Sea of Conquest is a really fun game and merging two aspects together – Naval Warfare and Close Combat which are two really different game modes where heroes perform differently with individual skills and abilities. For that reason it is important o know where heroes work well in Sea of Conquest.
For that reason I have here a tier list that ranks heroes by their performance in Naval Warfare and in Close Combat and some are great in one mode or the other and some great in both (or none). Building a hero is also a really long-term effort in Sea of Conquest so you want to invest in heroes that will help you progress, right?
Well, for that reason my tier list below will help you perfectly fine and please also check out my ship/hero formation guide that will help you build the perfect formations altogether.
What Heroes Work Well in Sea of Conquest
So, in general Close Combat is a 5v5 round-based RPG mode where the heroes take turns and use their Close Combat Skills. In Naval Warfare you have up to 3 heroes per ship that use their Naval Warfare skills against monsters, forts and ships for loot.
Below you find a general ranking in Sea of Conquest but behind the ‘Show More’ button you can find their individual ranking in each mode and also a brief description why a hero is ranked at their position in the tier list.
added the new limited SP collab heroes
Please mind that heroes are sorted by their release date (newest up, oldest down). Since the seasonality and the way heroes are released made the old format here hard to read/understand and especially newer players didn’t know what heroes they should use and build, we changed the format and rank every hero by the season they can be used in (the earlier a hero is released the more diminishing his viability is, but you can see how many season this hero will actually work well). Also the heroes are now SORTED BY NEWEST TO OLDEST RELEASE DATE. This means newest released heroes on top, initial release/Season 1 heroes at the bottom. Please let us know in the comments what you think about the new format.
Tier S+Cutthroat hasn't seen to much love in the recent meta but also it didn't need any looking at how strong it performed - and then we get this additional hero in which will make the cutthroat, for the players that invest in her, even stronger. I mean she is a limited SP hero so we only need to measure how overpowered she is not that she is super strong with the way her kit rolls and just deals burst damage over and over (if you find a target that survives that long). The bigger question here is do you have the top cutthroat heroes to make a strong ship as most of them are rather expensive to get and build and I am saying that for an important reason since I see players investing in a limited SP hero significantly just to then find out that they can't make a strong crew with that hero which can be super frustrating so unless you have a stable cutthroat ship foundation, she sheould not be a hail mary invest.
Tier S+What makes his kit incredible is not just the percentage built-in damage mitigation that scales and works pretty much without excuse, he also basically reflects damage a lot and frequently whenever his ship gets hit and that will turn your flagship into what a crazy weapon.
Tier S+I admit I was actually laughing for a couple minutes after I read her skills first but I feel nothing can really prepare you for what she does. She deals damage in ways and amounts once fully built, you can't even imagine. Nobody prepares you for that. I mean yes you really need the invest but once she starts snowballing, that snowball is not meeting its master anytime downhill and then she even triggers healing for allies. If you have a solid strategy crew, she will elevate that into new heights.
Tier A+Blaze hasn't seen much love recently so this is a logic new hero and I can see why the kit has the extra triggers as this is what blaze really needs. I am still not 100% convinced honestly that this is putting blaze back on the map as there is quite some restrictive parts about how he can be combined and set a crew up and he has to trigger his extra effects to really work. One of the few SP heroes in Sea of Conquest not hitting high score for me simply for the fact that you need a deep blaze roaster to make him work and blaze is even with him not as versatile as other archetypes.
Tier S+Since drowning didn't see much love in the recent release cycles, the devs decided to change that with another over-the-top SP hero (that looks more like Storm in X-Men but I think after the Pandas, Fishes and Dragons that are pirates this is not the worst). Her kit basoically scales more and more with more Taking On Water effects applied until she deals bonus damage like there is no tomorrow. Interesting enough though she is locked into the Gunner position which starts limiting the SP setups but I guess that was something that needed to happen sooner or later.
Tier STrue damage is interesting to bypass the setups that have the incoming damage reduction and the enemy rage reduction and general utility make him a valuable asset in any fleet. Luckily he is quite bread on how to combine and not too overpowered - and there is the catch with hima s his true damage is nice and all but outside dealing with heavy damage reductions he doesn't really do the damage and is more of a support with target rage regeneration suppression and therefor not too powerful, although works for that also without investing the amoung of a second-hand car in him.
