Last checked: June 10, 2026

Anime Guardians Tier List (2026) — Best Units Ranked

By Earnaldo Team · Updated for Update 28.5 · 10 min read

Anime Guardians is one of the most popular tower defense games on Roblox, and with the Trinity of Destruction update dropping in May 2026, the meta has shifted hard. Poison and bleed builds now dominate raids, and several new units have completely reshuffled the tier rankings. If you're trying to figure out where to spend your pulls or who to invest resources into, this is the list you need. For more on the game, check out our Anime Guardians hub page.

We've tested every unit across Infinite Tower, Boss Rush, and PvP Arena to build these rankings. Everything below reflects the current state of Update 28.5 as of May 2026. If you're looking for free gems while you're here, grab the latest Anime Guardians codes before they expire.

Meta Tier — Best Units in Anime Guardians

These are the units that define the current meta. If you own any of them, they should be the first ones you max out. Every unit here performs at the top of the damage charts in at least two game modes, and most of them warp team building around their kits.

The full Meta tier roster includes: Sukuna Heian, Hu Tao Ghostly March, Death The Scary Wolfman, Boros Final Form, Makima Control Devil, Shinra Banshoman, Broly Super Saiyan, and Jin Mori Sun Wukong.

Sukuna Heian

Sukuna Heian is the best unit in Anime Guardians right now, and it's not particularly close. His Domain Expansion ability deals massive AoE damage across the entire map while still outputting top-tier single-target DPS on bosses. He fits into every team composition as either a midline nuker or a backline artillery piece.

What makes Sukuna truly broken is his versatility. Most units excel in one mode and fall off in others. Sukuna tops the charts in Infinite Tower, Boss Rush, and PvP Arena simultaneously. If you're sitting on gems and wondering who to pull for, the answer is Sukuna whenever his banner reruns.

Hu Tao Ghostly March

Hu Tao Ghostly March is the queen of the poison meta. On her own, she's already a top-tier DPS unit. Pair her with the Toxic Greatsword artifact, and she becomes a damage-over-time machine that melts raid bosses in seconds. The poison stacking interaction gives her a 200%+ damage ramp that just keeps climbing.

She works best in the midline, positioned where she can hit both waves and bosses. Her synergy with Death The Scary Wolfman creates what players call the "Toxic Duo" — the highest-sustained-damage combo in the game right now.

Boros Final Form

Boros Final Form is the undisputed best single-target boss killer in the game. While other Meta units spread their damage across multiple enemies, Boros focuses everything into one target. In Boss Rush, he consistently outdamages every other unit by 30-40% on individual boss phases.

His attack speed and scaling make him ideal for the backline artillery role. He doesn't need much support to perform — just place him, upgrade, and watch boss HP bars evaporate. The main downside is his limited AoE, so you'll still want wave-clear units alongside him.

Death The Scary Wolfman

Death The Scary Wolfman rounds out the poison/DoT core alongside Hu Tao. His kit applies stacking bleed and poison effects that synergize with every other DoT source on your team. In raid content where status effects are king, Death is essentially mandatory.

He pairs especially well with the Toxic Greatsword artifact, which amplifies his already strong poison application. Running Death + Hu Tao + Toxic Greatsword is currently the highest damage ceiling combination in Update 28.5.

SSS Tier — Excellent Units

SSS tier units are extremely strong and can carry teams through all content. They're only a step below Meta because they lack the raw versatility or damage ceiling of the top eight. That said, a well-built SSS unit with the right artifacts can absolutely outperform a poorly built Meta unit.

This tier includes: Metal Bat, Aki Gun Devil, Power Blood Devil, Kafka HSR, Ellen Joe ZZZ, Goku Ultra Instinct, Vegeta Ultra Ego, TIO Over Heaven, Gojo Final, Itachi Uchiha, Griffith Sacrifice, Alucard Vampire King, and Igris Shadow Monarch.

Metal Bat deserves a special callout here because he's the strongest F2P-accessible DPS in the game. If you're not spending on banners, Metal Bat should be your main carry. His damage scales well into late game, and he doesn't require limited artifacts to perform. Pair him with Rukia as a secondary DPS, Matsuri Love Pillar for support buffs, and Sai as a filler, and you have a team that can clear most content without spending a dime.

