NTE's combat leans on DoT stacking, break windows, and Synced Strikes rather than one character just tanking a boss down solo, so we ranked characters on how much they add to a team — not on flashy solo DPS numbers alone. High damage/buffing output, durability, and cross-team versatility are the three things that separate S-tier from a character that only shines in one specific comp.
S-Tier
- Zankou — the newest addition and an instant S+ pick; slots into DoT, break, and hyper-carry teams without needing a specific partner to function, which is rare for a character this strong.
- Iroi — currently the best healer in the game, and not just for the healing: her Ultimate and Basic Attacks buff the whole team's ATK, and she can lay down a DoT zone that damages and slows enemies at the same time.
- Shinku — one of the hardest-hitting main DPS units in NTE, with an enhanced state that supercharges her attacks. More setup-dependent than Zankou, but the ceiling is just as high once her rotation clicks.
A-Tier
- Linko — an excellent Sub-DPS built around Synced Strikes and Follow-Up boosts; once her setup is aligned, she chains as many Synced Strikes as Oversync allows, making her a strong pivot piece in break-focused teams.
- Haniel — an A-Class damage booster whose passive, Skill, and Ultimate all buff the entire team's attack, making him a near-mandatory support in DPS-stacked comps.
- Solid DoT sub-carries — characters built to apply and refresh damage-over-time effects consistently outperform pure burst units once fights go long, since NTE's endgame content rewards sustained pressure over one big number.
B-Tier
- Early-game Basic Attack scalers — good stat-check performers before the roster fills out, increasingly replaced once Synced Strike and break-focused characters become available.
- Single-role healers without offensive utility — keep the team alive, but Iroi's dual healer/buffer kit has made pure-healing kits a lower priority pull.
C-Tier
- Starter-tier characters past the tutorial arc — get you through the first zones, then get benched almost immediately once pulls start coming in.
- Niche single-target specialists with no break or DoT synergy — strong in a narrow matchup, dead weight in NTE's open-world content where enemy variety punishes inflexible kits.
The takeaway
Zankou, Iroi, and Shinku are worth prioritizing if you're chasing raw power, but Linko and Haniel are the pieces that make a team actually function — don't dump every resource into one DPS and forget the support slot. Build around a DoT-or-break condition first, then pick the carry that benefits from it, rather than pulling for names in isolation.
