OFFICIAL STARTER GUIDE · heroes
Useful heroes by job: read the variant, then the matchup
Source-backed examples for sustain, protection, control and damage. These are candidates to test, with limitations, rather than a universal tier list.
Start with a job description
Choose the problem first, then look for a kit. The examples below are verified against the current native skill assignments. They are role recommendations based on mechanics, not measured rankings across every mode, rarity, investment level and opponent.
Sustain: buy another useful turn
Cancer Female has Mother Nature for team healing and Passionate Love for single-ally recovery and protection. Consider her when damage is wearing your team down. The large recovery has a long cooldown; she cannot rescue every ally every turn. In Tower, reserve recovery around announced pressure. On auto Ladder, watch whether its timing actually helps.
Taurus Female mixes a self-shielding attack, an ally heal that builds stacks, and a team heal that spends them. She is a candidate for sustained fights where that sequence has time to work. A short damage race may not give the full stack cycle value.
FairyKnight brings targeted healing and team Swift. Consider the turn support when it helps the rest of the team act. Do not confuse a speed tool with guaranteed survival against an immediate burst.
Protection and disruption
Cancer Male has Hard Shell Nature for allied shields and Passionate Protector for one teammate's immunity. He fills a different job from Cancer Female. A protected damage dealer still needs to turn that protection into progress.
Phantom Knight has Phantom Ward for an ally barrier that absorbs damage and blocks negative states until depleted, plus Spectral Rebuke for Silence. He is a candidate against dangerous status pressure or enemy skills. A broken barrier no longer supplies its status protection. In Tower, native Silence and the universal Interrupt are distinct tools; inspect the announced action.
Aquarius Female supplies targeted healing and Swift, copies an ally debuff to an enemy, and can copy enemy buffs to an ally. Consider the utility when those states matter. Copying a debuff does not promise it is removed from the ally, and there may be nothing useful to copy in a particular fight.
Damage and setup
Aquarius Male combines single-target buff theft with multihit area damage. Consider him against groups or buffed enemies. Broad damage can be wasted if a healer restores everyone; focus the threatening support when the mode allows it.
Capricorn Male builds enemy stacks and spends them with Executive Command. He is a candidate when a fight supports that setup. It takes turns to establish pressure, so compare immediate damage if your team cannot survive the setup.
Anubis brings single-target pressure, Curse and strength reduction, plus a stun and buff theft tool. Consider disruption against a dangerous attacker. Chance-based effects and boss resistance keep control from being a guaranteed plan.
A useful bench beats one forever-team
Tower rule 2 values owned utility at equal stats. Ladder values auto sequencing and actual investments; Daily Adventures values a legal available team and the resource boss. Keep alternatives for these jobs. Check Heroes for all native and additional skills before committing resources, because this starter overview does not list every option.
Dungeon jobs have narrower evidence
Repeated-hit pressure, Curse/ailments/cleanse, and theft/grounding answer different equipment bosses. The v13 articles name the tested five-hero combinations, including Phoenix Female in Forge and Eclipse. Keep the complete build and its finite budget in view; a role example is not a validated substitute by itself. Non-Chaos baseline evidence does not establish that a hero is strongest in every mode or that its Chaos form uses the same plan.