Tier S+Finally a crossover that makes sense and super cool character design. The skills are absolutely crazy and he is by far the strongest hero Sea of Conquest has seen. Just look at how his Bribery will not just debuff the enemy (25% less damage dealt and 25% more taken!) and he scales off the amount on top and deals tons of extra damage with it. You have to build him during the event though so be prepared to really dump money in there if you want to which is the big downside of him. Just be aware of that if you're a player on the verge and if you will see him in the future out there, just run as fast as you can.
Tier S+I mean what can I say... she helas the fleet, she buffs the fleet and she even debuffs enemy rage. She is the absolutely, by far, strongest support kit hero in Sea of Conquest and having her and not having her creates such a massive gap. Do not take this the wrong way, if you're not a whale when you get her you will not get much out of her but she will for sure widen the gap between the top players and the rest of the player base so much.
Tier SIt's been a while since we had a new defensive, aggro-pulling captain and he is exactly that for the new Season.
Tier S+Absolutely nuts. Mitigates damage like crazy. There is no reason how your fleet is not, in any shape or form, massively benefiting from having him.
Tier ANew Season hero for the new The Sea of Golden Sand Season. Is an enabler for Drowning/Taking on Water damage but this archetype has had weird hero released for most players, upfront with the KoF limited hero that makes it hard to get anywhere when you have the main carry as a limited event hero.
Tier S+And we continue the SP hero train and she is a crazy strong cutthroat and damage enabler, not just against shields but with her marks alone.
Tier S+Although her cars appear to be rng with whatever effect they apply, they are not since every effect there is is so strong. Another incredible SP hero, what else can I say here and this for the artillery archetype.
Tier S+Second hero of the King of Fighters collab after Mai Shiranui and also a limited SP hero so if you want her, you have to do so during the event (which lasts one month and I expect it to get a re-run in the future). Let's have a look at her kit and how crazy it is for Drowning damage. If you have heroes to make a ship, she will spam drowning over and over. Absolutely wild and strong hero and I wish she would not be a limited event hero.
Tier S+I really don't know why his arrival was so much delayed since we had him announced to be rolling out weeks ago - but questions over questions when looking at a sword-wielding dragon humanoid along werewolfes, panda bears and elf snake witches in a pirate game I guess. I guess you can see that I don't like the character design too much. Coming to his kit, he is the first SP hero that is not jack of all trades and has the Captain tag and the Strategy archetype was indeed in need of a new captain and the direct synergy between him and Sylcia Thorne is thankfully not that direct which makes the meta not spin too wild. He is strong, really strong actually and packs a massive punch on basically every strategic ship if you have a somewhat capable crew for strategic damage.
Tier B+New hero for the upcoming Black Flag Beacon X Season but there is a couple of things about him that needs to be addressed and that is why his ranking is not the best. The thing is he is not just a new cutthroat hero, he enables cutthroat damage and blocks healing. So, without a proper roasterof cutthroat ship you will not just get him and magically own cutthroat damag. If you have recent cutthroat heroes (not specifically Euryale but that would be best), he is a dream on a enhancement for you. If cutthroat is not your thing so far, he won't change that.
Tier SThe new hero for the upcoming Black Flag Beacon X Season and honestly looks like the hero that can put strategic damage back on the map since that was more than neglected in 2025. he does deal good damage and enable it a lot + has somerage debuff for hit enemies in his kit.
Tier S+High hopes for many players to actually have an crossover event here with a hero that everyone can get - the opposite actually, since she is not just SP, she is limited so you have to build her throughout the event (and possible re-runs in the future) or that's it. Not the only game that does it, but that doesn't make this a great practice honestly. Her kit is also so similar to Demona Rood, so the players who actually get SP heroes will probably not even be able to use her. As the hero she is, just looking at her skills, she is one of the strongest heroes but taking into account how much money you need to spend now during the event to build her since that's literally the only real chance you have + that fact that she is super redundant with Demona would make her a pass for me if I wouldn't test her here for you folks.
Tier S+She is an SP hero so overpowered like crazy. As much as you might ahte the idea of a deer sprite on a ship, she is a healer that will single-handed heal your whole formation with ease, reduce damage and even buff attack. If you are in the position to think about building her, this is for sure a hero that will carry your fleet for a long time to come.
