Neverness to Everness Tier List: Best Characters (Nov 2026)

The strongest characters in the current Neverness to Everness tier list, as of November 2026, are Nanally, Zankou, Blackbird, Linko and Akane Rin on damage, with Sakiri and Iroi as the top supports and the free protagonist, Esper Zero, ranked right alongside them. Icy Veins and Game8, the two most widely used NTE tier lists, both updated after Akane Rin's October 21 release, and every one of those eight sits in Icy Veins' top tier and Game8's new SS tier.

We checked this against Icy Veins' tier list (updated October 20, 2026), Game8's tier list (updated October 23, 2026), Icy Veins' free character guide and Game8's Version 1.5 page in November 2026.

The Characters Both Lists Agree On

Tier lists disagree all the time, so the most useful signal is where two independent lists line up. Game8 reworked its list on October 23 by adding an SS tier above S, and every character it placed there also sits in Icy Veins' S tier, which is the highest tier Icy Veins uses. That gives a short list of consensus picks.

• Nanally (Anima): the launch headliner and still a top main DPS. She anchors Blossom teams and has the mobility trick of running up walls while her skill is active.
• Zankou (Incantation): Icy Veins was skeptical at release, but moved her from A to S even without Awakenings, and notes she becomes dominant at higher Awakenings, especially paired with Daffodill for Break damage.
• Blackbird (Psyche): rated S by Icy Veins as both a main DPS and a support. She buffs two Esper Cycle reactions, Nova and Stain, and her Ultimate raises the whole team's ATK.
• Linko: an off-field sub DPS who marks enemies and follows up when another character's Redirect Skill hits them, and the first character to enhance the Hexed reaction.
• Akane Rin (Lakshana): the newest main DPS, flexible between single-target and area modes, and able to keep the Remora slow on enemies for Charge teams.
• Sakiri (Incantation): a standard-board buffer in Game8's SS tier, which matters because she can come from the free selector.
• Iroi (Anima): the first support who both buffs damage and heals the whole team, and a core piece of several top Charge teams.
• Esper Zero (Cosmos): the protagonist. Game8 lists Zero in SS and Icy Veins in S, so every account starts with a top-tier unit.

If you are deciding where to spend, any of these is a safe long-term investment by current community standards. The caveat is that rankings shift with every version, which brings us to the full picture.

Full Comparison: Icy Veins vs Game8

The table lists every currently playable character on both sites. Icy Veins rates limited and standard S-class characters at A0 (no Awakenings) and the A-class characters at A6, while Game8 rates by role performance and weighs endgame content such as Beyond the Rails. Icy Veins' top tier is S, while Game8's is SS, so an S on Icy Veins and an SS on Game8 both mean "best available."

NTE tier placements on Icy Veins (Oct 20, 2026) and Game8 (Oct 23, 2026)

Character	Icy Veins	Game8
Nanally	S	SS
Zankou	S	SS
Blackbird	S	SS
Linko	S	SS
Akane Rin	S	SS
Esper Zero	S	SS
Sakiri	S	SS
Iroi	S	SS
Lacrimosa	S	S
Chaos	S	S
Shinku	S	S
Hotori	S	S
Daffodill	S	S
Haniel	A (at A6)	S
Chiz	A	A
Jiuyuan	A	A
Hathor	A	B
Baicang	A	B
Fadia	B	A
Adler	B	B
Aurelia	B	D
Mint	C	C
Skia	C	C
Edgar	D	D

Note that Icy Veins rates characters at zero Awakenings for S-class units. A character who sits lower at A0 can climb sharply with duplicates, and Zankou is the clearest example of that in both lists' commentary.

Icy Veins also lists the things a ranking cannot capture, and they are worth applying before you spend. Its considerations are fun and gameplay feel, whether you like a character's style, raw strength, synergies such as Esper Cycles, and whether a character performs well on a budget or only with heavy investment. That last point matters most for free players: Icy Veins warns that characters who depend on their signature Arc may not be the best choice if you plan to stay mostly free to play. In practice, a character one tier lower that fits the team you already own will often outperform a top-tier pick with no partners to trigger its Esper Cycle.

