If you’ve just started My Hero Academia: United Survival, picking characters can get confusing pretty quickly. There are familiar names everywhere—Deku, All Might, Shoto, Bakugo, Shigaraki—and naturally, the first instinct is to throw your favorites onto a team and hope for the best.
You can do that, by the way. For most normal content, I’m always going to favor playing characters you actually enjoy.
But once I started getting into harder stages, the differences between characters became much more noticeable. Some fighters start strong and continue scaling throughout a run. Others need specific upgrades before their kits really come together. Then you have characters who aren’t huge damage dealers but can completely save a run through healing, Invincibility, crowd control, or team buffs.
That’s what I’ve tried to account for in this MHA United Survival tier list. I’m looking at regular skills, Ultimates, Awakening upgrades, MAIN and SUB usefulness, costume bonuses, team utility, and how much investment a character needs before they start doing what they’re supposed to do.
One warning before we start: this is an early meta tier list. The game is still fresh, and I’m still testing characters in different modes and team setups. I fully expect a few placements to move as we understand the endgame better.
For now, though, these are the characters that have impressed me the most.
MHA United Survival Tier List
| Tier | Characters |
|---|---|
| S Tier | Shoto Todoroki, Tomura Shigaraki, Izuku Midoriya, All Might |
| A Tier | Momo Yaoyorozu, Kurogiri, Shota Aizawa, Hawks, All For One, Endeavor, Stain, Himiko Toga |
| B Tier | Ochaco Uraraka, Tenya Iida, Tsuyu Asui, Minoru Mineta, Katsuki Bakugo, Fumikage Tokoyami |
| C Tier | Present Mic, Eijiro Kirishima, Dabi |
| D Tier | Denki Kaminari |
If you’re rerolling or simply wondering which characters are worth investing in first, Shoto, Shigaraki, Deku, and All Might are currently my standout choices.
That doesn’t make everyone below them useless. In fact, some B-Tier characters have abilities I’d happily bring into particular stages. The lower rankings mostly come down to consistency, investment requirements, or being too dependent on the right situation.
Let’s get into why everyone landed where they did.
S Tier – Best Characters in MHA United Survival
These are the characters I’d feel comfortable investing heavily into right now.
They combine strong damage with something else that makes them difficult to replace, whether that’s crowd control, debuffs, survivability, team buffs, or simply exceptional consistency.
Shoto Todoroki – Frozen Past, Fiery Passion
Rarity: SR
Attack Type: AoE
Affiliation: U.A. Class 1-A
Type: Intelligent
Shoto is probably the character who made the strongest first impression on me.
Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall already gives him three things I want in difficult stages: AoE damage, projectile deletion, and Freeze. So even before you’ve pushed his upgrades particularly far, he’s helping you deal damage while simultaneously making incoming waves easier to control.
And then the skill starts getting better.
At Level 3, frozen enemies can receive AoE DEF Down, which is where Shoto stops being merely a great crowd-control character and starts helping the rest of your team deal more damage too.
At maximum rank, the wall gains four-direction follow-up attacks.
His Ultimate, Flashfreeze Heatwave, adds Knockback and becomes cheaper once you reach UR+, giving him yet another way to stop enemies from overwhelming your position.
Freeze resistance is obviously something you have to consider. Against enemies that resist Freeze, part of what makes Shoto special disappears.
But he still has damage, projectile-clearing utility, and useful AoE costume bonuses.
That’s enough for me to keep him firmly in S Tier.
Tomura Shigaraki – Five Fingers of Decay
Rarity: SR
Attack Type: AoE
Affiliation: League of Villains
Type: Catalytic
Shigaraki is nasty once his kit starts coming together.
His Collapse Zone begins as a solid AoE attack but eventually develops into a multi-hit field capable of applying both regular DEF Down and AoE DEF Down.
That’s an important distinction when looking at his overall value.
You’re not simply investing in Shigaraki’s personal damage. He’s making enemies easier for compatible teammates to tear apart as well.
Then there’s Hand of Decay.
It costs only 120 SP, applies a long Laceration effect, and at maximum Ultimate level can provide up to 40% ATK Up.
That’s a fantastic package for a MAIN character.
He works against waves because of his additional attack counts, but the repeated hits also give him something to contribute against tougher individual enemies and in Boss Attack.
There is a catch: some of his strongest effects arrive fairly late, and his highest Awakening consumes a four-star Chemical Smog.
