Now, I want to point out ahead of time: The characters listed below are NOT a definitive list of cast members for each story-line. These are simply how the starting members play out for each story, regardless of who you pick to begin with.

While some have story-locked Hero Missions, the ones I'm listing below in this section are NOT locked to any Hero in particular. Those characters are, in no particular order:

• Wang Yuanji
  
• Mitsunari Ishida
  
• Darius
  
• Plachta
  
• Horo
  
• William
  
• Millennia
  
• Honoka
  
• Rio

The rest of the characters in the roster are story-locked to one member of the Royal Family, except for Opoona, who is only unlocked after you acquire all 10 Hero Endings. If you wish to know more on that, please see my original guide, titled "Understanding Warriors All Stars", because I go into depth on Opoona there.

Now, let's see which fighters are best in their respective armies, and who's the best overall.

Right off the rip/Right out of the gate, I'm going to admit something. 2 Somethings, in fact.

1) I do not like Setsuna's character cast. He only wished to help the beautiful heroes, which is made prevalent in his story whenever a "beautiful" Hero is in need of help. But that's besides the point.

and 2) I, admittedly, have not played enough with all the characters in Setsuna's Roster to warrant a proper judgment on them. However, given what the AI does with the characters and their movesets, it's probably safe to assume they're not that good.

So, anyways, let's go over each of the characters in Setsuna's Roster.

We have, in Group 1, Arnice, Christophorus, and Rio. Let me get this out of the way and state that Rio is easily the worst character, not just in terms of Setsuna's Roster, but in the entire game. She has so many flaws with her, in terms of both story and combat, that I cannot justify anyone even remotely using her, as a combatant OR as a support.
Rio's main gimmick in combat is using casino-themed attacks and items to pummel her enemies, as well as kicks, but this all seems to spawn out of nowhere, which makes zero sense even for a game like this. Coupled onto that, her Support "skill", if you could even call it that, is the most bland and boring, with a literal gamble of an attack buff or defense debuff, which turns into an attack buff at Bravery 8. (Note that Max Bravery in a battle is 10)

Now, as for Chris, she is much more tolerable. She's tricky to handle at first, and you may think that she's not that good, but once you learn how she's supposed to be played, that's when she becomes fun and powerful. Chris's main gimmick revolves around the first 3 heavy attacks spawning instruments with different effects when used in tandem with the latter heavy attacks that you learn as you level up. Her Support Skill gives a defense buff, and at Bravery 6, Chris also adds the Darkness element to the enemies while also damaging them. She's a powerful conductor demon that commands the symphony of destruction to her foes.

Last of this group is Arnice, and hoo boy. She truly lives up to the title "Knight of Azure." She's the most combat-capable person in the whole roster here, as well as using Servans to assist in taking down her enemies. Her Support Skill is not as viable, being a simple stun attack, and it doesn't get any more impressive at Bravery 7, which just makes it drain health over time from enemies affected. However, her combat capability is a force to be reckoned with.

Next on the roster are Laegrinna & Millennia. I lump these two together because they're effectively 2 sides of the same coin. Both fight using traps, albeit stylized to themselves, with Laegrinna's Support being a Lightning drop that heavily damages enemies in the air, while Millennia's is simply a vacuum floor. Laegrinna's "Awakened Skill" (that is from both the game & wiki) is pretty much more of the same as her Support Skill, which unlocks at Bravery 5 or 6 (I forget which :/). Millennia's, however, turns into a Trap Combo at Bravery 6, which also throws giant rolling boulders at the enemies. These two are very lethal together.

Next is Nobunyaga Oda. This little feline is a furious and ferocious whirlwind of fur and claws on the battlefield, and he's armed with a musket rifle, too. He may seem slow for combat, but Nobunyaga's true fun comes in when you need to sweep enemies within a CQB environment. That is where his skills truly shine. His Support Skill is good, too. An attack buff that also reduces your skill cooldowns whenever you defeat an enemy, meaning you can cut the skill recharge time down with just simple combat, which ALSO can inflict the Darkness effect at Bravery 6 and above, and this cat is one neko you don't want to mess with.

