Blue Archive Tier List: Best Students and Fest Picks

A powerful student can change your team, but the right support can change several teams at once. This Blue Archive tier list separates overall rankings, raid usage, and Fest selector priorities so you can spend resources on the role your roster needs. For a new account, Swimsuit Hanako stands out as a starter pick, while established rosters have more reason to prioritize specialized supports.

S Tier: Top Damage Dealers and Supports

These students earn their overall S-tier placement through powerful damage skills, valuable buffs, or control over EX skill rotations.

Student	Tier	Why they rank here
Aris (Armed)	S	Combines a charge-building EX option with a powerful attack against one target and enemies along a line. Her damaging EX receives a substantial boost at full charge.
Hina (Dress)	S	Delivers a three-shot EX sequence with two opening line attacks and a stronger finishing shot. A priority choice when you need an Explosive damage dealer.
Hoshino (Swimsuit)	S	Gives nearby allies 40.5% Attack and a 104% Explosive effectiveness bonus against enemies weak to Explosive damage for 50 seconds.
Kisaki	S	Raises one ally’s EX damage by up to 80.7% for 15 seconds, supporting damage dealers whose output centers on their EX.
Rio	S	Creates a one-use copy of an ally’s EX at one less Cost and grants that ally up to 51.4% more Attack for 20 seconds.
Nagisa (Swimsuit)	S	Allows a selected ally to borrow up to five Cost and grants up to 78.6% more Critical Damage for 26 seconds.

Match the support to your damage dealer

Rio rewards inexpensive EX skills. Copying a two-Cost skill produces a one-Cost duplicate, making her a particularly appealing partner for Swimsuit Hanako. Copying a seven-Cost skill still leaves a six-Cost card to fund.

Pair Rio with a low-Cost attacker when you want repeated EX casts. Her Attack buff and copied card work together to increase the value of those rotations.

Nagisa (Swimsuit) supports a different rhythm. Cost Over lets an ally act before you have accumulated the full amount needed, with the borrowed amount deducted as negative Cost afterward.

Use her borrowing window to bring an expensive attack forward, then account for the Cost debt in your next rotation. Hina (Dress) and Mika (Swimsuit) are notable partners for this support package.

Hoshino (Swimsuit) has a more specific damage focus. Her Explosive effectiveness buff makes her especially valuable alongside Hina (Dress) against enemies weak to that attack type. She also increases Cost recovery while her EX is active.

Prioritize Hoshino’s EX level when building that pairing: reaching EX level five lowers its Cost from six to five.

Official page: Blue Archive (store.steampowered.com)

A–D Tiers: Other Ranked Students

The following overall placements cover additional students identified in these tiers. These are broad rankings across game modes; a focused boss role can still make a student valuable to your account.

Tier	Students	Overall standing
A	Ako, Himari	Strong
B	Mika (Swimsuit), Mari	Solid
C	Toki, Akari (New Year)	Situational
D	Airi, Asuna	Weak

Mika (Swimsuit) illustrates why overall placement and selector priority deserve separate attention. Her overall B-tier position sits alongside a strong recommendation for single-target Sonic damage.

Consider Mika (Swimsuit) when that specific damage role is missing from your roster. Swimsuit Hanako remains the more broadly useful starter recommendation, especially when clearing groups matters more than concentrating damage on one enemy.

Raid Tiers: Usage Across Total Assault and Grand Assault

Raid usage measures how frequently students appear in ranked teams. The Global sample covers 36,613 players on the EU server, averaged across the last eight Total Assault and Grand Assault raids running from July 14 to October 20, 2026.

Student	Raid usage	Raid tier
Kisaki	86%	S
Nagisa (Swimsuit)	72%	S
Seia (Swimsuit)	38%	A
Aru (Dress)	33%	A
Mine	17%	B
Tsubaki	17%	B
Aru	9.8%	C
Koharu	9.7%	C

The usage thresholds are 40% for S, 20% for A, 10% for B, and 3% for C, with lower usage assigned to D.

Kisaki and Nagisa (Swimsuit) have especially high representation in this raid window. Their kits explain their appeal: Kisaki amplifies an ally’s EX damage, while Nagisa combines Critical Damage support with earlier access to expensive skills.

Use these percentages to compare raid adoption within this period. For a particular boss, match the attacker’s damage type and the support’s buff to the team you intend to run.

Fest Selector Priorities: Who Should You Choose?

Selector value depends on what you already own. A powerful attacker fills one damage role; a support with a distinctive mechanic can expand several existing teams.

Start with Swimsuit Hanako on a new account

Swimsuit Hanako is the leading beginner recommendation because her two-Cost EX deals damage across a large area. Her water gauge enables repeated EX use, and her kit also includes a Defense reduction.

That combination gives her value in missions and raids, with some Tactical Challenge applications as well.

Choose her first if you need a versatile damage dealer to carry campaign progress. If you already own her, turn your attention to supports that improve the attackers you use most.

Choose your next support around your roster

The main support priorities are Rio, Nagisa (Swimsuit), Hoshino (Swimsuit), and K.

• Pick Rio for repeated low-Cost EX attacks. Her copied card costs one less, and she pairs particularly well with Swimsuit Hanako.
• Pick Nagisa (Swimsuit) for expensive attacks and Critical Damage support. Her borrowing mechanic helps bring high-Cost skills into an earlier damage window.
• Pick Hoshino (Swimsuit) for an Explosive team. Her Attack buff, Explosive effectiveness boost, and Cost recovery complement Hina (Dress).
• Pick K for Mystic teams. Her two-Cost area support provides Attack and Mystic effectiveness buffs, giving her a clear role alongside Mystic damage dealers.

Fill a specific damage gap after your support needs

Hina (Dress) is a priority for Explosive damage. Mika (Swimsuit) fills the single-target Sonic role.

For Mystic damage, Aris (Armed) receives a higher general selector recommendation than Wakamo or Shiroko Terror. Hoshino’s armed variant has particular value against Perorodzilla and brings a large area attack. Wakamo retains a strong role against Yesod, while Shiroko Terror has Tactical Challenge and single-target applications.

Borrow a specialized damage dealer for a particular raid when that covers your immediate need. That leaves your selector available for a student whose kit improves more of your own teams.

Finish your planned pulls before selecting

An off-banner Fest student can appear during eligible Fest recruitment, changing which selector choice adds the most value.

Complete your planned Fest pulls before spending the ticket. Check the recruitment pool for the banner you are using, claim the ticket within its mailbox window, and use it before its displayed expiration.

Duplicates provide upgrade value, but Eligma also lets you purchase a recruited student’s Eleph. Favor a missing student over a duplicate when expanding a new roster, especially when that student supplies a support mechanic or damage role you do not yet have.