Tier S+Another SP hero, this time for cutthroat and the same goes here as for the other ones. If you have oil money to spend, go for her she will boost your account up but overall for most players incredibly expensive to get and build.
Tier B+An orca that is wearing a leather jacket and plays air guitar with an anchor... I mean we're past criticising some of the character concepts here so I will stop adding more to this and talk about the hero itself... He is an aggro puller so we hadn't had that in a solid hero since Magnus who was basically for VIP13 only. I mean honestly he will go the wrong way into a suicide mission if not built and combined correctly and the only way he actually makes sense is when paired with Tien so you can really prevent the enemies from dealing significant damage. For most players not too interesting although Tien makes sense to build for most players so this is not that much of a far fetch. I think if you look for a really sturdy ship in your fleet and you're missing it at this point, he can be a decent choice. For that reason he is a low tier since I believe he is a situational choice depending how your roaster of defensive heroes look like right now.
Tier SVery good kit with so uch nice effects for allied ships and debuffing enemy ships that you can easily fit him everywhere, even on any multi-purpose ship if you want to. A good hero to build honestly.
Tier S+Another SP hero, this time for blaze and the same goes here as for the other ones. If you have oil money to spend, go for her she will boost your account up but overall for most players incredibly expensive to get and build.
Tier A+Amazing cutthroat damage gunner but honestly I don't see many players left other than the ones spending big time here that would actually invest in him or cutthroat if they made it to the season where he becomes available.
Tier B+There is a couple of insteresting aspects here, espcially the way his 5th skill will basically transform the whole kit is weird. Be careful here, if you unlock the 5th skill, you gotta max it out or you will decrease in performance! I am not a fan.
Tier S+New SP hero to powercreep even more. Supposed to be a defense and protection hero with shielding so you see where the journey is heading.
Tier B
Tier S+Next SP hero in line, same level of overpowered powercreep as Verdania.
Tier S+The first SP hero - let's leave the discussion how cool that is out of the picture as I honestly have some concerns about the direction of hero building here + also let's not look into why we play a pirate themed 4X strategy game to now find a dragon-winged lizard queen between several borderline-fitting themed heroes that we saw recently. Okay now I got it out of my system so let's look at her and she has such a potential if you build her. Most players won't, let's be realistic about that, but if you do (and that's cool, your money and your reasons), you will get a really strong hero in return if you're up for the building process since she is not a 1-Star plug-and-play hero.
Tier B+I find her kit rather weird in terms of how accessible it is for most players - it is actually not and she is a brutal powercreep for the highest spenders that can actually make her passives work but that has nothing to do with strategy rather than maxing out everything in the game.
Tier S
Tier S+Parts of her kit scale from losing allied ships but that doesn't even matter since she has an incredible universal all-fleet attack buff and restores rage and heals allied ships. She can be on any ship to do that and with her 5th skill even protect your strongest ships from their first takeout. Like, honestly, this is the craziest support hero in Sea of Conquest! Her shoes freak me out, though.
Tier SKind-of a better replacement for Embre Volcano since he enables full burn stacks pretty well but for most players, unless you are really in this season and spend quite some money, this is a hero that will not do much unless you really have the team for him and also build him up.
Tier B+Decent support hero that reduces the enemy damage dealt so it affects the whole fleet so there are some things you can do with him on a support ship for sure.
Tier ANice support ship hero that not only applies shield to the fleet but also increases your main damage ship crit, attack and buffs the whole fleet which makes him a really useful support ship hero.
Tier SWe're putting Drowning back in the map with the new heroes since there was literally nothing significant happening to that archetype since S2. This the new meta when they get released.
Tier SAlong Kelvin the new meta with drowning as archetype damage.
Tier A+Really tough to rank. First of all, she is an assassin and finishes the weakest enemy ship off quicky and hasthe universal position tag. Amazing on paper and in reality but also there are so many other great Cuthroat heroes in Sea of Conquest that it will be a hard call for most players to invest that many resources to build her to get that small upgrade. On the other hand, her tag makes it easy to replace your weakest cutthroat hero. Great hero overall, if she is useful to you, well, that is up for you to decide looking at your hero roaster.
Tier BReally questionable. On paper he can put blaze back on the map but you have to build all the heroes so if that makes him that great is a complete different question.
