Epic Seven Tier List: Which Heroes Are Worth Building Right Now?

Epic Seven has well over a hundred heroes that can show up in a draft, but only a small group decides most Real-Time Arena matches. This Epic Seven tier list ranks the heroes that matter in RTA right now, based on how often they are picked and banned at Champion rank and above, how often they win, and how they perform across the current meta. At gamemarket.gg, we also cover the latest hero balance changes and every earlier balance patch this year, and we update this page after every balance adjustment.

Latest Balance Changes: November 19, 2026

Smilegate's 11/19 (Thu) Balance Adjustment Preview on the official STOVE Developer Notes covers seven heroes, and every change is a buff. The changes go live with the November 19 update:

• Death Dealer Ray: S3 now inflicts 2 Venom stacks plus Sleep, and his Constellation changes from Cancer to Scorpio
• Requiem Roana: S1 now scales more from ATK, with lower base and Soulburn damage. S3 dispels 2 buffs, and once awakened it deals extra damage based on the target's current HP
• Eternal Wanderer Ludwig: penetration per stack rises from 30% to 35%, which means 70% at 2 stacks
• Hellion Lua: S3 now applies Decreased Attack to all enemies for 2 turns, and S2's Combat Readiness boost rises from 10% to 15%
• Summertime Iseria: S3 now also inflicts Decreased Defense
• Guard Captain Krau: S1's Combat Readiness boost rises from 20% to 25% with more additional damage, and S3 deals more base and Soulburn damage
• Victorika: S1 and S3 deal more damage, S2's cooldown drops from 4 to 3 turns and it now grants an ATK-based barrier, and her awakened counter cooldown drops from 3 to 2 turns

Where these heroes stand today: none of the seven currently ranks above B Tier, and most of them barely appear in high-rank RTA. Requiem Roana, for example, is picked or banned in only about 1% of matches. That makes this patch interesting to watch, because the buffs target heroes that almost nobody drafts right now. We will move any of them up once the post-patch data shows a real change.

Smilegate notes that details in a preview can still change before release, so the final patch notes on November 19 are the version that counts.

How This Tier List Works

This tier list covers RTA (World Arena Real-Time Arena), where the meta is clearest. Each hero is placed by looking at:

• Draft presence: how often the hero is picked, pre-banned or post-banned at Champion rank and above
• Win rate: how often the hero wins when picked
• Consistency: whether the hero has held their place in the meta over the past weeks, not just in one good stretch

The tiers mean:

• SS Tier: heroes that shape the draft, often banned before it even starts
• S Tier: strong picks that fit almost any team
• A Tier: good heroes that need the right team or matchup
• B Tier: situational picks with a clear niche

The statistics below come from RTA matches at Champion rank and above over the last seven days, checked on November 11. Win rates near 50% are normal for very popular heroes, because they face each other in so many matches.

SS Tier: The Best Heroes in Epic Seven RTA

• Lisette: the highest win rate in RTA at 59.0% and the most pre-banned hero by a wide margin, so you will usually see her banned before the draft even starts
• Lady of the Scales: a 52.5% win rate and the second most pre-banned hero in RTA
• Rhianna and Luciella: the third most pre-banned hero, and still picked in about 40% of matches when available
• Notos: the fourth most pre-banned hero, with a 53.8% win rate
• Perfumer Byblis: picked in 41.5% of matches while still winning 53.4% of them, a rare mix of popularity and results
• Shepherd of the Dark Diene: a 53.9% win rate, one of the highest of any popular hero, and the most post-banned hero in RTA
• School Nurse Yulha: the second most picked hero at 52.6%. Her 48.4% win rate is below average, so she is valued more for her utility than for winning matches on her own, and she is the closest of this group to dropping into S Tier

S Tier: Strong Picks for Any Draft

• Estelle: the most picked hero in RTA at 60.0%, with a 50.4% win rate
• Arbiter Vildred: picked in 42.7% of matches since his May 7 rework, and close to SS Tier
• Frieren: a 55.4% win rate, the second highest in RTA, even though she is picked far less often than the SS Tier heroes
• Genesis Ras: a steady 51.8% win rate with a pick rate above 20%
• Belian: a 51.7% win rate, and one of the most reliable picks of the past weeks
• Tidal Rift Elvira: a 51.7% win rate, and pre-banned more often than most S Tier heroes
• Aube: a 51.8% win rate, with her pick rate still rising
• Eye of the Abyss Fumyr: a 51.3% win rate and picked in almost a quarter of matches
• Monarch of the Sword Iseria: picked in 22.4% of matches after her S2 counterattack got a large hit chance buff on September 17
• Boss Arunka: picked in 38.8% of matches, but with only a 48.3% win rate
• Harsetti: the fifth most pre-banned hero, with a 49.6% win rate when picked
• New Moon Luna: a strong pick in the current meta, though she shows up less often than the heroes above

