Summary
- Tanks are crucial for team longevity in Blue Archive, ensuring support and damage to take out tough enemies.
- Limited units like Yuuka (Tracksuit) offer great tanking and repositioning abilities for specific boss fights.
- Free unit Yuuka is a solid Mystic Striker tank with healing capabilities, essential for early-game teams.
Whether players are trying to score the highest rank in PVP or trying to take down the most difficult Raid bosses, every good Blue Archive team build needs a Tank unit. From traditional tanks that use shields and restore their health, to characters who just happen to have enough HP to take hits from the frontlines while wiping out enemies quickly, it’s a good thing Blue Archive has so many great Tanks available for players to choose from.
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Tanks are massively important in ensuring the longevity of a team and making sure that the rest of the units they’re fighting alongside have the time and support to deal enough damage to take out even the toughest enemies. This article covers Tank units in Blue Archive from best to worst, and explores what makes them so good. It also includes accessible options for newer players, including free units.
Updated on August 19, 2024 by Abbie Sharp: With the Blue Archive meta constantly shifting, this article has been updated to add a few more units - including some good options for free-to-play players - and has added further notes on character viability in raids and PVP.
1 Hoshino (Swimsuit)
A Support Unit Capable Of Tanking The Toughest Hits
The special summer skin version of Abydos' vice president, Hoshino, Hoshino (Swimsuit) is a three-star Striker who deals Explosion damage. While Hoshino isn't a Tank unit in the traditional sense - the game actually lists her as a Support unit - she fights from the front of the team, and is so good at absorbing damage that she can function very capably as both a tank and a support, making her invaluable to any play style.
Hoshino's Passive Skill increases her defense and attack by a set percentage, making her effective as a tank while still establishing her as an effective damage-dealing unit. Alongside this, Hoshino also recovers a set amount of health every 40 seconds thanks to her Normal Skill, which means she doesn't have to be completely reliant on healers and can self-sustain quite easily. The rest of her skills allow her to act as a Support for her teammates by increasing their attack and Skill cost regeneration rates.
However, one negative point about this version of Hoshino is that she's limited, meaning she won't show up on the standard gacha banner. She last had a re-run in July 2024, so it can be assumed the next time we'll see her on another limited banner may be during Summer 2025.
2 Yuuka (Tracksuit)
Essential For Repositioning Teammates
Another limited three-star character, Yuuka (Tracksuit) is a special event Tank unit. She fights from the front of the team as a Mystic Striker and does a great job at both tanking hits and repositioning the players' units to keep them out of danger. This is a massive help against certain bosses that target specific areas on the field or that consistently aim at certain characters.
More specifically, Yuuka's kit revolves mostly around her EX Skill, which allows her to reposition three allies on the field to a chosen location and then cast a healing barrier. Her Normal Skill also adds to this, casting the same barrier on Yuuka every 30 seconds, as long as she does not already have a barrier up. Her Passive and Sub-Skills allow Yuuka to attack faster and also boost her Mystic damage, making her especially useful as a tank that can also deal damage effectively.
Despite the fact that this version of Yuuka is limited, she has already had one event rerun earlier in 2024 on the Global Blue Archive server, making it even more likely that she'll also have another event banner next year, too.
3 Mika
Not Technically A Tank, But She'll Wipe Out Enemies So Quickly It Doesn't Matter
While Mika isn't actually a Tank student - listed as an Attacker in the game - she is one of the most broken units on the roster. As such, she is more than capable of tanking huge amounts of damage while both fighting from the front of the team and dealing enough damage to be able to wipe out bosses in one hit. In fact, each of her Skills focuses entirely on either dealing damage to enemies or boosting her attack, so players will not necessarily have to pay careful attention to raising her Skills to get the most out of her high defense. Instead, players should focus on her equipment - more specifically, her Badge and Watch slots - to try and increase her max HP.
