Not sure which FGO characters to add to your party? Well, don’t sweat it, as ourFate Grand Order tier list is here to save the day. In this guide, we rank all of the characters from the heights of S tier to the depths of D tier. We keep it updated alongside balance patches and new character additions, so we recommend bookmarking this page and checking back frequently. That way, you’ll always have the optimal team.
Fate/Grand Order is a brand new gacha RPG on mobile that draws inspiration from the Fate/Stay Night Japanese visual novel. You collect characters – known as Heroic Spirits – and create a party out of them, sending them out to do battle against those that want to wipe out humanity. There’s a plot to uncover, which is told by some pleasingly old-school JRPG-style cutscenes. If you love JRPGs and gacha games, you really should check it out.
You can learn more about the game on the official site, or download it via the links at the top of this page. We’ve got plenty more tier lists where this comes from too. Make sure to check out our Alice Fiction tier list, Argent Twilight tier list, and Bloodline: Heroes of Lithas tier list.
Fate Grand Order Tier List
Last checked for new characters on June 21.
Now, we’ll go through our actual tier list, including an explanation of the tiers and some FAQs.
Before we move onto the tier list though, we thought we’d quickly explain what our tiers mean:
- S Tier:These are the best characters currently available in the game, and you should definitely aim to add them to your party. They should also be the first choice to level up and gain access to equipment.
- A Tier:These characters are perfect for filling gaps in a party – particularly when you haven’t unlocked enough S tiers, or there aren’t enough S tiers to fill a party in the first place. You should investigate these characters and see which one will counter your party’s weakness.
- B Tier:Characters in this tier can really help during the early phases of the game, when you haven’t unlocked many characters, but they fade later on. Definitely use them when you lack S and A characters, but swap them out as much as possible.
- C Tier:The only real difference between C and D tier is that C tier characters can occasionally have niche uses. They may be great at a particular game mode, or be exceptionally powerful early on. A late-game party shouldn’t have any though.
- D Tier:We don’t recommend using these characters under any circ*mstance, unless you absolutely have to because you have nothing else. They underperform at all stages of the game, and in all game modes.
Now, we’ll rank all of the characters from the heights of S tier to the depths of D tier.
S Tier
The best characters in the game. Add any you collect to your party, and reroll for them.
- Altria (Caster)
- Arash
- Arjuna (Alter)
- Chen Gong
- Kama
- Merlin
- Scathach-Skadi
- Sima Yi (Reines)
- Space Ishtar
- Tamamo-no-Mae
- Zhuge Liang (El-Melloi II)
A Tier
Great characters in their own right that are great for filling gaps in your party.
- Achilles
- Altria Pendragon
- Altria Pendragon (Archer)
- Antonio Salieri
- Atalante (Alter)
- Attila the San(ta)
- Beni-Enma
- Chloe von Einzbern
- Cu Chulainn (Alter)
- Dioscuri
- Edmond Dantes
- EMIYA
- Enkidu
- Euryale
- Fionn mac Cumhaill
- Gaius Julius Caesar
- Gilgamesh
- Heracles
- Ivan the Terrible
- Jack the Ripper
- Jeanne d’Arc (Archer)
- Jeanne d’Arc (Berserker Alter)
- Ishtar
- Katsushika Hokusai (Saber)
- Lancelot
- Leonardo da Vinci (Rider)
- Mash Kyrielight
- Meltryllis
- Minamoto-no-Raikou (Lancer)
- Miyamoto Musashi
- Miyamoto Musashi (Berserker)
- Mordred (Rider)
- Mysterious Alter Ego Λ
- Mysterious Heroine X (Alter)
- Nagao Kagetora
- Nero Claudius (Bride)
- Nightingale (Santa)
- Nikola Tesla
- Nitocris
- Okita Souji
- Ozymandias
- Paracelsus von Hohenheim
- Parvati
- Prince of Lan Ling
- Qin Shi Huang
- Quetzalcoatl
- Ryougi Shiki (Assassin)
- Sakata Kintoki (Rider)
- Sessyoin Kiara (Moon Cancer)
- Sieg
- Sitonai
- Spartacus
- Super Orion
- Vlad III
- Yu Mei-ren (Lancer)
B Tier
These characters are great during the beginning of the game, but you’ll want to swap them out later on.
