Genshin Impact fever has quickly taken the world by storm, with over 17 million people having downloaded the game in just four days on mobile alone. When you consider that the RPG has also enjoyed large-scale success on both PC and PS4 — as well as reportedly having a Switch port in the works — it should come as no surprise that everyone and their nan is keen for an authoritative Genshin Impact tier list highlighting all of the best characters in the game. Lucky for you, we've played heaps of Genshin Impact already, and have taken the liberty of putting together a detailed breakdown of every character in the game.
So, whether you've been fortunate enough to roll Diluc with free Fates, or are trying to make ends meet with Xingqiu's water blades, here's everything you need to know about the Genshin Impact tier list for team building.
Genshin Impact Tier List — Most Powerful Characters
At the beginning of Genshin Impact you'll only have one character at your disposal, the protagonist known simply as The Traveler. However, you quickly rack up quite a formidable squad simply from progressing through the main story — after adding Amber to your roster, you'll soon recruit Kaeye, Lisa, and more.
However, simply sticking to the story-related party members is not going to be enough, which is why we've taken pains to put together this Genshin Impact tier list in the first place. For those unacquainted with how tier lists work, they're essentially an effectiveness breakdown separated into different categories, with S-Tier being widely known as the most powerful sub-group. For the purpose of our Genshin Impact tier list, we'll be using this model.
- S-Tier— Characters in this group are the most powerful fighters in the game.
- A-Tier — Exceptionally strong picks, but not necessarily the top of the pops.
- B-Tier — Above average, these characters are decent, but not recommended if you're building a team of all-stars.
- C-Tier — Average or slightly below average. If you really love them, use them, but make sure they're surrounded by S-ranks or they'll be total goners.
- D-Tier — Use at your own peril, for these characters are totally incapable of fighting.
Now that we've outlined our methodology, let's get to the fun part — the actual Genshin Impact tier list.
Genshin Impact Tier List - Best Characters For Your Party
Here is the official ranking we've allocated every single character in Genshin Impact after having spent a significant amount of time with the game. Our list is slightly different to most other ones, but we reckon this is the most accurate Genshin Impact tier list based on our own experience — plus, it doesn't just put all the rare and expensive characters up at the top, meaning this ranking will help you to excel in combat without having to go hard on gacha spending.
Genshin Impact Tier List — S-Tier Characters
Diluc
Simply put, Diluc is one of the most powerful DPS characters in Genshin Impact. While most standard abilities in the game are single-use for every individual charge, Diluc can use Searing Onslaught — a forward, front-flipping slash that induces Pyro — three times in a row, dealing massive damage to mobs and bosses alike. On top of that, Diluc's ultimate, Dawn, conjures a flaming phoenix that absolutely annihilates enemies — this is especially useful when used in conjunction with crowd control characters such as Venti or Traveler (Anemo).
Also, Diluc's design is pretty great — he's the red-haired guy below with an apparent penchant for slagging off the noble Knights of Favonius.
Qiqi
We actually put together an entire Qiqi builds guide due to how good this character is. She's the most powerful Ice-user in the game, as well as arguably being the most impactful support fighter. Both her ordinary and ultimate abilities heal herself and the entire party in direct proportion to damage dealt during their activation periods, meaning that Qiqi is a perfect support/DPS hybrid that deserves a spot on pretty much any team.
Venti
Venti the bard is, like most fantasy RPG musicians, cheeky, funny, and oddly useful. His Wind abilities are similar to those of The Traveler, Genshin Impact's protagonist, except they are significantly more powerful. His standard ability is similar to the The Traveler's ultimate, in that it pulls mobs of enemies up into the air. Combined with his own ultimate, which pierces said mobs with a gigantic wind arrow, Venti essentially becomes a bonafide one-man-army.
Fischl
Fischl is a character that renders anyone similar to her totally pointless. She's a ranged attacker, boasting a mean bow, but also has access to a magical raven capable of dealing with enemies closing in on her location. She can also become this raven by using her ultimate, affording her excellent mobility without compromising damage output. A great character all around, if not a little less elementally-aligned than her other lightning counterparts.
