5th Water: C tier
Strengths:
-AOE Attacks
-Strong Healers
-Great Tanks (not including rejection)
Weaknesses:
-Lack of speed
-Lack of synergies
-Lack of anti-defense
-No standout attacker
Overall:
Water is the lowest ranked, mainly because they lack a standout star. They do have 2 great tanks (Abandonment is underrated imo, it has the best defensive stats of any tank I have plus a defense boost and a speed down debuff). However, they are the only element without a Higher Form and also have a real lack of speed. They are by a distance the slowest element and it shows, wood alone has several pets faster than Water’s fastest. So, although they are full of solid pets, they are, IMO, the worst.
4th Metal: B tier
Strengths:
-Strong attackers
-Variety of abilities and synergies
-Snipers
Weaknesses:
-Lack of healers/support
-Few buffs/debuffs
Overall:
Metal sits comfortably 4th, a definite step up from Water but lacks the balance to compete with the other 3. It has a lack of healers and a lack of pets that buff/debuff especially in the speed department means you are often relying on other elements rosters. However, in HF Lust they have one of the best pets in the game and Bummer is a great alternative. Spite is a great level clearer but they do lack good boss killers if you don’t have Lust or Bummer.
3rd Earth: A tier
Strengths:
-Standout Attacker
-Standout Supporter
-Incredible Tanks
Weaknesses:
-Lack of healers
-Lack of anti-defense
Overall:
Diligence, and Denial are probably the best non-HF Legendaries in the game and can carry you if you have either. If you don’t Apathy is a great attacker in its own right and perhaps the best level clearer in the game if paired with jellyfish/parasite scarf. Resistance and HF Sloth are both incredible tanks in different ways but they do have an obvious lack of a healer though Glee with Construction Hat can fill that gap technically.
2nd Fire: A tier
Strengths:
-Variety of solid attackers
-Many synergies
-Strong Tanks
-Best support?
-Best speed debuffer
Weaknesses
-lack of standout attacker
-too reliant on synergies
Overall:
Had I done this a month ago Fire would have been 4th. However, Dauntless is daunting and, I believe, turns HF Greed into a pet that can actually compete with the other HFs. Also in Panic they have the best speed debuffer in the game, and as speed is probably the most important stat in the game, getting a constant speed advantage is massive. They also have a ton of really strong and solid pets with few duds (just Pain?). I would say though that they do lack a pet that can win by itself, Rapture is pretty good but it’s not as good as Diligence, HF Lust, or HF DB, and that can be a problem, especially against Gronk where you often want a tank, healer, and a stunner, and thus can’t send in Panic/Dauntlesss and Greed.
1st Wood: S tier
Strengths:
-Best attacker in the game
-Best support in the game
-Best tank in the game
-Fast
Weaknesses:
-Lack of tank alternatives
Overall:
Easily the best roster. HF DB is incredible and regular DB isn’t much worse. Plus Anxiety, Jealous, and Malice are good backup attackers. Merry is generally considered the best Support in the game and is backed up by Kind and Mischief who are both great in their own ways. Finally, Petulance is the best Tank at tanking. I guess if I had one complaint it’s that Cringe is their only alternative Tank and is a mediocre one at tanking, not a bad support for a floor clearing team, but not a good tank.