SOA EN reroll tiers

Short version

A: Maria, Fidel, ~~Faize~~
B: Nel, Cliff, Victor, Myuria, Daril
C: Ronyx, Miki, Anne
D: Lymle, Emmerson



Long version

-- A: Priority reroll targets, plus Faize

Maria (Sharpshooter; Ace; SO3)
+ High passive party buffing (Damage+40%)
+ Good party rush buffing with Critical+40%
+ High hitcount
+ High rush gain
+ Very safe due to her range and speed
+ The most futureproof launch character

Fidel (Attacker; Ace; SO5)
+ High passive party buffing (ATK+40%)
+ Due to how the damage formula works, ATK/INT buffs are more potent than Damage buffs.  That ATK+40% is seriously good.
+ Low AP costs, especially postrush
+ Half his skillset works at range
+ Many of the ATK buffers released after him either have smaller buffs or role restriction, giving him a decent lifespan

Faize (Invoker; Non-Ace; SO4)
+ Great party buffing for both damage and utility (Single Target Damage+30%; Stun rate+15%)
+ Fast spellcasting
+ Powerful event weapon available early (one copy free at launch!)
+ Can inflict a weak-but-still-meaningful DoT with spells
+ Good crowd control
+ High rush gain
+ Technically futureproof, though you won't be using him outside of dark-weak fights later on
- No point in rerolling for a character you already get for free!
- Limited to dark damage, with no meaningful dark-weak bosses until Alma
- Disruptive to melee characters, due to his spells either launching or pushing enemies
- Being a caster with a melee weapon, he can be cumbersome to use

-- B: Workable, but will either be replaced early on and/or take a lot of work to start with

Nel (Sharpshooter; Ace; SO5)
+ Poison is incredibly powerful
+ Passive -15% AP costs to the party
- Poison isn't reliable, and can go an entire boss fight without proccing
- Very low damage output and party contribution in general without poison
- Due to the nature of her toolkit, she isn't good for content like tower
- SOA EN is starting with much stronger weaponry than JP did, making poison a weaker option by comparison

Cliff (Attacker; Ace; SO3)
+ High rush damage
+ High hitcount
+ Knuckles are the first weapon type to get drain access, providing good sustain without a healer
+ Fun
- Zero party buffing
- Purely melee; may be difficult for new players
- Needs to be LB10'd and geared to properly do damage, the one thing he contributes to the party, making him a difficult starting pick
- Phia releases early on and mostly does the same job better as a ranged non-ace

Victor (Defender; Non-Ace; SO5)
+ Provides super armor
+ Massive damage reduction postrush allows for plenty of room for error
- Non-ace
- Pathetically low damage output
- Will be replaced by Clair within weeks

Myuria (Invoker; Ace; SO4)
+ Highest DPS among the launch cast post-rush
+ Decent damage and excellent crowd control via Plasma Cyclone
+ Stuns bosses easily
- Zero party buffing
- Needs to be LB10'd and geared to properly do damage, the one thing she contributes to the party, making her a difficult starting pick
- Low rush gain
- 3/4 of her spells take a long time to hit a small area, making them unreliable for damage and rush gain
- Thunder+40% staves likely won't be available for a long time; Faize will be better geared than her for most things as a result
- Can only use Plasma Cyclone once per combo without AP cost reduction from Daril's rush

Daril (Attacker; Non-Ace; SO5)
+ Good combo DPS
+ Though easily replaced later on, his passive AP-20% and postrush AP-40% to the party are the best slot 4 buffing available to the launch-optimal Fidel/Maria/Faize/- comp
- Non-ace
- Purely melee; may be difficult for new players
- Poor rush damage
- Won't have any opportunities to capitalize on his +60% damage vs humans early on

-- C: You can make use of them if you roll them, but they shouldn't be your only starter

Ronyx (Invoker; Non-Ace; SO1)
+ Provides the party INT+40%, which is still to date the highest INT party buff available in JP, and allows him to support Faize and Myuria well as a result
- Non-ace
- Horrid weapon for casting
- Horrid spell list for all of damage, rush gain, accuracy, and AP efficiency
- Really just a horrid character in general, buffing other Invokers is all he has going for him

Miki (Healer; Non-Ace; SO5)
+ Can heal
- Non-ace
- Is the only 5* healer in the entire game with no party buffing, and falls off the radar entirely once other healers are available
- Will be replaced by Millie within weeks

Anne (Attacker; Non-Ace; SO5)
+ Passively buffs party crit rate by +30%, which doubles to +60% postrush, though these don't stack with Maria's crit buffs
+ Great crowd control with X-Claw, namely making her useful for story and tower
- Non-ace
- Horrid damage output
- Maria's rush crits are sufficient, and numerous other better characters later on will also buff crits anyway
- Free Faize and 4* Tynave can already handle the crowd control niche Anne would provide

-- D: Try again.

Lymle (Invoker; Non-Ace; SO4)
+ Tornado does respectable damage against large enemies
+ Her rush buff gives her substantial buffs to her own INT and cuts her cast times
- Non-ace
- Weak spells with slow casts and high AP costs
- Burst Flame is slow and inaccurate, making her more of a wind caster
- Likely poor weaponry options starting out
- There won't be any boss fights she's particularly useful in until Armaros (months in), and other Invokers/X-Claw users will be much better at crowd control

Emmerson (Sharpshooter; Non-Ace; SO5)
+ Extends the hitcount timer, which can help keep the party's rush gain up against evasive enemies
- Non-ace
- Pathetic damage output
- Pathetic rush gain, unless he's able to spam Hunter's Moon against an immobile enemy
- No offensive buffing