Best NTE Characters by Element (1.4): Tier List for All 6 Elements

Quick answer: Neverness to Everness has 6 elements (Cosmos, Chaos, Anima, Psyche, Incantation, Lakshana). When building teams, let adjacent elements trigger “elemental reactions” off each other to massively boost damage. The current version is 1.4, which added Blackbird (Psyche) and Akane Rin (Lakshana); Elyms (Cosmos) arrives with 1.5 on 11/11 and is listed as under observation for now.

Combat in Neverness to Everness revolves around 6 elements and the “elemental reaction” system. This article is updated to 1.4. It organizes the roster by element and labels each character’s strength rating and role, so you can decide who to pull and who to invest in. The element ring runs Cosmos → Anima → Incantation → Chaos → Psyche → Lakshana → Cosmos, and only adjacent elements trigger a reaction.

Cosmos ☀️

The Cosmos T0 characters are Esper Zero, Hotori and Shinku, and only Esper Zero is free. Chiz, the free character you get at City Tycoon 18, is T1. Cosmos is adjacent to Anima and Lakshana.

• Esper Zero — S-tier Sub-DPS / tempo handler, T0. The protagonist you get at the start; chains combos together and amplifies your Main DPS output. You pick a gender at the start of the game, and the element is always Cosmos.
• Chiz — S-tier Main DPS, T1, free (unlocked at City Tycoon 18). Burst built around a grain mechanic; a good free stand-in Main DPS.
• Hotori — S-tier Sub-DPS, T0, specialized in time manipulation.
• Edgar — A-tier Healer, T2. Deploys a labyrinth domain that continuously heals the active character; a character specialized in pure healing.
• Shinku — S-tier Main DPS, T0, arrived in 1.2. Builds up intimidating gaze and enters a crimson surge state; strong on-field burst.
• Elyms — S-tier buff support, arriving in 1.5 (11/11). Listed as under observation for now.

Team advice: Shinku + Akane Rin + Iroi + Linko (or Esper Zero) is the current representative Cosmos team.

Chaos 🌑

Chaos has fewer characters, but Lacrimosa gave it a clear damage-over-time core. Chaos is adjacent to Incantation and Psyche.

• Daffodill — S-tier Sub-DPS / stagger specialist, T1. Each support skill she or a teammate uses adds a resonance stack (up to 2), and a full stack upgrades her skills. Her passive raises her share of stagger damage by 20%.
• Lacrimosa — S-tier Main DPS, T0, arrived in 1.1. A nightmare-stack DoT mechanic with Scorch damage over time and wide-area output.

Team advice: Lacrimosa + Zankou + Blackbird + Sakiri (or Iroi), or Lacrimosa + Daffodill + Sakiri + Fadia.

Anima ⚡

Anima has a complete roster: an on-field Main DPS, quick-swap Sub-DPS and a do-it-all support. Anima is adjacent to Cosmos and Incantation.

• Nanally — S-tier Main DPS, T0, the first limited character at launch. A 5-hit claw combo plus off-hand enemy gathering; the benchmark for on-field output.
• Jiuyuan — S-tier Sub-DPS, T1. Marker barrage with quick-swap play, highly versatile, and a popular pick for the 50-pull standard banner S-tier selector.
• Mint — A-tier Main DPS, T2. Hold the basic attack to become a tornado; approachable and practical, the representative A-tier all-rounder.
• Iroi — S-tier damage-boost / survival support, T0, arrived in the second half of 1.2. Provides healing, shields, buffs and revival.
• Linko — S-tier quick-swap Sub-DPS, T0, arrived on 9/9. Fills in backline damage with synchronized attacks and a resonance field.

Team advice: Nanally + Jiuyuan + Iroi + Esper Zero, with Iroi covering the healing too.

Psyche 💖

Psyche is built on free A-tier characters at the bottom and the T0 Main DPS Blackbird at the top, making it one of the easiest elements for free-to-play players to assemble. Psyche is adjacent to Chaos and Lakshana.

