Adventurer Tier List

Following the original purpose of Tier Lists, the ranking of Adventurers in Dragalia Lost is done by counting their favorable matchups. Dragalia Lost may not be a 1v1 fighting game, but for its PvE content, some characters have a higher success rate than others.

Everyone in Dragalia has a niche based on their kit and resistances-- in that sense, only the specific content or “matchup” really matters. But surveying across the whole game, the Tier List favors Adventurers who do well in a number of situations. Tier Lists are misleading when taken literally, so readers are encouraged to seek out guides to Void Battles, Imperial Onslaught, The Mercurial Gauntlet and Advanced Dragon Trials for more details on picking the right characters for specific content.

Factors included in the ranking are:

• The primary factor is how represented the character is in the games current "meta," or in other words how popular a character is for clearing end game content (primarily High Dragon Trials and Agito Uprising, Mercurial Gauntlet, and to a lesser extent Omega Raids)
• Damage based on Weapon Combos and theoretical simulation data
• Synergy with other characters of the same element
• Co-Abilities and team buffs
• Status Afflictions and Boss resistances. When opposite-element bosses are immune to an Adventurer’s Affliction, that’s a poor matchup counting against that character.
• Investment, resources and game progression. Any character is fit to complete content with full Mana Circles and maxed equipment, but in practicality, higher-rarity Adventurers with superior Skills and Abilities advance more quickly.

• March 29th, 2020
  • Removal of tier 0. There is no longer a strong case that Gala Cleo is head and shoulders above all other Adventurers. She's still phenomenally powerful and probably the best Adventurer in the game, but Hawk, Gala Alex, and other Adventures have closed the gap to the point where Gleo's ubiquity is in question, and the meta is opening up.
  • Gala Alex placed in tier 1. Her power is the straw that broke the Gleo's back, and Galex is set to take a prominent place in the Shadow Meta. She will not take Gleo out of the meta, but she's a solid argument to not just bring four Gleos. 
  • Patia moved down to 1.5. Though her buffing abilities are excellent, the fact is that she's typically overshadowed by Lathna. While Patia comps are viable, they're not as powerful as other methods. 
  • Jiang Ziya moved down to 1.5. While Jiang is easily the best Water healer, quad DPS comps are increasingly common in HBH and thus Jiang is no longer mandatory. 
  • Emma moved down to 1.5. The fact of the matter is that Flame teams increasingly don't need Emma's buffs thanks to their high DPS and the addition of Chain Co-abilities that allows for other strategies without a dedicated buffer. 
  • Aoi, Hunter Berserker, Mikoto, and Chelsea moved down to 2. As Flame gets better, previously powerful Adventurers lose their sheen. The lower replacement of these four reflects that. 
  • Gala Mym moved up to 1.5. Gaining Dragon Claws and The Red Impulse at the same time has made Mym a lot more viable, though she's not quite a top tier pick, her power is greatly increased. 
• March 15th, 2020
  • The Wind tier list has been overhauled due to the advent of spirals. Many adventurers have been demoted, including the entire previous meta bunch in Wedding Elisanne, Victor, and Noelle. Hawk and Tobias are now the new meta for Wind. Lin You and Su Fang are promoted to tier 1.5. They are not tier 1, but are much more powerful. 
  • Nobunaga promoted to tier 1. Rena and Ramona demoted to tier 1.5. 
  • Templar Hope placed in tier 3. He's got a good support kit, but have you seen Tobias? That boy is a monster. 
  • Mitsuba placed in tier 1.5. She's powerful, but simply can't break into the meta at this point. A willing group can get clears. 
  • Cleo and Curran are demoted to tier 1.5 They have failed to maintain their initial surge in popularity, and are proving not to be meta corner stones. 
  • Summer Verica, Cassandra, Audric, demoted to tier 2. Their power and performance is falling rapidly in the face of the overwhelming power of spirals. 
