Genshin Impact Characters Ranked | Tier List 2021

Genshin Impact has been around for over a year. The production of the Chinese studio miHoYo was based on a free-to-play distribution model and, as it turned out, was a hit. The game provided the developers with huge revenues and became the third largest mobile game for twelve months. The main reason why people from all over the world are willing to spend real money on Genshin Impact are the characters that can be purchased through micropayments. Of course, all of them can be acquired without spending money, but it requires a lot of luck and time – so much in fact, that some will say it is simply impossible.

Still, everyone would like to have good characters. No wonder – after all, they make the game more entertaining, and the combat more impressive and effective. At the start, Genshin Impact offered 23 heroes and heroines. Now, you can get as many as 41 of them (of which one character is available in three versions), others – such as Thoma, announced for November 2 – are on their way, and others (e.g. Yae Miko) have been rumored for a long time.

How to choose the best ones? How do you fit them into your playing style? Who to take on the team? This article should help you a bit in making that decision. It may not contain very detailed information, but it does introduce each of the 44 characters, so it's a good starting point. By way of introduction, I'll just add that the heroes I've described are in alphabetical order, and both the tiers I've assigned them to (SS, S, A, B, C) and the suggestions in the text boxes for potential team members are based on the most common choices and suggestions from the community. We have also identified those characters in Genshin Impact who are best suited for crowd control and DPS. Without further ado – let's get going!

Genshin Impact characters tier list 2021

S tier: Albedo, Aloy, Ayaka, Bennett, Diluc, Diona, Eula, Fischl, Ganyu, Hu Tao, Jean, Kazuha, Keqing, Klee, Mona, Raiden, Sucrose, Tartaglia, Venti, Xiangling, Xiao, Xingqiu, Yoimiya, Zhongli

A, B, C tier: Barbara, Beidou, Chongyun, Kaeya, Kokomi, Ningguang, Noelle, Qiqi, Razor, Rosaria, Sara, Sayu, Traveler, Xinyan, Yanfei, Lisa, Amber

? tier (not yet rated): Arataki Itto, Gorou, Thoma

Albedo

This character stands out, above all, with the elemental skill – it only takes 4 seconds to recharge, so you can use it almost continuously. Furthermore, this ability deals area damage from Geo (scales with Albedo's defense value) and also creates platforms that can be used hopped onto. Albedo's elemental burst is also extremely useful, as it can grant nearby characters a large bonus to elemental mastery for ten seconds. However, if we decide on a defensive build – which makes sense in the case of this character – this skill will deal quite a bit of damage to enemies.

Aloy

Horizon Zero Dawn's protagonist used to be available exclusively on PlayStation, but that changed on October 13. Aloy is not simply a gimmick, and it's worth trying to get her. Her ranged attacks deal a lot of physical damage, which – after using her elemental skill four times and collecting four Coil Stacks – can turn into Cryo. Aloy can also throw freezing bombs, especially useful against groups of small enemies. In addition, her elemental burst deals a lot of damage over a large area, which is especially useful if you have a Hydro character on your team, letting us freeze enemies.

Amber

There's a good reason why Amber usually ends up in the last tier of Genshin Impact characters. Her skills either deal low damage or take forever recharge – especially her elemental skill, which would otherwise be quite useful for dealing ranged damage to enemies with other characters. If you try really hard, you can put Amber in a team with someone who uses Cryo – combined with her Pyro, this would allow you to apply a powerful melting effect on your opponents. However, this is not the preferred character of most players.

Arataki Itto

A five-star, Geo male character wielding a claymore? That's still not in Genshin Impact (there's Noelle, but she has four stars). Arataki Itto should arrive in November, but if we're to believe the leaks, it's better to start collecting wishes for it already. Mainly because his attack is supposed to scale with his defense – the stronger the defense, the more damage the hero will deal. This gives Arataki Itto the potential to become an important part of more than one squad. Also interesting, at least according to rumors, is his elemetnal burst – the claymore is supposed to transform into a mace that deals massive damage.

