Genshin Impact Main Characters Guide

In the world of Teyvat, we have come across many characters and they have helped us overcome obstacles and challenges along our journey, therefore I have come up with tier lists for different types of characters and their roles in order to make things easier when it comes to building your team.

I started playing Genshin Impact in August 2021 and I have been actively playing the game since (AR55 at the moment). I also work closely with the local and global Genshin Impact community as well to provide the most reliable information mixed in with my own experience.

The characters are ranked into 4* and 5* characters, with the Traveler being the first 5* character available for players. In the world of Genshin, there is no set group of characters that are exclusively Genshin Impact main characters material only, this is a game that can be played based on the players’ preference and likes. Although rare, some players do use unorthodox characters as their mains (yes I am looking at Amber and Diona mains) because they like the said character.

Listed below are Genshin Impact tier lists for main DPS, sub-DPS, enabler/support, and team comps based on my own experience and that of the community, this could help when putting teams together for general purposes or tackling bosses.

*To represent the traveler I will only be using Aether (The Traveler) since Aether and Lumine are the same*

*To be fair to all of the characters the constellation levels are at zero, so we are only considering the base stats*

*Aside from the Main DPS tier list where all the characters will be present, the other tier lists will only include the most suitable*

A key note for the elemental reactions and damage multipliers available in Genshin Impact:

*The reaction order is: the top row of elements is applied first then the column of elements is applied second*

Element	Pyro	Hydro	Electro	Cryo	Anemo	Geo	Dendro
Pyro	–	Vaporize   (Damage multiplier= x1.5)	Overload   (Causes AoE damage explosions)	Melt   (Damage multiplier= x2)	Swirl (deals elemental DMG from Pyro)	Crystallize   (Creates Pyro Shields)	Burning
Hydro	Vaporize   (Damage multiplier= x2)	–	Electro Charged   (deals Electro DMG over time to any target with the “wet” status)	Frozen   (Freezes targets in place, applies no damage)	Swirl   (deals elemental DMG from Hydro)	Crystallize   (Creates Hydro Shields)	–
Electro	Overload (Causes AoE damage explosions)	Electro Charged (deals Electro DMG over time to any target with the “wet” status)	–	Superconduct (Physical RES drops by 40% for 12 seconds)	Swirl (deals elemental DMG from Electro)	Crystallize (Creates electro Shields)	–
Cryo	Melt (Damage multiplier= x1.5)	Frozen (Freezes targets in place, applies no damage)	Superconduct (Physical RES drops by 40% for 12 seconds)	–	Swirl (deals elemental DMG from Cryo)	Crystallize (Creates Cryo Shields)	–
Anemo	Swirl (deals elemental DMG from Pyro)	Swirl (deals elemental DMG from Hydro)	Swirl (deals elemental DMG from Electro)	Swirl (deals elemental DMG from Cryo)	–	–	–
Geo	Crystallize (Creates Pyro Shields)	Crystallize (Creates Hydro Shields)	Crystallize (Creates electro Shields)	Crystallize (Creates Cryo Shields)	–	–	–
Dendro	Burning	–	–	–	–	–	–

Main DPS Characters

Main DPS characters are often the forerunners in anyone’s team taking the first slot, these characters become your main character due to their steady usage. Teams are often built to compliment the main DPS character with other units such as sub-DPS and support characters.

A main DPS has to be able to consistently put out high volumes of damage and use the elemental reactions of his/her teammates to maximize the damage output. Listed below would be the best main DPS characters that Genshin Impact has to offer at the moment.

Rank	Characters
S
A
B	(Geo and Electro)
C	(Anemo)

Sub DPS Characters

Sub DPS characters are characters that provide additional elemental damage and support to the main DPS, this can be through their elemental skill, elemental burst and passive talents.

These characters are primarily suited for AoE (Area of Effect) damage, elemental reactions, and buffs for the main DPS character, however, a sub DPS should be able to hold their own and carry the team in a situation where the main DPS has fallen.