Tier AFinally puts strategic damage back on the map, espcially with his chain effect- It was quite a while since Griffin was strong so he puts strategic damage back on the map.
Tier BA really good and strong hero and actually don't neccesarrily needs a full blaze hero rainbow to work well enough. She comes in where needed and closes a huge gap we had here on this position so far and almost solo makes blaze working again. Even without blaze, she deals good damage and reduces agro as an attacker which is extremly valuable.
Tier AWould actually rank him higher if he wouldn't have the captain tag as this would make him so much more versatile in many setups to use (would be clear tier S+++ with jack of all Trades tag haha). Still, great captain for a full support ship if you build it with healing and rage but the amount of players that really consider having the option is rather the top ones so I feel this tier here reflects his general usability overall.
Tier AI am a bit confused with her. I mean overall she is cool and the extra rage make your Blaze ship spin like a rollercoaster, but her being a Jack position hero, the Blaze archetype having gotten quite some love with heroes like Ember and Crow + the fact that her trinket is basically designed only for her individually make me think if she is worth it for most players since you very likely have your blaze ship already assembled in all positions until Season X2 when she becomes available. She is great, but I don't really see her need for most players unless this is a pure powercreep type of hero.
Tier BHe is a great hero and having him universally available makes him even better... but, do you have the space for him? You most likely have your artillery setup done with solid heroes so unless you have an open spot I really wouldn't recommend too much on him.
Tier CActually not too impressed and she is quite average in all parts. Early on you might think about building her but if you have your Strategic ship together already since she was released like 1 year into the game, she is not much worth of your effort in my opinion.
Tier BOnce fully built he can do damage and also debuff the eemy fleet well but the investment is another topic for that. Also, you need to have your drowning ship ready which is another investment so I don't want to rank him high and give the wrom impression but also with his full potential unlocked he actually is good. Keep that in mind and as yourself if you want to commit yourself to a drowning ship investment that deep. If you do, he is your captain.
Tier BAlong Hamar a wild setup if you invest, but toutside of that there are not too many synergies that can be made well enough to rank him higher. Mind, this ranking only applies to being used along Hamar on a drowning ship with full investment.
Tier BA have a couple of throughts here... once, it's nice that a limited time hero like him is not overly overpowered to force you building it while the event is up. But that also makes a downside, since he is not that powerful overall and more or less a legendary Delilah version, there is not too much use to actually pull and build him unless you find him personally extremely cool and I would always prefer Boa in his spot.
Tier S+Incredible helpful and strong support hero and no matter how your roaster and ship setups look like, she will make it better so don't be shy building her.
Tier S+The new defensive captain after using Old Ahab for a long time with just overall stronger shield mechanics.
Tier SYou have already a great captain here with Ophelia so I don't really get it and unless you powercreep and are a high spender, there is literally little use for replacing them.
Tier CActually a good supportive hero that scales up damage but doesn't do much himself. In a carefully selected crew he can do grea tthings, though.
Tier A+The more advanced Luna position hero... hard take and in theory worth it for sure and a strong hero, although if you have that setup going do you really want to make that investment for the improvement? I think msot players with a reasonably built Luna might just keep her in her position but if you don't have her and you want to make your Cutthroat ship, he is your man.
Tier A+Finally a dedicate strategic gunner hero and she deals great damage, buffs startegic damage, controls enemy rage and even can rage engine your own ship, making her a great hero on that position and one that we all really missed so far.
Tier BHard-hitting First Mate hero for your Cutthroat ship that places Cutthroat archetype back in the meta in S4 and makes it viable. Still, you need quite a lot to make this happen so this is more a hero for the top-range players but a good one.
Tier B+A little better for Artillery than Sharky but really only a end-range hero to have and if you have built Sharky pretty well and you're not crazy competitive you might also get away with skipping this one. Great hero though and if you don't have Sharky at a high state, Chizuru is better and you can focus on her instead.
Tier BSuper versatile Strategic Damage hero in Sea of Conquest that can be used with any Strategic ship setup well.
Tier BQi Lanting is perfect whenever you tackle single target with your fleet or also in Close Combat. Overall her damage falls off compared to the AoE heroes in Sea of Conquest BUT if you have one strong target you need to break through, she is working wonders; just not for all situations although she does her fair share of damage also against multiple setups.
