User:LegendarySilke/Sandbox3

Note: Ranks may not match ranks in the main tier list due to it being purely focused on the original 5 adventurers, who are all available as choices for the guaranteed 5 .

Portrait	5 Adventurer	Rank	Rationale
	Mikoto	A	Time has certainly treated Mikoto well; after two years, Mikoto still provides respectable DPS output, and is the highest DPS non-limited Flame blade adventurer in the game; any higher, and you'll be looking at which is a zodiac adventurer, only available when a zodiac showcase is around. Having also pretty much guarantees that he will be usable for every quest without worrying about potential issues with mistakes in High Midgardsormr's Trial. Choosing Mikoto as your starter 5 will provide your Flame team with a solid baseline, with a great co-ability and one of the higher DPSes in the Flame roster.
	Ezelith	A	Although Ezelith can reach a higher DPS output than Mikoto, she is held back by the fact that she is extremely weak without a mana spiral, and before you have materials for unlocking mana spirals, Ezelith will be one of your weakest adventurers. Ezelith also has a perception issue with her dragons; if one is lacking or , she becomes relatively unwanted when playing in co-op. makes her less suitable than Mikoto when it comes to High Midgardsormr's Trial in the hands of less experienced players. The chain co-ability, however, is extremely useful in enabling combo-based abilities on AI and on adventurers with worse attack uptime between avoidance actions. Choosing Ezelith as your starter 5 will hamstring your team at the beginning, but she will shine as one of the best DPSes Flame has to offer once her mana spiral is fully unlocked.
			There isn't a wrong choice to pick between the Flame adventurers on offer; both have very compelling strengths. Choose Mikoto to start out strong, and remain strong. Choose Ezelith if you're willing to live with a weak unit until you're able to obtain mana spiral materials.
	Xainfried	B	Similar to Ezelith, Xainfried starts out comparatively weak; however, once his mana spiral is unlocked, he becomes a potent hybrid DPS-support adventurer. While he doesn't excel in either, he does make a compelling case of being a jack-of-all-trades in the Water element. prevents him from being inflicted with HP-to-1 burn in High Brunhilda's Trial. The main problem Xainfried has is that , who is a story adventurer, exists. She provides extremely high buff uptime, and even after equipping a wyrmprint such as , Elisanne will still effectively out-DPS Xainfried, and it's pretty likely that you will obtain other more capable DPS units at some point, making Xainfried's case weaker as time goes on. Choosing Xainfried as your starter 5 will result in pretty average performance throughout the game.
	Xander	C	Xander doesn't provide much in terms of DPS, though his true potential is still yet unknown due to the lack of a mana spiral. and low DPS pretty much bars him from being a sensible choice in High Brunhilda's Trial. Choosing Xander as your starter 5 will result in a weak Water team, and hinges on betting on future mana spirals and content suitability.
			The Water adventurers on offer are comparatively weak as offerings compared to the rest of the elements. Xainfried starts out weak, though he will become respectable after his mana spiral is unlocked, though Elisanne casts a shadow on him. There isn't much reason to pick Xander at the moment, though there's always the potential for a mana spiral.
	Maribelle	B	Maribelle starts off extremely strong, and can be used to end certain shorter boss fights extremely quickly due to her innate . However, once you summon , which is a 4 support adventurer that can achieve higher effective DPS than Maribelle, Maribelle becomes a bench-warmer outside of very short quests and certain solo compositions, waiting for a mana spiral. If nothing else, at least will make her at least compatible with standard compositions in High Mercury's Trial. Choosing Maribelle as your starter 5 will result in a strong early-game Wind team, though she falls off later on as you approach endgame, pending a mana spiral.
	Hawk	A	Similar to Ezelith, Hawk starts out extremely weak; however, once his mana spiral is unlocked, he becomes the highest DPS Wind has to offer, as well as providing a source of stun. pigeonholes him to playing mostly in Ciella's Wrath for unexperienced players, though, as the lack of bog resistance makes him a risky choice in High Mercury's Trial, even with the existence of the triple-Hawk speedrun comp, due to the very low tolerance for getting damaged in the first place. Choosing Hawk as your starter 5 will hamstring your team at the beginning, but he will shine as one of the best DPSes Wind has to offer once his mana spiral is fully unlocked.
			The Wind adventurers on offer are pretty good, so your choice depends on whether you need an immediate boost in power, or are willing to live with one of the worst units before his spiral. Choose Maribelle to start out strong, but be prepared to replace her at some point, or hope for a mana spiral. Choose Hawk if you're willing to live with a weak unit until you're able to obtain mana spiral materials.
	Hildegarde	A-	Hildegarde provides you two heals, and although 's shield is relatively useless, it does still provide a regen heal, on top of the standard burst heal that also cleanses curse. Curse is one of the most debilitating afflictions in the entire game, as it effectively disables your adventurer from doing anything useful. Carrying both curse cleanse and pretty much makes her the go-to anti-curse adventurer, and in fact, if you don't have , Hildegarde is the only other acceptable option for bringing off-element or off-resist adventurers to content that inflicts curse. She does face strong competition from , who is a story adventurer, once the latter's mana spiral is unlocked; trading shields for defense up and larger levels of healing is a pretty good trade for the investment. Choosing Hildegarde as your starter 5 will provide you one of the strongest healers in the game, and has potential on a mana spiral in the future. Though, be aware that Cleo can do mostly the same things as Hildegarde once Cleo's mana spiral is unlocked.
	Julietta	D	Julietta is overly defensive, and has one of the lowest DPS, to boot. Her pretty much makes her good for facility events and not much else at the moment. Choosing Julietta as your starter 5 will result in a weak Light team, and hinges on betting on future mana spirals and content suitability.
			The Light adventurers on offer are kind of open-and-shut, if you're willing to pick a Light adventurer. Hildegarde is a pretty strong pick considering her universal versatility as a healer, especially as a substitute to Grace for enabling off-element adventurers in content that inflicts curse, though she faces heavy competition from Cleo otherwise. There isn't much reason to pick Julietta, though there's always the potential for a mana spiral.
	Nefaria	A-	Similar to Ezelith and Hawk, Nefaria starts out extremely weak; however, once her mana spiral is unlocked, she becomes the highest DPS Wind has to offer, providing a potent combo of damage output, and also acts as a support role with poison on and on-demand dispel once is available. The latter skill also permits Nefaria to burst down hard on susceptible foes once they're at break state due to sheer intensity of damaging skills. lets her perform well in any Shadow-advantage content, as paralysis is extremely annoying, on top of being damaging; blindness in comparison pretty much amounts to Strength Down with a fancier name. Choosing Nefaria as your starter 5 will hamstring your team at the beginning, but she will provide a potent combo of DPS and poison/dispel support once her mana spiral is fully unlocked.
			Nefaria is pretty good, though there are now higher DPS adventurers in the Shadow element. Nefaria is will start out extremely weak, but will eventually become an excellent DPS adventurer with poison and dispel suppot.