Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium has an ever-expanding cast of Dolls, but a limited amount of gacha currency, and it can be a bit overwhelming to try to decide which Dolls are worth pulling for, and which ones might be okay to skip in favor of others.
Because this is a game that is primarily focused around teambuilding and tactics, it is actually rather difficult to simply place characters into a tier list and have it provide a meaningful representation of how good those characters actually are in every single context the game has to offer; for instance, some Dolls are rather underwhelming until paired with a specific other Dolls, at which point they become incredibly powerful.
Additionally, something to keep in mind is that GFL2 is not really that difficult of a game, meaning that, when properly built, most reasonable combinations of Dolls can get through even the hardest content the game has to offer, so just because a Doll is perhaps rated poorly on this (or another) tier list, do not discount them--this is the perfect game to use your favorite characters instead of chasing the metagame.
Tier List Info
Before we go into the actual tier list, I want to explain how it will be organized. I have broken the Dolls into three different categories: (1) DPS, (2) DPS Support, and (3) Utility / Support. DPS characters are the characters who will almost always be doing the bulk of the damage on your team, and are the ones around whom you will likely be building the rest of your team.
For instance, if Qiongjiu is your primary DPS, you will probably want to focus on teammates that play around her support attacks and Burn damage. DPS Support characters are often the characters that enable your DPS characters to do as much damage as possible, be it through buffs, debuffs, or other effects. These characters might be able to do a bit of damage themselves, but the real reason they are on your team is to ensure that your DPS characters are hitting as hard as they possibly can.
Utility / Support characters, on the other hand, are more widespread in their purpose; some are healers, others are (primarily defensive) buffers, while still others are focused around reducing enemies' Stability Index. While these characters are rarely the center of attention on the battlefield, without them, it would often be significantly more difficult to keep the team alive. Bear in mind, there are some characters who toe the line between these categories, so there might be a few who could be placed slightly differently.
Lastly, I just want to go over my definitions for what each tier of the tier list represents on a practical level:
- S Tier: These are the very best characters in their respective categories. With them on your team, you will tend clear content more safely and quickly. These characters also tend to function well even without specific support (in the case of DPS or Utility / Support characters) or, in the case of the DPS Support characters, provide so much to their preferred team types that they are simply invaluable if you wish to run that type of team. These characters also tend to have very little skill downtime issues.
- A Tier: These characters are competent within their roles, and do not really have much in the way of issues with their kits, but are simply slightly outclassed by the characters in S Tier.
- B Tier: Using these characters will not necessarily cause you to struggle to complete content, but there is a noticeable difference in their abilities compared to the characters in either S Tier or A Tier. These characters tend to have either noticeable weaknesses, or else are easily outclassed by other characters, and are therefore frequently replaced by them.
- C Tier: These characters should be replaced as quickly as possible on your team, unless you just really have a soft spot for them (which is totally understandable!).
For a few characters, I have included some footnotes that explain under what conditions they actually warrant the rank they are placed at--usually this involves having another specific character on the team with them so they can make full use of their potential. Also, characters are presented in alphabetical order within each tier/category.
And now, without any further ado, I present my Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium Character Tier List:
Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium Character Tier List
S Tier - Utility / Support
A Tier - DPS Support
A Tier - Utility / Support
B Tier - DPS
B Tier - DPS Support
C Tier - DPS
C Tier - DPS Support
Character Ranking Explanations
In this section, I want to provide explanations for the S Tier Dolls and why they are so highly ranked. If you require more details about any of the characters, however, you can click on their name in the actual tier list and it will take you to the guide I've made for that character.
S Tier - DPS
Klukai
Klukai is an absolute monster on the battlefield, and is perfectly capable of clearing out all the enemies in a turn or two, depending on the content. This ability only becomes more pronounced as she acquires more of her Fortifications.
By the time she reaches V6, she becomes an engine of destruction that other Dolls only wish they could be! At V6 in particular, her Ultimate skill, [Devastating Drift], will literally kill pretty much everything it hits, and even enemies it does not directly hit!
Makiatto
Makiatto hits hard. As a sniper, she does exactly what you expect her to--hit from a long range and make whatever enemy she targeted disappear completely. A little bit of her potential is locked behind her V1, as it turns her primary means of damage, her [Cold Precision Shot] skill, and makes it into a nasty two-hit combo, but even at V0, she is capable of one-shotting many enemies.
As an added bonus, with her Expansion Key, her Ultimate skill, [Absolute Mental Defense], gives her a stack of [Extra Command], meaning she can put up her off-turn attack buff without wasting a turn. Pairs beautifully with Qiongjiu because of her single-target focus and off-turn attacks.
Qiongjiu
Qiongjiu has been a staple on teams since GLF2 came out. Her support attacks can trigger multiple times per turn, and invariably do much more damage than the attack that triggered them actually did (with few exceptions). This makes her excellent in pretty much all content, and the fact that she's on the Standard Banner means it's actually quite easy to pull additional copies of her (whether on the Standard Banner or by losing 50/50s).
With her Expansion Key, her support attacks deal Burn damage, instead of Physical damage, meaning that she breathes new life into Burn teams, and makes enemies who are weak to Burn damage tremble in fear!
S Tier - DPS Support
Mechty
Mechty truly shines when used alongside Klukai and Peritya, as she forms the backbone of the Corrosion team. She converts Peritya's support attacks into Corrosion damage and implants Corrosion weakness on enemies, meaning that all three Dolls can exploit that weakness on any enemy, and Klukai's already explosive potential shoots through the roof.
Mechty is a cocktail of buffs and debuffs that take an already great character (Klukai) and elevate her to a whole new level when used correctly. Her only major downside is that she loses a lot of her usefulness when not placed on a team with Klukai and/or Peritya.
Vector
Vector is to Burn teams what Mechty is to Corrosion teams: an enabler. The amount of Burn-centric buffs and debuffs she provides the team is absolutely staggering, and when paired with Qiongjiu, both Dolls get elevated to a whole new level.
Also, she's able to light pretty much half the battlefield on fire in one attack with her Ultimate, [Glorious Finale]. Her Fixed Keys also offer her a great deal of situational flexibility, for mobbing, bossing, or even AoE enemy buff-removal.
Her only real downside is that she loses a lot of her usefulness when not placed on a Burn team.
S Tier - Utility
Suomi
Suomi is easily the best way to keep your team alive. Her team-wide shield will keep everyone at basically full health for most battles, and, at V1, she becomes a solid healer, as well, meaning that in those rare instances where a shield gets penetrated, she heals the damage right up and reapplies another shield. GFL2 with Suomi and GFL2 without Suomi are basically different games.
As an added bonus, she also does Support Attacks on nearby enemies, which happens prior to the actual ally's attack, so she can potentially deplete the enemy's Stability Index to 0 before her ally hit's them. Very versatile!
Conclusions
I want to reiterate here that if you really love a character's design or playstyle, you can really make that character work for almost all content in the game, so you shouldn't let this (or any other) tier list stop you from using and/or investing in your favorites. I invite you to check out my suggested builds for all of the characters on this list and I really do hope this has been helpful to you, whether you're a new player with absolutely no idea what any characters do, or a grizzled veteran who is just stopping by to see what that Garbelius guy thinks of your favorite character(s).