• March 1st, 2020
  • Pipple placed in tier 1, on watch for tier 0. Larry the Cucumber has been introduced to Dragalia Lost, and in addition to warping the meta has introduced Austin 3:16 to Dragalia Lost, which says that he's about to kick HBH's butt. Pipple has the potential to warp the meta in such a way that quad pipple becomes the meta across the board for Water, but we'll have to wait to see if the impact is as long lasting and deep as Gleo's has been. Additionally, he's definitely not the most effective way to clear all Water content at the moment. 
  • Gleo remains in tier 0. While quad Gleo is not the new meta in either HJP or Agito, triple Gleo with a support Adventurer really is, so she's safe as the queen of the meta for now. 
  • Valerio placed in tier 1.5. Aside from helping the Mother of Dragons, Valerio has a strong, powerful kit. The problem is not only is he overshadowed by a vegetable in his own banner, but the HBH meta that isn't the Larryboy Fanclub favors Hunter Sarisse and Gala Elissane and doesn't really have room for melee in a fight that is notoriously rough on them. 
  • Neferia moved up to tier 1. With her new insane DPS potential and her powerful dispel ability, Neferia is now a top choice for Shadow. 
  • Xainfried moved up to tier 1.5. He's not breaking into HBH just now, but Xainfried's buff is much needed and makes him much more powerful. 
  • Cleo moved up to tier 1, Heinwald bumped to tier 1.5. Cleo's access to dispel as well as having a powerful defense buff edges out Heinwald's superior DPS for now. 
  • Lathna moved to tier 1. Poison is the new hotness, and Lathna edges out Curran as the best choice to accompany Delphi and Ieyasu on their adventures. 
  • Nobunaga moved up to tier 1.5. Nobunaga's buff have given her the power, time will tell if she can supplant Rena as the blade of choice. 
• February 22nd, 2020
  • Valentines Melody placed in tier 1.5: As an excellent poison enabler V!Melody is seeing some use in HMC and in MG, but she's not upset the Double W!Eli meta.
  • Valentines Addis placed in tier 2. While his damage is excellent, and HP conditional and the dominance of Delphi means that V!Addis is already second string. 
  • Verica, Summer Celeria, and Botan > Tier 1.5. While all these Adventurers are still strong, they are slowly getting moved out of the meta by more popular choices, moving them out of tier 1. 
  • Lily > Tier 1.5. Lily is still seeing popular usage and gets moved up one tier. 
  • V!Hildegard, Celeria, Orsem, Summer Julietta, and Akasha > Tier 2. Newer options or a shifting meta have left these choices behind and they all drop down to tier 2 from 1.5. 
• February 5th, 2020
  • Hunter Sarisse placed in tier 1. Her DPS is now the highest in Water and some of the highest in any Element. She'd be tier 1 no matter what her element, but in the anemic Water she's incredibly potent. 
  • Lily > Tier 2. It's been a long time coming, as Lily's DPS has been stagnant and her utility lackluster for months. Hunter Sarisse so utterly blows Lily out of the water that there is no reason to bring a Lily along when you can use H!Sarisse. She did her best, but now it's time for the frost flower to step back.
  • Elisanne > Tier 1.5. Gala Elisanne has mostly eclipsed her original flavor version in all content for the time being, and thus Elisanne must finally retire as the final original free Adventurer to remain top tier for nearly her entire lifespan. It took an Eli to replace an Eli. 
• February 2nd, 2020
  • Hunter Berserker placed in tier 1.5. Berserker has not upended the meta, but he has found a niche place within it. He's powerful enough to see some play in Expert Volk and in Master HMS, but Euden is still generally preferred due to enabling Burn. 
  • Hunter Vanessa placed in tier 1.5. Similar to Dragon Yule Malora, Vanessa can be an alternative go a Gala Euden, but is still not preferred over him. She can easily put out the numbers needed, but the meta seems too established for her to upend it. 