A Tier: Good With the Right Team

• Ruele of Light, Setsuka, Briar Witch Iseria and Salome: dependable picks that slot into many teams
• Disciplinary Prefect Aria and Tactical Archetype Coli: consistent A Tier heroes with clear roles
• Rinak: picked in 18.0% of matches, and one of the more debated heroes, ranging from top tier to mid tier depending on the team
• Empyrean Ilynav, Hecate, Lone Crescent Bellona, Moon Bunny Dominiel and Uncharted Pioneer Politis: strong in the right matchup
• Vildred: back in the meta after his March 12 buff
• Mort: a 53.2% win rate, which is strong for a hero picked in under 7% of matches
• Aubade Ludwig: often post-banned, and close to S Tier
• Young Senya: a 52.1% win rate on a low pick rate, which makes her a good counter pick

Zio is the hardest hero to place. He is the sixth most pre-banned hero, but his 43.7% win rate is the lowest among the twenty most picked heroes, so we keep him in A Tier until his results catch up with his reputation.

B Tier: Situational Picks

• Commander Pavel, Successor Taeyou, Dark Corvus, Wanderer Silk, Ivana and Maid Chloe
• Celine, Desert Jewel Basar, Elena, Lone Wolf Peira, Saria, Schniel, Silver Blade Aramintha, Straze, Urban Shadow Choux and Witch of the Mere Tenebria
• Silvertide Christy, Spirit Eye Celine and Little Queen Charlotte: close to A Tier, and the first to move up if the meta shifts

Heroes to Watch

These heroes are not ranked yet, but their numbers say they deserve a mention:

• Haru: picked in 27.3% of RTA matches, more than most S Tier heroes
• Kawerik: picked in 23.6% of matches after his September 17 rework
• Aram: a 52.2% win rate on a low pick rate
• Fallen Cecilia and Sea Phantom Politis: strong in some drafts, but too inconsistent to place for now

Previous Balance Patches in 2026

Smilegate has released a balance patch roughly every two months this year. Here are the earlier 2026 patches, newest first:

• September 17: reworks for Kawerik and Chaos Sect Axe, plus changes to Desert Jewel Basar, Frida, Elena, Urban Shadow Choux, Abyssal Yufine, Monarch of the Sword Iseria, Shadow Rose, Celestial Mercedes, Crimson Armin and Glenn
• July 16: buffs for eight heroes, including Faithless Lidica, Little Queen Charlotte, Dark Corvus, Aki, Blooming Lidica and Schniel, plus two artifacts
• May 7: a rework for Arbiter Vildred, plus changes to Pirate Captain Flan, Tenebria, Lidica, Iseria and Challenger Dominiel
• March 12: fifteen heroes, including Top Model Luluca, Lone Crescent Bellona, Charlotte, Kise, Diene, Vildred, Zeno, Robin, Arowell and Unbound Knight Arowell
• January 8: the first balance patch of the year

These patches can change the meta. Arbiter Vildred (May) and Monarch of the Sword Iseria (September) both reached S Tier after their changes, and Kawerik became one of the most drafted heroes in RTA after his rework. Other buffed heroes, such as Faithless Lidica and Dark Corvus, moved up but are still not common picks.

How Epic Seven Balance Adjustments Work

• A preview comes first. Smilegate posts a Balance Adjustment Preview in the Developer Notes on STOVE about two weeks before the patch. The November preview went up on November 6 and was edited on November 10
• Changes go live with a Thursday update. Every 2026 patch so far has landed with a regular Thursday maintenance
• Most changes are buffs. Recent patches have mainly raised older or less used heroes, and many also adjust artifacts
• Details can still change. The preview is not final, so check the patch notes on the day before you spend resources on a buffed hero

If you plan to build one of the November 19 heroes, it is safer to wait for the first week of post-patch RTA results. Gear is the biggest cost of any new build, and our Epic Seven gear farming guide explains how to farm and enhance it without wasting energy.

How to Use This Tier List

• Plan around bans. Lisette, Lady of the Scales and Rhianna and Luciella are pre-banned so often that you need a draft that still works without them
• Do not chase pick rates alone. Estelle, School Nurse Yulha and Boss Arunka are picked constantly but win close to or below 50%, so their value depends on the team around them
• Build depth before rarity. A well-geared S Tier or A Tier hero that fits your draft usually beats an SS Tier hero with weak gear

If you would rather start with a strong roster already unlocked, you can explore trusted Epic Seven Accounts, keep your dailies and farming on track with reliable Epic Seven Hourly Services, or climb the RTA ladder faster through dependable Epic Seven Boosting.

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