Still, once you’ve made that investment, the payoff is absolutely there.
Izuku Midoriya – Newfound Strength
Rarity: SR
Attack Type: Ranged
Affiliation: U.A. Class 1-A
Type: Determined
Deku is one of the easiest S-Tier characters for me to recommend because he doesn’t need everything to go perfectly before he starts being useful.
Delaware Smash automatically targets the nearest enemy and produces additional attacks after connecting.
That reliability matters.
You aren’t spending half the early game waiting for one particular upgrade before your character starts functioning properly.
Awakening Delaware Smash makes things considerably better by adding piercing, reducing its cooldown, increasing its power, and creating lingering attacks along the projectile’s path.
That gives Deku excellent scaling against crowds and clustered stronger enemies.
His Ultimate costs 170 SP and provides ATK Up, eventually adding CRIT Rate and CRIT Damage at higher investment.
Even his costume helps the squad, with its base effect providing 7% team ATK.
Deku doesn’t bring the same level of crowd control as Shoto, but if what you want is a dependable ranged carry who remains useful from the beginning of a run through the later stages, he’s one of my favorite choices.
All Might – The Symbol of Peace
Rarity: SR
Attack Type: Ranged
Affiliation: Pro Hero
Type: Anatomical
All Might is another character who gives you more than raw numbers.
Texas Smash covers the area around him before sending an attack forward, and its combination of Knockback and enemy-projectile deletion gives you a surprisingly useful amount of defensive control.
Once awakened, it can attack in three directions.
That’s when All Might starts becoming particularly comfortable to use in messy stages. You can control a lot of space without needing to constantly put your MAIN character directly into danger.
His Detroit Smash Ultimate provides a circular clear and can eventually give every ally 20% ATK Up.
His costume adds more team value through ATK and Projectile Damage bonuses.
The downside is his Ultimate’s 190 SP cost, while his personal SP boost requires LR and the MAIN position.
Those are real limitations, but they’re not enough to knock him down.
All Might deals damage, creates space, removes dangerous projectiles, and buffs the team. That’s S-Tier material for me.
A Tier – Excellent Characters Worth Building
This is where things get much closer.
Every character in A Tier can be a major part of a strong team. They’re generally sitting below S Tier because they require more investment, are more dependent on positioning or matchups, or simply aren’t quite as universally useful.
Momo Yaoyorozu – Boundless Creation
Rarity: R
Attack Type: AoE
Affiliation: U.A. Class 1-A
Type: Special
Momo has one of those kits that just keeps adding more stuff as you invest in it.
Yaoyorozu’s Matryoshkas starts with three AoE attacks plus another delayed/on-contact follow-up. At maximum rank, its range improves and it gains four additional attacks.
That’s already good for clearing.
Then you add Knockback and eventually Paralysis.
Her Ultimate is where I started appreciating Momo even more. For 145 SP, she increases every ally’s Max HP by 20%. At higher investment, that reaches 40% for 15 seconds.
And because increasing Max HP also restores that newly added health, it can effectively become emergency sustain when a fight starts going badly.
Her R starting rarity slows down access to the best breakpoints, which is the main thing keeping her outside S Tier.
Kurogiri – The League’s Dark Gate
Rarity: R
Attack Type: AoE
Affiliation: League of Villains
Type: Dedicated
Kurogiri is a perfect example of why I don’t rank characters purely by damage.
His personal damage isn’t what gets him into A Tier.
Warp Gate Evasion is.
For 150 SP, Kurogiri can give the entire team six seconds of Invincibility. Eventually, that reaches 10 seconds and comes with team Movement Speed Up.
Ten seconds.
There are survival situations where that can be far more valuable than adding another damage dealer.
Escort missions, rescue objectives, difficult Challenge Battle floors—anything where staying alive becomes the main problem suddenly makes Kurogiri extremely attractive.
His Villain Transfer isn’t useless offensively either, providing piercing AoE attacks that improve as you invest.
But you’re picking Kurogiri because he can save runs, not because you’re expecting him to top the damage chart.
Shota Aizawa – Evil-Piercing Gaze
Rarity: SR
Attack Type: Melee
Affiliation: Pro Hero
Type: Intelligent
Aizawa has more reach and multi-target potential than I initially expected from a Melee character.
Suppressive Chain can follow its aimed attack with strikes against additional targets, giving him a much more comfortable presence when several enemies are involved.