When selecting a sub DPS the usual go to character is Xingqui, not only for the crazy damage that he is able to put out but also for his ability to provide healing for the party member on the field, after using his elemental skill.

Listed below would be the best sub-DPS characters that Genshin Impact has to offer at the moment.

Rank	Character
S
A	(Geo)
B
C	(Anemo and Electro)

Enabler/Support Characters

An enabler is a character who is adept in either elemental reactions, providing shields or attack buffs that multiply the overall damage output and often paves the way for elemental reaction-based damage as support for the main DPS character.

Sucrose is one of the best enablers in the game and she is relatively easy to obtain as well via the Beginners banner, aside from Sucrose we have Bennett who is a bit of an all rounder and a must-have for any team since he provides AoE damage, buffs the teams attacks through his elemental burst and also provides steady healing.

Rank	Character
S
A
B
C

Healing dedicated characters

Healers are essential in a game such as Genshin Impact mainly due to their ability to provide consistent healing, which is beneficial when tackling domains, bosses, and the Rifthound monsters who apply a “corrosion” status which eats away the players’ health over time.

Bennett once again shines in this department because his burst applies a healing effect, which regenerates health at a steady rate as long as the target character remains within the range of his elemental burst circle while having health below the 70% range.

Rank	Character
S
A
B
C

How to Obtain Characters?

After following the Archon quest in Mondstadt, we are able to obtain three free characters who primarily become our first unofficial team. This includes Amber, Lisa, and Kaeya. However, there are three other free characters later on in the game and they are Noelle, Barbara, and Xiangling.

This gives us six free characters, however, over time most of these characters will be dropped and replaced as we obtain characters through the game’s “Wish” system which itself has different variants, which brings out the gacha aspect of Genshin Impact.

The pity system brought in by Genshin Impact establishes a guaranteed 4* or 5* character or weapon for the predetermined range of pulls for each banner, with soft pity usually being 10-20 pulls before hard pity which is the guaranteed point where the character or weapon can be pulled. The pulls can be done in the “Wish” section of the game and the necessary Fates can be purchased within the in-game shop feature under “Paimon’s Bargains.”

*(1 pull=1 Acquaint Fate or 1 Intertwined Fate)*

*(160 Primogems=1 Acquaint Fate or 1 Intertwined Fate)*

The four main banner types are:

Standard Banner

The Standard Banner which is currently called “Wanderlust Invocation”, which is a permanent banner type where the player can spend the in-game currency called “Acquaint Fate” which helps them receive 4* characters within every 10 pulls and a 5* character within every 90 pulls.

The current 4* characters available are:

1. Fischl
2. Razor
3. Xinyan
4. Sucrose
5. Xingqiu
6. Beidou
7. Kujou Sara
8. Chongyun
9. Ningguang
10. Yanfei
11. Thoma
12. Diona
13. Sayu
14. Bennett
15. Noelle
16. Rosaria
17. Kujou Sara

The current 5* characters available are:

1. Keqing
2. Mona
3. Qiqi
4. Jean
5. Diluc

Character Banner

A limited-edition Character banner contains limited time 5* characters available on the wish system for 3 weeks and afterward not obtainable via the Standard Banner. Making some of these characters rare and difficult to obtain unless primogems were saved up beforehand.

Roughly 180 Intertwined Fates (28,800 primogems) are required to guarantee a successful limited-time character pull if the 50/50 is lost within the first 90 pulls.

Weapon Banner

Another limited-time banner but this time containing Weapons and 4* characters as well. By using the “Epitomized path” feature of the game players can select the weapon of choice (between the two 5* weapons advertised) and pull on the banner in hopes of obtaining the weapon they want, however, if they obtain two of the other 5* weapon the preselected weapon of choice will be given by default to the player, resetting the Epitomized path.

This is also another way to obtain 4* characters and/or weapons within every 10 pulls.

