Not all cast members of a character gacha are equal, and that’s a simple truth. Whether it’s because they were designed to be bad, only work in specific circumstances, or are so ridiculously strong they put everyone else to shame, there’s a clear line in the sand when it comes to “who is the best in their given role”. Naturally, Brown Dust 2 is no exception.
Hence, I’ve gone through the effort of classifying the cast into general roles and ranking them in their efficiency in said roles, thus giving rise to this tier list. Whether you’re a new player looking for someone to add to your roster via Infinite Draw or just dropped by to confirm your biases (no judgment, I do that too), welcome to this tier list for Brown Dust 2!
Foreword
A short foreword before we begin.
Unlike other character gacha games, Brown Dust 2 does not have any set roles for its units. There are no designated damage dealers, tanks, supports, or healers. To help with organization, I’ve taken the liberty of dividing heroes into those classes, with the following guidelines:
- Dealers are damage dealers, whether via DPS or DoTs. These heroes/costumes’ skill are designed to inflict as much hurt as possible. For the sake of clarity, I’ve also placed pushers – costume skills that knock enemies back for potential big HP damage – as dealers due to their potential damage output.
- Tanks either have ways to focus attacks on them or have ways to mitigate damage. Some tanks also specialize in retaliation damage that lets them perform devastating counterattacks.
- Healers are heroes/costumes that have a skill that restores health.
- Supports are heroes/costumes that play more of a supporting role in combat, whether that’s via buffing allies or debuffing foes. If a support deals damage with their skill, it’s usually very weak – the whole point of the skill is to trigger its other effects.
This system does have some limitations. If a character didn’t fit any of the above guidelines, I sorted them into a role that I think is more in-line with their intended use. Remember – as you can use all the skills for unlocked costumes, you don’t have to pick which version of a character you want to use especially if said costume skills have different roles.
Apart from this division, I’ve also taken the liberty of accounting for each character’s costume on this list, as each costume is essentially a different character. Alas, there’s no way to preview skills and stats at maximum level (yet) in Brown Dust 2’s English server, so characters will be graded based on the first level of their skills. If I’ve misgraded someone based on this, please forgive me.
Characters will be sorted into tiers, with S as the highest tier and D as the worst.
- S-Tier characters are “excellent”. They possess qualities or utility that make them the absolute best in their field, and there are few, if any circumstances where you won’t want to use them.
- A-Tier characters would be “great”. They’re not the best, but they perform above average in their given roles. They’re characterized by dependability and general ease of use.
- B-Tier characters are “okay”. They’ll do their roles passably well, but chances are you’ll replace them as soon as you get someone better.
- C-Tier characters are “eh”. You can use them if you really want to, just be prepared to jump extra hoops and don’t expect to be able to compare to higher tier characters.
- D-Tier characters are “seek help”. You either have to be devoted or crazy to run a party of D-Tiers. Whether it’s because they have incredibly convoluted gimmicks or are just bad at their role, characters like these can range from super niche to just plain bad.
Finally, as with every tier list, this one is subjective and there is no single be-all, end-all tier list. Your own experience and personal tier list can and will vary. Let this be my disclaimer!
Now, on to the rankings.
Dealer Tier List
| S | Justia – White Reaper, Alec – The Destruction |
| A | Justia – Knight of Blood, Eleaneer – Piercing Magic Bow, Eleaneer – B-Rank Idol, Elise – Code Name O, Elise – Lovely Lady, Alec – Sword Breaker, Gray – The Sharpshooter of the Mist, Gray – Vanguard, Scheherazade – The Lapis Witch, Lathel – Promise of Vengeance |
| B | Lathel – Medicinal Herb Tracker, Wiggle – Bomb Fanatic, Wiggle – Bomb in the Hoodie, Emma – Haggard Delinquent, Jayden – Manga Research Club, Kry – Violent Student, Rafina – Steel Engine, Teresse – Angel of Destruction, Liatris – Rodev’s Star, Eclipse – The Dimension Witch, Rubia – Thorn of the Desert, Gray – B-Rank Manager, Rou – Nature’s Claw, Scheherazade – Code Name S, Justia – Kendo Club, Lathel – Lonely Survivor |
| C | Beatrice – The Mighty Warrior of the Tribe, Layla – Anvil of Creation, Bernie – Righteous Raider Girl, Anastasia – Fire Graffiti, Anastasia – Gentle Maid, Rou – White Cat |
| D | Lydia – Apprentice Spearman, Maria – Archmage, Cynthia – Warmth within the Severe Cold, Ingrid – Kardis’ Bullet, Gynt – Lugo Hunter, Remnunt – Combat Doctor, Fred – Lugo Defense Force, Emma – School Queen |
S-Tier
Justia – White Reaper
Pros:
- You get one copy of her for free.
- True damage means Justia gets a lot more effective damage out of her skill.
- 2 tile AOE skill.
- Is cute.
