AFK Journey Wishlist

The wishlist unlocks after doing 30 pulls when it comes to the All-Hero Recruitment banner and is available from the start for the Epic Recruitment banner. When you fully fill the wishlist, any character you pull will come from the Wishlist. This will help you a lot in narrowing down the heroes you want to obtain and smoother your progression. That's why properly setting up the tier list with strong heroes is very important.

• For the All-Hero Recruitment banner Wishlist, you can select 2x
  
  A-Level and 2x
  
  S-Level characters per faction.
• For the Epic Recruitment Banner the Wishlist has only 5 spots, so in most cases you will only fill it with
  
  S-Level characters.
• Keep in mind that you can select
  
  A-Level units on this Wishlist too, but you will always receive an Epic version of them if you pull them (this means that you get 4 soulstones of theirs if you already own the unit, a quick way to upgrade them to higher ranks).

When it comes to

S-Level characters, ascending them is very important and requires both dupes and Acorns. So making a mistake in focusing your resources and 'wishlist' spot into someone who doesn't deserve it will kick it in your ass soon, slowing down your progression. As for A-Level characters, you require a lot more dupes (64 compared to 8 for S-Level) to raise an A-Level character to Supreme+, so again you have to wisely choose who you want to place on your wishlist.

In this section we will go over each Faction and what characters inside them should you focus on. Make sure to read the comments below the table because in some cases you have a few 'paths' available for your accounts depending in you want to focus on PVE or PVP.

Explanation

• Need 1 copy - Characters that work well on a single copy early on, but you won't necessarily want to keep them on the Wishlist after that as there are better options to place there,
• Prioritize - Characters who you should place on your Wishlist as they will help you in various areas of the game and make progression smoother,
• Alternative - Characters who you can consider adding to the Wishlist instead of the ones in the 'Prioritize' category. They often allow you to focus on different areas of the game or specific content,
• Niche - Characters who are currently not used that much in the game or very niche in their areas of specialization.

Graveborn

Comments

• 
  Thoran is the best tank in the game who can't be obtained from any shop and you have to pull him. This makes him a must have on your Wishlist. While early on, he works well on a single copy, you will want to unlock his EX weapon and other skills as soon as possible,
• 
  Cecia is a great damage dealer and you will obtain a copy of her from your first 10-pull. She makes progression much easier and can be used in various areas of the game, but she's not the best anywhere anymore (beside story and Battle Drills), so you might want to stop investing into her once you reach Mythic+. Keep in mind that she is available in the Guild Store, so you can also get her dupes that way,
• 
  Carolina is a very late game hero who needs her EX weapon and team build around her to unveil her full potential. But if you give her all she wants, she will become a monster - both in PVE and PVP. Considering that she can't be bought from any shop like Thoran, you might consider placing her in your Wishlist instead of Cecia (and buy Cecia dupes from the shop - this might slow down your early progression but will benefit you in the long run),
• 
  Igor is one of the most annoying enemies you will face in PVE and PVP. He jumps around the battlefield, cheating death while at the same time chipping at your team's HP. While he was nerfed just before the game's release, he is still a menace on PVP defense.
• 
  Viperian is an AoE nuker who often is part of the Graveborn core due to his massive AoE damage potential and energy drain, allowing you to win the 'who ultimates first' race with ease. He is great in PVE and PVP,
• 
  Silvina is an assassin who can target any backline you want based on her position. This allows her to deal with whoever you need is hiding behind the tanks, but she needs dupes and investment to actually survive in the backline to kill her target.
• 
  Niru is a unique support who can heal his allies and make them immortal, allowing for interesting combos with other characters that make some PVE content trivial. Still, he really needs his EX weapon to be consistent and it's hard to use him before he unlocks it.

