An anniversary patch rarely rewrites the meta. It adds to it. That is the honest headline for Version 3.7 "On Another's Sorrow": Rhiannon walks in as a strong Beast carry, the game hands every Timekeeper a free 6-star and a mountain of pulls, and the teams that were topping Limbo last patch are still topping it now. So this ranking does two jobs. It tells you where the new anniversary units slot, and it tells you which of your existing boards did not need touching.
One thing to keep straight before the tiers: in Reverse: 1999 the team is the unit. A well-shaped four with a mid carry out-clears a mismatched four built around your best 6-star. These rankings are about comps, judged on one thing, how reliably they clear current endgame on reasonable investment, which is why the tier list of individual Arcanists is the companion to this page, not a substitute for it. If you want the systems under the comps, keep the best teams explainer open alongside; here we are ranking them.
How the tiers work
- S: pick-up-and-clear. Handles the hardest current floors regardless of the enemy Afflatus, as long as you respect the wheel. If you own one of these, 3.7 changed nothing about your clears.
- A: strong with a condition. Clears everything, but wants a specific matchup, better Resonance, or a tighter rotation than S.
- B: reliable and cheap. The budget and free-to-play boards that still push through the campaign and the softer endgame floors.
Everything here assumes you respect Afflatus. No S-tier comp survives being pointed into its own disadvantage, so read the wave before you lock a team.
S-tier: the anniversary kings
These are the boards that did not flinch when 3.7 arrived.
Nautika Reality core
Nautika + Semmelweis + Sentinel + healer (Vila or Tooth Fairy).
Still the consensus top Reality damage core in the game. Nautika's ceiling and consistency anchor it, Semmelweis scales the team's output as HP shifts, and Sentinel keeps the rotation clean with buffs and control. Cap it with a sustain and it clears the hardest Limbo and Mane's Bulletin floors without a plan B. If you lack the premium enabler, Nautika carries a rougher support line on personal damage alone, which is exactly what "S-tier" is supposed to mean.
Spathodea Mental mono-burst
Spathodea + Tooth Fairy + Mental amplifier (Anjo Nala or Kakania) + survival.
The benchmark mono-damage team: stack one damage type so every buffer amplifies the same number. Spathodea front-loads burst, Tooth Fairy raises the whole team's cap, Anjo Nala or Kakania layers Mental amplification and protection, and the survival slot holds the burst window open. When the fight leans away from Reality, this is the S-tier answer.
Extra Actions / Dynamo tempo
Windsong or Lucy + Flutterpage + a buffer + healer.
The tempo pillar of the meta: generate more turns and Moxie than the enemy can answer, and decide the fight before they get a full rotation. Flutterpage feeds the turn-and-Moxie economy these carries live on, and the board snowballs, each extra action buying tempo, tempo buying more actions. The most engine-like way to play R1999 and still top-tier once the loop clicks.
A-tier: the anniversary arrivals and the conditional comps
Rhiannon Beast Reality
Rhiannon + Tooth Fairy + Vila or Mercuria + flex.
The new headliner lands here, and that is a compliment, not a knock. Rhiannon is a clean, high-ceiling burst carry who covers the Beast slot the S-tier Reality cores do not, so she is an S-tier answer specifically into Plant-heavy content and an A-tier pick everywhere else. Build the board to feed her Ultimate a round early and keep her buff alive. The full setup, psychubes, Resonance grid, Portray priority, is in the Rhiannon build guide. Slot her where the Afflatus wheel wants a Beast, bench her into Star waves, and she earns her banner.
The other conditional carries
These clear everything but ask for a matchup, tighter Resonance, or a specific enemy lineup:
- Any advantaged mono-Afflatus carry built to answer a single-type boss. Free power when the wave cooperates, dead weight when it does not.
- Second-string Reality or Mental carries paired with the same premium supports (Tooth Fairy, Vila, Semmelweis). The supports are what make these boards work, which is the whole argument for spending your selector and pulls on supports over duplicate carries.
The pattern to notice: A-tier is almost always a carry problem, not a support problem. Your Tooth Fairy carries every board on this page.
B-tier: the free anniversary board
You do not need a limited 6-star to clear current content, and 3.7 makes that truer than ever by handing you a pile of free units.
F2P board: Sonetto + a free or event carry + a debuffer (Bkornblume or A Knight) + Necrologist.
Sonetto is the buffer nearly every account already owns and she never falls off, a debuffer softens enemy defenses, a free carry holds the damage slot, and Necrologist is your low-investment healer. Fold in this patch's giveaways, the free 6-star Coppelia (Mineral), plus Silverwing Eagle and Lady by the Lake, and even a fresh account has a functional endgame board this month. The best free characters guide is the shopping list, and the F2P investment priority guide tells you where your Insight materials go first so the board is ready for the endgame refresh, not two weeks after it.
Where the anniversary units actually go
To turn the tiers into a spending decision:
| Unit | Slot it fills | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Rhiannon | Beast Reality carry | Pull if your roster is thin on the Beast triangle; S-tier into Plant, A-tier elsewhere |
| Coppelia (free 6-star) | Mineral flex / support | Free, claim her, level her, she rounds out Mineral-triangle boards |
| Silverwing Eagle, Lady by the Lake | Free role-players | Free, claim and level for budget boards |
| 6-star selector | Your biggest gap | The patch's best value; take a support you lack over a duplicate carry |
Building your own instead of copying
Once you see the four jobs, carry, enabler, buffer or debuffer, survival, you can freelance any board on this page. Ask three questions of any lineup:
- Does the carry's damage type match the fight's Afflatus weakness, or at least avoid a disadvantage?
- Does someone reliably feed the carry Moxie and a damage buff so the Ultimate lands on schedule?
- Can the team survive one bad enemy turn without folding?
Three yeses and the team works, tier list or not. Before you spend, check the live 3.7 banner schedule so you know whether to save for Ms. Stranger in Phase 2, keep the tier list handy for where each Arcanist sits, and read the endgame guide when you are ready to push the floors these teams are built for.