- Altria Pendragon (Alter)
- Altria Pendragon (Lily)
- Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova
- Archer of Inferno
- Archer of Inferno (Saber)
- Asagami Fujino
- Asclepius
- Assassin of the Nightless City
- Astolfo
- Astolfo (Saber)
- Astraea
- Asvatthaman
- Atalante
- Avicebron
- Bartholomew Roberts
- BB
- BB (Summer)
- Bedivere
- Berserker of El Dorado
- Bradamante
- Brynhild
- Calamity Jane
- Carmilla
- Caster of Midrash
- Caster of Okeanos
- Chiron
- Cleopatra
- Cu Chulainn
- David
- Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (Saber)
- EMIYA (Alter)
- Europa
- First Hassan
- Francis Drake
- Frankenstein
- Frankenstein (Saber)
- Ganesha (Jinako)
- Georgios
- Gilgamesh (Caster)
- Gray
- Hans Christian Andersen
- Hassan of the Hundred Personas
- Helena Blavatsky
- Houzouin Inshun
- Ibaraki-Douji
- Ibaraki-Douji (Lancer)
- Illyasviel von Einzbern (Archer)
- Ishtar (Rider)
- Ivan the Terrible
- Jason
- Jeanne d’Arc
- Jeanne d’Arc (Alter)
- Jeanne d’Arc (Alter Santa Lily)
- Karna
- Katsushika Hokusai
- Lancelot (Saber)
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Leonidas
- Lu Bu Fengxian
- Mandricardo
- Mash (Ortinax)
- Mecha Eli-chan
- Mecha Eli-chan Mk.II
- Medea
- Minamoto-no-Raikou
- Mordred
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Mysterious Heroine X
- Mysterious Heroine XX
- Napoleon
- Nero Claudius
- Nero Claudius (Caster)
- Oda Nobunaga (Berserker)
- Odysseus
- Okada Izo
- Okita J Souji
- Orion
- Paris
- Paul Bunyan
- Quetzalcoatl (Samba/Santa)
- Robin Hood
- Romulus Quirinus
- Ryougi Shiki (Saber)
- Sakamoto Ryouma
- Sakata Kintoki
- Scathach
- Sei Shounagon
- Sessyoin Kiara
- Sherlock Holmes
- Shuten-Douji
- Shuten-Douji (Caster)
- Tristan
- Ushiwakamaru
- Utsumi Erice
- Valkyrie
- Vlad III (EXTRA)
- Voyager
- William Shakespeare
- William Tell
- Xiang Yu
- Xuanzang Sanzang
- Yagyu Munenori
- Yang Guifei
C Tier
These can fulfil niche roles, but are ultimately better off avoiding.
