Picking your first Buddy Digimon feels like a much bigger decision than it actually is. At first glance, every Buddy seems useful because they all provide buffs that help your Partner Digimon during battle. After spending more time with the game, though, the differences become much clearer. Some Buddies offer permanent passive bonuses that work during the entire fight, while others only provide short buffs before going on cooldown.
Digimon UP Best Buddy Tier List (July 2026)
That difference is exactly why certain Buddies stand out so much in the current meta. If you’re wondering which Buddy deserves your upgrade materials, here’s how they compare.
SS Tier
- Agumon
Agumon
Agumon sits comfortably at the top of the current Buddy rankings, and it’s not because its numbers are dramatically higher than everyone else’s. The real reason is its passive skill. Unlike every other Buddy, Agumon’s effect doesn’t need to be activated and doesn’t have a cooldown. As long as Agumon is equipped, your Partner Digimon continuously gains a higher Counterattack Rate, giving you extra attacks throughout every battle without any downtime.
Another reason Agumon became such a popular choice is accessibility. Since many players received it through the pre-registration rewards, it’s one of the strongest Buddies that’s also relatively easy to obtain. Whether you’re clearing story stages or challenging bosses, Agumon’s permanent buff makes it the safest long-term investment.
A Tier
- Triceramon
- Andromon
Triceramon
If your build relies heavily on Normal Attacks, Triceramon is an outstanding Buddy. Its active skill dramatically boosts Normal Attack damage for five seconds, allowing your Partner Digimon to deal impressive burst damage whenever the buff is active.
The only downside is that the skill has an eight-second cooldown, leaving a short period where the bonus disappears before it activates again. Even with that limitation, the damage increase is large enough to keep Triceramon among the best offensive Buddies in the game.
Andromon
Andromon takes a slightly different approach. Instead of only improving Normal Attacks, it increases your Partner’s overall Attack for five seconds after using its skill. That means both Skills and basic attacks benefit from the damage boost, making Andromon a more flexible option for players using different team compositions.
Its attack increase isn’t quite as high as Triceramon’s, but the wider coverage makes it an excellent Buddy for almost any team.
B Tier
- Mammothmon
Mammothmon
Mammothmon feels like the middle ground between the top offensive Buddies and the beginner options. It provides the same type of overall Attack buff as Andromon, but because it’s a lower-rarity Buddy, the percentage increase is noticeably smaller.
If you haven’t unlocked Agumon, Triceramon, or Andromon yet, Mammothmon is perfectly capable of carrying you through the early and mid-game. Eventually you’ll want to replace it, but until then it does its job well.
C Tier
- Tuskmon
- Tyrannomon
Tuskmon
Tuskmon focuses entirely on increasing Defense after activating its skill. While surviving longer is never a bad thing, Digimon UP generally rewards players who can defeat enemies as quickly as possible. Because of that, defensive buffs simply don’t provide as much value as offensive ones.
Tuskmon can certainly help if you’re struggling to stay alive, but once stronger offensive Buddies become available, you’ll notice your progression speeds up considerably after switching.
Tyrannomon
Tyrannomon is usually the first Buddy most players use, and while it performs adequately early on, it quickly falls behind. Like Tuskmon, it increases Defense instead of damage, but the buff itself is even smaller due to its lower rarity.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with Tyrannomon—it simply lacks the offensive power needed to compete with higher-tier Buddies. Treat it as a temporary companion until you unlock something stronger.
Which Buddy Should You Upgrade First?
If you have multiple Buddies available, I’d recommend investing in them in this order:
- Agumon – The strongest overall thanks to its permanent passive Counterattack bonus.
- Triceramon – Fantastic if your team relies on Normal Attacks.
- Andromon – A versatile Attack buffer that works with almost every build.
- Mammothmon – A solid replacement until higher-rarity Buddies appear.
- Tuskmon – Useful only if you need extra survivability.
- Tyrannomon – Good for beginners but worth replacing as soon as possible.
Buddy Digimon don’t deal damage directly, but the bonuses they provide can completely change how your team performs. Permanent effects are currently much stronger than temporary buffs, which is why Agumon continues to dominate the rankings. If you don’t have Agumon yet, Triceramon and Andromon are excellent alternatives that provide consistent offensive boosts and will comfortably carry you through most of the game’s content.