What’s not to love about Justia’s White Reaper costume? That armor, the cloak, and the little horns. Oh, and the damage output. Oh Lord, the damage output. The devs might have made a mistake making an SSR true physical damage dealer available so quickly after Beatrice, because let’s face it – you’re probably going to shunt her in favor of Justia.
Alec – The Destruction
Pros:
- True physical damage.
- Two-tile piercing attack.
- Even higher multiplier than White Reaper Justia.
Alec is, as of writing, Brown Dust 2’s other SSR true physical damage dealer aside from Justia, and just like her, he excels at taking foes down incredibly quickly with his true physical damage typing. In terms of raw strength, Alec’s The Destruction costume has a clear advantage, though it does cost 1 more SP. Still, if you want something dead right now, Alec’s your man.
A-Tier
Justia – Knight of Blood
Pros:
- You get one copy of her for free.
- True damage means Justia gets a lot more effective damage out of her skill.
- Row-wide AOE that hits multiple times, good for chain damage.
- Great complement to her White Reaper costume.
Cons:
- Lower multiplier on her skill than her White Reaper costume.
- I like the hooded version’s expressions more.
As if to prove she really can do it all, Justia also comes in her Knight of Blood costume – again, for free. This serves as an excellent complement to her White Reaper form; where the reaper goes tall, the knight goes wide with a 3-hit row-wide AOE. Naturally, this is less powerful than her White Reaper’s skill, but this costume gives you a character who can do both AOE and single-target DPS.
Eleaneer – Piercing Magic Bow
Pros:
- Row-wide AOE with very big damage multiplier.
- Low cost.
- Strips buffs.
Cons:
- Only very front targeting despite being Eleaneer using a bow.
One would expect Eleaneer’s Piercing Magic Bow skill to skip over enemies, but nope, it hits the very front. Even with that setback, you must respect the sheer amount of damage it puts out in one row – and all for the low, low cost of 3SP. And as a bonus, this skill also strips buffs from enemies it hits. While the buff removal isn’t the main point of using the skill, it’s still very welcome.
Eleaneer – B-Rank Idol
Pros:
- T-shaped (see cons) AOE with sizeable damage.
- Silences enemies hit for 2 turns.
Cons:
- Very front targeting means the AOE is effectively t-shaped instead of cross-shaped.
- High cost.
Once again, Eleaneer has a very front targeting skill. Due to how that targeting works, you won’t be able to maximize her cross-shaped AOE unless you bring Rigenette to take advantage of the one space in front.
Issues of AOE aside, Eleaneer’s idol costume once again brings a ton of damage as well as a fantastic 2-turn AOE silence. Just like with her Piercing Magic Bow Costume, the silence isn’t the reason you want to use the skill, but it’s still a great bonus to have.
Elise – Code Name O
Pros:
- SP neutral skill.
- 2-tile piercing skip attack.
When it comes to damage, Elise is as easy as they come – point and shoot at a target for a 2-tile piercing attack. While it may seem that she and Eleaneer would be rivals when it comes to A-Tier dealers, they’re complementary: where Eleaneer can shred rows, Elise can wipe out nasty backrow threats with her shots.
Elise – Lovely Lady
Pros:
- Skip attack.
- Cross-shaped AOE with respectable damage.
- Lowers magic resistance, making her great for hybrid compositions.
Cons:
- Expensive.
- Elise herself doesn’t benefit from the MDEF shred.
- Hybrid comps generally aren’t as effective as all-in on one damage type.
This version of Elise packs a powerful AOE that, like her Code Name O costume, is a skip attack, which lets you tear at the enemy’s softer backline. Said attack not only deals respectable damage but also shreds MDEF, giving your mages an easier time finishing the job. Do note that this skill does physical damage, so Elise herself gets no benefits from the MDEF reduction.
While this skill makes Elise good for hybrid team compositions, I’d argue that it’s far more effective to focus on either end of the damage type due to how buffers like Arines and Helena work.
Alec – Sword Breaker
Pros:
- True physical damage.
Cons:
- Sacrifices power for AOE.
- Very awkward diagonal AOE.
The Destruction’s wackier pizza-loving younger brother is still a great pick, despite not living up to its original incarnation. Instead of a 375% two-tile piercing strike, Alec’s Sword Breaker skill is a very awkward diagonal strike that deals less damage for the same SP cost – unless you can line your foes up in a very specific manner. Still, that SSR true physical damage really carries the day, and God help your enemies if you have both versions of Alec.
Gray – The Sharpshooter of the Mist
Pros:
- Dedicated physical killer.
- Cheap and powerful skill with decent multipliers.
- Decent AOE.
Cons:
- DoT doesn’t do anything to mages.
Gray is a character who specializes in different kinds of death. His default costume, Sharpshooter of the Mist, takes to the field against physical foes with a dangerous DoT that scales off the opponent’s ATK. This makes Gray a fantastic counter against strong physical foes – though he can still snipe mages thanks to the raw power of his skill.
Gray – Vanguard
Pros:
- Dedicated mage killer.
- 3×3 AOE.
Cons:
- Useless against physical attackers.