Tier A+Very universal fleet damage booster and rage engine that can fit everywhere, can also be placed on any of your ships where you have a Gunner position open as she buffs alls ships in your fleet.
Tier AGood for a defensive flagship but with him you need healing for sure and I see him more to pull aggro and protect your fleet overall.
Tier B+Tanaka, like Adeline for Drowning damage, fill sin the S2 spot of epic heroes on your Blazing ship which makes that archetype a lot better in Season 2 but also here there is little flexibility which makes him great in that very role on that very ship but universally not providing much.
Tier AAdeline, available in S2, finally fills in the Gunner position on your Drowning ship which makes Drowning a lot more versatile overall but that is pretty much her only use-case. She is really strong if you do build a strong ship with Drowning damage and damge over time but that's about it with her.
Tier B+Well she has two big things that you will like - one is her agro manipulation which really comes in handy on your cutthroat ship to go through that target line. I wouldn't sill rank her that high but the fact that she is a Jack of All position hero makes her quite nice to have since you can swap her in whenever.
Tier COverall not a bad hero for your strategic damage ship and scales but the position that is the same as Boa makes it a little hard to really give her a good spot.
Tier C+Evaluating Boa's effects in Sea of Conquest is hard for several reason. I personally don't like damage over time in Close Combat that much but her Poison works if the battles are longer as they depend on turns. In Naval battle however, she is super random. There is so many chances in her kit that have an impact to the damage she deals and if things go well, she deals a ton of damage. But again, if the proc chance is not on your side she is rather mediocre so not too reliable.
Tier BOphelia is crazy strong in Naval Battles with a ton of AoE damage and the ability to make all ships in your fleet trigger an additional basic attack and stacking up damage like crazy plus dealing counterattack damage as well that punish every attack heavily. In Close Combat she also deals good AoE damage but also makes all targets panic which means they will attack each other and she also buffs ally damage against panic targets. Incredibly strong hero in Sea of Conquest.
Tier A+Cordelia is a great support for your fleet, not just for the healing but also for the dispelling but more relevant in bigger fleet battles when she is further upgraded. She helps every fleet right out of the box without many synergies needed. In CLose Combat the same, she heals and has a very reliable kit to do so.
Tier BAlthough an epic hero he can run so well with all heroes. His cursed effect will make the target take more damage of any kind and when they take damage, they will get a longer skill cooldown and rage reduction! He doesn't have to lead the ship for that so even if you run all legendaries, he should have a space on board. For me an incredible Naval Warfare hero in Sea of Conquest. In Close Combat he delays enemy moves, suppress healing and make them take more damage. Also really strong. For me the best epic hero in Sea of Conquest right now and I am willing to die on that hill simply as he can fit and replace any hero in any setup where you are running short of a certain damage hero. Literally every single one.
Tier B+Old Ahab is the king of shields in Sea of Conquest and will protect your fleet quite well, not just the ship he commands. In Close Combat he works pretty much the same which makes him a swiss army knife whenever you need more protection and your fleet/squad more durable. Please mind, you need to upgrade him quite a bit to benefit from that but he is at the end of the day the legendary captain for your Flagship that you want to be as sturdy as possible.
Tier AWith VIP13 hard for average players to obtain and build and a hero that is absolutely for players that spend quite some money, but with the aggro pulling and shielding a great hero for your defensive flagship.
Tier C+Wild damage dealer that strikes randomly basically everything there is around with good damage and self-scaling himself in Close Combat as well as in Naval Battles.
Tier C+Bones kit is really interesting in Sea of Conquest but let's start with his Naval Warfare abilities that will basically focus down a target, make him stay low profile without catching aggro and rolling his skill over and over. Similar in Close Combat alhtough there is no aggro in the way it works in naval battles. Overall he is like a sniper, dealing a lot of damage but needs a setup where he is protected and supported or he will be quite a glass cannon.
Tier C+Griffin is pretty much the AoE version of Bones which makes him really strong as AoE is so often dealing a ton more damage than single target damage in Sea of Conquest. In both, naval combat and close combat as well.
Tier BLester has two really strong sides in Sea of Conquest that make me rank him here in this tier list - in Naval Combat he is amazing for longer battles where he burns over and over and then uses that burn to deal extra damage which is really good. In Close Combat his damage is alright but mostly his chance to stun is great. But this can be tricky by proc chance.
