Brown Dust 2 Mirror Wars (PvP) Tier List – January 2024

Meta Report - Jan 2024: The Season of Eclipse

The half anniversary event brought a big shakeup to the PVP meta with the introduction of Nightmare Bunny Eclipse, together with the re-run of B-Rank Idol Helena.

Nightmare Bunny Eclipse dominates the meta at the moment, both for attacking and defending teams. The main reason that NB.Eclipse is so dominant is not just her strong magic attack (especially during Dark season), but the fact that she has huge reach both horizontally and vertically. In fact, she is the only unit in the game that can reliably hit a whole row. On top of this, her skill comes with a big SP drain. NB.Eclipse's arrival has changed the meta in 3 important ways.

Firstly, "empty mid" defense formations (e.g. 4-0-1, 3-0-2) have drastically dropped in popularity, as those kinds of formations are vulnerable to Eclipse's AOE. With the mid column now more often in play, this has led to costumes with horizontal AOE (especially X-shape AOE) increasing in value, because there is now a bigger likelihood of netting an enemy unit in an adjacent column.

Secondly, SP management for defense teams is now more important than ever. Prior to NB.Eclipse's arrival, defense teams could reliably expect to have 12 SP to start with, and players could plan their defense teams around having 12 SP. Now, defending teams need to be prepared for the possibility that they will only have 6-9 SP after accounting for NB.Eclipse's drain. This means that high SP cost costumes are less reliable than they used to be for defending teams in the current meta, and have fallen in value.

Thirdly, the dominance of NB.Eclipse has caused many high-ranking players to gear their characters for 105% M.RES, so that they can stay at the 90% M.RES cap after accounting for NB.Eclipse's M.RES shred. This indirectly devalues other magic-type teams who do not use NB.Eclipse or other M.RES shredders.

It will be interesting to see whether NB.Eclipse can continue in popularity after the current Season of Darkness ends and her seasonal damage buff drops.

How to use this tier list

Brown Dust 2 is a unique game because each character has multiple costumes, which are used together in PVP. Some costumes are not great on their own, but better when paired with other costumes on the same character. Further, the power level of each costume changes significantly with duplicates (up to +5 costume level). Therefore, there are some important things to note when using this tier list.

+5 costumes are assumed

All of the ratings compare power levels at the +5 version of the costume. You should know that a +5 costume on your roster may be better in PVP than a +0 costume from a higher tier in the tier list.

Note also that for most costumes, SP cost reduces at +3, which makes a big difference in PVP. If you don't have the reduced SP version of the costume, it will not perform at the stated tier level.

Secondary costumes are taken into account

All ratings take into account the availability of secondary costume skills. For example, Yuri's Whitebolt costume is very good, but she only has 1 costume, which means she has no skills to use on your second turn. This reduces her PVP tier rating compared to Scheherazade, who has multiple costumes.

All ratings assume that you have copies of other the character's costumes where applicable. If you do not have any secondary costumes for a character, the character may not perform at the stated tier level, because the character will have no follow up skill on your turn 2.

The tier list rates costumes on their power as a primary costume

All costumes have been rated on the basis of its power when used as your primary costume for the character (i.e. the skill you activate first for the character). The tier list is structured this way so that you can identify how useful a character is for you, based on the highest tier costume you have for the character.

Lower tier costumes are not necessarily bad if they are paired with that character's other higher tier costumes. Example: Desert Flower Sylvia (base costume) is rated C-tier because she is poor value to open with as your primary costume, but if she is played on your second turn or third turn after Admiral Sylvia, she can be very effective and improve the power of your Sylvia overall.

Ratings explained

Tier ratings are given on the following basis:

• S: The best at what they do (when used as a primary costume).
• A: Better than average (when used as a primary costume).
• B: Average, but not bad (when used as a primary costume).
• C: Worse than average (when used as a primary costume).
• D: Not recommended (except as a secondary costume, where applicable).

