Arknights Operator Tier List — Formerly the Gamepress Tier List
Table of Contents
- Overview & Introductory Notes
- General Assumptions
- Footnote
- Changes from the Old List
- Credits and Contributors
- Tier List by Grade and Class
- Update: 2025/11 - Act or Die
- Update: 2025/10 - The Masses' Travels
- Update: 2025/09 - Episode 15 Dissociative Recombination (General Update)
- Update: 2025/08 - When Elegies Are Ashes
- Update: 2025/08 - See You Soon
- Update: 2025/07 - Such is the Joy of Our Reunion
- Update: 2025/06 - Exodus from the Pale Sea
- Update: 2025/04 - I Portatori dei Velluti
- ISW-α General Philosophy
- Update: 2025/04 - Ending a Grand Overture
- Update: 2025/03 - Delicious on Terra
- Update: 2025/02 - A Kazdelian Rescue
- Update: 2025/01 - Inudi Harek, Horakhet
- Revision Log & Notes
- Included Images / Screenshots
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Overview
The Arknights Operator Tier List is a comprehensive ranked roster of Arknights operators (primary keyword: Arknights Operator Tier List) intended to evaluate each unit's value at full investment across the global server meta. This list focuses on ceiling and overall utility across modes while noting mode-specific variants such as IS modules separately. It includes full grading, per-operator notes for many changes and updates across 2025, and a revision history with dates and reasoning.
General Assumptions
* The list assumes full investment. It considers the unit at E2 max level, Potential, Masteries, and Module. This list should NOT be used as a new player list.
* The list does NOT account for costs. 4★s do not gain extra weight simply because they are cheaper.
* One of the issues with creating tier lists in Arknights is that the rankings are almost never absolute. They are relative to whatever the perspective of the list creator is. A high-risk CC player will view things differently from a niche player who will view things differently from an IS player. That said, the perspective we are aiming for here is the highest ceiling for a general player with some interest in all gamemodes.
* Ceiling is given more weight than ease of use, however both are considered.
* Mode specific values or roles are considered, however the grades here must account for the entire game. Being good in a single game mode is not enough to be well graded alone.
* That said, the new ISW-α Modules (IS specific) require special attention since they are so powerful and IS is such a major gamemode. Units with a large difference in value will be noted twice in the list. (1)
* Value in challenge clears or "niches" may be considered, but general value is given much more weight. This tier list is intended for the general player and not advanced niche players.
* This list reflects the global server.
* Please remember that Arknights is a PvE game! Meta is only needed to a point. You shouldn’t obsess over the rankings in this list. Play your waifu even if she isn’t graded as high as you’d like! One of the great strengths of Arknights is the sheer variety of viable playstyles!
Footnote
(1) Please note that Kal'tsit is well graded regardless so does not have a separate ranking.
Changes from the Old List
* Robots, 2★s and 3★s have been removed from the list. Simply, there is no value in including them in a list like this, and the gulf in power can't be reflected in a meaningful way. Instead, it just clutters the grading system, removing granularity from the units that actually matter. Because they cannot be promoted to E2 and have only basic skills, their value is vastly inferior to anything 4★s or higher.
* The standard space of rankings for 6★s has been expanded. Previously, most 6★s existed between S+ and A+. Now, most 6★s fall between S+ and B+. This means many units have lower grades than they did in the old list. This "demotion" is not necessarily because a unit is now bad. Game difficulty has not meaningfully changed so they are probably still just as good! However, this allows for more granular rankings. This makes the list both more meaningful, and better reflective of the meta.
* The above means that B+ acts as a sort of "cut off". For a 6★ to be ranked lower, they have to be especially terrible. For a 4★ or 5★ to be ranked higher, they have to be especially great.
* Similarly, C- is the "floor" for most units. Like in school, anything ranked below this should be considered failing and is reserved for only the worst units.
* As a result of the expanded 6★ space and raised floor, the middle to bottom ranks of the list have been compressed. The philosophy here is the difference between middle and low-tier 5★s matters much less than the difference in high-tier 6★s. The difference between Degenbrecher and Irene is far more important than the difference of Bibeak to Cutter.
Credits and Contributors
For feedback, please use our X/Bluesky socials, or DM any of us directly on Discord. Some of us are still in the old Gamepress Discord, but it is no longer the social media home of the tier list. For typos or formatting errors, feel free to DM TacticalBreakfast directly on Discord or /u/TacticalBreakfast on Reddit
Contributors & Links:
- TacticalBreakfast: Mastery Guides: https://lungmendragons.com/guides
- Mal: Module Guides: https://www.reddit.com/user/Mal_io_gp/submitted/
- Idyll: https://youtube.com/@idyll17
- PlatypusGod
- Delta (delta.0)
- Alyeska
- Holly
- Mei of May: https://www.youtube.com/@SimplestMethodsResearchersGuil
Follow us for updates: X/Twitter - https://x.com/AKTierList Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/aktierlist.bsky.social
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Tier List by Grade and Class
Below is the extracted tier list grid and operator names exactly as presented, organized by tier across classes. This section preserves every operator name and grade provided in the source.