Maulers

Comments

• 
  Brutus is one copy wonder who you will often use in off-tank position. While he is a Warrior, he becomes immortal for a few seconds the first he 'dies' which often allows him to buy enough time for your team to use their ultimates. Still, dupes don't really make him better as beside the immortality he struggles in other areas, so he doesn't deserve the permanent spot on your Wishlist,
• 
  Smokey & Meerky is probably the best early game Support / Healer in the game who scales nicely into the endgame, dominating most PVE modes. The only place where he falls off with time is PVP,
• 
  Shakir is a core member of Mauler teams who is very versatile - he can deal damage, do a bit offtanking and also buff allies who are nearby. While early on is just okay, he becomes much stronger with dupes and especially once you unlock his EX and upgrade it to +10,
• 
  Odie is probably the best and most universal A-Level character in the game. His damage is insane and he gets a huge powerspike with his EX weapon, allowing him to execute targets below certain HP. You can use him in any PVE mode and in PVP with great success,
• 
  Koko is an amazing support who can reduce the damage her allies take by staggering it. She works perfectly with Smokey, who balances the true damage taken once her ultimate buff ends,
• 
  Kruger is the best Dream Realm debuffer in the game and while early he works well on a single copy (as his debuff is permanent - so he needs to be strong enough to apply it once and it doesn't matter if he dies after). Still, if you want to compete in Dream Realm, you will want to at least ascend him to Mythic+ so he can unlock his EX weapon (maybe not early, but eventually),
• 
  Antandra is a great off-tank, but she suffers from the fact that there's so many great A-Level Maulers. You could consider placing her in your Wishlist instead of Odie, but this will heavily affect your Dream Realm ratings in the long run. So maybe grabbing a few copies to ascend her a bit, then going back to Odie could work.
• 
  Seth is an Assassin who early on often dies without doing anything, but once you invest in him, he is able to wipe the team by himself due to his massive damage and the ability to self-heal. He is pretty universal and can be used in any PVE and PVP content, but he isn't the best anywhere anymore so we dropped him down the priority list.

Wilders

Comments

• 
  Eironn while having a terrible early game, becomes the core member of multiple meta teams once he unlocks his EX weapon at Mythic+. So he's more of a long term investment, especially that you can't buy him from any shop,
• 
  Hewynn is a great Healer who compared to Rowan and Smokey, can affect the whole battlefield at the same time. Her only issue is that she's a bit slow and it takes her some time to use her Ultimate, so you often use her together with another Healer early on,
• 
  Arden is part of one of the strongest PVP teams (together with Eironn and Carolina) and he synergizes really well with characters that apply CC. While early one, he feels underwhelming, he becomes much stronger with dupes and properly build team,
• 
  Damian became one of the best PVP characters recently. A lot of PVP meta teams want to use him because of the haste boost he provides with his EX weapon, allowing your team to unleash their combo first. On top of that he can heal and debuff enemies, making him a very versatile character. So if you want to focus on PVP, you need him on your Wishlist,
• 
  Lyca is a great hybrid character who can deal a lot of AoE damage and support her allies at the same time, giving them ASPD and Energy, which helps your team to win the ultimate race. She can also reduce the enemy DEF, but the effect is weaker compared to Kruger and also most of Wilder characters deal Magic dmg, so she doesn't synergizes well with her own faction
• 
  Parisa is a damage dealer and buffer hybrid. While her AoE damage potential is massive, she's heavily reliant on enemy team formation to shine or you need to pair her with Eironn, who will gather the enemies in one spot.

Lightbearers

Comments

• 
  Rowan is another one copy wonder, who early on works perfectly well without more dupes. He can heal, buff and restore energy to his allies - a great package in a single character,
• 
  Vala is the best assassin-type hero in the game who can easily deal with the pesky backline - either by killing the healer or strong DPS. Without a character like her, you will struggle against teams that have a solid frontline,
• 
  Temesia while being classified as a tank is a disruptor who can ignore walls and heavily affect the enemy formation, making it easier for the rest of your team to deal with them. So don't think of her as a tank, especially that she can actually deal a lot of damage (it scales with the enemy ATK), making her a great choice for Dream Realm too,
• 
  Cassadee is an AoE focused mage who also can buff her allies. She shines in Magical teams as she also can reduce the enemy's MDEF, which makes her pretty good in Dream Realm,
• 
  Marilee is the best Dream Realm damage dealer in the game, but she's average everywhere else. Still, you have to raise her or you will suffer in Dream Realm,
• 
  Korin is a very versatile character who fulfills the secondary DPS / Support role. He can protect a single ally with Shields, CC enemies and deal True damage - which makes him a monster in Dream Realm once you unlock his EX. If you check the teams who cleared a stage with the lowest power, you will often find Korin there,
• 
  Lucius while being strong early on, quickly loses the ability to be the main tank of the team and switches more into off-tank / shield bot role. The issue is that if you want to invest into him, you have to either sacrifice Marilee or Korin who offer much more for your account than a shield bot.

So here's how you initial wishlist could look like - it assumes you obtained the one-copy wonders already:

Rowan

Brutus

Kruger: