Infinity faction tiers 1-4

Edit (17/07/2021): I have updated this for N4 in a new post (there aren't many changes) - see here: https://emperorsghost.blogspot.com/2021/07/infinity-tier-list-for-n4.html

It is often said in Infinity "it's not your list, it's you". This is somewhat correct, but mostly horseshit. Some units in the game are simply inferior to others, like the Yan Huo with Missiles is strictly worse than a Hac Tao with missile launcher. Let me list some other units that are just bad: bolts (they are now passable with CoC and the changes to bioimmunity), Aida Swanson, Cube Jaegers, Taskmasters, Guijia, Takael (the symbiobug guy). You never see these units in winning lists, and I would almost say that you don't see them period. The same can be said of some factions: they just suck. Inversely, some units and factions are simply outstanding. I won't write a list of the best units, because that would take forever, but I do think it is helpful to have an idea of the faction tiers so that newbs stop playing Morats because "it's easy". MAF is actually infinity on hard mode. Yes, there are fewer rules. There's also no hope of winning unless you are very skilful in melee. I will explain my picks.

Note that some factions in tier 2 become tier 1 when the mission mix/meta is right. For example, Hassassins is nigh-on unbeatable in ground control missions when piloted by a good player on tall terrain. I would also say that the difference is only really noticeable between tier 1 and 3/4. Tier 2 against 3 is totally fair. Tier 1 against 2 is also barely noticeable. Tier 4 is always noticeably hard to win with.

TIER 1: The top contenders

TOHAA: cheap extra wounds from symbionts and mates, MOD stacks on key attack pieces (including the link team B bonus), link team order efficiency, the absolute bullshit that is B2 eclipse on 16s, great sensor/cheerleader in Chaksa. Fantastic ARO game. Tohaa have no weaknesses.

VARUNA: A sublime mixed link providing both a budget, crit-proof parapet clearing HMG and one of the best ARO pieces in the game in the Kamau sniper, plenty of orders, good specialist game, great tarpitting pieces in the jammers and fishes, bulleteers for sweeping, MSV/mimetism a plenty.

IKARI: Massive order counts, the busted Yuan Yuan, the game's best sweeper with the Rui Shi and plenty of smoke to power it, great link teams in the Tanko ML with keisotsu, the Wu Ming Harris and the Wu Ming core, excellent secondary attack piece in the Lu Duan, plenty of cheap specialists. Note that most people build Ikari lists badly. I think they are an oddly finesse faction, and even while smashing face at CanCon I felt oddly stressed the whole time.

CALEDONIA: Again, high order counts, a tough as nails lieutenant, great ARO game in the double Cateran, great parapet clearer + orders link in the volunteers + Grey (with Isobel in Highly classified for hacker and T2 rifle), superb assassins/alpha pieces in Uxia and McMurder, an excellent sweeper in the Scots Guard molotok, and great warbands to boot.

STEEL PHALANX: MOD stacks everywhere (just about everyone has an ODD or MSV), cheap extra wounds from V:NWI, link team efficiency, great snipers (Atalanta and Agema ML), smoke shooting with Atalanta. So many beginners waltz to wins with SP. Every SP player made the top 20 at CanCon. My mate won the entire event in his first year playing maybe his 6th through 11th games of Infinity. SP has weakened lately because capping out at B3 makes some defensive links a struggle to move (notably the Kamau sniper), but you can still eclipse forward and smash face.

VEDIC: When everything has a MOD stack you know you're doing well. The Dakini link is hot and all the minor players are amazing. You never have any junk in OSS lists and you're always sad to not be able to include stellar units, like the Arjuna. The one weakness of OSS is that without smoke they become very reliant on that Dakini HMG. If it goes down you can be left dead in the water.


TIER 2: Perfectly capable of winning anything

DARSHATT: Loads of orders, the Rui Shi and McMurder, a good mix of specialists, including linkable ones and skirmishers, ridiculous mimetic libertos. The Zuyong HMG for 1SWC is a great lieutenant to boot.

NEOTERRA: Just all around solid. Nice link team, good back up killers in the bulleteer and hexa hacker, plenty of orders, decent specialist options. A great faction to start the game with.

SHOCK ARMY: Same as Neoterra - just good all round. Nice link team, good sweepers, plenty of orders, MOD stacks where you want them, decent TAGs if the mission calls for it. A great place to start Infinity.

YU JING: Controlling that many orders requires some experience, but these guys were made a lot stronger by IA with the addition of the Mowang, Zensha, and Libertos. Still a bit weak as soon as there is an exclusion zone because they lack specialists that can move forward on their own steam.

ALEPH: Always disgusting because of the proliferation of MOD stacks, quality cheerleaders and the ludicrous proxy team (55 points for 6 wounds, yes please). The Marut list is better in vanilla than OSS and remains one of the game's strongest.

RUSSIANS: A little bit hard to squeeze in the specialists sometimes and a touch weak on the alpha strike, but a great mid-field presence, the game's best parapet clearer in the Vet Kazak, good characters and CoC options.

HASSASSINS: God-like in ground control. Not a newb-friendly faction with lots of finesse pieces and few MOD stacks, but strong link teams, lots of shennanigans, Mutts and orders make these guys right up there.

