Season 9 of the Tower of Chaos in Raven 2 has officially launched. The season runs from December 10, 2025, to February 4, 2026, at 4:59 AM. We are now one week into the season, so let's break down the early performance and class distribution among the top-tier players.

First, let's peek at the clear-time leaderboards. We’ve tracked 3,537 ranked players, compared to the previous season’s final count of 3,760. It’s a bit lower, but we expect more players to join the fray as the season progresses—that’s just how the Tower of Chaos works. Despite the lower count, the times have vastly improved since Season 8. The high-end clear time dropped from 16 to 14 seconds, and 10 of the top 20 players have now breached the 20-second barrier.

Taking the top spot is the Gunslinger 'ROYALMungDaddy' with a clear of floor 45 in 12 seconds. A 6-second improvement is nothing to sneeze at. The Gunslinger has been making waves since its debut, but seeing it seize the throne this quickly is quite a statement. The former #1, 'VCWonjang', has slipped to a tie for second place, matching their own record from last season: 16 seconds on floor 45.

Joining that tie for second is the Assassin 'NoShowUnggoSsal'. I suspect this might be the same player as the legendary top-ranker NoPpakkuSsal. Usually, the top of the Tower of Chaos is dominated by ranged classes like Night Ranger, Destroyer, and Gunslinger. Seeing an Assassin disrupt this hierarchy is a welcome change of pace. Also, watch out for the Vanguard 'MythFRED' in a tie for 12th. Are we seeing the start of a Ranged vs. Melee power struggle? This season is shaping up to be quite the spectacle.

Tower of Chaos: Top 5 by Class

The Top 5 class charts are a mix of record-shattering speeds and slight regressions. Vanguard, Destroyer, Divine Caster, Assassin, and Gunslinger all improved their times. The Gunslinger, in particular, saw every player in the top 5 shave off precious seconds, headlined by the aforementioned ROYALMungDaddy.

However, the Berserker and Deathbringer actually saw their clear times increase. The Berserker’s peak went from 27 to 46 seconds on floor 45, while the Deathbringer went from 36 to 39 seconds. Interestingly, the top Deathbringer remains 'NoShowHappyDay', just like in Season 8. Third-place 'MythMawang' and fifth-place 'LEGENORiHwang' also held their spots, though their times suffered. Perhaps a bit of a slump? Here’s hoping they find their form soon.

The Night Ranger and Elementalist held their peaks at 16 and 34 seconds on floor 45, respectively, but the context differs. For the Night Ranger, only the top two spots remained static, while others below them made minor gains. The Elementalist, however, seems to be trending downward. While the top player held steady and the runner-up significantly improved from 3:18 on floor 42 to 1:32 on floor 45, everyone from 3rd place downward saw a decline in both floors reached and clear times.

Tower of Chaos: Ranked Class Distribution

Finally, let's look at the class distribution for the early stages of Season 9. With the total pool of players slightly smaller, we see some shifts in percentages. Surprisingly, the Deathbringer remains completely unchanged. Night Ranger and Divine Caster always fill their 100-slot server quota, making them outliers compared to other classes. Their shares usually fluctuate in inverse proportion to the total pool size. Since we started tracking the Tower of Chaos in Raven 2, the total of 700 players has remained consistent in terms of user volume.

Considering the tie for first place, the Gunslinger is clearly the class to beat this season. It saw a 0.9% point increase—representing 10 more players—making it the only class to see a net increase in ranked representation. While others are climbing at a leisurely pace, the Gunslinger is sprinting ahead. It’s no wonder they’re breaking records so quickly. We'll be keeping a close eye on whether they can maintain this momentum as the dominant force in the Tower of Chaos.