Finally, we have Honoka and Marie Rose. I lump these two together because I have not played as them a lot. Though, they really have nothing to show in combat. Honoka's main thing is using her skull glove for combat, and Marie's is just being a tantrum-throwing brat, at least from what I've seen.
Honoka's Support Skill, though, is very useful because, while it is based on an RNG aspect, she can trigger a recovery effect. At Bravery 4, it also throws enemies within a line. Sure, it's simple, but sometimes simple is best. As for Marie Rose's, she reduces the defense of enemies, while also throwing in a Darkness effect and damage combo as well at Bravery 6.

So, that's the whole roster. In terms of best to worst, I'd rank them as Arnice, Chris, Nobunyaga, a tie between Millennia, Laegrinna, Honoka, and Marie, and finally Rio. The 4 in the middle are pretty interchangeable, depending on the situation. As for Rio? What about her? She legitimately could've been filled by anyone from any of the other franchies. Hell, I would've preferred some other Atelier characters over Marie Rose, Honoka, and Rio. But, then again, that's probably why I'm not on the development team. Oh well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Moving along, Tamaki's roster was one that came as a surprise for me, but it was one I found fun to play as. If you're looking for a story to start with, I recommend Tamaki's, since she has the launch point not only for the Dynasty Warriors characters, but a whole cast of interesting characters too.

Starting off with the aforementioned Dynasty Warriors, we have Zhao Yun, Lu Bu, Wang Yuanji, and Zhou Cang. I'm going to kinda rapid-fire through them, since there's 5 other characters to go through and I can't write essays on them all.

Zhao Yun: great overall combatant, with a decent Support Skill too. Storm Rush gives you a good offensive against the enemies, with Dragon's Roar being unlocked at Bravery 6 and boasts an attack boost to your allies as well. Solid starting fighter.

Lu Bu: The man, the myth, the legend, The Mighty Demon has truly earned his name, both as ally and enemy. He's one of the 3 Heroes that unlocks their Awakened Skills at Bravery 8, but he's a mighty combatant regardless. He deals lots of damage to all surrounding enemies with his Support Skill, but this comes at the cost of lowering your own health, so use this wisely. His upgraded one is more of the same, and truly isn't worth the while since at Bravery 8, you're usually able to body most enemies on the field regardless.

Wang Yuanji: This girl is probably one of the most fun characters I've played. She feels like a weaker version of Sakuya Izayoi from the Touhou series (all she's really missing is the Time Stop powers and she basically is Sakuya at that point), and her crowd control makes her a solid fighter overall. Her Support Skill grants you a gradual healing, which pairs well to stave off Lu Bu's health drain in his, and unlocking her Awakened Skill at Bravery 3 means she's a reliable combatant support early on. You cannot go wrong with her.

Zhou Cang: Probably the weakest of the 4 combat-wise, but that doesn't matter since his main focus is support. Wei Tou's Stride is the most vital support move out there, since it boosts your speed significantly, and the Awakened Skill gives a gradual SP Gauge fill on top of that. Zhou Cang is going to become your No.1 Support member, unless you want to challenge yourself.

Now, we have the Toukiden characters, Oka, Horo, and Tokitsugu. I've played with Oka the most, since she uses a giant sword over a gun, and I personally do not see these 3 as something worth a player's time, but the Toukiden fans probably get a kick out of them. Oka's easily the best, though, with her skill being the Barrier, and its Awakened Skill being unlocked at Bravery 4, which protects you from all incoming attacks, and Awakened also increases your SP Gauge with every enemy KO.

Horo and Tokitsugu get lumped together mostly because they're gunslingers, and both their skills are similar too. Horo's is Sniper: Absorb, which just fires a damaging gravity well shot, with its Awakened Skill form increasing in damage based on how many enemies you've beaten. By the time you make the damage from this worthwhile, you've already won the battle. Tokitsugu's is in a similar vein, with Oni Eater being just a fire-ball launch, but it's a cheaper Awakened Skill at Bravery 3, compared to Horo's Bravery 6 Awakened Skill, and all it does is launch 3 fire balls instead of 1. If you want/have to play as any Toukiden member, I recommend Oka first, then you decide on which gunslinger you want to play as.

Lastly, we have Sophie and Plachta of the Atelier Series. These two are pleasantly fun to play as once you recognize just how capable they are. Sophie herself has her heavy attacks focus on multiple alchemy items she carries on her, like the Ice, Lightning, and regular Bombs, God's Gift, and the Summoning Flute. Furthermore, her Support Skill, Punipuni Shot, and aerial heavy both fire Puni missiles at the enemies, with her Awakened Skill at Bravery 6 dropping recovery items before firing a second wave of missiles. Sophie takes some skill to learn at first, but I highly recommend trying her out once or twice.