Column Headers / Classes
Vanguards Guards Defenders Snipers Casters Medics Supporters Specialists
EX
Ines Młynar Shu Wiš'adel Logos Tragodia Kirin R Yato Ela Exusiai the New Covenant
S+
Ulpianus Yu Ray Rosmontis (IS) Lappland the Decadenza Mon3tr Angelina (IS) Texas the Omertosa Mizuki (IS)
S
Muelsyse Zuo Le Degenbrecher Narantuya Lemuen Goldenglow Nymph Reed the Flameshadow
Kal'tsit Eyjafjalla the Hvít Aska Suzuran Virtuosa Ascalon
S-
Bagpipe Saileach SilverAsh Surtr Saria Horn Ch'en the Holungday Pozëmka Typhon Eyjafjalla Ceobe Skadi the Corrupting Heart Ling Phantom (IS) Weedy
Elysium Cantabile Surfer Hoederer Vina Victoria Archetto (IS) Lin Necrass Gladiia Thorns the Lodestar Ethan
A+
Vulpisfoglia Myrtle Mountain Nearl the Radiant Knight Viviana Chongyue Nian Mudrock Schwarz Rosa Ifrit Marcille Blaze the Igniting Spark Nightingale Gnosis Civilight Eterna Specter the Unchained Dorothy
Qiubai Executor the Ex Foedere Pepe Penance Jessica The Liberated Greyy the Lightningbearer Kroos the Keen Glint Warfarin Ptilopsis Shamare Crownslayer
A
Wanqing Chilchuck Blaze Thorns Irene Hoshiguma Sankta Miksaparato Exusiai Ash Fiammetta Mostima Passenger Lumen Amiya (Medic) Stainless Mizuki Lee
Gavial the Invincible Entelechia April
A-
Flametail Saga Blacknight Skadi Specter Eunectes Blemishine Archetto W Firewatch Carnelian Ebenholz Ho'olheyak Shining Magallan Scene Swire the Elegant Wit Aak
Tequila La Pluma Lappland Philae Rose Salt Perfumer Tin Man
B+
Puzzle Ch'en Hellagur Pallas Croissant Rosmontis (General) Fartooth Dusk Rockrock Mulberry Honeyberry Angelina (General) Silence the Paradigmatic Phantom (General) Kazemaru Mr. Nothing
Gracebearer Blue Poison Totter Pinecone Sussurro Purestream Quercus Jaye Contrail Gravel
B
Siege Vigil Texas Lessing Bibeak Highmore Ashlock Firewhistle Bassline Nearl Insider Jieyun Provence Andreana Leonhardt Leizi Kjera Beeswax Hibiscus the Purifier Silence Mayer Proviso Heidi Manticore Projekt Red Cliffheart FEater
Mitm Vigna Beanstalk Arene Cutter Windscoot Liskarm Underflow Bubble Cuora Meteorite Brigid Caper Amiya Indigo Click Harold Valarqvin Bobbing Podenco Enforcer Wulfenite Tippi
BFang the Fire-sharpened Poncirus Broca Amiya (Guard) Akafuyu Ayerscarpe Shalem Aurora Blitz GreyThroat Platinum Erato Toddifons Santalla Astgenne Harmonie Whisperain Nowell Pramanix Waii Fu Robin
Fuze Rathalos S Noir Corne Odda Лето (Leto) Heavyrain Senshi Gummy May Shirayuki Ambriel Mint Absinthe Qanipalaat Roberta Deepcolor Frost Iana
Utage Mousse Humus Tecno
C+
Wild Mane Zima Astesia Dagda Tachanka Franka Asbestos Czerny Bison Melanite Coldshot Delphine Iris Minimalist Warmy Breeze Tuye Istina Sand Reckoner Kafka
Kestrel Chiave Doc Estelle Luo Xiaohei Hung Lutonada Matterhorn Meteor Miss.Christine Pudding Haze Paprika Catherine
C
Scavenger Courier Savage Sideroca Indra Flamebringer Vulcan Cement Dur-Nar Sesa Lunacub Jessica Diamante Lava the Purgatory Gitano Folinic Vendela Papyrus Sora Glaucus Grain Buds Snowsant Bena Figurino
Whislash Laios Matoimaru Gavial Lucilla Alanna Shaw Rope
C-
Reed Flint Morgan Beehunter Executor Aosta Tomimi Skyfire Greyy Ceylon Myrrh Chestnut Tsukinogi Xingzhu Almond Verdant
Jackie Quartz Conviction Vermeil Aciddrop Earthspirit
F
Grani Wind Chimes Swire Corroserum Aroma Nightmare Nine-Colored Deer Windflit Kirara Spuria
Bryophyta Dobermann Frostleaf
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Update - 2025/11 - Act or Die
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade
---|---:|---|---
Tragodia | 6★ | Gacha | EX
It's hard to overstate how absurd Tragodia is. His main claim to fame is absolutely ridiculous control that breaks many stages in half. He has multiple layers of control too so he's not even easy to nerf. Lure, Slow, Paralysis, free blockers... and if that weren't enough he does great damage too. Tragodia is one of the easiest units to place in EX, and he's the sort that it seems unlikely he'll ever be removed.
