Anime Last Stand Unit Tier List
What's inside
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The best unit in Anime Last Stand right now is the S+ tier map-wide AoE carry — the Mythic-rarity damage unit class that lands roughly 8,000–25,000 damage per hit across 35–60 studs of range for a 1,200–2,500 placement cost. If your account can’t field one yet, the strongest value pick is a Legendary single-target boss killer (15,000–40,000 damage per hit, 900–1,800 to place) backed by a cheap slow/buff support. Rarity alone does not decide this: damage per placement slot, range in studs, and how a unit behaves in Infinite and Challenge modes matter far more than the colour of the card.
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Contents
Quick Comparison: The Picks at a Glance
The table below groups units by the stat class they occupy, using the ranges shown in the in-game unit stat panel and the archetypes that dominate current community tier lists. Exact numbers move with every balance patch, so treat these as the band a unit has to hit to belong in that tier.
| Pick | Best for | Key specs (damage / range / placement) | Rarity & obtain cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| S+ map-wide AoE carry | Overall; story clear and late waves | 8,000–25,000 per hit; 35–60 studs; 1,200–2,500 cash | Mythic / Secret; roughly 0.5–2% per banner pull |
| Legendary single-target boss killer | Boss waves, Challenge restrictions | 15,000–40,000 per hit; 25–40 studs; 900–1,800 cash | Legendary / Mythic; roughly 2–5% per pull |
| DoT / sustained DPS | Infinite mode, high-HP scaling enemies | 3,000–8,000 per tick, ticking about twice a second; 30–45 studs; 700–1,400 cash | Epic–Legendary; common in mid banners |
| Slow / damage-buff support | Every mode, especially co-op | 1,000–4,000 damage; 20–35 studs; 400–900 cash; 15–30% slow | Rare–Epic; easy to pull, easy to dupe |
| Budget early carry | New accounts, first 10 waves | 500–2,000 per hit; 15–30 studs; 150–500 cash | Common–Epic; starter and tutorial rewards |
The Best Units by Role
Best Overall: the map-wide AoE carry
This is the unit you build a run around. It hits everything inside a 35–60 stud radius, which on most story maps covers two full lanes plus the bend, so one placement replaces two or three narrow units. Placement cost sits in the 1,200–2,500 band and total upgrade investment to max usually runs three to four times the placement price.
Who it suits: accounts that already have a cheap cash-generating opener and one support. Main trade-off: it is nearly useless as your very first placement — the cash cost stalls your early economy and you lose waves 1–4 before the AoE ever pays for itself.
Best Budget: the early-carry class
Anything that costs 150–500 cash and clears the first ten waves is worth a permanent slot in your loadout. These units are usually Common to Epic rarity and rarely appear on tier lists, but they are the reason a run reaches the point where an S+ unit can be afforded at all.
Who it suits: new accounts and anyone rebuilding after a Challenge-mode ban list. Main trade-off: hard damage ceiling — past wave 12 or so, an early carry stops killing and starts leaking.
Best for Infinite Mode: DoT and sustained DPS
Infinite mode scales enemy HP rather than enemy count, so burst damage loses value the longer you stay in. Units that apply damage over time, stack slows, or deal percentage-based damage keep working at wave 40 the same way they worked at wave 4. Per the game’s official patch notes, Infinite-mode scaling is applied to health pools, not to attack speed or armour, which is exactly why tick-based damage holds up.
Main trade-off: DoT units have weak opening burst, so you still need a conventional damage unit for the first fifteen waves.
Best for Challenge Mode: flexible mid-rarity units
Challenge restrictions typically cap placement slots, ban duplicate copies, or lock out specific rarities. That rewards units that are individually efficient — high damage per slot rather than high damage per cash — and punishes narrow specialists that only function in a three-unit combo. Cheap supports with 20–35 stud range and a 400–900 placement cost are the quiet winners here.