As for Plachta, this is a case where the master is outclassed by the student. Most of Plachta's combat moves are based on her attacks from Atelier Sophie, with no real variety on them either. Her support skill also feels like an afterthought, like how I purposefully didn't capitalize Support Skill earlier in this sentence. She can heal up allies, and her Awakened Skill also removes enemy buffs at Bravery 6, but there's not much else to Plachta besides that. Which is a crying shame, because Plachta's one of the best characters in Atelier Sophie, hands down.

Finally, we come to Shiki's Roster. He only has 8 members compared to Setsuna's & Tamaki's 9, but his story is heartwrenching and these 8 are more than enough to fill that empty slot.

Opening the roster, we have Hajime Arima and Darius. These two are enemies in their own world, much like Arnice and Christophorus, but they decide to work together in this world for the time being, until they get back home.

Hajime Arima's probably the single best fighter in the whole game, with his move-set being able to rinse through enemies and commanders alike, as well as the annoying Courageous Commanders modifier that plagues some of the battles (more info on that modifier in my other guide about understanding the game). His Support Skill is a simple line attack, with the Awakened Skill opening up at Bravery 6 and only lowering the cooldown by 50% if it KO's an enemy Hero or Commander, but that all does not matter because if you play him, you play as him. No futzing about.

As for Darius, he's not as interesting of a fighter, but he compliments Arima pretty well. He's definitely more angled towards support, though, with his Support Skill being a lightning blast that rains down on enemies. His Awakened Skill unlocks at Bravery 4, which also grants a flat amount of healing instead of regeneration, but it comes in handy a lot more than you'd think.

Next on deck, we have the members from Samurai Warriors, Mitsunari, Yukimura, and Naotora. Out the gate, I want it to be known that these three can have a massive chain of attacks going, if you know how to play them. Their jumps can be used to cancel their current combo and lead into a new one, making them versatile combo fighters.

Firstly is Yukimura, the equivalent to Zhao Yun in so many senses of the word. This man's fire is indisputable, and he makes good use of it in his Support Skill, which grants you the fire buff. His Awakened Skill unlocks at Bravery 3, which simply staggers enemies as well, but sometimes his interruption is all you need to turn the tide. He also is a god-send against the aforementioned Courageous Commanders battle modifier.

Next is Mitsunari, and I'll be frank: This guy is the most useful supporter that does NOT have an attack nor a buff for your allies. His Support Skill simply removes all negative debuffs from allies, meaning he easily becomes your most valuable ally against the Bandits, since almost every Bandit Lieutenant has the ability to lower your own attack from their own Support Skills. As for Mitsunari's Awakened Skill, Great Luck for All simply gives you a healing buff too, though it unlocks at Bravery 6. But, I highly recommend using Mitsunari whenever going against Bandits.

Finally, we have Naotora Li. This girl is, shockingly, the most efficient combatant among these 3 (in my opinion), coupling brutal CQB with good range coverage in her Tornado Driver heavy attack (no that's not what it's called, but she drills forward like a Tornado, soooo...). She also has one of the most annoyingly good Support Skills in Conviction, which prevents stuns. Doesn't sound like much until you realize that the death animation counts as a stun, so this effectively nullifies your death, making you an unstoppable force for a limited time. And her Awakened Skill, Steeled Resolve, grants you an attack buff based on how much health that you have at that point. So you're getting your butt kicked, Naotora is your ace in the hole for a reversal. This also unlocks at Bravery 6.

Finally, we have Ayane, Ryu, and William. They're only lumped together because of their opening mission combining them all together.

Ayane is the Shinobi who was tasked with hunting down Kasumi for her abandonment of the Mugen Tenshin clan, and while the two are tagged under different games, it's all technically part of the same universe, so for the sake of the game, just ignore that part. Regardless, Ayane's far stronger than Kasumi, since she actually wields swords that she uses, and she also has the more powerful Support Skill to inflict frenzy upon the opponents. This makes them unable to use their own skills for a time. Upon hitting Bravery 6 and Awakening Skill unlocking, Ayane can also combo into the enemies, making her much more versatile. In spite of her inferiority complex, Ayane is a powerhouse and force to be reckoned with.

