Which Starter S Character Is the Best Pick?

Which Starter S Character Is the Best Pick? [EDITED 09/01/24, SPIRAL OF CHRONOS PATCH]

Generally speaking, you may want to wait until you hit your first pity on the Member Recruit banner (40 pulls) before using the S-Rank Construct Pick. This is because it is more useful to have two S-Rank characters than one SS-Rank character, which you might end up with if you pull a dupe on the character you selected.


1. LIV LUMINANCE
After her buffs/leaps on the "A New Divide" patch, Luminance offers a lot of support utilities. She can buff Physical Damage for your DPS and deal some damage with her Ultimate move. Luminance is currently the primary support character for the Physical Team. She will be a mainstay in the Physical team for a very long time alongside Bianca Stigmata and Rosetta Rigor until Arisa Echo's debut. You can buy her shards using Trade Vouchers/Battle Pass Vouchers in the Voucher Exchange Store if you want to upgrade her even further.
VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO GET


2. KAMUI TENEBRION
At S-rank, Karenina Scire offers stronger and longer Debuffs than S-rank Tenebrion. However, Tenebrion can match Scire's Debuffs at SS rank with his ultimate move. As a DPS, Tenebrion lacks crowd control and damage. Meanwhile, S/SS Scire deals slightly stronger damage than Tenebrion. If you don't plan to upgrade Scire past S or get her signature weapon, SS Kamui Tenebrion can do the job as well, though it will be slower. However, at SS3 rank, Karenina Scire's damage will improve significantly, and she will vastly overtake Kamui Tenebrion as the main Dark Tank. For a well-invested Karenina Scire, Tenebrion is still used as a QTE support in some Pain Cage Strats.
VERDICT: RECOMMENDED TO GET


3. KARENINA EMBER
Ember has been replaced as the main Fire Attacker by Lee Hyperreal, she will no longer be used in most competitive modes. Alternatively, if you don't want to roll for Lee Hyperreal, you can use the A-rank character Lee Palefire with Max Leap as a cheaper Fire DPS alternative.
VERDICT: NOT RECOMMENDED TO GET


4. NANAMI PULSE
Pulse has been replaced as the main Fire Tank by Nanami Starfarer, she will no longer be used in most competitive modes. Alternatively, you can use the A-rank character Bridget Ardeo which will be released on the "When Day Breaks" patch as a cheaper and stronger Fire Tank alternative.
VERDICT: NOT RECOMMENDED TO GET


5. LEE ENTROPY
Entropy has been replaced as the main Physical Attacker by Bianca Stigmata, he will no longer be used in most competitive modes.
VERDICT: NOT RECOMMENDED TO GET


TL:DR: Pick whoever you want/like. If you want a good character, Liv Luminance is currently the best choice, followed by Kamui Tenebrion.