Genshin Impact: Character Tier List

The big change here is in Spiral Abyss, with Lunar-Charged reactions now a central mechanic. Lunar-Charged reactions trigger when Hydro meets Cryo with specific timing, scaling heavily with elemental mastery to create damage multipliers that rival Vaporize. Columbina stands as the best support for enabling these reactions, while Fischl and other electro characters can trigger supplementary Electrocharged damage. The first half of floor 12 buffs Anemo damage by 75%, while the latter half buffs Cryo normal attacks. This led to record usage rates for Skirk, Escoffier, and Ineffa, with Game8 noting that Columbina became the most-used support in Abyss.

These new characters Skirk and Ineffa see usage soar due to Abyss 12 content, but Mavuika still stands as the best on-field DPS among all DPS characters and the best Pyro character in the game. Columbina is the best sub DPS and support hybrid, fueling Flins and Ineffa that require Lunar-Charged setups through her unique elemental reaction mechanics.

Furina and Bennett are notable as the best team buffers for most party setups, which established their placement here. As for 4-star characters, Fischl is still the best off-field sub-DPS that fills almost any flex slot. It's unthinkable for most games to have a 4-star in the top, but here we are.

Varka, the newest Anemo DPS character, debuts as a solid on-field hypercarry with his elemental skill and burst that transform his normal and charged attacks into wide Anemo slashes that do AoE, though lacking compared to Mavuika and Flins at C0. Escoffier makes a rerun and is popular for Abyss 12, owing to the excellent support she can provide to Skirk and Ayaka.

Neuvillette remains a powerhouse, logging 68% usage in the first half of Abyss and clearing content well even at C0. Kazuha with Viridescent Venerer and Xiangling still play effective roles as support and sub-DPS, respectively.

Some of these characters, like Xingqiu, were once part of the endgame meta, but have fallen behind for various reasons. Hu Tao was once a powerhouse, but while still formidable as part of Vaporize teams, Mavuika and Arlecchino easily and consistently reach that level of damage without restrictions. Noelle is capable at C6 but slow, and Raiden Shogun was left behind with the arrival of the Lunar Reaction era.

These are still capable characters, but require very specific setups to work. This also means there is a significant dependence on having the right conditions to perform well.

These are single character specialists who are good for limited use only. Cyno is slow, and his on-field animations as an electro character are so long that they lock out supports. Eula is the best Physical DPS in a game where Physical no longer matters since they can't compare with the reaction multipliers of Lunar and Vaporize teams.

Legacy Pyro characters Diluc and Yoimiya are still good for overworld content, but not for much else. The same can be said for most characters in this group.

These characters are used only by the most hardcore of fans. Xinyan, Aloy, and Amber all sit here, with kits that have been forgotten or don't even scale properly to begin with. Use them for overworld content, but running Abyss 12 with them will test your loyalty.