Movement Speed Down adds control, and additional strikes improve his sustained output later.
His Ultimate, Erasure Bindings, is where things get particularly useful against difficult targets.
It applies Movement Speed Down and ATK Down and eventually adds Melee DEF Down.
That makes Aizawa a great option for boss encounters and tougher Challenge Battle content.
The random nature of some follow-up targeting can occasionally be annoying, while his Ultimate costs 190 SP, but those aren’t dealbreakers.
Hawks – The Man Who’s a Bit Too Fast
Rarity: SR
Attack Type: AoE
Affiliation: Pro Hero
Type: Manipulative
Hawks is great when enemies want to surround you.
Vortex maintains an AoE around him for several seconds, which makes him particularly comfortable in stages where enemies constantly swarm your position or crowd around objectives.
He also has Laceration and good CRIT scaling.
Once awakened, the skill gains follow-up attacks toward the nearest enemy, fixing some of the limitations you’d expect from a close-range AoE field.
His Ultimate, Storm Wings, gives you another source of Laceration and eventually gets a 20% SP cost reduction.
I like Hawks a lot, but his positioning requirements are what stop me from putting him alongside the safest S-Tier ranged/AoE characters.
All For One – The Great Evil
Rarity: SR
Attack Type: Ranged
Affiliation: League of Villains
Type: Special
If you’re dealing with huge enemy waves, All For One can look ridiculous.
What a Delightful Combination can pierce 20 enemies immediately, then 30, and eventually becomes unlimited at LR.
Pack enough enemies into a lane and he can rip through the whole thing.
The skill also removes some enemy projectiles and provides Knockback, so you’re getting defensive value alongside the damage.
His costume adds team ATK and Attack Speed, with MAIN SP regeneration available later.
The problem appears when there’s only one big enemy standing in front of you.
Against a lone boss, all that amazing piercing potential isn’t nearly as valuable. Add a 200-SP Ultimate, the most expensive on the current roster, and A Tier feels more appropriate than S.
Endeavor – The Scorching No. 2 Hero
Rarity: SR
Attack Type: Ranged
Affiliation: Pro Hero
Type: Emissive
Endeavor is one of my preferred choices when Burn matters.
Hot Shot creates another attack whenever it hits and gains additional attack counts through progression, giving him very respectable sustained projectile damage.
It also provides Knockback for wave control.
At four stars, Burn enters the picture, and that’s where his boss potential becomes much more interesting.
Ignited Arrow brings medium-to-large Burn buildup and can eventually increase Burn’s strength from 5% to 7%.
The reason Endeavor isn’t higher is simply how long some of this takes to come online.
His Ultimate costs 200 SP, and Hot Shot doesn’t even get Burn until four stars.
On longer runs, that’s manageable.
On shorter runs, the stage might be over before Endeavor reaches the version of himself you actually wanted.
Stain – Blood-Purging Blade
Rarity: SR
Attack Type: Melee
Affiliation: Villain
Type: Determined
Stain is probably one of the Melee characters I’d be happiest investing in.
Murderous Blade covers a 180-degree arc and immediately follows with another attack. Later upgrades add piercing and eventually attacks in three directions.
That fixes one of the biggest problems Melee characters can face in this type of game: coverage.
His Bloody Purge Ultimate creates a persistent close-range field and boosts his CRIT potential. With enough investment, you’re also getting Paralysis and Melee DEF Down.
There’s definitely a ceiling worth chasing here.
The catch is that his Ultimate debuffs only affect enemies below full HP, while some of his best control effects don’t arrive until UR+/LR+.
He’s strong. He’s just not cheap to fully realize.
Himiko Toga – Blood Suck-Sucker
Rarity: R
Attack Type: Ranged
Affiliation: League of Villains
Type: Special
Toga becomes much more interesting when you use her as a MAIN.
Who’s First? applies Laceration at range, with its application becoming more reliable at four stars.
Once awakened, hitting an enemy that’s already suffering from Laceration can grant MAIN-only SP Regeneration.
That’s the important part.
It lets Toga establish a loop where her normal skill helps fuel her Ultimate.
And Blood-Sucker Shot only costs 145 SP. It attacks enemies around her for 10 seconds, eventually reaching 15 seconds while gaining additional power and CRIT Rate.
As a SUB, I don’t find her nearly as impressive. Add her R rarity and reliance on getting Laceration established, and A Tier feels right.
