CZN (Chaos Zero Nightmare) is a very unique gacha game, with roguelite/deckbuilding elements, and an insane amount of strategy needed not just for your team setup, but for every card you play. Which characters you decide to use and pull for will make a huge impact on your progression speed, and that's even more true if you are a F2P player. In our Chaos Zero Nightmare tier list below, we ranked all characters in CZN based on their overall strength and difficulty. So, let's dive into the rankings and explain why we ranked each character the way we did.
Update 12/4/2025: Added Chizuru to the tier list. Rebalanced the tier list.
In the tier list, you can see our ranking of all characters in Chaos Zero Nightmare as well as what each tier means. Generally, all characters are strong in their own way, and there are only a few that you can consider truly broken. What matters most is how you use them and how much misplaying will cost you. Consider the S/A-tier characters as those that are fairly easy to use and that perform really well in most cases. However, B-tier characters can also be extremely good, but aren't as easy or as reliable as the higher-tier ones.
S Tier Characters
| Character | Details & Ranking Summary |
|---|---|
 Khalipe 5★ Instinct Vanguard | + An excellent, versatile Vanguard type unit who shines both with providing shield and dealing area of effect damage. + Khalipe's cards are simple to combine and provide good and easy effect combos − Activating her strongest AoE attack and Unique skill and by extent stacking her special ability Silver Veil is somewhat costly, though the Unique Skill card can also serve as a panic button while retaining all the cards in hand |
 Kayron 5★ Void Psionic | + His Starting cards allow Kayron to stack numerous Futility cards and amplify his own damage, healing and other effects as the battle goes on + Once he achieves big stacks of exhausted Futility, the more expensive Unique cards are very easily justified by mountains of spammy damage − Can feel underwhelming in shorter battles |
 Mei Lin 5★ Passion Striker | + Cheap and simple Starting cards are further enhanced with a Passion weakness-inflicting upgrade for all attack cards, allowing Mei Lin to have the upper hand against any enemy roster + Excellent turn extender/ AP booster Unique card that can turn the tide at key moments − Ego card is expensive and needs to be played early in a wave to be utilized to its fullest potential |
 Hugo 5★ Order Hunter | + A cheap card kit that makes it easy for him to stack his special ability Commence the Hunt on the target, that functions like Extra Attack ammo magazine, stacks up to 5 but also loses a stack when Extra Attack triggers + Works best with other main or SubDPS units that allow for faster stacking and proc'ing of Commence the Hunt, some Unique card epiphanies further capitalize off this with coordinated teammate attacks − Hugo shines less in AoE settings due since some Extra Attack can only land on random enemies, while the only true AoE of his comes from the expensive Ego card |
 Nia 4★ Instinct Controller | + Amazing support unit that bestows a stackable Extra Attack potential on her entire team, while also being able to heal for the rest to realize even more damage with those Extra attacks, epitome of "best defense is a good offense" + Nia provides useful card control for her team, allowing for some good extra proc setups with team cards |
 Mika 4★ Justice Controller | + An excellent supporter with very strong and consistent healing + Given to the players for free in the beginner team setup + Mika also generates AP through her zero cost Starting card which can be further boosted through Epiphany, making her the best pick for other AP-heavy units − No damage output to speak of ties her to supporter-only role |
 Chizuru 5★ Void Psionic | + Chizuru's kit is a very cheap card set that plays well with another DPS on the team who can help her gather Will-O'-Wisp stacks and spawn her Shadow of the Moon cards faster. One Shadow of the Moon is generated on every 5 W-O'-W stacks. + The snowballing effect of gathering Will-O-'Wisp is ensured through the Initiation effect of her two important cards, the W-O'-W starter attack and the upgrade card that makes her even more AP friendly. W-O'-W is stacked faster with every teammate attacking the target who got the Curse of Shackles through her Initiation attack card. This debuff doesn't go away until reapplied to another target, meaning she is perfect for helping the team pick off targets one by one, and ideally bosses. + Her main means of attack, the Shadow of the Moon cards are all Retain type, which means she just gets stronger as the battle drags on. Any additional copy of Shadow of the Moon will fuse into the initial card, finally resulting in Shadow of the Moon + at three copies, her strongest attack card that also restores Chizuru's health, making her pretty sustainable on her own as well. − Her only real downside is the Inhibit debuff which she gains from the Upgrade card, meaning that any teammate's AP restoration is often useless for her. |
