The protagonists of the previous chapter in Falcom’s long-running Legend of Heroes, the heroes of Trails of Cold Steel are no joke. They’re a collection of talented men and women that excelled in their work, battling against multiple different threats to their way of life and to their homeland of Erebonia.

Over the course of four different games, players get to see these ten teenagers grow as people…and as fighters. With this list, we take the original Class VII (so no teachers or “Bracers”) and rank them according to how good they are as playable characters, with a nod to their actual growth as well.

10 MACHIAS REGNITZ

In a game that’s so frequently about the back and forth between commoners and nobles, Machias is the kind of character that could really use someone to bounce against. He’s constantly complaining about the arrogance of the nobles, but since they rarely affect the player in the first game, it comes off more annoying than anything.

He’s a great fighter though, since he brandishes a freaking shotgun that can turn people to stone, or heal the entire party.

9 MILLIUM ORION

Millium’s great problem is that she’s a great tank but not particularly good with much else. She can take a beating unlike anyone else on the team, which means she’s great if you need someone to soak up damage, but she’s also incredibly slow.

Personality wise though, she’s a sweetheart—she brings levity to situations that could otherwise become way too serious.

8 JUSIS ALBAREA

While he initially comes off as haughty and above it all thanks to being from one of the Great Houses of Erebonia, Jusis Albarea is a lot more than he seems.

Though he’s not the type to share his feelings, he’s incredibly loyal to his friends. In combat, he’s a pretty neat support character thanks to his ability to buff all the people in the party, making them powerhouses that can turn a battle into a breeze.

7 GAIUS WORZEL

The soft-spoken Gaius isn’t much of a character to be honest. In a world where all the protagonists are absolute paragons, he doesn’t stand out even for being a great brother and member of his tribe.

The real usage the players get out of having this character is him being incredible in combat. He’s great at dealing damage, and several of his abilities have delay, slowing down enemies and allowing the player to potentially gain an additional turn.

6 ALISA REINFORD

Trails of Cold Steel’s writing elevates Alisa in a way most series wouldn’t think to do. The series starts with her being a tsundere type, constantly getting flustered and blaming the main character for her own emotions

But as the game continues she becomes more honest with herself. This is great too, because Alisa can cause CP to regenerate for characters, which allows them to continue using their techniques for victories.

5 ELLIOT CRAIG

Elliot was a kid who was forced to go to military school over music school, and it shows. Dude is literally no one’s fighter, and prefers to hang in the back doing a bunch of healing. He’s got some legitimate moves with things like Resounding Beat, which allows automatic HP regeneration and defensive bonuses.

But since he doesn’t deal a bunch of damage and enemies hit like freight trucks, he can’t quite hit the better tier of characters.

4 EMMA MILLSTEIN

The requisite “I’m obviously keeping something from you” member of the group. Emma turns out to be someone tied into Rean and his place in this world. But at the same time, she’s a nice girl with incredible capabilities. She’s the definition of a glass cannon, as she can’t take much in the way of damage, but she doesn’t need to.

She can do so much damage using spells, and her skills involve blocking enemy hits by boosting defense.

3 FIE CLAUSSELL

Quiet and enigmatic, Fie spends the early parts of Cold Steel not really going into detail on who she was…and then you learn she was part of a freaking mercenary group. She was able to earn her keep there, but eventually turned into a member of Class VII as she started to figure out her own life.

Fie’s primary gift in combat is her incredible speed—she’s impossibly fast, so much so she can often gain multiple turns all on her own. She’s great for getting rid of groups of enemies, but she can also boost other people’s speed as well, while boasting a high dodging ability as well.

2 LAURA ARSEID

The noble knight of the group, Laura’s a boss, and easily the most likable character in the game. She’s a bit slow in combat, but that’s so far besides the point. She can take tons of damage as a tank, but she can also deal out so much more.

She can handle large groups, she can turn off mages’ ability to cast spells, and she can even obliterate her opponent’s defenses to wreak even more havoc.

1 REAN SCHWARZER

There’s nothing Rean can’t do, it seems. He’s not the most likable character in the game, but he’s certainly the most versatile. His special techniques mean he’s the character who the player is going to want to use more often than not—he’s got the best crowd control ability, and he can inflict a rather large amount of damage with Flame Dragon Impact.

Class VII rallies around Rean, and with good reason—he can lead them through any challenge they have to deal with.

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