This page ranks Anime Vanguards units against the official wiki tier list, which is hosted by the Anime Vanguards Wiki Team and was last edited on August 17, 2026. The short version: the top of the meta turned over almost completely at Update 14.5, and five of the eight units in the current Top 8 group did not exist a month ago.
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Table of Contents
The Current Top 8
The wiki's Overall ranking has a "Top 8" container that holds exactly eight units, ordered best to worst. Every entry below carries its rarity from the official Unit List and its public release date from the unit's own history section. Note how recent they are: five of the eight landed on August 10, 2026 with the 25th Hour update.
| # | Unit | Rarity | Released | Optimal trait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apathetic Savior (Door) | Secret | Aug 10, 2026 | Monarch |
| 2 | Rebel Fighter (Gauntlet) — limited | Secret | Aug 10, 2026 | Monarch |
| 3 | History's Strongest | Vanguard | Jun 21, 2026 | Monarch |
| 4 | Goblin Killer (Trapper) | Exclusive | Aug 24, 2025 | Deadeye |
| 5 | Phantom Thief (Jester) | Secret | Aug 10, 2026 | Monarch |
| 6 | Investigation Leader (Truth) | Mythic | Aug 10, 2026 | Monarch |
| 7 | Star Crusader (Platinum) | Exclusive | Aug 10, 2026 | Monarch |
| 8 | Elastic Captain (Cog 5th) | Vanguard | May 31, 2026 | Monarch |
Three practical notes. Rebel Fighter (Gauntlet) is flagged limited on the tier list, so it is on a clock — if you want it, that is the one to prioritise. Investigation Leader (Truth) is only Mythic rarity, which makes it far and away the most reachable unit in the group; Mythic pity guarantees one every 400 summons, or 20,000 Gems at the standard 50-Gem Special Banner rate. And Goblin Killer (Trapper) is older than the rest of this group — it was released to the public on August 24, 2025, and the date worth knowing is June 22, 2026, when it was made obtainable again through the Exclusive Shop for 1 Exclusive Token. That is a purchase, not a summon, so it is the one entry here you can plan for rather than pray for.
The optimal loadouts the tier list publishes alongside each unit are worth copying directly. Apathetic Savior (Door) wants the Foo familiar, the Chosen Savior demon familiar and the "It's Going Down Now" Memoria. History's Strongest and Star Crusader (Platinum) both want Birb plus, respectively, "Battle of the Strongest" and "Want Some". Phantom Thief (Jester) pairs with the Tempting Devil demon familiar and "Life Will Change". Elastic Captain (Cog 5th) also wants Birb, with "He Laughed" as its Memoria.
Best Units by Role
The Overall list is not the whole picture, because the wiki also ranks four role categories separately. Here are the leaders in each, best to worst, as of the August 17, 2026 edit.
DPS
Units built for damage per second: Rebel Fighter (Gauntlet), History's Strongest, Phantom Thief (Jester), Investigation Leader (Truth), then Brisket (Yo-Yo), Graceful Pilot (Mecha), Yehowach (Almighty), Reckless Gambler (Cursed) and Lfelt (Love).
Utility and boss killing
Situational specialists and boss killers: Apathetic Savior (Door), Goblin Killer (Trapper), Lich King (Ruler), Smith John, then Savior (Moonless) at fifth, Divine General (Adaptation), Dawntay (Jackpot) and Tuji (Sorcerer Killer).
Support
Large team buffers: Apathetic Savior (Door), Graceful Pilot (Mecha), Friran (Teacher), Isdead (Romantic), Star Crusader (Platinum), History's Strongest, then Alocard (Vampire King) at seventh.
Crowd control
Slows, stuns and repulses: Apathetic Savior (Door), Star Crusader (Platinum), Elastic Captain (Cog 5th), Today's Strongest, Today's Strongest vs History's Strongest, God (Standless), Chaso (Blood Curse), Yehowach (Almighty), then Alocard (Vampire King) at ninth.
Apathetic Savior (Door) tops three of the four role lists as well as the Overall group. If you are saving for exactly one unit, that is the answer. For the complete ranking across every rarity, see our Anime Vanguards tier list.
Which Trait Each Unit Wants
A version of this page previously told you the Monarch trait was the best trait for DPS and support units across the board. Half of that is right and half is actively harmful, so here is the counted version.
