Short version

A: Maria, Fidel, ~~Faize~~

B: Nel, Cliff, Victor, Myuria, Daril

C: Ronyx, Miki, Anne

D: Lymle, Emmerson

Long version

-- A: Priority reroll targets, plus Faize

Maria (Sharpshooter; Ace; SO3)

+ High passive party buffing (Damage+40%)

+ Good party rush buffing with Critical+40%

+ High hitcount

+ High rush gain

+ Very safe due to her range and speed

+ The most futureproof launch character

Fidel (Attacker; Ace; SO5)

+ High passive party buffing (ATK+40%)

+ Due to how the damage formula works, ATK/INT buffs are more potent than Damage buffs. That ATK+40% is seriously good.

+ Low AP costs, especially postrush

+ Half his skillset works at range

+ Many of the ATK buffers released after him either have smaller buffs or role restriction, giving him a decent lifespan

Faize (Invoker; Non-Ace; SO4)

+ Great party buffing for both damage and utility (Single Target Damage+30%; Stun rate+15%)

+ Fast spellcasting

+ Powerful event weapon available early (one copy free at launch!)

+ Can inflict a weak-but-still-meaningful DoT with spells

+ Good crowd control

+ High rush gain

+ Technically futureproof, though you won't be using him outside of dark-weak fights later on

- No point in rerolling for a character you already get for free!

- Limited to dark damage, with no meaningful dark-weak bosses until Alma

- Disruptive to melee characters, due to his spells either launching or pushing enemies

- Being a caster with a melee weapon, he can be cumbersome to use

-- B: Workable, but will either be replaced early on and/or take a lot of work to start with

Nel (Sharpshooter; Ace; SO5)

+ Poison is incredibly powerful

+ Passive -15% AP costs to the party

- Poison isn't reliable, and can go an entire boss fight without proccing

- Very low damage output and party contribution in general without poison

- Due to the nature of her toolkit, she isn't good for content like tower

- SOA EN is starting with much stronger weaponry than JP did, making poison a weaker option by comparison

Cliff (Attacker; Ace; SO3)

+ High rush damage

+ High hitcount

+ Knuckles are the first weapon type to get drain access, providing good sustain without a healer

+ Fun

- Zero party buffing

- Purely melee; may be difficult for new players

- Needs to be LB10'd and geared to properly do damage, the one thing he contributes to the party, making him a difficult starting pick

- Phia releases early on and mostly does the same job better as a ranged non-ace

Victor (Defender; Non-Ace; SO5)

+ Provides super armor

+ Massive damage reduction postrush allows for plenty of room for error

- Non-ace

- Pathetically low damage output

- Will be replaced by Clair within weeks

Myuria (Invoker; Ace; SO4)

+ Highest DPS among the launch cast post-rush

+ Decent damage and excellent crowd control via Plasma Cyclone

+ Stuns bosses easily

- Zero party buffing

- Needs to be LB10'd and geared to properly do damage, the one thing she contributes to the party, making her a difficult starting pick

- Low rush gain

- 3/4 of her spells take a long time to hit a small area, making them unreliable for damage and rush gain

- Thunder+40% staves likely won't be available for a long time; Faize will be better geared than her for most things as a result

- Can only use Plasma Cyclone once per combo without AP cost reduction from Daril's rush

Daril (Attacker; Non-Ace; SO5)

+ Good combo DPS

+ Though easily replaced later on, his passive AP-20% and postrush AP-40% to the party are the best slot 4 buffing available to the launch-optimal Fidel/Maria/Faize/- comp

- Non-ace

- Purely melee; may be difficult for new players

- Poor rush damage

- Won't have any opportunities to capitalize on his +60% damage vs humans early on

-- C: You can make use of them if you roll them, but they shouldn't be your only starter

Ronyx (Invoker; Non-Ace; SO1)

+ Provides the party INT+40%, which is still to date the highest INT party buff available in JP, and allows him to support Faize and Myuria well as a result

- Non-ace

- Horrid weapon for casting

- Horrid spell list for all of damage, rush gain, accuracy, and AP efficiency

- Really just a horrid character in general, buffing other Invokers is all he has going for him

Miki (Healer; Non-Ace; SO5)

+ Can heal

- Non-ace

- Is the only 5* healer in the entire game with no party buffing, and falls off the radar entirely once other healers are available

- Will be replaced by Millie within weeks

Anne (Attacker; Non-Ace; SO5)

+ Passively buffs party crit rate by +30%, which doubles to +60% postrush, though these don't stack with Maria's crit buffs

+ Great crowd control with X-Claw, namely making her useful for story and tower

- Non-ace

- Horrid damage output

- Maria's rush crits are sufficient, and numerous other better characters later on will also buff crits anyway

- Free Faize and 4* Tynave can already handle the crowd control niche Anne would provide

-- D: Try again.

Lymle (Invoker; Non-Ace; SO4)

+ Tornado does respectable damage against large enemies

+ Her rush buff gives her substantial buffs to her own INT and cuts her cast times

- Non-ace

- Weak spells with slow casts and high AP costs

- Burst Flame is slow and inaccurate, making her more of a wind caster

- Likely poor weaponry options starting out

- There won't be any boss fights she's particularly useful in until Armaros (months in), and other Invokers/X-Claw users will be much better at crowd control

Emmerson (Sharpshooter; Non-Ace; SO5)

+ Extends the hitcount timer, which can help keep the party's rush gain up against evasive enemies

- Non-ace

- Pathetic damage output

- Pathetic rush gain, unless he's able to spam Hunter's Moon against an immobile enemy