After comparing classes in PVE and PVP, we made a Counter Side tier list for each type of content.
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Updated on October 3rd, 2025 - Version: 8.6 - Added: Mi Rinae - Upcoming: Paradox
Counter Side is a futuristic sci-fi gacha RPG with gameplay that can be categorised as 2D side-scrolling tower defence mixed with elements of Clash Royale. You assemble a deck of 8 units, each assigned a deployment cost, and march into the battlefield. To address the dilemma of picking the right characters, we have decided to create a Counter Side tier list.
The main distinction that Counter: Side is known for is the introduction of a ban system to its PvP mode to keep the balance healthy (This system earned it an award for Best Competitive 2021 on Google Play). For fans of story-centric RPGs, fret not as Counter Side has an enticing plot with dark undertones, with its colourful cast of characters with fleshed-out personalities.
It is no coincidence that Counter: Side’s name sounds too similar to the hit FPS Counter-Strike. Unlike other gacha RPGs whose cast of characters is made up of humans, a highlight in this game is the inclusion of infantry as well as war vehicles (including Titanfall-esque robots) as playable characters. They are not limited to a small number, but a whole faction exists. For fans of mobile gacha games or military enthusiasts, this will be a breath of fresh air when the genre mostly offers waifus or husbandos. There’s more to the characters themselves, as a majority of them have a niche and are bound to be useful in some way (barring a few really bad apples, like PZH Mobile Gun).
This tier list will factor in the benefit-cost ratio of each character, along with a short justification of why we think they deserve the ranking.
We will also group the tier list into PvP and PvE, as we observed some characters are absolutely stellar in PvE and vice versa. We will also only take the dastardly hard endgame content into consideration, including Guild co-op, Delic Dungeons, Shadow Hall, and Raids. This tier list will be maintained on a regular basis with new character releases or balance patches.
Original article by Anderson Han, updated by Mihail Katsoris.
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1
Mech Tier List (PvE)
The Mech faction primarily relies on their high bulk or high firepower to compensate for their lack of ultimate skills or special skills. Currently, mech faction is at its lowest low. Here's how each of them fares in PVE.
S tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Tower
Sigma
Her passive skill : Sigma Protocol is her shining forte - greatly supports the team by negating their type weakness affinity, for instance, your Defender will take reduced damage from a Ranger despite the supereffective type advantage. In the meantime, your Defender units will deal 60% more damage against the unit class that naturally resists it. Among her arsenal, her special skill is also noteworthy as it set her up as a battery, capable of regenerating deployment cost to allow you to deploy units at a much faster rate. Last but not least, her ultimate skill of dropping a powerful defender unit called : Machine God Daddy with amazing knockback capabilities serve as a great meat shield against enemy waves.
Striker
Ifrit
-
Striker
Awakened Horizon
-
Striker
Triana Titan
-
Ranger
Tarrasque
-
Striker
Coldcase Horizon
-
A tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Striker
Woodpecker
Great in Shadow Palace and Challenge modes, generally versatile as it is moderately bulky for a 2 cost unit that can be easily redeployed. Hidden potential to be used to counter-rush Sigma or any other Tower units as it acts as a siege unit that goes to enemy base when no enemy ground units are present
Mech faction primarily relies on their high bulk or high firepower to compensate for their lack of ultimate skills or special skills. Currently mech faction is at its lowest low. We have compared every mech in PVP on the list below.
S tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Tower
Sigma
Her passive skill : Sigma Protocol is highly valued for the same reasons stated in the PvE section above. Among her arsenal, her special skill is also noteworthy as it set her up as a battery, capable of regenerating deployment cost to allow you to deploy units at a much faster rate. Last but not least, her ultimate skill of dropping a powerful defender unit called : Machine God Daddy with amazing knockback capabilities (though easily shred by strong ranger units) make her the best support any PvP team will welcome as an addition.
Striker
Ifrit
-
Striker
Awakened Horizon
-
Striker
Triana Titan
-
Defender
Horizon
-
Sniper
Grendel
-
Defender
Evolved One
-
Striker
Coldcase Horizon
-
A tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Striker
Woodpecker
Moderately bulky air unit with a cheap cost. Can be constantly redeployed and is a good check against teams emphasizing on rush. Fun fact, we also discovered its amazing potent in bugging tower units stationed far behind in the enemies' base
Soldier faction primarily operate by the motto of "strength in power", while frail as an individual unit, they swarm enemies with high firepower and capable of cushioning hit counts. Here's how they compare to one another in PVE.
S tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Striker
Eve Meitner
Currently the best in the game. Not really a lot to talk about. a
Ranger
Admin. Rifleman
You'll need him absolutely everywhere. Has one of the highest damage output and can pretty much melt anything at a cheap cost of 2, crucial counter against many bulky defenders such as the upcoming Awakened Hilde
Striker
Admin. Sword Fighter
Very viable across all content. Can land a lot of critical hits while having high evasion, her passive skill Survival Instinct fully heals the other when the first one perished but negated if both are killed simultaneously by an AoE attack.
Defender
Admin. Shieldman
Good in Guild Coop, Shadow Palace and Danger Close. Very bulky and comes in a pair at a low cost of 2. Provides excellent protection as his passive skill Local Phase-locking Device can taunt enemies
Striker
Ciel Marronier
-
Striker
Felix :Red Witch
-
Sniper
Curian
-
Ranger
Justine Macy
Long story short, if you are running rangers, this one is a must have. Outside of a Ranger comp, she's not S tier tho.
A tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Striker
Terminator
Good in Raids, Guild Coop and Danger Close, While he's no Arnold Schwarzenegger, but his Armor-Piercing Buckshot can weaken enemies by debuffing their DEF stats while in return, deal high damage, held back by a deploy cost of 4
Ranger
Nicole
Basic Attack boosts damage by 5% per level (2-5). Holy Rifle Agathe adds a knockback effect within 900 range, increases Attack Speed by 20% for 8 seconds, and slows Defenders by 90%, with an 8-second cooldown that triggers instantly with three enemies.
Ranger
Eddie Fisher
Good in Guild Coop, Shadow Palace and Danger Close. Absolutely crucial in hybrid Counter/Soldier decks as his myriad of buffs, his passives Experienced Veteran can buff the defense of Counters and Pro Mercenary can buff fellow soldiers' attack
Supporter
Ironside
ONLY GOOD IN A PURE MECH TEAM as he provide good healing coverage, otherwise he's easily a N tier unit. Also quite memeable thanks to Juan
Ranger
Mi Rinae
She acts as a Skill Haste Support. Her kit revolves around stacking power as she uses her Special Skill. Better for longer Battles
Ranger
Investigator Kang
-
Striker
Veronica
-
Supporter
Lone Lee
-
Sniper
Warden
-
Supporter
Revenant
-
Sniper
Dorothy
-
Sniper
Karin Wong, Awakened Karin Wong
-
B tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Defender
Overflow, Stronghold
Ranger
John Mason, Assault Trooper, Rivet, Special Forces Sorim, Nicole
Soldier faction primarily operate by the motto of "strength in power", while frail as an individual unit, they swarm enemies with high firepower and capable of cushioning hit counts. Here's how they compare to one another in PVE.
S tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Striker
Eve Meitner
Currently the best in the game. Not really a lot to talk about. a
Ranger
Admin. Rifleman
You'll need him absolutely everywhere. Has one of the highest damage output and can pretty much melt anything at a cheap cost of 2, crucial counter against many bulky defenders such as the upcoming Awakened Hilde
Striker
Admin. Sword Fighter
Very viable across all content. Can land a lot of critical hits while having high evasion, her passive skill Survival Instinct fully heals the other when the first one perished but negated if both are killed simultaneously by an AoE attack.
Defender
Admin. Shieldman
Good in Guild Coop, Shadow Palace and Danger Close. Very bulky and comes in a pair at a low cost of 2. Provides excellent protection as his passive skill Local Phase-locking Device can taunt enemies
Striker
Ciel Marronier
-
Striker
Felix :Red Witch
-
Sniper
Curian
-
Ranger
Justine Macy
Long story short, if you are running rangers, this one is a must have. Outside of a Ranger comp, she's not S tier tho.
A tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Striker
Terminator
Good in Raids, Guild Coop and Danger Close, While he's no Arnold Schwarzenegger, but his Armor-Piercing Buckshot can weaken enemies by debuffing their DEF stats while in return, deal high damage, held back by a deploy cost of 4
Ranger
Nicole
Basic Attack boosts damage by 5% per level (2-5). Holy Rifle Agathe adds a knockback effect within 900 range, increases Attack Speed by 20% for 8 seconds, and slows Defenders by 90%, with an 8-second cooldown that triggers instantly with three enemies.
Ranger
Eddie Fisher
Good in Guild Coop, Shadow Palace and Danger Close. Absolutely crucial in hybrid Counter/Soldier decks as his myriad of buffs, his passives Experienced Veteran can buff the defense of Counters and Pro Mercenary can buff fellow soldiers' attack
Supporter
Ironside
ONLY GOOD IN A PURE MECH TEAM as he provide good healing coverage, otherwise he's easily a N tier unit. Also quite memeable thanks to Juan
Ranger
Mi Rinae
She acts as a Skill Haste Support. Her kit revolves around stacking power as she uses her Special Skill. Better for longer Battles
Ranger
Investigator Kang
-
Striker
Veronica
-
Supporter
Lone Lee
-
Sniper
Warden
-
Supporter
Revenant
-
Sniper
Dorothy
-
Sniper
Karin Wong, Awakened Karin Wong
-
B tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Defender
Overflow, Stronghold
Ranger
John Mason, Assault Trooper, Rivet, Special Forces Sorim, Nicole
Soldier faction primarily operate by the motto of "strength in power", while frail as an individual unit, they swarm enemies with high firepower and capable of cushioning hit counts. Here's how they compare to one another in PVE.
S tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Striker
Eve Meitner
Currently the best in the game. Not really a lot to talk about. a
Ranger
Admin. Rifleman
You'll need him absolutely everywhere. Has one of the highest damage output and can pretty much melt anything at a cheap cost of 2, crucial counter against many bulky defenders such as the upcoming Awakened Hilde
Striker
Admin. Sword Fighter
Very viable across all content. Can land a lot of critical hits while having high evasion, her passive skill Survival Instinct fully heals the other when the first one perished but negated if both are killed simultaneously by an AoE attack.
Defender
Admin. Shieldman
Good in Guild Coop, Shadow Palace and Danger Close. Very bulky and comes in a pair at a low cost of 2. Provides excellent protection as his passive skill Local Phase-locking Device can taunt enemies
Striker
Ciel Marronier
-
Striker
Felix :Red Witch
-
Sniper
Curian
-
Ranger
Justine Macy
Long story short, if you are running rangers, this one is a must have. Outside of a Ranger comp, she's not S tier tho.
A tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Striker
Terminator
Good in Raids, Guild Coop and Danger Close, While he's no Arnold Schwarzenegger, but his Armor-Piercing Buckshot can weaken enemies by debuffing their DEF stats while in return, deal high damage, held back by a deploy cost of 4
Ranger
Nicole
Basic Attack boosts damage by 5% per level (2-5). Holy Rifle Agathe adds a knockback effect within 900 range, increases Attack Speed by 20% for 8 seconds, and slows Defenders by 90%, with an 8-second cooldown that triggers instantly with three enemies.
Ranger
Eddie Fisher
Good in Guild Coop, Shadow Palace and Danger Close. Absolutely crucial in hybrid Counter/Soldier decks as his myriad of buffs, his passives Experienced Veteran can buff the defense of Counters and Pro Mercenary can buff fellow soldiers' attack
Supporter
Ironside
ONLY GOOD IN A PURE MECH TEAM as he provide good healing coverage, otherwise he's easily a N tier unit. Also quite memeable thanks to Juan
Ranger
Investigator Kang
-
Striker
Veronica
-
Supporter
Lone Lee
-
Sniper
Warden
-
Supporter
Revenant
-
Sniper
Dorothy
-
Sniper
Karin Wong, Awakened Karin Wong
-
B tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Defender
Overflow, Stronghold
Ranger
John Mason, Assault Trooper, Rivet, Special Forces Sorim, Nicole
Counter faction (titular) are superhumans who gained a myriad of special and ultimate skills to fight against the threat of humanity - Corrupted objects. The most versatile and dominant group of the trio. This is how they fare in PVP.