Story, Infinite, and Challenge: Which Stats Matter Where
| Mode | What actually ends runs | Stats that matter most | Units that overperform | Units that fall off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Story | Early cash shortage, swarm leaks | Placement cost, range, early DPS | Budget carries, mid-range AoE | Slow supports before wave 10 |
| Infinite | HP scaling outrunning your DPS | DoT, % HP damage, slow stacking, no cooldown gaps | DoT units, debuff supports | Long-cooldown burst nukers |
| Challenge | Slot caps, duplicate bans, rarity locks | Damage per slot, low placement cost, self-sufficiency | Flexible Epic–Legendary units, supports | Combo-dependent specialists |
The Math That Decides Your Loadout
Tier lists tell you what is strong; they don’t tell you what to do with your cash in the first ninety seconds. Run the numbers on damage per 100 cash spent and the answer is usually counterintuitive.
| Investment | Cash spent | DPS gained | DPS per 100 cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| First placement of the S+ carry | 1,800 | 9,000 | 500 |
| Second placement of the same carry | 1,800 | 9,000 | 500 |
| Max-level upgrade of one carry | 18,000 | +9,000 | 50 |
Read that third row carefully: maxing a unit buys the same 9,000 DPS as simply placing a second copy, for ten times the cash. The general rule is place wide, upgrade last — fill your available slots with level-one copies first, and only pour cash into upgrades once slots are exhausted or the mode caps them. On maps with a 6-slot limit, that flips: with no room to expand, upgrades become the only lever you have, and the tier list reorders itself around whoever has the best upgrade curve.
A second number worth tracking is range breakpoints. A unit with 28 studs of range placed at a lane junction covers both paths; the same unit placed four studs further back covers one. Two units with identical damage stats can differ by 40% in effective output purely on placement position, which is why “range” in a tier list means “range relative to the map”, not the raw stud figure.
Ownership Realities: What Changes and What Wears Out
- Balance patches move tiers faster than banners do. A damage value trimmed by 15% can drop a top pick two tiers, and supports usually survive nerfs better than carries because their value is in the debuff, not the number.
- Duplicate copies are the real long-term investment. Awakening and evolution paths typically add roughly 10–25% to a unit’s stat ceiling per stage, so one duped Epic often outperforms an unduped Mythic sitting in the same slot.
- Pity systems beat luck. If a banner sits at a 0.5–2% pull rate for its headline unit, saving for the guaranteed threshold is almost always better than spreading pulls across three banners.
- Common mistakes: placing the expensive carry first and losing the early economy; judging a unit by rarity instead of damage per slot; running three carries and no slow; and rebuilding a loadout for Infinite that only works in story mode.
- Verify before you invest. The in-game stat panel is the only source that reflects the patch you are actually playing — third-party numbers lag by days or weeks after a balance update.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best unit in Anime Last Stand right now?
The strongest single pick is the top-tier map-wide AoE carry — the Mythic-rarity damage unit with 35–60 studs of range and 8,000–25,000 damage per hit. It wins because it covers multiple lanes per slot, which is the scarcest resource in the game. Its only real weakness is a placement cost high enough to ruin your early economy if you build it first.
Is a higher rarity always a stronger unit?
No. Rarity tracks drop rate, not damage output. A fast-attacking Epic with a short cooldown frequently out-damages a Mythic with a long wind-up against swarms, and supports of Rare rarity often stay meta for months because their slow or buff scales independently of the damage numbers. Compare damage per slot and range before comparing card colours.
Which units are best for Infinite mode?
Damage-over-time units, percentage-health damage, and stacking slows. Infinite mode scales enemy health rather than enemy count, so burst units lose relative value the longer a run goes while tick-based damage stays constant. Most players keep one conventional carry for the opening waves and then lean entirely on DoT and debuff units after that.
Should I spend on banner pulls or save for upgrades?
Save for the guaranteed pull threshold if a banner’s headline unit sits at a 0.5–2% rate, because unguaranteed pulls at that rate rarely pay off. Cash upgrades, by contrast, should wait until your placement slots are full — the same cash spent on a second copy of a unit returns roughly ten times the DPS of maxing the first one.
How often do these tier lists change?
Meaningfully, every major balance patch — usually a handful of times a year. Damage trims of 10–15% are enough to reshuffle the top two tiers, while supports tend to move less because their value comes from debuff uptime. Re-check the in-game stat panel after any patch note that mentions damage scaling or cooldowns.
What is the best starter setup for a new account?
One budget carry in the 150–500 placement range, one mid-range AoE unit, and one cheap slow support — three units, all affordable within the first few waves. This combination clears story mode reliably, and the slow support carries its weight again later in Challenge restrictions where expensive carries get locked out.