Gray’s Vanguard costume takes the opposite path from his Sharpshooter of the Mist form. The Vanguard’s skill is a 3×3 skip AOE that deals piddling physical damage. The real kicker here is the after effect – it leaves a nasty DoT that scales off the opponent’s magic ATK. Casters beware!
Scheherazade – The Lapis Witch
Pros:
- You get one copy of her for free.
- Great damage multiplier, 3-tile piercing.
It’s hard to find anything bad about Scheherazade – she’s literally free after completing the second story pack, she hits very hard (especially useful in a time when you probably don’t have good mages yet) and she strips buffs.
Lathel – Promise of Vengeance
Pros:
- Incredible single target damage.
- Low SP cost.
Cons:
- Not true physical damage.
- Needs some setup to maximize his output.
Our good boy Lathel has finally gone of the edge and given in to his inner cringe, becoming the red and black OC of teenage dreams. Kidding aside, Lathel’s Promise of Vengeance costume hits hard, and with Lathel’s signature “trade current HP for damage” gimmick, he hits even harder than expected. Shame he’s not true physical damage or he’d be S-Tier in a heartbeat.
Because of how his skill does a single, high-damage hit, Lathel will greatly benefit from anything that boosts his crit rate and especially crit damage.
B-Tier
Lathel – Medicinal Herb Tracker
Pros:
- Self-buffing attack that drains current HP.
- Good damage multiplier.
Cons:
- Awkward AOE makes his skill hard to maximize.
Justia largely overshadows Lathel in the the first Knight of Blood pack, but by himself, he’s decent. Lathel has good multipliers on his The Sword of Fresh Blood skill, and the ATK buff is respectable. Normally, I’m not fond of “stab yourself to do X” characters, but in Lathel’s case, it scales off his current HP, meaning you’re (probably) never going to unalive him via his skill. Until you get some of his later costumes though, Lathel is Mr. Average Shounen Protagonist.
Wiggle – Bomb Fanatic
Pros:
- Fantastic early game “carry”.
- Self-revives so he doesn’t consume resources.
- haha skeleton go boom
Cons:
- High SP cost.
- Basically stuck to eating slime unless you, for some reason, decide not to blow him up.
I will admit I have a fondness for Wiggle. You gotta admire his devotion, after all – he goes into fight after fight never hesitating to blow himself up so you can collect some sweet loot and disgusting slime. Wiggle’s not just a meme though – that explosion hurts, and its cross-shaped AOE is amazing. Pair him with a well-refined Arines and watch the fireworks.
Wiggle – Bomb in the Hoodie
Pros:
- Fast-acting DoT keeps him relevant.
- Doesn’t unalive himself in this costume, which is also less funny.
Cons:
- Very high SP cost.
Blowing Wiggle up is always amusing, but I suppose even he got tired of it. This version of Wiggle trades sheer damage for utility with a fast-acting burn DoT over 3 turns. The speed of this DoT means that unlike, say, Cynthia, Wiggle’s burn damage is impactful even in quick fights. Watch out for the 6SP cost though!
Emma – Haggard Delinquent
Pros:
- Cheap skill.
- Simple but effective.
Cons:
- Suffers from low rarity.
Emma’s Haggard Delinquent costume is, for me, much better compared to her School Queen one which triggers memories of Jayden’s Gate. This version of Emma exchanges the weird knockback for a simple but very big self-steroid. Said buff not only grants massive ATK but also lasts for a long time, meaning that Emma can just keep poking enemies while her allies hog the rest of the SP pool.
Jayden – Manga Research Club
Pros:
- Great AOE tiles.
Cons:
- Expensive skill with low multiplier.
If Jayden had a bit more punch to his skill, he’d rate higher. As it is, he’s firmly in B-Tier. While his skill doesn’t quite have the oomph needed, it is very handy with its cross-shaped AOE.
Kry – Violent Student
Pros:
- Two-tile pushback AOE, allowing him to clear mobs with ease.
- Generates 1 SP on skill use.
- Has a DoT.
Cons:
- Dependent on enemy position to do any real damage.
- Low intensity bleed over a long period.
Kry is where pushers start getting some teeth. The more enemies they can push, the better, and Kry hits two targets two tiles back for a respectable base 100% of health as damage. While this is still situational damage, the extra target is very welcome, and even if he doesn’t land a kill, Kry can easily set up kills for his allies.
Rafina – Steel Engine
Pros:
- Big multiplier.
- Skip attack with cross-shaped AOE.
- Great backline sniper.
- Removes barriers on hit.
Cons:
- Niche use.
Rafina has a respectable 275% cross-shaped skip AOE, which – all things considered – isn’t half bad. While there are better damage dealers out there, Rafina will suffice as an all-around backline AOE sniper. However, she doesn’t particularly specialize in any aspect aside from her shield removal, so you’ll likely only see her slotted in against those types of foes.
Teresse – Angel of Destruction
Pros:
- Row-wide pushback.
- Generates 1SP.
- Decent DoT.
Cons:
- Dependent on enemy positioning to maximize damage.