The Mirror Wars (PVP) Tier List - Jan 2024

S	Lapis Witch Scheherazade Code Name S Scheherazade Pool Party Scheherazade	Best buff remover, as all her costumes remove buffs and have good AOE. Also has one of the highest base M.ATK stats in the game. Having both base (Lapis Witch) and Code Name S costumes is necessary for her to be S-tier status in PVP, because an important reason that she is so good is that her buff removal is consistent across turns.
	White Reaper Justia Destruction Alec	Justia and Alec both have pure damage which ignore all DEF, M.RES and damage reduction skills. When properly geared and paired with H.Lathel, they are pretty much guaranteed to kill anything they hit in PVP. Both have vertical 2-tile AOE, which is a useful range in PVP, especially when paired with knockbacks (e.g. WC Rou, Kry). Both also have good secondary costumes.
	B-Rank Idol Helena	Best magic supporter and crit buffer at +5. Note that crit rate buff doubles from 25% to 50% at +5, allowing for "guaranteed crit" gear builds.
	Glacia (all costumes)	Best magic tank when equipped with exclusive gear.
	Homunculus Lathel	Best physical supporter for PVP, only costs 1 SP, so he can be easily slotted into a physical attacking team.
	Lecliss (all costumes)	Best physical tank when equipped with exclusive gear.
	Lonely Survivor Lathel	Very high damage (effectively 767% multiplier) and deep reach for 3 SP. Versatile follow up options with other Lathel costumes. Despite his reach and high headline damage, he has less consistency against high DEF gearing and damage reduction skills. Another drawback is that you cannot use him with H.Lathel. In the current meta, he loses some points for his matchup against Glacia (popular water tank), but gains some points due to abundance of M.RES geared units (less likely to be hindered by DEF).
	Nightmare Bunny Eclipse (limited)	High damage, massive range, SP drain, and enough M.RES shred to overcome most units that build for high M.RES. Best used with B.Helena.
	Sword Queen Sylvia	One of the very few attack costumes that has 1 SP cost. Very versatile for an attacking team. Pairs well with H.Lathel to get past high DEF opponents. Note also that Sylvia has a high base crit rate of 20%, allowing her to crit reliably if well geared.
	White Cat Rou	Evasion based tank. 1 SP cost, high offensive power on knockback, versatile follow up options with multiple other costumes. Best used in attacking teams so that evasion activates before your opponent's first turn.
A	Admiral Sylvia	Very good damage and AOE on her own, but even better when used after SQ.Sylvia (SQ.Sylvia's ATK buff improves Admiral's damage and energy guard). Energy Guard creates a good set up for Desert Flower Sylvia on the following turn.
	Anti-dystopia Diana	1 SP cost makes her ideal for use on turn 1 attack, very strong energy guards if her M.ATK is buffed, but limited range makes positioning tricky.
	B-Rank Idol Eleaneer Magic Bow Eleaneer	Eleaneer has good damage costumes with versatile disruption kit. Base costume (Magic Bow) is a low cost buff remover. B-Rank Idol is a high cost silencer.
	B-Rank Manager Gray	Low SP cost and DEF shred makes B-Rank Gray a reliable killer, and ideal for sniping backrow targets with his skip targeting. Wind-element is also a favorable typing in the current meta given that there are water tanks but no fire tanks.
	Bright Moon Dalvi	High magic damage, better than usual base crit damage, with a very useful vertical AOE and skip targeting. At +5, Energy Guard can meaningfully improve survival, especially when paired with B.Helena's buff. However, high SP cost makes her difficult to use on turn 1 attack.
	Code Name A Rafina	Rafina has naturally tanky stats due to high base HP. Skip targeting X-shape AOE is higher value in the current meta, and DEF reduction skill means reliable damage.
	Empress of the Ocean Rubia	High SP cost, but makes up for it with huge range and 25% DEF reduction for reliable damage. Note that Rubia has excellent base stats, with high ATK and 20% base crit rate.
	The Fallen Angelica Pool Party Angelica	Skill damage cannot be boosted by M.ATK buffs, heavily reliant on crits and crit damage. Can be effective if used in the right team, especially with B.Helena (50% crit rate boost) and a M.RES shredder like NB.Eclipse for guaranteed lethal against low M.RES opponents.
	Fiend Scholar Olstein	An effective Turn 1 disabler and tank when played in the mid column. In addition to draining SP, his skill silences units in a 3x3 AOE for 2 of your opponent's turns, which can completely shut down your opponent's strategies. In the current meta, "empty mid" formations are relatively uncommon thanks to NB.Eclipse, and this enhances the odds of Olstein hitting 3 or more units on his skill. Although he does hardly any damage on his skill, he can be paired with AD.Diana to allow your team to turtle on your turn 1, and then strike on your turn 2. Own stats are also very tanky with high HP stat.
	Fire Graffiti Anastasia	Very high damage for a reasonable 3 SP cost, but not as reliable as Alec/Justia or as cheap as Sword Queen Sylvia. Requires late-game gearing to perform well, as she needs to crit reliably to access her crit damage bonus.