On the wiki's DPS list, all 16 ranked units take Monarch — so for pure damage dealers, "always Monarch" holds. It does not hold anywhere else. On the Support list only 8 of 16 units want Monarch; the rest want Marksman, Blitz, Deadeye or Fortune. On the Utility list it is also 8 of 16, with four units preferring Deadeye. Even in the Overall Top 8, Goblin Killer (Trapper) wants Deadeye rather than Monarch.
The mechanism is Monarch's card, which reads +300% Damage, −10% SPA, +5% RNG, and a 1 Placement Limit. Monarch does not add damage to your board — it concentrates all of it into one copy. The wiki publishes the net result by the unit's normal placement limit:
| Normal placement limit | Net damage change with Monarch |
|---|---|
| 1 | +344.4% |
| 2 | +122.2% |
| 3 | +48.1% |
| 4 | +11.1% |
| 5 | −11.1% |
| 6 | −25.9% |
Support units are usually the ones you place several of, which is exactly where that table turns negative. Ethereal (+20% Damage, −20% SPA, +5% RNG) carries no placement penalty at all, and the wiki states plainly that for all 3+ placement units Ethereal will out-DPS Monarch — with the caveat that cost, passives and ability cooldowns often still favour Monarch, since an ability on a global cooldown does not fire faster just because three copies are on the field.
Monarch is also the rarest thing in the pool at 0.1% per reroll with a 1,500 hard pity, against Ethereal's 0.175% and 858. Our how to get Monarch guide covers the odds and the reroll banks; the beginner guide covers where Trait Rerolls come from.
The Best Familiar
Birb is the best all-round familiar, and the tier list makes that measurable rather than a matter of opinion. Across every unit entry on the page, Birb is named the optimal familiar 46 times — more than any other. Yuruzuu is second at 39 and The Doctor a distant third at 17. Birb is a Secret-rarity familiar that deals random Water, Spark or Blast damage, and it slots into four of the eight Top 8 units — Rebel Fighter (Gauntlet), History's Strongest, Star Crusader (Platinum) and Elastic Captain (Cog 5th).
What Happened to the Old Meta
If you are working from a list written before the summer, several of its picks have moved:
- Savior (Moonless) is still strong but is no longer the best unit in the game. It released March 22, 2026 with Update 11.5, and now sits fifth on the Utility list rather than at the top of the Overall group.
- Alocard (Vampire King) genuinely was upgraded from Secret to Vanguard rarity in Update 11.0 on February 27, 2026, alongside a Vanguard Memoria and the Vampire's Seal familiar. It is now seventh on the Support list and ninth on Crowd Control, not the second-best unit overall.
- Divalo (Requiem) is Vanguard rarity, not "God" — and it has been unobtainable since February 2, 2025, so it is not something a new account can chase.
- There is no "God" rarity in Anime Vanguards. The ladder is Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythic, Exclusive, Secret and Vanguard. "God", "God (Above Heaven)" and "God (Standless)" are unit names, all at Secret rarity — a distinction older tier lists routinely garble.
- The roster is far bigger than the "over 100 units" figure that circulates. The official Unit List currently catalogues 434 entries across those seven rarities, counting evolved forms.
Earn Free Robux for Anime Vanguards
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More Anime Vanguards Guides
- Anime Vanguards hub — every guide we publish for the game.
- Tier list — the full ranking, every rarity.
- Codes — free Gems, Trait Rerolls and Memoria Shards.
- Beginner guide — the currencies and the Level 30 gate.
- How to get Monarch — the odds and the reroll banks.
- Update log — 25th Hour (14.5) patch notes.
- Anime Vanguards vs Sailor Piece — the grind compared.
- Free Robux guide — alternatives to spending.
Frequently Asked Questions
Apathetic Savior (Door), a Secret-rarity unit released on August 10, 2026 with Update 14.5. It leads the official wiki's Overall Top 8 group as of the August 17, 2026 edit and also tops the Utility, Support and Crowd Control lists. Savior (Moonless), which older lists rank first, now sits fifth on the Utility list.
No. All 16 units on the wiki's DPS list want Monarch, but only 8 of 16 support units and 8 of 16 utility units do. Monarch carries a 1 Placement Limit, so on a unit you would normally place five or six times it is a net loss of 11.1% or 25.9%. Ethereal has no placement penalty and out-DPSes Monarch on all 3+ placement units.
No. The rarities are Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythic, Exclusive, Secret and Vanguard. "God", "God (Above Heaven)" and "God (Standless)" are the names of individual units, all at Secret rarity. Tier lists that describe units as "God-tier rarity" are confusing a unit name for a rarity band.