Nikke – Bossing Tier List Revamp

Several months ago, we revamped our Campaign tier list to offer more distinction and separation in the top 4 ranks (A, S, SS, SSS). Today, we are going to follow suit with our Bossing tier list. The theme for today’s change is MASS DEMOTION because, as you would expect, we are demoting a massive number of units to free up space in the upper echelons—SSS to SS, SS to S, S to A, and so on.

But, don’t worry—this doesn’t mean the demoted units become worse. Their performance is still the same as before revision; what’s changing is our grading system (or the criteria). For example, previously, we put elemental DPS units without considerable neutral presence, such as QEQ, on S tier, but after revision, we are dropping them to A tier. We have also adjusted the criteria to be more granular, so you can guess more accurately the performance of a unit based on their ratings alone.

Another pattern to this change is that we used to place similar attention on everything—balanced weighting (for example, niche strength would be as important as DPS potential). We found this to be “not very accurate” because there were too many factors being considered. Now, the weighting for Past (Raid) Usage + Usage Prospect has been massively increased. Overall impact + “if you don’t have this unit, how much you’re missing out” will also have heavy influence. Check our Glossary below for more detail.

The new grading system is as follows:

• SSS: Strictly highly performant units with indisputable neutral presence. If DPS, they must be one of the best in their element and have more than Raid-worthy damage against other elements (able to bruteforce many bosses and act as replacements in maxing content outside Raid, such as in Anomaly Interception/Campaign). If Support, they must be one of the top/BiS picks with almost zero alternatives. Stability (whether the Nikke is affected by boss characteristics) is also an important factor, as well as other special skills the Nikkes might have—such as elemental advantage against two elements. A Nikke can have SSS-level damage peak but suffers from too much instability, losing a rank. Team-building flexibility (the integrability of the unit in Raids or other content) is a significant factor as well → units that are easier to integrate into high-performance teams or synergize better with the current supports are benefitted.
• SS: Extraordinary units who are one of the best in their respective elements but do not have as much neutral presence as the SSS units, albeit still remarkable. If DPS, they must have Raid-worthy damage against non-advantageous elements. If Support, they must be the best alternatives or the 2nd top/BiS picks after or along with the SSS choices, which is usually proven via high Raid presence. When deciding whether a unit deserves SS or higher, for newer units, scalability, maximum damage potential (from reasonable team comps + attainable investment levels), as well as Raid prospects (incl. limitations they might impose on team building, etc) will be the three main factors. For older units, past Raid usage will be the biggest determiner. Subjective and objective comparison based on overall impact will also be done (e.g. if a unit’s practical impact is 75% relative to SSS tiers, then SS will be the final tier).
• S: If DPS, must be one of the better units in their element and/or be usable in Neutral Raids (as a regular choice, an alternative, or a niche pick). If Support, must be Top 5~6 picks for Solo Raid in most if not all elements. Overall impact will be used to determine whether a unit is placed in S (or higher or lower). Units that have high usage but are there just as enablers (such as XMaiden and SAnis) may potentially be ranked lower depending on “how much would you lose if you don’t have them”, which is one way to evaluate impact. Note that our weighing is not one-dimensional and consists of multiple factors (a unit can be bad at something but very good at one other thing, and that might skew the grades).
• A: If DPS, these units are only reasonable for use in their own respective element and have nearly zero (if not none) neutral presence at all. If Supports, they are usually the best alternatives only after the usual Top 5~6 SR picks (e.g. Dorothy & Maxwell), are used only on certain elements (e.g. ExiaTr, SHelm, & Maxwell), or are only effective on certain units that are no higher than S/SS tiers. Specifically for supports, they may still have special niche(s) where they can function as S+ tier, but these occasions are very rare. For instance, Dorothy would be strong if we get a boss with 24/7 parts, which we do have—New Blacksmith, but when did the last time this happen? As with all other tiers, limitations such as team-building restrictions are also taken into account (Dorothy needing Privaty, PrivM needing Leona, etc).
• B: Units that are waiting for that one boss. Highly specific units that are used when the right time and situation comes. However, in other scenarios, these units will falter.
• C: Casual friendly usable units that can either help with survivability, deal okayish damage, or can at the very least buff their team to an extent. These units are not meta but if the player has incomplete rosters, they can definitely make use of them. In extremely harsh situations, such as need fkr cleanse, these units may shine bright.
• D: Extremely mid tier units. They are useful for players with incomplete rosters who come up against Elemental Shields and don’t have enough units of the right element.. However, their performance is never on par with the top units. These units have glaring problems but are at the very least usable in their own extreme niche.
• E: These units are barely usable. They provide little to nothing for their teams, have harsh requirements just to activate their skills, and have little effect even if their skills are activated properly.
• F: We do not find any practical application or reason for them to be used.