B Tier – Strong Characters With Specific Strengths
B Tier isn’t the “bad character” tier.
These are characters I can absolutely see using, but they tend to want the right mode, build, position, or team around them.
Ochaco Uraraka – Buoyant Zero Gravity Girl
Ochaco is at her best when the map cooperates with her.
Comet Reflection bounces between enemies and walls. In tight rooms or packed lanes, that can become extremely efficient.
In a giant open space against one boss?
Not quite as exciting.
Her progression is good, though. You get faster attacks, additional projectiles, and substantially more damage at maximum rank.
Comet Home Run adds surrounding damage, Knockback, and projectile deletion, so she isn’t completely dependent on ricochets.
I like her. I just don’t trust the geometry enough to put her higher.
Tenya Iida – Legs Sprinting Toward Herodom
Iida is straightforward in a good way.
Leg Turbine gives him a clean directional Melee attack, and eventually you’ll get additional hitboxes to improve its coverage.
His Ultimate, Reciproburst, is much more interesting.
It deals circular damage while granting eight seconds of Invincibility, giving a player-controlled Iida a very strong emergency tool.
His costume’s team Movement Speed bonus is also useful in stages built around collecting clues, rescuing targets, escorting, or chasing enemies.
As a SUB, though, he doesn’t provide the same autonomous coverage as the characters above him.
Tsuyu Asui – Call Me “Tsu”
Tsuyu isn’t here to carry your damage.
She’s here because sometimes you desperately need your team to stop dying.
Ribbiting Escape heals every ally based on Tsuyu’s HP Recovery Amount, giving her one of the more valuable recovery options for survival-focused content.
Her regular Tongue-Lashing isn’t completely passive either. It gains Paralysis, additional range, and eventually a circular two-hit pattern.
She’s a specialist.
When you need healing and control, Tsuyu can be fantastic.
When you’re trying to maximize damage as quickly as possible, you’ll probably want somebody else.
Minoru Mineta – U.A. Gym Clothes
Yes, Mineta is actually useful.
I know.
Grape Shot starts with three projectiles and Movement Speed Down right from Level 1. That’s immediate crowd control without waiting for rare upgrades.
As you invest, it gains more shots, reduced cooldowns, stronger slowing effects, and better status buildup.
Then there’s Grape Rush, which costs only 100 SP.
That’s the cheapest offensive Ultimate here, and it can eventually apply ATK Down too.
His N rarity means reaching his highest breakpoints takes serious investment, and his damage isn’t spectacular, but the amount of disruption he provides for the cost is hard to ignore.
Katsuki Bakugo – Explosive Combatant
Bakugo is probably the B-Tier placement people are going to argue with the most.
And I get it.
Impact Grenade gets considerably better with investment, improving its Knockback and range before eventually turning into a circular attack around him.
At four stars, you also get a follow-up attack in the direction you’re moving.
That makes him much more satisfying when you’re directly controlling him.
His Howitzer Impact gives him straightforward circular burst, while his costume helps CRIT-focused teams.
The problem is how much work it takes before his coverage really feels complete.
He has damage. He just doesn’t bring as much sustain, control, or team utility as the characters I’ve placed above him.
Fumikage Tokoyami – U.A. Gym Clothes
Tokoyami is another character whose ranking makes more sense when you stop staring at damage.
From two stars onward, Black Talons attacks both in front and behind him, immediately making positioning less annoying than it is for many directional Melee characters.
But Raven-Black Shield is the ability I care about.
For only 115 SP, it increases the entire team’s DEF and provides a much larger Projectile DEF bonus for 10 seconds.
That’s fantastic when the stage is throwing ranged pressure at you.
His costume can also improve MAIN Skill Point acquisition, helping the entire run develop more quickly.
He’s situational, yes.
But in the right situation, he’s very useful.
C Tier – Usable but Harder to Recommend
These characters can work, and I’m sure people will find successful builds for all of them.
My issue is that each one currently asks me to accept drawbacks that other characters solve more cleanly.
Present Mic – Bumpin’ DJ Hero
Present Mic can look pretty good when the map gives him the right environment.
Booming Voice pierces enemies and ricochets off walls, which can produce excellent wave clear in enclosed spaces.
But that’s also the problem.
Its performance is tied heavily to map geometry and random targeting.
His Ultimate can eventually provide Paralysis, and his costume offers useful Projectile Damage and CRIT support, but with R-rarity investment and a 195-SP Ultimate, I want more consistency.
