki*, Tsurugi, Kanna, Wakamo (Swimsuit)*, Midori
C	Hasumi, Fubuki*
D	Pina, Neru, Miyu

S-Tier

Misono Mika

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 6 bars) Kyrie Eleison	Deals 810% - 1540% damage to one enemy. Can deal up to 2x more damage based on the target’s HP – the more health they have, the more damage they take.
(Basic) Call of the Stars	Deals 89.4% - 169% to one enemy after 5 normal attacks. Every 3 uses of this skill also summon a meteorite that deals 178% - 339% damage on top of the base damage.
(Enhanced) Gloria Patri	Increases Mika’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Benedictio	Attacks always crit. Mika deals 12.7% - 24.2% more damage and receives 6.4% - 12.2% less damage.

I struggled for a long time with where to place Mika on this list. S-tier was my previous top, but compared to the likes of Iori, Azusa, or Haruna, Mika is beyond them. But does that make the latter four bad? It doesn’t, hence the introduction of the SS-tier. Or probably just the Mika tier, so long as the devs don’t release even more broken characters down the line.

“Broken” doesn’t do Mika justice. Let’s go over what makes her so ridiculous, point-by-point:

• Kyrie Eleison is a massive nuke that not only has fantastic multipliers but also scales off enemy health – the more health they had before it fired, the more damage this EX Skill will do.
• Mika’s attacks always crit. One million crit resist? Doesn’t matter, will crit. Resistant to piercing damage? Crit takes much of the edge off. Hod has near-infinite crit resistance? Please. When in doubt, throw a gorilla Mika at the problem and watch it vanish.
• Gloria Patri+ (requires Exclusive Weapon level 40) grants Mika additional Piercing Effectiveness. It’s not enough that her base kit smashes Heavy Armor to dust; she has to smash that dust too.
• Passively does more damage and takes less damage. No, this isn’t a flimsy ATK or DEF buff, it’s a straight-up final damage modifier, meaning nothing will impede it.
• Has Tsubaki-level EVA and off-tank levels of health. No tank to protect Mika due to her front position? No problem, they’d just get in her way.

Mika is the kind of character that would make people ragequit if she released in a super competitive game. Everything about her kit is just straight-up unfair; fortunately for us, she’s on our side. About the only deficiency she has that I can think of is the lack of any sort of meaningful AOE – but let’s face it, her main role is to stomp Heavy Armor bosses (and more) into a fine mist.

If you got her, congratulations; if you didn’t, save your pyros and try again when she rolls around. You won’t regret it.

A-Tier

Shiromi Iori

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: C
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Major Roundup	Fires 3 shots which deal 350% - 666% damage to targets and enemies in a fan-shaped AOE behind them. Iori moves about during this skill, which can cause a shot to not target anything due to being out of range.
(Basic) Bounty	Deals 229% - 436% damage to one enemy. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) One-Shot Bullseye	Increases Iori’s Accuracy by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Prefect Team Nerve	When out of cover, Iori deals 22.6% - 43.1% of her ATK as extra damage.

Where Iori continues to shine is in sheer versatility. Major Roundup is a respectable wave and mob clearer and her passive ACC buff is nice though is more relevant during PVP. The best part is that Iori is grindable, which is how I got her in the first place.

How this girl isn’t fed up with Sensei’s crap is beyond me, though.

Kyouyama Kazusa

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Heavy Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Sweet, Sweet Gunfire	Reloads instantly, then deals 933% - 1773% damage to one target.
(Basic) Old Habits	Increases Kazusa’s ATK by 23% - 43.8% for 25 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Sugar High	Increases Kazusa’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) The First Taste	Reloading reduces Kazusa’s attack speed by 16.3% but increases her ATK by 26.1% - 49.6% for 15 seconds. This effect stacks up to two times.

Remember what I said about Kazusa being powercrept by Mika? That time has come. I’m sorry, Cath Palug.

That aside, Kazusa is still an excellent Heavy Armor boss killer with her slow but punishing strikes. Don’t bother building attack speed on Kazusa as she’ll actively fight it; focus instead on buffing her ATK, damage, or crit rate/damage and you’ve got one hell of an Armor breaker on your hands.

Kakudate Karin

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Piercing Damage
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: B

[Addendum: A-Tier for Binah. She easily procs the bonus damage and grants a lot of bonus ATK to her team.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Target Removal	Karin fires a shot that deals 687% - 1099% damage to one enemy. Large enemies take an extra 481% - 625% damage from this.
(Basic) Supporting Fire	Every 40 seconds, Karin deals 223% - 424% to a single enemy, with a 50% chance of stunning it for 3.1 seconds.
(Enhanced) Weapon Upgrade	Increases Karin’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Ally Reinforcement	Karin increases ally ATK by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Just like Hibiki, Karin is a Special Dealer student, meaning she doesn’t have to worry about survivability. Unlike Hibiki, who specializes in AOE damage, Karin’s deal is making a big thing dead. Very very quickly. Girl’s packing an anti-tank rifle, after all, and her EX skill is especially effective against Heavy armor raid bosses. If Karin could be buffed by other students, she’d be a definite game-breaker, but as it is, she’s pretty darn good.

B-Tier

Konuri Maki

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: C
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: SS-Tier and almost a must-have for Binah. Have you seen how much DEF Binah has? That’s a hint. Bring some DEF reduction or go home. Coincidentally, Maki can both deal decent damage and has a Basic Skill (so yes, it stacks with EX) that inflicts DEF down. That’s another hint. Bring Maki.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) World Beautification!	Maki deals 676% - 1081% to a single enemy. This also increases her ATK by 41.9% - 54.5% for 30 seconds.
(Basic) Paintball Lob!	Every 25 seconds, Maki reduces one enemy’s defense by 18.3% - 34.8% and applies Mark to them for 15 seconds.
(Enhanced) Dazzling Display	Increases Maki’s attack speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Suffering for Art	Maki deals an extra 14.9% - 28.3% damage against Marked enemies.

In terms of raw single-target Yellow DPS, Maki has a hard time competing with the raw punching power of monsters like Mika or even Kazusa. Early Blue Archive was a simpler time, yes?

Compared against the other two, Maki is…bulkier, somehow. Her single-target kit and long-lasting debuff means that she doesn’t or rarely gets any mileage out of her kit in normal engagements. She does, however, still do some decent damage, so she can be rotated.

Kensaki Tsurugi

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Piercing Damage, Heavy Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Bizarre Devastation	Transforms Tsurugi’s normal attack into a fan-shaped blast that deals 138% damage. Tsurugi also gains a 25.8% - 45.2% buff that lasts until she reloads. At max level, the buff persists until Tsurugi reloads twice.
(Basic) Intense Passion	Defeating a foe heals Tsurugi by 116% - 221% of her Healing. This has a 10 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Agility	Increases Tsurugi’s move speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Uncontrollable Power	Defeating a foe has a 30% - 57% chance to instantly reload one bullet.

Tsurugi is a frontline unit who believes that the best defense is a good offense, and her kit fully reflects that. The problem that Tsurugi faces is consistency: yes, she has a life regen on kill, but A.) It has a cooldown of 10 seconds, and B.) She has to go through the animation. Tsurugi will also constantly be reloading as she only has two shots per reload, so outside of her EX or lucky procs of her Sub skill (which require her to land the final hit), you’ll likely run into problems.

This problem is exacerbated by Tsurugi’s role of frontline Dealer, meaning that she’ll be competing with the team’s tank for aggro. This can be a problem as unlike dedicated tanks, who usually have an EX skill and sub skills to mitigate damage, Tsurugi has none of these. As the game matures and enemy compositions become trickier, Tsurugi’s lack of an on-demand damage reduction or recovery becomes harder and harder to deal with.

On the plus side, Tsurugi does have high base defense and has equipment slots for a bag and a charm. This also means that Tsurugi will shine much later than your other dealers as you’ll likely need to get your bag to at least T4 so its DEF bonus kicks in.

Ogata Kanna

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Piercing Damage
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Public Peace Bureau Director’s Resourcefulness	Deals 52.9% - 84.7% damage to one target. Marks the target for 15 seconds, during which time the game tallies 30% - 50% of the damage that enemy takes. After the mark expires, the marked enemy takes the recorded damage as Piercing damage, which cannot crit. Extra damage caps at 2070% - 2691% of Kanna’s ATK.
(Basic) Harsh Interrogation	Deals 197% - 375% damage to one enemy and reduces their DEF by 7.6% - 14.4% for 20 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Feral Hound’s Tenacity	Increases Kanna’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Public Peace Bureau Special Ammo	Increases Piercing ally ATK by 12.7% - 24.2%.

Disclaimer: I don’t have Kanna and the wiki has old values for her Basic Skill.

Basically, Kanna is an off-field Piercing Wakamo. As with Wakamo, your mileage may vary and you may even have to build around Kanna to maximize the use of her EX Skill. She’s decent at least.

Kosaka Wakamo (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: A-Tier for Hod. Micro-stun on her EX Skill allows her to help build up the bar while still contributing damage.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Celadon Flower Divination	Deals 565% - 1074% damage to one enemy. The first hit has a 0.8 – 1.1 second stun, while the last hit has a 3.2 – 4.1 second stun.
(Basic) Just For You	Activates every 60 seconds, increasing Wakamo’s offense at the cost of making her more vulnerable. Has 3 stages total. Increases Wakamo’s ATK by 21.5% - 31.5% / 36.9% - 61.8% / 52.1% - 99%. Increases incoming damage by 9.6/19.2/28.9%, regardless of level.
(Enhanced) Uncontrollable Love	Increases Wakamo’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Midsummer Passion	Deals 51.6% - 98.1% of ATK as extra damage when attacking enemies with 30% or less HP.

Just to make sure you’d use her in one way or another, Wakamo trained herself to be a yellow boss killer too. The results are quite impressive, and I’d argue that the simplicity of her EX Skill makes her better than her base form. It also has a stun, meaning that yes, you can bring Wakamo to your Hod raid.

Do note that Swimsuit Wakamo is all-in when it comes to offense. Her Just For You Basic Skill massively improves her killing prowess at the cost of increasing incoming damage. That’s not a defense debuff, it just straight-up increases the damage Wakamo takes. While Wakamo’s position of backrow sniper helps keep her alive, this is much less viable during raids where bosses have large, powerful AOEs.

Saiba Midori

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Drawing Art	Midori attacks random enemies 5 times, with each hit dealing 119% - 191% per hit. If Momoi is in the party, these shots also deal 39.8% - 51.8% poison damage for 20 seconds.
(Basic) Artistic Polish	Every 25 seconds, the ally with the lowest current HP is healed for 77.5% - 147% of Midori’s Healing. Cannot target Midori.
(Enhanced) Artist’s Inspiration	Increases Midori’s crit by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Developmental Synergy: Momoi	Increases Midori’s attack speed by 15.1% - 28.7%. If Momoi is in the party, this boost is changed to 18.1% - 34.4% instead.

The Saiba twins are complimentary: where Momoi’s EX Skill is made for dealing with mobs, Midori’s is better at focusing fire on a single target, though she can do some very light mob clearing as well.

Compared to her sister, Midori is slower and more methodical; she takes her time with her shots but does more damage – a problem that can be slightly mitigated by choosing to run both twins in the same team. Midori is also an off-healer thanks to her Basic Skill, though care must be taken as Midori cannot heal herself with it.

All in all, decent damage but don’t expect too much.

C-Tier

Hanekawa Hasumi

Rarity: **
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Piercing Shot	Hasumi deals 574% - 1091% damage to one enemy.
(Basic) Shrewd	Defeating an enemy instantly reloads Hasumi’s weapon and gives her a 30% - 57% crit damage buff for 13 seconds.
(Enhanced) Precision Aim	Increases Hasumi’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Target Search	The first normal attack made after reloading has a 50% - 95% increased crit rate.

Hasumi suffers from two main problems: an EX skill that’s far too expensive for what it does and a reliance on getting and chaining kills with her slow attack speed. If you want to get the most out of Hasumi, you’ll need to feed her kills, which, with her sniper rifle, can be very slow. It’s far easier to just plug in a bunch of constant DPS students and get the same results.

Nemugaki Fubuki

Rarity: *
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: C

[Addendum: A-Tier in Hod, and that’s about it. Her extra stuns help a bit, but I wouldn’t recommend strongly investing in her as her kit is pretty meh.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Sweet Relief	Increases Fubuki’s ATK by 36.5% - 69.4% for 46 seconds.
(Basic) Every Last Round!	Fubuki’s normal attacks fire in 3-round bursts. When her ammo count dips below 3, deals 225% - 361% damage to one enemy, and stuns for 1.9 -2.5 seconds.
(Enhanced) Traffic Map	Increases Fubuki’s Crowd Control strength by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Free Ride	When an ally (except Fubuki) uses their EX Skill, Fubuki gains 17.6% - 33.5% ATK for 10 seconds.

Fubuki’s last name can be read as “sleepy brat,” and that’s not far from the truth. Fubuki excels when her teammates are doing the job for her. Her skills have good multipliers but are locked behind a bunch of shenanigans, making her a lot less plug-and-play than may first seem.

D-Tier

Asahina Pina

Rarity: *
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: C

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Rapid Fire Mode!	Instantly reloads. Increases ATK by 29.1% - 46.6% and ignores her attack delay for 3-5 hits. for 30 seconds.
(Basic) Burn it Again!	Heals Pina for 355% - 674% of her Healing when her HP drops below 20%. Once per battle.
(Enhanced) Keen Senses	Increases Pina’s crit by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Ready, Set, Spray!	If Pina doesn’t move for 10 seconds, increases her attack speed by 20.1% - 38.3%.

First off, Rapid Fire Mode! isn’t explained very well: what it actually does is increase the number of shots fired per burst, without actually depleting Pina’s ammo. In the end though, what it boils down to is that Pina is attack speed-reliant. The trouble with this is that she needs to sit still to reach her full potential, meaning that Pina is at her absolute best during raids, raids where you will likely want somebody else in your Striker slots.

Mikamo Neru

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) You Got a Death Wish or Somethin’?	Neru deals 476% - 762% damage to one enemy. When Neru is Enraged, damage from this skill is multiplied by 1.5 – 1.7.
(Basic) Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’!	Neru becomes Enraged and gains 17.8% - 33.9% Evasion for 20 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Codename Double O	Increases Neru’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Enhanced Rage	When Neru becomes Enraged, she gains 16.8% - 31.9% ATK for 30 seconds.

Iffy placement, meh damage, and there are characters who can do a better job than her.

Kasumizawa Miyu

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Observe Weakness	Applies Weakness Detection to the target enemy for 10 seconds. Every time an enemy with Weakness Detection is struck, it also takes 15.8% - 30% damage from Miyu. This damage cannot crit and can proc up to 120 times.
(Basic) Unexpected Blow	After 5 normal attacks, Miyu deals 148% - 283% damage to one enemy.
(Enhanced) Deep Breathing	Increases Miyu’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Special Sniper Bullets	Increases crit damage by 18.9% - 36% when Miyu reloads. Lasts 13 seconds.

On paper, Miyu looks like a great unit. In practice, she’s…um.

Miyu’s claim to fame is her multi-hitting EX skill which is entirely dependent on the rest of her team. While it’s great for putting out a lot of piercing damage at once (potentially 3600% of Miyu’s ATK), it’s very hard to maximize it as you’ll need to hit the targeted enemy 120 times in the short span of 10 seconds. Did I mention this skill can’t crit?

Miyu also has the problem of being a Striker unit, so yeah. You’d have to build an attack speed or multi-hitting team to maximize her, and her power level doesn’t merit that kind of attention. I guess you could make a meme Miyu team, but that’s all I can think of.

Single-Target DPS: Mystic Tier List

These characters excel at dealing high amounts of Mystic damage to single targets.

S	Izuna (Swimsuit), Azusa (Swimsuit)
A	Izuna*, Wakamo, Haruna
B	Tsurugi (Swimsuit), Sakurako, Kaho, Utaha (Cheer Squad), Hasumi (Track), Michiru, Aris (Maid)*
C	Mashiro, Mashiro (Swimsuit)
D	Asuna

S-Tier

Kuda Izuna (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Mystic Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) Izuna Ninja Scrolls! Summer Style!	Deals 423% - 804% damage to one target. That enemy also becomes the focus of fire for 30 seconds.
(Basic) Izuna-Style Bobble Bubble Technique!	After every 6 normal attacks, deals 418% - 669% damage. Also decreases crit damage resistance by 29.9% - 38.9% for 20 seconds.
(Enhanced) My Lord! It’s Summer!	Increases Izuna’s attack speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Secret Izuna-Style Summer Ninjutsu!	Upon landing 25 crits, increases Izuna’s attack speed by 16.2% - 30.9% for 23 seconds.

Swimsuit Izuna has a lot in common with her base form: a short-ranged blue damage dealer that greatly appreciates attack speed buffs. Thankfully, she’s learned from her mistakes and now takes cover. This means that Swimsuit Izuna is a lot sturdier compared to her regular form.

The idea here is to use Izuna’s high attack speed to spam her Basic Skill which is divided into several smaller hits and inflicts a massive crit damage resistance buff. Thanks to her own innately high attack speed via her passive and Sub Skill, this pretty much means that it has 100% uptime. Ridiculous.

The very low cost and utility on her EX Skill is also noteworthy – decent damage and marks a target, making it excellent for sniping Goz if you don’t have Sakurako or Noa.

