PVP Tier List Update

It is time for regular PVP tier list maintenance. The primary objectives of this update are to:

Adjust ratings to reflect changes to BANS & UPS system
Adjust ratings to reflect recent balance patch changes
Follow up on impact of Ship HP increase on terror comp performance

The CounterSide PVP tier list has been updated and changes were made to reflect the current state of PVP meta. This blog post provides some commentary on changes made to the ratings.

ASSR Commentary

Kallen Kōzuki

C🡒D

Kallen sucks.

Additional Commentary

UP System Rework/ Partial Revert

Continuing from last month’s commentary, BSide has added back the cost reduction on UP, which had been removed as part of its earlier BANS & UPS system rework.

Under the new system, only SSR (excluding ASSR) characters are eligible for UP under the new system. As such, SR characters rated C for UP week performance have been moved from C to D tier. The tier list has been updated to reflect the impact of the system changes.

A round of applause for the surviving SR characters. Chulsoo has survived another mass layoff. The future is bright (he is also slated for nerfs).

Last month’s commentary can be found here: https://blog.prydwen.gg/2024/09/10/counterside-pvp-tier-list-update-10-09/

PVP Commentary on Recent Balance Patch

Levia Thanis

SS🡒A

Much of Levia’s value came from her ability to chunk frontline units with her %current HP damage reflect mechanic. This was especially relevant against the more durable ASSR frontline units, who would otherwise shrug off damage from dedicated damage dealers.

Following the changes, Levia’s damage reflect now only applies against rangers and snipers, significantly limiting her applications in PVP. Notably, this greatly diminishes her early game pressure by removing her ability to damage the frontline units she is being deployed to match.

Levia still has a solid kit for a frontline tank; importantly, she is one of exceedingly few frontline tanks that hit air, which still makes her a good option against flier-dependent team compositions (e.g. Awakened Horizon).

Raphaela Juri

SS🡒A

Raphaela’s MDL nerf massively affects her survivability. For better or for worse, she can no longer drag out games with her obscene stalling power.

Raphaela is still unique for the positional advantages she brings to her team, but she no longer functions as a dedicated frontline tank on top of that, greatly diminishing her overall value to the team.

Lily

S🡒A

Lily’s Special skill received a massive 96% damage nerf and a reduction to its AOE radius. This effectively kills her ability to put chip damage on the backline, and relegates her to a niche as a pure stall tool.

Prior to the nerfs, Lily saw limited play in PVP; she did see a surge in usage rates as a counterpick against Awakened Rosaria, but ask auto-attack based backline damage dealers have gradually been phased out in favor of skill/ ultimate based ones, her relevance has been on the decline ever since.

Lily should be equipped with defensive CDR gear now.

Spira

A🡒C

Spira’s changes killed her function as a lead within terror comps. With only one jump, she no longer has the reach to penetrate into the backline:

she can no longer reach the ship
she can no longer reach the ranger backline
she can no longer perform her role as a backline access unit

Spira already saw next to no use outside of terror. Now that she has been nerfed out of viability, she has essentially become just another striker frontline tank. She is rated for her UP week performance as a cheap cycle frontline.
Balance patch details can be found here: https://www.counterside.com/notice/item/ct/en/tbl/notice/idx/2638/P1

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