Neverness to Everness: Tier List and Best Characters for Team Building

At launch, Neverness to Everness has a roster small enough that account value is concentrated in a few characters rather than spread across many niche counters. That makes the current meta easier to read than it may look. One main DPS stands above the rest, two support units define a large share of efficient team shells, and the middle of the roster is where most disagreement starts.

If the short answer is all you need, it is this: Nanally is the safest top-tier pull and the clearest best main DPS, Jiuyuan and Esper Zero are the strongest support investments, Baicang is the most credible fallback carry if you do not have Nanally, and Chiz is unusually valuable for long-term players because her Awakening path is more accessible than most gacha characters. On the lower end, Edgar and Aurelia currently give the weakest return for resources.

How to Read This Neverness to Everness Tier List

This character-tier-list is built around three things that matter most for real account progress: how reliably a unit performs in both boss and mob content, how much team building the character demands before feeling good, and how efficient that investment is in a launch environment where resources are limited. That last point matters more than usual. A character can be strong in a showcase and still be a poor early investment if they only become consistent inside a narrow Esper Cycle shell.

The stable part of the meta is short. Nanally is a consensus top carry across current rankings. Jiuyuan appears more often than any other support as a top-tier pick. Esper Zero is sometimes placed slightly lower, but still functions as a premium support or sub-DPS in practical team building. After that, rankings become more role-dependent. Some lists push characters like Sakiri, Daffodil, or Fadia higher than others, which is a sign that optimization is still catching up with launch.

S Tier: The Safest Characters to Build Around

Nanally

Nanally is the current standard for main DPS. The reason is not just raw damage. She combines strong uptime, follow-up pressure, and useful coverage against both single targets and groups, which means she is rarely the wrong answer for content. In practical terms, that makes her the cleanest reroll target and the least risky banner investment. A launch DPS can fall off if their damage only works in one scenario; Nanally avoids that problem because her output stays relevant across more encounter types.

For team building, Nanally also simplifies decisions. You do not need to force a complicated second carry beside her. She performs best when the rest of the team is built to extend her damage windows, improve consistency, or keep her acting safely. If you pull her early, most of your account planning becomes easier.

Jiuyuan

Jiuyuan is the most stable support recommendation in the current meta. While exact rankings differ from list to list, Jiuyuan shows up as a top-tier support more consistently than almost anyone else. That is important because supports are often harder to evaluate than DPS on paper. The practical test is whether a support improves multiple teams rather than one showcase team, and Jiuyuan appears to do that.

If your account already has a competent damage dealer, Jiuyuan can be the piece that turns a merely functional team into a meta team. This is especially relevant in Esper Cycle setups, where support value depends on enabling the cycle reliably instead of only adding raw stats.

Esper Zero

Esper Zero is slightly harder to place because some current rankings treat the character as S-tier while others place the kit at the top of A-tier. In practice, that distinction is not very meaningful. Zero still profiles as one of the best support or sub-DPS investments in the game. If Nanally is the cleanest carry, Zero is one of the cleanest accelerants for team performance.

The main reason to rate Zero this highly is flexibility. A support that only works in one narrow composition is not truly top tier for account value. Zero appears strong precisely because the character improves multiple shells and does not need a full niche roster before becoming useful.

• Best overall reroll or first-banner priority: Nanally
• Best support investment for broad utility: Jiuyuan
• Best hybrid support/sub-DPS value: Esper Zero

A Tier: Strong Characters With More Conditions

Baicang

Baicang is the most important non-Nanally DPS to understand. If you skip Nanally, miss her banner, or simply do not want to center your account around one limited hyper carry, Baicang is the clearest alternative. Current evaluations consistently frame this character as a viable damage dealer rather than a consolation prize. The difference is that Baicang leans more on damage-over-time and Incantation-style pressure, so the team around the character matters more.

That makes Baicang excellent for players who prefer steadier setups over burst-centric play. It also means the character usually wants a team that can protect tempo and keep the fight stable long enough for the full damage pattern to matter. Baicang is not replacing Nanally at the top, but for team-composition planning, this is the best fallback carry in the current pool.

Sakiri

Sakiri has one of the widest placement ranges in current tier lists. Some evaluations put the character near the top of the entire game, while others value Sakiri more specifically as a sub-DPS or utility piece. That usually signals a high ceiling paired with some dependence on team context. In other words, Sakiri looks strong, but not always as a blind first investment.

If your core is already established, Sakiri becomes easier to justify. If your roster is thin and you need one character to carry weak account structure, Nanally or Baicang is a more straightforward answer.

Haniel and Daffodil

Haniel and Daffodil sit in the section of the meta where role matters more than headline tier labels. Haniel tends to hold value as a support buffer, which makes the character look better the more defined your main damage plan is. Daffodil appears high in some rankings because the damage profile is clearly useful, but there is less consensus that this is a universal first-priority build compared with Nanally.