- Lower max HP damage on collision.
Teresse is Brown Dust 2’s only SSR pusher, so she benefits from a higher stat cap. She also has the advantage of a row-wide pushback, though note that she has a lower HP% to damage ratio than expected. At the very least, Teresse can set up some quick kills for your group if her wide knockback and decent, long-lasting bleed don’t do the job.
Liatris – Rodev’s Star
Pros:
- 3×3 skip AOE.
- High-intensity, low duration bleed.
Cons:
- Very expensive skill.
- Pathetic upfront damage.
Liatris goes for the DoT route when it comes to dealing damage. The results are…debatable. On one hand, she barely does any damage on skill trigger and she uses 6SP. On the other, her skill hits in a 3×3 area and inflicts a high-intensity, low duration bleed. Using Liatris, I think, is a matter of personal choice.
Eclipse – The Dimension Witch
Pros:
- Big AOE.
- Self-heal and SP drain.
Cons:
- X-shaped AOE.
Eclipse is a decent damage dealer who has the benefit of both healing herself and inflicting SP drain on her foes when she uses her skill. Said skill hits decently hard, though once again, you’ll need to build a team who can work with those x-shaped AOEs.
Rubia – Thorn of the Desert
Pros:
- T-shaped AOE.
- High-intensity, low duration bleed.
Cons:
- Low upfront damage.
Rubia is Liatris but taller, with skimpier clothes, angrier, and a less expensive skill. She also has lower damage than Liatris, due to having a 3*40% skill instead of a 3*50% one – though their DoTs are both 75% ATK for 3 turns. Really, it’s a matter of preference.
Gray – B-Rank Manager
Pros:
- Cheap skill.
- Decent AOE and damage.
- Lowers DEF.
Cons:
- DEF debuff only lasts 2 turns.
The B-Rank Manager utilizes a quick and easy-to-target row AOE that not only deals decent damage but also lowers enemy DEF by 35% for 2 turns. While this isn’t as high or long as dedicated armor breakers like Kry, it’s much simpler to use and is cheaper to boot!
Rou – Nature’s Claw
Pros:
- Can serve as an off-tank.
- Skill damage scales with enemy HP.
Cons:
- Skill doesn’t deal true physical damage, so it will be mitigated by DEF.
Nature’s Claw Rou is much better than her White Cat version due to packing a unique nuke skill that scales off her target’s HP. This makes Rou much better against bosses rather than just brining a generic push skill. Do note that because she doesn’t deal true physical damage, Rou’s skill will still be mitigated by enemy DEF.
Scheherazade – Code Name S
Pros:
- Big damage, strips buffs, silences foes.
Cons:
- Really weird AOE.
In the world of Brown Dust 2, boomerangs apparently only go one way – they expect you to catch them at about 50% of their trajectory. This leads to Scheherazade’s Code Name S to have a very specific AOE – a sideways V is the best way to describe it – which is great for sniping odd formations but is hard to maximize in conventional battles.
Despite the intricacies of using her boomerang, Scheherazade doesn’t disappoint. Sapphire Boomerang hits very hard, strips buffs, and silences foes, so it’s well worth the effort of optimizing its tiles.
Justia – Kendo Club
Pros:
- Big true physical damage if all tiles are hit.
Cons:
- Weird AOE that’s hard to maximize.
Justia has not one but two wide skills. The problem with her Kendo Club costume’s skill is its targeting – it’s an inverse V that’s finnicky to get right. If you can get it though, it does quite a bit of damage. Thanks to Justia’s damage type, it will hurt very badly. Still, I’d take the clean consistency of her Knight of Blood costume any day.
Lathel – Lonely Survivor
Pros:
- Good piercing on his tiles.
- Decent damage.
Cons:
- Could be stronger.
Lathel in casual clothes is a welcome sight considering all the bad stuff that’s waiting for him down the road. The Lonely Survivor spruces up Lathel’s skills with an easier-to-target three-tile piercing attack that deals okay damage for his rarity (though it could be stronger). He’s very vanilla, but he’s still reliable.
C-Tier
Beatrice – The Mighty Warrior of the Tribe
Pros:
- True physical damage.
Cons:
- You get a character better than her in every way 5 minutes later.
Poor Beatrice. Sometimes I think devs like to rub the power difference between a common and an SSR in their players’ faces, and this is clearly the case with Beatrice. One or two battles later, you get Justia’s White Reaper and you’ll probably never use Beatrice again. And no, I can’t even argue that “Beatrice does fire damage” because you also get Lathel. That said, she isn’t -terrible-, though it’s incredibly easy to find a replacement for her.
Layla – Anvil of Creation
Pros:
- Can refund up to 5 SP used if it hits all targets.
Cons:
- Very expensive initial cost.
- Damage doesn’t justify using it over other skills.
Layla is one of those “technically their skill is free” characters. What this doesn’t detail, however, is that said skill costs a whopping 6SP for a meager 120% ATK. It does refund up to 5SP if you hit all the targets, but good luck on the x-shape. If I was going to go through the trouble of setting foes up in an x-shape, I’d rather just go in and kill or disable them all.