Shirasu Azusa (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: C
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Spicea Aqua	Deals 651% - 847% damage to one target. Deals 406% - 650% damage as Chill damage over time. Lasts for 20 seconds.
(Basic) Ira Litore	Increases Azusa’s crit damage by 21% - 40% for 30 seconds. 35 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Cold Water	Increases Azusa’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Salt Water in the Wound	Azusa’s normal attacks have a 30% chance to decrease her target’s DEF by 8% - 15.3% for 13 seconds. 5 second cooldown.

The Make-Up Work Club’s ice queen seems to be having a good time on the beach. So good a time, in fact, that she can handily thrash any Special armored threat. Just like her regular form, Azusa retains her role of boss killer, except this time she’s geared against Special armored enemies.

She can also provide some modicum of support; Salt Water in the Wound, in particular, is a very nice skill with a lot of uptime and serves not only to augment her own damage, but that of her allies as well. She still lacks AOE though, but again, that’s someone else’s problem.

Note that because her DEF down comes from her Sub Skill, it easily stacks with other sources of the debuff, such as from Maki or Akane.

A-Tier

Kuda Izuna

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Mystic Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

[Addendum: S-Tier for ShiroKuro. Her repositioning skills mean you can keep her alive more easily.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Izuna Ninja Scrolls!	Izuna teleports to a designated spot. This also increases her attack speed by 27.4% - 52.1% for 30 seconds.
(Basic) Secret Weapon, Exploding Shurikens!	After every 6 normal attacks, Izuna throws explosive shuriken in an area, which deal 444% - 845% damage in a round AOE.
(Enhanced) Izuna-Style Prickly Ninjutsu!	Increases Izuna’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Izuna-Style Rapid Growth Ninjutsu!	Izuna’s EX Skill also increases her ATK by 20.1% - 38.3% for 30 seconds.

“Jesus Christ Izuna, stand back and let the tank do her job” is the thing I say most when I put this ninja-in-training in my party. Time hasn’t exactly been kind to Izuna; Blue Archive has released a lot of Mystic damagers since this tier list was first put up, and some of them completely overshadow Izuna.

Nonetheless, she’s still a decent unit if you can get used to teleporting her around to maximize her Sub skill buffs. Attack speed is the name of her game – if you can get her roided with someone like Hot Springs Chinatsu, Izuna’s Basic skill will proc a lot more.

Kosaka Wakamo

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Mystic Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Crimson Flower Divination	Deals 203% - 325% damage to a single target. Marks them for 10 seconds, during which time Crimson Flower Divination will save any damage that enemy takes. After 10 seconds, marked targets explode, taking damage equal to the saved damage to a maximum of 1017% - 1322% of Wakamo’s ATK. The explosion deals Mystic damage, and cannot crit.
(Basic) Scattering Petals	Deals 194% - 369% damage to one enemy. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Bloom of Destruction	Increases Wakamo’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Full Bloom Battle Instinct	Deals 15.6% - 29.7% ATK as extra damage to bosses.

We finally got our starter villain as a playable character nearly a year after Blue Archive’s release, and she’s a pretty impressive unit. With a single-target nuke that can rack up a lot of damage (though it requires team play and coordination with your other students’ EX skills), as well as a passive that boosts her damage against bosses, it’s crystal clear what Wakamo’s intended use is. But as blue boss killer is a spot already occupied by Swimsuit Azusa, we’ll need to compare them side by side – though I will say that both of them are good.

Compared to Azusa’s 5-bar EX skill, Wakamo ekes out a win in cost. However, Azusa’s skill is fire-and-forget, while Wakamo’s is highly dependent on the attacks you make in the 10 seconds following the hit. This means that Wakamo is a little more skill-dependent, and, as I mentioned, will require coordination on your part to maximize her damage. I prefer Azusa’s simplistic approach to boss killing, but your mileage may vary.

Wakamo also has a more direct approach to boss killing with a straight-up ATK boost exclusively against bosses (nearly 30% at max level), while Azusa prefers to soften up her targets with a DEF down. Which one you use is up to you – Wakamo’s dedication means it’s easier to just buff her up and let her loose.

Oh, and just like Swimsuit Azusa, Wakamo is a limited character. If you don’t have a dedicated single-target blue boss killer yet, go for at least one of the two.

Kurodate Haruna

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Mystic Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Piercing Elegance	Fires a piercing projectile 506% - 887% damage in a very narrow straight line. Infinitely pierces enemies, but loses 10% damage each time it pierces, to a maximum of 30% damage lost. Level 5: -1 cost.
(Basic) Exotic Explosives	Every 30 seconds, Haruna deals 200% - 380% damage to one enemy.
(Enhanced) Gourmand’s Honor	Increases Haruna’s HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Prudent Connoisseur	Increases Haruna’s ATK when standing still by 10% - 19.1%.

Related: Blue Archive Beginner’s Guide: Tips, Tricks & Strategies to Restore Order in Kivotos

There are a lot of Mystic damage dealers in Blue Archive, but a lot of them are either/or when it comes to AOE or single-target damage. Haruna stands out because she can do both via her Piercing Elegance EX Skill. True, it can be a bit fiddly to aim with due to its extremely narrow AOE, but Haruna is a great pick if you need versatility.

She’s farmable, too.

B-Tier

Kensaki Tsurugi (Swimsuit)

Rarity: *
Front Striker, Mystic Damage, Special Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: C
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Torrent	Tsurugi’s normal attacks also deal 67% - 167% of her ATK as extra damage for 20 seconds.
(Basic) Hot Strike	Deals 190% - 362% damage to one foe every 35 seconds.
(Enhanced) Nimble On My Feet	Increases Tsurugi’s attack speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Warmed Up	Hot Strike also gives Tsurugi 16.8% - 31.9% attack speed for 30 seconds.

This version of Tsurugi isn’t too far from her original incarnation. While she may enjoying her time with Sensei on the beach, she’s still an in-your-face Dealer. Tsurugi’s swimsuit form, however, does have some notable differences: first off, she’s traded the piercing damage and heavy armor for mystic damage and special armor, which changes her matchups by quite a lot.

Secondly, this damage and armor switch came at a cost of lowering her base stats (compared to her base form). Finally, her kit in this mode is full-on offense, with a less restrictive EX skill, a powerful attack speed steroid, and a passive attack speed buff.

As with her base form, you’ll need to be careful when using Swimsuit Tsurugi as she’s still prone to the same pitfalls of eating aggro and lacking sustainability – perhaps even more so than regular Tsurugi. On the plus side, she still has the bag and charm slot!

Utazumi Sakurako

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Proof of Baptism	Deals 390% - 625% damage to one target and inflicts causes Sakurako and her allies to focus fire on that target for 30 seconds. Causes Sakurako to additionally deal 9.4% - 17.9% of ATK as extra damage when doing normal attacks for 30 seconds.
(Basic) Sister’s Demeanor	Increases Sakurako’s attack speed by 12.3% - 23.4% for 30 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Arbiter of Sin	Increases Sakurako’s attack speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Light Be with You	Sakurako deals an additional 4.8% - 9.1% of ATK as damage when attacking foes with Special Armor.

Sakurako is another normal attack based Mystic damage dealer in the vein of both Izunas. Is she better? No, not really, especially compared to Swimsuit Izuna. There’s not much she can do that Swimsuit Izuna can’t (as Swimsuit Izuna also applies focused assault with her EX Skill and only costs 2 bars). If you need a second marker (and want to fight higher difficulty Goz raids), go for it, but I will always recommend Swimsuit Izuna over Sakurako.

Kuwakami Kaho

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Fanatical Behavior	Deals 745% - 1415% damage to one target.
(Basic) Disciplined Preparation	Gives Kaho the Serenity status and increases her ATK by 27.4% - 39.7% for 25/30/35/40 seconds. 50 second cooldown. Level 4: Duration increased to 30 seconds. Level 7: Duration increased to 35 seconds. Level 10: Duration increased to 40 seconds.
(Enhanced) Unwavering Passion	Increases Kaho’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Serene Relaxation	While Serenity is active, Kaho deals 5.5% - 10.4% ATK as extra damage.

The thing with Kaho is that she’s in direct competition with Haruna, who I’d argue is the queen of single-target Mystic damage (and she packs some AOE too) and has cost reduction. Kaho, on the other hand, deals immense amounts of single-target Mystic damage. The thing is…that’s a niche with a ton of competition. Haruna, Swimsuit Azusa, Wakamo, both forms of Izuna, both forms of Aris (I know what I said), and that’s just off the top of my head. Kaho doesn’t bring anything unique to the table, but if you’re still lacking in students who can perform this task, go for it.

Shiroishi Utaha (Cheer Squad)

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Mystic Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Thundergun Mk-III Enhancement	Enhances turrets for 90 seconds. While turrets are enhanced, Utaha’s normal attacks deal 115% - 146% damage and enhances Passionate Gunfire.
(Basic) Passionate Gunfire	If turrets are not enhanced: deals 166% - 315% damage to one enemy. 30 second cooldown. If turrets are enhanced: deals 284% - 539% damage to one enemy every 6 normal attacks.
(Enhanced) Cheer Captain’s Passion	Increases Utaha’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Cheer Captain’s Drive	Deals 5.1% - 9.7% more damage when attacking foes with ailments.

The Engineering Department’s president never does things half-assed. But like most of the meisters’ inventions, the end results are debatable.

As a full-on Striker, Utaha now has a lot of tools at her disposal to deal damage. Note that most of her damage output will come from spamming enhanced basic attacks while her EX Skill is up, so you’ll want to pair her with characters like Hot Springs Chinatsu who can increase the trigger rate of Utaha’s Passionate Gunfire.

While she can output an impressive amount of damage, you must be careful as she can pull aggro off your tank – not to mention her own middling survivability.

Hanekawa Hasumi (Track)

Rarity: *
Back Striker, Mystic Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: C
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3-5 bars) Iron Will Piercing Shot	Deals 452% - 859% damage to one enemy. Base cost is 3 but can consume up to 2 extra bars for 30% more damage per bar. *Cost effect reduction effects are applied to the base cost.
(Basic) Sport Shooting	Deals 247% - 470% damage to one target. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) The Spirit of Participation	Increases Hasumi’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) The Excitement of Competition	Deals 21.8% - 41.5% more damage when attacking large enemies.

Hasumi’s track version is a decent Mystic damage single-target damage dealer, which is great especially if you’re a new player and need more Armor type coverage. Thankfully, Hasumi’s new kit is a lot simpler than her base form which needs continuous kills to ramp up. She’s concerned with just one thing: dealing damage, and her passives help her in this regard. Of special note is her EX Skill, which can consume extra bars for more damage.

Chidori Michiru

Rarity: *
Front Striker, Mystic Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Michiru’s Ninja Scroll!	Shoots a firework in a straight line that deals 501% - 803% to the first enemy it hits. Also burns that target for 149% - 194% for 20 seconds.
(Basic) Cry of the Exorcist!	Increases Michiru’s ATK by 21.4% - 40.6% for 20 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) My Own Ninjutsu!	Increases Michiru’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Secret Michiru-Style Ninjutsu!	Increases Michiru’s crit damage by 8.4% - 15.9% for each member of the Ninjutsu Research society in the party, excluding Michiru herself.

Michiru is available for completing the first, story-only chapter of the Unrevealed Heart Event, and she’s an okay character, especially for new players as she’s a free Mystic damage dealer. She packs very high single-damage skills along with a great self-buff and passives that help her achieve ridiculous crit numbers. While you will need Izuna and Tsukuyo (not yet out as of writing) to help Michiru get giant numbers, she’s perfectly serviceable on her own.

Newer players should take note that despite being a ninja, Michiru has low EVA but passable defense and low HP. Since she takes No Cover and is a front Striker, she’ll be drawing a ton of fire even with a tank on your team. Pair her up with a healer.

Tendou Aris (Maid)

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Mystic Damage, Light Armor, No Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

[Addendum: SS-Tier for ShiroKuro and Goz, A-Tier against Perorodzilla as I would argue AOE is still more effective. Terrible in normal content as nothing warrants the sheer amount of overkill she delivers.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Aris, Clean Up!	Deals 594% - 1128% damage to one target.
(Basic) Earnest Handiwork	Every 15 normal attacks, Aris gains 21.8% - 38.1% Mystic Effectiveness and 18.3% - 32% ATK for 30 seconds. Level 10: Buff lasts 40 seconds.
(Enhanced) Paycheck Bonus!	Increases Aris’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Class Change: Hero Maid!	Normal attacks now only deal damage to one target instead of in an AOE. Normal attacks deal 15.8% - 30.1% of ATK as additional damage.

Aris’s maid form is, in many ways, a straight-up improvement from her base mode. Aris, Clean Up! boasts a high damage multiplier without needing to wait for energy charges to build up, and Earnest Handiwork gives her a much-coveted Mystic Effectiveness self-buff (but do note that this also takes a while to ramp up as the trigger is on 15 normal attacks and Aris’s attack speed is still sluggish).

As with her base form, Aris banks on her very high attack stat. Thanks to her plethora of damage buffs, she’ll have no problem dealing tons of damage on her own, and more with support.

C-Tier

Shizuyama Mashiro

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Strike of Justice	Mashiro hits a single enemy for 415% - 664% damage. This attack has a 50% chance to deal 623% - 716% extra damage. Level 5: Bonus damage chance raised to 75%.
(Basic) Righteous Justice	Damages enemies in a circular AOE for 150% - 286% damage. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Breath of Justice	Increases Mashiro’s crit by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Binding Justice	Increases ally Accuracy by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Decent damage, but let down by a very large chunk of it tied to a luck-based proc.

Shizuyama Mashiro (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Mystic Damage
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Justice Baptism	Drops a target’s Evasion by 30.1% - 39.1% for 30 seconds, then deals 640% - 1025% damage to it.
(Basic) Justice Cooperation	The ally with the highest ATK gains 18.9% - 36% crit damage for 20 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Justice Gaze	Increases Mashiro’s crit by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Justice Blessing	Increases ally Accuracy by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Swimsuit Mashiro is here to do one thing: one-shot Tsubaki in PVP.

D-Tier

Ichinose Asuna

Rarity: *
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) On My Way!	Increases attack speed by 30.2% - 57.3% and Evasion by 43.4% for 30 seconds. Moves Asuna in the direction of the arrow when skill is cast.
(Basic) I’ll Fire!	Every 20 seconds, Asuna deals 219% - 416% damage to a single enemy.
(Enhanced) This is Gonna Hurt	Increases Asuna’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Wanna Pick Up the Pace?	On My Way! also increases Asuna’s attack speed by another 20.1% - 38.3% for 30 seconds.

The one good thing about Asuna is that she’s a snapshot of the early days of Blue Archive. Mystic damage dealers were very rare, and you took what you could get. And even then she just barely made it on to teams – her EX skill isn’t useful, her skills are all over the place, and she’s all in all a very meh unit. At least her stats pass on to Bunny Suit Asuna, so there’s that.

AOE DPS: Explosive Tier List

These characters excel at dealing high amounts of Explosive damage to multiple targets.

S	Nagisa*, Haruna (New Year)
A	Minori*, Miyu (Swimsuit)*
B	Hibiki, Akari, Yuzu (Maid), Iori (Swimsuit), Shigure, Hina (Swimsuit)
C	Misaki, Mutsuki*
D	Hibiki (Cheer Squad), Saya, Suzumi

S-Tier

Kirifuji Nagisa

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: SS-Tier for Gregorius; packs both hefty AOE damage and a debuff.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Time On Target	Deals 482% - 772% damage in a circular AOE. Targets with Light Armor are hit with a 30.9% - 40.2% DEF debuff for 15 seconds before the damage instance.
(Basic) Afternoon Tea	Heals the ally with the lowest HP by 147% - 279% of Healing; if that target is from Trinity, the healing is increased to 207% - 393% instead. Side note: Has a unique animation when used on Mika.
(Enhanced) Pride of Tea Party	Increases Nagisa’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Noblesse Oblige	Allies that deal Explosive damage have 12.7% - 24.2% increased crit damage.

Nagisa is a Dealer that’s more suited to the support role. After some time playing around with both her and Hibiki (yes, I was out for the holidays), I’ve decided that I like her more than Hibiki as Nagisa is cheaper to use

While her damage isn’t the best, potential Nagisa users will want to take note of her EX Skill’s DEF-stripping effect as 40.2% is a lot, though it only works on light armor. This makes Nagisa an excellent support against Light Armor raid bosses; pair that with her passive that boosts Explosive ally crit damage and you have a powerful student at your disposal.

Kurodate Haruna (New Year)

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Gourmand’s Rage	Randomly selects 5 enemies within range to explode for 106% - 202% damage. The explosions also deal 52% - 98.7% damage to enemies caught in the blast.
(Basic) Gourmand’s Creed	Increases ATK by 15.9% - 30.3% for 30 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) New Year’s Viande	Increases Haruna’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Farewell Dessert	Attacks have a 20% chance to reduce target’s DEF by 7.8% - 14.8% for 17 seconds. 5 second cooldown.

Haruna’s New Year outfit oozes elegance, and the same thing can be said about its wearer. Almost. You just can’t stop Haruna from blowing things up.

I digress. This version of Haruna’s EX Skill is much easier to use than her base form, though unlike her regular outfit, New Year Haruna is much more adept at wave clearing. To that end, she trades her high-damage single-target EX for a random targeting AOE nuke, making New Year Haruna second to none when it comes to mopping up trash mobs. Do note that while it’s powerful and catches enemies behind cover and has a massive targeting range, it’s quite expensive at 5 bars. Still, you do get what you pay for.

