Tested every 0.5 unit across farming, story, and boss stages.

Here's the verdict: Dark Mage is the new #1 carry, Grimjaw is a sleeper crit monster, Itachi is a specialist not a generalist, and Cursed Immortal only works if your map cooperates.

No fluff — just what to build, what to skip, and why.

• Meta 
• Dark Mage / Judar — Best Unit of Update 0.5
• Itachi / Crow — Elite Shield Breaker, Not a Generalist
• Grimjaw / Razor Jaw Hunter — Crit Scaling Sleeper
• Cursed Immortal / Black Sun — Great Clone, Bad Map, Bad Unit
• Full Tier List
• Trait & Equipment Cheat Sheet
• Team Building Template
• Build Priority (Where to Spend Rerolls First)
• Mistakes That Waste Resources
• FAQ
• What is the best unit in Update 0.5?
• Is Itachi worth building?
• Should I use Forsaken on Grimjaw?
• Is Cursed Immortal bad?
• What equipment does Dark Mage need?
• Bottom Line

↖ Meta 

Raw DPS still wins fights, but freeze, stagger, shield break, and follow-up damage are pulling more weight than last patch. Build a team that solves multiple problems, not six copies of biggest number.

↖ Dark Mage / Judar — Best Unit of Update 0.5

Two forms, one job: damage.

• Ice form — freeze/frost control, nice but not why you use him.
• Lightning form — drops a field that ticks for roughly 50% of his damage stat every second. This is his whole identity.

Build: Unbound trait + Shinigami Sword + Magic Book. His lightning orb crits, and he's a magic unit, so both pieces pull weight.

Fix his cycling: if his damage feels inconsistent, he's rotating out of Lightning form too fast. Adjust targeting so he sits in Lightning form longer — that's the fix, not the unit being weak.

Verdict: best in story, farming, boss stages, and tournaments. Build him first.

↖ Itachi / Crow — Elite Shield Breaker, Not a Generalist

Three tools: black flame DoT, shield break, illusion burst damage.

Trap: black flame doesn't stack the way you'd expect — only one effective stack matters. That kills Draconic's value on him, even though he looks like a DoT unit.

Build: Unbound trait + Three Swords from Hell + Magic Book. Skip crit gear entirely — DoT doesn't benefit from it like direct hits do.

Verdict: if shielded enemies wreck your clears, Itachi solves that. If you just need raw DPS, Dark Mage still wins.

↖ Grimjaw / Razor Jaw Hunter — Crit Scaling Sleeper

Base damage looks mediocre. Don't be fooled.

His crit rate climbs with every enemy hit in range, and his final hit scales off that. Build him wrong and he's forgettable. Build him right and he's a real DPS.

Build: Forsaken trait + Enhanced Katana + Shinigami Sword. Full crit rate/crit damage stack — no exceptions.

Common mistake: treating him like a flat-damage carry. He isn't one. Crit is the whole point.

↖ Cursed Immortal / Black Sun — Great Clone, Bad Map, Bad Unit

His clone deals ticking damage along a travel path. The map decides his value, not his stats.

• Long useful path → good sustained ticks.
• Tight corner with looping enemies → clone hits the same group repeatedly, great value.
• Bad map layout → he underperforms, full stop.

Build: Unbound + Magic Book + Three Swords from Hell — raw damage feeds the clone ticks.

Rule: test his placement before spending resources. Good gear can't fix bad routing.

↖ Full Tier List

↖ Trait & Equipment Cheat Sheet

↖ Team Building Template

Quick logic: got Dark Mage? Build him first, everything else supports him. No Dark Mage but Grimjaw? He can carry as main DPS with a full crit build. Shielded enemies giving you trouble? Slot Itachi in immediately.

↖ Build Priority (Where to Spend Rerolls First)

1. Dark Mage — best DPS-per-resource in the update

2. Kenpachi / Megumi — proven meta value

3. Puppet — stall carries hard content

4. Grimjaw — crit DPS once built

5. Itachi — shield-break specialist

6. Doflamingo — needs team support

7. Cursed Immortal — too map-dependent to prioritize

8. Choso / Frian — backup A-tier

↖ Mistakes That Waste Resources

• Crit gear on Itachi — his DoT doesn't benefit. Use raw magic damage.
• Flat damage on Grimjaw — he needs crit rate/crit damage to function.
• Ignoring Dark Mage's form uptime — Lightning form is the DPS spike. Keep him in it.
• Rerolling Cursed Immortal too early — test placement first, gear second.
• Underrating Puppet/Megumi/Yuta — a leak fixed by stall often beats one extra DPS unit.

↖ FAQ

↖ What is the best unit in Update 0.5?

Dark Mage. His Lightning form gives him sustained DPS that scales cleanly, and unlike Cursed Immortal, he's not map-dependent.

↖ Is Itachi worth building?

Yes, specifically for shield break. Build Unbound + Three Swords from Hell + Magic Book. Skip crit gear — it's wasted on his DoT.

↖ Should I use Forsaken on Grimjaw?

Yes, always. His entire kit revolves around crit scaling. Unbound works in a pinch, but Forsaken unlocks his real ceiling.

↖ Is Cursed Immortal bad?

Not bad — inconsistent. If his clone path hits enemies repeatedly, he performs. If the map doesn't cooperate, don't force it.

↖ What equipment does Dark Mage need?

Shinigami Sword + Magic Book. His lightning field can crit, and he's a magic unit — this combo covers both angles.

↖ Bottom Line

Build Dark Mage first with Unbound + Shinigami Sword + Magic Book — that's your safest, strongest investment this patch. Keep Megumi and Puppet in your lineup for control. Add Grimjaw with a full crit build or Itachi for shield-heavy stages, depending on what your clears actually need. Test Cursed Immortal on the map before committing resources — his ceiling is real, but only in the right setup.