Ayaka

Ayaka can be the foundation of any offensive line. Her elemental skill and burst deal powerful Cryo damage, so she'll be perfect as a secondary attack character. With the right remaining characters and a DPS-oriented build, Ayaka can also fill a major offensive role on the team. Her elemental burst does take a lot of energy, and her alternate use of charged attack and sprinting requires skillful stamina management, but it's worth learning to play this character if you own it.

Barbara

Her main asset is the treatment of the team. Using her elemental skill and elemental burst, Barbara is able to quickly restore a sizable amount of health to her team members. Furthermore, both skills scale with her HP, making it fairly easy to increase their effectiveness. In terms of combat, Barbara is useful against opponents that are susceptible to Hydro damage, though her DPS-based builds are not very popular. This becomes irrelevant, however, when facing Cryo enemies.

Beidou

While Beidou can't be called a weak character, it should be noted that in order to bring out her full potential, you need to unlock the second – and preferably the fourth – constellation. At C2, Beidou's elemental burst chains to two additional enemies, and at C4, her damage output increases significantly. It can also be increased with artifacts. Beidou, however, works a little better at spreading his Electro than at inflicting large DPS.

Bennett

Bennett is a true master of multitasking – useful for both attacking enemies and increasing team damage, or healing team members. Bennett's elemental burst is especially noteworthy – its effect scales with the character's attack value (calculated based on her level and the weapon she's using) and provides the rest of the team with a powerful attack buff and instant HP restoration. Not surprisingly, Bennett – though she only has four stars – is one of the most popular characters in Genshin Impact.

Chongyun

The claymor-wielding exorcist can easily fill a role on the team similar to DPS-oriented characters, but that's not how we'll tap into his full potential. This can only be done when we combine Chongyun's Cryo elemental burst with the abilities of other characters – preferably those wielding Pyro or Hydro. In the first case, we'll impose a powerful melting effect on enemies (one of the strongest statuses in Genshin Impact), and in the second, we'll keep them in a near-constant frozen state.

Diluc

Despite his availability in the primary character pool – or perhaps because of it – many people consider Diluc to be the cornerstone of offensive. Thanks to Diluc's combinations of powerful claymore attacks that smash through enemy shields with ease, as well as his fast cooldown and relatively low-energy elemental burst, Diluc's DPS is very high regardless of constellation. What's more, the damage he inflicts is easily increased by artifacts such as Crimson Witch of Flames and Gladiator's Finale.

Diona

In extreme cases, Diona can be treated as a healing character, but she mostly is useful as support. Much of the credit for this goes to her elemental skill, which creates shields from Cryo (for other team members as well, after unlocking a second constellation – if playing co-op). These not only block enemies' attacks but also deflect damage back to them. Importantly, the amount of damage that shields are able to deflect scales with Diona's maximum HP, so by equipping her with the right artifacts – because her HP base value is quite low – we can count on solid defense.

Eula

Although she's a Cryo, Eula is most often built for physical DPS. Alternating between claymore and the tap and hold versions of her elemental skill, we can deal both types of damage, but the elemental damage is significantly lower. In addition, the powerful area elemental burst – once it finally charges – also deals physical damage to enemies. This makes Eula perfect against most opponents, as only a few are immune to this type of attack. Unfortunately, this also makes this character an average fit for teams based on elemental combinations.

Fischl

Fischl's huge asset is her summoner, Oz the raven. To increase the amount of time it is summoned for and the power of the bird, it's a good idea to expand Fischl constellations to level six. Importantly, Oz will remain on the battlefield even if we change characters; this makes it much easier to trigger enemies to react to Electro or any of the elemental combinations. In addition, elemental burst allows Fischl to assume a bird form, giving her a large bonus to movement speed.

Ganyu

This heroine is second to none when it comes to area-of-effect damage and number of ways to deal them. Unlike other ranged characters, the arrows released from Ganyu's bow have different properties depending on how much we charge the attack – on the first level, they simply deal Cryo damage, but on the second level, they also chain onto nearby enemies. Her elemental skill also causes area damage – using it summons a lotus flower that lures enemies in and then explodes. Same goes for her elemental burst, which showers a large area with ice shells. The most common Ganyu builds are therefore geared towards DPS – especially since access to this character's support skills only unlocks after reaching the first constellation.