A-Tier

Yasumori Minori

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: SS-Tier for Gregorius; while Minori is too overtuned for normal content, the gigantic damage (and cost) hurts Gregorius like no other.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4-7 bars) Onward and Onward!	Deals 462% - 878% damage in a large circular AOE. Will consume up to 3 extra EX bars to deal an additional 35% damage per consumed bar. Note that you cannot opt out of higher cost Onward and Onward! – it will always consume as many EX bars as it can.
(Basic) United Will	Deals 77.8% - 147% damage in a circular AOE. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Hand in Hand	Increases Minori’s ACC by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Fruits of Labor	Increases ally Explosive Effectiveness by 15.9% - 30.2%.

Minori is pretty much designed to be used exclusively for the Gregorius Total Assault. Nothing else in the game requires the sheer amount of overkill her fully-charged EX Skill brings (not to mention her very hefty ATK stat), and it excels at wiping out Gregorius’s mobs in no time. And since Gregorius is linked to his choir members, a single overcharged Onward and Onward! cuts through his massive HP pool in no time. Fruits of Labor is also a very nice passive; anything that increases damage Effectiveness will always be high up.

While Minori is highly valuable for the Gregorius raid, I will add that she’s technically replaceable (unless you’re going for platinum). Powerful mob wipers like New Year Haruna, Aru or fellow off-field damagers like Hibiki, Nagisa, or Swimsuit Miyu who deal incredible AOE damage are almost as good.

Kasumizawa Miyu (Swimsuit)

Rarity: *
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: A

[Addendum: A-Tier for mobbing red raids (Gregorius, Kaiten Phase 1). Not as powerful as Minori, but (potentially) easier to build thanks to being a welfare unit.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Attack of the Seagulls	Deals 388% - 737% guaranteed crit damage to enemies in a rectangular AOE.
(Basic) Secret Strike	Deals 369% - 702% damage to enemies in a fan-shaped AOE. 70 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Underwater Composite Ammo	Increases Miyu’s ATK 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Observation Status Report	Increases ally crit damage by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Did someone say “free Hibiki”? Because here she is. Swimsuit Miyu continues the trend of Blue Archive’s welfare units actually being good and is a very far cry from her base version.

Attack of the Seagulls is a large rectangular AOE that’ll fulfill all your Explosive AOE needs, thanks to its good multiplier and guaranteed critical hit, while Observation Status Report is a very respectable crit damage buff to the rest of Miyu’s team. About the only bad thing I can say about Swimsuit Miyu is that Secret Strike has one of, if not the longest cooldowns on a Basic Skill. Just take that as a bonus.

B-Tier

Nekozuka Hibiki

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) This Is Gonna Hurt	Hibiki fires 5 mortar shells, each of which explode in a circular AOE for 311% - 591% of her damage.
(Basic) Ample Firepower	Hibiki blasts the lowest-hp enemy with an explosive shell, dealing 144% - 275% damage in a circular aoe. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Might Be Dangerous	Increases Hibiki’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Hope That Helps	Hibiki increases ally crit damage by 9.1% - 17.3%.

As a Support Dealer student, Hibiki doesn’t have to bother with such trifling things as HP, defense, or armor type, instead focusing entirely on doing damage. And how – her mortar shells are always nice to see, and the AOE of her EX Skill means that she’s bound to hit a lot of targets whether she’s firing at enemy Dealers in PVP or wave clearing in PVE. Hibiki also has a good base ATK, which she passes down to her unit’s Strikers, while her Sub skill boosts the must-have crit damage stat.

Unfortunately, a lot has changed in the game, and sometimes (okay, oftentimes) raw damage just doesn’t cut it, leading to Hibiki’s lower placement in this revision.

Wanibuchi Akari

Rarity: **
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) One Heaping Helping of Grenades!	Akari fires a grenade from her underbarrel grenade launcher, dealing 392% - 744% damage to enemies in a circular area.
(Basic) One More Spicy Serving!	Normal attacks have a 10% chance to grant 38.7% - 73.6% ATK for 20 seconds. 15 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Thanks for the Great Meal!	Increases Akari’s HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) I Still Got Room For More!	Normal attacks have a 10% chance to grant 34.4% - 65.5% ATK for 26 seconds. 18 second cooldown.

Akari is good student due to her ability to provide consistent performance via her two self-buffs and a good AOE. This allows her to fulfill both the AOE nuker role and the DPS role, though she’s overshadowed in both roles by rarer students. While she will eventually be replaced by more specialized students, building her is still a good choice, and she’ll likely serve you for a long time.

Hanaoka Yuzu (Maid)

Rarity: *
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: C
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Infiltration, Start!	Deals 682% - 1296% damage in a circular AOE, then again in a small circular AOE. Overlapping attacks from both explosions only deal 136% - 259% damage.
(Basic) High Score Combo	Deals 117% - 223% damage in a circular AOE.
(Enhanced) Precise Coding	Increases Yuzu’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Game Developers’ Bond	Increases ally ATK by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Maid Yuzu joins the ranks of decent Blue Archive welfare characters. She has access to a large and powerful AOE EX Skill, and…that’s about it. Great if you got her during the event, but note that if you didn’t raise her to a high UE level, you’ll have to wait until next time to do it – and by that time, you might have gotten an even better AOE Explosive dealer.

Shiromi Iori (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Gale Rage	Deals 463% - 880% damage in a circular AOE.
(Basic) Quick Numbness Knife	Deals 186% - 297% damage to one enemy. Also inflicts a DoT that deals 51% - 66.3% damage as Chill damage for 20 seconds. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Precision Shot	Increases Iori’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Specialist Intimidation	Attacks have a 25% chance to inflict a Chill DoT that deals 34.1% - 64.8% damage for 20 seconds. 10 second cooldown.

Swimsuit Iori is really hard to place. Her EX Skill gives her AOE capability, but the rest of her kit says she’s good at single-target damage. I finally decided for AOE, but no matter what path you choose, she’s…okay, I guess.

If I really wanted a Light Armor killing team I’d pack heavier hitters and their support team. And yes, I still don’t have her, so I’m not using the official Global skill translations here.

Side note that Swimsuit Iori is a limited character. That means you can only get her when her banner is up, can’t redeem her with Eleph via Expert Permits, and won’t show up as a character you haven’t obtained.

Mayoi Shigure

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Shigure’s Special Bottle Grenade	Deals 425% - 681% damage in a linear AOE. AOE is also set on fire, dealing 64% - 83.1% burn damage for 20 seconds.
(Basic) How About a Drink?	The ally with the highest ATK (excluding Shigure) gains 26.4% - 50.2% ATK and loses 27.5% accuracy for 60 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Sweet Fermentation	Increases Shigure’s crit rate by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Wild Intuition	Reduces normal attack damage to 61.6% - 83.8%, but increases the radius of Shigure’s normal attacks by 1.5x. Level 10: Radius increase is now 2x.

Shigure is a great explosive AOE dealer and buffer. Shigure’s EX Skill is a bit on the expensive side, but it’s a straight upgrade from both Akari’s and Mutsuki’s wave-clearing. As a bonus, it sets the ground on fire too for some extra DPS.

Her How About a Drink? buff is a fantastic damage up at max level – we’re talking about almost Himari levels – and the fact that it’s got a 60 second uptime on a 30 second cooldown means that eventually your entire team will be “mildly intoxicated”. Do note that this buff does come with an accuracy debuff, so try not to use Shigure against foes with high Evasion.

If you’re planning on using Shigure, note that she does less damage on her normal attacks in exchange for increased AOE. If you need a little more push out of her, upgrade her Sub Skill to increase the radius of her booms and cushion the damage malus.

Sorasaki Hina (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Sealess : Ishbosheth	Hina blasts enemies in a fan-shaped area for 232% - 441% damage.
(Basic) Slow & Knockout	Deals 141% - 226% damage to one enemy and stuns them for 1.6 – 2 seconds. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Ruthless Discipline Committee	Increases Hina’s crit rate by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Lethal Force	Hina gains an 8.7% - 16.5% ATK boost every time she uses Sealess : Ishbosheth. Stacks up to 5 times.

A version of Hina with a cheaper but significantly weaker EX Skill. Usable on low difficulty raids and much better than Hina at clearing general content but lacks the oomph to make her viable for harder stuff.

C-Tier

Imashino Misaki

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) World of Futility	Deals 7.5% - 14.3% damage in 7 small circular AOEs every 4 seconds. Lasts 48 seconds. Using this skill deletes all fire patches created by previous uses.
(Basic) Finish It Quickly	Increases ATK by 19.5% - 37.1% for 40 seconds. 50 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Casual Technique	Increases Misaki’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Equivalent Exchange	Deals 1.1% - 2.1% / 2.2% - 4.1% / 3.3% - 6.2% / 4.4% - 8.3% / 5.4% - 10.3% of ATK as extra damage to enemies based on how many status ailments they have. Caps at 5 ailments.

Misaki is Blue Archive’s first rocket launcher user, and it shows – her attack is staggeringly high, even compared to sniper rifle users. On the flipside, her ammo count is pitiful so expect to see her reload a lot.

Misaki excels at fighting large targets due to how her EX Skill works – each patch is its own hitbox and if you can find a way to fit all 7 into a boss, great for you. When there are lots of fire patches burning a boss, the low damage per patch starts making sense. On the other hand, this EX Skill makes Misaki terrible at wave clearing.

 Asagi Mutsuki

Rarity: **
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

[Addendum: A-tier for Kaiten due to three-part AOE and easy accessibility. Mines can also help a lot but requires repositioning and practice.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Scorching Serenade	Mutsuki hurls her duffel bag at a target enemy, causing a horizontal explosion that deals 409% - 778% damage. Left and right explosions are somewhat delayed.
(Basic) Explosive Aria	Every 20 seconds, Mutsuki summons 3 mines in front of her. The mines deal 334% - 635% damage to enemies that step on them, and last 15 seconds.
(Enhanced) Let’s Have Some Fun!	Increases Mutsuki’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Wanna Have Some Fun?	Mutsuki’s normal attacks have a 25% chance to give her a 30.2% - 57.4% Accuracy buff for 30 seconds. 25 second cooldown.

If I recall correctly, new Senseis will be able to get Mutsuki for free after progressing past the first chapter. As a starter student, Mutsuki is pretty decent; her EX skill gives you some much-needed AOE when you’re starting out, and if needed, she can serve as your go-to AOE all the way to the harder levels. Just swap her out when the time comes as she does lack the raw punching power needed to compete against tougher foes.

D-Tier

Nekozuka Hibiki (Cheer Squad)

Rarity: *
Back Striker
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 7 bars) This Might Be Hot	Deals 107% - 140% damage to enemies in a massive circular AOE. Deals 29.9% - 47.9% damage as passionate cheering damage for 120 seconds.
(Basic) Can You Hear Me?	Increases ATK for both Hibiki and the ally with the highest ATK by 15.5% - 22.5% for 30 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Too Much Passion	Increases Hibiki’s ATK by 17.9% - 34%. Decreases Hibiki’s crit damage by 11.2%.
(Sub) I’m a Little Shy…	Deals 3.4% - 6.4% more damage when attacking. This damage bonus is dependent on Hibiki’s distance from her target, and closer enemies take less damage. Damage multiplier ranges from 0.5x – 2x.

Yes, I tried using her. No matter how many ATK or attack speed buffs you put on Cheer Squad Hibiki, it doesn’t alleviate the problem of her ponderously slow and gimmicky attacks. And all the while I was testing her, I was thinking “there is nothing that Cheer Squad Hibiki can do that 2* students like Akari or Mutsuki could do better” – and the latter is free for new players.

Yakushi Saya

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 6 bars) Voila, My Masterpiece!	Saya deals 126% - 239% damage per second to enemies in a circular AOE for 8 seconds.
(Basic) A New Experiment!	Reduces 1 enemy’s crit rate by 12.1% and deals 36.5% - 69.3% damage to them as poison damage for 20 seconds. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) I Am The Greatest!	Increases Saya’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) I’ve Got This!	Increases ally crit rate by 9.1% - 17.3%.

In another game where damage over time makes the difference between victory and death, Saya would shine. Alas, Blue Archive is not that game. Saya’s reliance on her DoTs scrabbles to find purchase in the nuke and burst damage gameplay of Blue Archive, and unless the first burst of her poison from her EX skill is lethal, it’s very hard to justify the high energy cost. On top of that, it’s not hard to find someone who just straight-up deals AOE damage.

Morizuki Suzumi

Rarity: *
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Holy Flash Grenade	Deals 389% - 518% damage in a circular AOE. Level 3+: Also stuns for 3.6 seconds. Level 5: Stun duration increased to 4.1 seconds.
(Basic) Ranger’s Endurance	Deals 233% - 443% damage to one enemy. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Urgent Evasion	Increases Suzumi’s Evasion by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Ranger’s Assault	Deals 27.5% - 52.3% of ATK as extra damage on enemies under any kind of Crowd Control.

She’s free, and that’s about the only good thing about her.

AOE DPS: Piercing Tier List

These characters excel at dealing high amounts of Piercing damage to multiple targets.

S	Cherino
A	Moe, Aru (New Year), Momoi
B	Yuzu, Nonomi, Serika (New Year)
C	Sumire, Junko, Saya (Casual)
D	Megu

S-Tier

Renkawa Cherino

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 7 bars) Call in the Guards!	Deals 515% - 605% damage to enemies in a circular AOE centered on Cherino. Level 3: -1 cost. Level 5: -1 cost, for a total of 5 cost.
(Basic) You Shall Be Purged!	Targets the enemy with the highest ATK and causes Cherino’s allies to focus their attacks on it. Also drops the target’s crit damage resistance by 18.7% - 35.6% for 15 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Mustache Power!	Increases Cherino’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Respect the ‘Stache!	Increases Cost Recovery by 269 – 511, with a further bonus of 77 – 146 per Red Winter student in the formation. Stacks up to 3 times, but doesn’t include Cherino herself.

I’m of the opinion that Cherino was mislabeled as a Dealer rather than as a Support. Cherino’s main use is her incredible Call in the Guards! EX Skill, which sweeps virtually the entire field. This skill is admittedly expensive, so maximizing it to get -2 to its cost should be your priority when leveling Cherino – and if you have Ui, that’s an amazing bonus.

As if that wasn’t enough, Cherino also packs crit damage resistance and boosted Cost Recovery for Red Winter compositions.

A-Tier

Kazekura Moe

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Piercing Damage
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Steel Rain	Deals 306 – 489% damage in a linear AOE. Deals 50.9% - 66.2% damage as burn damage for 20 seconds.
(Basic) Concentrated Gunfire	Deals 100% - 160% damage to 5 enemies and stuns them for 1.2 – 1.6 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Doom-Inspired Pleasure	Increases Moe’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Operation Support	Increases ally ATK by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Moe is yet another one of those off-field Piercing damage supports that you call in and dismiss, thus I’ll be comparing her to both Saki and New Year Serika.

Among the three of them, Moe has the most initial damage as well as a DOT on her EX Skill. This makes Moe fantastic at mobbing, though not quite to the extent of Serika. Moe’s Basic Skill is an AOE stun, though it lacks Saki’s flexible EX Skill targeting. Just like Saki, Moe’s party buff is ATK, and thanks to her own high ATK, just putting her on a team offers a respectable ATK bonus to your Strikers.

Thankfully, like her peers, Moe is great as both a general use unit and for clearing Chesed waves.

Rikuhachima Aru (New Year)

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 6 bars) Hard-Boiled Hanetsuki Shot	Gain 0.5 – 0.7 Skill Cost per Evil Deed, then resets Evil Deeds. Deals 179% - 340% damage to 1 enemy, then ricochets up to 11 times towards nearby enemies. Does full damage per bounce.
(Basic) Noir-Style Hanetsuki Attack	Deals 169% - 321% damage to enemies in a circular AOE. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Gorgeous Dignity of a Boss	Increases Aru’s max HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Perfect Tactics of a Boss	Aru gains 1 Evil Deed for every 6 enemies defeated by her allies, to a maximum of 3 – 6 Evil Deeds. Each Evil Deed decreases Aru’s DEF by 26.8% - 5.3%.

An all-around fantastic unit for both mob clearing and Chesed.

Our favorite dork got all dressed up for New Year, and she looks fantastic. Her kit though, isn’t as plug and play as her regular form. Aru’s got great wave clearing capabilities thanks to the ricochet effect of her EX Skill and can potentially (and very rarely) do great single (actually double) target DPS if it can keep bouncing off two targets: which will virtually never happen. It also has the added effect of refunding a bit of your EX Skill gauge back. This comes with the drawback of reducing Aru’s DEF per Evil Deed she’s holding, though her base DEF is low enough that it doesn’t really matter.

Saiba Momoi

Rarity: **
Mid Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Creative Anguish	Momoi deals 338% - 541% damage to enemies in a fan-shaped AOE. If Midori is in the party, enemies hit also take 72% - 93.6% burn damage for 20 seconds.
(Basic) Deadline Cruncher	Momoi increases her own accuracy by 22.3% - 42.3% for 20 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Creative Sense	Increases Momoi’s crit by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Developmental Synergy: Midori	Increases Momoi’s ATK by 15.1% - 28.7%. If Midori is also in the party, this boost is changed to 18.1% - 34.4% instead.

Momoi shines because of her Creative Anguish EX Skill. Creative Anguishis a powerful wave clear for a measly 3 bar cost that gets a DoT if Midori’s in the party, though it’s not necessary to run both of them.