Beginners Banner

Another limited-time banner that disappears after 20 pulls. Within the first 10 pulls Noelle is guaranteed, the remaining 10 pulls contain another 4* character or if lucky enough a 5* character.

Guaranteed: Noelle

Other Available characters:

1. Keqing
2. Mona
3. Qiqi
4. Jean
5. Diluc
6. Sucrose
7. Chongyun
8. Beidou
9. Fischl
10. Razor
11. Ningguang
12. Barbara
13. Xingqui
14. Bennett
15. Xiangling

Additionally, players can also buy two new 4* characters every month in exchange for the in-game currency “Masterless Star glitter” at Paimon’s Bargain shop.

Team Building and Slot Organizing in the Early Game

Apart from the Traveler we also obtain Amber, Kaeya, Lisa, Noelle, Barbara, and Xiangling who primarily become the first companions as we journey across Teyvat. The reasons why we receive these characters are because they have unique abilities that may help smooth things over in the early game.

1. Amber– She is able to deal damage to enemies that are far/flying and her elemental burst is great with AoE damage.
2. Kaeya Alberich– Possibly one of the best main DPS and sub DPS options for strictly free-to-play players, he is able to provide AoE damage with his burst and deal steady Cryo damage.
3. Lisa Minci– She is great with AoE damage once again and a good crowd controller (can deal damage to multiple enemies) in the early game.
4. Noelle– She is one of the best shield providers and can also generate health which can help heal the team.
5. Barbara– She is more focused on providing steady healing but can be great when it comes to hydro application.
6. Xiangling– She is one of the best Pyro appliers in the game and can also be used as a main DPS or sub DPS character.

The usual team compositions (team comps) in Genshin Impact follow;

Main DPS – Sub DPS – Sub DPS – Support

However, there are many ways to incorporate different characters and teams into a players specific preference. I personally prefer fast characters and prefer to attack until the mobs have been vanquished, therefore I follow a: Main DPS – Main DPS – Enabler – Support team comp. This allows me to maximize my damage output in a very quick fashion.

In my own experience for the majority of the early game I used a team of Traveler (Anemo) – Kaeya – Xiangling – Noelle, I loved the swirl effect that the Traveler’s elemental skill move utilized since it was able to include the Traveler’s status into the swirl thereby doing elemental damage of that particular element.

Especially after the Traveler starts burning, he/she infuses the Pyro element into the swirl which produces quite a lot of damage and also applies the burning effect onto your enemies. However, after I got my other characters the Traveler, Kaeya and Noelle were dropped out of the rotation.

Xiangling still shows up to battle on and off but Bennett has taken her place as the Pyro character on my first team. My main DPS character has become Tartaglia (Childe), my main/sub DPS character has become Keqing and my support character has become Raiden Shogun (Baal).

Late Game Team Changes Based on Limited Time Wish Characters

My team is still set to undergo some changes along with the upcoming updates as more meta-relevant characters, artifacts and talents will be released. My ideal first team as of the current update would include Xiao – Tartaglia – Zhongli – Bennett, I love seeing the high damage numbers along with consistent high damage, and Xiao being one of the best main DPS characters can provide this along with Tartaglia as another main DPS.

Since Xiao constantly loses health through his elemental burst and because Tartaglia is the closest character to a berserker, therefore both of them are at a higher risk of losing quite a lot of their health through close combat. In order to avoid or minimize this loss I plan to rely on Zhongli’s shields via his elemental skill and Bennett’s healing via his elemental burst.

Below are a few team comps for more seasoned Genshin Impact players who are looking for optimal team comps to get the best out of their characters.

Team comp for Xiao

Xiao is an Anemo polearm weapon user who is a consistent high damage dealer and he is one of the best main DPS characters in Genshin Impact. However, after activating his elemental burst he constantly loses health while having his attack, AoE damage, and jumping ability greatly enhanced, the elemental burst also infuses Anemo into his attacks but there is no swirl effect with other elements.