Tippi | 5★ | Gacha | B
Skyrangers are a pretty good archetype, so Tippi is pretty decent by default. However, her problem is she ends up a bit more gimmicky than her lower rarity counterpart, Contrail. Tippi's dodge can certainly come in handy now and then, but that's ultimately situational and she loses some DPS compared to Contrail to have it. Considering that Contrail is also less expensive to promote, it makes Tippi a bit tough to recommend despite still being decent.
Miss.Christine | 5★ | Welfare | C+
While she has great design, it's tough to be a Primal Caster, especially a 5★ one. They rely on another unit, and even then, don't do enough to justify the team slot. In Miss.Christine's case, Tragodia is so good he simply doesn't need her, even if she was great. Instead, she's just "ok". However, she has passable DPS (but not good to be clear) and can be used for NI in certain niches, so she could be worse too. Miss.Christine is a desire-only type of unit, but is at least not complete garbage.
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Update - 2025/10 - The Masses' Travels
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade
---|---:|---|---
Exusiai the New Covenant | 6★ | Limited | EX
Exusiai's shiny new alter is one of the best units in the game. When we first created this list, we opted not to give Wiš'adel her own tier since that didn't feel helpful, but if we had, Exusiai the New Covenant would be the first unit since to join her. She's does incredible damage, with incredible sustain, incredible bulk, and crazy good utility. She's already proven herself in all variety of endgame content and is as close to a "must have" as Arknights has to offer.
Lemuen | 6★ | Gacha | S
While not as crazy broken as her sister, Lemuen is a very powerful DPS unit. She has absurdly high DPH and a semi-global mechanic that makes her one of the best elite/boss killers available. Then she gets strong bombardment to clear out trash too. She's good enough that it's hard to come up with downsides that don't feel like nitpicking, however what ultimately holds her back is being "just" a DPS unit. Given the absurd powercreep in the game right now and ahead of us, that level of nitpicking is still warranted.
Gracebearer | 5★ | Gacha | B+
Our first Primal Guard ends up being one of the better 5* Guards, although amusingly enough it's not for any reason related to her new archetype! Instead, it's her charge based manual activation S2 that allows for solid and controllable sweeping damage. The fact she can flex to NI support is just a bonus. Of course, in the current stacked top tiers of the game that can seem unimpressive, but she's definitely solid enough for those who prefer the middle tiers.
Sankta Miksaparato | 6★ | Welfare | A
Grandpa Phoenix is pretty solid for a welfare unit, but not particularly special either. He's got good bulk and alright damage, but much of what makes his kit different from other options also leans a bit towards being a gimmick. The revive effect on his S2 isn't terribly useful and needs to be played around and timed to even work in the first place, and the extra ammo from his S3 isn't that useful to anyone except Lemuen, who doesn't really need the help. He's fine, not to mention a cool character (which sadly isn't accounted for in the list), but just not terribly special either.
Crownslayer | 6★ | Welfare | up to A+
We don't usually post update blurbs like this for adjustments, but the talk around Crownslayer warrants some explanation. Many people might be surprised that we have ranked her higher, but often times the talk that surrounds formerly bad units can get away from people and become hyperbole. Now, of course, Crownslayer is much improved. With her Module she has a very high uptime Stun on a great cycle while generally being invulnerable. Not too bad! However, she still does negligible damage, and it's ultimately a finniky Stun, not to mention she gets completely neutered by Stun immunity. So while her new Module certainly elevates CS out of the basement, it's important not to overreact either before you dump a ton of resources into her.
Mizuki (IS) | 6★ | Gacha (moved to kernel soon) | S+
Mizuki's shiny new IS mod is one of the more powerful ones. It grants him a ludicrously good stall effect and crazy good survivability that allows for aggressive placement, both key values in IS. It's enough that he's a top pick even on the stacked Specialist ticket and boosts him up to the upper tiers.
Archetto (IS) | 6★ | Kernel Gacha | S
Archetto's IS mod isn't quite as crazy as Mizuki's but it's still really really good. Her extended range and extra generation means she has great uptime now and can cover a lot of ground, not to mention some really fun team support. However, there aren't many meta options that take advantage of it anymore, and her personal DPS is nothing too crazy in high-DEF iterations. It's most definitely enough to elevate Archetto up in the tier list, but not quite an insane boost either.