B-Tier

Hanaoka Yuzu

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Piercing Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Press Start!	Deals 312% - 594% in a circular AOE.
(Basic) Max Chain Combo!	Deals 140% - 266% damage in a circular AOE. Always targets the enemy with the highest ATK. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Debugging Process...	Increases Yuzu’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) A Shy Girl’s Courage	Increases crit damage by 22.3% - 42.4% for 6 seconds when using Press Start! or Max Chain Combo!

Yuzu is pretty much a middle-of-the-road character. Decent AOE dps, okay multipliers. On the other hand, I can’t really see a use for her in higher content. Yes, she does have some AOE (like for running back to Chesed) but there are better options.

Izayoi Nonomi

Rarity: **
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Punishment Time!	Nonomi deals 432% - 821% damage in a fan-shaped area.
(Basic) Ta-da! ☆	Increases ATK by 21.8% - 41.4% for 20 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Tsk-Tsk, Shame on You!	Increases Nonomi’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Squeaky-Clean Sweep	Nonomi deals an extra 6.7% - 12.8% damage against large enemies.

Nonomi is one of the best free units available to new players, and her performance is solid enough that she can be slotted into high-level with little reservations. While her EX Skill is a bit on the expensive side, it does cover a very respectable area and hits twice, making it perhaps the single most potent wave clear in the game. Virtually everything about Nonomi is just right, and if you haven’t yet, I highly suggest you train her up.

Kuromi Serika (New Year)

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Piercing Damage
Street Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: C
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Part-Time Interference!	Deals 247% - 395% damage in a frontal arc. Decreases crit damage of enemies hit by 21.3% - 27.7% for 30 seconds.
(Basic) A Miko Cheers for Everyone!	Grants an 8.6% - 16.4% ATK buff for allies in a circular AOE for 30 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Full-Time Stubbornness	Increases Serika’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Full-Time Tenacity	Increases ally crit damage resistance by 9.1% -17.3%.

Just as New Year Mutsuki is a great Special Armor mobber, New Year Serika fills the role of Heavy Armor mobber among the New Year crew. What sets New Year Serika apart from the existing students that fill that role (Nonomi, Momoi, Cherino) is that she’s a Special student, meaning she can provide great AOE support from the backline.

C-Tier

Otohana Sumire

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Piercing Damage, Special Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Shoot and Score	Sumire ducks and rolls, firing her shotgun in a fan-shaped area to deal 742% - 1410% damage to enemies caught in the blast.
(Basic) Warm-Up	Sumire increases her ATK by 25.2% - 47.9% for 20 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Pinpoint Attack	Increases Sumire’s HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Tension Boost!	Sumire has an extra 13.4% - 25.5% DEF while she’s unaffected by any Crowd Control.

Compared to Tsurugi, Sumire trades off HP for higher DEF both via her base stats and her Sub Skill. Thanks to this, as well as her HP boost, Sumire is notably more durable than Tsurugi, and the bag and charm slots really help. She also has the advantage of a powerful EX Skill that comes with a very hefty damage multiplier at max level.

However, like Tsurugi, Sumire suffers from a lack of active damage mitigation, as well as pulling aggro off the main tank thanks to her front position. Use her if you’re confident she can handle aggro and incoming damage or have a way to keep her topped up.

Akashi Junko

Rarity: **
Mid Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) I’m Hangry!	Junko deals 746% - 1417% to enemies in a straight line. Junko loses 25.7% of her current HP.
(Basic) Don’t Talk To Me When I’m Hungry!	When her HP dips below 20%, Junko becomes invulnerable for 12.8 – 24.3 seconds. This can only occur once per battle.
(Enhanced) Tiny Advantage	Increases Junko’s Evasion by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Hungry Foodie	Junko deals 0.9% - 4.9% to 1.7% - 9.4% of her missing HP as additional damage.

Junko utilizes HP-sacrificing mechanics to empower her own attacks. Her EX Skill does a massive amount of damage at max level, which is further compounded by her own respectable attack power. Any HP she loses is turned into more attack power by her Sub Skill, while her Basic Skill gives her some modicum of survivability.

On paper, this sounds great. In practice, her wide linear AOE is a lot less useful than the more common circular AOE, and the trigger condition for her Basic Skill triggers a lot less than expected as getting one-shotted is a lot more common than taking constant damage to lower her below 20%. The fact that you’ll need to carefully manage her health to get the most out of her, coupled with the danger that having average base health and always losing a quarter of it per EX Skill means that you need to keep a constant eye on Junko.

Yakushi Saya (Casual)

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Piercing Damage
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) A Gift from Me!	Saya deals 40% - 75.9% damage per second to enemies in a straight line for 20 seconds.
(Basic) The Experiments Must Continue!	Deals 205% - 389% damage in a circular AOE every 30 seconds.
(Enhanced) Focus Elixir	Increases Saya’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) This Isn’t Suspicious	Increases ally crit damage by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Casual Saya still relies on DoTs to do real damage, which is still her downfall. She does come with a slightly cheaper EX Skill, but it changes her circular AOE to a linear-type one, which is harder to maximize and also has a lower multiplier.

On the upside, it lasts a heck of a lot longer than her base form and does Piercing damage. This gives Casual Saya great utility in the Chesed raid, but not much else. She also has a better Basic Skill, but who runs Supports for their Basic Skills? But at least she buffs crit damage this time!

D-Tier

Shimokura Megu

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Explosive Damage, Special Armor, No Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) You Like it Fiery, Right?	Deals 354% - 619% damage in a fan-shaped AOE. Megu gains 16.7% - 19.2% ATK and ignores attack delay for 30 seconds. Level 5: Attack boost increased to 19.2%.
(Basic) Shall I Warm it Up?	Creates a damaging patch of flame in a circular AOE which deals 17.9% - 34.1% damage per tick. Flames last 10 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) This is Light Work!	Increases Megu’s ATK and DEF by 11.2% - 16.2%.
(Sub) Ah! So Refreshing!	Megu is healed for 30% - 57% of her Healing every 50th hit.

Megu is a mechanically interesting character who suffers from some major flaws. I understand that this is because she’s supposed to have a unique niche, but the final product is by no means good, and it’s not hard to find someone cheaper (and less rare) who can do the same job better.

First off, Megu is unique in that she uses a flamethrower in lieu of conventional weapons. This causes her normal attacks to deal AOE damage. As a front-position damage dealer, Megu has tools that ensure that she can easily lay waste to trash mobs; Shall I Warm it Up? is a decent Basic Skill, This is Light Work! gives her some bonus DEF to improve survivability, and Ah! So Refreshing! means that Megu thrives in the thick of combat.

However, there aren’t many situations where you would want to use Megu over a conventional tank and spank team configuration. Sure, she may have these bonuses to keep her alive, but let’s face it – Megu doesn’t nearly have enough survivability to be serving as a pseudo-tank.

That, and a lack of realistic scenarios where you’d want to use her (the only enemies I can think of where you’d want Megu are swarms of Light armor cubes – because most Light armor enemies are humans that take cover), and Megu just doesn’t have enough going her way to really justify pulling for her.

AOE DPS: Mystic Tier List

These characters excel at dealing high amounts of Mystic damage to multiple targets.

A	Karin (Bunny)*, Mutsuki (New Year)
B	Chise*, Chise (Swimsuit), Koyuki, Junko (New Year), Aris*, Shiroko (Cycling)
C	Hinata*

D-Tier

Kakudate Karin (Bunny)

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Mystic Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: SS-Tier and almost a must-have for harder Perorodzilla. Her massive AOE damage against multiple targets more than justifies the cost. Pair with Ui or another source of cost down.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 7 bars) Fast and Accurate	Deals 325% - 521% damage in a large fan-shaped AOE. Ignores 32% - 48% DEF.
(Basic) Area Fire	Deals 111% - 192% damage in a circular AOE. Ignores 20% - 325 DEF. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Enhanced Firepower	Increases Karin’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Precise and Careful	Increases crit rate by 12.9% - 24.5% when using Fast and Accurate.

Big, big DEF-piercing damage at a massive cost. This version of Karin trades the single-target DPS of her normal form for a much more expensive AOE blast. The multipliers are admittedly low, but the DEF-piercing and especially the AOE damage are massive improvements. Just don’t bring her to normal runs.

Asagi Mutsuki (New Year)

Rarity: ***
Back Dealer, Mystic Damage, Heavy Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) New Year’s Symphony	Deals 159% - 302% damage in an large arch-shaped area.
(Basic) Imp Chorus	Deals 217% - 315% damage in a straight line. If Mutsuki has six Imps via Cute Imp Scheme, this deals an extra 117% – 169% damage. 50 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) How to Have More Fun	Increases Mutsuki’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Cute Imp Scheme	For every 3 enemies hit by New Year’s Symphony, Mutsuki gains 1 Imp. Imps last 56 seconds, and each Imp increases Mutsuki’s crit damage by 2.1% - 4.1%.

A great all-around blue mob clearer that shines in both standard content and against raid bosses that utilize summons (Goz Phase 1, Perorodzilla).

While Mutsuki’s regular form leaves much to be desired, her New Year form is a formidable skill spammer. New Year’s Symphony, her EX Skill, will set you back by just 2 skill bars, and hits a very wide arch in front of her, finally giving Mystic damage dealers a consistent and cheap wave clear skill.

B-Tier

Waraku Chise

Rarity: **
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: A

[Addendum: A-Tier for Perorodzilla. Sources of blue AOE DoTs are rare – I can’t think of any – so Chise is a decent pick for Perorodzilla.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) You Might Get a Boo-Boo!	Blasts a circular area and sets it afire. Enemies within the area take 56% - 106% damage per tick.
(Basic) I’m Gonna Shoot!	Deals 219% - 416% damage to enemies in a circular AOE. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Put Your Back Into It!	Increases Chise’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) This Is Gonna Sting!	Normal attacks have a 10% chance to proc a burning attack that deals 53.7% - 102% damage as Burn damage for 20 seconds. 5 second cooldown.

The arrival of more Mystic damage dealers has pushed Chise into a more niche role. Like other students who depend on DoTs as their primary source of damage, the ever-increasing speed of Blue Archive means that Chise struggles to keep up with the likes of New Year Mutsuki or Cycling Shiroko. Even in raids, her role is threatened by the existence of Swimsuit Azusa, who nukes on top of her DoT. Chise isn’t a bad student, but she’ll quickly be overshadowed by other Mystic damage students.

Waraku Chise (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

[Addendum: A-Tier for Perorodzilla. In direct competition with many other Mystic AOE DPS characters including, ironically, her base form, which is easier to get.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 6 bars) Summer Beach Fever!	Fires grenades at up to 3 enemies, dealing 232% - 372% damage in a circular AOE and stunning them for 2.1 – 2.7 seconds. If this skill hits an enemy already under a crowd control effect, it instead deals 465% - 744% damage and stuns for 4.1 – 5.3 seconds.
(Basic) Beach Volleyball Shot!	Deals 282% - 451% damage to one enemy. Also stuns for 2.4 – 3.1 seconds. 50 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Take a Walk!	Increases Chise’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Getting Chills?	Summer Beach Fever also deals 30% - 57% of Chise’s ATK as chill damage for 20 seconds.

Like regular Hina, Swimsuit Chise has an EX Skill that’s too expensive for what it does. Reduce the cost, take out the extra damage on CC’d targets, and we’d have a much better skill…but we work with what we get. Oh well.

The AOE stun is very nice, and when coupled with her Sub Skill makes for some decent damage potential. However, Chise is in direct competition with lots of blue damage mobbers such as Cycling Shiroko, New Year Mutsuki, and Chise herself. Thus, the only unique thing that Swimsuit Chise brings to the table is her stun. Evaluate if you really need that stun or if you’re happy with just killing enemies outright.

Kurosaki Koyuki

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Mystic Damage, Heavy Armor, No Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Unexpected Variable	Throws one of three grenades which explode in a circular AOE, dealing: • Bullet: 233% - 444% damage. • Electric Field: 221% - 421% damage. • Flame: 209% - 398% damage.
(Basic) One? Or Two?!	Deals 202% - 385% damage to a target, which can jump to up to 2 nearby enemies. Reloads instantly. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Do You Believe in Miracles?	Increases Koyuki’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Butterfly Effect	Unexpected Variable’s grenades also grant Koyuki an ATK buff for 40 seconds: • Bullet: 15.3% - 29.1%. • Electric Field: 14.5% - 27.5%. • Flame: 13.7% - 26%

Koyuki is a decent middle-of-the-road mob clearer. The fluctuation between the different types of grenades is pretty negligible, and One? Or Two?! gives Koyuki’s normal attacks mob-clearing ability as well.

Akashi Junko (New Year)

Rarity: *
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) Craving Food	Deals 344% - 653% damage in a circular AOE.
(Basic) I Wanted to Eat...	Deals 400% - 760% damage to one target every 21 normal attacks.
(Enhanced) I’ll Finish Quickly!	Increases Junko’s attack speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) I Only Have One!	Using Craving Food or I Wanted to Eat... also increases Junko’s crit rate by 10.4% - 19.9% for 20 seconds.

Normally, welfare units in gacha games are meh to awful. Blue Archive is one such exception which I hope will continue its trend of decent welfare character. First, we had Swimsuit Ayane and now we have New Year Junko.

New Year Junko isn’t fantastic by any measure, but she’ll get the job done. For players that lacked Mystic AOE (remember the days when Chise was the only option?) and played during the New Year event, New Year Junko is a godsend with her decent and easy-to-use kit.

Tendou Aris

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Mystic Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: S-Tier for Perorodzilla and ShiroKuro. Her slow attacks strongly discourage using her outside of raids, despite their AOE nature, so Aris shines best in long engagements that allow her to build up steam.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 6 bars) Balance Breakdown	Deals 311% - 591% damage in a straight line. Can deal 1.5x – 2x bonus damage, based on Aris’s Energy Charges. Resets Energy Charges.
(Basic) Bright Light!	Increases crit rate by 17% - 32.3% for 20 seconds. Also gains 1 Energy Charge, to a maximum of 2. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Enhanced Magic!	Increases Aris’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Supernova Awakening!	Increases crit rate by 12.1% - 22.9% when using Balance Breakdown for 20 seconds. Effect can be boosted by 1.5x – 2x, based on Aris’s Energy Charges.

This refrigerator-wielding android hits hard, but she needs a lot of time before hitting her full potential. Each Energy Charge she builds up is an effective +50% bonus to both the damage of her EX Skill and the crit rate of her Sub Skill, to the point that 2 Energy Charges is essentially 1000%+ damage and a guaranteed crit. The problem here is that she gains Energy Charges at the rate of 1 per 25 seconds – other dealers could’ve just rotated their skill twice or even thrice in that time frame for even more damage.

Note that as a railgun user, Aris does AOE damage with her normal attacks.

Sunaookami Shiroko (Cycling)

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Riding Grenade	Deals 431% - 690% damage in a circular AOE. Also lowers ATK by 38.4% - 50% for 10 seconds.
(Basic) Concentrated Fire	Deals 194% - 369% damage in a straight line. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Rapid Fire	Increases Shiroko’s attack speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Insightful Fire	Deals 3.8% - 7.3% of ATK as extra damage when attacking enemies with ailments.

Cycling Shiroko’s Mystic AOE capabilities have been challenged by New Year Mutsuki, our wolf girl still has her merits. I’m not fond of debuffs myself, but Riding Grenade has a whopping 50% reduction for 10 seconds, which is more than enough to curb potentially devastating blows.

Even without the debuff, her grenade is a great, affordable wave clear skill, and she’s got some potent self-buffs to help push damage during her debuff period. While she will rarely, if ever, fulfill the role of main Dealer even in all-Mystic compositions, she’s always worth bringing for the utility she provides.

C-Tier

Wakaba Hinata

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: B

[Addendum: A-Tier in Perorodzilla. The lower damage of her ATK and EX Skill doesn’t matter as much as the AOE when fighting against Perorodzilla, where hitting all of the summons is more of a priority.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 6 bars) Last Means of Communication	Deals 250% - 476% damage in 5 circular AOEs.
(Basic) Let’s Talk First...!	Deals 223% - 425% damage to the enemy with the highest HP. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Unexpected Development	Increases Hinata’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Leave the Heavy Lifting to Me!	Deals 21.8% - 41.5% of ATK as bonus damage against medium-sized targets.

Hinata is sort of just there. Her EX skill sounds great on paper, but in practice, it’s not as reliable. Add to the fact that she has to compete with mystic damage wave clearers like New Year Mutsuki or Cycling Shiroko and…yeah. Hinata’s EX skill is also bulkier at 6 bars, so she’s got that going against her, too.

To add salt to the wound, Hinata’s ATK is way lower than other students in her niche. At 5*, Hinata’s 2664 ATK barely holds a candle to Mutsuki’s 5700 or even Shiroko’s 4421. This is why we use rifles, not handguns.

Tank Tier List

These characters excel at taking hits for their party.

S	Tsubaki, Hoshino, Yuuka (Track)
A	Miyako (Swimsuit), Mine*, Natsu*
B	Marina, Atsuko*, Haruka, Eimi, Neru (Bunny)*, Reisa*, Yuuka
C	Miyako*, Tsukuyo*

S-Tier

Kasuga Tsubaki

Rarity: **
Front Striker, Piercing Damage, Special Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Deploy Tactical Shield	Taunts enemies in a circular area for 4.7 – 6.2 seconds, forcing them to attack only Tsubaki. Increases DEF by 28.1% - 44.9%.
(Basic) Sleep Cures All	Tsubaki heals herself for 349% - 663% of her Healing when her HP drops below 30%. This can only happen once per battle.
(Enhanced) Fortitude	Increases Tsubaki’s DEF by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Expert Reload	Tsubaki takes 24% - 45.6% less damage while reloading.

