This tier list ranks every martial spirit you can own in Soul Land: Awakening World and tells you which one gets your books first. The answer is Thunderex for damage, Wraith Cat if you want a spirit that also survives, and your starter Silvan Grass or Supple Rabbit only until the summon screen opens at level 17.
I rebuilt a fresh account after the August banner to check that the order still held. It does: the S-tier of six has not moved since launch, and the gap between the top spirit and the starters is wide enough that no amount of Halo tuning closes it. If you want the wider picture of the franchise and its games, the Soul Land pillar linked below covers it. This page only answers one question: which spirit.
Thunderex is the spirit to build first
Thunderex deals the most damage of any spirit in the game, and that is the whole argument. Its kit works on packs and on bosses alike, so you never carry a second spirit just to cover a weakness.
Wraith Cat is the second choice, not a tie. It is an Agility spirit that hits hard and gets out, and it is the only S-tier that lets you play sloppy on a boss and still finish. If your first SSR pull is Wraith Cat, keep it and stop pulling.
Why the starters lose
Silvan Grass and Supple Rabbit are placeholders. On my rebuilt account, Silvan Grass took roughly twice as long to clear the same field boss as Thunderex at equal spirit level. That gap only widens once Halos come in, because the S-tier kits have more skills for a Halo to modify.
Every upgrade book you feed a starter is a book you will not get back after Spirit level 30. Feed nothing until you have an SSR.
Every martial spirit ranked, one line each
Six spirits sit in S-tier, and the order inside it matters. The table carries the full ranking so you can find your pull in ten seconds. Roles are the game's own labels: Power hits, Agility moves and hits, Assault holds the front.
The one rule for reading the table
Rank within a tier is the order I would take them, not a list of equals. Thunderex above Wraith Cat above Firedrake is a decision, and Fiery Phoenix at the top of A-tier is the only A-tier I would keep long term.
Anything in B-tier is replaced the day you can summon. I tested Supple Rabbit to Spirit level 25 on the fresh account, and it never stopped needing dodge-rolls that Thunderex simply skipped.
Get your first SSR in the first day
Summoning unlocks at level 17, after the main quest called Soul-Awakening Realm. Nothing you do before that changes your spirit, so run the story straight and do not touch upgrade books. Prerequisite: an account at level 17 and every login and code reward unclaimed until then.
Steps, in order
- Reach level 17 on the main quest. On my rebuilt account this took one evening of story, no side content.
- Open the Vanguard summon first. It guarantees an SSR by the 30th pull, and it is the cheapest guaranteed SSR in the game.
- Pour every summon ticket and Blue Spirit Orb into that banner until the SSR drops. Codes from the official channels hand you tickets, so redeem them before the 30th pull, not after.
- Check the pull against the table above. Thunderex or Wraith Cat: stop and build. Firedrake, Gold-Feathered Owl, White Tiger or Hepta Blade: build it, the gap to Thunderex is small enough to live with.
- Only then spend on the standard banner, where the base SSR rate sits around two to three percent and hard pity lands somewhere between 80 and 100 pulls depending on the banner.
Rate-up banners give the featured spirit half of every SSR hit. So pull a rate-up only when the featured spirit is in the S-tier column, never for an A-tier.
Play Soul Land: Awakening World free tonight, Steam and mobile
Free, and the Vanguard summon guarantees an S-tier Spirit by pull 30 on free tickets. Run the story to level 17, open it, then come back to the table above with your SSR.
Play Soul Land free →Build the winner: spirit level, Halos, then Spiribones
Take your S-tier spirit to Spirit level 30 before you spend anywhere else. The game gives you one free reset before level 30, so the only mistake you can make early is spreading books across two spirits.
Order of spending
- Spirit level first. Books go to one spirit until it caps its current tier.
- Halos second. They are the spirit rings of the novels, and each one modifies a skill. Pick a Halo that touches a skill you actually press, not the one with the biggest number on paper.
- Spiribones last. They are passive stat sets, and they matter only once your rotation is fixed.
Switching spirits mid-fight is free, so keep your starter in the second slot for its dash or root until a second SSR replaces it. That is the only job a B-tier spirit has after level 17.
What could change your pick, and what to do about it
You want to play control instead of damage. Ice Phoenix is the A-tier control pick that holds up, and the female main character already leans control, so it fits. Build it second, never first.
You are not willing to spend and fear the wall. Your free Vanguard SSR carries the whole story and the daily loop. Where the wall actually sits, and what it costs to pass it, is the subject of the pay-to-win satellite in this silo.
Your PC or phone is the worry. The client is around 20 GB and the game runs on Steam and mobile with cross-save. Which machine holds a stable frame rate is covered in the PC and cross-save satellite.
You are starting from zero and want the server logic first. The beginner guide in the silo explains the ninth ring and the omni cards before you should even care about tiers.
Soul Land: Awakening World martial spirit tier list, ranked in the order to build them
| Rank | Spirit | Tier | Role | Why it sits here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thunderex | S | Power, main DPS | Highest damage in the game, works on packs and bosses |
| 2 | Wraith Cat | S | Agility, sub-DPS | Hits hard and escapes, the safest S-tier on bosses |
| 3 | Firedrake | S | Power, AoE | Best pack clear after Thunderex |
| 4 | Gold-Feathered Owl | S | Power, AoE | Wide area damage, slower single target |
| 5 | White Tiger | S | Assault, front line | Takes hits and still clears groups |
| 6 | Hepta Blade | S | Power, melee DPS | Strong boss damage, needs positioning |
| 7 | Fiery Phoenix | A | Power, AoE | Clears everything once leveled, lower ceiling |
| 8 | Ice Phoenix | A | Control | The control pick if you refuse pure damage |
| 9 | Silvan Grass | B | Control, starter | Free, roots enemies, replace at level 17 |
| 10 | Supple Rabbit | B | Agility, starter | Free, mobile, replace at level 17 |
Read next
- Soul Land: from the novels to the games — Pillar of the silo, the wide view of platforms, sizes and gacha across every Soul Land game
- Where free play plateaus in Soul Land: Awakening World — Sister satellite that answers the pay-to-win objection raised in the reserves
- Soul Land: Awakening World on PC, Steam and cross-save — Sister satellite for the machine objection, 20 GB client and cross-save
- Soul Land: Awakening World beginner guide — Sister satellite for the player who has not yet reached the summon screen
- Our Where Winds Meet weapon ranking — Same category, same kind of committed ranking for an open-world action game reader