Who Tops the Chaos Zero Nightmare Tier List Right Now?
By Sir Ayup
The Chaos Zero Nightmare tier list changes with every season, but a handful of combatants keep landing near the top no matter how the meta shifts. In a deck-building RPG where each character brings their own cards into a run, a strong pick does more than hit hard: it shapes how the whole deck plays. At gamemarket.gg, we rank every combatant for the current season, explain which placements are still debated and show which free characters are worth building first. We update this page whenever new combatants or balance changes arrive.
How This Tier List Works
Each combatant is placed by looking at:
- Overall performance across Story, Simulations and Chaos Manifestation runs in the current season
- Role in the deck: how much a character improves the cards around them, not only their own damage
- Consistency: whether the character has held their place across recent updates, rather than one strong week
The tiers mean:
- SS Tier: build these first, they define the strongest teams
- S Tier: excellent in almost any team
- A Tier: strong with the right team or element
- B Tier: situational picks with a clear niche
- C Tier: replace them when you can
Rankings are based on characters without duplicate copies. Some combatants scale strongly with their E-level, so a character you already own at a high E-level can perform above their tier. The Great Rift boss mode also plays differently, so a few placements can shift there.
SS Tier: Build These First
- Heidemarie: a main damage dealer built around linked attacks, and the most consistent top pick in the game. Our Heidemarie build guide explains how the linked mechanic works
- Selena: a damage dealer who sits at the very top in most rankings, although a few still place her much lower
- Nia: one of the best supports in the game, with the same split as Selena
- Sereniel: high damage that fits most teams, though bosses with tenacity immunity reduce her value. Our Sereniel build guide covers her setup
- Veronica: summons Ballistas for extra damage, and sits close to the line between SS and S
S Tier: Excellent in Almost Any Team
- Haru: a reliable damage dealer that fits a wide range of decks
- Narja: a support that reduces card costs, which lets the whole team play more cards each turn
- Diana: damage built around a discard loop. Our Diana build guide explains how the loop works
- Hugo: a strong damage dealer, and one of the picks closest to SS Tier
- Tiphera: generates AP, letting the team play more cards per turn
- Hilde: a Ranger with fast, card-heavy rotations
- Tenebria: a damage dealer that stays strong throughout the current season
- Rossweisse: a seasonal Justice damage dealer with very high burst damage. She is hard to pilot and works best against one or two enemies, but she gets even stronger with duplicate copies
- Cassius: sits right on the line between SS and S Tier
- Adelheid: a Vanguard support with one of the widest splits in the game, rated anywhere from top tier to A Tier, so we keep her in the middle. Our Adelheid build guide shows the setup that keeps her near the top
- Rei: a free support who holds up next to banner characters, and close to the line between S and A Tier
A Tier: Strong With the Right Team
- Renoa: the most consistent A Tier pick, rated the same almost everywhere
- Anika, Arabella and Rin: solid picks that some players rate one tier higher
- Mei Lin: single-target damage that applies Passion weakness, strong in Passion teams
- Fei: a Ranger with fast rotations, rated much higher by some players
- Olga and Beryl: strong in specific teams, and among the most debated placements in the game
B Tier: Situational
- Kayron (area damage), Orlea (support), Luke, Mika, Chizuru and Rita: good in the right deck, but outclassed by the tiers above in most teams
- Nine: one of the most divided combatants, ranging from top tier to B Tier
- Khalipe and Yuki: useful niche options
- Amir and Magna: tanks that keep a team alive but add little damage
C Tier: Replace When You Can
Owen, Maribell, Tressa and Lucas are the weakest combatants right now. They are fine early on, but most players replace them as soon as better options arrive.
Where the Rankings Are Still Debated
A few combatants still divide the community, and these are worth testing before you invest heavily:
- Selena and Nia are top tier for most players, but some still rank them two tiers lower
- Adelheid swings between top tier and A Tier
- Nine, Mika and Rita each have players who rate them at the very top and others who place them near the bottom
- Olga and Beryl range from top tier to B Tier
- Rossweisse is still new, and her placement could rise further as more Justice combatants arrive this season
Part of this comes down to duplicate copies. Characters that scale strongly with their E-level look much better on accounts that have already pulled them more than once.
Free Characters Worth Using
Not every strong combatant has to come from the banner. Owen, Mika and Rei are free characters, Amir is a pre-registration reward and Tressa is a guaranteed pull. Of these, Rei is the clear standout and one of the best free supports in the game. Mika is a decent option in the right deck. Owen, Amir and Tressa fall to the bottom tiers, so most players replace them once better options arrive.
For everything else, the gacha uses Crystals at 160 per pull, with a 4-star guaranteed every 10 pulls and a 5-star every 70.
Using a Tier List in a Deck-Building Game
A tier list ranks characters on their own, but a run in Chaos Zero Nightmare is won by the deck as a whole. Characters bring different cards, and some, like Narja and Tiphera, make every other card in the deck stronger by reducing costs or adding AP. A team of three top-tier damage dealers can still struggle if nobody fixes the hand or protects the team.
Teams also lean on shared elements such as Passion and Justice, so a slightly lower-ranked character who fits your element can outperform a higher-ranked one who does not. Our Great Rift guide covers the boss mode where some rankings shift.
Building Around the Top Tier
The safest plan is to build one SS or S Tier damage dealer, pair them with a support from the same tiers, and fill the last slot with whoever fits the team's element. Heidemarie, Selena and Nia are the names to watch, while Rei gives free players a top-tier support without spending.
If you would rather start with a strong roster already built, you can browse Chaos Zero Nightmare Accounts, hand dailies and farming to a verified player through Chaos Zero Nightmare Hourly Services, or clear harder content faster with Chaos Zero Nightmare Boosting.
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