Tower of Fantasy Tier List - Best Characters & Builds

Tier List Overview

In Tower of Fantasy, your power level and combat effectiveness are intrinsically tied to one crucial element: your weapons. Unlike traditional gacha games where the character and their kit are permanently bound together, Tower of Fantasy separates the "Simulacrum" (the character) from the weapon itself. While equipping a weapon with its rightful Simulacrum provides a small stat boost and an exclusive resonance skill, the weapon's base kit, damage output, and elemental properties are what truly dictate your success in both PvE and PvP environments.

Because of this unique mechanic, ranking characters based on their lore importance or aesthetic appeal is counterproductive. Instead, the most accurate and practical way to approach progression is through a Weapon Tier List. This list evaluates weapons based on their raw DPS (Damage Per Second), utility in endgame content like Joint Operations and Bygone Phantasm, crowd-control capabilities, shield-breaking speed, and synergy within elemental teams. Whether you are a free-to-play player saving your limited Dark Crystals or a whale looking to optimize your Void Rift runs, understanding where your weapons stand in the current meta is essential for efficient resource management.

Keep in mind that the Tower of Fantasy meta is heavily defined by elemental weaknesses. A weapon that dominates in a physical-damage-dealing environment might struggle in a frost-heavy zone. However, the weapons that occupy the highest tiers are those that either bypass this system through overwhelming raw damage or provide so much team utility that they fit into almost any composition.

S Tier

The S Tier represents the absolute pinnacle of Tower of Fantasy’s arsenal. These weapons are defined by their game-breaking damage multipliers, exceptional utility, or ability to enable entire team compositions around them. Pulling an S Tier weapon completely changes the flow of gameplay, turning grueling boss fights into trivial encounters. If you have the opportunity to acquire any of these weapons, they should be your absolute highest priority.

Amber (Dual Pistols)

Amber has remained a controversial yet undisputed king of raw DPS since her release. As a physical damage weapon, she excels in environments where physical weakness is present, but her true strength lies in her Charged Attack mechanics. By weaving normal attacks and dodges perfectly, players can maintain an incredibly high uptime on her charged shots, which boast some of the highest damage coefficients in the entire game.

• Why she is S Tier: Unmatched burst damage during physical weakness windows, excellent dodge counter animations that keep her completely safe, and a discharge skill that provides massive AoE burst. In a dedicated physical team (often paired with Claudia and Peppa), she is a guaranteed clear for the hardest Bygone Phantasm stages.

Sumeru (Pistol)

Sumeru flipped the script on the traditional Tower of Fantasy damage formula. Before Sumeru, attack damage (ATK) was universally considered the supreme stat. Sumeru, however, scales predominantly off of HP. This makes her incredibly easy to build, as players do not need to rely on the notoriously difficult-to-obtain Attack percentage matrices. Furthermore, her skill applies a "Mark" to enemies, and her subsequent attacks deal devastating damage based on her maximum health.

• Why he is S Tier: Sumeru is the ultimate "plug-and-play" weapon. He requires zero specific elemental supports to deal massive damage. His self-sustain is phenomenal, and his discharge skill hits like a truck even without optimal matrices. He is the best friend of any free-to-play player.

Lin (Ice Composite Bow)

Lin is the undisputed queen of crowd control and AoE (Area of Effect) damage. Her skill creates a massive blizzard that continuously freezes and shatters enemies in a wide radius. This makes her the definitive MVP for Void Rift, where waves of enemies spawn rapidly and need to be cleared instantly. Her normal attacks apply ice elements incredibly fast, making her a top-tier shield-breaker as well.

• Why she is S Tier: No other weapon matches Lin's utility in multiplayer endgame modes. Her ability to lock down entire screens of enemies while outputting top-tier ice damage makes her an irreplaceable asset for any account.

A Tier

A Tier weapons are incredibly strong, reliable, and form the backbone of many meta-relevant teams. While they might lack the absolute overwhelming dominance of S Tier weapons, they are consistently excellent in almost all PvE content. These are premium options that will never let you down once fully invested.

Claudia (Blazing Composite Bow)

Claudia serves as the premier off-field damage dealer and battery for physical teams. Her kit revolves around marking enemies with her skill and then unleashing a volley of flaming arrows that deal massive damage independently of her normal attacks. This allows her to passively shred enemy health bars while you actively pilot another weapon, such as Amber.

• Why she is A Tier: She is the perfect partner for Amber. While she falls slightly behind Sumeru or Lin in terms of solo-carry potential, her off-field damage scaling makes her a vital cog in the highest-performing physical composition in the game.