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Update - 2025/09 - Episode 15 Dissociative Recombination
General Update:
This iteration of the tier list only made it 9 months before it needed to be rebalanced again! The Mon3tr patch kicks off a long streak of ultra powerful units that further raise the already high power ceiling. Nearly every upcoming 6★ deserves to be ranked S+ or EX, which necessitates lowering several units. As said when we started this list, the goal is for more granularity at the top and more compression as you go lower. With the ceiling raised, this means several units must come down. So along with this patch, we'll be making several adjustments. A few will be going up, but most will be going down. Worry not if you've already invested! Remember, Arknights is a PvE game so it's not as if your units are suddenly bad! Rebalancing a list like this is just an unfortunate necessity as the power continues to climb.
It's worth noting that the top two tiers look fairly bare as of this update. This is sort of on purpose. Much of what we adjusted is in anticipation of the next six months, so the EX and S+ tiers will be filling out as we progress. Bear with it for now! A full list of adjustments can be found over in the revisions tab. There will not be a per unit breakdown of the reasoning. Unfortunately, there is neither the space nor the time for it! Additionally, there may be some inconsistencies due to the large scale update, so expect a few changes here and there as we go on. If you spot any errors, please contact TacticalBreakfast on Discord.
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade
---|---:|---|---
Mon3tr | 6★ | Gacha | S+
Mon3tr is an incredibly powerful unit with massive amounts of role compression. She does large amounts of True Damage, but brought up to modern DPS standards, along with great healing and buffing too. She could easily be an EX-tier unit, and many people would consider her to be one! However, True Damage is somewhat devalued in the modern meta and she isn't particularly relevant in IS#6 (so far), so she slots into this list at S+ initially. The power ceiling is just so high in the next six months that some harsh nitpicking becomes necessary for this list to have value.
Alanna | 5★ | Gacha | C
Artificers lean towards the gimmick side of things. Buffing is awkward in this game in the first place due to squad and deploy slot restrictions (Mon3tr not withstanding), but then Artificers make it worse by needing tiles too!. DEF-ignore is already not terribly powerful, so any value Alanna has is quite niche. However, within that niche her numbers are at least decent, so she avoids the true basement rankings.
Windscoot | 4★ | Gacha | B
Liberators are good by default thanks to their bulk and high DPS. Windscoot is slightly awkward since his direct competition is an older welfare (Tequila) who is still better, but he's similar enough and costs less that he's a competitive choice for early DPS. However, outside of his dodge ignore, he doesn't have too much niche or long term value, so he isn't much more than early DPS either.
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Update - 2025/08 - When Elegies Are Ashes
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade | Reasoning
---|---:|---:|---:|---
Necrass | 6★ | Gacha | S | Necrass is a solid unit with strong damage and a powerful summon that trivializes a lot of content. However, amid a sea of recent and upcoming powercreep, she looks far less powerful and severely lacks in ceiling. She struggles if she can't take advantage of her summon, either by map design or by being stat-checked, and otherwise lacks utility or RES-shred. Ultimately this makes Necrass a solid story-carry but little else, and with so many powerful units now available, a story-carry isn't something special anymore.
Wulfenite | 5★ | Gacha | B | Wulfenite brings a new spin to Trapmasters by having fewer but more impactful traps, as well as traps which can be manually activated. This is pretty powerful for niche players as she has two pretty nice bits of utility, Stun and DEF down, that can be placed on any deployable tile. However, like all Trapmasters (except Ela of course) her use favors more advanced plays and is rarely the optimized play.
Brigid | 5★ | Welfare | B | Rather than being bad, the main complaint with Brigid is that she's uninspired. She is just a weaker version of Narantuya without her own special value, but is also not appreciably better than the cheaper Caper. It makes for an awkward unit who is certainly usable if you want, but also doesn't really have much justification for actually spending the resources.
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Update - 2025/08 - See You Soon
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade | Reasoning
---|---:|---:|---:|---
Entelechia | 6★ | Gacha | A | Entelechia is a quick burst unit, with some unique utility, but ultimately a flawed one in the modern meta. Her survivability is single use, meaning she is very vulnerable if she can't kill in that one burst, and her candles only work off of current HP too (rather than max) which, along with her low DPH, can really hamper that utility. She isn't bad though and both S2 and S3 have some pretty serious utility, but it just doesn't measure up in 2025.
Nowell | 5★ | Gacha | B- | Nowell doesn't bring all that much new to the Therapist equation. He's pretty good at the job with good HPS, good uptime, and easy to apply Status Resistance, but it's not nearly enough to elevate him to that special tier of Medics. With the 4★s so good and cheap (and 0 Hope in IS) there's little reason to consider Nowell outside of niches.
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Update - 2025/07 - Such is the Joy of Our Reunion
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade | Reasoning
---|---:|---:|---:|---
Yu | 6★ | Gacha Limited | S | Yu is a strong unit with a lot of role compression, but he's also a unit that hasn't lived up to the potential many people envisioned. His teleport is powerful, but doesn't really break the game in the way Shu or Tragodia does, and his firewall requires another unit to do much, which is never a good thing. Yu is ultimately a solid unit still worthy of a high ranking in the list, but is one who hasn't lived up to his potential either.
