Subscribe
Follow Us
Our adventurous Traveler has journeyed far and wide, already spanning three regions, and gaining a diverse multitude of allies along the way. Not all of them are built the same, of course, and some of them have abilities that make them stronger than the rest. Our editorial team huddled together to discuss and rank these characters, and we came up with a ranking list of which ones are the strongest, and which ones are less so. This tier list is based on version 3.0 of Genshin Impact, which includes all 4-star characters released up until this version.
Before we proceed, please understand that tier lists are not absolute and merely guide the player to make informed decisions within Genshin Impact. Most resources are gated by Original Resin, or even real-life money, and upgrading all characters to the maximum is impossible for the average player. Tier lists guide players by informing which characters are worth more with the same investment than others. However, all characters are completely playable, and viable with enough investment. If you really like a certain character, invest in them by all means. They should be able to clear most (if not all) content, as long as you commit your resources to them.
SS tier
Main DPS – Extremely high damage output, top hyper carries
Support – Universal Applicability, enables any team
S tier
Main DPS – Very high damage output, standard hyper carry
Support – Very wide applicability, enables a lot of strong comps
A tier
Main DPS – High damage output, not as strong as hyper carries, requires a moderate investment
Support – Good applicability, enables certain comps
B tier
Main DPS – Good damage output but requires high investment
Support – Mediocre applicability, good in niche cases
C tier
Main DPS – Decent damage output, might struggle to perform in endgame without heavy investment
Support – Limited applicability, low team impact, only used in very niche cases
Genshin Impact Tier List Explanations
SS Tier
Supports
Kujou Sara – Sara is similar to Bennett by providing a massive flat boost to ATK, which is generally seen as better than multiplicative ATK% and DMG% bonuses. Unlike Bennett, she lacks the healing and the long duration of the attack buff, but is still more than enough for many comps who would rather want an Electro buffer than a Pyro one.
Bennett – This character has it all: Buffs, Healing, Cleanse, Energy generation. Bennett was once regarded as a lackluster DPS character who can’t do much, until players looked past his shortcomings, and found amazing support hidden in plain sight. At peak performance, Bennett can provide up to 1200+ raw ATK to his team, make them nearly unkillable, cleanse annoying debuffs, and generate a ton of energy, all at the same time.
Xingqiu – It’s a shame that we can only use one Xingqiu at a time because so many strong DPS characters want him as their main enabler. Xingqiu is instrumental to the massive damage output of Hu Tao, along with enabling a lot of pyro carries like Diluc and Klee. He can also easily provide 100% Hydro uptime for permafreeze teams, and deal respectable damage with his Rain Swords when built properly.
S Tier
Main DPS:
Xiangling – She is part of the well-known Liyue National Team, consisting of herself as the Main DPS, along with Bennett, Xingqiu, and Chongyun. It’s quite rare to see a full 4-star team to rival even most 5-star comps, but Xiangling’s high-damage Pyronado can fully melt and vaporize, dealing massive damage overall.
Bennett – This might surprise players, but Bennett performs extremely well as a Main DPS in the right setup. Because of his very low-cooldown Elemental Skill, he can utilize Chongyun’s infusion or Xingqiu’s Hydro, to deal insane melt damage every single time. He can buff himself and heal at the same time, and has easy access to Constellations, being 4-star in rarity. Because of this, he can compete or even surpass Diluc’s damage output, as long as one knows how to properly play this unique composition.
Supports
Xiangling – Outside of the National Team, Xiangling’s main role is to frequently apply Pyro with her Pyronado, so Cryo characters can deal reverse melts. She is also quite popular in swap teams, where characters chain Elemental Bursts one after another. In general, she is a very flexible Pyro applicator who can provide Pyro resonance (especially with Bennett), and can deal respectable off-field damage after some investment.
Sucrose – Nearly always present in every showcase video, Sucrose has the perk of applying the Viridescent Venerer debuff and providing a huge load of Elemental Mastery to her allies. She can also offer a bit of crowd control with both of her abilities, and also support her carry really well when holding the Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers weapon. After the changes to EM damage in Version 1.6, she has only gotten a lot stronger and can deal a lot of damage on a full EM build.
Dori – If you’re willing to pay Mora, Dori can solve all of your problems. Well, not all, but most. She can apply a lot of Electro, generate good amounts of energy, and heal a ton with her Elemental Burst. In general, she performs better than Kuki, and even has the luxury of running claymores, which can be useful for dealing with shields and environmental rocks.
Fischl – Fischl support focuses more on Oz’s damage, which is practically a turret that deals great off-field Electro DPS. She fits well with a lot of teams that don’t care much about controlled Elemental Reactions, like Melt and Vaporise teams. Because her Elemental Burst is just a reset button for her Oz, she can fully spec into a standard DPS build, which gives her great damage potential for a support character.
Diona – Diona is the Cryo carry’s best friend. She has a lot of utility in her kit and can provide durable shields, strong healing, a lot of energy, and Cryo Resonance. When equipped with the Sacrificial Bow, she can provide so much energy, which allows her to enable energy-heavy comps like the infamous Morgana team.
Sayu – Similar to Diona, she packs healing, energy, and other utilities in her kit. She has access to the Viriscent Venereer debuff, which is already a plus but also has mobility and frequent swirls to augment her party even further.
A Tier
Main DPS
Heizou – Our keen detective plays as a reaction driver similar to Sucrose, but without the Utility that Sucrose has. What’s special about Heizou is that he has faster animation times and smoother combos, which makes him great for Tazer teams.
Yanfei – She gets compared to Klee a lot, and for good reasons. Both are Pyro, tome-wielding characters, who deal damage through normal and charged attacks. Yanfei might have lower overall numbers than Klee, but she makes up for it with her amazing range, easy access to constellations, and great synergy with Overload and Vaporise.
