As is the case with battle pass rewards, prioritizing which starglitter weapon to purchase and refine first is a fickle, highly subjective chore. For all of Genshin Impact’s glitches and gacha-frustrations, when it comes to combat, the game is fairly balanced. Even Amber can clear Spiral Abyss floor 12. All of that is to say: no one can pick the weapon that suits you. The best tool for that job is whatever fixes a stat imbalance on your damage dealer of choice.
The starglitter shop sells two weapon families that alternate monthly: Royal and Blackcliff weapons. All of these items have a base ATK of either 565 or 510 at level 90, as well as additional ATK as the secondary stat for the former, and CRIT damage for the latter. Royal weapons give a passive trait that briefly boosts CRIT rate on-hit, while Blackcliff weapons give temporary increased ATK after every kill. To avoid burying the lede -- Blackcliff weapons are generally superior, but given the high stat variability produced by Genshin’s gear system, it’s possible that the Royal set will suit you better.
10 Royal Grimoire
Though it’s impossible to say which starglitter weapon is the best, it is easier to spot the underperformers. Having high ATK on a character is never a bad thing, however, due to the stat’s unintuitive scaling in the late-game, there are more efficient ways to increase DPS, especially for catalyst-wielders.
Genshin’s mages deal constant elemental damage, so their strength increases dramatically when boosting elemental bonus, CRIT rate, and CRIT damage. For this reason, Royal Grimoire won’t make you weaker, but it will prevent your team’s mage from playing optimally.
9 Royal Bow
The Royal Bow will hold back most of Genshin’s archers for the same reasons that Royal Grimoire should be avoided by mages.
Ganyu should be using as many of her double-charged shots as possible, Tartaglia wants to maximize his skill uptime, Venti should be using his burst as much as possible -- all of this means that high elemental bonus (and energy recharge for Venti) works best for these characters, followed by the CRIT stats. Every other archer plays either a support or defensive role, meaning the excess ATK from Royal Bow goes to waste.
8 Royal Longsword
If The Black Sword was tough to recommend among the battle pass weapons then the Royal Longsword should be a hard pass. ATK works better on a rapier than it does on a catalyst or bow, but having two ATK stats, instead of ATK and CRIT, is less than ideal.
If the starglitter is burning through your wallet then Royal Longsword can be effective for Keqing, but it isn’t the best four-star weapon for her... it’s not even her best sword on this list. Qiqi’s ATK-based healing skills see substantial increases from this much ATK, but right now, Genshin’s most challenging content favors shielding through damage over strong healing.
7 Royal Spear
The Royal Spear is the first item in this weapon family that offers some situational utility. Zhongli has too many offensive and defense options, the Royal Spear doesn’t even make his top three. Hu Tao can benefit from extra ATK, but she already has ATK and CRIT rate mechanics built-in, so she’s better off loading up on CRIT damage. Xiangling, of course, is firmly in the support camp, so ATK is hardly useful.
That leaves Xiao, who -- due to not being one of Mihoyo’s exalted pyro characters -- has access to fewer pyro resonance team compositions. Xiao is already formidable without pyro resonance, but if you’re in need of a hefty ATK boost without changing your party, Royal Spear can provide.
6 Royal Greatsword
In a vague sense, one could declare the Royal Greatsword the best in its family. That title is earned by virtue of it being a claymore, however, and has little to do with this item’s exceptional stats. Early on in the game’s life, Genshin fans named Diluc the “King of ‘unga bunga’ damage,” meaning he’s so formidable that a caveman could gear him up and he’d still be powerful.
With the release of Eula -- a specialist in dealing physical damage -- the dominance of claymore characters has continued. You’d be hard-pressed to build Diluc or Eula and end up with a weak character, for that reason the Royal Greatsword wins on merits that aren’t its own.
5 Blackcliff Longsword
Thanks to their heightened CRIT damage, a stat that’s particularly tricky to build thanks to Genshin’s RNG gear system, the Blackcliff weapons are useful to far more of the player base than the Royal weapons. There’s less to say about each Blackcliff weapon because they are almost always the best free-to-play option if the wishes aren’t going your way.
As mentioned above, the Blackcliff Longsword is better for every swordsman or swordswoman, other than Qiqi. Keqing, Kaeya, and Traveler all benefit from CRIT damage increases since they spend a considerable amount of time on the field, and even Kazuha can be forced into a main DPS role with enough CRIT rate and damage.
4 Blackcliff Agate
Neither of the starglitter catalysts is ideal for wielders, until a line of catalysts that have elemental bonus stats for their respective mages is released that will continue to be true. With that said, ATK boosts both physical and elemental damage in small increments, meaning half of its benefit is wasted on a catalyst.
Meanwhile, CRIT damage is useful to every damage type (other than reactions, which never CRIT), so the Blackcliff Agate is the clear winner of the two options here. Overall though, a Widsith or a Solar Pearl will take you further than these weapons.
3 Blackcliff Slasher
The Blackcliff Slasher is one of the best claymores available when considering the ease with which it is obtained. There are instances when a Serpent Spine or Prototype Archaic (formerly Aminus) will perform better, sure, but the former is purchased with real money and the latter is crafted with ludicrously rare weekly boss drops.
The Blackcliff Slasher is like a free ticket to the later stages of the Spiral Abyss. This claymore can make Beidou and Razor endgame ready with little effort, meanwhile, Eula and Diluc become nigh unstoppable.
2 Blackcliff Warbow
If you’re a Ganyu-main who is yet to be blessed with an Amos Bow (or another five-star), go buy a Blackcliff Warbow to hold you over until your luck improves. This weapon is mean in any archer's hands, but when paired with a Ganyu that’s supported by Rosaria -- and therefore receiving bonus CRIT rate from cryo resonance and the latter's passives -- every shot has the chance to deal critical damage in astounding proportions.
1 Blackcliff Pole
Hu Tao-mains and Ganyu-mains are among the most passionate defenders of their respective damage dealers. The Blackcliff Pole makes sure that Hu Tao can keep up with, if not outpace, the legendary qilin adeptus.
While the Blackcliff Pole is effective on any polearm wielder, and on any Hu Tao, if you’re one of the lucky few to reach constellation six with the character, then you’re already benefiting from her 100 percent CRIT rate buff. Thanks to this passive trait, which activates when her HP is below 25 percent, Hu Tao mains can ignore CRIT rate entirely, and instead stack CRIT damage sky-high, for record-breaking results.