My Nikke: Goddess of Victory tier list has been rewritten more times than I’d like to admit, because Shift Up just won’t stop dropping new Pilgrims that wreck the meta. What was T0 six months ago is sometimes sitting at A-tier today, and I’ve watched units I dumped skill books into get straight-up replaced.
Here’s what’s inside this guide:
- My full PvE tier list (Campaign + Boss combined)
- A separate PvP Arena ranking, because it’s basically a different game
- The five units I’d pull before anything else
- Skip list — units that look fun but ate my gems
- Real FAQ pulled from what players are actually asking on Reddit and the official Discord
Quick disclaimer before we get into it: I rerolled three times during the 3.5th Anniversary banner trying to land Crown, and I’m still not over it. So if my bias toward her shows up below, it’s earned.
Table of Contents
What Changed in My Tier List After Crown Took Over the Meta
The whole reason this Nikke tier list looks different from the one I had a few months back is Crown. She didn’t just join the meta — she rewrote it. Her Burst II amplification compounds across long fights, which means the longer a Solo Raid goes, the more disgusting her numbers get. There’s no real B2 replacement right now. None.
Right behind her is Rapi: Red Hood, who’s basically the most flexible Burst III DPS in the game. Fire MG, self-sufficient burst gen, and she doesn’t need a babysitter team to perform. I run her in three different comps and she pulls weight in all of them.
Cinderella is the third name carrying this meta, but she’s specialized — her True Damage absolutely melts high-DEF bosses like Stormbringer, but she drops off against mobile targets. So she’s not a universal pick, even if her ceiling is the highest in the game.
Then there’s Nayuta. The 3rd anniversary unit. Healing + damage amp + add-clearing in a single kit, which is just unfair on paper. If you have her, build her. If you don’t, save for the next rerun.
How I Actually Rank Nikkes (60% Boss, 40% Campaign)
Most tier lists you’ll see online use the standard community weighting: 60% Boss content, 40% Campaign. I follow the same split because that’s how the actual endgame loops in 2026. Solo Raid, Union Raid, and Anomaly Interception are where serious progression happens, and they all skew toward bossing.
A few things to know before reading the table:
- Green-bordered SSRs (non-Pilgrims) perform a full tier higher in low-to-mid CP deficit, basically up to ~35%. So if you’re not deficit-pushing, treat them better than they look here.
- Red-bordered Pilgrims (Crown, Red Hood, Cinderella) need real skill investment — like 7/7/7 minimum — to hit their ceiling. At 4/4/4 they underperform.
- PvP is not included in the combined ranking. It gets its own table because the rules of that mode are completely different.
- I tested at 25%+ CP deficit, 60 FPS, with Min Firing Rounds enabled — same conditions most community testers use.
I learned the hard way that spreading skill books thin across a roster is the dumbest thing a new Commander can do. I had eight units at 4/4/4 instead of three units at 9/9/9, and my Solo Raid score was hot garbage. Pick your core five, dump everything into them.
Combined PvE Nikke Tier List — Boss + Campaign
This is the main table. Bossing and Campaign performance combined into one ranking, because most players don’t run separate teams for both anyway.
| Nikke | Tier | Burst | Role | Why It’s Here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crown | SSS | B2 | Buffer / Pilgrim | No B2 replacement exists, period |
| Rapi: Red Hood | SSS | B3 | Fire MG DPS | Most flexible B3 in the game |
| Cinderella | SSS | B3 | True DMG bossing | Bypasses defense, melts Union Raid |
| Red Hood (Pilgrim) | SS | B1/B3 | AR DPS / B1 buffer | Triple-phase burst, dual role |
| Little Mermaid | SS | B1 | CDR + AoE | Best B1 mechanics ever shipped |
| Nayuta | SS | B2 | Heal + amp + AoE | 3rd Anniversary banger |
| Liter | SS | B1 | CDR backbone | Fueling teams since Day 1 |
| Naga | SS | B2 | Sustain + cycling | The team-glue specialist |
| Modernia | S | B3 | MG DPS | F2P bossing carry |
| Scarlet: Black Shadow | S | B3 | Full-screen burst | Campaign auto-farm queen |
| Helm (Treasure) | S | B3 | RL bossing | SSS under 25% deficit, SS above |
| Snow White: Heavy Arms | S | B3 | RL DPS | Pilgrim with serious bossing power |
| Liberalio | S | B3 | SBS partner | Pairs nuts with Scarlet: BS |
| Alice | S | B3 | Fire SR | Still elite vs fire-weak bosses |