Blaze the Igniting Spark | 6★ | Gacha | A+ | Compared to the modern landscape of powerful Casters, Blaze the Igniting spark comes up short. She is reliant on another unit to reach her peak value, but even at that peak, often comes up short of her contemporaries. Now, she is still a solid unit even without Yu. A+ is still a reasonable grade on this list! However, without him she's a much more generic Arts nuker that lacks in ceiling.
Surfer | 5★ | Gacha | S- | Agents are good. There's a reason they're all ranked pretty high. Surfer is no exception there, and raises the bar of the lower rarities, albeit only slightly. Cantabile's S2 still wins out in general content, but Surfer is usually the preferred choice in min-maxed scenarios thanks to her Talent. She's even picked over Ines in endgame IS5! All in all, Surfer is an amazing unit for her rarity in an amazing archetype.
Xingzhu | 5★ | Welfare | C | Xingzhu is a dud. She's in a tough archetype and has one of the worst cycle times in the game on her supposedly primary skill. It's actually unbelievable that she has 75 SP on S2 in the sixth year of this game. The only reason she isn't ranked at the bottom is her S1 which has some ok AoE healing on a short cooldown. It's still not good, since she has short range and does nothing off skill, but it's something at least.
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Update - 2025/06 - Exodus from the Pale Sea
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade | Reasoning
---|---:|---:|---:|---
Thorns the Lodestar | 6★ | Gacha | S | Thorns' alter form is a somewhat rare sort where he is both a solid general unit while having a lot of creative flexibility. His S2 provides very high value DPS on a great uptime and massive range, while his S3 and S1 provide tons of various utility. However, while he is extremely good, he isn't quite up to the current broken-meta tier either. His DPS isn't all that high and his utility can be very awkward to use, or very situational.
Tecno | 5★ | Gacha | B | Tecno is alright for a 5★, however she's buoyed by the Shaper Caster archetype. The ghost summons provide a lot of utility that opened up new possibilities for the Caster class, but that's a very niche thing, and a future unit (Necrass) simply does the same job better. On her own merits, her ghosts are a touch undertuned, and she is reliant on both tile space and having fodder to generate the ghosts from in the first place.
RoseSalt | 5★ | Welfare | A | Rose Salt is a pretty remarkable unit. Being a welfare Multi-Target Medic already puts her in a great spot, particularly compared to other welfare units, but she has some incredible potential too. The damage conversion on her S2 is easy to overlook, but actually adds a ton of survivability. Big hits are suddenly tankable, and the spread makes things much easier to manage. She is actually one of the best pure survivability options! The only real flaw here is that she lacks utility, and tank+heal is generally a sub-optimal strategy, but Rose Salt is still one of the better Medic choices out there.
Viviana (with mod-D) | 6★ | Gacha | A+ | There aren't many units that get a grade promotion in this tier list from their Module, but the moose is one of the few to escape mediocrity! Her new Module-Delta adds Burn damage potential to her kit, which greatly expands her DPS as well as her ceiling. It's enough of a buff to make Viviana a viable option instead of expensive roster filler. However, her kit is still flawed, and in this era of absurdly broken DPS, Viviana is still just a mid-level consideration.
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Update - 2025/04 - I Portatori dei Velluti
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade | Reasoning
---|---:|---:|---:|---
Lappland the Decadenza | 6★ | Gacha Limited | S+ | Global targeting is incredibly powerful, and Lappland the Decadenza kicks it up a notch with some absurdly good DPS and control. Even better, she has more control over targeting than Goldenglow or Ambriel since her "drones" spread out. Thanks to that mix, Lappland is one of the best Casters in the game across all sorts of content.
Vulpisfoglia | 6★ | Gacha | S | Vanguards are a rather unfortunate archetype. Agents and Flags make it really hard to be any of the other archetypes. That's what ultimately holds Vulpisfoglia back, but she still makes for a very strong attempt. Suzumom has strong DPS that works well with her super strong self sustain, which makes her a beastly early hold unit while generating strong DP. She's probably as good as we can expect a Pioneer to be, although unfortunately, that's still short of meta.
Figurino | 5★ | Gacha | C | Merchant's always have rather quirky kits, but unfortunately Figurino's misses the mark. Eight second snare on an eight SP skill looks like it should be good, but the DP Cost (on top of being a Merchant) is just too harsh, especially when Ethan exists. It makes Figurino a pretty tough sell, although he does at least have decent DPS on a FRD body, so he's more usable than some.
Crownslayer | 6★ | Welfare | B | Crownslayer joins the rest of the bad 6★ welfares down at the middle B rank. She isn't bad, exactly, but ends up being worse than many of the 5★s too. This tier list does not account for costs, but if it did, she would be ranked much much lower, so don't take this grade as a recommendation to promote. She costs way too much for her mediocre levels of power. But she can at least be usable now and then.