Rosaria – Players got surprised after finding out about the so-called ‘Rosaria Melt’ team, and so were we. After applying a lot of Pyro with Xiangling and Bennett, Rosaria’s Elemental Burst can deal massive amounts of damage, easily ending most fights quickly. This is all thanks to the Pyro Resonance and Bennett providing so much ATK, which Rosaria fully takes advantage of, thanks to the great damage values on her skills.
Supports
Gorou – This Watatsumi General doesn’t offer a lot in general, but he makes up for it by being absolutely irreplaceable in pure Geo teams, like Noelle and Itto. If you use these two characters a lot, then it would be a sin to not include Gorou’s fantastic buffs into the team.
Kuki Shinobu – Kuki’s an awkward healer since she loses HP whenever she wants to heal another active character, but she still fills the niche of being an Electro healer, which is great for Tazer teams that lack good healers.
Yun Jin – Yoimiya’s reliance on Yun Jin’s damage buff puts the latter into this tier of the list, but there are also a lot of niche teams that can make use of Yun Jin, especially when paired with Shenhe.
Fischl – Fischl support focuses more on Oz’s damage, which is practically a turret that deals great off-field Electro DPS. She fits well with a lot of teams that don’t care much about controlled Elemental Reactions, like Melt and Vaporise teams. Because her Elemental Burst is just a reset button for her Oz, she can fully spec into a standard DPS build, which gives her great damage potential for a support character.
Beidou – If you want a lot more Electro application over a large group of enemies, Beidou is your answer. Similar to Xingqiu, her burst applies Electro when the active character attacks, which is great for Overload or Electro-charged teams.
Chongyun – Chongyun is a big part of well-known teams, like the National Team, and other melt teams. Outside of that, he struggles to provide anything else aside from his Cryo infusion. His other niche is being a burst sub-DPS, where he can deal a triple-melt combo with his Elemental Burst.
Rosaria – For a support Rosaria, she can provide her team with decent energy and Cryo application. Her talents also make her ‘share’ a fraction of her Crit Rate to her allies, which also helps a bit.
Thoma – Thoma was a peculiar case of players not fully understanding the game’s mechanics, since he was thought of as a powerful Pyro enabler, until people realized how ICD (Internal Cooldown) works. Even then, Thoma can still provide decent shields and Pyro application, as long as you can fulfill his energy needs.
B Tier
Main DPS
Kaeya – Thanks to the Blizzard Strayer set, Kaeya can easily trivialize fights when paired with Chongyun’s infusion and Xingqiu’s Hydro. Kaeya can also go all-in on Crit Damage stats, as the combination of the Blizzard set, plus his C1 and Cryo resonance give him an easy 70% Crit Rate on Frozen enemies (or 50% on Cryo-affected enemies).
Razor – Don’t underestimate him, as he can swing his claymore just as fast as sword users during his Elemental Burst. Razor is quite the selfish Main DPS since his Burst immediately ends after switching out. Though being a claymore user has its benefits, and he can perma-stagger even the largest foes, thanks to his blazing-fast attack speed.
Ningguang – The Geo element has only gotten stronger over the months, and Ningguang is no exception. Despite the lack of damaging Elemental Reactions, Ningguang’s raw damage is nothing to scoff at. She excels in long-range homing attacks, which can break nearly all kinds of shields, from rock shields to even Abyss Mage shields.
Supports
Barbara – Our favorite idol is sadly in B tier, mostly for her lack of Energy generation and lackluster abilities. Barbara can still fill the Hydro niche since Xingqiu is highly contested. And being a catalyst user is always a good thing, since they will always have their elements at their disposal, and can possess the Thrilling Tales book to great effect.
Lisa – Some might say that Lisa is one of the least useful characters, but that couldn’t be any farther from the truth. She has controlled Electro application, which is favorable for Eula mains who want to make use of Superconductor and Cryo resonance. Her burst is also a large AoE Electro ability, and being able to equip the Thrilling Tales is already a boon by itself.
C Tier
Main DPS
Fischl – DPS Fischl used to be popular during the early days of Genshin Impact when DPS options were limited. Unfortunately, numerous characters started to outclass her as time went by. Her lack of elemental reactions and AoE, clunky gameplay, and limited weapon options, all contributed to her downfall as a Main DPS.
Noelle – Noelle’s Elemental Burst is amazing to play, to say the least. Finding a team that works with her is the hard part. She requires a lot of energy to deal damage, but she can’t generate her own energy. Noelle benefits from Geo Resonance a lot, but she can’t take advantage of elemental reactions to amp her damage like other carries.
Xinyan – She is one of the most neglected characters in Genshin Impact, but she has her own charms. Xinyan’s biggest caveat is her ‘mixed damage’ problem. Half of her kit deals decent Pyro damage, while the other half deals decent Physical damage. Focusing on one type of damage will gimp the other type while trying to spec on both will heavily reduce the effectiveness of each. It’s an unfortunate zugzwang for those who want to invest in Xinyan, due to her polarizing, hybrid nature.
Support
Noelle – She heals and provides shields. That would actually be great for a support, but Noelle’s cooldowns are annoyingly long. She can’t also generate any energy, to make things worse, finding her place here in our Genshin Impact Tier List.
Amber – Our favorite Outrider might be at the lowest of ranks, but she remains at the top of the players’ hearts. Her Elemental Skill is a meme, and her Burst takes too much energy to spam. She doesn’t do a lot of Pyro, but hey, her Pyro arrows are always useful for exploration! But in any case, her very limited use case finds her a place here with Noelle at the bottom of our Genshin Impact Tier List.
And that's it for our Genshin Impact Tier List! For more on Genshin Impact, click here!