| Tactical Emma | A | B2 | True DMG support | Just got promoted from B → A |
| Tactical Eunhwa | A | B2 | True DMG support | Promoted alongside Emma |
| Anchor: Innocent Maid | A | B1 | Maid Team | Insane synergy with Mast |
| Mast: Romantic Maid | A | B2 | Maid Team | Other half of the Maid combo |
| Dorothy | A | B1 | Boss specialist | Manual reload tech is huge |
| Tia | A | B2 | Schoolgirls support | Pairs with Naga for sustained DPS |
| Bunny Soda / Mihara | A | B1/B2 | Tetra utility | Solid F2P picks |
| Jill Valentine | A | B3 | Electric SR | Promoted from B-tier |
| Guillotine: Winter Slayer | A | B3 | Ice DPS | Earned the bump up |
| Snow Crane | A | B2 | Water Defender | New April 2026 release |
| Harran | A | B3 | Sniper sub-DPS | Holds up in PvE and PvP |
| Centi | B | B2 | Shield support | Carries you through the early game |
| Rupee | B | B3 | AR DPS | Outclassed in 2026 meta |
| Privaty (Treasure) | B | B3 | Niche utility | Situational at best |
| Drake | B | B3 | RL DPS | Heavily power-crept |
| Vesti: Tactical Upgrade | B | B3 | Solo Campaign | Strong solo, weak in team comps |
| Noise | C | B1 | Healer | Baseline early-game pick |
| Pepper | C | B1 | Healer/revive | Backup healer slot only |
| Rapunzel | C | B1 | Heal + revive | Niche use in PvP only |
| E.H. | C | B3 | Wind SMG | The recent skip-tier release |
| Old standard SSRs | D | — | — | R-doll hangout zone |
The tier I’d argue about most? Helm (Treasure). She’s insane before you start hitting hard CP deficits, and then she falls off a cliff. So if you’re a mid-game player still building your account, she plays at SSS for you. Once you’re deep into endgame, she’s S at best.
PvP Arena Tier List — Yeah, It’s Basically Another Game
PvP rewards burst generation speed, disruption, and counters to revive/damage-reduction setups. None of that lines up with what wins in PvE. So this list is judged on pure Special Arena and Champion Arena performance.
| Nikke | Tier | Role | Why It’s Here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blanc | SSS | Indomitability core | DR meta made her godlike |
| Moran (Treasure) | SSS | Disruption/DR | Counterable only by Indomitability |
| Crown | SSS | Speed burst support | Same role, still dominant |
| Rapi: Red Hood | SSS | Speed comp DPS | Deletes squishy backlines |
| Liter | SSS | Speed burst gen | Required for fast comps |
| Naga | SSS | Cycling support | Speed comp staple |
| Jackal | SS | RL Burst I gen | Fastest burst generator alive |
| Scarlet: Black Shadow | SS | DPS | Dropped from SSS — Label hard-counters her |
| Cinderella | SS | True DMG nuke | Less universal in PvP than PvE |
| Anis: Sparkling Summer | SS | B2 buffer | Speed comp alt |
| Noah | S | Niche DR specialist | Specific matchup pick |
| Snow Crane | A | Water Defender | Decent on Attack, weak on Defense |
| Harran | A | Sniper armor break | Still seeing use |
| Helm (Treasure) | A | RL Attacker | Niche burst windows |
| Soda: Twinkling Bunny | B | RL filler | Replaceable at this point |
| Privaty | C | Niche utility | Old-meta filler |
Scarlet: BS losing her SSS spot was the biggest PvP shakeup of the year for me. Label specifically counters her low-HP scaling, and now I see her benched on Defense in basically every Champion Arena push above gold. She still functions on Attack, but if your opponent runs Label, she’s done.
If you only build one PvP-focused unit outside of your PvE roster, build Blanc. The Indomitability mechanic counters too much of the current meta to ignore.
The Five Pulls That Carried My Account
If I had to do this whole game over with a fresh account, here’s the pull priority I’d run:
- Crown — She slots into every top team. No B2 replacement. Highest leverage per gem in the game.
- Rapi: Red Hood — Most flexible B3 DPS. Self-sufficient. Every Pilgrim banner she’s on, you pull.
- Nayuta — Heal + amp + clear in one body. Anniversary-tier value.
- Little Mermaid — Best B1 mechanics shipped. Pairs with Crown perfectly.
- Cinderella — True Damage king. Pull her if you want to push Solo Raid scores.
If you’re under 15,000 gems, don’t pull on minor banners. The gem income on F2P runs roughly 80/day from missions, so hard pity from zero takes about 75 days of dailies. Save them for Anniversary banners — that’s where the actual value is.
Skip List: Units I Wish I Hadn’t Built
Look, I get it. Some Nikkes look cool. Some have great character designs. But this is a tier list, not a waifu chart, so let me save you some skill books.