Where the Two Lists Disagree

The disagreements are small but worth understanding, because they usually come from what each site is measuring rather than from one of them being wrong.

• Haniel: Game8 puts the free A-class buffer in S, while Icy Veins has her in A even at full A6. Game8 classes her as a Buff unit and moved her up from B on October 23, while Icy Veins points out she has no Esper Cycle partners in the starter team, since Psyche only combos with Lakshana and Chaos.
• Hathor and Baicang: both are A on Icy Veins and B on Game8, after Game8 moved them down in its October 23 re-evaluation. Both are standard characters, so if your selector is unused, these two are lower priority than Sakiri or Daffodill.
• Fadia: B on Icy Veins, A on Game8, where she was raised from B on October 23 as a Survival unit.
• Aurelia: B on Icy Veins but D on Game8 after the same update. She is a free character, so her low ranking costs you nothing, but it does mean you should not spend materials on her early.

The pattern is that Game8 rewards characters who fit the current top teams, while Icy Veins gives more credit to raw kit strength. If you play the meta teams, lean on Game8's order. If you prefer building around favorites, Icy Veins' broader S tier tells you more characters are viable than a strict ranking suggests.

Best Free and Budget Characters

NTE is generous with free characters, and a few of them hold up well. Icy Veins' free character guide lists six that every account can get: Esper Zero, Mint, Adler, Haniel, Chiz and Aurelia.

• Esper Zero is free from the start, a Cosmos S-class unit and, per Icy Veins, a great sub DPS for most teams.
• Chiz is the standout. She is an S-class Cosmos DPS unlocked through City Tycoon levels, and Icy Veins notes you can earn all six of her Awakening shards and five copies of her signature Arc for free. Icy Veins dropped her to A at A0, but warns she is still dangerous with a few dupes, which free players can actually get.
• Haniel comes from the tutorial pull and is worth raising for her ATK buff.
• Adler joins about 30 minutes into the story and is a single-target damage option with a strong shield.
• Mint joins after the prologue and is a decent early DPS but is outclassed once you have S-class damage dealers.

The starting four, Zero, Mint, Adler and Haniel, are good enough to clear early content. The bigger decision is your first limited pull, and our gacha and pity guide explains how the shared pity counter lets you plan that across banners.

Recent Changes and Why They Happened

Tier lists in a live game are a moving record. The main shifts since summer:

• Daffodill rose to S on Icy Veins because break-focused teams became the meta and newer characters need her to function.
• Chiz fell to A on Icy Veins at A0, as newer DPS options outdamage her before she has dupes.
• Zankou rose from A to S on Icy Veins even at A0, based on her performance after release.
• Game8 added SS and D tiers on October 23 and re-evaluated everyone, moving Mint down to C and Aurelia and Edgar down to D.

Most of these moves follow the same logic: new limited characters change which teams are best, and characters who fit those teams rise. That is why a support like Daffodill can climb without any change to her own kit.

Where Elyms and Exe Might Fit

Version 1.5 adds two characters who are not on either list yet. Elyms arrives on November 11 as a Cosmos Esper with the Instant Cycle support role, the same role and attribute as Esper Zero, and Game8's preview suggests she may be a direct upgrade in that slot. Exe follows on December 2 as a Chaos main DPS with a new Summoner role that builds Frames by landing hits and spends them on Digital Echoes.

Until the lists rate them, treat early hype with caution. A new role like Summoner can land anywhere from niche to meta depending on how it interacts with existing Esper Cycles. Both boards run for three weeks, which leaves time to read the first real assessments before you pull. The banner schedule has their exact dates, and the best teams guide shows how today's top characters are combined. If you are brand new, start with the NTE beginner guide before worrying about rankings.

Building Around the Top Tier Faster

Most of the SS-tier characters are limited units, and several of them, including Zankou, Linko and Blackbird, are not on any board right now. For players who would rather not wait on reruns, the store's Neverness to Everness listings include accounts from independent sellers, usually tagged with the server region and the limited characters on them, and the selection changes daily.

One thing to check before you go that way: the game's Terms of Service say accounts may not be sold, transferred, lent, given away or shared. Free options like Esper Zero and Chiz can carry a fresh account a long way while you save for your first limited pull.

Frequently Asked Questions