What this ranking is. Which of the six Story Mode nations to start with. This is a reading-order recommendation built from what the game itself puts in front of new players — the two demo prologues first, then the nations whose opening trio covers the standard roles, then the two most unusual openings. It is not a power ranking: Brigandine Abyss publishes no unit stat tables, so no scores are invented here.
Opening trio: Dragon Tamer, Dragon, Hunter
One of the two prologues in the free demo, so it is the campaign the developers used to teach the systems. Starting with a dragon among your named leaders means the Dragon support ability (movement +1) is available from the first battles.
Nation details · Largo · Weiss · Lori
Opening trio: Crimson Valiant, Scout, Hunter
The other demo prologue. A mercenary company rather than a kingdom, with a scout-strategist and a princess of Solginat among the three leaders — the plot introduces the Solginat conflict directly.
Nation details · Garnet · Jadeite · Trisha
Opening trio: Queen's Guardian, High Queen, Enchanter
The nation that inherited the founding queen Lunadea's will, and the one whose queen convenes the other rulers in the opening. Its trio is a defensive commander, a ruling monarch and a young caster heir — the closest thing to a standard front/back split.
Opening trio: Lady of War, Healer, Kunoichi
A swordswoman clan head, a healer and a spy: melee, sustain and mobility from the first squad, without a monster-unit leader to plan around.
Nation details · Saya · Kiichi · Momone
Opening trio: Little Princess, Pixie, Pixie
The fae village campaign — two of its three named leaders are Pixies, which is a monster class, so the opening squad plays very differently from a human line. The producer expects this to be the story that lands hardest with players.
Opening trio: Dust Chimera, Enchanter, undisclosed
Led by chimerised siblings created by a heretical researcher. One of the three leaders has no class listed on the official page, and the campaign leans on the game's darkest material.
Nation details · TYPE-F · Dr. Pouje · TYPE-S
Brigandine Abyss publishes no stat tables, growth rates or damage formulas — not on the official site and not in any exportable form in game. A unit-by-unit S/A/B ranking would therefore be one player's impression dressed up as data. What the game does state is documented instead: the class each leader starts in, the Rally and Support traits that change what a leader can do, and the combat rules that decide fights more often than raw stats — elevation, the five elements, zones of control and counter-attack rules.
Starter order revised:
Playing Mission Mode instead? The Mission Mode page lists all 24 selectable nations and the seven objective types.