- E.H. — Sub-banner from earlier this year. Capped DPS efficiency at ~70% of comparable units. B-tier story, B-tier boss, D-tier arena. Hard skip.
- Drake — Power-crept from launch-era SSS to current B-tier. Don’t waste resources here.
- Rupee — Same story. Once a top pick, now firmly mid.
- Old standard SSRs (Eunhwa base, Rapi base, Anis base) — They had their moment. That moment ended.
The hardest pill to swallow was Scarlet base. Not Black Shadow — original Scarlet. I built her to 9/9/9 back when the launch-era tier lists called her required, and she’s now niche in 2026. Lesson learned: never max-skill any unit unless they’ve been meta for at least six months.
Burst Rotation Cheat Sheet (Why Tiers Don’t Matter If You Mess This Up)
I don’t care if you have five SSS units. If your Burst order is broken, your team will lose to a balanced A-tier squad. Every time.
The rotation order is strict: B1 → B2 → B3. Never out of sequence. Your B1 fills the gauge, your B2 buffs/sustains, your B3 deletes the boss. Liter is the gold standard B1 because of her CDR — she literally accelerates how fast the entire team cycles.
Burst generation speed by weapon, fastest to slowest:
- Rocket Launcher
- Shotgun
- Sniper Rifle / Assault Rifle
- SMG / MG
This matters most for your B1. If you’re running an SMG B1, your rotation is naturally slower than someone running Liter (RL) or Jackal (RL) — and in PvP, that gap decides the match before the first burst even fires.
Crown’s amplification compounds across rotations, not just inside one. So consistency over the full fight matters more than any single burst window. I learned that one watching my Solo Raid score climb when I just kept rotating cleanly instead of trying to optimize a single huge burst.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I pull Crown or Rapi: Red Hood first if I can only afford one?
Crown. Every time. Red Hood functions in a team with a generic B2, but Crown has no replacement at her slot. Pulling Crown also raises the ceiling of every B3 you already own, which gives you more leverage per gem than any other pull.
Is Modernia still good in 2026 for F2P players?
Yeah, she’s still the best F2P-accessible B3 you can get. Don’t bench her just because she’s A-tier on this list — in a budget team without Red Hood or Cinderella, she punches well above her tier and will absolutely carry you through chapters 12 through 18.
How much CP deficit can I push without bricking the run?
The rough breakpoint is 35%. Below that, green-bordered SSRs play above their tier and clean clears are doable. Above 35% it follows a power-law penalty curve, and above 48% you basically need flawless execution. I tried pushing at 45% with a half-built team and got obliterated.
Why did Scarlet: Black Shadow drop in PvP rankings?
Label’s release directly counters her low-HP scaling. On Defense she’s effectively useless against opponents running Label, though she still functions on Attack and in Champion Arena where matchups are random. Her PvE rating barely moved — only PvP took the hit.
Is the new unit Snow Crane worth pulling?
Honestly? Skip. She’s a Missilis Water Defender with healing and a Pierce buff, but she has no offensive amplification or taunt, which most well-built teams just don’t need. Her Anniversary window made her briefly relevant for Water-weak Union Raid bosses, and that’s it. Crown and Red Hood are infinitely better gem investments.
Can I clear endgame as F2P or do I need to spend?
Fully F2P clears endgame, but it takes longer and requires patience with banner timing. Set your Wish List to Liter, Naga, and Tia immediately (unlocks after 40 Regular Banner summons), save 15,000–25,000 gems before each Anniversary, and skip every banner outside that window. That’s the path.
Is Cinderella better than Rapi: Red Hood for Solo Raid?
For specific bosses with high defense like Stormbringer, yes — her True Damage bypasses DEF entirely, which is mathematically broken. For general Solo Raid coverage across all boss types, Rapi: Red Hood is more flexible. Most top Union Raid teams now run both in the same comp.
How often does this Nikke: Goddess of Victory tier list change?
Major shifts happen every one to two months when a new Pilgrim or SSS-tier unit drops. Core units like Crown and Red Hood have stayed at the top for over a year and don’t have any announced replacements. I update this list whenever a major patch lands or community testing solidifies a real shift, not just a hype week.
Final Word
This Nikke: Goddess of Victory tier list is what I’d hand my friend if they restarted today. Build Crown, pull Rapi: Red Hood when she’s up, dump skill books into your core five, and stop trying to MLB everyone — that’s the path that took my account from stuck-on-chapter-14 to actually competitive in Solo Raid.
The meta will shift again. Probably soon. But the structure — burst rotation discipline, smart resource focus, and respect for your CP deficit — that part doesn’t change.
Save your gems. Pull smart. See you in the Outer Rim.