- Abigail Williams
- Alexander
- Altera
- Altria Pendragon (Lancer)
- Altria Pendragon (Lancer Alter)
- Altria Pendragon (Rider Alter)
- Altria Pendragon (Santa Alter)
- Amakusa Shirou
- Anne Bonny & Mary Read
- Anne Bonny & Mary Read (Archer)
- Archer of Shinjuku
- Arjuna
- Assassin of Paraiso
- Asterios
- Avenger of Shinjuku
- Billy the Kid
- Brynhild (Berserker)
- Caenis
- Carmilla (Rider)
- Caster of the Nightless City
- Charles Babbage
- Chevalier d’Eon
- Cu Chulainn (Prototype)
- Edward Teach
- Elisabeth Bathory
- Elisabeth Bathory (Brave)
- EMIYA (Assassin)
- Ereshkigal
- Eric Bloodaxe
- Fergus mac Roich
- Fuuma Kotarou
- Gareth
- Gawain
- Gorgon
- Hassan of the Cursed Arm
- Hassan of the Serenity
- Hektor
- Hijikata Toshizo
- Illyasviel von Einzbern
- Iskander
- Jaguar Warrior
- Jing Ke
- Kid Gilgamesh
- Kiyohime
- Kiyohime (Lancer)
- Kijyo Koyo
- Kingprotea
- Lakshmi Bai
- Li Shuwen
- Li Shuwen (Assassin)
- Marie Antoinette
- Medea (Lily)
- Medusa
- Mori Nagayoshi
- Nightingale
- Nitocris (Assassin)
- Nursery Rhyme
- Oda Nobunaga
- Okita Souji (Alter)
- Osakabehime
- Osakabehime (Archer)
- Passionlip
- Queen Medb
- Queen Medb (Saber)
- Rama
- Red Hare
- Rider of Resistance
- Romulus
- Saint Martha
- Saint Martha (Ruler)
- Sasaki Kojirou
- Scathach (Assassin)
- Semiramis
- Siegfried
- Sigurd
- Suzuka Gozen
- Tamamo Cat
- Tamamo-no-Mae (Lancer)
- Tawara Touta
- Thomas Edison
- Ushiwakamaru (Assassin)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
D Tier
Skip these characters completely.
- Abigail Williams (Summer)
- Altria Pendragon (Ruler)
- Anra Mainiiu
- Arthur Pendragon (Prototype)
- Assassin of Shinjuku
- Beowulf
- Boudica
- Caligula
- Chacha
- Charles-Henri Sanson
- Charlotte Corday
- Cu Chulainn (Caster)
- Darius III
- Demon King Nobunaga (Oda Nobunaga)
- Diarmuid ua Duibhne
- Elisabeth Bathory (Halloween)
- Geronimo
- Gilles de Rais
- Gilles de Rais (Caster
- Helena Blavatsky (Archer)
- Henry Jekyll & Hyde
- Irisviel (Holy Grail)
- Katou Danzo
- Marie Antoinette (Caster)
- Mata Hari
- Medusa (Lancer)
- Mephistopheles
- Miyu Edelfelt
- Musashibou Benkei
- Nezha
- Phantom of the Opera
- Qin Liangyu
- Salome
- Stheno
- Yu Mei-ren
Fate Grand Order Tier List FAQ
Now that you’re familiar with our tier list, here’s a bunch of questions you might have about Fate Grand Order or tier lists answered.
What Is A Tier List?
A tier list is a list of characters that you can unlock in a game – particularly a gacha game – ordered from best to worst. We rank from S tier to D tier, with S being best and D being worst.
The purpose of a tier list is to help you, the player, determine who the best characters to unlock are, so you can save time and money. Once you know who the best characters are, you can form a party out of them and ignore the others.
How Did We Pick Our Fate Grand Order Tier List?
We used a combination of these factors when deciding our Fate/Grand Order tier list:
- Personal experience
- Community feedback
- General consensus from other tier lists
It’s worth bearing in mind though, that tier lists are subjective by nature. While this one is based on our personal experience with the game, yours may vary, so it’s worth taking it with a pinch of salt.
How Often Do We Update Our FateGrand OrderTier List?
We update this tier list regularly to ensure that it always follows the latest meta. Typically, you can expect an update around the following happenings:
- A new character releases
- Balance changes
There may be a small delay between the above two events as we’ll return to the game to check out the new character for ourselves, or to see how the balance patches have affected things.
And that will do it for our Fate/Grand Order tier list. Make sure to grab the game via the links at the top of this page.
Glen Fox
Head of Editorial
Glen has over a decade's worth of experience in gaming journalism, writing for Pocket Gamer, Pocket Tactics, Nintendo Life, and Gfinity. When he's not badgering everyone about the dangers of passive text, you can probably find him playing Wild Rift.