A Tier Characters
| Character | Details & Ranking Summary |
|---|---|
 Maribell 4★ Passion Vanguard | + A well-rounded, inexpensive deck of cards that provides a consistent shield influx, with some Counterattack bonus and Weaken debuff for enemies and Pulverize shield-destroying effect to boot + Maribell's Ego card also focuses on shielding and complements her deck well − Smaller damage output that tends to fall off in later game stages |
 Selena 4★ Passion Ranger | + Selena's kit focuses on applying Marks that reduces targets' tenacity, so her main source of damage comes from triggering these Marks for Extra Attacks + Useful for teams which have other Passion units, as she can apply Passion weakness − In order to consistently deal damage, she needs to keep applying Marks which can prove difficult sometimes, so this makes her best suited for targets with high HP pools |
 Beryl 4★ Justice Ranger | + Beryl is a decent 4★ damage dealer whose playstyle is a bit on the slower side, so she will want heals or shields to cover for her while she primes her kit through multiple turns and Retain traits of her important cards + Has a Unique skill that allows her to create her best cards in Exhaust variant − Slow playstyle isn't adequate for all battles, and her only AoE ability is her Ego card |
 Haru 5★ Justice Striker | + A damager geared towards destroying shields off enemies through the Pulverize attribute of her Anchor Shot, which also gets great enhancements on Epiphanies − Her strong Ego card comes expensive at 6 AP, and she only has one 2 AP Unique card which focuses on AoE |
 Rin 5★ Void Striker | + Very high Attack stat which translates into super high instances of single-target damage + Boss-killer tier Ego card, that is in turn very expensive at 6 AP − Rin's Dark Mist Stance expires quickly and is removed if any other combatant's attack card is used, so she is more suitable to be paired with two support units |
 Tressa 4★ Void Psionic | + A unit whose main niche is stacking big amounts of Agony - DoT effects which proc before the targets act, while she additionally gets damage buffs through the Shadow Daggers that inflict Agony + Given out for free early in the main story + Easy combos and cheap cards with consistent payoff that also give Tressa amazing boosts through Epiphany cards − Not as suitable for scenarios with multiple enemies, as the stacking of Agony can water down |
 Yuki 5★ Order Striker | + Yuki is an great main DPS unit mostly focused on AoE damage, who also has access to single target skills through her 2AP basic attack card and the Retain 1AP Inspiration activator. + There is one way of getting the damage winded up: the rotation consists of activating the Inspiration effect from the 1AP Attack Epiphany card. The Inspiration effect greatly amplifies all of her attack cards, and if this one card is not present to enable it, you must try to obtain it through the 0AP Skill card. + Yuki's Ego card is a strong AoE hit which helps her keep the card buildup going. The Epiphanies on all cards offer a plethora of complementary boosts. − In order to bring out the best in her, at least one card shuffling support is a must. Though the inspiration activator card has Retain attribute, without a card draw support to find the exact Attack cards you need, hiccups will occur with the kit. |
 Cassius 4★ Instinct Controller | + The unique Quests ability gives Cassius a huge amplifying potential that revolves around drawing even more cards while also buffing the team and debuffing enemies − Requires very careful team planning to be able to play around his Quests − The amount of RNG needed to unlock his full potential can be daunting and will only be of use once you're well accustomed to his kit |
 Magna 5★ Justice Vanguard | + Magna is an excellent Vanguard who can help her team dish additional damage by mounting counterattacks through some Starting and Unique cards + Also functions as a debuffer by applying Vulnerable to all enemies, increasing the damage they take by 50% per instance of damage, two times per skill card − Her Ego card is pretty expensive at 6 AP |
 Renoa 5★ Void Hunter | + Renoa has a low-cost deck of cards which is all built around her mechanic of summoning Dirge Bullets and expending them with correct abilities and at the right time for maximum damage + An excellent Ego card that is well worth its cost of 4 AP − While the kit as a whole is easy to use, unlucky draws and timing can stall the momentum of the whole team |