Razor
I have been absolutely shocked by Razor's position in most tier lists. While he's usually listed as A-Tier — which is reasonable, but I disagree — seeing him as a B-Tier character is just absurd to me. This is a grey-haired kid who grew up with the wolves and is capable of summoning a giant, purple ghost wolf with his ultimate. This allows him to use said ghost wolf as a kind of magical mech, with all of the wolf's swipes synchronizing with Razor's attacks. He's a DPS monster, and his standard ability charges at a ridiculously fast rate, allowing you to lay down lightning smashes — all of which speed up the generation rate of his ultimate — on a frighteningly regular basis.
Also he looks like Killua from Hunter x Hunter, which might explain my slight — but totally justified — bias. He's S-Tier, and that's that.
Genshin Impact Tier List — A-Tier Characters
Jean
Jean is primarily a support character, but can line up some devastating combos when used in conjunction with DPS machines like Diluc. While most of her wind-based kit is mainly used to wrap enemies in whirlwinds, her crowd-control abilities make her a character who synergizes well with almost any team. Her ultimate also heals your entire party, making it an immensely valuable move to have on hand — the main reason she's not S-Tier is because both Venti and Qiqi outshine her for crowd control and healing potential, respectively.
Xiao
Another character who could theoretically be S-Tier, Xiao is capable of putting down immense amounts of damage when his ultimate is active — the tradeoff is that he also hemorrhages massive amounts of HP while doing so. He has great range, some of the best mobility in the game — he has a unique ability to dash twice — and is able to pulverize entire mobs in a flash. But, if you're still getting the hang of combat, and you don't have an S-Tier or A-Tier healer on your team, you might want to focus your efforts elsewhere until you're able for such a high risk/high reward fighter.
Barbara
Barbara is a water-based character that's sort of similar to Qiqi and Jean. We'd argue that she's somewhere in the middle of the two — she hasn't quite got the DPS potential of Qiqi, but her elemental and healing abilities are mostly superior to Jean's. She's also more likely to offer elemental synergy with other characters — for example, if she makes it rain you can heal your characters by dealing damage before switching to an electro-fighter like Razor to deal shock damage. Barbara is good for pretty much any team, if not just a bit boring to play.
Mona
Mona is cooler than she is actually effective, I think. She can sprint across water, which is a lot of fun, but not necessarily useful in a fight. Her ordinary ability is similar to the likes of Amber's, in that it conjures a dummy to draw enemies' attention away from herself, and her ultimate is great for crowd control. Ultimately, she's probably the least effective A-Tier character, but she's a bit too good to be B-Tier, either. If you have her, but none of the other S-Tier or A-Tier characters, she'll make a great addition to your team. Otherwise, there are plenty of better options.
Xiangling
Xiangling is a fast-paced character that's a fiery blast to play. Like Xiao, she has a spear, allowing her to deal damage quickly and at relative range. Her fire abilities have nothing on Diluc's, but they're significantly better than those of any fire character besides. Also, if you've done Xiangling's story quest in Mondstadt and got your first impression of what her character is actually like, there's no way you won't want her on your team. She's an S-Tier characteristically, and a prime A-Tier pick for combat.
Genshin Impact Tier List — All Other Characters
After S-Tier and A-Tier, most of the remaining characters kind of blend into one. It's still worth ranking them — which is what we've done — but there's not much point in discussing their overall builds, because they mostly consist of discount versions of the more powerful abilities listed above.
That being said, The Traveler — who you begin the game as — has two distinct builds: Anemo and Geo. If you're the kind of person who always wants your protagonist in your party, Traveler (Anemo) is a weaker version of Venti. Traveler (Geo) is much more unique, and, in my opinion, a lot more fun to play. Regardless, both characters fall bang smack in the middle of B-Tier.
Here are the rest of the characters grouped by tiers.
Genshin Impact Tier List — B-Tier Characters
- Klee
- Traveler (Anemo)
- Traveler (Geo)
- Xingqiu
- Chongyun
Genshin Impact Tier List — C-Tier Characters
- Kaeya
- Bennett
- Noelle
- Ningguang
- Sucrose
- Lisa
- Beidou
Genshin Impact Tier List — D-Tier Characters
- Amber — we are very sorry for any Amber fans out there, but there are better archers, fire-users, and taunters then her in literally every single tier. It's impossible to make a case for her being a good pick, and that's coming from someone who has already ascended her and leveled her right up to level 35. If you really, really like Amber and insist on using her, you should probably make sure the rest of your team consists of, like, three Dilucs — which is impossible. You really shouldn't use Amber.For more Genshin Impact guides, be sure to check out our Genshin Impact complete guide and walkthrough.