Bernie – Righteous Raider Girl
Pros:
- Silence is a very good debuff.
- Refunds 2SP.
Cons:
- Single-target silence.
Two hits on a target for 100% damage and a silence. The single-target nature of her skill pretty much means that she was built more as a dealer than as a support. Said single-target nature also really hurts Bernie’s case.
Anastasia – Fire Graffiti
Pros:
- Potentially gigantic damage with the right setup.
Cons:
- Crappy damage otherwise.
Anastasia is a character of two extremes: either she’ll crit like crazy and do much more damage than what’s listed, or she’ll fail to crit on anything and you’re left wondering what happened to your skill points. Anastasia is thus very dependent on your supports and equipment to ensure that she lands her crits – otherwise you may as well swap her with someone more common and more consistent.
Anastasia – Gentle Maid
Pros:
- Potentially gigantic damage with the right setup.
Cons:
- Crappy damage otherwise.
Both versions of Anastasia use the multi-hit, potential crazy damage formula, thus, they’re mostly the same. Bring someone who boosts crit and refine her crit rate gear if you want to use Anastasia.
Rou – White Cat
Pros:
- Can serve as an off-tank.
- Is cute.
Cons:
- Basically just a single-target pusher otherwise.
Rou is…disappointing. They had an opportunity to make a really good dodge tank, but instead gave her this weird hybrid kit where she has both a dodge and a push. The dodge is great, but the push is similar to Fred. Unless you really want to run an off-tank, put an AOE pusher in your team instead.
D-Tier
Lydia – Apprentice Spearman
Pros:
- High multiplier on her skill even at level 1.
- Cute clumsy girl.
Cons:
- 3* means she’ll inherently be worse even when built up.
- Other characters can do the same thing as her but better.
Brown Dust 2’s requisite cute clumsy girl. While her Spear Throw skill will serve you well in the intro chapter, it quickly falls off in value as you start rolling for characters. Not a good sign.
Maria – Archmage
Pros:
- Piercing AOE.
Cons:
- Skill way too expensive for what it does.
Oh boy, I can’t wait to blow 5SP for a skill someone else can do more effectively and for cheaper.
Cynthia – Warmth within the Severe Cold
Pros:
- Nice x-shaped AOE.
Cons:
- Reliant on DoT to do damage.
On one hand, the x-shaped AOE is nice. On the other, Cynthia’s skill has a pitiful multiplier on both its initial hit and its DoT. To get the most out of her, you’ll need to protract the battle. Pass.
Ingrid – Kardis’ Bullet
Pros:
- One tile piercing AOE.
Cons:
- Skill too expensive for what it does.
- Outclassed by just about everybody else.
3 * 60% initial damage doesn’t sound bad, but compared to everyone else on this list, Ingrid just comes off as bleh. The real killer here is that her skill costs 4SP – there’s way more characters that can do a better job with the same or even less SP.
Gynt – Lugo Hunter
Pros:
- Big upfront damage.
Cons:
- Becomes crap after firing his skill.
The big multiplier on Gynt’s Jump Shotencourages you to use it at the beginning of a fight when it would be most impactful. This is also a terrible idea as Gynt hobbles himself immediately after using it, ensuring that he becomes almost dead weight for the rest of the fight.
Remnunt – Combat Doctor
Pros:
- Big upfront damage.
Cons:
- Becomes crap after firing his skill.
- Basically Gynt 2.0.
With the amount of time Remnunt brings up that he’s a doctor, you’d expect him to be a support character. He is not. See the entry on Gynt and you get Remnunt.
Fred – Lugo Defense Force
Pros:
- Generates 1 SP with his skill.
- Can theoretically do a lot of damage.
- Free crafter.
Cons:
- Inconsistent and depends on enemy formation.
- Most midbosses/bosses are in the back rows, meaning you can’t crash them into enemies.
Fred’s Shield Slam uses 2 SP but generates 3, so that’s a point, and it can technically do massive damage as it scales off the pushed target’s health. Said skill is also useless in boss fights – most bosses that aren’t human sized are immune to AOE, and the ones that are tend to be in the furthest row. At least Fred can craft for you.
Emma – School Queen
Pros:
- Skill point neutral.
- Can theoretically do a lot of damage.
Cons:
- Inconsistent and depends on enemy formation.
- Most midbosses/bosses are in the back rows, meaning you can’t crash them into enemies.
Emma’s School Queen costume is polarizing for me. Like Fred, it can theoretically do a lot of damage, but suffers from the same drawbacks. On the other hand, it knocks enemies to the left. Choose your flavor of annoying knockback, I guess. On a personal note, I hated having to drag her along during the Jayden’s Quest pack. Everyone else had a clear use except her. Give me the other, better Emma, dammit!
