Ranking the Chimera Squadmates

Terminal for the sustain and multi-overwatch, Torque to shut down priority targets, Cherub to tank and throw clutch shields and Blueblood to melt people

S Tier - Terminal and Blueblood

A Tier - Claymore, Cherub, Godmother

B Tier - Torque, Zephyr, Axiom, Patchwork

C Tier - Verge, Shelter

Some variation depending on what phase of the game you're in, and the difficulty level. Claymore for example is extremely powerful late game but a little inconsistent (he suffers on larger maps due to enemy spread and his generally shit mobility), and he's poor to middling early game. Zephyr is an early game powerhouse but falls off later. Torque is extremely good out of the box...perhaps the best level 1 agent in the game...but doesn't scale particularly well and gets dramatically outshone later.

Blueblood and Terminal both start off slow but are all-situation juggernauts late game. Terminal for her force multiplier potential and general support abilities, and Blueblood for his ability to delete an entire room full of enemies in a single turn.

Cherub synergizes extremely well with both Terminal and Axiom, and is a fantastic defensive option in the early game when scars are easy to come by. Damage is fairly predictable in Chimera Squad and being able to (almost) completely neutralize the threat to an agent is huge. His damage prevention is binary so it scales into late game, but his offensive contributions do not. He is, however, a fantastic non-lethal option in the early game, when the extra intel from captures is most important (a guaranteed 3 damage subdue that can scale up with charges is not to be underestimated).

Godmother sneaks up due to close combat specialist and ventilate, two extremely powerful on-demand abilities.

Patchwork is good guaranteed damage and is extremely effective against one criminal organization, but has some breach functionality overlap with Terminal and tends to lose out as a consequence due to Terminals indispensibility. I'm probably underrating her.

Axiom is a tremendous damage sponge and the only truly speccable "tank" character in the game, but is unreliable offensively and can get into trouble quickly if his shrug it off doesn't proc. I prefer the reliable damage mitigation of Cherub.

Verge takes too long to "spin up"...most fights are over in 1-2 rounds by late game due to Blueblood and Claymore obliterating rooms in a single turn. And Shelter, while one of the most dynamic and interesting squad mates...is a bit too fragile and specialized for my tastes. He can pull off some highly creative combos, but the game rewards brute force.

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Terminal - some of the best abilities in the game, makes any stage of the game trivial.

Blueblood - cleans house. None of my late game fights last more than a few turns. In fact my last fight in the game lasted 2 rounds on Impossible, and this guy is the reason for that. Deadeye one shots stuff, and has no cd.

Claymore - this guy deletes bosses and armor. With the rupture ability, he also has huge support potential. He either cleans house on his own or sets up Blueblood for a round of uncovered enemies who are ruptured and have no armor. Insane late game unit, but his power is loaded into his later skills.

4th one is up for debate, as everyone seems to have a favorite. I choose Torque, since 100% dodge makes her practically invulnerable, and she can pick and choose who to control, debuff or give even more turns to Blueblood. Bonus points for dealing with Codex without them splitting and for hostage missions.