Blue Archive Tier List

In our Blue Archive Tier List page, we will cover which characters/units are worth considering building and investing on to help you clear the game's content.

Blue Archive is a military strategy RPG that takes place in the academy city of Kivotos where several clubs and academics are clustered together. Players take the role of an advisor to the Federal Investigation Club, Schale and will be tasked in resolving a myriad of incidents that happen within the academy city - with the help of a large roster of charming allies with different personalities and specialties.

Disclaimer

Please be reminded that Tier Lists are not “definite” measures of the character’s strength and potential. There are a lot of factors to be considered like the characters’ availability, their synergy with your team, their utility, equipment, etc. As such, please use our tier lists as what they’re meant to be - a guide. Use tier lists to help you decide whether you’ll want to invest resources and time to build a character. At the end of the day, it’s you who will decide which ones you’ll use based on preference and performance .

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Blue Archive is also a gacha game - meaning that the characters you’ll get will depend on your luck and how much resources you’re willing to spend. The drop rates are frustratingly low, so if you’re after a particular character that you like or if you want a top-tier character, your best chance to get them is by rerolling at the start of the game, before you even commit to binding your account and playing for real. Please check out our dedicated reroll guide to see which characters are worth rerolling.

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S Tier Units

S Tier units have access to incredible skill sets, making them very valuable in the battlefield and any team you put them in. S-tier units are the ones you should aim to get when rerolling.

Iori

Role: Dealer (Back)

School: Gehenna Academy Striker

She’s probably the best striker in the game, capable of dishing out impressive piercing damage at the back line in a wide area, thanks to her EX Skill. The only downside is that she’ll get her damage reduced when fighting in Urban and Field terrains but will excel when fighting indoors.

Haruna

Role: Dealer (Back)

School: Gehenna Academy Striker

Another excellent backline striker DPS, capable of dishing out excellent mystic damage. Her EX skill can pierce through multiple enemies in a straight line and as long as you protect her with a tank, expect her to decimate the enemies efficiently. She also gains an ATK bonus when standing still once you unlock her Sub Skill.

Hibiki

Role: Dealer (Back)

School: Millennium Science School / Special

A special DPS support unit that deals explosive AoE damage to enemies. Since she’s a Special unit, she’s practically safe from enemy fire while happily demolishing enemies offscreen. Her EX Skill has high damage scaling and covers 5 circular areas. She also deals considerable AoE damage in a circular area around an enemy with the lowest HP every 20 seconds - allowing her to pick them off. Finally, her Enhanced and Sub skills increase her Crit Damage and her allies’ Crit DMG respectively.

Shun

Role: Dealer (Back)

School: Shanhaijing Senior Secondary School

An equally stunning and sultry character, Shun’s a very potent red/explosive backline damage dealer. Her EX Skill increases her damage, range, and Cirt at the cost of ATK SPD for a few seconds. Her basic skill will give you almost 4 points of Skill Cost at the start of the battle, allowing your allies to use their EX skills quickly. Her enhanced skill increases her ATK while her Sub Skill allows her to deal additional damage against medium-sized enemies. Shun will have a hard time fighting in Indoor terrain but will excel in Urban warfare.

Hina

Role: Dealer (Back)

School: Gehenna Academy Striker

Another backline striker from Gehenna Academy, Hina deals red/explosive damage with considerable AoE and with an outstanding damage multiplier. She also has a basic skill that allows her to reload instantly once she’s out of ammo while boosting her ATK by a good amount for a few seconds. Her basic skill boosts her ATK SPD while her Sub Skill allows her to deal additional damage against enemies who are not behind any cover.

Aru

Role: Dealer (Back)

School: Gehenna Academy Striker

Yet another top-tier character from Gehenna Academy who happens to be another backline dealer. She can deal heavy explosive damage to one target, while also dealing as much damage to surrounding enemies. Her basic skill damages one enemy for a set amount of time while also having a high chance of inflicting AoE damage to enemies within a circular area. Her Enhanced Skill increases her Crit DMG while her Sub Skill increases her Crit (chance) whenever she uses her EX skill. Aru will have a hard time fighting in Indoor terrain but will excel in Urban warfare.

Tsubaki

Role: Tank (Front)

School: Allied Hyakkiyako Academy / Striker

Tsubaki is the best tank in the game, with a great skill set that complements her role. Her EX skill boosts her DEF while also taunting nearby enemies, a self-heal that triggers at 30% HP (once per battle), another DEF boost basic skill, and finally, another skill that reduces incoming damage while she’s reloading. Include a healer in the same team as her and Tsubaki will be able to perform her role even longer. She excels in both Urban and Field terrains, but will suffer when fighting indoors.

Karin

Role: Dealer (Back)

School: Millennium Science School / Special

Karin is an excellent offscreen DPS unit that deals consistent heavy piercing damage against single targets. She deals bonus damage to “extra-large” enemies (mostly bosses). She has a basic skill that can deal damage to an enemy while also having a 50% chance of stunning the target, as well as boosting an ally’s ATK by 10%. She shines more when fighting tougher enemies or bosses since she’ll be able to inflict high burst damage in an instant.

Hanae

Role: Healer (Back)

School: Trinity General School / Special

Hanae is a consistent healer, providing reliable healing with her EX skill. Her basic skill boosts the DEF of one ally with the lowest HP every few seconds. Her Enhanced Skill increases her healing while her Sub Skill allows her to buff her allies’ Crit Damage.