Xiao is a pure main DPS character as he has no qualities that would make him suitable to be a sub DPS or even support-type character. His teams must be focused around him and help him deliver the most amount of damage possible via buffs, healing, and by using an Anemo character to be used as a battery to generate elemental particles for Xiao.

Xiao also reduces the stamina cost of the team while climbing, making him ideal for exploration coupled with his elemental skill (which can be used to dash forward while dealing Anemo damage) which can be used midair.

	Main DPS	Main/Sub DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team
Best team comp

Team Comp for Ganyu 

Ganyu is a Cryo bow user and is also widely regarded as one of the best main DPS characters in the game as she is able to deal steady Cryo AoE damage through her elemental burst.

Her Cryo AoE can be used to perform multiple elemental reactions, with her elemental skill and burst being great crowd control mechanisms if built right she could easily be the best DPS character on your team. Ganyu can also be played as a sub DPS character, preferably with some form of Cryo resonance.

	Main DPS	Main/Sub DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team
Best team comp

Team Comp for Tartaglia (Childe)

Tartaglia is one of the most fun characters to use in the game since he can use a bow for long-range damage and then switch to melee after activating his elemental skill. However, if he stays in the melee stance for too long users run into long cooldowns which may hinder the battles long term but this can be managed by swapping him out for a sub DPS until the cooldown resets or if possible the user can use his normal and charged moves.

Tartaglia’s elemental burst has two forms as well, the first being ranged stance which drops an arrow infused with Hydro, and the second being a huge Hydro slice from his melee stance. Having Tartaglia on your team raises the normal attack level of each character by one talent level.

	Main DPS	Main/Sub DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team
Best team comp

Team Comp for Hu Tao

Hu Tao is a fan favorite and her second banner rerun was a highly anticipated Genshin Impact event. Hu Tao is a Pyro polearm user, who does more damage the lower her health gets.

She has an inversely proportional relationship between her health and total damage output. Her elemental skill sacrifices her health to infuse her attacks with Pyro, however her elemental burst heals her and allows her to regain her health.

When Hu Tao has health below the 50% range, her Pyro damaged is boosted by 33%. Hu Tao is also a great Pyro applier, so elemental reactions such as Vaporize and Melt would be carried out quite easily.

	Main DPS	Main/Sub DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team
Best team comp

Team Comp for Ayaka

Kamisato Ayaka is a Cryo sword user, who has a unique sprint that is similar to that of Mona’s sprint. Ayaka can deal high amounts of damage while providing Cryo AoE damage. After ending her sprint, Ayaka’s normal and charged attacks are infused with Cryo dealing Cryo damage.

She is also a very quick character and in my opinion, that is always a very good thing when it comes to Genshin Impact. Ayaka is a relatively easy character to use but the only thing that needs extra attention would be her cooldowns.

	Main DPS	Main/Sub DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team			(Anemo)
Best team comp

Team Comp for Eula

Eula is another very strong main DPS character, even though she has a Cryo vision she excels in dealing physical damage. Eula is also able to help her teammates by applying Cryo through her elemental skill and burst. Since Eula is primarily a physical damage dealer, we can expect to use artifacts such as “Pale Flame” or “Bloodstained Chivalry” to maximize her attack output.

	Main DPS	Main/Sub DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team
Best team comp

Team Comp for Raiden Shogun

Raiden Shogun (also known as Baal, Ei, and the electro Archon) is an Electro polearm user who can play a wide variety of roles such as main DPS, sub-DPS and even as a support character.

Her elemental burst summons sword followed by a very strong initial Electro slash followed by a series of attacks from the summoned sword, after using this ability the sword goes away and Raiden returns to being a polearm user. Through her elemental skill, she is able to provide Electro damage both when she is actively on the field and when she is off the field as well.

	Main DPS	Sub/Main DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team			(Anemo)
Best team comp

Team Comp for Itto

Arataki Itto is a Geo claymore user, he was released in the 2.3 patch along with Gorou where both characters made their debut. With Itto’s elemental skill he unleashes a bull at the opponent(s) which does Geo damage.