Gorou

Geo characters are the fewest among the Genshin Impact hero roster. No wonder miHoYo is preparing a new addition – the long-awaitedarcher Gorou. This character was announced in mid-October and is expected to hit the game along with patch 2.3, slated to release in November. The leaks suggest that Gorou will have a fairly powerful elemental burst, which will only gain its full potential at higher constellations (fourth or fifth). Fans believe this will make him a DPS-oriented character, but we still have to wait for the specifics.

Hu Tao

Hu Tao is an unusual character. Since most of her attacks deal damage to a single enemy – rather than area damage – it's easy to see her as weak. However, if we choose the other members of the team well and use her skills properly, she will prove extremely powerful. The latter is difficult because Hu Tao's elemental skill – while significantly increasing damage – takes away some of her HP. So, you should be comfortable playing with low health. Especially useful is Hu Tao's elemental burst, which is not only a good finisher, but also restores some HP to the character. This prevents her from being killed by a single blow, while still having enough life points to deal as much damage as possible.

Jean

Jean can perform two functions on the team quite effectively. If we create a build that provides the character with the highest possible physical damage, the character will become useful both in combat and in healing other team members – regenerating their HP by the equivalent or several times the amount of damage inflicted. Another popular option is to maximize Jean's elemental burst effect, which heals her team while reducing the enemies' elemental resistance.

Kaeya

Taking Kaey on the team as a main character focused on inflicting DPS is a good choice – especially at the beginning of your Genshin Impact adventure. His elemental skill regenerates quickly and deals decent Cryo damage while allowing other team members to hit enemies with Pyro, Hydro, or Electro and trigger elemental reactions. Furthermore, the effect of this ability lasts even after Kaey changes to another character. A big disadvantage, on the other hand, is the rather small area of effect. However, the sooner we gain access to a more powerful offensive hero, the better for us – although Kaeya can still be useful for exploration, as his elemental skill can freeze water, allowing you to create shortcuts and alternative paths.

Kazuha

Kazuha is a very versatile character. He's great both as a support – especially for melee heroes, as he can gather enemies in one place with his elemental skill – and in offensive. Kazuha is especially useful when facing multiple opponents – for example, she can perform the Plunging Attack from the air or use elemental burst. In both cases, it will deal area-of-effect damage – in case of the latter, it will be Anemo damage by default, and in case of the former, the conversion from physical damage will only happen once you combine the attack with an elemental skill. Kazuha's swirl ability is also extremely useful, giving the entire team a large bonus to elemental mastery – especially when combined with the Viridescent Venerer artifact. Unfortunately, like almost every character who uses Anemo – Xiao being the exception – Kazuha must have someone on the team who wields another element (e.g. Pyro or Hydro) and will interact with him.

Keqing

Keqing excels against large and/or slow opponents – she can pummel them with a barrage of quick strikes, leaving them with no answer. In duels with more agile enemies, the heroine's mobility will play a big role. Particularly useful is her elemental skill, the first use of which fires a projectile that Keqing can teleport to if the same skill is used a second time. This character's elemental burst, on the other hand, is an excellent "tool" for dealing high area damage without exposing yourself to enemy attacks. You can make good use of it both in boss fights and when facing groups of ordinary opponents.

Klee

Most Klee "builds" are created with DPS in mind. There's a good reason – when throwing bombs, she can deal massive area-of-effect damage from Pyro. Aiming with them requires a lot of precision, but at least Klee can keep his distance from opponents. So, on C0, playing it is just about wreaking as much destruction as possible. However, if we promote Klee to C2, she can also successfully fulfill a support role. The question: is this strategy worth it, or should you stop at this stage? Especially since on C4, the character gets a large damage bonus, making it hit much harder than on C0 or C2.

Kokomi

Kokomi is an excellent healer – during the elemental burst, even her normal attacks heal the entire team – but with the current game's meta, she is rather poor in other roles. Kokomi's strikes do not deal area-of-effect damage, and she does not take critical hits. After using elemental burst, she has a pretty solid attack, but since this ability consumes a lot of energy, you shouldn't bet on using it too often. One hopes, however, that miHoYo will further improve Kokomi's balance – after all, she has the shortest tenure of all the characters in Genshin Impact – and, to the delight of the community, she will become a more versatile character.

