Best Heroes
As you progress through the story of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and begin to unlock a number of the available Heroes, you might be wondering who the best Hero is to add to your party. That's why we've created a tier list of all 19 of the available Heroes, with explanations of why we've ranked them where we have on this page.
Looking to see who the best hero is by Chapter? Click on the links below.
Best Hero by Chapter
Due to the nature of how you unlock Heroes in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, by completing Hero Quests in each segment of the story, we’ve considered which Heroes are the best by chapter first. This will differ from the final tier list of Heroes that we’ve ranked at the bottom of this page, but will allow you to consider who you should focus on unlocking as you progress through the main story.
Best Hero at Chapter 3
Chapter 3 is when the game really begins to open up and a number of Hero Quests can be completed to add Heroes to your roster. There are technically seven Heroes you can unlock in Chapter 3, though on our Hero Quest page, you'll see that we’ve listed just six for this chapter.
This is because of Alexandria’s Hero Quest: Her Reasons, that you’ll need to be Level 40+ to complete. You can unlock her in Chapter 3 if you’re wiling to grind, and you can do this and level up quite quickly by completing the vast number of side quests that will become available. With that in mind, at this stage we’d say the best Heroes to unlock in Chapter 3 are Gray and Alexandria.
Best Hero at Chapter 4
The Hero Quests in Chapter 4 allow you to unlock one of the very best Heroes who we’ve added to the S-Tier category of our Tier List. That is Ashera. Ashera creates an impressive Heroic Chain when used in Chain Attacks and is generally powerful in fights.
Best Hero at Chapter 5
If you haven't unlocked Alexandria by Chapter 5, then now is the best time to get her. Besides Alexandria, one of the strongest Heroes you can unlock in Chapter 5 is Fiona. Her Signifier class is what makes her unique. She can dish out plenty of buffs for the whole party to keep everyone strong and on their feet.
Best Hero at Chapter 6
Towads the end of the game, you'll be able to add two Heroes to your party that are helpful in their own ways. First up is Ghondor, who you will automatically unlock at the beginning of Chapter 6. She's a good attacker to have in the group as she increases Art recharge speed.
Chapter 6 will also introduce you to Miyabi as part of the main story quests. Miyabi's Troubadour class also makes her a unique healer and she shares a similar power as Ghondor in that she can speed up Art recharge speed.
Tier List
Below you can find all of the Heroes ordered in a tier list. This includes all 19 Heroes available to unlock in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, including two that are only available post-game.
If you've not unlocked the post-game content and want to avoid spoilers, now's the time to click away!
Tier | Character |
---|---|
S-Tier | Ashera, Fiona |
A-Tier | Gray, Alexandria, Ghondor, Miyabi, Nia, Melia |
B-Tier | Ethel, Isurd, Valdi, Segiri, Riku and Manana |
C-Tier | Zeon, Teach, Juniper, Monica, Triton, Cammuvari |
S-Tier Heroes
Ashera
The biggest reason for rating Ashera S-Tier is the fact that you’re guaranteed an Amazing! in Chain Attacks if she’s used to complete the Chain Order. This allows you to reactivate two characters, which can be invaluable in those more challenging fights. You won't be able to reactivate her after, but with 200% TP and a carefully considered Chain Order, you should be able to take down an enemy quickly so it's worth the sacrifice.
Fiona
The biggest advantage of adding Fiona and her Signifier class to your party is the number of buffs she can provide to allies. These buffs are dished out at random but can help generally strengthen the whole party. She can also provide boosts to Arts for the entire group. In addition to this, during Chain Attacks, she can grant a multiplier of 120% to TP for all characters that are active (not including herself).
A-Tier Heroes
Gray
Gray is a powerful attacker who can deal damage successfully across a wide area. He only doesn't make it to S-Tier because his attacks grow in strength throughout the fight, but don't initially start as strong as others. With each consecutive hit you land, his attacks get stronger. Additionally, if there are missed attacks, the build-up in his strength will be reset.
