Wuthering Waves Value Tier List

For more general descriptions of how characters are evaluated in endgame contents at a baseline, please refer to the Individual Tier List’s information section. The contents below will solely focus on changes between Individual Tier List (performance-based) to the Value Tier List (value-based).

We base this Tier List on a metric that seems hard to define at first. What is “value”? Well, we consider our definition of value to be as such, varying between DPS and Hybrids but boiling down to the same core:

Value = Performance / Cost

(Details on the metrics used to grade characters in the “Grading System” section below this one.)

The goal of this definition, and this Tier List as a whole, is to qualify what is the best “bang for your buck” when choosing to acquire a certain character, either by what’s best in one specific gamemode by looking at one of the two Tier Lists, or combining both Tier List rankings in order to determine what’s most worth for a reader’s account overall. The idea is to maximize performance at the minimal costs required to clear endgame contents smoothly and comfortably. It’s aimed both at new players looking to clear endgame contents as quickly as possible, and experienced players looking to get characters that can work quickly out of the box, and efficiently.

Combining this Tier List’s assessments with our strict performance-based rankings in our other Tier Lists is strongly encouraged for the most accurate assessment of meta possible.

If you disagree with this definition of value according to the factors we expressed above and in the section that follows, then please feel free to solely focus on objective metrics that we use in our other, strictly performance-based Tier Lists instead of referring to this one.

Characters are graded independently of the performance-based Tier Lists based on the grading system below:

Value = Performance / Cost

The highest value team (or teams for Hybrids/Supports) is (or are) used for the character’s assessment (easy visualization of highest value teams according to our criteria per character will be provided shortly in a following update, please bear with us for the time being).

Where:

For DPS characters:

• Performance = Score[base]*ConsistencyPenalty(%)
• Cost = 1 + [WeaponPenalty(%)+CharacterPenalty(%)]

Score[base] is granted to characters based on a point system relative to the current highest damage ceiling in the game, measured by strict performance. Characters are granted a baseline score based on the current highest-performing team in the game, and graded relatively, based on how they perform comparatively to that team. Hence, the baseline for score will evolve with the ever-growing meta.

By gamemode, this varies: characters in ToA are evaluated based on loop DPS over 150 seconds, and characters in WhiWa are evaluated based on the score of the highest-performing team with the best Exquisite Token (purple token) equipped, on their best half (Concerto or Resonance Energy half), always in a neutral environment where elemental resistance (that strays away from defaults) and temporary endgame buffs/boss-specific buffs are not a factor.

ConsistencyPenalty is a percentage-based penalty applied (or not) based on the ability of a character to handle all enemies/encounter types they may face with the same capabilities (or not). Resistant enemies are excluded. Some characters can have no ConsistencyPenalty applied to them (it is hence equal to 1).

WeaponPenalty and CharacterPenalty are percentage-based penalties applied based on the amount of limited 5-star weapons present in the team for WeaponPenalty, and the amount of limited 5-star characters present in the team (graded character itself excluded) for CharacterPenalty.

WeaponPenalty and CharacterPenalty are balanced relative to each other, with CharacterPenalty being more more impactful than WeaponPenalty due to higher average cost per character due to the presence of a 50/50 system (whereas weapons do not have a 50/50 mechanic tied to them).

Lastly, 2 biases exist that impact the final rating:

• Free character bias (marked by the Free tag): Free characters should naturally be valued higher than limited characters if they perform well, since they can be acquired permanently without expending limited pull currency. We consider all permanent banner 5-stars and S6 4-stars to be free to acquire over time and they hence fall under this category. If their standard for performance is quite close to certain limited characters that would normally belong in tiers above them, we may either lower the limited characters or increase the rating of the free character to account for this.
• Teammate relevancy bias: If a limited Hybrid or Support is used in the assessment of a given character’s value, and that character is better used in a higher-value team, then the character who uses that Hybrid or Support better used in another team will necessarily rank lower than the more performant character, separated by at least a tier.

For Hybrids and Supports:

We use the same core formula, except it’s impossible to create a metric backed by performance numbers on characters of such classes, due to the nature of their buffing being defined by the performance of the DPS characters they’re tied to. As a result, more subjective metrics are necessarily used in their value assessment, without number backing, as follows:

• Performance: Relative metric to DPS characters supported in an effective manner, and performance of these characters (no universal formula or point system used).
• Cost: Same idea as DPS, but without a point system to divide by.
• We use an additional major variable: Relevancy (within teams).
• Relevancy: Whether the character is best used within the highest value teams for the characters supported, and is favoured over other Hybrids/Supports or not.

This is highly similar to teammate relevancy bias for DPS, except way more essential and impactful to the baseline rating.

Special tags

Tags represent the most defining features of a character's kit.