Philae | 5★ | Red Certificate Shop | A- | Our first Primal Defender is a very strong showing. They inflict their Elemental effects as a % of ATK, rather than damage, so they end up being extremely effective laneholders. In Philae's case, the Necrosis triggers very reliably and in a true-AoE, resulting in the currently highest graded 5* Defender. While not a slam-dunk meta-tier, Philae is a fantastic unit for her rarity that can even justify the high red certificate cost.
Contrail | 4★ | Red Certificate Shop | B+ | Contrail is an unusual unit, and a strong one. Aerial blocking is what catches most people's attention, but her true power comes from the fact enemies can't target her while airborne. Combined with a super strong cycle, strong damage, and good control, Contrail is one of the best 4*s in the game. Just be aware, that for the red certificates, you should still be getting Ethan first.
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ISW-α General Philosophy
We spent quite a bit of time discussing the overall philosophy behind grading Angelina and Rosmontis. Although not the first IS Modules, they are the first that really changed things. Angelina and Rosmontis both deserve to be rated highly now, but given that the tier list focuses on overall value, we had to decide what their IS-specific listings really meant in terms of the list. There were two philosophies we identified.
The first was to judge them in an IS-specific vacuum. This would mean generally higher grades, but also more accurate when judged IS- specifically. However, the flaw here is that no other unit (except Phantom) is judged like this. So given that this is supposed to be a general tier list, it gives them an advantage.
The second was to attempt to judge them against some sort of general weight. This would have given a more "fair" grade when compared to everyone else. But the flaw with this is that what that "general weight" meant was completely undefinable. We give these units a separate IS rankings because the weights are so imbalanced.
Angelina (IS) | 6★ | Kernel Gacha | EX
Angelina is now easily the best Supporter pick in IS, and perhaps the only one even justified (except for some occasional and very specific usage by the others) at higher difficulties. Her new Module gives her 100% uptime stall, amazing damage, and an even higher technical value than she already had thanks to -2 Weightlessness. Angelina sitting in the EX tier may take some people aback, but for IS specifically, it is well justified.
Rosmontis (IS) | 6★ | Old Limited (200 spark) | S+
Not to be outshone, Rosmontis becomes one of the most powerful Sniper picks. Her beefed up pillars are low cost, massively bulky, have on-deploy control, and a powerful built in debuff. She also synergizes with the most broken unit in the game, thanks to their shared hand. The only flaw really, and the only reason Rosmontis is S+ instead of EX like Angelina, is because she does require at least one other unit to be effective. She is still massively powerful, but does require a touch more work.
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Update - 2025/04 - Ending a Grand Overture
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade | Reasoning
---|---:|---:|---:|---
Vina Victoria | 6★ | Gacha | S | True Damage is a very strong mechanic, and it's enough that Vina is one of the better situational options in the Stier of units. However, in general use she is fairly flawed. There's lots of competition now thanks to the proliferation of Elemental damage, her lions are space hungry and not particularly bulky, and her cycle is long. All in all, Vina is still a solid unit with a place in the end-game, but not a top-meta option either.
Bobbing | 5★ | Gacha | B+ | For his rarity, Bobbing has a lot of potential and is a significant improvement over Valarqvin. He applies his Burn relatively easily in a True-AoE on a fast cycle, which is all pretty appealing. However, Burn does not stack with Necrosis, and there are currently many very meta Necrosis units, so it's hard to find team space for it unless you're doing off-meta approaches.
Catherine | 5★ | Welfare | B- | Catherine is has some solid effective-HPS on her S2 which can make her a fairly usable unit. However, they aren't anything that can't be accomplished with a good Medic and she does little off skill, so she ultimately ends up a bit gimmicky or sub-optimal.
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Update - 2025/03 - Delicious on Terra
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade | Reasoning
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Marcille | 6★ | Collab Gacha | A | Marcille has some good value thanks to her S2 which makes her one of very few options for Arts-based AFK use. Unfortunately, the rest of her kit is flawed. Her other skills are tough to use with poor impact in most situations. She does have some occasional high-end use, but Marcille just lacks the general ceiling to rank particularly high by modern standards.
Chilchuck | 5★ | Collab Gacha | A | Agents are very strong, and Chilchuck is no exception. His S1 is immediately available at M3, resulting in a near instant refund of his DP cost. It's also the highest available DP generation against stationary enemies, plus he has a powerful (although situational Talent), on top of all the other advantages of Agents. He is a bit too situational to rank as high as the other 5★ Agents, and there is the whole RNG issue, but he is still a very powerful unit, especially for the rarity.
Laios | 5★ | Collab Gacha | C | Laios is an amusing character, but that's about it. Dreadnought are already starting from a bad place, and although Laios brings Tremble to the 5★ rarity for the first time, he just doesn't do enough to justify any real use.
