Represented by the highest-level demon of their respective race.

In this post I will go over why some >!demon!< races are clearly better than others.

As I replayed the game with Unkillable + Focused challenges (no leader deaths and no free battles) on New Game I've been paying a little more attention to the strategic aspect of it than usual so decided to post this ranking after changing my mind on a few racial skills from the game over the course of the playthrough. All of this is subjective ofc, feel free to fight me.

18: Fallen's Sacrifice (Team restores HP and MP whenever user defeats an enemy)

This genuinely does nothing. You are never fusing a Fallen demon for this skill. It sounds strong, being able to restore MP just for killing a guy, but in this game MP isn't a huge concern (important, but doesn't need crazy managing. also, Drain a certain other race exist) and the amount of it and HP that Sacrifice restores is pitiful. Plus the condition of the Fallen demon needing to kill the enemy. Just an awful race.

17: Fairy's Charm (Heal a little hp of your own or nearby team, small chance of side effect)

Slightly more useful than Sacrifice, it has utility and there's cases it can make your team when it would die otherwise. But the amount it heals is so little, and the chance for one of the additional effects is small (plus it can give you one that won't help you, like crit chance up on a magic team). Better in early game for sure.

16: Jaki's Bind (Reduce an enemy's movement to 1 for one turn)

Definitely the weakest from the movement-based abilities but not useless. Useful if you want to get first drop on an enemy but they're just a little out of reach. Sometimes tho they can get a double turn before your next one) especially if they have Genma so that fucks you over. Also useful on NPC missions.

15: Divine's Blood Wine (Costs HP, team restores some MP)

Blood Wine is definitely an ability you can build an entire team around, having guys with low mp count or using high-cost skills being able to do so thanks to it. The reason I put it so low is just that it's a slightly niche team setup, and like I said MP isn't a huge concern + you will be needing to use it more than once if you spam high cost spells since the restore isn't too big, which will slow down your turn speed. There's a reason it's in the okay tier and not bad.

14: Femme's Devotion (Heals own or nearby team by 50% of the user's HP)

Definitely not a bad racial however it is very outclassed by one much later. The biggest problem with it is that when your Femme demon is low (AKA, when you would want to heal the most) it barely does anything. Still it's useful for keeping your team at high health and freeing a move slot for Media or smth.

13: Snake's Constrict (Enemies next to the user have 1 move range + initiative up when being attacked)

This is a racial I've slept on for sure, if I made this list when I first played it would probably be in the bottom three. The actual effect isn't too big however it can come into play and save your ass when being ganged on by lot of enemies especially. Plus it has a pretty nice synergy with Dragon and Vile, leaving you less defenseless when getting ambushed. From my personal experience not something you make a demon for, but a nice thing to have.

12: Touki's Aggravate (After activation, first phys hit of each team member becomes a guaranteed crit)

GOATED in early game with a huge fall-off later on, only nice on bosses then. When you have only basic attacks and anger hit (which you won't use with Aggravate ofc) for physicals it increases your damage by a ton both with crit damage and extra turns. It works nice with Power Hit too. But the fact it only affects the first enemy you hit when you use it kills its lategame potential, as all targets is practically only thing you use phys for then (boosting only one hit from the 21-hit Multi-Strike lol). Maybe I should've put it higher just for early game power.

11: Vile's Chaos Wave (-1 movement, no extra turns, turn cost when moving increased, +2 range)

Like a Dragon, this race is one that comes with downsides so you want to make a full team around it. It's usually worse than Dragon, the -1 movement being not comparable to the +1 range, however it has a niche of countering said Dragons. Anyways this is an absurdly powerful racial if you use it properly (aka have good enough dps letting you one tap enemy teams) however the drawback is so big which is why I can't put it higher.

10: Beast's Animal Leg (Move action refreshed after attacking)

Good although slightly overrated synergy with Kishin. Otherwise it's just fine, I most often used the bonus move to just retreat and not let enemies get first drop on my team, however it's not always too useful and I preferred two other passive movement abilities later on the list.

