AFK Journey features 46 characters that you can use to explore the story, climb the ranks of the Dream Realm, or dominate players in PvP. At first glance, it seems like the game’s ratings for A-Level and S-Level are clearly the best, but that’s not the case. It’s just how hard it is to unlock them.

Mastering AFK Journey is a matter of finding optimal strategies, good offensive and defensive synergies, and building the best teams. Some characters have unique abilities that grant them increased survivability, scalable damage, and consistent healing, making them a threat in most game modes. Based on my experience with AFK Journey, here is my tier list that you can use to prioritize your characters’ roles and resource investments to dominate the game’s biggest challenges.

Here's what each tier means in our AFK Journey tier list below. Journey Commanders (S-Tier) is the best tier, while Journey Recruits (D-Tier) is the worst.

S-tier heroes define the playstyle of their teams, though they work in any composition. Thoran, with his resurrection passive, can function as a solo tank in many teams, while Smokey & Meerky can support any team and allow for a turtle strategy, allowing a strong DPS to carry the team’s damage while tanky characters hold the frontline. Reinier can teleport a vulnerable enemy backliner into the middle of your team while simultaneously positioning a strong tank in the enemy backline to disrupt their damage dealers, completely changing the dynamics of team formations.