Senshi | 5★ | Collab Welfare | B | Guardians are a good group by default thanks to their role compression, and Senshi is a reasonably good addition. His S2 provides a shorter-cooldown burst that the others lack, and his S1 has some unique value in his buffs. It all makes for a pretty decent unit. However, remember that this tier list considers the value of a unit as if they are already promoted, and not the value of actually promoting them. Despite the native goodness of the archetype, the prevalence of Guardians, including Gummy's value in IS5, means Senshi may not be worth promoting.
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Update - 2025/02 - A Kazdelian Rescue
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade | Reasoning
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Nymph | 6★ | Gacha | S | Nymph is a potent caster with an extremely high ceiling. Her S2 is one of the best stall skills in the game and also makes her a very potent Necrosis applicator for solid base-line damage. She doesn't even need Virtuosa to be great! However, her S3 does need a Ritualist which holds her down slightly in general content compared to other high-powered Casters like Lappland the Decadenza and Logos.
Mitm | 5★ | Gacha | B | Mitm is a curious unit. His stall potential thanks to his junk spawns is incredible and he's a top pick in a variety of challenge clears. However, his general value leaves a lot to be desired. His damage is poor, his DP generation isn't great, and his summon's "bulk" isn't even great in the wrong situations. Mitm is powerful, but proceed with caution if you didn't already know that.
Tin Man | 5★ | Welfare (IS#5 Rewards Ladder) | A | Mode specific buffs are rarely too good, but Tin Man bucks that trend. His low cost and increased capacity make him invaluable in IS5! This tier list tends not to overvalue one mode value, but Tin Man is an exception. It helps though that he is a potent unit in his own right. He has solid blend of damage and healing, on a huge range and great uptime. He's a powerful unit for his rarity with a ton of value in one of the most played game-modes.
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Update - 2025/01 - Inudi Harek, Horakhet
Name | Rarity | Type | Initial Grade | Reasoning
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Pepe | 6★ | Gacha Limited | S | Pepe is a reasonably strong DPS Guard with a massive damage-per-hit and some pretty strong control. Unfortunately, the competition in the Guard space is thick and Pepe lacks any survivability aside from her S3's Stun. She is a good unit that's worthy of an S-caliber ranking, but her lack of ceiling ultimately keeps her towards the bottom of that group.
Narantuya | 6★ | Gacha | S | The Sniper class is a crowded one, but Narantuya manages to hold her own. She is very easy to use with fast cycles, strong DPS, and great survivability. She may not have the peak of the Snipers above her, but her blend of ease and power is more than enough to justify a strong ranking.
Sand Reckoner | 5★ | Gacha | C+ | While Sand Reckoner has some value in low-rarity low-operator clears, for most players he's instead the worst Summoner. His DPS is poor, only bouyed by being Arts, his control is unreliable, and his summons can't even serve as chump blockers. All in all, he's a disappointing unit that most people will want to avoid, but also the type that will occasionally show up in challenge clears.
Papyrus | 5★ | Welfare | C | The Medic class is generally a pretty strong one, and it takes some special utility to really shine. Unfortunately, Papyrus' utility is barely worth calling utility, resulting in a very low ranked Medic. She at least has decent enough HPS to be usable if you like her though. Stick with Perfumer instead.
Phantom (with ISW-α Module) | 6★ | Kernel Gacha | S | Note that Phantom is not available to pull in this patch, but received a new IS specific Module that deserves special attention. Phantom's new IS Module breathes some crazy new life into an old unit. The benefits from hit ISW Module are insanly good and allow him to additively stack S2 stacks resulting in massive ATK and fast redeploys. However, Specialist competition is stiff and he is quite tough to use as well as being DP intensive. He deserves a much improved grade in the IS mode, but don't overreact either.
Kal'tsit (with ISW-α Module) | 6★ | Kernel Gacha | S+ (unchanged) | Note that Kal'tsit is not available to pull in this patch, but received a new IS specific Module that deserves special attention. Like Phantom, Kal'tsit also got a crazy good IS Module. However, unlike Phantom, she was already good! So Kal'tsit will not receive a grade boost or special addition like Phantom. This write-up is only included to avoid confusion.
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Revision Log & Notes
Nov 11, 2025 Added Tragodia, Tippi, and Miss.Christine. Moved Yu up to S+.
Oct 10, 2025 Added Exusiai the New Covenant, Lemuen, Sankta Miksaparato, Gracebearer, Archetto IS, and Mizuki IS. Moved Crownslayer up to A+.
Oct 7, 2025 Small update today before we get to the big stuff. Gravel up to B+, Waai Fu up to B-, Tuye down to C+.