Next up is Ryu Hayabusa, the ninja of legends. Let me get this out the way: his Support Skill is the last one that opens up at Bravery 8, which "finishes off wounded enemies." You should already be doing that at Bravery 8, so you don't want to use him as your support if you can help it. No, Ryu's true power comes from actually being the fighter. This game alone made me truly respect how powerful Ryu Hayabusa is as a character, even if he's not the most accurate ninja in video games. (Yes, Gaijin Goomba plagued my brain with the notion that he was not a true ninja, and therefore sucked, for so long)

Our final character is William, from Ni-oh, which released after Warriors All Stars. He's the only English-speaking character in the game, but he's also very useful. I'll admit, he's not as impressive in this game as a combatant, and I found it very difficult to play as him overall. But, his true support comes in as a supporter. His Support Skill nullifies the enemy buffs, meaning he disables Oka's Barrier and Naotora's Conviction if you're going against them. It also drops their defense, but that's not as important. Couple that with the Awakened Skill, which unlocks at Bravery 4 and blows through enemies at the end of the shockwave, and you have probably the best counter to the end-game scenarios. Speaking of.........

Now we get into the Main Story roster. These are the last 4 characters in the game, so let's get right to it. Setsuna, Shiki, and Tamaki are all armed with the Sacred Weapons, which have supposedly been passed down through the ages through the Royal Family, and these are their main weapons.

Setsuna himself is arguably the weakest of the 3 Royal Family members, in spite of having a sword for his weapon. He's a decent combatant, but compared to his adopted brother & sister, he doesn't hold a candle to them. This may also be personal bias, but said bias is definitely enforced by his attitude and behaviour in the stories before this one.
Regardless, Setsuna's Support Skill is the only binding skill in the whole game, making it very annoying to deal with. Couple that with the Awakened Skill, which unlocks at Bravery 5 I believe, which also inflicts frenzy, and Setsuna's a very annoying character to deal with overall. I've used Setsuna the least of this trio, and very minimal among all 30 characters, so I don't remember the specifics on his skills. I apologize.

Tamaki is leagues above Setsuna, though. She's definitely a fun combatant, even though she's much more useful as a supporting character. And hoo boy, she overclocks support to an 11. Tamaki's Support Skill is literally a combination of the buffs that the Swordsman & Spearman Captains give, those being attack & defense boosts respectively. Her Awakened Skill, which unlocks I also believe unlocks at Bravery 5, also gives a gradual healing boon too, making her a powerful ally on the support bracket.

Shiki is definitely the most powerful combatant, though, among the Royal Family, and he's no slouch in the support department either. Let me just make it clear now: Shiki's power comes from crowd control and his ability to rip armies apart with his Sacred Weapon above anything else, while also being a powerful one-on-one combatant. His Support Skill rains lightning down upon the enemies nearby, but it has a weird priority of the enemy Heroes. The Awakened Skill also gains a damage boost based on how much health you have remaining, but it still doesn't excuse targeting primarily heroes first. If you do use Shiki, play as him, instead of using him in support.

Finally, we have the last hero on the roster, Opoona. I know I've probably been repeating a lot of what I said in my first guide in this one, in regards to all the heroes, and I will definitely be doing the same thing here, but I'm basing it off the memories I have of completing the game on the PS4, before it was released on the PC.
Anyways, Opoona's a somewhat pathetic combatant, since his movements don't make much sense. But, his Support Skills make him the most broken character on the support bracket overall. See, his Support Skill gives you the lightning buff, but also increases your damage dealing to foes, meaning that this is NOT the same as an attack boost. However, Opoona's Awakened Skill gives you ALL 5 OF THE ELEMENT BUFFS AT ONCE! Yes, they are at random, but that does not matter when you are a shining rainbow of combat blazing through frozen and stunned enemies as they stand bewitched and drained before you. Yes all of that was saying you're burning, freezing, stunning, draining, and bewitching enemies while Opoona's Awakened Skill is active, which unlocks at Bravery 6.

So, who falls where in this roster of 30?

Well, for the full charts, see the images. As for my top picks, let me break them down.

