Art of Conquest Tier List: Best Heroes for Returning Players

Image: pocketgamer.com

Pocket Gamer’s latest update puts seven heroes at the top

Pocket Gamer updated its Art of Conquest tier list on September 15, 2026 for version 1.26.126, and the clearest takeaway for returning players is that the old shorthand of simply chasing Bane, Jacques, and Cleo no longer tells the full story. Pocket Gamer still places all three in its highest SS tier, but it also ranks Elena, Vega, Rose, and Fenris alongside them.

That creates the useful tension in this update. The familiar names remain strong, but the best Art of Conquest heroes are not presented as a three-character checklist. Pocket Gamer’s guide argues that each hero has a specific class and a particular function, with some excelling early, some scaling better later, and others holding value across the game. For anyone returning after months away, that distinction matters because hero investment is exactly where mobile strategy games punish outdated assumptions. Resources spent on a hero who only solves yesterday’s problem can slow the next week of progression.

The confirmed top tier from Pocket Gamer is SS: Cleo, Elena, Vega, Rose, Jacques, Bane, and Fenris. The next tier down, S, contains Virion, Gan, Wraxius, Nora, Mako, Yip, Denji, Saizo, Solaris, and Eyreon. Pocket Gamer’s A tier lists Avalon, Avril, Tiadrin, Lunella, Ophidia, Gafgar, Baelrog, Lee, Bazric, Floras, Kitano, and Tisephon. Its visible B-tier entries in the supplied source are Gazul, Grimms, Vallari, Sprig, and Myr, while the article also says C tier exists for heroes it would not particularly recommend unless players have no other choice. The provided excerpt does not show the C-tier names, so they should not be treated as confirmed here.

The safest investments are the heroes ranked strong across the whole game

Pocket Gamer says its list ranks heroes by “collective performance throughout the game,” and that is the most important phrase for a returning player to keep in mind. An SS placement is not simply a snapshot of burst damage, campaign convenience, or one narrow army composition. It is the outlet’s judgment that those heroes are good regardless of where a player is in progression.

On that basis, the cleanest GameLoop recommendation is to build around the SS tier first if you already own any of them. Cleo, Elena, Vega, Rose, Jacques, Bane, and Fenris are the lowest-risk resource targets because Pocket Gamer’s framing explicitly separates always-relevant heroes from characters who rise or fall depending on game stage. If your account has one or two of those heroes partially developed, finishing those investments is more defensible than spreading resources across several lower-tier experiments.

The S tier should be treated as the second layer of serious investment rather than consolation prizes. Virion, Gan, Wraxius, Nora, Mako, Yip, Denji, Saizo, Solaris, and Eyreon sit close enough to the top that they are practical long-term options, especially if your roster lacks SS coverage in a needed class or role. Pocket Gamer does not provide individual build notes in the supplied excerpt, so it would be wrong to claim that one of these heroes is the best tank, the best mage, or the best support from this source alone. What is supported is their broad placement: they are among the heroes Pocket Gamer currently rates highly for overall performance.

A-tier heroes are where returning players should slow down. Avalon, Avril, Tiadrin, Lunella, Ophidia, Gafgar, Baelrog, Lee, Bazric, Floras, Kitano, and Tisephon are not labeled bad by Pocket Gamer. They are below the two priority tiers. That makes them reasonable if your account already has upgrades invested, if they fill a class gap, or if you lack access to SS and S options. Starting a fresh heavy investment into A tier while an SS hero is waiting underbuilt is usually the weaker economic decision.

Class matters more than a single rank number

Pocket Gamer lists eight Art of Conquest hero classes: General, Gladiator, Mage, Paladin, Sage, Necromancer, Mechanist, and Rogue. The site also notes that heroes specialize in different jobs, including magic damage and tanking. That makes a tier list useful, but incomplete if you read it as a simple order of replacement.

For a returning player, the correct question is not only “who is highest?” It is also “what function is my current roster missing?” A top-tier damage dealer will not automatically solve a lineup that lacks durability, and a strong support-oriented hero will feel underwhelming if the army around them cannot convert that support into wins. Pocket Gamer’s warning against dismissing heroes too quickly is important here: a hero can be strong for a specific purpose without being the first name a general ranking recommends.

This is also where many outdated picks survive longer than they should. A returning account often has emotional and material attachment to older heroes because those heroes carried early progression. Pocket Gamer’s guide specifically says some heroes are especially good in the early stages but fall short later, while others follow the opposite curve. If a hero helped you months ago but now sits outside the SS and S tiers, the smarter play is to evaluate whether that hero is still doing a defined job or simply absorbing upgrades because they already have a head start.