• Haniel — A-tier ATK-buff support, T1, free. She provides no healing herself; her portable speaker “Hootie” grants the whole team an attack bonus based on her own base attack.
• Aurelia — A-tier Main DPS, T2, free. Music-themed, low investment cost, and great mobility; the most reliable free Main DPS for beginners.
• Fadia — S-tier Survival / tank, T1. Redirects damage taken by allies onto herself; the core of attrition-style teams.
• Blackbird — S-tier Main DPS, T0, arrived in the first half of 1.4 (limited, no rerun at the moment). Works as the main or secondary damage dealer, can fill the Cycle gauge instantly like Esper Zero, and gives the whole team an attack bonus.

Team advice: Blackbird + Daffodill + Haniel + Sakiri. The early Aurelia + Esper Zero + Haniel lineup covers every role as a stopgap, but Psyche and Cosmos are not adjacent, so those three will not trigger reactions with each other.

Incantation 🌀

Incantation has an on-field Main DPS, damage-over-time and versatile supports, and Zankou is the current top Main DPS. Incantation is adjacent to Anima and Chaos.

• Baicang — S-tier Main DPS, T1. Spell combos plus area detonations, with standout clear efficiency.
• Sakiri — S-tier support, T0. Her Kiroumaru summon gathers enemies, controls the field, and launches them airborne; one of the top picks for the S-tier selector.
• Adler — A-tier support, T2. Attacks accumulate “Karma” stacks, granting the active character a blessed shield; leans toward survival buffing.
• Zankou — S-tier Main DPS, T0, arrived in the first half of 1.3. Her reality and illusion forms combine direct damage, heart-eroding and poison-fire damage over time.

Team advice: Zankou + Daffodill + Sakiri + Adler, or Zankou + Linko + Sakiri + Iroi. Sakiri is the “fit-any-team support”: whatever element your Main DPS is, she delivers reliable enemy gathering and crowd control. Sakiri and Daffodill are currently joint first picks for the selector.

Lakshana ✨

Lakshana has on-field Main DPS characters such as Chaos and Akane Rin, plus Hathor and Skia. Lakshana is adjacent to Psyche and Cosmos.

• Hathor — S-tier Main DPS, T1. Lakshana burst damage, and her Remora Enhancement extends Remora to 12 seconds, which makes her a regular in Accumulation teams.
• Skia — A-tier Sub-DPS, T2. A shadow-chase mechanic specialized in single-target sustained damage; vice-captain of BAC ETD-4.
• Chaos — S-tier Main DPS, T0, arrived in the second half of 1.1. A self-looping output built on charges, tracking permits and rulings. Despite the name, this character is Lakshana, not the Chaos element.
• Akane Rin — S-tier Main DPS, T0, arrived in the second half of 1.4 (limited). Once a Cosmos teammate triggers Remora, she keeps it going automatically and adds Lakshana damage.

Team advice: Akane Rin + Blackbird + Esper Zero + Linko, or Chaos + Esper Zero + Haniel + Hathor.

Cross-Element Reaction Teams

Arrange your 4 characters so their elements have at least 3 adjacencies and reactions will keep triggering. The six adjacent pairs on the ring and the reaction each one triggers:

• Cosmos ↔ Anima (Blossom)
• Anima ↔ Incantation (Hexed)
• Incantation ↔ Chaos (Scorch)
• Chaos ↔ Psyche (Nova)
• Psyche ↔ Lakshana (Stain)
• Lakshana ↔ Cosmos (Remora)

For detailed team-building principles, see Team Building Basics: Party Structure and Element Pairing; for a full breakdown of reactions, see Elemental Reaction System Explained; for the complete Tier List, see Character Tier List.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ratings and team advice are compiled by the player community; actual strength shifts with version updates, so defer to the in-game experience. For the latest banners and new content, see the 1.4 guide and the 1.5 guide.