Tsubaki is still pretty much the best tank in the game. 2* rarity making it easy to get her, a taunt (with a useless DEF buff), a powerful self-heal with a better trigger threshold (30% compared to the usual 20%), good evasion, and the Special armor type means that Tsubaki is really hard to put down. So hard that they probably custom-built Swimsuit Mashiro to end her reign. The only real problem with her loadout is her Enhanced Skill, since Tsubaki is not a DEF-based tank.

If Tsubaki does well in PVP, she’s even more potent in PVE where even enemies with Mystic damage struggle with her. If you have her, you pretty much always use her.

Takanashi Hoshino

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Piercing Damage, Heavy Armor, Doesn’t Take CoverStreet Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Tactical Suppression	Hoshino deals 435% - 697% damage in a fan-shaped area. Level 3+: Each attack also stuns enemies for 1 – 1.4 seconds.
(Basic) Emergency First Aid	When Hoshino’s HP drops below 30%, she continuously heals for 100% - 191% of her Healing for 20 seconds. Once per battle only.
(Enhanced) Foreclosure Task Force President	Increases Hoshino’s DEF by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Expert Suppression	Using Tactical Suppression also gives Hoshino a shield with health equal to 108% - 205% of her Healing.

Hoshino mixes and matches from pretty much every other tank’s kit. The result is surprisingly potent: a stunning nuke that also grants a shield, a self-heal at critical health, and an Enhanced Skill that pushes Hoshino’s already good DEF a bit higher. This makes Hoshino a great tank that can work with almost any team.

The extra stun on her EX Skill also makes Hoshino a good pick for Hod teams.

Hayase Yuuka (Track)

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Mystic Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) R.S.G	Moves Yuuka to a designated location and creates a barrier equal to 168% - 320% of her Healing. After gaining a barrier, creates a flag at the designated location and summons 3 allies excluding Yuuka to the flag. Allies that touch the flag gain a barrier equal to 168% - 320% of Yuuka’s Healing. Shields last 25 seconds.
(Basic) Rehydration	If Yuuka does not have a barrier, creates a barrier equal to 115% - 220% of her Healing. Barrier lasts 23 seconds. If Yuuka has a barrier, increases her Healing by 12.3% - 23.4% for 90 seconds. Stacks up to three times. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Mathematical Competition Strategies	Increases Yuuka’s attack speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Optimal Pathing Calculation	When Yuuka comes to a stop after moving, increases Mystic damage effectiveness by 31.1% - 59.1%.

Track Yuuka takes the best parts of her base kit and hones them to a razor’s edge. The result is a superb tank with high EVA, great defense via her shields, and surprisingly effective offensive prowess due to her Sub Skill.

R.S.G is an invaluable offensive and defensive tool. Not only does it create a barrier for Yuuka herself, it also relocates allies AND gives them shields. If that isn’t enough protection, Rehydration either renews Yuuka’s barriers or gives her a long-lasting Healing buff so that her next shields are event more effective.

Finally, she can dish out a surprising amount of damage on Special Armor enemies thanks to her increased attack speed and increased Mystic damage efficiency.

Because of the sheer amount of repositioning utility Track Yuuka offers, she is the tank of choice when it comes to raid bosses that use those mechanics, such as Goz or ShiroKuro.

A-Tier

Tsukiyuki Miyako (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) Flying Drone Launch	Reduces a target’s crit damage resistance by 10.7% - 20.3%, then deals 256% - 487% damage to it. Lasts 20 seconds.
(Basic) UV Protection	Increases Miyako’s EVA by 18.4% - 35% for 25 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Disciplined Training	Increases Miyako’s max HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Tactical Maneuver	Dodging 50 attacks increases Miyako’s Cost Recovery by 322 – 630 for 10 seconds.

Miyako’s swimsuit version boasts a much wider niche than her base form. Where regular Miyako could be overshadowed by tanks like Hoshino, Swimsuit Miyako serves not only as the point woman of her team but also enables her DPS to do more damage thanks to the coveted crit damage resistance down debuff.

Giving Miyako time to refine her kit has also led to pleasant surprises. Instead of having a kit that’s all over the place, Swimsuit Miyako focuses on EVA (and some HP) tanking, with a Basic Skill that improves her survivability. More importantly, her Tactical Maneuver is a very hefty bonus that triggers when she dodges 50 times. Couple this with the low cost of her EX Skill (and its effects) and you get a tank who vastly aids in dealing damage without doing damage herself!

Note that even with all this, Swimsuit Miyako is still very much a niche tank who operates best in raids. There’s not much point in reducing the crit damage resistance of normal mooks – though Miyako does have the raw bulk to tank most content.

Aomori Mine

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, No CoverStreet Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: SS-tier for Gregorius – long-lasting double debuff frees up team comp space and helps you hit the safe zone faster. Still A-tier for Kaiten Phase 1 as debuffs are good against humanoid foes.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Prideful Conviction	Deals 103% - 196% damage in a circular AOE and reduces both DEF and EVA of hit foes by 6.8% - 13% for 40 seconds. The DEF and EVA debuff are 2.5x as effective on medium-sized enemies.
(Basic) Stern Verdict	Activates after Aiding Mindset is removed. Deals 475% - 902% of DEF as damage in a circular AOE and reduces both DEF and EVA of hit foes by 8% - 15.2% for 30 seconds.
(Enhanced) Knight’s Will	Increases Mine’s HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Unflinching Courage	Using Prideful Conviction activates Aiding Mindset, which heals Mine for 64.8% - 123% of Healing as regeneration for 10 seconds. If this is triggered while Aiding Mindset is already active, Mine also gains 19.3% - 36.7% crit resistance for 20 seconds.

Up until now, most (good) tanks have focused on staying alive whether it’s via their massive HP pools, high DEF, or great EVA (or a combination of the three). Mine is the first tank that not only leverages those aspects to keep herself alive, but also makes fights shorter by actively debuffing enemies.

More specifically, Mine excels in PVP due to her shield smash reducing both DEF and EVA, two of a tank’s cornerstones. While that’s pretty good by itself, remember that human enemies count as medium foes, meaning that the debuffs that Mine inflicts will be 2.5x as harsh! The rest of her kit is pretty good, too – a secondary burst plus DEF/EVA debuff whose damage scales off Defense for once and a way to keep herself topped off in battle. If sheer survivability isn’t a concern, take this angel of mercy out for a spin and watch her help her team excel.

Finally, note that Mine’s shield slam inflicts two debuffs – this makes her a great candidate for Gregorius.

Yutori Natsu

Rarity: **
Front Striker, Mystic Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: S-Tier for Perorodzilla as her dispel is on command, allowing her to survive the laser.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Hidden Ace	Heals self for 178% - 338% of Healing. Removes 1 status ailment.
(Basic) One Bite at a Time!	Throws a pie at a random ally, which grants an 8.5% - 16.1% ATK buff for 20 seconds. Ricochets up to three times, applying its full effect to allies hit. Cannot affect nor target Natsu. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Hearty!	Increases Natsu’s max HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) A Mouth Full of Happiness	Using Hidden Ace increases Natsu’s Recovery Boost by 7.2% - 13.8%. Stacks up to three times.

Natsu is a self-sufficient tank that comes with her own self-heal / cleanse that increases in potency as the fight goes on, which is great as she takes an HP-based approach to tanking. Natsu also takes a better approach when it comes to dealing with mobs: rather than trying to do something herself, she instead buffs her allies, which allows them to do their job better.

B-Tier

Ikekura Marina

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Revolutionary Charge!	Deals 335% - 636% damage in a front arc. Also reduces Recovery Boost of targets hit by 23.9% - 45.5% for 30 seconds.
(Basic) No Retreat!	When Marina’s HP hits 20% or less, she becomes invulnerable for 12 – 22.8 seconds. Activates once per battle.
(Enhanced) Evading Isn’t Retreating!	Increases Marina’s Evasion by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) A Bold Decision	While using Revolutionary Charge!, Marina has an extra 20.1% - 38.3% Evasion.

Marina is a dodge tank like Tsubaki; unlike Tsubaki, Marina focuses on circumstantial defenses (invulnerability at low health, evasion) rather than just a solid all-around kit. I would argue this makes her better at PvP than PvE content as the once per battle invulnerability thing just doesn’t cut it in longer boss fights and it’s rarely relevant.

Hakari Atsuko

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Explosive Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: S-tier for Hieronymus. Healing interrupts a lot of Hieronymus’ stronger skills and she can shine even if not in an Arius Squad composition.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Is This My Power?	Fires healing pulses every 5 seconds that heal allies for 28.4% - 53.9% of Atsuko’s Healing. Lasts 30 seconds.
(Basic) Let’s Hide	Detonates a smoke bomb on Atsuko’s position every 30 seconds, which increases Evasion by 20.5% - 39.1% for allies within the cloud. Clouds last 20 seconds.
(Enhanced) Practice Makes Perfect	Increases Atsuko’s Evasion by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) High Pain Tolerance	Increases Atsuko’s Evasion by 24.2% - 45.9% when her HP is 30% or lower.

Atsuko is an okay tank. There are better options, like the 2* Tsubaki. If, for some reason, you want a tank that can also heal the party for small amounts of HP, go with Atsuko.

Igusa Haruka

Rarity: *
Front Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take CoverStreet Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Shotgun Blast	Haruka marches forward, blasting enemies in a fan-shaped area for 821% - 1560% damage.
(Basic) Over Trigger	Increases DEF by 18.9% - 36% for 20 seconds. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) I’ll Keep My Chin Up!	Increases Haruka’s HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Hauugh?!	Taking damage has a 5% chance to increase DEF by 18.1% - 34.4% for 15 seconds. 10 second cooldown.

They laughed me off when I told them Haruka could be good. They called me mad. They weren’t laughing when super Haruka came back to one-shot everybody. The problem with Haruka is that she requires a lot of investment to become really strong. As a 1* unit by default, you’re going to need a lot of duplicates to get Haruka to 5*, where she needs to be.

And as a pure stonewall-type defender, Haruka suffers a lot in the early game, barely able to keep up with tanks like Tsubaki or even Yuuka. When she does get going though, she has a ton of base DEF, a DEF buff that’s pretty much always active after the first 20 seconds, and oh look, even more DEF when she gets hit.

Izumimoto Eimi

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Undying Will	Eimi gives herself a regeneration buff, healing for 8.6% - 16.4% of her Healing plus 3.4% of her missing HP for 20 seconds.
(Basic) Single-Minded Assault	Eimi deals 297% - 564% damage against enemies in a fan-shaped area. 15 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Specialist’s Respite	Increases Recovery Boost by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Iron Will	When Eimi’s HP is below 50%, her Crowd Control Res increases by 20.1% - 38.3%.

Eimi also utilizes the stonewall strategy (despite what her wardrobe might suggest) but this time focusing on HP instead of DEF. The result is serviceable: she’s got high durability with a regen-type self heal coupled with some unfortunately iffy skills. Crowd Control Res isn’t relevant in either PVP or PVE, and Eimi’s Basic Skill slot would be better served with, say, a one-time burst heal at low health. Eimi’s EX Skill can also be improved as while the regen is good, it’s not good enough to keep with crazy constant damage.

Mikamo Neru (Bunny)

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

[Addendum: S-Tier for Kaiten Phase 1. The reposition + shield + taunt allows Neru to save squishy team members from the Kaitengers’ EX Skills during the first phase.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Hold It Right There	Neru jumps to the center of the targeted circular AOE, then grants herself a shield with HP equal to 276% - 401% of her Healing for 20 seconds. Also deals 366% - 531% damage to and taunts enemies inside the AOE.
(Basic) What Are You Looking At?!	Increases Evasion by 22.1% - 41.9% for 23 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Abrasion	Increases Neru’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Much More Painful	Deals 3.2% - 6.2% of ATK as extra damage when attacking medium-sized enemies.

Do you like numbers? Bunny Neru’s EX Skill makes lots of numbers fly, and is always fun to watch. It’s also a great skill as it grabs aggro and is very disruptive while giving Neru slightly more durability.

On the flip side of this, Bunny Neru isn’t as durable as other tanks: relying purely on Evasion-based defenses is iffy, and Neru also has the least HP of all tanks available in Global right now. She also doesn’t have passives that help her survive better, instead trying to push for more damage – which isn’t the tank’s main job, to begin with.

Uzawa Reisa

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Piercing Damage, Heavy Armor, No Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: S-Tier for Perorodzilla as her dispel is on command, allowing her to survive the laser.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Duel Me!	Deals 372% - 707% damage to enemies in a fan-shaped AOE. Dispels 1 debuff from Reisa.
(Basic) Victory Pose!	Continuously heals for 22.7% - 43.1% of Healing for 30 seconds. 50 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) I Can Do This All Day	Increases Reisa’s ATK and max HP by 11.2% - 16.2%.
(Sub) The Reisa Effect	Duel Me! also reduces the DEF of hit targets by 6% - 11.4% for 25 seconds. Enemies hit by Duel Me! are also taunted for 1 second.

Hands up for anyone who saw Reisa and thought, “that was me during middle/high school.”

To the point. Reisa is a decent tank who boasts great survivability due to her long self-heal via Victory Pose and can deal some okay damage, though of course this isn’t her main role. Duel Me! is a nice EX Skill – it’s cheap and dispels debuffs from Reisa, which is nice, and taunts in conjunction with The Reisa Effect, which is excellent. The DEF debuff is small enough to be negligible, so we won’t talk about that.

In terms of defensive strength, Reisa is similar to Eimi in that she focuses on both HP and DEF. This hybrid approach is surprisingly effective thanks to I Can Do This All Day and Reisa’s long-lasting regeneration.

Hayase Yuuka

Rarity: **
Front Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Q.E.D	Yuuka puts a temporary shield around herself for 15 seconds. This shield has HP equal to 190% - 248% of Yuuka’s Healing.
(Basic) I.F.F	Deals 301% - 573% damage to one enemy. 15 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Optimal Solution	Increases Yuuka’s DEF by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Speedy Mental Calculations	Whenever Yuuka takes cover, she heals for 75% - 142% of her Healing. This has a cooldown of 10 seconds.

The starter tank that new players get is decent, and yet there’s lots of things that she’s lacking if you spend time getting to know her. Yuuka has a decent self-shield (which, like all shields, isn’t exactly great), a single target nuke (which is out of place in a tank’s kit), a DEF passive (Yuuka’s DEF isn’t good at all), and a self-heal.

A unique problem that Yuuka has is that rather than having a bag slot, she has a badge slot, thus missing out on the hefty DEF bonus that a bag affords. Yuuka will carry you through much of the early and maybe part of the mid game, but if you have a better tank by that point, switch her out.

C-Tier

Tsukiyuki Miyako

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Piercing Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

[Addendum: S-tier for Hod because stun.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Launch Flash Drone	Deals 340% - 545% damage to one enemy, and stuns for 4.2 – 5.5 seconds.
(Basic) Claymore Burst	Fires 5 bullets from a claymore, dealing 84% - 160% damage to all targets hit. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Equip Special Bulletproof Plate	Increases Miyako’s max HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Disturbance	When Miyako uses Launch Flash Drone, she also gains 19% - 36.1% incoming damage reduction for 16 seconds.

Miyako is pretty much built to be used against Hod, where she beats out even Hoshino in building up stun. Her general use is kinda meh as her kit is IMO all over the place.

Oono Tsukuyo

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Mystic Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: A-tier for Kaiten Phase 1 as she can leverage her powerful debuff for that raid. Exclusively.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Ts-Tsukuyo Ninja Scroll!	Heals for 7% - 11.2% of Healing when taking damage, up to 100 times. Decreases own ATK by 28.8% - 20.2%.
(Basic) Shuriken Practice!	Every 7 normal attacks, Tsukuyo deals 418% - 659% damage to one target. If that target is medium-sized, it also receives a 38.9% - 51.6% DEF debuff. Lasts 20 seconds.
(Enhanced) I’m So Tall…	Increases Tsukuyo’s max HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) I Can’t Go Down Yet!	When inflicted with any CC, heals self for 97.5% - 185%.

Tsukuyo shines when it comes to dealing with either lots of small hits or constant CC. She doesn’t particularly shine in any aspect, but she has a ton of self-sustain that makes her fairly effective at her tank role. Her DEF peel is also very powerful at max level, though it’s rarely relevant for general content.

Healer Tier List

These characters excel at keeping their teammates alive.

S	Koharu, Serina
A	Rumi*, Mari (Track), Nodoka (Hot Springs), Hanae
B	Fuuka*, Ayane*, Chinatsu, Hanako*, Kokona, Hanae (Christmas)

S-Tier

Shimoe Koharu

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Holy Grenade	Koharu throws a grenade which heals allies for 101% - 192% of her healing while dealing 227% - 431% damage to enemies.
(Basic) I’ll Heal You!	Heals all allies below 50% HP for 80.8% - 153% of Koharu’s Healing. 20 second cooldown. Cannot heal Koharu.
(Enhanced) I’m Trying!	Increases Koharu’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Being The Elite!	Increases Koharu’s Healing by 21.5% - 41% for 20 seconds. 30 second cooldown.

Koharu maintains her position as the premiere healer of Blue Archive. Whether it’s the high amount of healing and (if you really want to do it,) damage she dishes out or the sheer versatility of her being a Striker healer, Koharu is a very welcome addition to any Schale roster.