• January 26th, 2020
  • Gala Luca placed in tier 1. Gala Luca is the new best Light Blade and sees heavy use at all levels of content, but especially in Master Zodiark. Another important note: He's made Light viable in MG50+. 
  • Yachiyo > Tier 1.5. While Yachiyo remains at least a decent choice, she's clearly been surpassed by Gala Luca and moves down half a step. 
  • Curran > Tier 1. His mana spiral has given Curran all the tools he needs to be a highly potent DPS in Dark. 
  • Patia > Tier 1. Patia's buff has taken her from mediocre to very, very good. She has a lot of competition, but can keep up with Botan in most situations. 
  • Heinwald, Lathna, Delphi, no changes. As these Adventurers were already high tier before their Mana Spirals, they see no movement. Lathna continues to be a great option that is sometimes overshadowed by Botan and thus stays in 1.5, while Delphi and Heinwald excel in their respective roles and remain in tier 1. 
  • Durant > Tier 2. Durant has proven not to be totally useless, but he's still vastly inferior to Ieyasu and other Dark powerhouses. 
  • Lea > Tier 3. The incredible power of Flame Adventurers puts Lea to shame, and she moves down. 
  • H!Eli > Tier 2. More and more powerful Light choices arrive, and someone has to take the fall for it. 
  • DY!Malora > Tier 1.5. While Malora remains decently popular for mHZD, the double G!Euden comp seems to be outpacing her. She and Chitose are still great choices, but they're certainly not preferred options with Gala Luca on the field. 
  • Lin You, Gala Ranzel, Maribelle > Tier 2. With more powerful Wind choices, it's time for three old favorites to fall in the rankings. This is a bit overdue, but the fact is these three just can't continue to compete in the current meta like fresh new choices.
  • Kirsty > Tier 1.5. Kirsty has fallen in favor greatly from her initial release. She's still viable and usable, but the Double W!Eli comp is so much more consistent and easy to play that she's being pushed out. 
• January 19th, 2020
  • Kirsty placed in Tier 1. Kirsty has proven that she's perfectly capable in mHMC with or without poison, though she's not quite as popular as the Double W!Eli/Victor comp still. Time will tell if she can keep this placement. 
  • Joachim placed in Tier 1.5. While Joachim is easily the best wind Poisoner and can make Poison Comps highly successful, the unfortunate fact is that the HP check in mHMC is currently gating him and gating poison teams in general, as it's currently much safer and easier to stick to traditional comps due to the HMC wyrmprint being required as of now. If Joachim can find a way to survive the HP check without using an HP dragon and/or use the poison punisher print, he could easily move up. 
  • Sarisse, Chelsea > Tier 1.5. Since the release of Mana Spirals, Sarisse and Chelsea have rapidly declined in popularity, being ousted mostly by Xania who enables Burn compositions, as well as by other newly popular Mana Spiral choices like Euden and Ezelith. 
  • Gala Mym > Tier 2. G!Mym just can't perform as well as Mana Spiral Adventurers and she's being outdone by her other form. 
  • H!Mym > Tier 1. Though she remains lackluster in MHMS, H!Mym has found new popularity in Expert Volk and is part of one of the more popular comps. 
  • Euden > Tier 1. Euden has found a renaissance in MHMS and in Expert Volk, and that does not appear to be changing any time soon. 
  • Sazanka > Tier 3, Curran Tier > 2. Both Shadow Axes are completely outdone by so many other Shadow Adventurers that they are being squeezed out of most teams and can't hack it at all in high level play. 
  • Amane > Tier 3. Amane can perform decently well on budget teams, though she's still not ready for the big leagues. 
• January 4th, 2020
  • Mana spirals released, MAJOR changes to tier list!
    • Note: More changes will likely come soon as the meta continues to settle and more spirals are released. 
  • Criteria now includes Volk's Wrath (Expert).