Tier BLuna is a great hero in Sea of Conquest! In Naval Battles she targets the ship with the lowest HP and does also apply effects that increase damage to focus down a target which works really great. In Close Combat she strikes merciless and deals quite some damage but relies a lot on her 3rd skill to make her move progress bar full again which can sometimes make her do crazy damage and sometimes rather okay-ish damage. Still a great hero that you will not regret having in Sea of Conquest.
Tier BIn Naval Battles his damage over time works. Solid actually although I am not the biggest fan of damage over time and rather have burst damage. In Close Combat he relies a lot on bleeding which I am not the biggest fan of.
Tier C+At first I though he is crazy with his Active Skill cooldown removal of all heroes on his ship and I thought run him with strong legendaries be havoc - but the reality is that he needs to be the leader hero on the ship. Still. if you#re running mostly epic heroes he can make them go wild when they can use their active skills more often. In Close Combat he can prolonge the cooldown of enemies which is also pretty sweet. I am not sure if having him above legendaries in the tier list is perfectly correct, but I really like him with epics and I think most players will benefit a lot from him in Sea of Conquest.
Tier C+In Naval Combat Oscar is more like a scaler that increases damage for Artillery and we know how important an artillery ship is but needs a good hero to go with him to deal damage. In Close Combat he can be a burst hero that will strike fast and cuts in line of the order if you want to burst down a specific target.
Tier C+Mostly useful in Close Combat in Sea of Conquest for the healing. In Naval Combat her healing can barely keep up with the damage that's coming in but she can still be either a good replacement for Cordelia on your Flagship or help yout in one of your damage ships that struggles with chip damage.
Tier CInteresting kit here with Lord Kojo as he is intended to be a executioner but his 3rd skill also add healing over time so he works best in setups with burst damage. Pretty much similar in Close Combat where his damage is nice and ignores armor but again he applies a healing over time which can sometimes be super annoying when he applies it and then the ttarget stays alive. Still okay to use.
Tier CNot bad but works a lot with burn effects and damage over time in Naval Warfare and is more a hero you would combine with other heroes that have burn effects. In Close Combat he has quite some hidden benefits with his increased Speed and most of all he can increase the enemy Rage costs and delay their Active Skills.
Tier CYes he is rare but his ability to generate extra rage for any ship and crew makes him a universal swap in for many setups and players that are not able to fill every ship with well-upgraded epics and legendaries in Sea of Conquest.
Tier DHas quite some damage over time without much special. Is alright but nothing too wild. Good in a team that uses the Taken by Water damage-over-time effect.
Tier DCan deal damage, yes, but that also requires that his burn effects are applied well and there is enough time to actually have them apply. And direct damage is just better. Target gone is gone instead of slowly draining it.
Tier DCan be useful earlier for your Flagship to help keep aggro and reduce damage until you have the stronger defensive heroes there.
Tier DIs nice in the beginning but you will very early see that his stats as rare hero in Sea of Conquest and his scaling will simply fall off quickly.
Tier DSame as Henry Hell, simply as rare hero not enough base stats and scalers to keep up with the epic and espcially the legendary heroes in Sea of Conquest.
Tier DNot really too interesting unless you have a blaze ship building and the strong legendaries but also she is a captain position hero so I only see her in the backup spot here.
Conclusion
I hope this tier list helps you plan out what heroes you will work on and use in Sea of Conquest and I am sure there will be more heroes coming up in the future so make sure to check back here for the hero rankings and also the ideal way to build them.
Keep AllClash one tap awayAdd it to your home screen and it opens full screen, like an app.
What is the best hero set ups for flagships and there power attack heal offences
Does the development team read this?
How about more content on new ships with new heroes. Steam Wings, Stalwart Defender, etc.? I’ve noticed some heroes are better suited for specific boats even if same skill like artillery. Goddess Sajit vs Iron Lord vs. Tidal Vengeance.
Over a month since an update. Come back bro!
vacations are over haha, will update very soon!
What about the trinkets you dont got noting on that like can I use two of the same trinkets on the same ship
There are more Heroes like Molly. Molly is a really good Strategist, so I think your info is outdated now.
Molly is literally on the list
Molly is literally on here
thanks for that, a lot better than all the other lists out there! Only reliable one so far without over-complicating things