Eijiro Kirishima – Manly, Firm Spirit
Kirishima is sturdy.
Red Slash gives him reliable nearest-target attacks and eventually picks up better cooldown, CRIT, range, and another awakened strike.
Red Counter costs 142 SP and can provide up to 9,000 DEF, while also surrounding him with damaging Knockback hitboxes.
If you’re struggling to keep your MAIN character alive during close-range stages, there’s value here.
The issue is that the defensive benefit mostly revolves around Kirishima himself.
When Kurogiri can make the whole team Invincible and other defensive characters provide broader utility, it’s difficult for Kirishima to compete.
Dabi – All-Consuming Blueflame
Dabi isn’t terrible. He’s just frustratingly back-loaded.
Fiery Resentment gives you a fast stream of piercing attacks that works nicely against packed enemies.
Burn should be the big selling point.
Unfortunately, his regular skill doesn’t gain Burn until four stars.
His Ultimate, Blue Condemnation, can eventually become a very reliable Burn tool and gives him legitimate Boss Attack value, but again, you’re looking at significant progression before reaching the version of Dabi you really want.
For 190 SP and that level of investment, I’d rather build one of the stronger ranged characters first.
D Tier – Denki Kaminari
Denki Kaminari – Caution: High Voltage
Poor Denki.
He’s currently the only character I’m putting in D Tier, and there’s one particular reason for it.
His kit actively works against him.
Human Stun Gun isn’t completely useless. Circular Melee coverage is convenient, and its permanent progression includes two cooldown reductions.
But despite being called Human Stun Gun, the regular ability doesn’t actually inflict Paralysis.
At maximum rank, you’re getting a small Movement Speed Down buildup instead.
Then we get to Indiscriminate Shock.
The Ultimate costs 185 SP and inflicts large ATK Down and Movement Speed Down on Denki himself for 10 seconds after use.
That’s a painful drawback.
Enemy Paralysis doesn’t arrive until maximum Ultimate level either, meaning you’re investing all the way into LR+ before accessing the control effect that you’d naturally expect to be central to his kit.
Maybe future balance adjustments change things.
Right now, though, there are simply too many characters offering better damage, better control, or better utility without punishing themselves for using their Ultimate.
Best Character in My Hero Academia United Survival
If you’re asking me to pick just one best MHA United Survival character, I’d currently lean toward Shoto Todoroki.
His combination of AoE damage, Freeze, projectile deletion, Knockback, and eventually AoE DEF Down covers an absurd number of situations.
He’s useful offensively.
He’s useful defensively.
And he helps increase the damage enemies take from the rest of the team.
That’s exactly what I want from an S-Tier character.
Tomura Shigaraki isn’t far behind, particularly once you’ve invested enough to access his stronger debuffs and Ultimate effects.
Deku is the safer choice if you want straightforward ranged damage, while All Might gives you an excellent mixture of damage and team utility.
Best MHA United Survival Characters for Beginners
If you’re new and don’t want to spend hours studying every skill description before building your first team, I’d start with:
Shoto Todoroki, Izuku Midoriya, All Might, and Momo Yaoyorozu.
Shoto gives you crowd control and AoE.
Deku provides reliable ranged damage.
All Might brings damage, Knockback, projectile clearing, and team buffs.
Momo adds AoE pressure alongside valuable survivability.
You don’t necessarily need all four together, but each one has a fairly understandable reason for being on your team.
I’d avoid building your first lineup entirely around highly specialized characters. Tsuyu’s healing or Tokoyami’s Projectile DEF can be fantastic when the situation demands them, but a new player will usually get more mileage from broadly useful characters first.
MAIN vs SUB – Does It Affect the Tier List?
Absolutely.
One mistake I made early was judging every character as though they were filling the same role.
They’re not.
Toga is the clearest example. Her awakened interaction with Laceration can provide MAIN-only SP Regeneration, making her much more interesting when you’re directly building around her.
Iida’s Invincibility also becomes more valuable when you’re controlling him and can deliberately time it around dangerous situations.
Meanwhile, characters with strong autonomous coverage, team buffs, or defensive effects may contribute plenty without being the centerpiece.
So don’t read the tier list as:
S Tier = always MAIN.
That’s not what it means.
The ranking represents overall value across the game. Your actual team still needs characters whose abilities complement each other.