  • Joe tier 3 > tier 2. Better DPS, but below Sarisse and Chelsea still.
  • Xania tier 3 > tier 1. Xania's numbers are now bonkers, and she's easily the best Flame Wand. Now that she competes handily with bows and has full Stun resist, she sees a great deal of play in both mHMS and Volk. 
  • Aurien tier 5 > tier 4. Used to be complete trash, now is only mostly trash.
  • Alain tier 4 > tier 3. Alain is still only passable, but he's a better passable now. 
  • Aoi tier 3 > tier 1.5. The addition of Burn to Aoi's kit has rocketed her DPS to new heights, but she doesn't quite do as well as Rene still. 
  • Euden tier 3 > tier 1.5. Euden's new dispel and massive new DPS numbers make him a good pick for HMS and Volk.  
  • Karl remains in tier 2. He got better, but so did a lot of other Flame Swords. 
  • Naveed tier 4 > tier 1.5. Naveed now hits like a truck and has a tasty dispel in his kit. Euden is better for HMS, but Naveed might be better for Volk. 
  • Ezelith tier 4 > tier 1. Perhaps the greatest improvement, Ezelith went from bottom of the barrel to some of the most insane DPS numbers in the game. Top notch for Volk and even mHMS. 
  • Student Maribelle tier 1.5 > tier 2. Xania is a direct upgrade to S!Mari now. 
  • Marth tier 1.5 > tier 2. Euden and Naveed out perform the Hero King.
  • Halloween Mym tier 1.5 > tier 2. With so many Adventurers moving up, some had to move down. Mym just doesn't have a spot in most teams now.
  • Natalie tier 1 > tier 2. Ieyasu's massive improvement has sidelined Nat for the most part. 
  • Cassandra tier 2 > tier 1.5. Cass got a great buff, but she's still just shy of being optimum.
  • Veronica tier 1 > tier 2. When one wand goes up, one must come down. Veroica is now third fiddle. 
  • Yatan tier 1.5 > tier 2. Yatan just can't keep up with the crazy numbers shadow is seeing these days.
  • Nobunga placed in tier 2. She's good, and the dispel is nice, but Aoi's recent buff makes her less appealing for teams. 
  • Chitose placed in tier 1.5. He can't quite break into the quad DPS meta as easily as Malora did, but he is still seeing high level play and is a godsend for MG. 
  • Mitsuhide placed in tier 1. Mituhide is essentially a direct upgrade to Fleur, though in HZD the difference is marginal. 
  • Fleur tier 1 > tier 1.5. She can still compete, and the difference in performance is slight, but Mitsuhide is the new number 1 light dagger. 
  • Hanabusa placed in tier 3. The lack of complete Curse res really hurts his chances, but he's not actively bad.  
• December 22nd, 2019
  • Laxi > Tier 4. Laxi's kit has a few upsides, but a multitude of downsides. Combined with the existence of Rena and Mikoto, and even Aoi, and Laxi ends up placed fairly low.
  • Megaman moved to tier 3. Megaman has proven that he is somewhat capable of performing at high levels, but still struggles to be relevant in the current meta. 
  • Lucretia moved to tier 3. Lucretia struggles to perform at higher level play, and as such needed to be dropped down a peg. 
• December 15th, 2019
  • Dragonyule Malora > Tier 1. Malora has immediately made a huge splash in the mHZD meta. She's proven to be a popular and pervasive pick that fits right at home in the 4 DPS meta. 
  • Dragonyule Xainfried > Tier 2. While DY!Xainfried is seeing use in mHMC, proving his power, most groups continue to prefer Noelle. Noelle is quite simply better at the buffing role. As such, he's placed in Tier 2. He's good, but Noelle is far easier to find groups with. 
  • Note: Yachiyo > No changes. At this time, Yachiyo continues to be an on meta popular choice for mHZD. Her popularity has fallen, but you won't get Sorry'd for picking her and many rooms still look for her specifically. 