Related: Complete Gorou Genshin Chronicle Guide

As for his elemental burst, Itto converts all of his normal plunge, and charged attacks into Geo damage-dealing attacks. His energy recharge needs to be monitored since his elemental burst costs quite a lot of energy.

	Main DPS	Main/Sub DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team			(Geo)
Best team comp

Team Comp for Diluc

Diluc is a Pyro claymore user, when he was released initially most players considered him to be the strongest character in Genshin Impact but he has fallen down the ranks. However, he still remains one of the top Pyro characters and overall DPS characters.

His elemental skill infuses Pyro into his forward slashes and the skill can be used three times consecutively before entering a cooldown. His elemental burst provides large AoE Pyro damage as the enemies are attacked by a giant Pyro Phoenix.

	Main DPS	Main/Sub DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team
Best team comp

Team Comp for Keqing

Keqing is an Electro sword user, who excels in moving swiftly across the field while doing quite a lot of Electro damage. Not only is Keqing capable of carrying a team but she has great mobility off the battlefield in terms of exploration and getting to high places.

She is also relatively easy to level up in terms of constellations since her drop rate is boosted on the standard banner. Her elemental skill allows the player to zap around the battlefield by placing a marker and teleporting to the marker and Keqing’s elemental burst deals AoE Electro damage.

	Main DPS	Main/Sub DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team
Best team comp

Team Comp for Klee

Klee is a Pyro catalyst user who is also one of the highest DPS dealing characters along with being a great Pyro applier as well. Klee is also one of the smallest characters available in Genshin Impact making her ideal for exploring the smaller spaces in Teyvat but ultimately a little troublesome when it comes to climbing the terrain.

Her elemental skill releases a bomb that bounces thrice to open up, releasing bombs that explode on contact.  Her elemental burst deals steady Pyro damage along with explosive damage which will keep dealing damage until the cooldown ends.

	Main DPS	Main/Sub DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team
Best team comp

Team Comp for Jean

Jean is an Anemo sword user, she is the current acting grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius. She is capable of being a main DPS, sub DPS, support, and healer. She is one of the most well-rounded characters in Genshin Impact since she can play many roles and easily fit into any team comp since she can help produce Swirl reactions.

Her elemental skill can be used two ways by holding it or by tapping on it, by tapping on her elemental skill she launches the opponent(s) upwards and by holding her elemental skill she is able to summon a whirlwind to launch the opponent(s). Her elemental burst is able to deal AoE Anemo damage while healing any of the teammates that are active on the field.

	Main DPS	Main/Sub DPS	Support	Support
F2P friendly team
Best team comp

FAQs

Conclusion

Most of the above team comps are subject to change with the upcoming characters and so on, which I will be editing and adding onto more specific character guides. However, as of the current update, these would be the best possible teams.

In my opinion, Genshin Impact itself does not follow strict rules to play by in terms of team comps and that makes this game very player-friendly since we are able to customize teams to our own liking.

I personally enjoyed playing with Aether in my team and used him all the way until Inazuma before he was dropped by other characters but then again there are players who opt to leave the traveler behind as soon as they can.

Continue reading related Genshin Impact character guides

• Rex Lapis Guide
• Kazuha Guide
• Yoimiya Guide
• Azhdaha Guide
• La Signora Guide
• Collei Guide
• Candace Guide
• Faruzan Guide
• Nahida Guide
• Alhaitham Guide
• Genshin Impact Baizhu Guide

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Rashen Perera

Rashen is a dedicated and passionate Genshin player turned writer who has used his love for this brilliant live service game as a means of turning his passion into a career. While not outspoken in nature, when let loose on a page, Rashen let's his work speak for itself and when it comes to the world of Genshin, there are few players out there that can offer more detailed and informative articles than him. He's poured literally thousands of hours into Genshin and explored every nook and cranny of Mondstadt, and he's more than willing to pass this knowledge on to you, our faithful readers!

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