These are credited to 段段以及南墙, a guide writer for Onmyoji. Translated by 72e. The PVE rankings are the 2017.12.8 version, and thus excludes Hiyoribou and those following her from consideration.
Just to be clear:
- Rankings will always be subjective, this one is based on suggesting the order to 6 - it is not a must to 6 the ones in high tiers first, just that considering the appearance rate, utility, win rate, etc. sixing them can be considered;
- There is no difference between those in the same tier.
- Note that Kekkai Toppa is not included.
Also, due to the breadth of the considerations, this is most likely an unfriendly tierlist for new players.
PVE[1][]
PVE focusses on:
- Exploration
- Awakening
- Mitama
- True Orochi
- Goryou
- Strange Tales
- Regional Kiou
- Youki Fuuin
- Tako
- Nen
- Hunt
- Oumagatoki world bosses
More emphasis is given to higher difficulty instances/frequently done instances.
Tiers[2][]
- Tier 0
- A must for many instances
- Kachou Fuugetsu can be used as attack and not use onibi, also plays both roles in Oumagatoki boss fights. Ootengu is the most stable Harionna AOE. Momo cannot be replaced with her revival.
- Tier 1
- Excellent in many instances
- Basically the commonly used attackers. Worth mentioning is Ushi who has unique role in Strange Tales and Oumagatoki.
- Tier 2
- Useful in some instances
- Ebisu because of the popularity of Kachou and Momo. Shoyou specialises in Goryou. Tesso specialises as fodder. Kyuuketsuhime and Youkinshi for high scores in Regional Kiou. Oitsukigami is not stable. Hannya is too niche.
- Tier 3
- Occasionally decent performance
- Yukionna and Hououka aren't bad in Inkai Gate, Enenra and Kairaishi can be used in Mitama 10. But comparatively, they have limited uses in PVE, and/or have high requirements for their teams. Aoandon's burst damage and onibi control is useful in Strange Tales instances.
- Tier 4
- Not really recommended
- Or maybe they're better off elsewhere. Oguna's price of revive is too high. Futakuchi Onna's animation speed is actually slower than Kairaishi's.
| T0 |     
|
|---|---|
| T1 |         Nura Rikuo      
|
| T2 |               
|
| T3 |                         
|
| T4 | Everything else |
PVP[3][]
PVP focusses on:
- Arena, 100%
Tiers[]
- Tier 0
- The blessed of the meta, works across many formations
- Kamaitachi and Kachou Fuugetsu are shikigami that many select for their arena formations. Kaguyahime is still the best onibi-generating shikigami, cannot be missed in fire-intensive teams. Shouzu is still part of the meta, with defensive features but can be used for counters with Inugami, Rikuo, and Sou.
- Tier 1
- Very high appearance rate, can be used as core of the team
- Doumeki, Juzu, Kingyohime are not reliant on their own turns and have great utility, and are very popular choices for current Arena. Chin, due to Shouzu counter and cardflipping mode, can be concealed until the last pick, and she is appearing more frequently.
- Tier 2
- Rather high appearance rate, has their own unique uses
- Higanbana has been relegated to T2 due to the situation of Shouzu counter and Kachou's rise. The utility and win rate of control shikigami like Yumekui, Hououka, Yuki Onna, Enma have been affected by the popularity of Kachou and Juzu. Ame Onna's unstable dispel has caused her to fall from the peak.
- Tier 3
- Decent appearance rate, might be used for some special formations
- Aoandon is still useful against teams without Kaguyahime. Tamamo can be combined with Ushi for the terrific damage, route, sometimes achieving amazing results. Under cardflipping mode, Shuten can be brought out last, raising his utility.
- Tier 4
- Occasionally has eye-catching performance
- The Oguna from "the olden days", the "theoretically very good" Usagimaru, and "the once bright hope of the N cards" Amanojaku Aka all belong here.
- Tier 5
- Not really recommended for PVP
- Wait for their adjustments.
| T0 |
|
|---|---|
| T1 |  Nura Rikuo
|
| T2 | 
|
| T3 |    
|
| T4 |              
|
| T5 | Everything else |