Tank Tier List
| S | Lecliss – Killer Doll |
| A | Seir – B-Rank Idol, Lecliss – Android Queen, Sylvia – Desert Flower, Lathel – Dark Knight |
| B | Jayden – Beautiful Girl Devotee, Seir – Demon’s Daughter |
| C | Andrew – Specialist, Justia – Blood Glutton |
| D | Carlson – The Mercenary Knight |
S-Tier
Lecliss – Killer Doll
Pros:
- Taunt-style tank.
Cons:
- Some costume investment required to further improve damage mitigation and short duration.
- High cost.
One problem with position-based tanks is that they suffer due to the different targeting logic of foes. You’ll often have to choose between tanking frontal attacks or switching out with your squishier backrow to cover them from ranged attacks – which makes them easy pickings for melee enemies. Lecliss avoids that problem by marking herself for attacks, meaning that no matter what the original target was meant to hit, it hits her instead. Do watch out for AOEs though!
A-Tier
Seir – B-Rank Idol
Pros:
- Unique “battery” tank.
- Effect persists for 1 turn after use.
Cons:
- Costume investment required as 40% isn’t that much damage reduction.
Seir’s B-Rank Idol costume has a unique tank mechanic that encourages you to shield her allies with her face. When the skill goes off, Seir takes 40% less damage for 2 turns, but generates 2SP every time she gets hit. This basically incentivizes you to put Seir directly in harm’s way, though do note that you will want to get duplicates to buff the damage reduction numbers up as 40% is just barely passable.
Lecliss – Android Queen
Pros:
- Powerful HP-based counterattack.
- Shield persists for a long time.
Cons:
- Pretty much complementary to her Killer Doll costume.
Just as with Seir, I’m convinced the devs made Lecliss’ two costumes halves of each other. Where her Killer Doll packed incredibly defensive utility, Lecliss’ Android Queen brings devastating HP-based counterattacks to the table. To help her survive and land her counters, she also has an energy shield in this form. Put her in the line of fire and watch your foes reap what they sow.
Sylvia – Desert Flower
Pros:
- ATK-based counterattack.
- Respectable 50% damage reduction even at base level.
Cons:
- You’ll have to choose between ATK for stronger counters or HP/DEF for survivability.
Sylvia, like Lecliss, is a counter tank. Unlike Lecliss, Sylvia uses her ATK instead of HP as the basis for her counter damage. This leads to potentially stronger counterattacks as the multiplier on Sylvia’s is (at base) 200% ATK, though this does lead to the dilemma of whether you want to increase her counter damage or make her bulkier. Lecliss, at least, gets both since her counter is based off HP.
Lathel – Dark Knight
Pros:
- Generates shields and reduces incoming damage.
Cons:
- Still a position-based tank.
- Damage reduction only applies to physical damage.
This is probably the first time I’ve seen a fantasy dark knight go full defense mode. In Lathel’s case, that’s not a bad thing; he combines the best of tank kits to both create a shield for himself and cuts physical damage taken in half, though the shield will still help with magic damage. These combine to make Lathel a very respectable tank, though care should be taken as he’ll have to choose between shielding the front or back lines.
B-Tier
Jayden – Beautiful Girl Devotee
Pros:
- Sturdy and becomes even more so with his skill.
Cons:
- Skill only affects himself.
I read “50% magic damage reduction” and thought Jayden was surely an S-Tier…until I saw that it only affects Jayden. Still, 50% damage reduction is a lot and the buff lasts quite a while, not to mention the slight regen buff.
Seir – Demon’s Daughter
Pros:
- Regeneration and damage mitigation.
- Effect persists for 3 turns after use.
Cons:
- Requires costume investment to get damage mitigation to acceptable levels.
- You pretty much need both of Seir’s costumes to make her work.
You can’t tell me the devs didn’t know what they were doing when they made Seir as you pretty much have to have both of her costumes to complete her kit. While her B-Rank Idol costume rewards you for getting Seir hurt, the Demon’s Daughter costume helps mitigate that damage further by giving Seir a long-lasting regen buff that gives her a small burst of healing every time she takes a hit.
C-Tier
Andrew – Specialist
Pros:
- Taunts enemies.
Cons:
- Chance-based defense.
- Requires heavy costume investment to reach acceptable levels of dodge.
On one hand, taunts are always great. On the other, if you’ve read any of my other tier lists, you’ll know by now that I’m not a fan of evasion-based defense. With how hard mobs hit in Brown Dust 2, you have to ask yourself – are you feeling lucky?
Justia – Blood Glutton
Pros:
- Good damage reduction.
Cons:
- Damage and life steal are based on enemy’s current HP.
- Why would you make your main DPS tank hits?
Justia’s Blood Glutton costume gives her more defensive utility. With a 50% damage reduction skill and a life steal skill, what could go wrong? Plenty, actually.
For starters, her damage and life steal are based off the opponent’s current health. This means that you’re incentivized to use this costume’s skill at the start of a fight – which deprives you of the damage reduction that might come in key. Another issue is that this kit directly contrasts with the rest of Justia’s costumes – why would you throw your main DPS in harm’s way to off tank?
D-Tier
Carlson – The Mercenary Knight
Cons:
- Lackluster damage reduction for a tank unit.