For Combatants:
1. Hajime Arima. This man, pardon my French, fu*king shreds EVERYTHING in his way. Practice with him if you have trouble nailing the combos, but trust me. Once you start nailing the combos down, you will slash through armies so easily and start juggling enemies left and right.
2. Arnice. This may be some personal bias, but Arnice is one of my top picks for fighters overall, because of her combo capabilities with the Servans. You don't need to let the attacks complete when she summons them, so you can just jump out the way after summoning them and continue to mow through enemies behind you while that other hapless group gets torn apart.
3. Ryu Hayabusa. This man has so much power in his strikes, and he can tear through enemies, as well as slash everything in his way in two. Ryu is easily one of the best fighters in the game, and I highly suggest throwing yourself at those armies with him.
4. Wang Yuanji. I already touched base on this earlier, but to reiterate, Wang Yuanji is basically Dynasty Warriors' equivalent to Sakuya Izayoi from Touhou, minus the time-stop ability. Yuanji suffers from some one-on-one combat skill, but when you're plowing through multiple enemies at once, you're not going to notice that problem.
5. Sophie. She is very awkward to use at first, but once you see her in action and see the combo potential behind her alchemical prowess, you will find yourself using her lots and lots.
6. Zhao Yun. The final of my combatant picks, you cannot go wrong with Zhao Yun. He is a powerful, well-rounded fighter who can handle both range and close-combat very well. I highly recommend anyone new to the game try him out first, just so you get a good grip on the game itself.

As for Supporting cast:
1. Zhou Cang. I mean, I cannot overstate how vital and over-powered this man is on the support bracket. You do NOT go into battle without him in the wings, giving you the speed needed to rescue your allies.
2. Nobunyaga Oda. This cat has the claws to rend armies apart, but he lends them to you through his own skill boosting your attack and slashing your cooldowns with every enemy defeated. Why NOT go with him?
3. Opoona. I mean, you cannot go wrong with that Awakened Skill. He really should've had a higher Bravery requirement for his Awakened Skill, but you'll love not having to work harder than needed for it.
4. Oka & Naotora. I cannot put these two over one another, so they get a shared spot. They're effectively two sides of the same coin here. One makes you an unstoppable force, and the other makes you an immovable object.
5. William. My final pick for the roster, William treads that fine line of a supporting character you don't necessarily need, but you will be grateful to have when he is on your side.

If i have one final tip, if the tier lists make it painfully obvious, do not use Rio in any capacity. She is the absolute worst character in this game, and I hate how ungodly gaudy her fighting is. I truly believe that she was put in as a drunken joke from one of the Koei Tecmo Devs, but maybe she is actually popular over in Japan. I truly don't know. I just know that I personally do not like her.

Well, thank you for taking time to read this guide. Now, note these two major things:

1) THIS IS ALL PERSONAL BIAS! Just because I like this roster and use them the most does not mean they are objectively the best. I am still in the mindset, even after all this time after the game released, that Setsuna's cast of characters is easily the worst of the 3 armies, with the only viable members being Arnice, Christophorus, and Nobunyaga. But, that's just me. There may be someone who truly enjoys the way Laegrinna and Millennia fight, or someone may get a kick out of Marie Rose being a brat even in the battlefield. Point is, I'm just like everyone else: I have an opinion about the characters in the roster.

2) This is all solely from my experience playing the game. Some may come to truly hate Zhao Yun because he knocks enemies so far away when you want to take them down immediately, or they may hate using Zhou Cang because he makes you unnaturally fast. Or they may find Sophie too clunky and awkward to fight as. That's okay. I'm only giving my recommendations based on how I've experienced the game. It's up to you to find what works for you and use it. If you like gambling with Rio's Support Skill or find some entertainment with her gaudy antics, then by all means, go for it.

After over-viewing this guide, I have realized I never talked about Kasumi at all, outside of mentioning her once in the Ayane block of text. Well, better late than never as they say.

Kasumi is the Shinobi on the run from the Mugen Tenshin clan's Ayane, but like I said, that story is better left alone. Regardless, Kasumi is honestly a weaker fighter than Ayane, given that she carries swords, but does not use them. Her support skill, though, Sakura-Matoi, is very useful in combat as it boosts your attack speed and applies the love effect to all your attacks. This also awakens at Bravery 5, giving you a health restoration as well at that point.

Given that, prior to gaining Opoona's Awakened Skill, you can only have a maximum of 3 elemental buffs at a time, 4 if you count the one from your Hero Card, Kasumi is honestly one of those supporting characters that is better as support than combat lead.