Lisa

Lisa is a great character to start with (she's available at the very beginning of the game) – she deals quite a lot of Electro damage, and her charged attacks or elemental skills can hit several enemies at once. In addition, Lisa's elemental burst effect persists once she is removed from the battlefield, which makes it much easier to use various combos and trigger elemental reactions. Nonetheless, it's likely that the sooner we get into more interesting, powerful characters, the sooner Lisa will become neglected.

Mona

In combat, Mona is primarily useful as support. As she's a Hydro, she fits perfectly with characters who use Pyro or Cryo. Without such characters on the team, Mona becomes much less useful. Furthermore, her low base HP requires a team that can provide defensive support for her. In addition, Mona is highly mobile, which is useful both in combat and in exploration.

Ningguang

There are relatively few Geo characters in Genshin Impact so far; Ningguang is often considered the strongest of them. This character is especially useful in ranged combat – using her elemental skill she can create a Jade Screen, which is a kind of shield that blocks enemy projectiles... but not those fired by Ningguang and her team members. Unfortunately, this character's attacks are quite slow, and the cover that he can create isn't very useful when there's more enemies. What's noteworthy is that Ningguang's elemental burst automatically targets enemies.

Noelle

Noelle can be used as both support and DPS-dealing character. Especially at the beginning of the adventure with Genshin Impact, more players tend to choose the first option. Noelle's elemental skill is a big part of this – it creates a protective barrier and heals the whole team at the same time. Having this character on your team gives you a sense of security, as this skill can be at hand whenever an opponent is preparing a powerful attack. Noelle's defensive build is also popular because she has a high base defense and low offensive stats – and since the damage she deals scales with those two attributes, it's easier to boost the former even more. It's also significant that you have to unlock the first constellation in order to get the big damage bonus.

Qiqi

Qiqi is primarily used as a healer. The way she restores health to the team is interesting in that the number of regenerated HP depends on the damage Qiqi deals to enemies. And damage she can deal – both her elemental skill and her burst are effective at hurting Cryo's enemies. Unfortunately, both skills take quite a long time to cooldown, so Qiqi is not chosen by players that often. The rather secondary role of healing characters in the current Genshin Impact meta is also factors in, as does Qiqi's small size, which makes exploring the game world with her more difficult.

Raiden

The heroine named after the god of lightning from Mortal Kombat must wield Electro. However, despite the powerful area damage dealt by her elemental burst, it's not easy to match Raiden with the best DPS-oriented characters. That's why – unless we have, for example, Eula on our team, whose skills resonate quite well with Raiden's – she usually has to take care of dealing damage. The offensive efficiency can be increased by putting Fischl into battle, for example.

Razor

Razor is one of the best four-star characters when it comes to inflicting as much DPS as possible. His base attack value is already high, and Razor's damage – as well as his defense and speed – increases even more after using his elemental burst. Normal attacks – which unfortunately have a rather short range – combine well with Electro's flare abilities when alternated. Summoning elemental reactions is hampered, however, because Razor's elemental burst effect disappears from the battlefield as soon as you switch to another character. Therefore, if you have a five-star hero that specializes in dealing DPS, Razor is unlikely to be of much use to you.

Rosaria

Rosaria can either be the main damage dealing character on the team or provide offensive support for someone else. Her fast physical attacks are effective in hurting enemies, and her Cryo-based elemental skill and burst make Rosaria a great match for Electro-wielding characters. These skills are especially useful when fighting groups of smaller opponents – in clashes with large opponents, including bosses, however, the elemental skill does not work at all. Additionally, Rosaria's damage can be increased quite easily by developing her passive abilities (talents).

Sara

Sara is usually chosen to provide the team with extra energy for elemental bursts. Much of this is due to her elemental skill, which – with a small upgrade to passive abilities – quickly regenerates the energy of all team members. Sara can also do a fair amount of Electro damage – even DPS-oriented builds are somewhat popular, especially with her elemental burst, which can hit multiple enemies at once. However, in order to bring out Sarah's full potential, it's a good idea to take at least one other character wielding this element into your team.

