Basic Tier List

Tier List (Introduction)

Basic Tier List

Survivability Tier

Survivability is the reliability of a ship to clear a mission of the daily mission type(s) it is strong against (usually using the Marshal rank missions as a base) or community mission, no matter how fast or slow it may be. Generally speaking, the higher the survivability tier, the lower the speedrunning tier. Survivability is primarily determined from:

• Controllability of the main weapon
• Capability of the ship, using all of its main weapon , Aura & Zen to pop off turrets
• Individual strengths of Aura and Zen
• Synergy between Main Weapon , Aura & Zen
• Some speed is also considered.
  • If the ship kills too slowly, it is also a bad thing.
  • If the damage is more easily dealt, it will be considered as part of survivability.

This tier also assumes that the ship's usage is optimized, not to its fullest but at least well enough that you know how to follow the playstyle of the ship. I do give some leeway if I feel that certain aspects of the ship's playstyle isn't something that is easy to grasp.

Since daily / specialist missions are different from community missions, each ship will have a separate survivability rating for daily / specialist missions and community missions.

Rating	Survivability (Daily Missions)	Survivability (Community Missions)
X: An exclusive category reserved for ships that can survive practically any Marshal mission, or any community mission. Buying X Tier ships is justified to consistently clear missions. X Baqlor Yigothu Njörun Trinity Baqlor Yigothu Njörun Trinity S: Very high survivability and easily capable of clearing even Marshal rank missions, whether beginner or expert. S+ Phoenix Lyova Nimbus S Hime Nimbus Luna Phoenix Hime S- NC-150 Veil Juggernaut Aurora Torrent Orion AB8/Klyn Qhelqod Claymore NC-150 Veil Juggernaut Torrent AB8/Klyn Lyova Qhelqod Luna Claymore A: Great ships that can be used for practical Marshal mission clearing purposes, but it will require some practice and skill in order to pull it off. A+ Razor VI Prime X Vani-Vith Icarus Razor VI Prime X Vani-Vith Orion Icarus A Tempest Antioch Mirage Stinger Tempest Aurora Antioch Stinger A- Krillou Photurius Arietis Sakura Valkyrie Proteus Boxer Predator Krillou Photurius Arietis Sakura Saber Valkyrie Proteus Predator B: Decent ships for survivability which are suitable for clearing gold rank missions. Clearing Marshal rank missions with these ships under a survival mindset will prove to be a difficult challenge for most players. B+ Cinnri Tillat'Or Saber Shogun NC-271 Lorilou Zimitr Cinnri Tillat'Or Shogun Lorilou Zimitr B Shinova Tar'Cah Jericho Jn'Dur Yoth-Hola Trireme Vuxine Gorthaur Hunter Lokie Barret Marauder Zhetass Jeria Pandora Warden Disaris Jn'Dur Yoth-Hola Kada Veni Trireme Czar Gorthaur Lokie Boxer NC-271 Mirage Zhetass Jeria Pandora Warden Disaris B- Kada Veni Wrackr Czar Geist Xaniea Atlas Essin Ex04239 Zephyr Wraith Widget Starless Centurion Shinova Tar'Cah Wrackr Geist Xaniea Atlas Essin Ex04239 Zephyr Hunter Barret Wraith Marauder Widget Starless Centurion C: Difficult ships to clear with. These ships usually have significant issues that make survivability very difficult, or are significantly focused on offensive means that offer extremely limited defence. Clearing Marshal missions under a survival mindset is possible but very difficult. C+ Mist Star Oran 502-Q8 Exarch X-81 Neni Jericho Mist Star Oran Vuxine 502-Q8 Gladius Exarch Sonah Neni C Heechi Dragonfly Gladius Sonah Polaris Xavis Kibarrax Esperon Naya Heechi Dragonfly X-81 Polaris Xavis Kibarrax Esperon Naya C- Proxymar Fujin Buhloo Uhb Scuuxun Proxymar Fujin Buhloo Uhb Scuuxun D: Very difficult ships for the sake of clearing. These ships usually place extreme emphasis on speed at the sacrifice of defence, or are significantly flawed, making it very difficult to clear missions. D+ Von Braun Mistral Monsoon Von Braun Mistral Monsoon D Havoc Elyon Havoc Elyon D- Corsair Reaper Banshee Corsair Reaper Banshee F: Exceptionally difficult to survive missions with these ships. Clearing with these ships are only for the elite who are looking for the toughest challenge the game has to offer. F Ogon Ogon

Speedrunning Tier

This tier is purely determined by its average leaderboard standings across most skilled players, disregarding those who intentionally take it slow. This tier assumes that the ship you are using is fully optimized, playing as aggressive as possible, since picking up a ship for speedrunning means you intend to be a pro player and want to go fast. Speedrunning ships are usually not great survival ships, but this is not always true.