9: Kishin's Double Up (You can use the attack command twice)

Great for bosses and when used together with Dragon, Vile, and Beast, otherwise it's not that great. Mainly due to the attack comand being heavy on your turn speed, which means if you use it twice your next turn comes noticeably later (same reason for why I think Beast + Kishin is just good and not amazing). Plus DeSu is a game where you can kill a lot of regular enemy teams in one battle, or at least leave them with just the leader which will die when ambushing you, so getting to fight twice on regular missions isn't a huge boon.

8: Avatar's Switch (Swap places with another team up to 6 tiles away)

Potential man the racial. Insane utility and allows for some pretty convoluded plans at the start of a battle (especially when trying to crack a skill that's far away). If you use it correctly it's Devil Speed but better, that only moves you for 7 while Switch + move action can much more. And it can save your ass at most random times, and great on NPC missions. Only reason it's not higher is being a bit specific.

7: Wilder's Devil Speed (After activation, move speed increases to 7 and initiative up for 1 turn)

Very simple reason for being good, being able to get first drop on an enemy from far away is great. Biggest downside is that it noticeably slows down next turn, which is noticeable especially with Dragon/Vile. Not much more to add I think everyone who played this game think it's at least decent.

6: Dragon's Evil Wave (No extra turns, turn cost when moving increased, +1 range)

Vile but better. I feel that Vile has better individual demons but I only care about the skill itself and in that regard Dragon easily wins. Being able to hit people without getting hit back is something only these races can do and it's just that good, even if your total damage is lower due to no extra turns.

5: Genma's Phantasma (Turn cost when moving decreased, can move over obstacles)

Very underrated ability, I thought of putting it a tier higher for a bit. While Avian's +1 movement is generally a better effect in my opinion, the turn cost decrease is very noticeable, and of course the flying effect is super good on certain maps. Good Devil Speed synergy as well, which is smaller with Flight since it already provides bonus movement.

4: Tyrant's Tyranny (Team restores MP based on damage dealt + Enemy turn pushed back more when attacking)

This ability singlehandedly solves all MP issues you might have. The healing is both more consistent AND usually bigger than whatever Fallen provides. And on top of already shitting on Fallen it has a second effect too, making it THE best racial for bosses in the game, if you attack a boss enough with a tyrant on the team its turn won't ever come, which synergizes greatly with the other boss killer race, Kishin. Just great abilility to have at all times.

3: Avian's Flight (+1 movement, can move over obstacles)

Another race that is just always good for a simple reason. Passive +1 makes ambushes much easier and moves you around the map quicker. May be controversial with how simple it is and not having a huge potential instead just being consistent, but to me it felt very great to use. And of course it shits on some maps just like Genma (Belberith fight lol)

2: Megami's Affection (Large heal + ailment cure to own team or an ally team up to 4 tiles away)

You may ask why is this so high. Well I feel this is the best heal ability in the game due to its range, allowing you to do stuff while healing an ally instead needing to be right next to them, and for all of the game, ever since you get Sarasvati it functions as a slightly smaller Prayer at a level as low as TWELVE, the healing is so much it'll bring you to very high or max health each time. Plus just like Devotion, lets you put something else instead of a healing skills when making a team. It's not really flashy, no large movement or big damage buff just nice to have, very strong and consistent healing.

1: Deity's Awakening (After activation, each team member does 1.5x damage with first magic attack)

HOW DID THIS PASS TESTING LMAO awakening allows you to crank out absurd fucking damage numbers, making you kill enemies with resisted hits and absolutely nuke through boss health. The MP cost isn't high at all, doesn't increase turn cost by that much even, makes using Dragon/Vile pretty much risk free since you're pretty much guaranteed to one tap the enemy, and most importantly works for all hits and not just one like Aggravate. I always thought it's good but after the replay it's easily the best racial skill in the game to me.

Anyways bye. Let me know which of these races are cool and which are you racist towards.

Devil Survivor Overclocked - Racism ranking and explanation.