Sayu

With her elemental burst, Sayu is, first and foremost, an excellent healer. Yes, among all the characters available in Genshin Impact, there will be a few that work better than her in this role. However, if you are already in possession of this heroine, you can make good use of her. For example, equipped with the four elements of the Viridescent Venerer artifact set, Sayu will be able to effectively weaken the resistance of enemies. This character can also contribute combat, dealing Anemo damage to opponents.

Sucrose

The alchemist Sucrose does a good job as a support character for the team. Both her charged attacks and her elemental skill and burst deal area damage from Anemo, making her very useful on almost any team that relies on elemental combos. In addition, the latter two abilities can send enemies into the air, taking away their ability to move for a while (while consuming a lot of energy, especially in case of the elemental burst). They then become easy targets for characters with high DPS. Unfortunately, to enjoy the full potential of Sucrose, you need to unlock its sixth constellation.

Tartaglia

Although Tartaglia wields Hydro, unlike other characters who use this element, he can inflict massive damage. A large part of this is due to the Riptide status, which the hero can impose on enemies in several ways: by firing a fully charged bow shot, using an elemental burst, or delivering critical attacks with daggers. An opponent with Riptide status will receive Hydro area damage, and will apply this negative effect to nearby enemies upon death. As a result, characters wielding Anemo – such as Kazuha – who are able to group opponents together, are often teamed with Tartagila.

Thoma

Thoma was announced at a recent event and will be coming to Genshin Impact along with the Hu Tao banner, which will debut on November 2. He wields a spar weapon and uses Pyro. We also learned about some of his skills. Of particular note is the usual attack – a series of four quick punches – as well as the area skill Crimson Ooyoroi. After using it, Thoma will spin a spectacular pirouette, dealing Pyro area damage to nearby enemies. For now, however, it's hard to say anything more about his suitability for the team or the best fit for him.

Initially, Horizon Zero Dawn's protagonist was only available on PlayStation, but as of October 13, you can get her on any platform. And it's worth doing, because Aloy is more than a gimmick. Her ranged attacks deal a lot of physical damage, which – after using her elemental skill four times and collecting four Coil Stacks – can turn into Cryo. Aloy can also throw freezing bombs, especially useful against groups of small enemies. In addition, her elemental burst deals a lot of damage over a large area, which is especially useful if you have a Hydro character on your team, letting us freeze enemies.

Traveler

Traveler is a major figure in the Genshin Impact storyline. Therefore, they lived to see (at the beginning of the game we choose the gender) three variants so far: Geo, Anemo and Electro (more on the way). This makes him a fairly versatile character who is easy to fit into different team configurations. The first variant will come in handy if we need extra DPS, the second will make it easier to control enemies, and the third will provide quick elemental burst recharges to other team members.

Venti

One of the best characters – if not the best – providing support to trigger elemental reactions. The hold version of Venti's elemental skill is particularly useful – he'll soar through the air, only to slam into the ground a moment later, dealing significant damage while averting enemy attacks. There's also nothing stopping you from quickly switching to another character after an attack for an even more powerful combination. Use a similar maneuver after using Venti's elemental burst – it pulls enemies in, preventing them from moving for a while. This may be the perfect opportunity to start an elemental response. Therefore, Venti is an easy fit for almost any team.

Xiangling

Xiangling's main advantage with her spear weapon is her basic attack – a series of five quick strikes, after which enemies may stop dealing damage for a while. Equipped with the right artifacts, XIangling is thus able to play a major offensive role on the team. That's not the only use for her, though – she also wields Pyro, and the effects of her elemental abilities and burst remain on the battlefield even if we change her. This allows you to easily elicit different elemental responses.