Since daily / specialist missions are different from community missions, each ship will have a separate survivability rating for daily / specialist missions and community missions.

Rating	Speedrunning (Daily Missions)	Speedrunning (Community and Specialist Missions)
X: The ships that you always see occupying the top spots in Marshal rank, gold ranks or in community missions. Buying such ships has a strong fighting chance to get Best of Best badges. X Proxymar Ex04239 Exarch Wraith Kibarrax Jeria Proxymar Ex04239 Exarch Wraith Kibarrax Jeria S: Very fast ships and which will get the Top 10% in Marshal rank, gold ranks or in community missions, and even the Top 1% . S+ Mistral Mistral S Krillou Photurius Baqlor Saber Icarus Warden Krillou Photurius Baqlor Saber Icarus Nimbus Warden S- Fujin Cinnri Geist Von Braun Nimbus Neni Naya Monsoon Fujin Cinnri Buhloo Von Braun Gladius Shogun Neni Naya Monsoon A: The ship is capable of going sufficiently fast enough to clinch Top 10% , but it is too difficult to go any faster to clinch much higher spots in Marshal rank, gold ranks or in community missions. A+ NC-150 Razor VI Buhloo Vani-Vith Gladius Valkyrie Torrent Corsair Antioch Uhb Shogun Qhelqod Claymore Starless Banshee Centurion NC-150 Geist Vani-Vith Valkyrie Torrent Antioch Uhb Qhelqod Claymore Starless Banshee Centurion A Veil Jn'Dur Tempest Havoc Juggernaut Arietis Atlas Prime X Dragonfly Hime Lokie Proteus Yigothu Scuuxun AB8/Klyn Mirage Reaper Veil Jn'Dur Razor VI Juggernaut Dragonfly Lokie Proteus Yigothu Corsair Scuuxun AB8/Klyn Reaper A- Kada Veni Wrackr Trireme Xaniea Essin Prime X X-81 NC-271 Lorilou Zimitr Tempest Kada Veni Wrackr Trireme Havoc Xaniea Arietis Atlas Essin Prime X Hime Sonah Predator Mirage Lyova Zimitr B: The ship is not designed for speedrunning, however there are ways to get noticeably better times than the average player through optimization and/or some speed. B+ Mist Star Oran Elyon Aurora Gorthaur 502-Q8 Sonah Predator Lyova Luna Stinger Mist Star Oran Aurora X-81 NC-271 Lorilou Stinger Disaris B Barret Boxer Polaris Pandora Disaris Czar Elyon Gorthaur 502-Q8 Boxer Luna Xavis B- Phoenix Czar Ogon Sakura Njörun Trinity Zhetass Xavis Esperon Phoenix Ogon Sakura Barret Njörun Trinity Polaris Zhetass Esperon Pandora C: There is very little optimization that can be done to speedrun with this ship as it is too defensive. C+ Tar'Cah Tillat'Or Zephyr Hunter Tar'Cah Tillat'Or Zephyr Hunter C Shinova Yoth-Hola Widget Shinova Yoth-Hola Widget C- Jericho Jericho D: It is impossible to speedrun with this ship as it is too defensive. D Vuxine Heechi Orion Marauder Vuxine Heechi Orion Marauder

Fun Factor Tier

How fun the ship is to play. Note that this tier is the most subjective as the definition of fun differs for different players. Take this rating with a grain of salt, and watch gameplay videos of the ship in action to see if it really suits you.

