AFK Journey has proven to be a really solid RPG that works well on both mobile and PC. With so many characters in the roster, though, it can be hard to figure out which ones to build around. With that in mind, here’s our AFK Journey character tier list to help you decide.
AFK Journey Tier List
As always, a quick disclaimer that most of the characters in AFK Journey are perfectly viable for most content. Some characters will inevitably be better than others for the most hardcore endgame content, but generally speaking, you’ll be able to get by even with the more average heroes.
For this tier list, I’ve ranked the characters according to their versatility and well-roundedness, as well as their performance in regular PvE content, Dream Realm, and PvP. Without further ado, here’s the tier list, and I’ll go into more detail about each tier below:
| Tier | Characters |
|---|---|
| S | ThoranRowanKokoSmokey and MeerkyCeciaReinierOdieEironnTaleneLily May |
| A | AntandraViperianLycaHewynnBryonValaTemesiaSilvinaShakirScarlitaDionelAlsaPhraestoLudovicMikola |
| B | ValenBrutusRhysMarileeIgorGranny DahnieSethDamianCassadeeCarolinaArdenFlorabelleSorenKorinUlmus |
| C | SatranaParisaNiruMiraelKafraFaySalazerLumontKrugerAtalanta |
S-Tier Characters
Without a doubt, Thoran is easily the best character you can get your hands on in AFK Journey right now. Of course, he’ll perform even better if you’re able to get dupes and push him up to Mythic, but even at base rarity, he’s hands down the best tank in the game and even a solid damage dealer. Thanks to his ability to cheat death once, he’s good at drawing aggro while also healing himself to keep foes at bay.
Smokey and Meerky, and Ludovic are the best support characters in AFK Journey right now as well. Do note that while Rowan is an excellent battery for the team that can keep your Energy levels up, his healing isn’t quite proficient enough for him to be the only healer on your team, so if you want him, pair him with someone else. Smokey and Meerky has quickly proven to be a really good healer as well, and also excels in Dream Realm content.
You’ll also definitely want to keep an eye out for Cecia if you’re looking for a good marksman character to round out your team. She excels at crowd control, and is also able to summon an add to basically serve as a sixth party member to deal extra DPS. A lot of times, I’ve found that she even outshines most other Warrior heroes, making her a mainstay in my party across all game modes.
For F2P players, you don’t want to sleep on Odie either. Not only can he poison enemies, he also serves as a great battery in case Rowan goes down. His ability to insta-kill low-health enemies can also come in extremely clutch.
With the addition of Lily May, AFK Journey also saw the introduction of its first must-pull character since Vala’s banner at launch. She serves as a huge boost to your Wilder teams, and deals pretty insane damage while offering tons of utility as a rogue-type character. She can counter Eironn teams in PvP, help you push AFK stages, and will likely replace Korin or Marilee on your Dream Realm boss teams. So yeah, absolutely add her to that wishlist.
A-Tier Characters
For the A-Tier characters, I’ve found myself particularly drawn to Lyca and Vala, both of whom are very good at making use of the Haste stat. Haste is easily one of the most important stats in AFK Journey, as it just straight up increases the frequency of all your attacks and skills and also boosts your animation and movement speed.
Lyca can increase the Haste of the entire party for a short amount of time, while Vala increases her own Haste with stacks each time she kills a marked enemy. Depending on what your team needs, either of these heroes should fit in quite well. The only issue with Lyca is that she can fall short in PvP.
If you don’t have Thoran, Antandra is a very solid second choice for a tank. She can taunt and protect her allies with shields, and she also has a few crowd control moves to keep your enemies in check.
If you do happen to have both Thoran and Cecia in your team, though, you should absolutely consider trying to pick up Viperian as well. He can help round out the Graveborn core, and he comes with Energy-draining abilities and plenty of AoE attacks. He’s not great in Dream Realm content because of that, but he’ll excel in virtually anything else.
As of May 2024, Alsa has also been added to the AFK Journey roster. From our testing so far, she’s shaping up to be a pretty decent DPS mage overall, and she’s also great to slot into the current meta PvP composition if you don’t have Carolina yet, and you’ve got Eironn at Mythic+. Alsa is much easier to build, requires less investment, and pretty much fills the same role as Carolina. She pairs well with Eironn as she deals extra damage to control-affected enemies, making them a deadly combo in PvP.
Phraesto also got added to the roster in June 2024 as the next big Hypogean/Celestial hero. However, while he is a big meat shield that can soak up a lot of damage, he’s also lacking in the damage department himself. Not a bad pull if you get him, but I’d focus on maxing out Reinier first.
As of August 2024, Ludovic has quickly proven to be a very strong healer character that fits into a lot of different team comps, and also has the benefit of being the first Graveborn healer in the game. He works especially well with Talene, who loves flying straight to enemies to deal damage, and he’s also shown insane numbers in PvP.
B-Tier Characters
The B-Tier is mostly filled with characters that will do well if you just need someone to fill a role, but I personally wouldn’t invest any Acorns in them. Keep them around until you find another character from A or S-Tier to replace them with.
That being said, my top picks for DPS characters here are Valen and Brutus. Both of them will serve you very well in the early game, especially Brutus, who comes with his usual spinning AoE attack that can knock down enemies and keep them in check.
Granny Dahnie is the tank you want here if you haven’t been able to get Thoran or Antandra just yet. She’s pretty decent, and comes with debuffs and heals to help support the team while also staying alive.
I should note that while I do have Arden and Damien here, they’re considered meta mainstays for your PvP arena comps. They’re not really all that useful in other PvE modes, but put them together with Eironn, Carolina, and Thoran, and you’ve got a killer PvP team.
As of April 2024, Florabelle has also been added to the roster. That being said, while she does serve as a great secondary DPS character who can support Cecia at Mythic+, she’s not really a must-have by any stretch of the imagination. She’s decent and her kit largely revolves around summoning minions, but you need to really invest her for her to be worth it.
Soren was added to the game in May 2024, and as many might’ve expected, he’s just okay. He’s proven to be a decent unit in PvP, but not at all optimal for Dream Realm or other PvE content where you just have plenty of other better options. Even in Arena, if you’ve already got Eironn, Damien, and Arden halfway built, those are probably still better options than Soren.
I’ve also moved Korin down to B-tier in light of the May changes, making him a lot less effective in Dream Realm. Odie has now become the de facto go-to DPS unit for that mode, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
C-Tier Characters
Finally, we come to the bottom of the barrel. To be honest, the C-Tier characters will likely be useful during the early game, but they just get outclassed so quickly once you’re past AFK level 100 that you’re probably better off just throwing your Diamonds and tickets at the summoning banners until you get some solid replacements.
Still, shout out to Parisa, who served as my team mage for the longest time. While she does quickly wear out her welcome, she has a powerful AoE attack that can help with crowd control and keeping enemies away from your team. She’s actually somewhat decent in some PvP matchups, but you should absolutely replace her as soon as you can.
And that does it for our AFK Journey tier list. Be sure to check back as more heroes get added to the roster and as existing characters get tweaked and adjusted over time.