The class list also gives you a practical way to avoid overcorrecting. If you pull an SS hero in a class where you already have your best-developed option, do not automatically strip the rest of the account bare to force the new arrival into every composition. The source supports SS as the best overall band, but it does not say every SS hero replaces every lower-tier hero in every use case. Use the ranking as a resource priority map, then check whether your formation actually needs what that class provides.

Avoid treating B tier as a retirement home for every account

Pocket Gamer describes B tier as average and C tier as the bottom group it would not particularly recommend unless players have no other choice. In the visible portion of the supplied Art of Conquest tier list, Gazul, Grimms, Vallari, Sprig, and Myr appear in B tier. That is the danger zone for returning players because “average” can look acceptable when an account has already invested heavily into those heroes.

The practical guidance is to separate sunk cost from current value. If a B-tier hero is already developed and still clears content, there is no reason to delete your plan overnight. But new premium resources should move upward unless a specific short-term need demands otherwise. Pocket Gamer’s own wording frames the list around understanding “which should be your priority” and “which are not worth spending your resources on,” so the ranking should be read primarily as an investment guide.

This is where returning players can lose momentum. Mobile strategy progression often rewards compounding decisions: one strong hero improves fights, which improves rewards, which funds the next upgrade. Spending into average heroes can still produce visible gains, but those gains may not carry as far if the hero is already identified below the best long-term bands. From the source-supported list, SS and S are the clearest places to compound future upgrades.

There is also an information gap to respect. Pocket Gamer mentions a C tier, but the supplied source material does not include the C-tier roster. That means this guide cannot responsibly name specific C-tier heroes to avoid. If you are checking your account against the full Pocket Gamer page, treat any C-tier listing there as a low-priority emergency option, consistent with the article’s description, but verify the current page before making irreversible decisions.

How to rebuild a returning roster without wasting resources

Start by auditing what you already own against the confirmed tiers. If you have Cleo, Elena, Vega, Rose, Jacques, Bane, or Fenris, they should be your first review targets because Pocket Gamer places them in SS. Look at who has partial investment, who fits your current formation, and who can be upgraded soonest without starving the rest of the account. A half-built SS hero is often a better long-term project than starting another mid-tier hero from scratch, but a completely undeveloped SS hero may still need time before replacing a functional veteran.

Next, mark your S-tier options. Virion, Gan, Wraxius, Nora, Mako, Yip, Denji, Saizo, Solaris, and Eyreon give returning accounts a wider bridge between ideal and available. These are especially important for players who do not have multiple SS heroes or who need class coverage. Pocket Gamer’s class framework means a balanced roster still matters, so an S-tier hero in a missing role can be a better immediate upgrade than a redundant top-tier name.

Then pause spending on the middle. The A tier contains plenty of recognizable names, and the source does not present them as unusable. The right use for A tier is selective support, not automatic abandonment and not blind investment. If Avalon, Avril, Tiadrin, Lunella, Ophidia, Gafgar, Baelrog, Lee, Bazric, Floras, Kitano, or Tisephon is already central to your current account, keep them functional while building toward higher-tier replacements or complements.

Finally, be careful with “Art of Conquest best units” searches. The Pocket Gamer update supplied here ranks heroes, not troop units. If you arrived looking for Art of Conquest best units, the supported answer from this source is indirect: your hero priorities should come first because the current tier update is built around hero performance, classes, and resource spending. Do not infer a full unit meta from a hero-only list unless another current source ranks units directly.

A useful tier list is a spending plan, not a prophecy

The best use of this Art of Conquest tier list is to decide where future resources go. Pocket Gamer’s September 15 update gives returning players a current hierarchy for version 1.26.126, but it also warns against oversimplifying hero value. That combination is healthier than a rigid “use only these three” meta because it acknowledges the realities of roster availability, class function, and progression timing.

For most returning players, the forward-looking plan is straightforward. Prioritize SS heroes you own, build S-tier heroes where they solve a real roster need, use A-tier heroes selectively, and stop feeding B-tier projects unless they are carrying a specific short-term job. That advice stays inside what the source supports while translating the ranking into a practical Art of Conquest guide.

The unanswered questions are the ones every live mobile strategy player should keep in view. Pocket Gamer’s supplied excerpt does not provide individual skill explanations, formation data, unit pairings, or the full visible C-tier roster. It also does not claim an official developer balance change caused these placements. This is a third-party tier list update, not a patch note from the game’s developer. Treat it as a strong planning signal, then test your own roster before burning scarce upgrade materials.

If you have been away from Art of Conquest, the main correction is to stop thinking of the meta as Bane, Jacques, and Cleo alone. They remain at the top in Pocket Gamer’s ranking, but they now share that top shelf with Elena, Vega, Rose, and Fenris. That broader SS tier is the safest place to restart your account planning.