Picking the right characters at the start of Neverness to Everness can save you weeks of wasted resources. The game hands you several characters for free, and others are available through the standard gacha board early on. Knowing which ones are worth your time before you start dumping Awakening materials into them makes a real difference.
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Who are the best free starting characters in NTE?
Three characters stand out among the ones you can get without spending pulls: Esper Zero, Haniel, and Chiz. Each fills a different role, and all three are accessible without touching the gacha.
Esper Zero AoE skill screen
Esper Zero
Esper Zero is the protagonist character, and unlike many gacha protagonists who exist mainly for story reasons, they hold up as a real carry or sub-DPS in the early game. Their skills hit areas rather than single targets, which is exactly what you want when the game throws groups of enemies at you in early stages. Their Awakening Levels come naturally through normal gameplay progression, so you do not need to pull duplicates or spend resources to strengthen them over time.
Haniel
Haniel is an A-Rank ATK buffer available immediately through pre-registration rewards. Her buffs apply through both her Esper Skill and her Ultimate, and both work at Ascension Level 0, meaning she contributes from the moment you get her. The one thing to keep in mind: her buff strength scales off her own Base ATK, so she works best when you invest in her stats rather than leaving her at base level.
Her versatility is the real selling point. Any team that wants ATK buffs benefits from her presence, which covers most early-game lineups.
Chiz
Chiz takes longer to unlock but is arguably the most valuable free character in the game for long-term progression. She becomes available once your City Tycoon level reaches 18, and she is the only confirmed character who can reach full Awakening purely through gameplay, by raising your City Tycoon level and collecting her Mind Shards that way.
Her combat loop revolves around stacking the Grain status through basic attacks, then spending that Grain to amplify the Cosmos damage from her Skill. She also has a passive economy bonus, granting players extra Fons whenever she fights. Her Surplus state, reached through managing Grain and Grain Loans, is where her damage output peaks. It takes some practice to get there consistently, but the payoff is a fully Awakened S-Class character that costs you nothing but time.
Chiz requires City Tycoon level 18 to unlock. Prioritize City Tycoon progression early so you are not sitting on a locked S-Class character longer than necessary.
What are the best standard banner starting characters?
Three S-Rank characters from the Scarborough Fair standard gacha board are worth targeting early: Sakiri, Jiuyuan, and Hathor. You can also use an S-Class selector to grab one directly.
Sakiri
Sakiri fills a role that very few early characters can: crowd control. Holding her basic attack or using her Skill pulls enemies into one spot, which then lets any AoE DPS on your team, like Esper Zero, hit them all at once. Her Ultimate adds AoE damage on top of that and gives allies a Team ATK buff that scales off her own attack stat.
All of this works at Awakening Level 0, she performs better with at least one extra copy to unlock an additional Team ATK buff tier. She is a standard pull, so getting copies over time is realistic without heavy spending.
Jiuyuan
Jiuyuan is one of the few ranged attackers in the current roster, using revolvers to deal damage from a safe distance. Her standout mechanic is the Lethal Rose Pact status, a Damage-Over-Time effect she can apply to enemies. Once targets have that debuff, her Ultimate triggers Pact Settlement on all of them simultaneously, dealing high Anima damage across the board.
The execution requires some skill, but the reward is a strong burst finisher that can clear groups efficiently. She is available through standard pulls, by spending Annulith earned in-game, or through an S-Class selector.
Hathor
Hathor handles both single-target and group situations without needing a specific setup. Her basic attack switches between a single-target slash dealing Lakshana damage and an aerial dive-bomb that hits an area with AoE Lakshana damage. Her Ultimate follows the same pattern, landing heavy AoE Lakshana hits on clustered enemies.
This flexibility makes her a reliable pick when you are still figuring out which content requires burst damage versus sustained single-target pressure. Pair her with a crowd control character like Sakiri and the AoE hits land harder.
Sakiri enemy crowd control
Building your early team around these characters
The most practical early team pairs Esper Zero as the primary DPS with Haniel providing ATK buffs and Sakiri handling crowd control. Once you unlock Chiz at City Tycoon level 18, she can either replace Esper Zero as the main Cosmos carry or run alongside them as a sub-DPS, depending on how far you have developed each character's Awakening.
For players who land Jiuyuan or Hathor early through the standard banner, both integrate cleanly. Jiuyuan works best with a crowd control setup already in place, while Hathor can slot in as a flexible damage dealer regardless of team composition.
The core principle here is straightforward: invest in characters with guaranteed long-term Awakening paths first. Chiz is the clearest example since her Mind Shards come entirely from City Tycoon progression. Esper Zero follows the same logic. Spending your limited early resources on characters you might replace with limited banner pulls is the most common mistake new players make.
For more character guides and build recommendations as the game expands, browse the latest guides on GAMES.GG.