BAKUNIN: Riot grrl links remain totally busted. A bit weak in missions where you must get forward immediately, like supremacy.

QAPU KHALKI: The original mixed-link and still one of the best. People been dissing QK recently and I really want to bust my Janissaries out to show them what for. Heaps of orders fueling one of the best HI links in the game and a great skirmisher presence. And then there's Yuan Yuans. Only thing is that Ikari with Wu Ming is basically this just better.

SHASVASTII: The jury is still out by new Shasvastii seem super powerful. Still a bit light on orders if you don't take the Nox link, and the Nox link is a bit junk, but the new Cadmus, new Caliban, mentor, Cutthroat and Taigha are all amazing, dazers are amazing, and the old 2 Q-drone + noctifer set up still rocks face.

ARIADNA: Great until you get an exclusion zone, especially in ground control missions. See my write ups. A tough faction to play because you often rely on B2 weapons to do all your heavy lifting, but undeniably powerful, especially in button pressing missions like supplies, and against factions that rely on light killers, like OSS or Ikari.

ONYX: Potentially one of the best factions if your opponent doesn't have a lot of MSV and the missions don't involve getting forward. Otherwise they have a tendency to be too slow to score and rely on getting big swings from sniper traps. The arrival of the Malignos KHD with SMG was massive for these guys. The build now is basically a great ARO game with Rodoks, Q-drone and noctifer, with the Malignos scoring in midfield. The unidrons and ikadrons can guard your back-line a treat. The Sphinx build is also strong in relevant missions, and the unidron link is a good massive-order count build for missions that needs that and more mobility than Rodoks can provide (like unmasking for example). A great faction to start infinity with.


TIER 3: Almost tier 2 but a bit of a handicap in missions/matchups. Barely a difference. 

INVINCIBLE ARMY: Great in limited insertion, but otherwise the lack of MOD stacks and orders is hugely painful. The mixed links don't actually have that much economy.

MILITARY ORDERS: Ditto to Invincible Army - great in limited insertion, but otherwise penalised too heavily by a lack of orders.

IMPERIAL SERVICE: Loads of orders and good attack pieces, but a struggle to score buttons and control the board and a tendency to implode as the Kuang Shi get mowed down.  

RAMAH: Struggling for order count and MOD stacks, with very little in the way of defence. The defensive Ghulam link with a Muktar harris is a strong build though.

USARF: Perfectly fine all round, but just lacking that little bit of power and a struggle in exclusion zones.

TUNGUSKA: If the mission mix suits hollow men (anything where army points killed is a key issue), then they are excellent, but the rest of the faction just struggles for orders and getting the right range bands into the link teams. There are many taxes to be paid for things you will never use, like high BTS. That said, this faction won adepticon in 2019.

CA: Sometimes an Avatar will stomp face. Sometimes an Anathematic will cut an order pool with plasma. Sometimes a noctifer will just wipe out a link in one shot. If those things don't happen, you're struggling a bit here. A Rambo faction without that many orders. I do love the Gaki-Avatar build though, but it relies on the meta not expecting it (and therefore turtling on deployment).

STARCO: The Brigada-Massacre link is phenomenal but just doesn't leave orders. With Emily you can't get above 13, and without her you're running a big risk with a lieutenant in an aggressive link team. Another major issue for STARCO is that you don't have a good sweeper. The Nomad REMs blow, Emily is slow (but decent turn 3 once lol is not longer a threat), and only the Grrls have MSV but they are expensive.


TIER 4: Infinity on Hard Mode

MORATS: There is a Morat build with the Oznat+Gaki link, Rasyats for eclipse, the E-drone as a specialist, supportware-thrower and air-drop aid, the q-drone and cheerleaders, plus Kornak as a lieutenant who can sweep, that is decent (tier 2 even) but hard to play. Otherwise Morats just struggle for orders always because they pay such a huge tax for the Morat rule. In addition, if you run the high armour builds they usually have bugger-all in the way of MOD stacks, which means you frequently spend 6 or your 10 orders just trying to fry a skirmisher on suppression because while you can't die, you also can't hit.

JAPANESE: So many design errors with these guys. They are meant to run forward and stab you but nobody has smoke. Any MOD stack is crazy expensive. They barely have anything that can kill an overwatch piece, certainly not in just a handful of orders. JSA must always use unconventional problem solving tools (like just walking forward with Karakuri and trusting in BTS6 and total immunity).

DRUZE: Relying on guided is not a good strategy. The link team is very easy to take apart and paper thin. Brawlers are objectively bad.

CORRIGIDOR: I've seen these guys win big and with McMurder upgraded they are much more threatening. The main issue was that all their lieutenant options were expensive, notably in terms of SWC. With the mixed link this is resolved somewhat. Only having 1, expensive MSV2 piece was also problematic, but you can often kill camo stuff with the massacre harris in melee or with chain rifles. Might be time to upgrade these guys to tier 3.

MEROVINGIA: Paper-thin and designed for missions that no longer exist, like beacon race. The game is no longer won by pressing buttons and going into retreat.