AFK Journey Tier List for best characters

Since in AFK Journey there's a lot of different modes, and some characters shine only in some of them, we have decided to split the ratings between a number of tier lists:

• AFK Stages - how the character performs in AFK Stages - so the main progression of the game. As long as you're playing below or on equal power level as the enemy team, you won't have that much issues with passing the stage, but the moment you have to fight higher power and level enemies, things change. This rating shows how good the characters are when fighting way below enemy power level. Characters rated at Supreme+ (all skills unlocked and EX weapon at +10).
• Dream Realm - how the character performs in the boss-killing mode where you get better rewards for doing more damage to them. Each of the four available bosses has its own rating as they require unique approaches to tackle them,
• For all bosses we're currently looking at them from the late game perspective, so Supreme+ (all skills unlocked and EX weapon at +10).
• PVP - how the character performs in PVP. Characters rated at Supreme+ (all skills unlocked and EX weapon at +10).

Character categories:

• Damage Dealer - Characters that focus on dealing damage whose kit mainly revolves around that,
• Specialist - Characters that are hybrids - combination of other roles. Most often they are damage dealers who can provide buffs to allies, debuff enemies or Crowd Control them,
• Supports - Characters that focus on healing their allies or providing them with buffs (or both at the same time),
• Tanks - Characters that are the vanguard of the team and focus on keeping their allies safe by standing in front of them.

Our ratings explained:

• S+ - The character is simply overpowered and dominates in their role,
• S - a great and versatile character that has barely any flaws,
• A - a good character that has a few little flaws,
• B - a decent character that has a few big flaws holding them back,
• C - underwhelming character.

10/06/2025

• Added Daimon to the tier list.

31/05/2025

Added Season 4 Pre-endless Dream Realm ratings for all characters.

23/05/2025

Updated the AFK and PVP tier list. Also removed all Dream Realm ratings to prepare for the new season - old bosses have been removed, replaced by new bosses. We will add pre-endless ratings to Dream Realm after a full rotation passes (so in 8 days).

21/05/2025

• Added Kulu and Indris to the tier list.

04/05/2025

• Added the Fairy Tail collab characters - Natsu and Lucy - to the tier list.

24/04/2025

• Updated PVP ratings:
• Valka S -> A (Hard to justify her usage at the moment over other Graveborn heroes)
• Igor A -> S (A lot more viable now that Scarlita is no longer as prevalent)
• Scarlita S -> A (Too slow for current meta)
• Soren B -> A (Strong in Supreme Arena)
• Twins S -> S+ (Concerns about survivability were greatly overstated, they fit in most arena teams nowadays)
• Ludovic S -> S+ (Getting a lot of usage in top teams)
• Thoran S -> A (Fell down in usage in favour of more aggressive teams)
• Callan A -> S (Actually good against burst teams as he can save a damage carry from getting sniped at start of match)
• Updated AFK Stages ratings:
• Nara A -> S (Still seeing a lot of usage in Smokey-based AFK teams and works at low dupes)
• Temesia S+ -> A (Not seeing much use anymore in AFK stages)
• Koko S+ -> S (Not as prevalent as Twins and Smokey)
• Arden S -> A (Damage does not scale well enough to deal with enemies at high deficit)
• Lily May S -> A (Relegated to niche anti-ultimate role, damage does not scale well enough to carry at high deficit)
• Carolina S -> A (Damage does not scale well enough to deal with enemies at high deficit)

23/04/2025

• Added Shemira to the tier list,
• In the next few days we will update both AFK Stages and PVP tier list to account for the latest meta shifts.

06/04/2025

• All Dream Realm tier lists have been updated to include the Set Charms - as the meta shifted again with them.

04/04/2025

• Added the [Faramor] to the tier list.

26/03/2025

• Added the [Athalia] to the tier list.

17/03/2025

• Added the [Gerda] to the tier list.

07/03/2025

Updated the AFK and PVP tier list based on the latest meta changes.

• AFK Stages:
• Lenya A -> B (Squishy at high deficit)
• Bryon B -> A (Good tech choice against occasional Lily May; better than Niru for this purpose thanks to his damage potential)
• Talene S+ -> S (She is good but no meta pushing team specifically needs her)
• Bonnie S -> S+ (Really good damage, used in many teams)
• Cryonaia S -> A (Debuffs her team, sometimes runs out of time)
• Nara S -> A (Tech choice where you need to pull an enemy unit)
• Sonja S -> A (Squishy at high deficit)
• Cyran A -> S (Does what Lumont was used for in AFK stages, but better)
• Sinbad B -> A (Good tech choice for his debuffs)
• Twins S -> S+ (Works in most teams, really good AFK pushing unit)
• Lorsan S -> A (Enemies at high deficit are too tanky for him to get kills)
• Damian A -> S (Good realiable healing that won't die too early like others, his haste is good in Eironn teams)
• Ludovic B -> A (Similar usage to Damian but not as good, his CC is still useful)
• Lumont S -> B (Fell off with the introduction of Cyran)
• Lucca S -> A (Doesn't offer much utility, but is still very tanky)
• Callan A -> S (Protects team from getting one-shot early, better than Brutus)
• Lucius B -> A (Used in Lightbearer teams with Rowan)
• PVP:
• Igor C -> A (With Scarlita losing usage, Igor is once again hard to kill without specific answers)
• Satrana B -> A (Her magic damage resist is useful in current meta where many carries rely on magic dmg)
• Sonja A -> B (Awkward placement in most arena maps)
• Temesia A -> B (Not as good this season, there are better options for her role)
• Nara S -> A (Not as good as Silvina or Vala as an assassin)
• Bryon B -> A (Tech choice against Lily May)
• Arden A -> S (Still a really good DPS carry in Eironn teams)
• Lenya A -> S (Strong with Stormstrike artifact combo)
• Silvina A -> S (Strong with Stormstrike artifact combo)
• Niru B -> A (Tech choice against Lily May)
• Twins A -> S (If they get their ultimate out the team basically wins the game)
• Hugin A -> S (Got better with the introduction of Cyran making Lightbearer teams more viable)
• Smokey S -> A (Too easy to interrupt with how many control options are meta right now)

28/02/2025

• Added the [Cyran] to the tier list.

21/02/2025

• Added the [Cryonaia] to the tier list.

17/02/2025

• Dream Realm tier lists have been updated to the Endless meta.

14/02/2025

• Added the [Callan] to the tier list.

03/02/2025

• Added the [Valka] to the tier list.

20/01/2025

• Added the [Twins] to the tier list.
• Lowered [Lorsan] ratings half a tier from S+ to S in AFK and PVP. While he can be slotted in multiple existing teams in both modes and he improves their performance - or introduces new variants - he's never the key element in them that makes them tick which is what S+ rating entails.
• This is the first time we are adjusting the ratings down in that way - the PTR server it seems isn't that reliable when it comes to properly testing a character. Moving forward, we won't rely on it anymore. Instead, as usual we will wait for the character to release in the Global server, test it there, and only then add a review and rate the character.

16/01/2025

Tier list has been revamped for Season 3.

03/01/2025

• [Bonnie] has been added to the tier list.