The Epic Recruitment keyart in AFK Journey showing Brutus, Smokey, and Silvina.
Image via Farlight Games

AFK Journey: Best characters to Wish List

Save your wishlist for the best characters in AFK Journey.

AFK Journey’s Wish List system allows you to select exactly which heroes you want to get when you use Recruitment Letters or Diamonds, helping you minimize unwanted characters in your gacha pulls. Choosing the right characters for your Wish List is crucial to dominating the game.

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All characters to Wish List in AFK Journey

FactionS-LevelA-LevelAlternatives
LightbearerTemesia
Cassadee*
Korin
Marilee
Vala
Lucius
MaulerShakir
Smokey & Meerky
Koko
Odie
Brutus
Antandra
WilderGranny Dahnie
Hewynn
Damian
Lyca
Eironn
Parisa
GravebornThoran
Cecia
Silvina
Viperian
Igor
Niru
*Replace with Vala once she’s out of Rate Up Recruitment

Lightbearer choices

The wishlist screen in AFK Journey highlight the Lightbearer and Mauler heroes.
These heroes will be your win conditions. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Temesia is the best AFK Journey Lightbearer hero to add to your Wish List because of her incredible ability to break apart enemy formations and distract the key attackers in their backline. Cassadee boosts your damage dealers with her attack buff, and her impressive wave knockback provides excellent utility. Vala is currently unavailable for the Wish List since she appears in Rate Up Recruitment, but she’s among the top damage dealers in the game. Consider slotting her into Cassadee’s position when she becomes available.

Korin and Marilee lead the pack in damage and utility among Lightbearers, thanks to Korin’s protective shields and Marilee’s self-buffs. They both start inflicting true damage once they reach the Mythic+ level, courtesy of their EX Weapon, making them high-priority pulls in Recruitment. Lucius is a solid choice too, as upgrading him enhances his durability and allows him to use his shield-based ultimate more reliably.

Mauler choices

Smokey & Meerky stand out as the best support duo in the game due to their steady healing and damage enhancements. You want them to be as tanky as possible to ensure they consistently support your team. Shakir excels at self-sustain through his lifesteal, which improves as he advances in tiers. Brutus offers a reliable alternative when you need potent single-target damage, such as against Dream Realm bosses.

Koko shines as a premier offensive support with her widespread attack and life drain buffs; keep her well-protected and get multiple copies to frequently deploy her ultimate. Odie is an excellent damage dealer for extended battles, growing stronger as he ascends. Antandra is the top pick for alternative strategies, particularly in the best AFK Journey teams that use turtle strategies to thrive in extended fights, protecting a DPS carry like Cecia.

Wilder choices

The wishlist screen in AFK Journey highlight the Lightbearer and Mauler heroes.
Your strategies will start running smoothly with them. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Granny Dahnie, like any tank, benefits from the added resilience offered by higher ascension tiers, which enhances her already strong self-sustain and independence. Hewynn, who starts off somewhat slow and fragile, needs to be ascended quickly to become more reliable and frequently use her powerful global healing. Eironn is a solid choice if you’re searching for a top damage dealer in PvP.

Damian and Lyca excel thanks to their support skills. Damian, in particular, becomes significantly more effective at the Mythic+ level, largely due to his EX Weapon that provides Haste to the team, making it a priority to reach this tier quickly. Lyca, who operates as a hybrid damage-support character, may initially seem slow, so progressing her through the tiers is crucial for enhancing her sustainability and damage output. Parisa is a good general alternative for prolonged team battles.

Graveborn choices

Thoran is one of the best characters in AFK Journey, and advancing his tier to Mythic+ activates his powerful EX Weapon, allowing him to absorb damage meant for an ally and gain a second resurrection. Cecia’s formidable damage output increases with additional copies, and her Mythic+ ability makes her summons sturdier as the battle drags on. Igor is an excellent alternative for these two, having outstanding survival skills and the ability to keep dodging death as long as his tombstones remain intact.

Silvina is ideal for strategies that target the enemy’s backline, and ascending her to Mythic+ grants her a substantial shield at the start of battle, improving her ability to disrupt ranged attackers. Viperian transforms into a global nuker with his Mythic+ ability, so acquiring multiple copies of him as soon as possible is great. Niru is a viable alternative since he can activate his ally-resurrecting ultimate at no energy cost at the start of battle once he reaches Mythic+, and his ultimate is crucial to his effectiveness.


This list considers you already have at least one copy of each AFK Journey character. If you don’t, you should adjust it to fit the characters you’re missing, because many times in the early game, it’s more important to have more hero choices to counter certain Story and Arena strategies than to have a single high-ascension character.

How to edit your Wish Listed heroes in AFK Journey

The upper half of the AFK Journey screen highlighting the Wishlist icon.
Look at the top right of your screen. Screenshot and remix by Dot Esports

To change the heroes on your AFK Journey Wish List, follow the steps below:

  1. Open AFK Journey.
  2. From the main screen, choose Mystical House.
  3. Go to the Noble Tavern.
  4. Navigate to All Hero Recruitment, which you can find on the bottom menu.
  5. Click or tap on Wish List, located in the top right corner of your screen.
  6. Touch or click on the heroes from each Faction to change them.

What is the Wish List in AFK Journey and how does it work?

The Wish List is a selection of characters you choose to include in the potential rewards pool for the All-Hero Recruitment and the Epic Recruitment at the Noble Tavern. Essentially, the heroes you add to your Wish List are the only ones you can obtain from Recruitments in their respective categories.

In the All-Hero Recruitment, you need to pick four heroes per Faction: two S-Level and two A-Level. In the Epic Recruitment, you are limited to choosing five characters in total, regardless of whether they are S-Level or A-Level. However, the only S-Level heroes you can receive from this Recruitment are those you’ve listed, while the A-Level ones are those included in your All-Hero Wish List. That’s why I recommend you populate the Epic Recruitment Wish List with S-Level heroes only.


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Author
Bhernardo Viana
Guides writer and strategist working in the gaming industry for over 9 years, with works published on Destructoid, Prima Games, ESPN, and more. A fan of Pokémon since I was 6 and an avid Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch player. Now hooked by Balatro and working on AFK Journey.