Sumi Serina

Rarity: *
Special Healer
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: C
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) Intensive Care Set A	Serina drops a healing package, moving the closest ally to it and healing them for 120% - 228% of Serina’s healing.
(Basic) Urgent Rescue Set B	Every 35 seconds, Serina heals an ally for 94% - 178% of her Healing.
(Enhanced) Ministering Angel	Increases Serina’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Guardian Angel’s Smile	Increases ally Crowd Control Res by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Easy to get and build, reliable and cheap – what’s not to love about Serina? With her quick and easy heal and reposition EX Skill, Serina is a staple in virtually every aspect of the game.

A-Tier

Akeshiro Rumi

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: C
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: S-tier for Perorodzilla as she can dispel debuffs.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) World’s Tastiest!	Throws a plate of fried rice that bounces between allies, healing them and potentially cleansing debuffs. Heals 117% - 223% of Rumi’s Healing and removes one debuff for the 1st and 4th target while the 2nd and 3rd target are healed for 82.2% - 156% of Rumi’s Healing. The rice will only bounce to allies who have not yet received healing from it (per cast). Note that while Rumi cannot target herself with World’s Tastiest, it can still bounce to her.
(Basic) Business Safety Regulations	Deals 226% - 430% damage in a fan-shaped AOE. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Merchant Guild President’s Pride	Increases Rumi’s normal attack range by 100 and Healing by 11.2% - 21.2%.
(Sub) Memorable Taste	Allies healed by World’s Tastiest! also gain regeneration, healing them for 1.7% - 3.3% of Rumi’s healing. Lasts 60 seconds.

Rumi is notable for her chain heal that cleanses debuffs on the 1^st and last targets it hits. Healers that restore HP and dispel debuffs are rare if not non-existent in Blue Archive, which gives Rumi a unique niche.

Iochi Mari (Track)

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) A Tall Drink of Water	Heals allies in a circular AOE around Mari for 167% - 318% of Mari’s Healing. Mari cannot heal herself with this skill.
(Basic) Sisters’ Cheer	The ally with the highest DEF (excluding Mari) and Mari are healed for 82.8% - 132% of Mari’s Healing. Also increases their DEF by 18.5% - 24.1% for 40 seconds. 45 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Cheering Attitude	Increases Mari’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Devoted Encouragement	A Tall Drink of Water and Sisters’ Cheer additionally heals for 90% - 171% of Mari’s Healing if the target(s) have 30% or less HP.

Track Mari is a good healer who suffers from some massive drawbacks. While her heals are undoubtedly powerful, they’re held back in consistency by her lack of flexibility when it comes to targeting.

A Tall Drink of Water is a potent heal…except that its AOE is fixed around Mari and she can’t heal herself. Ideally her middle position should guarantee that *someone* is going to be healed, but targeted healing is the way to go. Sisters’ Cheer is fantastic in that it buffs and heals both Mari and the target; while Mari won’t get much mileage out of the DEF buff, heavy tanks like Haruka will appreciate the increased survivability. Said heal also is not targeted.

However, note that when she’s good, she’s good. Mari’s mid position allows you to get some mileage out of her regardless of composition (please run her with a frontliner though!) Initially, I rated her a C-tier due to her inflexibility, but after playing around with her a bit, I found that it was much less of an issue than I first though. Do note, however, that inflexibility is still a problem with her; unlike most healers, Track Mari is very vulnerable to enemy attacks that displace team members, potentially knocking them out of her healing range when they need it most!

Amami Nodoka (Hot Springs)

Rarity: ***
Special Healer
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Hot Springs Resort No. 227, Open for Business!	Deploys Nodoka in a circular AOE for 32 seconds. Every 3 seconds, she tosses a random snack at the ally with the least HP in her AOE. The snacks heal allies based on Nodoka’s Healing: Hot Spring Manju: 20.3% - 38.6% Healing. Corn Stick: 24.8% - 47.1% Healing. White Milk: 29.3% - 55.7% Healing.
(Basic) The Hostess’ Welcome	Increases Recovery Boost for the ally with the least HP by 16.6% - 31.6% for 25 seconds. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Hot Springs Therapy	Increases Nodoka’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Hot Springs Heat	Increases ally ATK by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Hot Springs Nodoka differs a lot from her lackluster original incarnation. As a heal spammer who’s dependent on positioning, Nodoka excels at keeping her allies topped up in boss fights – and not to mention Hieronymus’ relics. While she’s rather hard to use in regular combat, what she does offer is extremely hard to match with any other character.

Asagao Hanae

Rarity: **
Special Healer
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Time for Your Treatment!	Hanae gives an ally a regeneration buff, which heals for 54.1% - 102% of Hanae’s Healing per tick.
(Basic) Don’t Fall!	Hanae gives the ally with the least HP 17.7% - 33.7% DEF buff for 20 seconds. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Medical Mastery	Increases Hanae’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Break a Leg, Everyone!	Increases ally crit rates by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Hanae now serves an interesting niche: a combination of Serina’s quick and always-relevant heals with Nodoka’s bigger total heals, which she accomplishes by giving her allies a regen buff. This makes Hanae great for difficult fights where you’ll constantly be on the move, such as late-game hard mode stages. Her Sub skill is also miles better than Serina’s, giving a far more useful crit rate boost over CC resistance.

B-Tier

Aikiyo Fuuka

Rarity: **
Special Healer
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: D

[Addendum: A-tier for ShiroKuro and Goz, though I would argue that bringing a repositioning support or tank like Swimsuit Shizuko or Track Yuuka is better than slotting Fuuka into your team.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Lunchtime!	Fuuka drops a pot of food, drawing nearby allies close to it. Upon touching the pot, allies are healed for 109% - 207% of Fuuka’s Healing.
(Basic) Gift of the School Lunch Club	Gives the ally with the highest max HP a 18.1% - 34.4% DEF buff for 16 seconds. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Fresh Ingredients!	Increases Fuuka’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Pride of the School Lunch Club	Increases ally crit resistance by 9.1% - 17.3%.

While Fuuka’s EX Skill is on the pricier side at 5 bars, it’s notable in that it’s virtually guaranteed to heal everybody unless your placement is really bad. Like Serina, this also has the extra purpose of pulling students in danger zones back into relative safety. Fuuka is a lot more niche than the other healers, but she’s still reliable.

Okusora Ayane

Rarity: **
Special Healer
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: A

[Addendum: A-tier for Hieronymus because AOE heal.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Special Delivery: Combat Supplies	Ayane’s drone drops medical supplies that heal 118% - 224% of her healing for allies in a round AOE.
(Basic) Scholastic Support	Ayane increases the crit resistance of allies by 15.5% - 29.4% in a round AOE every 30 seconds.
(Enhanced) Self-Development	Increases Ayane’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Morale Boost	Increases ally max HP 9.1% - 17.3%.

AOE heal. That’s it.

Hinomiya Chinatsu

Rarity: *
Special Healer
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Tactical First Aid	Heals one ally for 195% - 342% of Chinatsu’s Healing. Level 3+: Also removes one debuff from healed target.
(Basic) Regroup	The ally with the lowest health gains 50.9% - 67% Evasion for 30 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Reinforced Medical Enhancement	Increases Chinatsu’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Reinforced Defenses	Increases ally DEF by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Big single-target heals mean a lot of overshoot potential, and with no overheal mechanic in place, Chinatsu’s EX Skill requires judicious timing and use. It does, however, come with a dispel that can be invaluable for clearing certain debuffs, like Perorodzilla’s -10000 DEF debuff. Other than that, there’s little reason to bring Chinatsu when you can have Serina’s more measured heals or Hanae’s regen-based heal that provides more practical value.

Urawa Hanako

Rarity: **
Special Healer
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: A

[Addendum: A-tier for Hieronymus because AOE heal.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Want to Break The Rules?	Creates a round AOE which heals for 26.9% - 51.1% of Hanako’s Healing for 8 seconds.
(Basic) Toughen Up!	The ally with the lowest health gains 24.2% - 46% DEF for 20 seconds. 13 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Full of Energy	Increases Hanako’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) It’s Okay If It’s You	Increases ally Healing by 9.1% - 17.3%.

AOE heal but regen-type. Not much use outside of raids as it’s a static area.

Sunohara Kokona

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) Great Job	Target ally (except Kokona) is healed for 152% - 290% of Kokona’s Healing. Kokona is also healed for 101% of her own Healing. Gain 1 Stamp of Praise.
(Basic) Looking Forward to the Next Time	After an ally crits 100 times, heals the ally with the least HP for 56.6% - 107% of Kokona’s Healing. Gain 1 Stamp of Praise.
(Enhanced) Instructor’s Sense of Duty	Increases Kokona’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Plum Blossom Garden Method	Upon reaching 5 Stamps of Praise, consumes all charges to reduce the EX Skill cost of all allies (except Kokona) by 1 for one use. Heals Kokona for 57% - 108% of her Healing.

Kokona is an okay healer. Great Job is a cheap, quick heal that rivals Serina’s as they both have the same cost. Kokona also has the advantage of healing herself whenever she uses her EX Skill, which makes looking after her quite a bit easier. Note that Kokona can’t target herself with her heal!

The problem with Kokona is that while she does have some powerful stuff locked behind her Stamps of Praise, accumulating said stamps is tedious and difficult. Yes, she does have an emergency heal but it’s locked behind ONE HUNDRED CRITS. Plum Blossom Garden Method is an interesting cost down skill in that it affects everyone, but it’s markedly less useful than Ui’s EX Skill in that it only reduces costs by 1 and requires (and consumes) five Stamps of Praise. On the plus side, Kokona is currently the only character who can cost down your off-field supports, and Great Job is easily cyclable so you -can- make this work if you want to.

Asagao Hanae (Christmas)

Rarity: ***
Special Healer
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Time for Presents!	Gives allies in a circular AOE a regeneration buff that heals for 7% - 13.4% of Hanae’s healing per tick for 60 seconds. Grants those allies one stack of Holy Night’s Blessing. Regenerated HP per tick is increased by 0.3% - 0.7% per stack, to a maximum of 15 stacks. Stacks last 50 seconds.
(Basic) Cheer Up!	Hanae gives the ally with the least HP 22.7% - 43.2% increased Recovery Boost for 15 seconds. 35 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Chant of Blessings	Increases Hanae’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) I’m Rooting for You!	Increases ally crit damage by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Before you ask – yes, Christmas Hanae and Serina apply the same stacks of Holy Night’s Blessing. Matter of fact, it’s ideal for you run both to maximize the benefits your team gets from them.

Now, down to brass tacks. Compared to Christmas Serina, Christmas Hanae trades flashiness for utility. She keeps her heal, though it’s been converted to a more expensive AOE regen buff that lasts for 60 seconds. Continuous healing is good, but keep in mind that even maxed out, it only heals for 13.4% of Hanae’s Healing unless coupled with Holy Night’s Blessing stacks, and that means dedicating a Striker slot to Christmas Serina. Hanako can do the same job with less fuss.

Support: Buffer Tier List

These characters provide their allies with beneficial effects to make them stronger.

S	Ako, Himari, Hoshino (Swimsuit), Fuuka (New Year), Kayoko (New Year) Ui
A	Kotama, Serina (Christmas)
B	Chinatsu (Hot Springs)*, Akane (Bunny)
D	Hatsune Miku, Tomoe, Nodoka

S-Tier

Amau Ako

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Mystic DamageStreet Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Reconnaisance Report	Target ally gains 27.2% - 39.5% crit rate and 50.5% - 73.3% crit damage for 16 seconds.
(Basic) Supply Operation Plan B	Heals 1 ally for 129% - 245% of Ako’s Healing every 45 seconds.
(Enhanced) Beginning Supply Support	Increases Ako’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Beginning Tactical Support	Increases ally crit damage by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Sets up a single carry with her incredible buff and has an off-heal.

Akeboshi Himari

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Piercing Damage
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Hah! Look What I’m Made Of!	Increases a single target’s ATK by 55.2% - 105% for 13 seconds.
(Basic) You Might Be Surprised!	Deals 185% - 241% damage every 30 seconds. Lowers the target’s Evasion by 16.9% - 27.1%.
(Enhanced) Clifftop Bloom	Increases Himari’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) True Worth of a Beautiful Super Genius Hacker	Increases Cost Recovery by 10.6% - 20.2%.

Another powerful single-target buffer in the vein of Ako. Cost Recovery boost is always nice.

Takanashi Hoshino (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Front Striker, Explosive Damage, Special Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 6 bars) Surface Support	Summons an aura that grants 26.5% - 38.5% ATK and 68.3% - 99% Explosive Effectiveness to allies within it. Lasts 50 seconds. Level 5: Cost reduced by 1, for a total of 5.
(Basic) Surface Attack	Deals 283% - 454% damage to one target and heals Hoshino for 75% - 97.6% of her Healing.
(Enhanced) Endure the Heat	Increases Hoshino’s ATK and DEF by 11.2% - 16.2%.
(Sub) Fun at the Beach	Increases Cost Recovery by 360 – 684 while an EX Skill is active.

Swimsuit Hoshino is second to none when it comes to red (explosive) team support. It’s not enough that she has a respectable attack buff – she also has the unique ability to directly increase the damage done by red students up to a whopping 99%. As if that wasn’t enough, she also increases your Cost Recovery while her aura is up. This means that not only does your gauge recover faster, but you’ll also be able to maximize the use of Hoshino’s aura.

Always include in any team that uses Explosive damage.

Aikiyo Fuuka (New Year)

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Piercing Damage
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) School Lunch Club’s Osechi	Target ally’s EX skill cost is halved (rounded) for 1 use. Target ally also gains 18.3% - 32.1% crit damage for 35 seconds. Level 5: Cost reduced to 2.
(Basic) Tasting Time!	Casts 119% - 227% of Healing as barrier on the ally with the least HP for 20 seconds. 60 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) The Best Bite	Increases Fuuka’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) School Lunch Club’s Snack	Increases ally ATK by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Another great single carry support but is unfortunately in direct competition with Ako as both buff crit rate. Choose carefully, but both are solid picks.

Onikata Kayoko (New Year)

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) New Year’s Amulet	Grants target ally (excluding Kayoko) 48.8% - 92.8% Mystic Effectiveness for 40 seconds. Also grants an amulet to that target.
(Basic) Kitty Cat Time	Grants a random ally (excluding Kayoko) 20.8% - 39.5% crit rate for 25 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) A New Misunderstanding	Increases Kayoko’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Reciprocal Relationship	Triggers when allies crit 200 times. Increases Kayoko’s ATK by 13.1% - 24.9% while all allies with an amulet gain 22% - 41.8% Mystic Effectiveness. Both effects last 50 seconds. After this skill’s effect, remove all amulets from affected allies.

Kayoko returns, this time as a dedicated Mystic damage support. And…wow. She’s really put in a lot of work.

First off, she fills the niche of Mystic Effectiveness buffer, just as Swimsuit Hoshino does for Explosive and Christmas Serina for Piercing. Fortunately, the devs have returned to the “simple is best” design philosophy – Kayoko just instantly gives her target a very meaty Mystic Effectiveness buff.

Kayoko’s New Year’s Amulet isn’t as sweeping as Hoshino’s aura, but it is very cheap at just 2 bars, which most single-target Mystic damage nukers will appreciate. Kayoko can also set up a late-match sweep with her amulets and Reciprocal Relationship’s effect, but her main use is really her amulets.

Kozeki Ui

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Ancient Texts Expert	Target ally’s EX skill cost is halved (rounded down) for 2 uses. Target ally also gains 10% - 16.1% ATK for 46 seconds. Level 3+: Cost reduced to 4. Level 5: Cost reduced to 3.
(Basic) Imparting Knowledge	Increases crit rate for allies in a circular AOE by 13.6% - 25.9% for 33 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Expert Skill	Increases Ui’s crit rate by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Jitters	Using Ancient Texts Expert also increases Ui’s attack speed by 24.2% - 45.9% for 20 seconds.

First off, I apologize for putting Ui in the A-tier during the last iteration of this list. I have seen the light and her true power.

Ui has decently high stats on her own, but let’s be honest: the real reason you’re using her is for her powerful cost down EX skill. This gives Ui a niche that no one else can fill and can lead to some pretty interesting strategies; 7-cost Hina is too much, but pair her with Ui and suddenly her EX skill becomes a lot more affordable.

What’s more, Ui’s cost down isn’t timed – instead, it depletes charges whenever a buffed student fires their EX skill. Just a shame that it’s field targeted, so you can’t hit your Special students with it. On the other hand, some hypercarry teams may want a different student in their Striker slot, meaning that Ui is usually in direct competition with New Year Fuuka.

If breaking the game with Ui’s degenerate EX Skill still isn’t enough for you, she can also increase crit, though that’s the cherry on top.

A-Tier

Otose Kotama

Rarity: *
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: C
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Commence Wiretap	Increases the ATK of all allies in a circular AOE by 24.9% - 47.4% for 30 seconds.
(Basic) Tap Vulnerabilities	Deals 237% - 450% damage to 1 enemy and lowers its ATK by 18.9%. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Intensive Analysis	Increases Kotama’s Accuracy by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) EM Wave Diffusion	Kotama increases ally attack by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Go-to team ATK buffer. Note that there are better options if you want single-target buffs, like Himari.

Sumi Serina (Christmas)

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Piercing Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Echo of Blessings	Increases crit damage for allies in a circular AOE by 27.2% - 43.5% for 50 seconds. Grants those allies one stack of Holy Night’s Blessing. Piercing effectiveness is increased by 2.3% - 3.7% per stack, to a maximum of 15 stacks. Stacks last 50 seconds.
(Basic) Assorted Gift Set C	Every 21 normal attacks, Serina throws one of three gifts to allies in a circular AOE. Green Box: Increases crit damage by 11% - 21%. Red Box: Increases crit damage by 12.6% - 24%. Teddy Bear: Increases crit damage by 14.2% - 27%. Serina does not benefit from these buffs. Has a 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Guardian Angel’s Will	Increases Serina’s max HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Holy Aegis	Increases Evasion by 18.1% - 34.4% for 15 seconds after reloading.