• Break - Tag given to characters who have special interactions with the Tune Break mechanic, such as Tune Rupture/Strain application and/or response, or who provide Tune Break-related buffs.
• Frazzle: Character's kit relies upon or is able to apply Spectro Frazzle to enemies.
• Erosion: Character's kit relies upon or is able to apply Aero Erosion to enemies.
• Bane: Character's kit relies upon or is able to apply Havoc Bane to enemies.
• Burst: Character's kit relies upon or is able to apply Fusion Burst to enemies.
• Chafe: Character's kit relies upon or is able to apply Glacio Chafe to enemies.
• Flare: Character's kit relies upon or is able to apply Electro Flare to enemies.
• Sustain - Character can provide effects that increase the team’s resistance to damage, such as Healing, Shielding or Damage Reduction. This tag is only given to characters who can provide these effects to party members other than themselves.
• Coord - Character can perform or benefit from Coordinated Attacks consistently, thanks to a major portion of their kit revolving around Coordinated Attacks or being able to execute Coordinated Attacks, providing damage and/or utility even when off-field.
• Control - Character has elements in their kit that can hinder enemy actions, such as freezing, slowing or stunning them.
• Gather - Character is effective at grouping clumps of small enemies together, allowing you to deal with several targets at once effectively.
• Partner - Character is graded based on their best team as normal, but is especially reliant on being partnered with one specific character in order to function at the highest level. Characters marked with this tag will perform at least one tier lower than their listed position on the tier list without those characters alongside them (sometimes even more).
• Expert - Character can be considered one placement higher than their default tier list ranking, but has an optimal playstyle that needs to be mastered to qualify for that higher rating. Characters only obtain this tag if the expert playstyle creates a significant discrepancy in power compared to their baseline playstyle, more so than characters without the tag.
• Watchlist - Represented by a blue eye icon in the top right corner of the character image on the Tier List, this tag is given to characters who are being temporarily looked into further by the Prydwen team in order to assess their Tier List placement more accurately. These characters’ placements are subject to change (or not depending on the situation). A tag in text form will be provided to specify whether they are on the Watchlist to go up or down the Tier List. Please provide us with your feedback for Watchlisted characters!
• S0 - Exclusive to 4-star characters. Characters with this tag have their performance noticeably lowered if they are at S0 (no duplicates) instead of S6 (max duplicates, which they are graded with on the Tier List). This tag provides precisions on how much being at S0 hurts them — for example, a character with the S0 -1 Tag will perform 1 tier lower at S0 compared to their rating on the actual Tier List.
• Free - Character is permanently accessible and considered “free of cost” at S0 (permanent 5-stars) and S6 (permanent 4-stars). As a result, the free character bias may apply in their rating (refer to the Grading System for more information).

Meta Lines

Meta Lines categorize each section of the tier list into a power bracket. Here are the three brackets:

• Highest Value - Characters in this bracket are the most worthwhile pickups for any account. It’s difficult to argue against using these characters on your team, as for DPS, they either display some of the strongest performance at higher cost while still retaining a good budget baseline, or have some of the strongest budget baselines out there. For Hybrids and Supports, their team flexibility paired with their performance in those teams is unparalleled, making them some of the most useful characters to own.
• Strong Value - While not the most optimal pickups, characters in this bracket are definitely still worth watching out for, to complete the teams of higher-graded characters and make them stronger, or simply to give your account additional options with higher investments. While these characters are not the best-performing at a budget level or lack flexibility, given the right contexts and investments they can outshine some of the higher-graded characters in some situations, or at least provide very strong performance of their own. These characters are definitely worth looking into as much as the characters in the bracket above them.
• Niche/Lower Value - Characters in this bracket need to be carefully considered before being picked up and invested. They only serve either extremely niche use cases, or their performance pales in comparison to the characters above, even if they have good budget choices available to them in some cases. Overall, while these characters can still perform up to the standards of endgame given the sufficient amount of investment, they may either lack in firepower or budget options and hence may not be worth their cost compared to characters above them, though this isn’t always true and depends on the teams you want to further invest into.

We will never share calculation results for full team performance publicly. While we do run those calculations in the background, and testing in practical conditions is easily reproducible and constitutes sharable points of data, neither are fully accurate, and neither can be fully accurate by design.

Our staff sharing team calculation numbers publicly has a track record of causing issues and points of contention that work against the healthy informational and discussion-based environment we aim to create - as a result, our team refrains from publicly sharing team calculation numbers, which is why personal damage calculations are all that’s available on the website.

If you disagree with this way of going about things, then please feel free to refer to the performance-based Tier Lists, or simply your own personal testing results, instead - your personal experience may not be the universal truth (and neither are our calculations and testing), but those results will always be the most accurate for your own account and playstyle.

Thank you for your understanding!

30/04/2026

Today we finally re-released the Value Tier List we initially scrapped - this time we came back with more work put into it, and it’s separate from the performance-based Tier List. We spent an excessive amount of time detailing our grading process, so we strongly recommend you to go check that out and see if you agree with this process or not. If you think our grading process is flawed, because “value” is a subjective term, then that’s okay - strictly refer to your own personal testing for value assessments, and view our performance-based Tier Lists for the purpose they’re intended for - it’s a much more objective metric.

We’ll only clarify our Watchlisted characters in this changelog as the rest should be self-explanatory from the context provided by the information sections above this changelog:

For ToA:

• Hiyuki: Watchlisted to potentially go up when a future Glacio Chafe support inevitably releases. This is projected to happen shortly in a future patch due to the nature of Hiyuki’s passive and Echo set, and may fully complete her team, potentially giving her a significant boost in value.
• Chisa: Watchlisted to potentially go up on Denia’s release, as Denia was confirmed to be Aemeath’s Fusion Burst Support by Kuro Games during the Anniversary livestream and a pair with Chisa is highly likely.

For WhiWa:

• Hiyuki: Same reasoning as ToA.
• Chisa: Same reasoning as WhiWa.
• Aemeath: Since Denia’s release is on the horizon and Fusion Burst is the AoE-centric Resonance Mode for Aemeath, it’s likely that Denia’s release will give Aemeath a significant performance (and hence value due to a higher base score) boost in the gamemode. We’re keeping an eye out on her, and all watchlisted characters, for future meta position updates.