However, similar to the characters mentioned above, Mika is a limited three-star who does not appear on the regular gacha banner. That being said, it seems she may next have a banner at the beginning of 2025, so start saving up - you'll miss skipping her.
4 Tsubaki
The Perfect Example Of What A Tank Should Be
For many Blue Archive players, Tsubaki will be their first proper introduction to traditional Tank units in the game. This is thanks to her two-star rarity, meaning she can be pulled for on any gacha banner. Thankfully, not only is she easy to get, she's also an incredibly good Tank that only gets better the more she's built.
Tsubaki is a Penetration Striker unit who fights from the front of the team. One main feature of Tsubaki's play style is her EX Skill, which increases her defense by a set percentage for 30 seconds while also allowing her to taunt enemies in an area. Similarly, her Sub Skill has her take less incoming damage while reloading. However, arguably the best part of her kit is her Normal Skill, which has Tsubaki heal herself by a certain amount once per match if her HP hits 30% or below. These features make Tsubaki a great feature on any team, as she can take the heat off her teammates and doesn't need to rely entirely on a healer.
While Tsubaki is only a two-star character, she can be farmed through two Hard stages - 15-2H and 23-2H. Alongside this, her Elephs have also appeared within several event shops within the game, including in event reruns. As such, Tsubaki can easily be built to three-star and above - and she definitely should be, since she remains a great staple from early-game to late-game.
5 Marina
A Top Tank Option For PVP
Marina is a three-star Penetration damage Tank who fits into many different playstyles efficiently, making her a great choice for anyone looking to invest in a Tank that can be used across the game. She's especially good in PVP, making her a top choice for players who want a Tank that does a little bit more work than lower-star units like Tsubaki. However, she's also available through the regular gacha banner, making her relatively accessible (especially compared to the limited three-star units on this list). Marina has also had several rate-up banners in the past, making it very likely she'll have another at some point.
As Marina is another option for damage-dealing Tanks, her build splits between her ability to tank and her ability to take down enemies. Her Normal Skill is arguably the most valuable part of her build as a Tank, as it allows her to become invincible for a certain amount of time when her HP hits 20% or lower. The time she remains invincible increases as her Normal Skill is leveled up, starting at 12 seconds and reaching 22.8 seconds at max level. Her Passive also helps her as a Tank, as it increases her evasion by a certain percentage. Similarly, her Sub-Skill also increases her evasion by a certain amount when her EX Skill is active, stacking alongside her Passive. Overall, the mix of evasion and invincibility makes Marina a Tank that's more than capable of keeping herself out of harm's way while she deals damage.
6 Yuuka
A Great PVP Tank Given To Players For Free
Yuuka is quite literally the earliest Tank unit that players will encounter in Blue Archive, as she's given to the player as a free unit during the tutorial section of the game. For a free unit, Yuuka does her job well and is especially useful as a two-star Mystic Striker. She also appears in the majority of PVP teams due to the fact that she can only really be taken down by one unit, Iori.
Yuuka is a Tank unit that fights at the front of the team. Similar to her limited Tracksuit skin, her EX Skill creates a barrier for her that gradually heals her, lasting for up to 20 seconds. She also heals herself for a certain amount whenever she takes cover thanks to her Sub-Skill, although this is slightly unreliable due to some levels having very little cover, and due to this Skill having a 10-second cooldown. Finally, her Passive increases her defense by a set percentage.
Alongside the fact that she's given to the player for free, Yuuka is also very easy to continue farming. She's the first unit that can be farmed in Hard gameplay levels, appearing in 1-1H, though she also appears again in 4-3H and 12-2H. Similarly to Tsubaki, she has also been featured as a reward in certain events.
7 Hoshino
Great At Taking Hits And Dealing Damage
Unlike her Summer exclusive skin, Hoshino actually is a Tank unit - and a very good one at that. She effectively deals Penetration-type damage from the front while taking hits for the rest of her team. Alongside this, she's also great at crowd-controlling enemies, and she can fit into different teams and play styles quite easily, making her a great option even in PVP settings.