The way I quantify fun is through the following, all factors considered:

• Speedrunning ships are generally fun due to the adrenaline rush. Most speedrunning ships are of high fun factor tier.
• Main Weapon : Is it fun to use, or fun to watch/hear?
  • In the usage aspect, perfect aiming or instant tracking main weapons are generally seen as boring.
  • Very thin, straight, forward firing main weapons are also generally less fun because they are very frustrating to use.
  • Some main weapons have very weird nuances to them such as having a mind of their own. They don't target what you want, which makes them frustrating to use.
  • Although you can listen to the sounds of a ship's main weapon by using the preview button, but an Ultimate Level weapon can sometimes be very different from what is shown in the preview (which is at only level 1).
• Ship Main Weapon + Aura + Zen synergy
  • Some combinations of all 3 or 2 of them go very well together and are very satisfying to pull off.
  • If they compete against each other for damage, this makes the ship frustrating to play.
• The Aura or Zen itself. Some abilities are more fun than others.
  • Vorpal Lance or Focus Lance are more fun because of the satisfying feel of piercing potentially tons of Invaders, and the sound of piercing is awesome to hear.
  • Laser Storm is also fun as it's visually appealing and an Ultimate Laser Storm is very satisfying to hear.
  • Clover ATS charging sound is just awesome.
  • Missile Swarm and Mega Laser are considered neutral.
  • This might be biased, but I generally consider Kappa Drive ships less fun, as the time slowdown when upgraded to Ultimate makes gameplay very draggy.
• Blast Damage Main Weapons : Always satisfying to watch other Invaders blow up together with the target you hit.
• Ships with any form of AoE damage , like those with Reflex EMP , Mega Bomb , Vorpal Lance or Goliath Missile get more fun value.
• Ship Core Position: Some ships have more intuitive ship core positions than others, making it much easier to pilot. This is one of the factors with the least weight in consideration, unless it is of extreme noteworthy.
• Uniqueness Factor: These ships play very differently from other ships, and has certain unique characteristics. This factor is a small part of the consideration in the Fun Factor, but because some players want an experience that is entirely unique, a short separate tier list of worthy unique ships are detailed in this section.
• The aesthetics of a ship is not a factor considered here because you can simply stare at it in the ship selection screen without even playing it. Some ships have moving or animated parts but you can simply use the Preview button to admire it all you like.

X: These ships are a must-get. Whether you just want fun, are aiming to clear missions or want to speedrun missions, these ships are guaranteed to feel really fun.

Ships with X rating: Proxymar, Photurius, Ex04239

S: Really fun ships that feel great to handle and are easily recommendable for enjoying the game.

Ships with S+ rating: Buhloo, Exarch

Ships with S rating: NC-150, Cinnri, Geist, Juggernaut, Baqlor, Corsair, Shogun, Nimbus, Claymore, Kibarrax

Ships with S- rating: Veil, Krillou, Fujin, Aurora, Prime X, Vani-Vith, Hime, Saber, Torrent, Wraith, AB8/Klyn, Mirage, Reaper, Mistral, Warden

A: Quite fun to handle, but there are either some nuances with these ships that prevent it from being more fun, or the ship overall just isn’t very spectacular to play.

Ships with A+ rating: Jn'Dur, Trireme, Xaniea, Arietis, Gladius, Sonah, Uhb, Lorilou, Icarus, Qhelqod, Luna, Banshee, Centurion

Ships with A rating: Tempest, Razor VI, Wrackr, Atlas, Essin, Von Braun, Dragonfly, Lokie, Barret, Valkyrie, Yigothu, Antioch, Predator, Lyova, Naya

Ships with A- rating: Kada Veni, Havoc, Proteus, Boxer, X-81, Scuuxun, Neni, Starless, Jeria, Monsoon

B: Not a very interesting ship to play. There are more interesting ships to play, but when starting out in this game, you may still derive some fun out of it, until you discover other ships.

Ships with B+ rating: Oran, Ogon, Gorthaur, Sakura, Hunter, Trinity, Zimitr, Stinger, Esperon

Ships with B rating: Mist Star, Phoenix, Tillat'Or, Njörun, NC-271, Zhetass, Pandora, Disaris

Ships with B- rating: Czar, Elyon, 502-Q8, Xavis

C: Boring to play, or there are weird nuances about the ship that makes it frustrating to play. It's hard to derive a lot of fun out of playing these ships.

Ships with C+ rating: Tar'Cah, Heechi, Zephyr, Polaris

Ships with C rating: Jericho, Yoth-Hola, Orion, Widget

Ships with C- rating: Shinova, Marauder

D: Anti-fun or extremely boring ships to play. This is not to say never to touch these ships. But based on my definition of fun, these ships are extremely unlikely to be enjoyed.

Ships with D rating: Vuxine