Preface
The opinions given here are based relative to GLOBAL as well as my own experiences. Opinions can differ, but my thoughts will be provided throughout the process.
The game is more nuanced than what a tier list can convey, so I will be sure to lay out my caveats and try to make separate tier lists denoting their usage within their respective tier. The Tier list is once again focusing on PvE with a lean towards the more challenging content within the game currently. That content is Bygone Phantasm, Void Rifts, and Raids.
For the sake of simplicity, I'll be using character names rather than their weapon names.
PvE
SSR Shieldbreaker
| Tier | Simulacrum |
|---|---|
| S |  KING |
| A |  Meryl |
| B |  Shiro  Huma |
| C |
King:
- High shield break damage
- Advancements all increase mobbing potential
- Fast Autos
- Good stats on attacks with strong mobility
He has a high amount of shield break even without A1 and has very fast auto attacks. When A1 is acquired, he gains even more shield break with extra DOT damage to go along with it. Added with his long auto attack string is relatively decent AOE with his discharge and skill. The utility he has with his attack string in the air and the ground makes him also strong mobility wise which helps when in PvE combat. Just a straight stat stick with good numbers, good range, and little caveats, which make him among the best units currently. All his advancements help him in his mobbing potential, although advancements are not strictly needed.
Just a straight stat stick with good numbers, good range, and little caveats make him among the best units currently.
Meryl:
- Very great single target shield break damage
- A1 grants extra shield break and shield
- AOE is relatively meh
- Super Armour on certain attacks
- Relatively good advancements
She has one of the highest single target shield break damage in the game currently, with interesting interrupt resistance inherent to her kit. Her discharge, however, is a bit odd in that it can be a detriment to your teammates as the ice barrier surrounding her can prevent arrow damage from hitting the enemy. Otherwise, it does okay AOE damage, and the rotation of discharge into skill is a great single-target combo. Her bigger issue, however, separating her from the tier King occupies within the PvE metagame currently is she has very slow and clunky auto attacks and doesn't have the same AOE or speed King has. The interruption resistance doesn't come into play when you're mobbing, barring bosses, and sometimes on higher-level events, you'll need to dodge more than you face tank. She still does an insane amount of single target shield breaks, and her advancements further increase her single target shield breaks.
She still does an insane amount of single target shield breaks, and her advancements further increase her single target shield breaks
Shiro:
- Advancement gated, interesting A3
- Burst damage limited to discharge AOE
- Meh auto attacks
- Decent dodge N1 Spam
One of the more advancement locked characters in the game currently. She has a good A3 but, of course, has an issue with it being A3. When acquiring A3, your utility with the character increases as she can reset weapon cooldowns when you shatter an enemy. This is especially helpful with characters who have long cooldowns. She is similar to Tsubasa in that her dodge attack N1 (Normal attack once) is where she gains a lot of her utility. This attack string spam coinciding with her burst skill has a good amount of damage within a small area. However, if the enemies go outside of this active area, your damage is significantly reduced.
Despite this utility, however, she has a lot of issues, one being her relatively poor auto attack strings meaning you'll more than likely have to play her in a swap-in-style of shield break and her element being physical hurting her in the early game as many of the bosses and enemies have resistance towards it. Her utility being locked behind A3 and a relatively strict area where she is best used means she lands in this tier.
Her utility being locked behind A3 and a relatively strict area where she is best used means she lands in this tier.
Huma:
- Discharge is defensive
- Debuffing enemy kit
- Decent shield break
- Best attack is in AX dodge -> N1 (Normal Attack)
- The opportunity cost of not using other characters.
A rather odd one in this list is that she is rather decent at no advancement rating, but she has a utility kit that doesn't benefit the PvE metagame at the current moment. Her discharge is a taunt for enemies for 5 seconds, not the most useful skill when you're more than likely already "taunted" in most scenarios. Even within the context of PvE scenarios, I find taking aggression is much better done in this game with an off and on mentality where you take aggression and back off of it. An overall uneventful discharge, all things considered, with okay AOE damage, but many of the other SSRs can do the same AOE but with faster animations and more damage. Her skill converts her shield into an ax and has a decent shield break however limits her in that to get her faster attacks; she must be in ax form. One of her better attacks is her ax form dodge N1 (Normal Attack 1) spam.