Fenrir (Flaming Scythe)

Fenrir brings an aggressive, high-octane playstyle to the flame element. Her kit is built around stacking "Fireblades" through her normal attacks and then consuming them for explosive damage and self-buffs. She has excellent mobility, a built-in heal that triggers upon using her skill, and a discharge ability that provides lingering flame damage on the battlefield.

• Why she is A Tier: Fenrir is exceptionally self-sufficient. She deals incredible single-target damage, sustains herself without a healer, and benefits massively from the standard Flame elemental team (usually paired with Samir and Cobalt-B). She misses S Tier only because Flame struggles against enemies with high flame resistance, limiting her universal application.

Alyss (Thunder Polearm)

Alyss is a master of thunder application and lightning-fast combo chains. Her normal attacks are fluid and deal substantial damage, but her true value lies in her skill, which summons a lightning matrix that continuously strikes enemies, applying the thunder element rapidly to break shields. She also provides a team-wide thunder damage buff when she lands critical hits.

• Why she is A Tier: She is the best thunder main-DPS available, outclassing older options like Samir in sustained boss fights. Her shield-breaking capabilities are phenomenal. However, the thunder element lacks a dedicated, top-tier support like Peppa (for physical) or Coco Ritter (for ice), keeping her slightly contained.

Chloe (Flame Dual Blades)

Chloe is a highly technical weapon that rewards players who can master her unique "Heat" mechanic. By holding down her normal attack, she consumes heat to unleash a devastating drill attack. When managed correctly, she can output damage numbers that rival even Amber. Additionally, her dodge mechanics are uniquely fluid, allowing her to reposition effortlessly during boss fights.

• Why she is A Tier: Chloe’s ceiling is S Tier, but her floor is B Tier. She requires extensive practice, low ping, and perfect animation-canceling to reach her full potential. For the average player, she is an excellent flame DPS, but for the highly skilled, she is an absolute menace.

B Tier

B Tier consists of solid, functional weapons that perform well in standard PvE content but begin to show their age or limitations in the absolute endgame. These weapons are often outclassed by newer releases in their respective elements but still offer valuable utility, making them excellent early-game carries or secondary DPS options.

Samir (Thunder Dual Guns)

Samir was one of the original "goddess" tier weapons, beloved for her simple hold-to-attack mechanic that summoned orbiting lightning lasers. While she has been power-crept by newer thunder weapons like Alyss, she still holds up remarkably well due to a recent balance patch that buffed her damage coefficients.

• Why she is B Tier: She is incredibly easy to use and still shreds shields quickly. However, her damage output in prolonged boss fights without specific tier-3 matrices falls behind modern DPS expectations. She is a fantastic free-to-play option but no longer competes at the highest echelon of the meta.

Huma (Physical Axe)

Huma is a physical bruiser capable of absorbing enemy attacks to power up her own strikes. Her playstyle revolves around perfectly timing her block to gain stacks of "Resolve," which she then unleashes in massive, screen-shaking physical slashes. She also boasts one of the highest base HP pools in the game, making her exceptionally tanky.

• Why she is B Tier: Huma's block mechanic is highly situational. In endgame content where bosses attack with unblockable AoE abilities or instant-death mechanics, her primary defensive utility is nullified. While her damage is decent, she lacks the consistent dodge-counter output that makes Amber so dominant in the physical slot.

Shiro (Altered Hammer)

Shiro trades traditional elemental damage for pure, unadulterated Altered damage. Her gimmick relies on swapping between two different stances—DPS and Tank—using her skill. Her damage output in DPS stance is genuinely impressive, and her ability to summon a meteor during her discharge skill provides excellent burst.

• Why she is B Tier: The Altered element is notoriously difficult to build around because there are very few Altered weapons in the game. Building a mono-Altered team is practically impossible, meaning Shiro loses out on elemental resonance buffs. She is a great standalone weapon but struggles to fit into cohesive team compositions.

Meryl (Ice Greatsword)

Meryl was the original ice queen, offering straightforward, heavy-hitting ice damage and a reliable crowd-control skill that pulls enemies in. She was the go-to recommendation for new players for a very long time.

• Why she is B Tier: Lin completely usurped Meryl's role. Lin provides better AoE, better crowd control, better shield-breaking, and higher damage ceilings. Meryl is still perfectly viable for clearing the story and normal modes, but she is objectively outclassed in every metric by her composite bow counterpart.