More effectiveness is good as it means both faster clearing in normal stages and more damage for raids. Note that building stacks can be iffy. Requires Christmas Hanae to be more consistent.

B-Tier

Hinomiya Chinatsu (Hot Springs)

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: S-tier for any raid where you want to buff an auto-attacker. No hard and fast rules, but some examples include Swimsuit Izuna/Izuna for even faster debuff cycles/DPS, Maki versus Binah, or Mika’s meteors.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) Type A Combat Stimulant	Increases attack speed for target ally by 31.5% - 60% for 30 seconds. Cannot target Chinatsu.
(Basic) Reinforced Combat Enhancement	Increases attack speed for an ally by 18.4% - 35% for 20 seconds. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Relaxing Vacation	Increases Chinatsu’s max HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Cautious First Aid Head	Using Type A Combat Stimulant also gives Chinatsu a shield with health equal to 108% - 205% of her Healing for 30 seconds.

A dedicated attack speed buffer. Not much use in general content, but shines when paired with other characters.

Murokasa Akane (Bunny)

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Mystic Damage
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Meticulous Preparations	Summons a mine that detonates for 351% - 667% damage when an enemy gets in range.
(Basic) Immaculate Cleanup	Deals 216% - 411% damage to enemies in a circular AOE. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Close Capture	Increases Akane’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Rapid Support	Increases Mystic ally ATK by 12.7% - 24.2%.

Akane’s bunny suit form is still heavy on the fire support, but this time she’s geared exclusively towards Mystic damage. Despite being listed as a Dealer, her real value lies in her Rapid Support Sub Skill that pushes Mystic ally attack even higher – although her mines are quite valuable for their low cost and decent damage too!

D-Tier

Hatsune Miku

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Explosive DamageStreet Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) My Heart in This Moment!	Heals allies in a circular AOE for 111% - 144% of Miku’s Healing. Allies within the AOE also gain a 21.2% - 34% ATK buff. Lasts 26 seconds.
(Basic) Hatsune Miku’s Passion	Increases crit rate by 19.8% - 37.7% in a circular AOE for 30 seconds. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Hatsune Miku’s Support	Increases Miku’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Hatsune Miku’s Blessing	Increases ally Recovery Boost by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Miku is probably the single biggest waifu over meta character in Blue Archive. Her EX Skill heals and buffs, but most importantly, it lets you know that yes, Blue Archive got an official Vocaloid collab by having her song play over the stage’s BGM. Take that, other gacha games!

In practical terms, Miku is too much of a generalist, which is something you don’t want as you only have two valuable Special slots. She gives a little bit of everything, but the slew of buffs she gives is rarely impactful enough given their automatic targeting and requirement to stand still.

One other thing about Miku: collab events in gacha games are few, far between, and very rarely rerun. If Miku ever comes back to us and you regret not getting her, so if by any chance there’s a rerun, you know what you have to do.

Sashiro Tomoe

Rarity: *
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Everyone, Please Listen to Me!	Allies in a circular AOE receive 13.9% - 20.1% crit damage and crit rate and 30.8% move speed, but -38.5% normal attack range. Effects last 30 seconds.
(Basic) Clever Incitement	Deals 235% - 447% damage to one enemy every 30 seconds.
(Enhanced) Smooth Sailing	Increases Tomoe’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Irrefutable Evidence	Deals 57.1% - 108% of ATK as extra damage when attacking enemies with barriers.

Tomoe is an interesting case: on one hand, a crit rate plus crit damage buff is the same buff that Ako gives (though that’s a major overstatement) and it also gives 30% movement speed. The downside is that it tanks normal attack range, meaning that if you use it on your back Dealers, even if it’s just to pop their skills, they’ll be forced to move close to continue firing which will put them in harm’s way.

On the other hand, movement speed buffs are few and far between, which gives Tomoe a niche in stage clearing that no one else can do. Tomoe’s not a universally useful support, but she can have useful applications.

Amami Nodoka

Rarity: *
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Observational Support	Increases ally accuracy by 25.2% - 47.9% in a round AOE for 30 seconds.
(Basic) Persistent Surveillance	Deals 221% - 421% damage to one enemy and lowers their Evasion by 17.7% - 33.7% for 20 seconds.
(Enhanced) Aesthetic Observation	Increases Nodoka’s accuracy by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) A Special Bond	Increases ally accuracy by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Has an EX Skill that does nothing but increases ACC.

Support: Debuffer Tier List

These characters specialize in hitting enemies with negative effects to weaken them.

A	Akane*
B	Noa*, Hiyori, Asuna (Bunny)*, Haruka (New Year), Mina*, Saki (Swimsuit)*,
C	Kirino

A-Tier

Murokasa Akane          

Rarity: *
Mid Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: D

[Addendum: SS-tier for Binah and almost a hard requirement to overcome its massive DEF.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) Elegant Removal	Akane deals 547% - 876% damage to one enemy and lowers their DEF by 29% - 37.7% for 30 seconds.
(Basic) Elegant Infiltration	Deals 356% - 753% damage to one enemy. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Agile Advancement	Increases Akane’s move speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Total Suppression	Attacks have a 10% change to reduce enemy Evasion by 6.7% - 12.7% for 30 seconds. 10 second cooldown.

Akane’s combat performance itself is meh. Middling stats and a propensity to move ahead of the team to get herself killed doesn’t leave a good impression – but that’s not why she’s so high on this list. What she does have is a great combo starter with her low-cost EX Skill that shaves off a good third of an enemy’s DEF. Couple her with another DEF reducer and a dedicated single-target DPS nuker like Azusa and watch the big numbers pop.

B-Tier

Ushio Noa

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Special Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: B

[Addendum: A-tier for Goz due to marking + DEF down. Note that Swimsuit Izuna and Sakurako can do the same while outputting DPS. You only really need one marker per team.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Speedy Record-Keeper	Marks one target and causes Noa and her allies to focus fire on that enemy for 40 seconds. Decreases that enemy’s DEF by 21.3% - 40.5% for 40 seconds.
(Basic) Found an Opening!	Deals 399% - 758% damage to one target. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) The Secretary’s Leisure	Increases Noa’s max HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) The Secretary’s Stubbornness	Found an Opening! also increases status ailment retention by 16.9% - 32.1% for 13 seconds.

Noa is pretty much just a straight-up better version of Akane: higher DEF stripping on her EX, slightly higher Normal Skill damage, and a Sub Skill that extends the duration of debuffs on her target. Noa is made for initiating combat on big targets and bringing them down fast. Do be wary though as her EX Skill marks the target, making her effective against tricky foes like Goz and much less useful against bosses that summon a lot of minions.

A few quirks about Noa you should know: her Sub Skill only increases the duration of her own debuffs and this does affect her EX Skill.

Tsuchinaga Hiyori

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Explosive, Damage
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) T-Take This!	Fires a bullet that travels in a straight line. The bullet does 207% - 331% damage. The bullet also inflicts a 23.2% - 30.1% DEF debuff. If there are 3 or more Arius Squad students in the formation, the DEF debuff is increased to 39.7% - 51.6%.
(Basic) Th-This Is Gonna Hurt!	Deals 255% - 409% damage to one target and lowers their DEF by 7.7% - 10% for 30 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Magazine Knowledge	Increases Hiyori’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Bonus Power!	Increases ally ATK by 9.1% -17.3%.

While Hiyori shares the property of being best in an Arius Squad composition, she’s effective even without them as 30.1% DEF peeling is nothing to scoff at. Her normal skill also adds another 10% DEF reduction, making Hiyori an effective support in taking down big targets. Just don’t miss with her EX!

Ichinose Asuna (Bunny)

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Light Armor, Takes CoverStreet Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: S-tier for Perorodzilla due to mass DEF debuff.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Watch This!	Decreases enemy DEF in a circular AOE by 18.9% - 24.6% for 40 seconds. Also deals 274% - 438% damage.
(Basic) Get Pumped!	Increases ATK by 18.4% - 29.5% for 23 seconds. 35 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Savoring It!	Increases Asuna’s max HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Here’s a Freebie!	Using Watch This! increases attack speed by 20.1% - 38.3% for 30 seconds.

AOE DEF debuffer. For general content you want the AOE damage, for bosses like Perorodzilla, you want the debuff.

Igusa Haruka (New Year)

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: C

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Who Approved This…?!	Target enemy’s crit resistance and crit damage resistance are reduced by 21.8% - 41.5% for 50 seconds. Also deals 182% - 345% damage to that enemy.
(Basic) A Proper Greeting	A random enemy’s crit damage resistance is reduced by 16.2% - 30.8% for 20 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Unforgivable, Unforgivable!!	Increases Haruka’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) All Her Courage	Increases Cost Recovery by 10.6% - 20.2%.

Decent generalist support. EX Skill is geared towards bosses; watch out for debuff overlap from the likes of characters like Swimsuit Miyako. Extra Cost Recovery is always very welcome.

Konoe Mina

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

[Addendum: SS-tier for Gregorius thanks to her mass debuff.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Well Matched	Deals 312% - 593% damage to one target and applies various debuffs depending on Well Matched’s skill level: • Level 1: Reduces ATK by 15.9%. • Level 2: Reduces ATK by 18.3%. • Level 3: Reduces ATK and EVA by 23%. • Level 4: Reduces ATK and EVA by 25.4%. • Level 5: Reduces ATK, EVA, and ACC by 30.2%. All debuffs last 50 seconds.
(Basic) Unstoppable	Every 8th normal attack instantly reloads Mina’s weapon and deals 222% - 423% damage to one target. If the target has a certain number of debuffs, this skill does more damage: • Target has 3 debuffs: deals 445% - 846% damage. • Target has 4 debuffs: deals 668% - 1269% damage. • Target has 5+ debuffs: deals 891% - 1693% damage.
(Enhanced) Stand Your Ground	Increases Mina’s EVA by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Determination	Increases Mina’s ATK, EVA, and ACC when she uses Well Matched by 18.8% - 35.8% for 20 seconds.

Built almost exclusively for Gregorius, where she flourishes. Totally overkill and useless for general content, but those 3 buffs are incredibly handy for getting Greg to safe limits. Can output surprisingly decent DPS thanks to her Unstoppable Basic Skill.

Sorai Saki (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, No Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

[Addendum: SS-tier for Gregorius thanks to her mass debuff and bonus to Special team mates.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Throw Flare!	Deals 290% - 552% damage to one target and reduces its DEF, ATK, and crit resistance by 10.9% - 20.8% for 50 seconds.
(Basic) Cover Fire	Deals 195% - 371% damage to targets in a fan-shaped AOE every 15 normal attacks. This attack additionally deals 97.7% - 185% of ATK as extra damage to medium-sized enemies.
(Enhanced) Precise Maintenance	Increases Saki’s ACC by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Camaraderie	Increases the user’s and any Special student’s ATK by 16.1% - 30.6%.

Saki’s swimsuit version serves as a heavy support unit who can inflict mass debuffs on a single target, like Mina. Unlike Mina, Swimsuit Saki doesn’t really serve as a pseudo-DPS, instead focusing on empowering Special students in her unit. Camaraderie is a unique Sub Skill that vastly improves both Saki’s and any Special students, meaning that Swimsuit Saki works best in a team with characters like Hibiki, Mashiro, or Iroha. While the ATK bonus is appreciable, this also means Swimsuit Saki is a bit less flexible in team building as full support characters like Ako or Serina get little to no mileage out of Camaraderie.

Just like Mina, Swimsuit Saki’s main use is as a Gregorius debuffer. Camaraderie is especially potent here as Gregorius teams tend to lean towards off-fielders for their AOE – characters like Minori, Nagisa, Hibiki, or Swimsuit Miyu will greatly appreciate Saki’s ATK boost.

C-Tier

Nakatsukasa Kirino

Rarity: **
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Special Armor, Takes CoverStreet Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Done Talking!	Deals 337% - 540% damage in a circular AOE. Also deploys a smoke grenade in the AOE which reduces enemy accuracy by 26.1% - 30%. Smokescreen lasts 20 seconds.
(Basic) Suppressing Violence!	Deals 199% - 289% damage to the furthest enemy and lowers their accuracy by 19.4% - 28.1% for 13 seconds.
(Enhanced) Back on the Horse!	Increases Kirino’s max HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) No Time to Rest!	Normal attacks have a 30% chance to reduce Recovery Boost by 22.7% - 43.2% for 13 seconds. 5 second cooldown.

Not really much point in reducing ACC unless somehow your EVA tanks are dying. And if they are, you have bigger problems than enemy ACC – like increasing your own EVA.

Support: Disabler Tier List

These characters excel at disabling foes with status ailments – mostly stuns.

A	Chihiro*
B	Izumi (Swimsuit)*, Saki*
C	Hare, Airi*
D	Kayoko*, Juri, Yoshimi

A-Tier

Kagami Chihiro

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Piercing Damage
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

[Addendum: SS-tier and a must-have for Hod. You will rarely require the immense amount of CC power Chihiro brings – but she’s a hard requirement for higher-level Hod not only from her own EX Skill but also because she makes everyone else’s CC better.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Override	Deals 257% - 412% damage to a single target. If that target has Heavy armor, it’s also stunned for 5.7 – 7.5 seconds.
(Basic) Through the Backdoor	The enemy with the highest ATK is hit with a 16.9% - 32.2% ATK debuff for 23 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Exploit	Increases Chihiro’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Building a Firewall	Increases ally Crowd Control strength by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Designed from the ground up to be used against Hod. Won’t see much use – if any – in general content but you pretty much must have her to stand a chance against higher difficulty Hod

B-Tier

Shishidou Izumi (Swimsuit)

Rarity: *
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: C

[Addendum: A-tier for Kaiten Phase 1 as you will need a way to deal with the Kaitengers’ skills on Extreme or higher.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Cold Coconut Juice!	Chucks a coconut at one enemy to deal 332% - 532% damage and a 2.4 – 3.1 second stun. The coconut then ricochets to strike another nearby target, dealing 10% less damage per ricochet and bouncing up to 5 times.
(Basic) Sweet n’ Sour, Crunchy n’ Crispy!	Increases ATK by 20.2% - 38.4% for 30 seconds. 35 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Take a Bite and Smile!	Increases Izumi’s attack speed by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Leaves Your Head Spinning!	Attacks have a 10% chance to stun for 1.23 – 2.34 seconds. 20 second cooldown.

Izumi’s summer version is a lot more consistently useful. With a powerful chain stun EX Skill, some pretty decent self-buffs, and a 10% stun proc on normal attacks (which is sadly constrained by a 20 second cooldown), Swimsuit Izumi finally has something good to offer her team.

Sorai Saki

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Piercing Damage
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

[Addendum: S-Tier for Hod. Nice complement to Chihiro and benefits greatly from her increased CC passive.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Rain Support Fire!	Deals 416% - 666% damage in a round AOE. Stuns for 3.9 – 5.1 seconds.
(Basic) Suppressive Fire	Deals 185% - 343% damage to one target. Also deals 53.4% - 56% burn damage for 20 seconds. 35 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Meticulous Maintenance	Increases Saki’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Point Woman’s Lead	Increases ally ATK by 9.1% - 17.3%.

The best way to describe Saki is “direct upgrade to Hare but yellow.” And focused on damage.

Saki is a decent Special unit that packs a pretty meaty circular stun/nuke and a Basic skill that does even more damage. She also passively increases her own ATK and gives a passive party wide ATK buff. Saki is simple, but just like her character, she’s straightforward and effective.

C-Tier

Omagari Hare

Rarity: **
Special Student, Explosive DamageStreet Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) EMP Drone Launch	Deals 271% - 435% damage to enemies in a circular AOE. Stuns hit targets for 2.7 – 3.5 seconds.
(Basic) Sabotage: Plan A	Decreases Recovery Boost for a random enemy by 26.7% - 50.7% for 15 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Enhanced Arms: Plan B	Increases Hare’s crit by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Interception System Ops	Increases ally Evasion by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Hare packs fast, reliable stuns that hit quickly. If you really need to stun, you have better options.

Kurimura Airi

Rarity: **
Special Student, Explosive DamageStreet Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: A

[Addendum: B-Tier for Binah and ShiroKuro but requires investment to drop attack speed as well. Not particularly recommended.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) If I Have To	Deals 265% to 464% damage to enemies in a circular AOE. Enemies affected are hit with a 22.8% move speed debuff. Level 3+: Also decreases attack speed by 26.2%.
(Basic) You Might See Stars	Decreases attack speed by 18.4% - 35.1% for 1 enemy. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Dessert Power	Increases Airi’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Airi’s Encouragement	Increases ally attack speed by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Drops enemy attack speed, raises your own. A very niche effect that sees no play in general content and very limited usage in raids.

D-Tier

Onikata Kayoko

Rarity: **
Mid Striker, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: A

[Addendum: B-Tier for Hod. While powerful, she doesn’t add anything to the party outside of her CC.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 6 bars) Panic Bringer	Kayoko fires a shot into the air, dealing 349% - 558% damage in a large circular area centered around herself. This shot inflicts Fear, which lasts 3.9 – 5.1 seconds.
(Basic) Panic Shot	Deals 132% - 252% damage to a single enemy. This shot has a 30% chance to inflict Fear for 3.6 seconds. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Scary Face	Increases Kayoko’s Crowd Control strength by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Oh, Well...	Kayoko deals an additional 74.8% - 142% damage to enemies affected by any kind of Crowd Control.