Nonomi

Role: Dealer (Back)

School: Abydos High School / Striker

Nonomi uses her trusty mini-gun to deal high piercing damage from the backline. Her EX Skill deals high damage to enemies in a wide area. Her Basic Skill boosts her attack every set amount of time. Her Enhanced Skill boosts her Crit DMG while her sub skill allows her to deal bonus damage against large targets. She excels in both Urban and Field terrains, but will suffer when fighting indoors.

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A Tier Units

A-Tier Units are generally useful and don’t fall far behind their S-tier counterparts. Since it’s really hard to get a full team composed of high-tier units, you can complement your teams with A-tier listers just fine.

Kotama

Role: Support (Back)

School: Millennium Science High School

Kotama is a potent support unit, capable of buffing her allies’ ATK with her EX Skill and Sub Skill. Her Basic Skill also allows her to deal damage to 1 enemy in fixed intervals while also debuffing their attacks by a certain degree.

Serina

Role: Healer (Back)

School: Trinity General School / Special

Serina provides low-cost healing with her EX skill, which also moves the targeted ally to a designated location before healing them. Her Basic Skill automatically heals an ally after a few seconds while her Enhanced Skill boosts her healing. Finally, her Sub Skill increases your allies’ crowd control resistance.

Shiroko

Role: Dealer (Middle)

School: Abydos High School /Striker

Shiroko is a decent midlane Explosive DPS. She excels in Urban Warfare while losing combat power on Indoor terrains. Her EX skill has a high damage scaling, focusing on summoning a drone that deals focused damage to a single target. Her Basic Skill allows her to bombard enemies in a circular area in a fixed interval. Her enhanced skill increases her Crit while her sub skill gives her a chance to drastically improve her ATK SPD when dealing normal attacks. Furthermore, Shiroko’s eleph can be farmed in 3-3 (Hard), making it a bit easier to get her or increase her stars (Unlock Mystic).

Hifumi

Role: Support (Middle)

School: Trinity General School

Hifumi offers a fair amount of utility as a mid-lane support unit. Hifumi’s EX skill allows her to summon a plush that scales with her HP and deals AoE damage to enemies within a circular area. This plush will also taunt enemies for a few seconds. Her Basic Skill deals damage to 1 enemy every few seconds while also decreasing their accuracy. Her enhanced skill further increases her HP while Sub Skill boosts the Cost gauge’s recovery speed when she activates her EX Skill.

Akane

Role: Support (Middle)

School: Millennium Science School / Striker

Akane’s not particularly strong in PvE scenarios but will excel in fights where there are single enemies that your forces can focus on. EX Skill deals damage to one target while also lowering that target’s DEF. Her Sub Skill also has a chance to slow down the target’s evasion within a particularly low cooldown. She is also quite effective in Urban and Field Warfare.

Hoshino

Role: Tank (Front)

School: Abydos High School / Striker

Hoshino is a solid tank who has surprisingly high survivability. Her EX skill deals a good amount of piercing damage to enemies in a wide-spread area - with a chance to stun enemies. Her Basic Skill gives her the ability to self-heal when her HP falls below 30% (limited to once per battle). Her Sub Skill also casts a barrier whenever she uses her EX Skill, further protecting her from enemy attacks.

Haruka

Role: Tank (Front)

School: Gehenna Academy / Striker

The shy and aloof Haruka is actually a beast on the battlefield, with the proper equipment and support. She lacks the self-heal and barrier abilities, you’ll need a dedicated healer to help keep her alive. Her EX skill deals relatively high explosive damage in a wide area, capable of wrecking covers and decimating enemies weak against explosive attacks. Her Basic Skill gives her a DEF boost in regular intervals. Her Sub Skill gives her a chance to increase her DEF whenever she takes damage.

Yuuka

Role: Tank (Front)

School: Millennium Science School / Striker

Yuuka is your starter tank and quite reliable at that. Her EX skill gives her a barrier that lasts for quite a while, at a relatively low cost. Her Basic Skill allows her to deal considerable damage to a target at regular intervals. Her survivability further increases once you’ve promoted her to 3 stars. At that point, she’ll get access to her sub skill that recovers her HP whenever she takes cover. Unlike other tanks, Yuuka will not always stay in the open and seek cover regularly, making this skill essential for her prolonged field presence.

Chise

Role: Dealer (Middle)

School: Allied Hyakkiyako Academy / Striker

Chise is a blue/mystic mid-lane striker who specializes in AoE damage with her normal attacks (she has a grenade launcher equipped). Her EX skill doesn’t have a high DMG multiplier but makes up for it with AoE and DoT (damage-over-time). Her Basic Skill allows her to deal AoE damage at regular intervals. Her sub-skill even gives her a chance to inflict continuous Burn damage to enemies hit by her normal attacks. Even if you’re not using her in your main team, she’ll still be your best pick when you have to deal with enemies that are weak against mystic attacks. Chise excels in both Urban and Indoor Warfare terrains.

Akari

Role: Dealer (Middle)

School: Gehenna Academy

Akari is a midlane DPS with no terrain disadvantages. She excels in Urban terrain but will perform well in Field and Indoor terrains without any damage penalties. Her EX skill has a high damage multiplier and will deal explosive damage to all enemies in a large AoE. Her Basic Skill and Sub Skills both give her a chance to further increase her damage when dealing normal attacks.