While it does not seem that I have no real gripes with her, it's more a matter of her utility being a bit too defensive for PvE gameplay and the effectiveness of other SSR options offensively rough. She has no buff or any advantage when shield break occurs, and her shield break damage is pretty average. Other characters have a lot more focused kit that generally does better than Huma.
Her utility is a bit too defensive for PvE gameplay, and the effectiveness of other SSR options is offensively rough.
SSR Main DPS
| Tier | Simulacrum |
|---|---|
| S |  Samir |
| A |  Crow |
| B |  Tsubasa Crow (low advancement) |
| C |
Samir:
- Easy to use gameplay
- High damage AOE air attack
- Advancement and trait all benefit her damage
- Good in AOE and boss scenarios
- Caveat of having to use grounded normals in certain airborne enemy scenarios.
Ease of gameplay, great airborne AOE, volt for nemesis resonance, and relatively high charge rate. You can build charge at a decent rate with the character; she has high sustained DPS with a nice spinning attack in the air, which, albeit does consume stamina, does great damage and AOE. Her dodge attack into N1 further flows into her gameplay of playing within the air and shooting down hell onto enemies. Both her skill and discharge once again do good damage, and overall is just a high damage stat stick with no actual conditions that need to be done to perform well. A1 is unnecessary for her usage, and any ascensions are a simple damage boost.
Simplicity helps her a lot; the only real downside to her is that her best air attack shooting down means she's forced to use her grounded normals or charged, which is not ideal damage wise compared to her spin in the air. This caveat, of course, is only a minor knock on her as she still executes a high amount of damage.
Currently, in the game, it is Samir or bust when it comes to the highest theoretical DPS.
Crow:
- Very high theoretical DPS
- Execution heavy
- Advancement locked DPS
Theoretical higher DPS than Samir with the caveat of being a lot more conditional, harder to efficiently use and the biggest caveat being his need for Ascensions to be effective. At A1 he gains the backstab mechanic which increases his crit rate by 100% and crit damage by 30% which is a huge damage boost. His A3 is another great damage boost that supports his gameplay of destroying weaker targets. A5 is another Ascension that goes well with him even further increasing his crit but again this does not come with his kit inherently. Caveat emptor once again he needs high ascension for this rating to be a true reflection. His airborne attacks do a great deal of damage in terms of multiplier and speed but execution heavy character means that your theoretical damage will more than likely be lower. There is jetpack tech you can do to spam his spin dive to execute a high amount of damage but it's far too annoying to do consistently, due to the higher multiplier you can do a lot of damage but it's execution heavy and again, relatively annoying to do.
Since Nemesis currently is the only character with elemental resonance, you do gain a damage buff if you use them together so this as well increases his rating. A character filled with many caveats, though I will say he is a good character when invested and used properly however, due to the overall difficulty of usage and high investment cost means I simply can't put him in the same rating as Samir.
I will say he is a good character when invested and used properly however, due to the overall difficulty of usage and high investment cost means I simply can't put him in the same rating as Samir.
Tsubasa:
- Relatively meh auto attack but a decent string if charged at the end.
- Slight advancement locked (A1 then A6)
- Very high charge rate in AOE scenarios
Not her primary role as she is more of a sub-DPS who has supporting utility but she can be slotted into this role if required. She has a high charge rate with a normal attack string that has meh damage. Her dodge attack however is fairly good and does decent damage and has interactions with her overall design which we will outline later. In her normal attack string if you string a charge attack at the end you will gain an AOE arrow rain which can increase your AOE damage which can build charge quickly. However, her normal attack string which you should use if you are using her as the main DPS is poor compared to the others, the only thing saving it is a modification if you charge attack in AOE scenarios. You'll more than likely find that Tsubasa will quickly struggle in single target scenarios compared to the other SSRs.
A1 is important as you increase your overall attack when you fire a dodge attack and A3 creates 3 charge arrows instead of 1 which further creates a synergistic effect. If you're using Tsubasa's trait as well these advancements also help her main DPS ceiling as A3 interacts with her trait in that if you hit all 3 arrows you'll gain stacks for those three different hits.
