Not a tier list of every unit - the picks that reliably decide fights, what each one is actually good for, and their level caps.
Sengoku Rance Best Commanders: Picks That Carry a Run
Eleven named commanders earn a permanent slot on a first save, and two of them — Rance and Kentarou — hold the game's highest level cap at 99, making them mandatory once the boss fights start. This is a shortlist for a first clear, not a tier ranking of every generic: it covers the picks that decide fights and skips randomly-rolled generics and second-playthrough-only characters.
Every stat line comes from the community AliceSoft Wiki commander tables, built on the 2006 Japanese original (v1.04) and the 2019 MangaGamer English release. The official Steam build — appid 3867170, released October 1, 2026 — has not been re-tested against them.
Official source: AliceSoft Wiki — Sengoku Rance: Commanders/All (community-maintained from the 2006 original and the 2019 MangaGamer build; source for every stat line, level cap and cost here).
The shortlist at a glance
Cost is the base national power to employ a commander, before troop surcharges. Level is where they start; cap never changes. Asterisks on the wiki tables are undefined there, so read those stats as approximate.
| Commander | Troop type | ATK / DEF / INT / SPD | Moves | NP cost | Level to cap | The skill that earns the slot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rance | Samurai | 5 / 4 / 5 / 4 | 3 | 1 | 40 to 99 | Rance Attack, his own Commander Charge |
| Kentarou | Samurai | 5 / 5 / 3 / 4 | 4 | 1 | 25 to 99 | Kentaro-kun Slash, his own Commander Charge |
| Urza | Tactician | 8 / 7 / 8 / 8 | 5 | 3 | 50 to 75 | Precision Shot: hits all, cancels preparation, -1 move each |
| Natori | Miko | 8 / 6 / 8 / 8 | 4 | 2 | 55 to 58 | Miko Storm 2: every enemy loses 30% of max troops |
| Senhime | Ashigaru | 6 / 6 / 5 / 7 | 3 | 4 | 35 to 65 | All Guard plus Auto-Heal 1 |
| Shouen Baba | Cavalry | 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 | 5 | 3 | 50 to 68 | Advantage 1, Commander Charge, Furinkazan |
| Seigan | Sohei | 7 / 7 / 8 / 7 | 4 | 3 | 51 to 51 | Reaper Scythe: every enemy loses 25% of max troops |
| Nozomi Okita | Samurai | 4 / 4 / 5 / 5 | 3 | 0 | 50 to 59 | Nothing at all, which is the point |
| Kouhime | Ashigaru | 2 / 5 / 5 / 5 | 5 | 3 | 31 to 40 | All Guard plus Enhanced Initial Guard |
| Suzume | Ninja | 5 / 6 / 5 / 5 | 4 | 1 | 39 to 49 | Assassinate 2, plus 5 Search |
| Katsuie Shibata | Ashigaru | 4 / 7 / 6 / 4 | 4 | 2 | 36 to 46 | A free 7 defense on your opening roster |
Class rules behind those numbers: the unit types breakdown. Damage formulas: the stats guide.
Rance and Kentarou are the only two 99-cap units in the game
Nothing else in the roster tops out above 75, and that 99 matters because level only counts in commander and dungeon battles — it does nothing for map battles. Boss fights are commander battles, always, and the walkthrough says so in one line.
| Boss | Level and HP | What the Rance or Kentarou rule means |
|---|---|---|
| Xavier at Honnoji | Level 55, 1150 HP | Xavier takes no damage at all unless Rance is in the battle |
| Final boss, Official History | Level 98 Xavier, 2010 HP, plus a level 25 Bodyguard and level 30 Toukichirou | Rance or Kentarou must be present, or Xavier takes no damage |
| Final boss, Kenshin route | Level 100 Xavier, 2050 HP, no Bodyguard | Same rule, but Kentarou never joins on that route |
The mechanic is Commander Charge, which all three have in a named form. It spends all remaining moves, hits twice, and the commander half deals 20 damage plus 3 per level: 140 at level 40, 251 at level 77, the level the dungeon page calculates as optimal for Rance before Honnoji.