- 3* rarity means that Carlson won’t have the stats needed to tank big hits in the late game.
Carlson is baby’s first attempt at making a tank. 35% damage reduction sounds great, but considering how much damage enemies do in this game, facetanking them with just roughly 1/3rd damage reduction sounds like a terrible idea. Add the fact that Carlson is a 3* unit, which means he’s got a lower level cap than rarer units, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Healer Tier List
| A | Lisianne – Wandering Priest |
| D | Julie - Healer |
A-Tier
Lisianne – Wandering Priest
Pros:
- Party-wide burst heal.
- Also removes DoTs!
Cons:
- Needs costume upgrades to mitigate long cooldown.
Lisianne is your standard-issue healer, and that’s a good thing. When I want a healer, I want somebody that can burst heal on demand – no muss, no fuss. Do note that the default cooldown on her heal is 7 turns, meaning that you’ll want to pull multiple copies of Lisianne to make her heal more reliable.
D-Tier
Julie – Healer
Pros:
- Heal is fire-and-forget.
Cons:
- Low multiplier on her heal.
- Regen buff in a fast-paced game.
To quote my own beginner’s guide to Brown Dust 2, “Battles are expected to be quick, brutal, and savage affairs.” While heals are always welcome, regeneration isn’t as good in fast-paced battlefields. You could make an argument that at least a regen buff is less likely to hit overheal, but given the amount of damage enemies can output especially in the mid and late game, and I’ll take any other healer’s potential overheal over a piddling regen buff.
Support Tier List
| S | Arines – Priest of Vitality, Samay – Kind Liberator, Kry – Liberated Marauder, Riginette – Little Hunter, Helena – Top Idol, Olstein – The Fiend Scholar |
| A | Samay – Kind Student, Lucrezia – Seductive Wings, Helena – B-Rank Idol, Rafina – Code Name A, Scheherazade – The Magic School Professor |
| B | Andrew – Loyal Butler, Celia – Descendant of the Great Witch |
S-Tier
Arines – Priest of Vitality
Pros:
- Incredibly potent buffs that affect the entire party.
- Low rarity makes her easy to raise.
Cons:
- Only buffs physical attack.
Just like Blue Archive’s Serina, Arines is a common character that packs amazing punch and reliability. The fact that their names are made of the same letters must be a sign from the gods.
Arines doesn’t deal much damage by herself, but she doesn’t have to – her Fair and Square skill massively buffs her allies’ ATK and crit rate. Simple but effective. Do note that as it buffs only “ATK”, magic characters don’t get the damage buff even if their status bar reflects it. They’ll still get the crit rate buff though!
Samay – Kind Liberator
Pros:
- Fantastic magic attack initiator.
- Good AOE coverage along with some good damage.
Cons:
- Awkward t-shaped AOE.
Off the top of my head, Samay’s Kind Liberator costume has one of the few t-shaped AOE skills in the game. What’s weirder (or move convenient perhaps?) is that the shape is backwards, meaning it affects 3 targets in front and 1 unit behind the initial target.
What isn’t debatable is the sheer utility of her skill. Said skill not only hits twice for a decent chunk of damage (160% ATK at level 1) but also drops magic resistance of hit enemies by a whopping 50% for 4 turns. This makes the Kind Liberator fantastic not only in boss fights but also for clearing up trash mobs.
Kry – Liberated Marauder
Pros:
- Fantastic physical attack initiator.
- X-shaped AOE hits up to 5 targets.
Cons:
- Hard to maximize AOE coverage.
What Samay is to magic attacks, Kry is to physical. He can arguably do a better job of clearing trash mobs due to his (supposedly) better AOE coverage, though it’s quite finnicky to work with the awkward x-shape. That said, 50% less physical resistance is a big deal, so don’t hesitate to bring Kry if you’re running a physical-heavy composition.
Rigenette – Little Hunter
Pros:
- Target marking is incredibly useful and versatile.
- One of, if not the only, the sources of marking in Brown Dust 2.
- Little to no costume investment required.
Cons:
- Fragile.
- Low multiplier on her skill.
Rigenette counts as a support in my book due to her lackluster damage output and the sheer utility of her skill. Just look at its abysmally low multiplier and tell me she’s made to be a damage dealer.
Where Rigenette excels is the marking ability of her skill. Due to Brown Dust 2’s targeting system, it can be tricky to get damage where it’s needed, especially if your lineup is full of melee fighters. With Rigenette in your team, that becomes less of an issue since the next four attacks will target her marked enemy regardless of lanes and targeting logic. Is it a catch-all solution? No. Is it useful? Hell yes. Add the fact that Rigenette has a very unique niche in Brown Dust 2’s battles, and you get someone who’s at least an A-Tier and is an S-Tier due to the rarity of her role.
Helena – Top Idol
Pros:
- Party-wide damage reduction buff.
- Generates 2 SP.
Helena is one of the rare sources of party-wide damage mitigation. I know I dunk a lot on Carlson and the fact that 35% damage reduction isn’t that good, but Helena’s applies to the entire party, so it’s less of a tanking skill and more of a bonus.