	Kendo Club Justia Knight of Blood Justia	Kendo Club and Knight of Blood both deal high fixed damage. However, their higher SP cost makes them less suitable for Turn 1 play compared to White Reaper Justia.
	Lovely Lady Elise	Useful plus-shaped AOE with skip targeting. Low base attack stats, but she somewhat makes up for it with DEF and M.RES shred. Due to the popularity of high M.RES gearing, and the fact that more and more veteran players have access to UR III and IV defensive gears, DEF and M.RES shredders have become more valuable in the current meta.
	Masquerade Bunny Celia (limited)	Masquerade Bunny now provides Celia with access to reasonable AOE damage for a reasonable cost of 3 SP. Damage is on the low side, but it is the cheapest 3x3 AOE attack in the game. Celia is a natural counter to attack teams featuring NB.Eclipse, because she has a base M.RES of 20%, which makes it easy to gear her for high M.RES (105%) to survive Eclipse attacks.
	Neon Stalker Liatris	Excellent reach, but damage is slightly on the low side (even taking into account her higher than usual crit damage). Low damage is felt most when coming up against tanks, especially high DEF tanks and water tanks. The advantages of her reach are also somewhat overshadowed by NB.Eclipse who has far better range.
	Pool Party Gray	Despite the high SP cost, the plus-shaped AOE and high damage makes this a strong choice for defending teams. Wind-element is also a favorable typing in the current meta given that there are water tanks but no fire tanks.
	Promise of Vengeance Lathel	Very high single target damage and low SP cost, but no AOE. Although he can be used on Turn 1 as a tank breaker, in most cases the better use is as a finisher following H.Lathel.
	Seir (all costumes)	Comparable stats to Lecliss and Glacia, but ranks slightly below Lecliss and Glacia due to lack of taunt skills.
	Sword Breaker Alec	Not quite as good as Destruction Alec due to lower damage and diagonal AOE (difficult to set up), but still very good for his reliable fixed damage. Best when paired with Destruction Alec.
	Violent Student Kry	Violent Student Kry has one of the best knockbacks in the game, and is a very strong opener for only 1 SP. Has good odds of lethal if the knockback connects, and also helps set up the board for vertical AOE attackers. Also has a pretty good followup on Turn 2 with Marauder Kry.
B	Whitebolt Yuri	A very solid buff removal skill with great damage and reasonable SP cost. Held back mainly by the fact that she has no secondary costume. If used in an attacking team, she shouldn't activate skill on turn 1 or her buff removal is wasted. Has the potential to be S-tier once further costumes are released.
	Angel of Destruction Teresse	Teresse is a decent tank as she has very high base HP, tying with Lecliss for highest in the game. Despite having a better stats and knockback than Kry (Teresse hits 3 units instead of 2, and has better collision damage), Teresse ranks lower than Kry because she currently has no secondary costume, and therefore no skill to use on your second turn.
	Dimension Witch Eclipse	Solid damage, but unremarkable as a standalone costume. Best used as a follow up to Nightmare Bunny.
	Gentle Maid Anastasia	Very high damage and good AOE, but expensive at 4 SP. Requires late-game gearing to perform well, as she needs to crit reliably to access her crit damage bonus.
	Kind Student Samay	Cheap but inferior damage buff for both physical and magical units at 1 SP. With her base costume (Kind Liberator), Samay is also able to follow up with a decent attack on the second turn, making her a versatile unit.
	Liberated Marauder Kry	Despite being a 4-star unit, Marauder Kry deals excellent damage, and is reliable thanks to his 50% damage reduction. X-shape AOE is also becoming more useful in the current meta, with "empty mid" formations less common. Kry's main weakness is that, as a 4-star unit, his stats are capped at Lv80. Great as a follow up to Violent Student.
	Medicinal Herb Tracker Lathel	Damage is not quite as good as POV.Lathel, but there is a small chance of catching something on his diagonal AOE.
	Pool Party Lathel	Great damage potential if built for full crit damage, but a full crit damage build does not synergize well with other costumes. Cost is on the high side compared to impact.
	Pool Party Justia (limited)	Potentially powerful setup for a very low SP cost, but vulnerable to buff removals. Also made less relevant in the meta given that H.Lathel exists to boost Justia's attack on your turn 1, rather than using PP.Justia and waiting until your turn 2 to hit hard. Nevertheless, it's a decent cheap turn 1 filler that allows Justia to act as a pseudo-tank for a turn.
	Red Hat Rou	Not recommended for Turn 1 attack due to high SP cost, but good for defense or second turn follow up. Energy guards are fairly big and 50% crit buff allows for reliable crits.
	Rodev's Star Liatris	Huge AOE, but very high SP cost at 5 SP. Best used as a follow up to Neon Stalker.