Xiao

Although playing Xiao is all about dealing as much DPS as possible, this character is different from other strictly offensive heroes. Primarily because he wields Anemo, and that doesn't usually go hand in hand with dealing a lot of damage on your own. Furthermore, Xiao is the only character who uses Anemo and doesn't need interacting with others. It's generally quite easy to master this character's abilities – you can even limit yourself to simple, fast attacks that deal a lot of damage even at zero constellation. However, it's also worth using his elemental burst, though you have to do it with caution as it consumes Xiao's HP and ends immediately when you switch to another character.

Xingqiu

Xingqiu is not a good starting character – to develop his full potential, you need to reach constellation 6, as the damage dealt at zero is almost insignificant. Xingqiu is the strongest with his elemental burst, but it takes a very long time to cool down after use. Maybe that's why this hero is mainly used as a support – Rain Swords summoned by him stay on the battlefield even if you swap him for another character, and besides dealing Hydro damage to enemies, they can restore 6% of Xingqiu's maximum HP upon destruction.

Xinyan

Xinyan is one of the four characters available at the start in Genshin Impact – and in my opinion, the strongest. Using a combination of her elemental skill and burst, you can deal a lot of physical and Pyro damage. Using the former requires some training, however, as the attack must hit several enemies to be the most effective. On top of that, using it creates a shield that protects against damage. After unlocking the second constellation, Xinyan's elemental burst gains a similar ability, in addition to dealing high area-of-effect damage from Pyro.

Yanfei

This character is usually seen as a major source of damage – and in that role, he performs admirably. If only we learn to skillfully manage her stamina, Yanfei will destroy enemies with combinations of regular and charged attacks. In addition, her elemental skill and burst are extremely easy to use, and they also replenish very quickly. Unfortunately, they have a fairly short range at the same time. However, since Yanfei wields Pyro, he can use these abilities to interact with other teammates and inflict a variety of damaging, negative statuses on his opponents. If this heroine falls into your hands before better five-star characters than her, it is worth learning how to get the most out of her.

Yoimiya

Using this character effectively in combat is quite challenging. While she has powerful ranged attacks – capable of striking enemies both on the ground and in the air – and wields Pyro, she does not deal area-of-effect damage by default. You have to choose your team for her so that Yoimiya is able to hit several enemies at once thanks to combining with the skills of other characters. It is also important to have a hero with a shield on the team to ensure that the archer can fire continuously (even at close range). This is because Yoimiya loses his balance easily, and deals the most damage starting with his third attack in the combination.

Zhongli

At first, it seemed that Zhongli did not deserve five stars. Fortunately, subsequent updates to Genshin Impact have changed that. Now, this character is often chosen by players; generally for either of two roles: support or main attack. In both cases, Zhonglie's elemental skill comes in very handy, summoning a Geo construct that deals AoE damage, and which can also be climbed, allowing for a variety of defensive uses. In addition, the hold version of this skill is perfect against opponents wielding Geo and/or wielding shields. Zhonglie's elemental burst is also significant, as with its help, he's able to petrify enemies, thus giving the team a moment of respite or an opportunity to trigger an elemental reaction.

Best DPS characters in Genshin Impact

Attack is the best form of defense doesn't really describe the reality of Genshin Impact. However, dealing as much damage as possible is very important in this game and every team must have at least one character with a high DPS output. Nevertheless, all the characters have offensive potential. So, who should you choose as your main attacker? Here are the five best DPS characters in Genshin Impact (in alphabetical order):

1. Ayaka
2. Eula
3. Ganyu
4. Hu Tao
5. Xiao

Best crowd control characters in Genshin Impact

In order to make fights in Genshin Impact not only effective but also impressive, you need to learn how to manage the battlefield. Characters who are efficient in crowd control (CC), i.e. the ability to temporarily incapacitate and/or group enemies in a specific area in order to finish off a whole lot of them at once. Characters with Anemo are definitely the best crowd controllers, especially Venti, who's pretty much the best at this. Characters with other elemental powers – such as Chongyun, who can freeze opponents – can also perform this function, but they need the support of others, for example Hydro characters, to be fully effective in CC. Therefore, characters who can control opponents without any aid from others are especially valuable. Here are the top five crowd-control characters (in alphabetical order).

1. Jean
2. Kazuha
3. Sucrose
4. Venti
5. Zhongli