• December 8, 2019
  • Durant added
  • Durant > Tier 3. Durant has the potential to out put good damage, and he can perform well. However, his kit suffers from several drawbacks and he's severely outclassed by Ieyasu and Natalie. 
• December 2, 2019
  • Added Gala Elisanne, Megaman, and Jiang Ziya
  • Thaniel > Tier 2. Thaniel's kit has long been bemoaned. Now that we have an actually good water staff, expect his usage to plummet, though he's still viable for HBH. 
  • Gala Elisanne > Tier 1. As expected, this Gala Water Buffer is seeing good usage in MHBH and MG50+, though she has not yet completely usurped her free counter part. For now, regular Elisanne remains in tier 1. 
  • Jiang Ziya > Tier 1. As the long anticipated replacement to Thaniel, it does not take a rocket scientist to realize she will invariably end up in all new end game content and mostly replace Thaniel in HBH. 
  • Megaman > Tier 4. Sadly, Megaman suffers badly from Freebie syndrome. His kit is lackluster, and the best thing about him is his co-ability which really doesn't help him stand out much. 
• November 27th, 2019
  • Further minor edits. 
  • Albert, Karina > Tier 2. Despite the power level these Adventurers have, they just don't see any use at high level play due to poor resistances and other Adventurers simply doing their job better. 
  • Joe, Xania, Johanna, Nicolas, Zardin > Tier 3. Despite their lower rarity affecting their ability to perform, these Adventurers still have kits that can perform at high levels, but require heavy investment. 
  • Aleen > Tier 4. Aleen's kit and low DPS fails to impress.
  • Ryozen Tier 5. A tanky kit but no DPS does no favors in the current meta. 
  • Hope > Tier 4. Hope is actually capable of healing, abet poorly. 
  • Xander, S!Cleo, V!Ezelith, Tier 2. Bad resistances or a meta that doesn't need them have resulted in these Adventurers being dropped down a peg. 
• November 26th, 2019
  • As the new tier list solidifies, a few adjustments have been made. 
  • Fjorm > Tier 2. Fjorm's initial placement in tier 1 was in error. She has seen markedly less usage as the game has gone on. With new, harder difficulties that cannot be cheesed, her usage in mHBH and MG 50+ has dropped to record low numbers. She is still capable of the hardest content, but Elisanne is just better in nearly every regard. 
  • Yuya > Tier 5. Upon further review, Yuya's kit is broken, and not in a good way. Chicken at Heart completely negates him for a good chunk of many fights, and aside from that his numbers are spectacularly low. 
  • Rex > Tier 3. A closer look at Rex has proven him capable in eHBH, and potentially Master with enough investment. He's still not great, but he's passable. 
  • Aurien > Tier 5. Aurien is simply incapable of doing a healers job well, and winds up with the other junkers in Tier 5. 
  • G!Sarisse, H!Lowen > Tier 1. A new comp using H!Lowen and either G!Sarisse or Chelsea has emerged thanks to the power of the Dear Diary wyrmprint. This comp is highly successful in mHMS, comparable to the previously established Verica/Emma/Rena/Ramona comps. As such, G!Sarisse and H!Lowen are moved to tier 1 from 1.5. 
  • Ezelith/Naveed > Tier 4. Sadly, both Ezelith and Naveed are outshone by a multitude of Adventurers, and their DPS numbers are near the bottom of the barrel. Combined with their nearly irrelevant Sleep Resistance, and they are simply not viable in end game content. 
• November 25th, 2019
  • Major changes! Tier list criteria redefined, entire list overhauled. 
  • Chelsea > Tier 1. Due to her overwhelming DPS, showings him mHMS and in eHMS, and high skill potential, Chelsea is placed in tier 1. 
  • Yuya > Tier 3. So far, Yuya has failed to make a splash, but his kit potentially has the tools to clear end game content, with the note that he has serious flaws.