 Veronica 5★ Passion Ranger | + A Ranger type unit who concentrates on dealing damage to enemies indirectly through her various Ballista summonables + Best used as a SubDPS unit, where she can also help her teammates bring their own cards into play through her Unique skill card + The damage she can in single target scenarios is significant, but it costs quite a bit to get her to that point − The ballista is targeting random enemies, which means Veronica is better suited to situations where she can concentrate her damage |
 Rei 4★ Void Controller | + Given to the players for free in the beginner team setup + Rei is a buffer support unit who mostly focuses on buffing basic attack cards and cards with cost of 1 AP, which mostly complements her own kit given that all of her attacks cost exactly 1 AP + Overall she can both buff and damage which is not that common, further enhanced with epiphanies, and basically guaranteed to be performing better through any additional manifest ego you get − As a result, while she is a well rounded unit, the list of units that make a good team for her is so much shorter due to specific buffing conditions |
B Tier Characters
| Character | Details & Ranking Summary |
|---|---|
 Luke 5★ Order Hunter | + A very low cost deck of cards allows Luke to keep generating Handgun Bullets, which is ammo that allows him to proc powerful effects from his Unique or Ego cards − The easiest way to create Handgun Bullets depends on him landing critical hits, which makes him unreliable in difficult fights, even with the Critical Chance buffs his cards received on launch |
 Orlea 5★ Instinct Controller | + Orlea summons various creatures that can evolve and provide various effects to the team's health bar, which allows her to heal and shield the team, especially when multiple creations are in power, and she is also able to proc and make use of the entire team's Retain effects across various cards − The nature of summons' cards means that it will usually take time for the best effects to come into play, and if the cards don't fall right, it means you'll be stuck with a lot of summons in your hand |
 Owen 4★ Passion Striker | + Given to the players for free in the beginner team setup + Owen is a striker type unit, but plenty of his cards actually focus on providing shields, while he is also able to apply Vulnerable debuffs to a target through one of his Unique cards + While he is better suited to single targets, he also has access to decent AoE damage − Due to these hybrid abilities, he doesn't really excel at either damaging or shielding |
 Lucas 4★ Passion Hunter | + Lucas primarily deals damage by generating and expending Launcher bullets, unique for dealing splash damage (full output to a primary target and less damage to surrounding enemies), while the bullets also provide many different debuffing effects + Has many ways to boost his own damage output while breaking targets, and the nature of damage makes him suitable both for AoE and single targets − The bullets are pretty expensive, so unlike many other bullet wielding units, he can't spam them as easily |
 Amir 4★ Order Vanguard | + Given to the players for free as soon as they reach main lobby, and definitely serviceable + Amir provides shields and debuffs targets' defenses, but is more focused on dealing damage through her Metallization effect which will proc when the team gains shields through abilities, which can sometimes feel clunky − She is overall somewhat difficult to play around, since she doesn't have reliable ways of proc'ing her own main ability, making her even less adequate for late game |
Best Teams in Chaos Zero Nightmare
The team compositions in Chaos Zero Nightmare are rich and many, but there's a few ways to going about assembling your best team. Because of the way this game's mechanics work, many teams will rely on AP restoration units or card draw units as the core link that keeps it all together. Therefore, in this guide we're going to pick out the best few such link units of the Controller class, and work around them. All three worth mentioning here are in fact 4★ units and you should choose who to rely on based on either your ego manifestations of them, or simply on who has access to best partner and is built best at the time.
It's important to highlight that this is not a foolproof recipe, and depending on your gacha luck, you may have access to different team comps, such as Mono Passion that revolves around proccing the weaknesses etc, but these are reliant on you having a wider unit roster. Additionally, we've withheld putting the 5★ Controller Orlea here, seeing as she's both of higher rarity and more difficult to set up properly in a wider selection of teams, and Rei, who is is somewhat lacking as that kind of core link in comparison to the other three we're highlighting. She is better suited as an additional controller for certain comps if you need her. Take a look at our suggested team comps below.