Your commanders are all revived with 1 HP before the Honnoji Xavier fight, and Onmyoujis and Mikos are what keep him alive. Separately, if Rance's unit is wiped out in a map battle, that is an instant Game Over, not a defeat you can retry.
So bank levels on Rance and Kentarou early, ignore them in map battles, and bring a defensive screen to the two fights where they must survive. Dungeons give at most 18 party-wide +1 levels — see the dungeon list.
The picks you already have or are given
Five of the eleven cost nothing but attention: Rance and Katsuie Shibata are on your opening roster in Owari, Suzume joins around turn 6 to 8 depending on whether you have declared war, Natori is captured automatically when you take Yamato, and Nozomi Okita joins through purple commands in Kyo.
Nozomi is the odd one out: her base cost is 0 national power, which the walkthrough notes alongside the fact that her stats are unremarkable but her 59 cap makes her useful in commander battles — and she is the named unit that answers the question "why will this commander not fit?"
The picks you have to work for
Acquisition difficulty is the real ranking: four of these sit behind events you can miss permanently.
| Commander | What it takes | Failure mode |
|---|---|---|
| Senhime | Conquer Tokugawa without recruiting Ieyasu, then a purple command in Mikawa needing one open slot and 4 NP | Leaves if she goes several turns without fighting, and sometimes joins another clan |
| Shouen Baba | A Takeda general, and Takeda generals cannot be captured while they serve Takeda. Assassinate Shingen and they drop into the ronin pool | Taking the Takeda Second Game bonus means they never enter the pool, and they arrive with over 3000 troops |
| Seigan | A start-of-turn event firing only after Tenshiism is conquered or vassaled after the Honnoji incident, with one open slot and 2 NP | Conquer Tenshiism before entering a route and he never joins Oda |
| Urza | The Satisfaction bonus Summon Forces From Foreign Nations, six calls maximum, drawing from Zeth in the order Rizna, Urza, Magic | The bonus needs Sill, and calling a reinforcement you cannot afford locks you out of all future ones. On the Official History route it dies once Sill freezes |
| Kouhime | Joins two turns after the Monster Army appears on the Official History route, whether or not you have room — the first non-important unit in your roster dies to make space | Her unit being annihilated is an instant Game Over, and she cannot join the final fight |
The recruitment guide covers why commands grey out when your cost bar is full, and the capture guide covers turning a won battle into a commander.
What these picks cost in national power
Cost is the one stat that runs backwards: lower is better, and it is the only budget in the game. Troops add to the base cost — nothing from 1 to 499 troops, plus 1 from 500 to 1000, then plus 1 per further 500. If your total cost exceeds your national power at the start of a turn, every province you hold pays out half income until you bring it back under. The full rule set is on the parameters page. That is why Nozomi's 0 sits next to a row of 1s and 2s.
Maxing every stat to 9 is wasted: Cavalry, Musketeers and Cannoneers reach their damage cap, which is their own troop count, at around attack 6 or 7 with Tactician buffs. Put the investment into level caps on the two 99-cap units instead.
What this shortlist is not
Generics are excluded on purpose: several carry randomly generated caps, and the highest the commander tips page records for the generic Super Jockey is 65. Route-locked picks such as Yoshihisa Shimazu and Second Game bonus characters such as Gekkou are out of scope too. And those pages are explicitly opinionated — the tips page calls itself "highly opinionated", and the formula page warns its numbers came from decompiled code and may be wrong.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the best commander in Sengoku Rance? Two are compulsory: Rance and Kentarou, because boss damage is gated on one of them being present and both hold the game's only 99 caps. After that: Urza for Precision Shot, Natori for Miko Storm 2, and Nozomi Okita because she costs 0 national power.
Should I level Rance or buy him stat books? Level him. Commander Charge deals 20 plus 3 per level, and level does nothing in map battles.
Is Senhime worth recruiting? Only if you conquer Tokugawa without taking the Ieyasu route — the two are mutually exclusive. Strong in commander battles with a 65 cap, but she leaves if you leave her idle.
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