Major demotions

SSS → SS

B3

• Raven → We are still internally debating whether to place her in SS or SSS because of her strong & stable damage and self-sufficiency. However, for now, we have decided to place her in SS because: 1. Raven’s relative damage falls off on core because she doesn’t scale on core, 2. needs parts to deal a lot of damage, 3. doesn’t have special perks like Mihara being able to off-burst without damage loss/Rapipi having two elements, and 4. is not as scalable as MiharaBC, which has a similar playstyle to hers. That said, Raven is a strong unit—and can be considered SS+ if you want. If we continue to witness Raven dominate in (Neutral) Raid and believe that she should be rated higher, we will consider bringing her up. Raven can be considered the best SS B3 unit for bossing.
• SBS → Hard decision. SBS has been a goddess—she has been and is still used a lot in Raids due to her not relying on core (her damage is mostly skill damage), by non-spenders at least. Her stability is sought after. However, the problem here is that SBS alone is not as strong as RRH & Cindy (those can bruteforce better). She needs Mana or Alice to perform, which can be limiting considering the DPS for Alice and Mana needs the correct situation to appear. Because of these issues, with a heavy heart, we have to take one S away from her tier. This does not mean that she is unusable of course. She is still one of the top units to use. It’s just that the criteria have gotten more strict now.
• Alice →  She used to be a reliable Neutral DPS, but now she’s been demoted to simply “Fire DPS” and “slave for SBS”. In elements outside Fire, she has often been replaced with units of the advantageous element. Reliant on core and aligned parts. May still be used on Neutral if the boss benefits Pierce or if SBS needs a partner.
• Asuka: WILLE → Rivaling SBS’s Neutral damage, she suffers from a similar dilemma of needing ReiTN to reach that level of DPS. Since we demoted SBS, we shall demote her too.

B1

• Liter → Time for grandma to rest; she has served us all well, far and beyond what anyone could have expected back in 2022. She is just not as dominating as RRH/Siren anymore, who have replaced her. Liter’s tons of ATK, very high CDR ceiling (good for Grave), ammo buff, and cover repair are still essential for Solo Raid—the 3rd best B1 with CDR even after almost 3 years! Her major problem is mostly just that she needs to stack first to get a high CDR.
• Rouge → Good healing and strong team buffs, but her problem is that they are only super effective on certain units. Thankfully, those units include a strong unit like Cindy. Sniper Rifle = good for burst gen support too. Can separate Blanc from Noir if needed as well.

SSS → S

• D: Killer Wife → We used to rate her similar to Liter, but there’s a problem with that considering the recent trend. You see, Pierce SR Nikkes are somewhat falling out of meta and are being replaced with better elemental DPS. This reduces the amount of impact that D: Wife can give. She is still an awesome CDR unit thanks to her instant CDR. However, in SR, she is not picked as often as the ones in SS/SSS (priority/first picks) anymore, and even if there were a slot, she is often seen fighting for the last spot with Volume whose CRT buffs synergize better with Mast & Anchor Maids.