Alexandria
Similarly to Gray, Alexandria's attacks grow in strength throughout battle. The difference with Alexandria's role is that this applies only to critical hits. Her damage will increase with each critical hit you manage to land. However, she also has a reset that applies to bonuses she's built up. This happens when she's incapacitated, which means you need to keep a close eye on her.
Ghondor
Ghondor makes it to A-Tier because of her Martial Artist role. She can deal big amounts of damage, as she's able to absorb all Arts charges and make use of them. As well as this, she'll always reactivate in a Chain Attack.
Miyabi
Miyabi is best used in big battles when you want your Art speed to be recharged quickly. Her unique ability allows her to do this, plus in Chain Attacks, her Heroic Chain directly affects Mio. If Mio is active in your Chain Order still, she can receive Miyabi's TP when you use her.
Nia
Nia's Lifesage class is the strongest Healer class in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Her support is focused on the entire party and she can simultaneously heal allies while damaging enemies. When this happens, any enemy's defenses are ignored. Though this sounds as if she should be in S-Tier, the combination of her only becoming available to use post-game and not being able to provide as many buffs as Fiona lands her in A-Tier.
Melia
Melia's Royal Summoner is a strong Attacker role, which is understandable given she is also available post-game. She makes good use of elemental attacks to deliver plenty of damage and can debuff enemies.
B-Tier Heroes
Ethel
Ethel is the first Hero you'll unlock (temporarily) in the game, and you'll soon see that her Flash Fencer role is great for buffing and increasing attack power. However, she's reliant on Role Actions to be performed and for those buffs to make her attacks stronger. When these are done correctly, she's quick and strong with her attacks.
Valdi
Valdi's War Medic role is the one to pick if you want exceptional healing. With his Talent Art he can provide incredible healing during battle, as well as a sometimes much-needed boost to everyone in the party. The downside to his class is the same as his strength - his role is just too healer-focused. Plus, his Heroic Chain Attack is limited to buffing only against certain enemies.
Segiri
Segiri is all about the debuffs and weakening of your opponents to make a fight easier. This special Machine Assassin Attacker role ensures more damage can happen, by softening the target. While this is a great feature and good for fights against groups, the debuffs are limited to a few options so are not always that strong.
Isurd
Isurd's Strategos Healer role is slightly better than Teach's but still isn't as strong as some of the Healers in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. He ranks slightly better than Teach because of his increased versatility in battle and Arts that work on weakening enemies as well as healing allies.
Riku and Manana
The strength of Riku and Manana lies in their AOE support and potential to debuff. They're particularly useful when dealing with groups of enemies. However, their offensive attacks are weak and you'll likely find they're incapacitated quickly.
C-Tier Heroes
Zeon
Zeon's biggest benefit is that when one of the party members is about to be incapacitated, he'll increase his protection. He'll also take on attacks to gain additional power for his Talent Arts. His Heroic Chain is one of the weakest buffs, however, as only he benefits from a TP boost and it requires his reactivation.
Teach
Teach has perhaps one of the weakest Healer classes with Thaumaturge. His healing is the standard support you'd expect from a healer, attempting to keep the party's health topped up throughout each fight. However, he does this with an Art combo that also deploys an Armor Veil which isn't as effective as other healers.
Juniper
Juniper's Stalker class is an attacker role but she's able to manage aggro, so she's not heavily targeted. She doesn't particularly deliver strong attacks, but she does have stealth on her side.
Monica
Monica's Lost Vanguard class is focused on defense. She does a good job of protecting those in the party, by countering attacks and sending out fields. But she suffers from a weaker Heroic Chain than other Heroes. Although she'll reactivate a character with the highest number of TP, she only adds a small buff to their TP when used at the end of a Chain Order.
Triton
Triton's Soulhacker class allows him to pick up Skills and Arts from monsters, for a unique battle experience. But his biggest limitation is he himself cannot make use of these skills, instead sticking to those he knows well. One of his biggest strengths, however, is that he's a good attacker with powerful moves.
Cammuvari
Cammuvari is another Hero whose attacks become stronger the longer a battle goes on, but it relies on Cammuvari taking hits. He also relies too much on Arts that are designed to self-damage to keep his attack power high, which can be risky moves to pull off.