Without investment in terms of A1 to A3 and her trait she's not great compared to the others when put in the Main-DPS role.
SSR Support, Sub-DPS, Utility
| Tier | Simulacrum |
|---|---|
| S |  Nemesis |
| A | Tsubasa |
| B |  Zero  Cocoritter |
| C |
Nemesis:
- A1 to heal without the need for dodging
- Volt elemental resonance for extra damage
- Totems do decent off-field damage
- Advancements do more damage and more totems
She's in her own league, a lot of utility, especially with A1, the only unit currently with an elemental resonance, which means greater theoretical damage for your main DPS. She heals you with your turret at A1 without the need for stacks. She has decent off-field damage and introduces the annoyance of stuttering your opponents here and there. The only real caveat to speak of is that she gains her stride with the acquisition of A1. At A0 you'll have to modify your playstyle to acquire the healing stacks, which are rather annoying. She also has the caveat in that you really should make use of her resonance otherwise, it's lost potential DPS as it's part of her utility, and forgoing it hampers her potential compared to slotting in someone like Tsubasa. If you have Nemesis, use her with Samir and see those damage numbers rise. Simply quickly swap into her once and a while, cast her skill and on occasion, you are free to discharge with her if the context needs a refresh of a turret or if you have A6.
Advancements past A1 are a relative damage and healing increase but don't change how you'll use your kit as much as A1.
If you have Nemesis use her with Samir and see those damage numbers rise.
Tsubasa:
- Better as a sub DPS
- Advancements A1, A3. and A6 beneficial to building damage stacks
- Good charge rate
Slotting her into the support and utility section may be rather odd but at higher ascensions (A1 and then A6) she provides a rather decent team buff. In situations where there are a lot of enemies, the charge rate is incredibly high which means your characters will be discharging a lot more often with a fairly good dash attack spam which as written about previously has great synergy with the rest of her kit. Unlike her Main DPS usage, however, she will be more used to switching to when you want to build some charge occasionally and buff your team. The only thing keeping her from Nemesis is there isn't as universal as she doesn't have the utility of healing with damage and stutter. She was also nerfed in global compared to CN, similar to Nemesiss, but her utility is still rather good within this vacuum. You increase damage and build charge fast, which while highly advantageous, does mean that those who want a healer would have to forgo another spot.
Tsubasa is rather good overall, even with the nerfs in global.
Zero:
- Ascension locked
- Good overall utility, damage increase, shield. healing
- Discharge a bit situational
He Has a lot of utility surrounding his kit with a decent amount of damage but with the caveat of being gated by his Ascensions. At A1 you get a heal. A5 is an offensive buff and healing. His discharge has the utility of damage immunity for a few seconds after casting which can be helpful in a pinch. His play style is more using his discharge to deploy more cubes and with the utility of health, damage increase and shield from picking up items with his shield skill. A bit ascension locked once again and not recommendable if you're not looking to invest heavily. However he does have a good return on investment when properly invested. With the current content of the game, however, I'd argue the utility of Tsubasa can bring you more, even if it's just straight damage only with the acquisition of only A1. It's rather hard to argue to invest in zero rather than Tsubasa if both are present. There are no issues with him as a character, he has good utility, and a good kit, but the opportunity cost and investment make me hesitant to place him higher up the list despite my want to.
A bit ascension locked once again and not recommendable if you're not looking to invest heavily, however, he does have a good return on investment when adequately invested.
Cocoritter:
- Purely a healer
- Advancements help with healing
- A1 shatter and damage helping
- Opportunity cost compared to other supports
Almost exclusively pure healing and support. She's a straightforward character with a straightforward goal. Her skill heals, she gains more healing at A1 and A3, and you get increased shatter and normal damage. A3 utility of shatter immunity does not have much usage other than in PVP. Overall her kit seems to lean a bit more towards the game's PVP area rather than PvE, so I'm not too impressed, but there's not much to look at. She's not exactly in her element currently, as a lot of the content does not warrant a pure healer with only a bit of utility as that hampers damage, but she has her strength within the PVP section of the game.
She's not exactly in her element currently as a lot of the content does not warrant a pure healer with only a bit of utility as that hampers damage, but she has her strength within the PVP section of the game.