S tier
Class
Name
Analysis
Ranger
Gaeun
A universal staple in any team and very dominant in PvP for the same reasons stated in PvE section. Even in KR and SEA players often opt to ban her
Ranger
Kyle Wong
Summon 2 barricades periodically to support allies defensively, his barricades can direct the enemies attack away from your frail backline units
Ranger
Nanahara Chifuyu
Absolutely stellar for the same reasons stated in PvE section. A good opener that can seriously debuff enemies with defense down to make your allies easier to take them down
Supporter
Evelyn Keller
A healer/attacker hybrid provides continuous heal with Heka's Tonic and Hermes Trismegistus, with the latter skill being able to inflict decent damage. A universal staple in any team and the go-to pick for a healer
Supporter
Claudia Nelson
Good burst healer that players can redeploy to take advantage of her heal upon entry gimmick. She's the secondary choice to be used whenever Evelyn is banned
Striker
Eins & Zwei
Twin trouble! First battle pass character introduced. Their ultimate skill renders them invincible while sucking up any unfortunate enemies into their scuffle, rendering them immobile. Being a 2 in 1 unit makes them very sturdy while being capable of dishing out area-wide damage. At an astonishingly cheap cost of 2, they can do so much with a functioning skill set and is a nightmarish opener
Striker
Sword Princess Ais Wallenstein
Defender
Awakened Hilde
At an exorbitant cost of 6, she has the highest bulk and excels at tanking literally everything! Right now she runs amok in ranked PvP. Use Administration riflemen to shut her down, backdoor units can similarly bait her into dashing toward the wrong direction with her special skill
Sniper
Avenger Mordred
Supporter
Yang Harim
Her team support skills are an overkill, with +40% Skill haste, ability to heal, ability to cast barrier while simultaneously crippling enemies with debuffs. A must have and all teams run her as the primary support unit
Supporter
Swan Claire
Swan Claire significantly boosts team damage by applying potent debuffs, achieving up to 90% DEF reduction. This enhancement enables unprecedented burst damage potential
Striker
Awakened Yoo Mina
Unlike in SEA, this version released her in a post-buff state. She deal extremely high damage upon entry (that can wipe out literally everything on the field if timed correctly). On the defensive side, her passive skill : Wolf Fangs grants her perfect evasion, which, makes her able to dodge incoming enemy hits. Comes with nice utilities of being able to inflict skill seal
Ranger
-
Seo Yoon, Awakened Lee Sooyeon, Awakened Seo Yoon, Rosaria le Friede, Lucrecia, Blue Blood Elizabeth, Lee Yuri, Altergressive Seo Yoon
Striker
-
Abyssal Ravage Orca, Near Astraea Esterosa, Awakened Joo Shiyoon, Awakened Yuna Springfield, Spira, Yen Xing Lanchester, Ingrid Johanna, Arhat Joo Shiyoon, Fenrir Yoo Mina
Sprouting Star Solovey Awakened, Joo Shiyoon, Elizabeth Pendragon, Rosaria le Freide, Frederick Doma, Christina Brecht, Yamata no Orochi, Awakened Maria, Ace of Wings Lee Sooyeon
Striker
Ingrid Johana, Lin Xien, Ella, Alex, Replacer Bishop, Naielle Bluesteel, Solar Codex Yuna
Sniper
Xiao Lin, Karin Wong, Lyudmila, Best Streamer Miya, Sylvia Lena Cooper
Defender
Lee Yumi, Kaci Bins, Carlota, Type:Siegfried Hilde, Jake Stormbringer
Extra
Awakened Shin Jia, Sky Layfield, Lumi, Katharina
B tier
Class
Name
Ranger
Nayuka Minato, Ministra, Biblide, Kim Hana
Striker
Hilde, Cindy Looper, Lee Sooyeon, Joo Shiyoung, Clareth, Liona, Dracasia, Esterosa de Chevalier
A globetrotter by calling who regards video games as an artful medium for creative storytelling. All aboard on my jubilant voyage as I set sail through this vast sea of video games. Also loves jamming to synthwave songs and anything related to retro futurism.