Sept 15, 2025 Added Mon3tr, Alanna, and Windscoot. Implemented a general update that largely overhauled the older units. All downgrades are one letter grade unless noted (i.e. EX -> S+, S+ -> S, etc). Angelina (IS) down, Texas the Omertosa down, Zuo Le down, Degenbrecher down 2 (EX -> S), Nymph down, Reed the Flame Shadow down, Kal'tsit down, Eyjafjalla the Hvit Aska down, Virtuosa down, Ascalon down, Bagpipe down, Surtr down 2 (S+ -> S), Hoederer up to S-, Horn down, Pozemka down, Typhon down, Ch'en the Holungday down, Eyjafjalla down, Skado the Corrupting Heart down 2 (S+ -> S-), Ling down 2 (S+ -> S-), Gladiia down, Thorns the Lodestar down, Vulpisfoglia down, Mountain down, Chongyue down 2 (S -> A+), Qiubai down 2 (S -> A+), Nearl the Radiant Knight down, Executor the Ex Foedere down, Pepe down, Penance down, Mudrock down, Jessica the Liberated down, Schwarz down, Rosa down, Marcille up, Gnosis down, Civilight Eterna down, Specter the Unchained down 2 (S -> A+), Greyy the Lightning Bearer up, Kroos the Keen Glint up, Ethan up, Gavial the Invicible down 2 (S- -> A), Exusiai down, Fiametta down, Passenger down, Lumen down, Stainless down, Mizuki down, Lee down, Amiya (Medic) up, Blemishine down, Ebenholz down, Magallan down, Lappland down, Tequila down, La Pluma down, Tin Man down, Perfumer down, Sussurro up, Purestream up, Bobbing down, Fang the Fire-sharpened down, Amiya (guard) down, Leto down, Heidi up. Additionally, Catherine has been moved down to C+ to be more consistent with Alanna.
Sept 2, 2025 Fixed a spelling error in Sussurro's name.
Aug 25, 2025 Added Necrass, Wulfenite, and Brigid.
Aug 6, 2025 Added Entelechia and Nowell. Executor the Ex Foedere down to S-, Whisperain down to B-.
Jul 13, 2025 Added Yu, Blaze the Igniting Spark, Surfer, and Xingzhu.
Jun 2, 2025 Added Thorns the Lodestar, Tecno, and Rose Salt. Upgraded Viviana to reflect her new Delta-Module.
May 19, 2025 Second update. Moved Vermeil down to C- and Mr.Nothing up to B+.
May 19, 2025 Rebalanced the top end of the 4-5* Snipers, which were lower than the other classes. April, Kroos2, and Greyy2 up to A. Firewatch up to A-. BP and Totter up to B+. Explanation thread.
May 15, 2025 Warmy up to C+ to reflect the fact she has Burn partners now. Explanation thread.
May 14, 2025 Siege down to B. Reformatted the Vanguard column to make room. Explanation thread.
May 13, 2025 Hoederer up to A+, Blaze and Thorns down to A, both to better reflect the difference in ceiling. Explanation thread.
May 11, 2025 Minor update to bump Tsuki and Verdant up to C- instead of F. Although bad units, they do have some minor use, so don't deserve to be in the "failure" tier. Explanation thread.
Apr 19, 2025 Added Lappland the Decadenza, Vulpisfoglia, Figurino, Crownslayer, Philae, Contrail, Angelina (IS), and Rosmontis (IS)
Apr 14, 2025 Bumped Nymph up to S+ from S.
Apr 10, 2025 Updated the front page to reflect Gamepress being dead. RIP.
Apr 10, 2025 Lowered Surtr and Ling from EX to S+. Sad days... Raised Utage up to B-.
Apr 6, 2025 Added Vina Victoria, Bobbing, and Catherine
Mar 5, 2025 Added Marcille, Chilchuck, Laios, and Senshi.
Feb 2, 2025 Ethan moved up to A+. Added Nymph, Mitm, and Tin Man.
Jan 14, 2025 Added Firewatch and Qanipalaat who were mistakenly excluded from the initial revision.
Jan 9, 2025 Initial Revision
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Included Images / Screenshots
- spreadsheet-screenshot-1.png
- alt: "Full Arknights operator tier list spreadsheet screenshot showing grid and operator portraits"
- caption: "Main tier list grid image as presented in the source"
- spreadsheet-screenshot-2.png
- alt: "Close-up of tier list update entries and operator writeups in spreadsheet format"
- caption: "Update entries and notes screenshot"
- spreadsheet-screenshot-3.png
- alt: "Additional pages of the tier list with smaller-font writeups and revision notes"
- caption: "Further revision pages and content from the sheet"
- spreadsheet-screenshot-4.png
- alt: "Blank remainder of the spreadsheet layout showing empty columns and grid"
- caption: "End of sheet / empty columns screenshot"
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Final Notes
All operator names, grades, update notes, contributor credits, assumptions, and revision history have been preserved verbatim from the provided source. The tier list is presented as-is and reflects the global server, full investment assumptions, and special IS module considerations. Use the in-page anchors to jump to specific updates or operator sections above.