Oh, and it generates 2SP.
Olstein – The Fiend Scholar
Pros:
- NO
- Can generate up to 5SP if you hit each of his tiles.
- 3×3 AOE.
Olstein doesn’t bring any damage to the table. That’s okay since he packs the king of all disables. Said disable is a 3×3 skip AOE that not only takes away 1SP from your opponent per hit enemy but also silences them for 4 turns AND restores 1SP per enemy it hits. The initial silence not only prevents enemies from acting at the start of the turn, but the SP drain also prevents them from unleashing their strongest moves if you act quickly and wipe out the rabble before the silence is up.
A-Tier
Samay – Kind Student
Pros:
- Lower cooldown by default.
- Buffet of buffs, comes with regen as a nice bonus.
Cons:
- 4* rarity means she’s harder to raise.
The Kind Student’s buffs are nice but are a more complex than Arines who just straight-up buffs everyone’s ATK and crit rate. Honestly, I’m a little confused here as, the way I understand it, there’s only one general ATK stat in the game that just gets split into physical or magical attack based on the character in question.
Samay does have an extra regen buff that, while nice, still won’t be enough to have her serve as the main healer. I’ll take Arines’ crit buff over the regen any day.
Lucrezia – Seductive Wings
Pros:
- Silence is a very good debuff.
- Low SP cost.
- Large cross-shaped AOE.
Cons:
- Costume investment required for more consistent performance.
Lucrezia’s Seductive Wings barely do any damage on their own – seriously, that’s just 40% ATK at level 1. The whole point of using Lucrezia is her large cross-shaped two-turn silence. This does have some caveats – 2 turns is not a whole lot, silence doesn’t really matter when fighting trash mobs that you can one-round, and you’ll need some costume investment to even out her silence. The long cooldown really smarts!
Helena – B-Rank Idol
Pros:
- Cheap skill.
- Magic attack buff and heals in a single package.
Cons:
- Not as easy to raise as Arines.
Brown Dust 2 has no shortage of good supports. Helena’s B-Rank Idol costume skill opts to go in more offensively with its MATK and crit rate buff, essentially making her a magic version of Arines. The problem here is that Helena is a 5*, meaning she’s significantly harder to dupe and raise.
Rafina – Code Name A
Pros:
- Kry but ranged.
- Multiple hits are great for chain attacks.
Cons:
- Kry but SSR.
You can’t talk about Rafina’s Code Name A costume without drawing direct comparison to Kry as they both fulfill the role of physical attack initiator. Where Rafina differs is that she does 5*40% hits, meaning she can more easily setup chain attacks. However, both Rafina and Kry suffer from that awkward x-shaped AOE, meaning some optimization will be needed before they can fully debuff an enemy party.
Where Rafina falters is her rarity. Being an SSR means she’ll generally be harder to pull than Kry and his duplicates, meaning that it’s likely that Kry will perform better armor-busting than Rafina unless you’ve got a fully maxed-out account.
Scheherazade – The Magic School Professor
Pros:
- 3×3 AOE buff removal.
- Doesn’t need investment if all you’re looking for is the buff stripping.
Cons:
- High SP cost.
This version of Scheherazade goes wide with the buff removal, eschewing damage in exchange for AOE. And a very respectable AOE it is – at 3×3, you’ll cover 75% of the opponent’s field if you aim it right. As a bonus, because this version of Scheherazade doesn’t deal much damage, you can skip getting copies of her as her base form already has a buff removal + nuke skill. On the other hand, take heed of its very high 6SP cost.
B-Tier
Andrew – Loyal Butler
Pros:
- Nice disable.
- Life steal skill.
Cons:
- Single target disable.
How many disables do you want? The answer, according to Andrew, is “yes”. Andrew’s Loyal Butler costume packs a very heavy disable in the form of inflicting your foes with -5SP per turn. I’d argue that while this is useful, it tends to lean into overkill and “win more” territory. Still, if you need to keep that boss from using anything but its normal attack, disable away!
Celia – Descendant of the Great Witch
Pros:
- Big AOE.
Cons:
- Only affects magic damage.
- Needs costume investment to make debuff worthwhile.
On one hand, reducing enemy attack is a good effect. On the other, 35% is just okay. Even worse, this is on an SSR, meaning that if you want to make major headway with the debuff, you’ll need multiple hard-to-get copies of Celia. Good luck!
Celia – The Curse
Pros:
- Big AOE.
Cons:
- Only affects physical damage.
- Needs costume investment to make debuff worthwhile.
The exact same thing as her Descendant of the Great Witch but lowers physical ATK. Again, you’ll want multiple copies of her costume to make this worthwhile.
Play Who You Want To Play
I always cap off my tier lists with this saying – play who you want to play. Brown Dust 2 is a game that rewards foresight and strategic thinking, so if you want someone to work, you can and will find a way. At the end of the day, what’s important is that you’re enjoying the game, so collect your favorites and raise them as you please!