Best epic cookies for PVE in Cookie Run Kingdom (CRK), ranked

Despite its appearance, Cookie Run Kingdom is one of the most serious gacha games out there. Building a Cookie is a huge investment and players don’t want to waste their materials on subpar units.

As ridiculous as the phrase “Cookie Run Kingdom meta” sounds, it’s true that not all Cookies are created equal. Some Cookies are considered to be must-have units for hardcore PVE players because of their utility or damage output, while other Cookies are a waste of resources and time. To save you the headache of deciding which Cookies to level, here’s a list of the best epic cookies for PVE in Cookie Run Kingdom.

Best PVE Epic Cookies in Cookie Run Kingdom

While Epic Cookies aren’t the rarest in the game, they’re still some of the most powerful units in Cookie Run Kingdom. Some of them are the best-in-class options for their classes and can carry you through endgame content.

Best Front Epic Cookies

Cookies that go in the Front lead the charge for your team and tank most of the incoming damage from bosses and enemies. Because of this, the best Front Cookies have high HP and Defense stats.

• Milky Way Cookie
• Space Doughnut
• Mala Sauce Cookie
• Wildberry Cookie
• Schwarzwalder
• Pinecone Cookie
• Fettuccine Cookie
• Crunchy Chip Cookie

Front Cookies are foundational to your team composition, so they’re very much worth investing in. These Cookies keep your team alive and let your more fragile units work without worry.

Milky Way Cookie, for example, provides a defensive buff and shield to your team while also debuffing enemies. The same applies to Fettuccine Cookie, who reduces the enemies’ Attack and becomes even more resistant to incoming damage as her health gets lower. Space Doughnut, on the other hand, employs a more offensive approach, reducing the enemies’ defense while also making their existing debuffs worse.

Most of the Cookies for the Front position are Charge Cookies, but there are a handful of Defense Cookies in this category as well like Wildberry. Wildberry Cookie is arguably the best Epic Defense Cookie, providing a shield for your team while still being able to deal decent damage with his Wild Punch ability.

Best Middle Epic Cookies

The best damage-dealing Cookies go in the Middle position. Since Front Cookies keep them safe, they sacrifice their Defense and HP stats for a very high Attack stat. There are some Support Cookies in the Middle position, too.

• Prune Juice Cookie
• Squid Ink Cookie
• Captain Caviar Cookie
• Eclair Cookie
• Mozzarella Cookie
• Pomegranate Cookie
• Chili Pepper Cookie
• Fig Cookie

In the Middle Position, you’ll find Bomber Cookies like Captain Caviar and Prune Juice. The former can grant debuff resistance to allies and reduce the enemies’ Defense stats on top of dealing a lot of damage. The latter excels at poisoning enemies, boosting overall poison damage, and spawning Prune Jellies that keep the status effect going.

Related: Best Toppings Build for Creme Brulee Cookie in Cookie Run Kingdom (CRK)

In addition, Magic Cookies excel in the Middle position. Squid Ink Cookie’s abilities are fairly straightforward, but they pair well with other debuffing Cookies since their Magic Candy skill deals bonus damage to enemies that have reduced Defense. On the other hand, Magic Cookies like Mozzarella provide more utility to the team, reducing enemy attack and movement speed with her Mozzarella Puddles.

Last but not least, the Middle position is home to Ambush Cookies like Chili Pepper. As the name suggests, Ambush Cookies focus on sneaky stabs and critical damage. Chili Pepper Cookie, for example, sneaks behind enemy lines and attacks the rearmost enemy with a series of strikes that have boosted critical damage.

Best Rear Epic Cookies

The Rear position is best for support Cookies. Your healers and buffers should be in the Rear behind the tanks and damage dealers of your team.

• Rockstar Cookie
• Tarte Tatin Cookie
• Parfait Cookie
• Rye Cookie
• Cotton Cookie
• Linzer Cookie
• Cream Puff Cookie

The Cookies in the Rear position may not have the most exciting abilities, but they’re key to keeping your team alive. Supports tend to live in the Rear position. Parfait Cookie, for example, recovers your team’s HP and buffs their Defense stats to help them survive incoming damage. There’s also Linzer Cookie, who increases the critical chance of your team and applies debuffs on the strongest enemies, reducing their defense and boosting your team’s critical damage on top of that.

Some Ranged Cookies can also be placed in the Rear position. Tarte Tatin Cookie is the best example of this. She can shackle enemies and deal large amounts of Burn damage to enemies with bosses receiving even more damage than standard foes. Her Attack increases with every defeated enemy, too, so she’s actually one of the game’s better DPS units despite being a Rear Cookie.

Of course, some Cookies pair better with certain team compositions than others, so be sure to experiment with your roster since you might not have access to some of the game’s top-tier units just yet. Once you’ve found your favorite Cookies, you can start farming Toppings for them to make them even more powerful.