Kafka HSR and Ellen Joe ZZZ are crossover units that brought fresh mechanics to the game. Kafka's DoT amplification makes her a perfect support for poison teams, while Ellen Joe's burst windows give her some of the highest peak DPS in timed content. Both are worth pulling if their banners rerun.

Gojo Final and Itachi Uchiha remain reliable picks that have aged well through multiple updates. Neither has the raw ceiling of the Meta units, but their consistent performance and relatively low investment requirements make them safe bets for any roster.

SS Tier — Strong Units

SS tier is where you'll find units that are strong enough for all content but won't set any damage records. They're solid investments, especially if you're still building out your roster and need reliable units to fill team slots.

The SS tier roster: Guts Berserk, Reze Bomb Devil, Lofy Gear 5, Gohan Ultra Beast, Susuna Curse King, and Gintoki Sekata.

Guts Berserk is the standout here. His frontline tanking combined with respectable melee DPS makes him one of the best units for the tank role in team compositions. If your team keeps getting overrun in higher Infinite Tower floors, Guts in the frontline can solve that problem.

Lofy Gear 5 and Gohan Ultra Beast are both strong ranged DPS options for the midline. They won't outperform SSS tier carries, but they're more than capable of clearing content while you save pulls for better banners.

S Tier — Good Units

S tier units are solid performers that start to show their limits in endgame content like Infinite Tower floor 80+ and the hardest Boss Rush stages. They're perfectly fine for progressing through mid-game and can still contribute on late-game teams in support or niche roles.

This tier includes: Sung Shadow Monarch, Ichongo True Bankai, Ichongo Vasto Lorde, Gogo Infinity, and Anos.

Sung Shadow Monarch has a unique summoning mechanic that gives him effective AoE coverage, but his summons don't scale well with late-game enemy HP pools. He's great through mid-game but falls off when you need raw damage numbers. Anos still hits hard in single-target scenarios, but competition from Meta and SSS units has pushed him down from where he sat two updates ago.

Tier List Summary Table

Here's the complete ranking at a glance. Use this as a quick reference when deciding who to pull, upgrade, or bench.

Best Artifacts

Artifacts can make or break a unit's performance. The right artifact on a SSS unit can push it past poorly equipped Meta units. Here are the ones that matter most in Update 28.5.

Toxic Greatsword is the single most impactful artifact in the game. The poison synergy with Hu Tao Ghostly March and Death The Scary Wolfman is what pushes those units into Meta tier. Without it, they're still SSS — with it, they become the highest sustained damage dealers in the game.

Dark Greatsword is an interesting alternative for players who focus on Infinite Tower. Since its damage bonus has no cap, it technically offers infinite scaling. In runs that go past floor 100, Dark Greatsword users eventually outdamage everything else. The catch is that it needs time to ramp, so it's weaker in Boss Rush and PvP where fights are shorter.

How We Ranked These Units

Our rankings are based on testing across all three major game modes: Infinite Tower (sustained DPS and survivability), Boss Rush (burst damage and single-target output), and PvP Arena (speed and disruption). Each unit was tested at max level with optimal artifacts and team compositions.

We weigh Infinite Tower performance most heavily because it's the most played endgame mode and the best indicator of overall unit strength. Boss Rush and PvP performance act as tiebreakers for units that are close in raw power.

Team composition matters. The standard team structure in Anime Guardians breaks down into three lines: Frontline (Tank + Melee DPS), Midline (Ranged DPS + Support), and Backline (Nuke/Artillery). Units are ranked partly on how well they fill their intended role within this framework.

We also factor in accessibility. A unit that requires the Ultima trait (0.01% drop rate) and a specific SSS artifact to perform at its peak gets dinged compared to a unit that performs well out of the box. That said, ceiling matters too — this is a tier list, not a value list.

The rarity system in Anime Guardians runs from Guardian (highest) down through Heavenly, Limited, Secret, Exclusive, Mythic, Legendary, Epic, to Rare (lowest). Higher rarity generally correlates with higher tier placement, but not always. Metal Bat, for example, outperforms several units of higher rarity due to his strong base kit.

Banners rotate regularly with three active at any time: a new character banner, a rerun banner, and the standard pool. The pity system guarantees the featured unit at 200 pulls on limited banners. We recommend saving pity for Meta tier units unless you're specifically building a niche team comp. For banner tracking and pull advice, see our Anime Guardians banner guide.

Frequently Asked Questions