Similarly to her Summer form, Hoshino's Normal Skill allows her to continuously cast healing upon herself when her HP hits 30% or lower, meaning that she can self-sustain well without having to rely entirely on Healer units to keep her going. Alongside this, her Sub-Skill also allows her to cast a healing barrier whenever her damage-dealing EX Skill is currently active, making her somewhat similar to Yuuka (Tracksuit) in that regard. Her Passive Skill also raises her defense, allowing her to last longer on the battlefield.
Hoshino is relatively easy to get, as she is available in the regular banner gacha and has previously had limited banners. On top of this, she's also farmable in two Hard levels: 7-3H and 11-3H. Players are definitely encouraged to farm her, as she's a very useful character to have.
8 Atsuko
A Great Healing Tank For PVP
Atsuko is a Tank with AOE healing capabilities, making her a great option for those who aren't interested in taking up two slots in their team with separate healers and tanks. She also has a solid place in the current PVP meta thanks to her gameplay predominantly being focused on evasion, making her an annoying unit for other players to deal with.
Alongside healing allies with an AOE circle every 5 seconds whenever her EX Skill is triggered, Atsuko also boosts their Evasion by a set amount every 30 seconds by dropping a smoke bomb that covers a specific area. This lasts for 20 seconds, making it immensely useful in game modes like PVP where every second counts. She also passively boosts her own EVA, with this boost being bolstered further by her Sub-Skill, raising her EVA even further when her HP hits 30% or lower.
However, Atsuko is a limited unit. While she is on the permanent gacha banner, she has also had three reruns, with her most recent being July 2024. Though this means that she's not likely to get a specific rerun banner soon, it does mean she'll likely have another at some point in the future.
9 Sumire
Half Tank, Half Damage Dealer
Like some of the other units we've mentioned, Sumire isn't actually a Tank - she's primarily an Attacker, and her playstyle reflects this. However, in game modes like PVP, Sumire is a decently tanky unit that will benefit even further from being paired with a healer or an actual tank. She can survive a decent amount of damage, but she will die eventually - and thankfully, she's strong enough to make her inevitable sacrifice worth it.
Her Passive and Sub-Skills are to thank for her decent tanky capabilities, since they focus on Max HP and DEF respectively. As Sumire fights from the front, her AOE EX Skill is also useful thanks to being able to target multiple front-line enemies at once, making it easier to wipe them out and focus on the more vulnerable backliners. Her Normal Skill also boosts her ATK every 40 seconds, lasting for 20 seconds.
Another thing that makes Sumire so great is the fact that she can be purchased through the Joint Firing Drill shop with enough currency. Plus, she's available as a general gacha banner option, meaning she's not especially difficult for players to get their hands on.
10 Mine
Debuffing, Healing, And Repositioning - She Can Do It All
As the president of Trinity's Remedial Knights, it may come as no surprise that Mine is an effective Tank unit that is capable of self-sustaining and healing with her myriad of Skills, as well as helping her teammates by debuffing enemies. Mine is a front-fighting Explosion Striker unit who, for the most part, can do a bit of everything. This makes her very useful in several game modes, including Raids and PVP.
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Firstly, with her EX Skill, Mine is able to jump to a chosen area on the field, keeping her out of harms way. She's also able to debuff enemies' evasion and defense by a certain amount - an amount which increases if the enemy is medium-sized. Alongside this, her EX Skill also deals damage to enemies, making it a good all-rounder for evasion, debuffing, and damage. To help support her as a Tank, her Passive Skill increases her HP by a percentage. Importantly, her Sub-Skill allows Mine to provide healing to herself whenever her EX Skill is active. If she is already actively healing herself, the healing will instead be changed to Crit Res, also allowing her to tank hits more effectively.
While Mine is in the regular gacha banner pool, players will also be relieved to know that she's currently featured as one of August's rate-up banners. If there's any time to pull, it's now.