Both are strong enough to play seriously. The caution is resource allocation. In a launch economy, “strong” is not the same thing as “best early investment.” If you already have Nanally, Jiuyuan, or Zero, these characters become easier to slot in. If not, they are less efficient as foundation pieces.

Chiz

Chiz is the most unusual name in this tier list because raw launch strength is only part of the evaluation. Unlike most premium gacha characters, Chiz has notable accessibility through the Tycoon system and can reach full Awakening through long-term play. That changes the account-value equation. A character that starts slightly below the top but is realistically acquirable and improvable over time can be more important than a stronger unit you cannot meaningfully progress.

For early power, Chiz is not the obvious answer over Nanally or Baicang. For long-term planning, especially for low-spend or patient players, Chiz is one of the smartest projects in the current roster. Treat the character as a progression investment, not a day-one dominance pick.

Volatile Tier: Characters the Meta Has Not Settled Yet

This is where launch disagreement becomes significant. Mint and Skia have notably unstable placements across current rankings, which usually means either their optimal teams are not widely solved yet or their apparent strength changes sharply depending on content and player execution. Fadia also appears higher in some evaluations than in others. None of these characters should be written off, but none are safe blind investments either.

Hathor deserves a separate note. Current analysis points to post-beta nerfs reducing damage output, which lowers direct combat value compared with early expectations. That does not make Hathor useless. The character still carries non-combat value through a Life Skill bonus that improves resource or Cartridge-related farming. The problem is simple: utility outside combat does not fully compensate if you are spending scarce upgrade materials for combat progression.

• Build volatile characters only if they complete a team you already know you want to run.
• Avoid spending early Awakening resources on unsettled picks unless they are your only workable option.
• Expect this section of the tier list to move first after balance changes or deeper endgame testing.

Lower Tier Right Now: Why Edgar and Aurelia Lag Behind

Edgar and Aurelia are the easiest low-tier calls in the current meta because the weaknesses are structural rather than numerical edge cases. Edgar’s healing is tied too heavily to a stationary area, which is a recurring problem in mobile encounters and boss fights that force constant repositioning. Healing that works only when the fight cooperates is not dependable support.

Aurelia’s issue is different. The kit is generally evaluated as lacking the damage and mobility needed to keep up with stronger alternatives. At launch, low-damage units can briefly look acceptable because early enemies are forgiving. That does not last. Once team building tightens around better DPS and better support engines, Aurelia’s weaknesses become harder to justify.

Best Team-Composition Rules for the Current Esper Cycle Meta

The biggest team-building mistake in Neverness to Everness is trying to stack four individually “good” characters without a coherent cycle plan. The better approach is to pick one damage pattern and make the whole team serve it. Current best teams increasingly revolve around triggering one Esper Cycle reliably rather than mixing partial synergies.

• Use one real main DPS. Nanally or Baicang should be the center of the damage plan, not one of two competing carries.
• Add one premium enabler. Jiuyuan or Esper Zero usually fills this role best because they improve team flow, not just sheet damage.
• Use the third slot for extension, not duplication. This is where characters like Sakiri or Haniel gain value if they fit the shell.
• Keep one flex slot. Use it for sustain, control, or whatever your roster has that preserves uptime in actual content.

A practical example is the Nanally hypercarry shell: Nanally as the sole primary DPS, Jiuyuan or Zero as the engine, a secondary support or control piece to stabilize rotations, and one flex slot for survival or utility. The reason this works is straightforward. Nanally gains more from cleaner uptime and better support than from sharing the field with another hungry DPS.

The Baicang alternative shell follows the same logic but rewards patience more than burst. Because the damage profile leans on ongoing pressure, the rest of the team should protect setup, extend control of the fight, and avoid wasting turns on overlapping roles. This is why Baicang is strong but slightly more composition-sensitive than Nanally.

Reroll, Pull, and Awakening Priorities

For gacha efficiency, the order is relatively clear. If rerolling is part of your plan, Nanally is the best first target. If you miss Nanally, Jiuyuan and Esper Zero are still high-value accounts starters because premium support ages better than mediocre DPS. If your account lacks Nanally but can support Baicang well, that is the most reasonable pivot instead of chasing weaker carries.

On the Awakening side, avoid spreading resources across too many mid-tier characters early. The best use of upgrades is still to deepen one proven core. Chiz is the main exception because the character’s accessibility changes the long-term math. A fully developed Chiz can be worth more to a patient account than a lightly invested unit with higher initial rarity value.

The part of this Neverness to Everness tier list that looks least likely to change soon is also the part that matters most for account planning: Nanally remains the clearest top DPS, Jiuyuan and Esper Zero remain the premium support targets, Baicang remains the best alternative carry, Chiz remains the long-term Awakening project, and Edgar and Aurelia remain the weakest current investments. The movement is far more likely to happen in the crowded middle, where Esper Cycle optimization and future patches will decide who rises.