C Tier

C Tier weapons are generally considered outdated or outclassed by almost every other option in the game. While every weapon in Tower of Fantasy can be made viable with enough investment (thanks to the weapon advancement system), the resource cost required to make these weapons competitive is vastly disproportionate to the rewards they offer. These are generally recommended only for collectors or players who absolutely love a specific Simulacrum.

Zero (Ice Grips)

Zero relies on a complex martial arts combo system that requires strict button sequences to execute properly. If executed perfectly, his damage is respectable. However, his animations are long, leaving him highly vulnerable to interruption, and his ice application is painfully slow compared to Lin or Meryl.

• Why he is C Tier: The risk-to-reward ratio is abysmal. In a game where mobility and i-frames (invincibility frames) during dodges are paramount, Zero's long, grounded combos feel clunky and outdated. You will deal more damage by simply equipping an A or B tier weapon and mashing normal attacks.

Ruby (Flame Hammer)

Ruby was an early-game powerhouse, capable of easily clearing overworld content with her massive fire AoE explosions. Her charged attacks create lingering fire pools that deal damage over time.

• Why she is C Tier: Her damage scaling falls off a cliff in the late game. Her attack animations are incredibly slow, making it difficult to dodge boss telegraphs, and her damage-over-time effects are negligible against bosses with millions of HP. Fenrir and Chloe dominate the flame element so heavily that Ruby has no place in modern endgame teams.

Hassen (Physical Staff)

Hassen was originally designed as a physical support, providing buffs to the team based on the number of physical attacks landed. While the concept is sound, the execution is flawed.

• Why he is C Tier: The buffs he provides are minimal compared to the offensive pressure lost by keeping him on the field. In a game where you have three weapon slots, dedicating one entirely to a weak buffer is a severe handicap. Claudia provides off-field physical support while simultaneously dealing massive damage, rendering Hassen entirely obsolete.

How to Use This Tier List

Understanding a tier list is only half the battle; knowing how to apply it to your specific account is what truly matters. Tower of Fantasy is a game heavily influenced by RNG (Random Number Generation) and account age, meaning a strict adherence to a tier list is not always the most optimal way to play.

Account Context and Pity System

If you are a new player, do not feel pressured to skip standard banners just because a weapon is in the B or C tier. Early progression relies heavily on having a variety of elemental weapons to exploit enemy weaknesses in the story mode. A fully upgraded B Tier weapon will vastly outperform a base-level S Tier weapon. Furthermore, because of the pity system, it is often better to claim a guaranteed high-rarity weapon from a standard banner than to completely skip it and risk getting nothing from a limited banner. Focus on building a diverse roster first, then narrow your focus to S and A tier weapons later.

The Elemental Weakness Rule

No amount of S Tier power can completely bypass Tower of Fantasy’s elemental weakness system. If a boss has a 50% resistance to Physical damage and a 100% weakness to Ice damage, an S Tier Amber will perform significantly worse than an A Tier Lin, or even a B Tier Meryl. Always check the elemental vulnerabilities of the content you are tackling and build your team accordingly. Tier lists evaluate a weapon's maximum potential, but actual gameplay requires tactical flexibility.

Investment and Matrices

A weapon's tier placement assumes a reasonable level of investment, specifically its Matrices (the game's equivalent of artifacts or substats). An S Tier weapon with no matrices equipped might perform like an A Tier weapon. Conversely, a B Tier weapon equipped with perfect, top-tier matrices can sometimes bridge the gap and perform like an A Tier weapon. Prioritize equipping your best Matrices on your main DPS weapons, regardless of their tier, to maximize your overall combat rating.

Playstyle and Enjoyment

Ultimately, Tower of Fantasy is a game, and games are meant to be fun. If you despise the twitchy, dodge-heavy playstyle required by Amber, forcing yourself to use her simply because she is S Tier will lead to burnout. If you love the heavy, impactful feeling of Meryl's greatsword, play Meryl. The difference in clear times between an S Tier and a B Tier weapon is usually measured in seconds or minutes, not hours. Choose weapons that resonate with your preferred playstyle, and use this tier list as a guideline for future pulls rather than a strict rulebook for current enjoyment.

Patches and the Shifting Meta

The gacha game meta is a living ecosystem. New weapon releases frequently come with mechanics that subtly power-creep older options, or new support weapons are introduced that suddenly elevate a previously average weapon to the top of the meta. Balance patches also occur, sometimes nerfing overtuned S Tier weapons or buffing underperforming C Tier options. Use this tier list as a snapshot of the current state of the game, but always keep an eye on official patch notes and community testing to stay ahead of the curve. Adaptability is the true key to mastering Tower of Fantasy.