Kayoko is my favorite character in the game. That doesn’t exempt her from scrutiny. In a word, she’s bad. Like really bad. She has a dismally low ATK stat, and her whole gimmick revolves around inflicting Fear. Blue Archive rounds are hard and fast, and status effects that don’t directly influence enemy stats rarely, if ever, have any use. Couple this with an expensive EX Skill at 6 bars, and you have a super niche character

Ushimaki Juri

Rarity: *
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Juri’s Cooking Time!	Drops a pot of “food” that attracts up to 4 enemies in a circular area. Enemies that eat the “food” are poisoned, taking 58.9% - 112% of Juri’s ATK as damage for 20 seconds.
(Basic) Peak Culinary Effort	The enemy with the highest ATK is hit with a 18.1% - 34.4% attack speed debuff for 16 seconds. 20 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Extreme Zeal!	Increases Juri’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Juri’s Mealtime	Juri increases ally max HP by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Once again, Blue Archive is not a fertile ground for DoTs. Juri’s EX Skill is however, technically a pseudo-stun where enemies will be preoccupied with moving towards the target, but it’s still not consistently useful. You could make the case that it’s technically enemy displacement, but in my experience, enemies taking cover is a non-issue outside of PVP, but when a single shot from a support unit can take out a tank, it’s hard to argue that Juri should have one of the two valuable support slots.

Ihara Yoshimi

Rarity: *
Special Student, Piercing DamageStreet Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) I-I’m Not Worried!	Yoshimi deals 220% - 353% damage to enemies in a circular area; this also stuns them for 2.2 – 2.9 seconds.
(Basic) You Wanna Get Burned?!	Every 25 seconds, Yoshimi deals 191% - 364% to enemies in a round AOE.
(Enhanced) Don’t Underestimate Me!	Increases Yoshimi’s crit rate by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) E-Everyone, Please Listen!	Increases ally crowd control power by 9.1% - 17.3%.

…if I wanted to stun, I’d just use Hare.

You could make the argument that technically Yoshimi does more damage, but A.) The point of a stun is to disable, not to kill, and B.) Hare’s stun is 3.5 seconds compared to Yoshimi’s 2.9. Yoshimi’s EX skill also has a very noticeable and annoying startup (a missile falls, and it has to detonate before any damage/stun is dealt), and on top of that, she and Hare have the exact same AOE radius. There’s really no reason to use Yoshimi unless you really like her, or you were unlucky enough to never pull Hare.

Support: Utility Tier List

These characters offer utility via different methods – shields, summons, or walls.

S	Shizuko (Swimsuit)
A	Mari*
B	Hifumi, Utaha, Shun, Mimori, Kaede, Kotori
C	Shizuko*, Shimiko*

S-Tier

Kawawa Shizuko (Swimsuit)

Rarity: *
Special Student, Mystic Damage
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Summer Momoyodou Opening!	Moves 4 allies to the targeted location, then casts 76.8% - 145% of Heal as a shield. Shield lasts 30 seconds.
(Basic) Are You Hot?	The ally with the highest crit damage gains a 20.8% - 39.5% crit damage buff for 36 seconds. 45 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Sales Are Increasing!	Increases Shizuko’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Cheer Up! Nyan!	Increases ally ATK by 9.1% - 17.3%.

A welfare student that I seriously misjudged until I reread her kit. Positioning-based mechanics are becoming more important now, especially in raids – such as avoiding Goz’s carts – and the fact that she bestows a shield on top of repositioning is fantastic. She also helps greatly in single carry teams, so that’s another massive point in her favor. Best of all, she’s free!

A-Tier

Iochi Mari

Rarity: **
Special Student, Mystic Damage
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 2 bars) Divine Protection	Target ally gains a barrier with health equal to 172% - 328% of Mari’s Healing. Removes 1 debuff from target.
(Basic) Purifying Barrage	Deals 191% - 364% damage in a circular AOE. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Resolute Determination	Increases Mari’s crit rate by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Benevolent Blessings	Increases ally max HP by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Essentially Swimsuit Shizuko but lighter. Shield only affects one target but you’d normally only use one tank anyway and can be incredibly helpful in raids as it packs a dispel (AKA Perorodzilla).

B-Tier

Ajitani Hifumi

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Help Me, Peroro!	Summons a Peroro plush that deals 202% - 386% damage, and taunts enemies damaged by this burst for 3.4 – 3.9 seconds. The plush has 160% of Hifumi’s max HP.
(Basic) Peroro’s Support	Every 35 seconds, Hifumi deals 212% damage to an enemy and drops their Accuracy by 16.8% - 32% for 30 seconds.
(Enhanced) Collector’s Spirit	Increases Hifumi’s max HP by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Agile Collector	Using Help Me, Peroro! also increases Hifumi’s Cost Recovery by 980 – 1861 for 5 seconds.

A more expensive but harder support taunt. If you just need a body to take a hit, go for Utaha as she’s cheaper.

Shiroishi Utaha

Rarity: **
Special Dealer, Piercing Damage
Street Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: A

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Rise of Thundergun	Utaha plops down a turret on a targeted location. The turret deals 81.4% - 154% of Utaha’s damage. Turrets last 30 seconds.
(Basic) Thundergun MK-II	Utaha summons a turret every 30 seconds. This turret deals 38.2% - 72.6% of Utaha’s damage. MK-II turrets last 20 seconds.
(Enhanced) Tech Revolution	Increases Utaha’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Meister’s Pledge	Utaha’s allies have 9.1% - 17.3% increased max HP.

Utaha’s real value comes from the shenanigans you can pull off with her turrets. They’re not strong and they’re not sturdy…but they’re an extra body on the field that can buy you the time you need. Sure, the turrets may not be able to move (limiting Utaha’s general viability), but sometimes you just need a cheap, disposable body that can tank hits, like against Perorodzilla’s laser.

Sunohara Shun

Rarity: ***
Back Striker, Explosive Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Where Did You Go, You Rascals?	Shun’s normal attacks deal 153% of her damage, her range increases by 24.4%, her crit increases by 26.3% - 50%, but her attack speed drops by 18.8%. Lasts 30 seconds.
(Basic) Pay Attention, Everyone!	At the beginning of combat, Shun instantly adds 2 – 3.8 Skill Cost (bars) to the EX Skill gauge.
(Enhanced) Instructor’s Poise	Increases Shun’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Plum Blossom Training	Shun deals 50.7% - 96.4% of her ATK as bonus damage against medium-sized targets.

Free bars. That’s it. That’s the whole reason to use Shun. She’s ubiquitous in PvP since free bars usually allow a player to make some large headroom at the beginning of a round, but in PvE and especially Raid scenarios, Shun struggles to find a niche.

Mizuha Mimori

Rarity: ***
Mid Striker, Mystic Damage, Light Armor, Takes Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Cherry Blossom Viewing!	Moves allies to a circular AOE, then increases their attack speed by 14.7% - 28% for 40 seconds.
(Basic) I Brought a Bento	Grants a regen buff to the ally with the lowest HP, healing them for 22.8% - 43.4% of Mimori’s Healing every few ticks for 20 seconds. 45 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) How About Another Plate?	Increases Mimori’s DEF by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Shall We Have A Taste?	Increases DEF for allies in a circular AOE by 14.2% - 27.1% for 23 seconds. 35 second cooldown.

Repositioner with an attack speed buff and an off-heal. If you want attack speed, go for it, otherwise, Swimsuit Shizuko exists.

Isami Kaede

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: D
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Fire the Flare!	Grants 144% - 275% of Healing as a shield to allies in a circular AOE. Shield lasts 16 seconds.
(Basic) Herculean Beetle Shield!	Gives the ally with the highest DEF a 15.8% - 30% DEF buff. Lasts 33 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Healing Waves! Hyah!	Increases Kaede’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) I Can Try Harder!	Increases ally max HP by 9.1% - 17.3%.

AOE shielder. Again, Swimsuit Shizuko exists, though Kaede has the advantage of not having to reposition.

Toyomi Kotori

Rarity: *
Back Striker, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take CoverStreet Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Box of Answers	Drops a box at a target point, which draws allies towards it. When allies touch the box, they gain a shield with health equal to 175% - 334% of Kotori’s Healing. Shield lasts 13 seconds.
(Basic) Pardon!	Kotori deals 269% - 511% damage in a fan-shaped AOE every 35 seconds.
(Enhanced) Getting the Point	Increases Kotori’s crit damage by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Roger That, Crystal Clear!	Kotori gains 20.1% - 38.3% crit damage for 30 seconds if she defeats an enemy.

Reposition shielder. Again, good effect, but Swimsuit Shizuko exists and offers way more.

C-Tier

Kawawa Shizuko

Rarity: **
Special Student, Mystic DamageStreet Combat Power: A
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: B

[Addendum: SS-Tier for ShiroKuro due to being able to bounce the ball. Note that higher difficulties require more investment as her wall needs to hold up. Not a hard requirement if you have easy reposition access but very nice to have.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Behold, Momoyodou!	Increases the Accuracy of allies in a circular AOE by 16.3% - 21.3% for 30 seconds. Summons a barrier at the center of the AOE which can be used as cover. The barrier has an additional 29.2% - 46.8% of Shizuko’s HP.
(Basic) Don’t Stand in the Way of Business!	Deals 184% - 341% damage to one target and gives it a 17.4% - 18.3% ATK debuff for 21 seconds. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) T-Tehe-Pero?!	Increases Shizuko’s Accuracy by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Pop Idol’s Encouragement	Increases ally crit rate by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Shizuko is pretty much here just for the Shirokuro raid. I love her personality though.

Endo Shimiko

Rarity: *
Special Student, Explosive Damage
Street Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: B

[Addendum: B-Tier for ShiroKuro due to being able to bounce the ball. Shizuko is pretty much superior in every way (ATK debuff is universally useful and has a crit rate party buff) so use her instead.]

Skills	Effect
(EX, 3 bars) Shield of Knowledge	Deploys cover and increases DEF for allies in a circular AOE by 16.1% - 26.2% for 30 seconds. Level 3+: Cover also has 20.1% of Shimiko’s max HP as HP. Level 5: Cover also has 38% of Shimiko’s max HP as HP.
(Basic) Food for the Soul!	The ally with the least HP gains a shield with health equal to 119% - 226% of Shimiko’s Healing, for 16 seconds. 35 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Time To Gain Some Knowledge!	Increases Shimiko’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Study While You Can!	Increases ally DEF by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Shimiko exists, if for some reason you don’t want to use Shizuko.

Blue Archive Tactical Support (T.S) Tier List

These characters are deployed as Strikers when their EX Skill is activated.

S	Iroha
A	Ayane (Swimsuit)
B	Cherino (Hot Springs)
D	Hifumi (Swimsuit), Sena

S-Tier

Natsume Iroha

Rarity: ***
Back Special, Mystic Damage, Heavy Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 8 bars) Let’s Go, Toramaru	Summon Iroha riding Toramaru to the field for 55 seconds. Toramaru has bonus ATK equal to 11.2% - 38.5% of Iroha’s ATK. Aim & Fire Main Armament activates every 15 seconds. Toramaru fires a special shell that deals 279% - 377% damage to its primary target. The shell then splits, dealing the same damage to two extra targets. The shells can split twice. Level 3: Cost reduced by 1, for a cost of 7. Level 5: Cost additionally reduced by 1, for a cost of 6.
(Basic) Annoying…	Deals 43.8% - 83.3% damage to up to 4 enemies in a circular AOE. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Do I Have A Choice?	Increases Iroha’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Please Do Your Best	Increases ally ATK by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Every other T.S is now worse because they are not Iroha.

Remember the double tank Hot Springs Nodoka comp in indoor PVP? Iroha remembers. She remembers crushing them all beneath deafening cannon fire and heavy-duty steel treads. With her splitting attack, high damage, and great ally support, Iroha is now the golden standard by which all other T.S students are judged.

Despite appearances, Iroha is no slacker when it comes to PVE, either. Her splitting shells and artillery bombardment are a very welcome addition to any blue raid, and she makes Perorodzilla a cinch.

A-Tier

Okusora Ayane (Swimsuit)

Rarity: *
Back Special, Piercing Damage, Light Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: C
Outdoor Combat Power: A
Indoor Combat Power: B

Skills	Effect
(EX, 4 bars) Water Cloud, Charge!	Summon Ayane riding Water Cloud to the field for 30 seconds. Toramaru has bonus ATK equal to 12.5% - 47.5% of Ayane’s ATK, as well as 12.5% - 32.6% crit. Heavy Rain Missile activates every 12 seconds. Water Cloud fires a powerful missile that deals 297% - 401% damage to one target and ignores 68% - 84% of its DEF.
(Basic) Air Support	Deals 148% - 215% damage to one target. Attack also ignores 60% - 84% of the target’s DEF. 30 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Auto Aim	Increases Ayane’s crit by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Grasping The Situation	Increases ally crit damage by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Swimsuit Ayane is surprisingly potent for a free event unit. Her low EX Skill cost means that she can be deployed more frequently than other T.S units, and the chopper’s DEF-piercing attacks let Ayane do much more damage than you might expect.

B-Tier

Renkawa Cherino (Hot Springs)

Rarity: ***
Back Special, Explosive Damage, Heavy Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: S
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 6 bars) Purginator No. 1, Mobilize!	Summons Cherino riding the Purginator No. 1 to the field for 50 seconds. Purginator No. 1 is has bonus ATK equal to 9% - 17.1% of Cherino’s ATK. Every 3 normal attacks triggers Total Annihilation!, dealing 184% - 216% damage to one enemy and 276% - 324% damage to another enemy and those behind it in a fan-shaped AOE.
(Basic) Aim, Purge!	Deals 136% - 259% damage in a circular AOE. 15 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Mustache Rage!	Increases Cherino’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Power of the ‘Stache!	Increases ally crit damage by 9.1% - 17.3%.

At face value, Cherino’s Purginator is a lot better than Hifumi’s Crusadie as Cherino procs her tank’s skill every 3 normal attacks instead of on a hard timer; the fact that you can buff T.S units on the field can help greatly with proccing Total Annihilation!. The AOE nature of this skill also means she serves as a continuous source of AOE damage if you’re lacking someone like Hibiki. On the downside, it does cost 6 bars, so consider the fights you’re heading into carefully before committing to Hot Springs Cherino.

D-Tier

Ajitani Hifumi (Swimsuit)

Rarity: ***
Back Special, Piercing Damage, Heavy Armor, Doesn’t Take Cover
Street Combat Power: D
Outdoor Combat Power: B
Indoor Combat Power: S

Skills	Effect
(EX, 10 bars) Crusadie Backup!	Summons Hifumi and Crusadie to the field for 50 seconds. Crusadie has bonus ATK equal to 19.4% - 36.8% of Hifumi’s ATK. Every 20 seconds, activates Loading 2-Pound Explosives, which deals 266% - 359% damage in a circular AOE.
(Basic) Peroro’s Strike	Deals 159% - 302% damage in a circular AOE. 25 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Collector’s Drive	Increases Hifumi’s ATK by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) Angry Adelie’s Blessing	Increases ally attack speed by 9.1% - 17.3%.

As the first Tactical Support unit to be released, Hifumi was probably an experiment. An experiment that went south real fast, to be sure. All T.S units are wonky, but Hifumi really takes the cake here. For a whopping TEN EX BARS you get a 5^th body on the field who has a ponderously slow attack speed and a decent AOE skill hampered by a hard 20 second cooldown.

There are so many other things – useful things – that you could do with ten EX bars, and summoning Crusadie is not one of them. While it is amusing to see a giant tank behind your students, your, it’s not worth it in the long run.

Himuro Sena

Rarity: ***
Special Student, Mystic Damage
Street Combat Power: B
Outdoor Combat Power: S
Indoor Combat Power: D

Skills	Effect
(EX, 5 bars) Emergency Dispatch	Deploys Tactical Ambulance 11, which follows allies and gains 16.2% - 25.9% of Sena’s Healing as bonus Healing. Tactical Ambulance 11 passively grants a 17% - 22.1% ATK buff to nearby allies, excluding itself. Tactical Ambulance 11 also heals allies for 18.7% - 19.7% of its Healing every 10 seconds. Level 5: Cost reduced to 4.
(Basic) Energy Injection	Grants a 16.8% - 31.9% ATK buff to the ally with the highest ATK. Lasts 30 seconds. 40 second cooldown.
(Enhanced) Emergency Assist	Increases Sena’s Healing by 14% - 26.6%.
(Sub) As Soon as Possible	Increases ally ATK by 9.1% - 17.3%.

Just like the other T.S units in Blue Archive, Sena is janky at best.

Because of how her ambulance follows allies, Sena’s efficiency is hampered by the stage design itself, something that no other character has to care about. The results are either infuriating or hilarious – look up some videos on Youtube to see how she works. All of this is a damn shame, as Sena would pack reliable on-field healing and a constant ATK buff if we could get the stupid ambulance to work perfectly all the time.

However, Sena also suffers from a lack of specialization. Even if the ambulance did work all the time, it’s a buffet of buffs – a cheap buffet. If you want generalized support, she’s okay, but I find that if I want either healing or ATK buffs, it’s better to play a different character.

Play Who You Want To Play

I firmly believe that Blue Archive is the type of gacha game where you should play with your favorites. And while not everyone is a monster, performance-wise, they’re all perfectly viable characters and all it takes is a bit of strategic thinking, planning, and skill to clear any challenge in your way!

That concludes our Blue Archive tier list, and thanks for your feedback!