If you’re playing One Piece: New Expedition, choosing the right characters is one of the fastest ways to progress through the game’s story, PvP, and challenging boss battles. Since team strength heavily depends on the heroes you recruit, understanding which units offer the best value can save both resources and time.
This tier list ranks the strongest characters currently available based on their overall performance, versatility, damage output, and usefulness across multiple game modes. Because One Piece: New Expedition is an unofficial mobile game inspired by the One Piece series, future updates may introduce balance changes or new characters that affect these rankings.
One Piece: New Expedition Tier List
Here’s our current character ranking from best to worst.
S Tier
These are the strongest characters in the game. If you obtain any of them, they’re worth investing in immediately.
- Gear 5 Luffy
- Shanks
- Gol D. Roger
- Whitebeard
- Kaido
- Dracule Mihawk
S Tier characters excel in nearly every activity. They offer outstanding damage, survivability, or team utility, making them reliable choices from early progression to endgame content.
A Tier
These characters remain excellent choices and can comfortably carry your account if you don’t own multiple S Tier heroes.
- Big Mom
- Blackbeard
- Kozuki Oden
- Monkey D. Garp
- Rayleigh
- Silvers Rayleigh (Prime)
- Yamato
- Trafalgar Law
A Tier units usually perform just below the strongest characters while remaining valuable for campaign stages, boss encounters, and competitive battles.
B Tier
B Tier characters are dependable options during the early and mid-game but may eventually be replaced by stronger alternatives.
- Roronoa Zoro
- Sanji
- Boa Hancock
- Donquixote Doflamingo
- Charlotte Katakuri
- Eustass Kid
- Killer
- Marco
While these heroes can still contribute effectively, they generally require better equipment or stronger teammates to reach their full potential.
C Tier
These characters are best used as temporary replacements until stronger heroes become available.
- Nico Robin
- Jinbe
- Franky
- Brook
- Nami
- Usopp
- Smoker
- Crocodile
Although they can complete early content, they usually struggle against tougher stages due to lower overall stats or less impactful abilities.
D Tier
D Tier characters are the weakest overall and should only be used if you have no better alternatives.
- Koby
- Helmeppo
- Buggy
- Captain Kuro
- Arlong
- Don Krieg
These units typically lack the damage, survivability, or utility needed for later stages and are often replaced quickly as you continue summoning.
How We Ranked Each Character
Several factors were considered when creating this tier list.
These include:
- Overall damage output
- Survivability
- Crowd control abilities
- Team support and buffs
- Performance in PvE content
- PvP effectiveness
- Flexibility across different team compositions
- Long-term value for upgrades
Rather than focusing on a single game mode, the rankings prioritize characters that remain consistently strong throughout the entire game.
Best Characters to Reroll For
If you’re starting a new account, rerolling can provide a significant advantage. Landing a powerful character early reduces the amount of grinding needed and helps clear difficult stages much faster.
Some of the best reroll targets include:
- Gear 5 Luffy
- Shanks
- Gol D. Roger
- Whitebeard
- Kaido
- Mihawk
Even obtaining one of these characters can greatly improve your early-game experience.
Team Building Tips
A strong team isn’t built around rarity alone. Balancing your lineup with damage dealers, durable frontline units, and support characters often produces better results than simply using your highest-rarity heroes.
When creating your team, consider the following:
- Prioritize upgrading one main damage dealer first.
- Include a durable frontline character to absorb damage.
- Use support heroes that provide healing, shields, or buffs when available.
- Save premium resources for limited banners featuring top-tier characters.
- Replace weaker units gradually instead of spreading upgrade materials across your entire roster.
Building around synergy is often more effective than relying on raw power alone.
Can the Tier List Change?
Yes. Since One Piece: New Expedition continues receiving updates, new characters and balance adjustments can significantly shift the meta. Future patches may introduce stronger heroes or improve older units, causing rankings to rise or fall over time. Limited-time characters could also become some of the best options once they’re released. Because of this, it’s a good idea to revisit the tier list whenever a major update or new banner becomes available.
The best characters in One Piece: New Expedition can make a major difference in both progression and competitive play. While Gear 5 Luffy, Shanks, Gol D. Roger, Whitebeard, and Kaido currently stand out as the strongest overall choices, many A Tier characters remain excellent investments for players who haven’t pulled the top units.
As you continue playing, focus on building a balanced team, upgrading your strongest heroes first, and saving valuable resources for future banners. Doing so will help you stay competitive as the game’s roster continues to expand.