	Specialist Andrew	Quite tanky with his evasion skill, is able to taunt, but his SP cost is high and he has no offensive skills. Useful in lower rank defense teams, but drops off in higher ranks in favor of the S-tier tanks described above.
	Steel Engine Rafina	Good stats, damage and AOE, but barrier removal effect activates after damage is dealt, which is disappointing and makes the effect mostly useless.
	Thorn of the Desert Rubia	Good offensive stats, decent skill damage, average SP cost.
	Stray Cat Rou Nature's Claw Rou	Both are good skills with high damage, but not the best openers due to high SP cost. Best used as finishers to follow other Rou costumes (preferably WC.Rou).
	Vanguard Gray	Pitiful damage against physical units, but with his wide AOE, in the current NB.Eclipse dominant meta there is a decent chance of hitting a magic opponent for high burn damage.
C	Arines	The only 3-star to be rated in this tier list. +70% ATK and +30% crit rate is pretty strong for lower rank PVP, and almost makes up for her very low stats. For high rank PVP though, H.Lathel is better for his lower cost and higher stats, and there are higher value plays for 2 SP.
	Blood Glutton Justia	Cannot deal lethal damage. Only to be used as a backup to other Justia costumes.
	Code Name O Elise	Although her SP cost is good, it's hard to make use of her 2-tile skip AOE in the current meta because it is fairly rare to hit a 3-4 unit column. Her base damage is also on the low side. She can be an effective killer if you have H.Lathel to compensate for low damage, but you would still be vulnerable to water types (e.g. Glacia) and high DEF opponents.
	Dark Knight Lathel	Dark Knight gives a massive Energy Guard and can turn around games if timed correctly. However in a fast meta where Schera is ever popular, he usually is not reliable enough to justify using over one of Lathel's strong offensive costumes.
	Descendant Celia Curse Celia	Low damage is not good value for SP cost, but can be effective when paired with Masquerade Bunny.
	Desert Flower Sylvia	Sylvia has very low base HP so she is not well suited to play as a tank. Desert Flower is therefore a poor opener (she is likely to be killed before she can counterattack), however she can be used effectively if played on the second or third turn, once your opponent's strongest skills have been exhausted. Best played following Admiral Sylvia (who gives an energy guard that improves survivability during the Desert Flower skill period).
	Kind Liberator Samay	A decent skill that is held back by Samay's low base M.ATK stat. M.RES shred can be useful in a magic team. Best used as a followup to Kind Student Samay.
	Magic Professor Scheherazade	High SP cost but damage is too low to justify the cost.
	Neon Savior Angelica	High SP cost, low initial damage with moderate burn damage. Only recommended as a backup to Angelica's other costumes.
	Robin Hood Zenith	Don't be fooled by her art, she's built like a tank rather than a ranger. Zenith has very high HP but very low base ATK. Even with her chain damage and damage amplification skill, her own damage potential is very low. For 1 SP, she can be effective as a pseudo-tank and can help your front-targeting team members snipe backrow targets, but in the current meta she is less useful because there are already good skip targeting options available.
	Sharpshooter Gray	Low initial damage with conditional bonus. Unreliable in PVP unless you can accurately predict your opponent's formation.
	Snow White Ventana	High SP cost, mediocre damage (unless opponent has taunt or concentrated fire applied). No secondary costume.
	Top Idol Helena	Good to have as a follow up to B-Rank Idol Helena, but not very good on her own. Even though she is cheap, her skill is not always reliable due to buff removers (e.g. Schera), fixed damage attackers (e.g. Justia) and attackers that simply deal a lot of overkill damage.
	Unknown Sage Nartas	High damage against physical types, but 5 SP cost means an "all or nothing" opener with unpredictable results. If he's lucky, he wipes an entire column and holds the front line against magic counterattacks. If he is unlucky, he's a disappointing use of 5 SP, and he has no secondary costume for follow up on your second turn. In the current meta, he stays firmly in C tier because stacked column formations (3-4 units in a single column) have become unpopular thanks to NB.Eclipse, so you are unlikely to get high value from Nartas for his SP cost.
D	Adventurer of the Unknown Diana	Useable as a follow up to Anti-dystopia Diana, but not good on her own.
	Sage of the Blue Clouds Olstein	70% damage reduction for 1 SP is nice, but there's no guarantee you'll hit your opponent's strong damage dealers. Useable as a backup to Fiend Scholar, otherwise, almost all the time you would rather spend your SP on something that can kill.
	All 4-star units not noted above (Bernie, Jayden, Lisianne, Lucrezia, Layla) All 3-star units not noted above (i.e. all other than Arines).	These are not good value for cost, and not recommended for use other than in low tier PVP (bronze, silver).