SS → S

B3

• BSoda → Her presence in the meta hasn’t really changed, but we just need more room in the upper tiers, and while her utility can be important for SG teams, her strength does not match the higher tier units, so down you go without any fault of yours—we are sorry, Soda. : (.
• XMaiden/SAnis → First of all, they are not weak per se. If we base our judgment based on Raid usage only, they would be SS due to their Neutral presence. But, the reason why they’re S is: 1. they’re just supports for Cindy; remove Cindy, and their usage would drop significantly, which comes off as a consequence of 2. As standalones, their Neutral damage doesn’t really match the units in SS.
• Drake (Treasure) → One of the best Treasures to get for SG team. Reliable ATK and Max Ammo buffs. Solidifies their presence in neutral elements and makes them strong against Fire-weak (because Drake is Fire). Hard to go wrong with her, but suffers a similar fate to BSoda. 
• XLudmilla → She is not bad. She gives Damage Taken, which makes your other DPS stronger. But, in terms of her own DPS, she is ONLY strong IF the enemy has a core. That’s pretty much her only problem, to be fair. That said, she is still one of the best Water DPS, and there aren’t many good Water DPS yet (that helps raise her tier a bit). May be used as an off burst unit for several teams as a buffer, even if she is up against neutral elements, and while her strength can situationally match up to the likes of Dorothy on her own element, the same cannot be said about her on off-element in the modern meta. She simply got  powercrept in her job.
• Red Hood → Powercrept HARD. Not like Alice that she is still a slave to someone, and SU likes making bosses not have core now. Still a good DPS against Iron-weak, especially when the bosses have a hidden core (i.e. Ultra). May still be used in Neutral if the boss benefits Pierce a lil’ too much. After all, Pierce is still broken; it’s just less prevalent now.

B2

SSS:

• Crown → The best B2 in the game. How to know if she’s the best B2 in the game? Well, if you don’t have her, you suffer in every single content. That’s what makes her SSS.

SS:

• MastM → Some of you might question why we placed her in SS instead of SSS even when she shows dominance in Neutral and gets paired with Crown. Well, first of all, MastM can’t be independent, unlike Crown who can solo B2. Secondly, you can live without her. Unlike with Crown, if you don’t have MastM, you can still live and continue your journey. it’s not the end of your journey. You still want her, though, because she raises the damage ceiling + can work with Anchor Maid.
• Grave → No changes. The best solo B2 after Crown who can reliably abuse Liter’s and Volume’s 8.2s CDR, allowing for 15 rotations. Good synergy with Pierce units too and decent self damage against Fire-weak and when Pierce is supported.
• AnchorM → Has an undeniably strong presence (because of MastM, and they go together if MastM doesn’t go with Crown). Overall, this duo’s impact is stronger than Tia Naga because they are not reliant on core; their buffs are stronger too versus Blanc Noir, esp. for Distributed Damage users (like QQ, Bready, and SBS). Crown AnchorM also is the best support setup for Black Snake in Hard Campaign.

S:

• Naga → Raid bosses recently don’t sport too much core, and even when they do, Naga has no longer become the first choice anymore due to HelmT and Maid Mast. She hasn’t become worse—just got powercrept through boss configs + better supports and units that don’t synergize with core damage well.
• Tia → We know she isnt a B2 unit, but she suffers a similar fate and problem as Naga since they usually go together for Bossing, although you can argue Naga can go alone with Crown, but since she doesn’t now, Tia and Naga are tied together for the near future.
• SRosanna → Maintains rank. Sees the light of day again after the inception of Raven and MiharaBC. Those two scale on Damage Taken (+ bonus ATK) real well.
• Blanc → Not the first choice as B2 due to having to go with either Rouge or Noir, but her Damage Taken + Healing are still desired sometimes and are not as diluted as other types of buffs.

Promotions

• MirandaTr → The best support for MiharaBC and Snow White due to guaranteed crit. Reliable ATK and CRT buffs for two allies with the highest ATK, although targeting can be ruined for some players with investment imbalance. ATK buff is based on the targeted unit’s base ATK stat instead of self. Improves Snow White from “maldy” to “not maldy” in the sense of CRT RNG, which is a huge QoL improvement. Sees higher usage in recent Raid, enough for her promotion. She is the only unit to be promoted this round.

Other Units 

• Demoted to A because they are:
  • If DPS, only used in their respective element without considerable neutral presence, 
  • If Supports, they have been replaced by better supports but are still good alternatives (i.e. Maxwell) or are used generally only on one element (i.e. Rei), 
  • Restricts team building too much (e.g. PrivM), 
  • Very niche (e.g. Mana).