Chaos Zero Nightmare Nia Teams
Nia is a great pick for all the card draw reliant teams. She additionally boosts her team with Decibel extra attack mechanic, and also provides some minor healing in times of need. Any main DPS type of unit gains from her being in the team, whether she is the only booster of this type and the third unit is a dedicated sustain, or there's an additional DPS in the team.
Kayron | Nia | Tressa Mika |
Hugo | Nia | Tressa Mika |
 Yuki | Nia | Veronica Beryl Cassius |
Mei Lin | Nia | Selena Veronica |
Haru | Nia | Cassius Khalipe |
Rin | Nia | Orlea Cassius |
Chaos Zero Nightmare Mika Teams
Mika is an indispensable support, especially early on, where her healing and bonus AP come into play often. For some units, she remains the best in slot even later on. If you're focusing on hypercarry formations which push all the damage-dealing onto a single unit, combining Mika with Nia as the support can help facilitate Nia's damage-dealing, thus making her work as the subDPS.
Kayron | Mika | Tressa |
Hugo | Mika | Tressa Nia |
Yuki | Mika | Veronica Beryl Cassius |
Haru | Mika | Cassius Khalipe |
Khalipe | Mika | Beryl Magna |
Chaos Zero Nightmare Cassius Teams
Last but not the least, Cassius' team compositions are no weaker than the previous two, but are significantly more difficult to set up with precision simply due to variety of his quest cards. However, once the cards fall right or you simply burn through enough of them, these are some of the best teams in Chaos Zero Nightmare.
Yuki | Cassius | Veronica Beryl Nia |
Mei Lin | Cassius | Selena Veronica |
Haru | Cassius | Nia Khalipe |
Rin | Cassius | Orlea Nia |
How To Reroll in Chaos Zero Nightmare
Though this game is less reliant on super powerful units and more on good team compositions and planning, you might want to try your luck again for a particular unit you really like. Just follow these few simple steps to reroll your account in Chaos Zero Nightmare:
- From the main screen of the game, tap on the three-line menu icon in the upper right corner
- Click on the Settings (cogwheel) icon
- Head to the Account settings, the bottom most icon on the left
- Press the Server Reset button - there's no need to delete the account!
- In the given field, type out your nickname as prompted
- Your server data is now wiped and you can restart the tutorial to try anew!
It's worth noting that the tutorial is pretty lengthy, so consider your rerolls wisely!
Chaos Zero Nightmare Tier List FAQ
A: The best characters in the game right now are Khalipe, Kayron, Mei Lin, Hugo and Nia. They are all generally good and can fit into almost any team. However, some characters can be as good as them, as long as they combo well with the rest of your squad.
A: By far the best character to reroll for in Chaos Zero Nightmare is Khalipe, as she is just insanely reliable and self-sufficient, and can fit into any team.
A: Rarer characters aren't necessarily better, but they often have unique mechanics that give them a higher potential. Ultimately, all characters are viable; it just depends on how you play them.
A: No, B-tier characters aren't bad, but they do require a better understanding of their kit or a specific team composition to perform really well. The better you are at the game, the more value you'll get out of them.
A: No, as the tutorial is pretty long and some of the best units are available on the standard banner. The game also features a special beginner banner that guarantees a 5★ from the standard banner within first 50 discounted pulls, which should set your account up with a good starting point.
A: Depending on what you have access to, some of the best teams in CZN for you are:
Kayron, Mika, Tressa, or Hugo, Tressa, Nia, or Yuki, Cassius, Veronica, or Haru, Cassius, Khalipe, or Mei Lin, Nia, Selena, or Khalipe, Mika, Beryl. Pick your best team according to the stage at hand!
And that does it for our Chaos Zero Nightmare characters tier list. Optimizing your deck should be that much easier now that you know which characters are the best and why. For more Chaos Zero Nightmare content check Chaos Zero Nightmare Release Date & Global Launch FAQ, and be sure to bookmark Pro Game Guides!
An avid enjoyer of everything Cyberpunk and a very slightly addicted gacha enthusiast. A sucker for good RPGs, quality turn-based games, non-linear adventures and everything that offers both good time AND long time. If the story is good, they'll always come running. Certified established gamer since year 2000.
