DragonSword: Awakening Characters
Quick answer
DragonSword: Awakening has 19 heroes at launch: Alex, Aria, Astria, Castella, Cerese, Charlotte, Dana, Eileen, Johnny, Kalien, Kalsion, Lute, Ornette, Othello, Reina, Roxy, Sion, Tarte and Theresia. Four more free heroes — Ryza, Jerome, Veronica and Logan — are planned for the second half of 2026.
Updated · Verified on Patch 1.0.x · Sources: in-game testing, Steam store page, Hound13 announcements
Nineteen heroes, three on the field at once. What separates them is not raw power so much as which status ailment they apply, because that determines what they can start or answer in a tag combo.
The full launch roster
| Hero | Element | Role | Applies | Notes | Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cerese | Frost | Setup | Chill / Freeze | Her Bond Quest unlocks Tower of Trials | Verified |
| Lute | Physical | Setup | Stun, Down | The protagonist; Relic Fall is a strong AoE | Verified |
| Castella | Physical | Break | Break, Stun | Elf assault vanguard; shakes the front line | Verified |
| Eileen | Physical | Break | Airborne | Halberd knight; banner raises allied attack | Verified |
| Reina | Physical | Burst | Airborne, Bleed | Sword knight; fast combos and aerial pressure | Verified |
| Theresia | Physical | Burst | Bleed | Strongest in the current meta, most technically demanding | Verified |
| Kalsion | Fire | Burst | Burn | Weapon "Blaze"; Flame Wave raises his own attack | Verified |
| Sion | Holy | Support | Shock | Divine Crash and Divine Smash; Shock punishes downed targets | Verified |
| Johnny | Physical | Burst | — | One of the two mercenaries Lute travels with | Pending |
| Charlotte | Physical | Burst | — | — | Pending |
| Roxy | Physical | Burst | — | — | Pending |
| Dana | — | Support | — | — | Pending |
| Tarte | — | Support | — | — | Pending |
| Othello | — | — | — | Receives the first post-launch Hero Quest | Pending |
| Ornette | — | — | — | Has a launch costume DLC | Pending |
| Aria | — | — | — | — | Pending |
| Astria | — | — | — | — | Pending |
| Alex | — | — | — | — | Pending |
| Kalien | — | — | — | — | Pending |
Why some rows say Pending. Eight heroes are verified from in-game skill descriptions on patch 1.0.x. The remaining eleven are published as gaps because several competing sites list mutually contradictory ailment assignments for them, and a wrong answer here sends you into a Tower run with a team that cannot chain. We fill these rows as we verify them in-game. Corrections with a screenshot are welcome via contact.
Alternate spellings and name variants
Different sites transliterate several DragonSword: Awakening names differently, which makes searching frustrating. These all refer to the same hero:
| Canonical name | Also written as |
|---|---|
| Cerese | Seris, Ceres, Cerise |
| Sion | Zion, Scion |
| Kalsion | Calcion, Kalcion |
| Dana | Donna |
| Tarte | Tart |
| Theresia | Theressia, Teresia |
| Kalien | Kalian, Kaliem |
We use the in-game spellings throughout this wiki. If you arrived searching for one of the variants, the canonical page is linked from the table above.
How to read a hero
Four things decide whether a hero is useful to your team, in this order:
- Which ailment they apply. This is their identity. It determines whether they open a chain, extend it, or sit idle. See status ailments.
- Which role they fill — setup, break or burst. See best team comps.
- Their element, because Karma must match a hero's element or part of its benefit is silently lost.
- Execution difficulty. Theresia has the highest ceiling in DragonSword: Awakening and the tightest timing requirements; a hero you play well beats a stronger hero you play badly.
Hero pages
Detailed pages for the DragonSword: Awakening heroes with the most search demand and the most verified data:
- Theresia — strongest in the meta, hardest to execute
- Reina — aerial combos and Bleed burst
- Lute — the protagonist, and whether he stays relevant
- Cerese — Freeze setup, and the Bond Quest that unlocks the Tower
The other fifteen heroes are listed in the table above and will get individual pages as we verify their data.
Four more heroes are coming
Hound13's post-launch roadmap includes four free heroes — Ryza, Jerome, Veronica and Logan — across the second half of 2026, included with the base game rather than sold as character DLC. New Hero Quests begin with an Othello-focused quest, followed by one centred on Ryza. See new heroes.
FAQ
How many characters are in DragonSword: Awakening?
Nineteen at launch. Four more free heroes — Ryza, Jerome, Veronica and Logan — are planned for the second half of 2026.
Who are all the DragonSword: Awakening characters?
Alex, Aria, Astria, Castella, Cerese, Charlotte, Dana, Eileen, Johnny, Kalien, Kalsion, Lute, Ornette, Othello, Reina, Roxy, Sion, Tarte and Theresia.
Who is the best character in DragonSword: Awakening?
Theresia is the strongest in the current meta but the most technically demanding. Cerese, Reina and Kalsion are the most reliable picks for most players — see the tier list.
Is Seris the same as Cerese?
Yes. Seris, Ceres and Cerise are alternate spellings used by other sites for the hero DragonSword: Awakening calls Cerese.
How many heroes can you use at once?
Three. You control one and swap between the other two using Signal Skill prompts.