Genshin Impact 2.5 tier list - All characters ranked from best to worst

Since its release back in September 2020, Genshin Impact has become one of the biggest video games around the RPG genre, with players and critics praising it for its settings, music, and its extensive roster that allows players to enjoy and adapt their play style, according to the game’s different quests and their own preferences.

With 46 playable characters currently available, and one more coming in version 2.5 with the debut of Yae Miko, it can be difficult to know which are the best options before embarking on a journey to defeat Teyvat's biggest threats.

So this time, we’ll bring you a guide with the tier lists of each of the best characters according to their main weapons. Although some of these may be difficult to obtain due to their rarity, their effectiveness and utility in combat make them essential pieces for any team.

Genshin Impact character tier list - How it works

These tier lists will be divided into four levels, which we will describe below:

• SS-Tier: The best characters in the game, taking into account the current metagame.
• S-Tier: Characters that are remarkable and very good, useful for whatever situation you face.
• A-Tier: Good characters who can balance our team if we don't have the best.
• B-Tier: Not-so-bad characters, but they should be replaced by better ones as soon as you get the chance to do so.
• C-Tier: The ones you must avoid, only for emergency use or if you don't have a character to fill in a specific role.

This goes without saying (but it's worth pointing out) that tier lists are not an exact science, especially in a game where most of your party will depend on your luck or even your favorite characters, however, this will bring you a better point of view on how to build your team the best way possible.

Without further ado, let's get started.

Bow-user Characters

If there are two Genshin Impact characters that have managed to stay as the best of the best since their launch in the game, these are Venti and Ganyu.

While Venti can create a large amount of CC thanks to his elemental burst, in addition to his excellent energy recharge that allows him to spam his abilities, Ganyu stands out for the various combos she can inflict against large hordes of enemies, which makes her an essential element for any quest.

Next, we have Tartaglia, who has one of the best DPS in the entire game thanks to all his arsenal of skills, as well as great versatility to hit melee thanks to his Hydro daggers, along with the cute Diona, who with her Cryo abilities can freeze multiple enemies at once, as well as providing many shields and heals, closing in with Yoimiya and her firework-based attacks that allow her to do a massive amount of Pyro damage to all the enemies around.

She is followed by Fischl, who can also deal tons of Electro DMG thanks to her crow Oz, being useful for many elemental reactions, and it's one of those characters who's easier to get to C6, however, she can be overshadowed both Kujou Sara and Gorou, who thanks to the power of their abilities can boost their entire teams and create elemental reactions around them, making them two of the best characters with support and sub-DPS capabilities.

Aloy is also a good DPS dealer, as she can strike hard when combined with her Predator bow, but sadly, her highest potential is restricted only for PlayStation users. Lastly, Amber is useful for puzzles and can be good for an emergency whenever you need to explode something with Pyro attacks, however, if you already have Yoimiya or another better Pyro character, then forget about her.

Catalyst-user Characters

Standing out from the rest of the characters, Yae Miko will bring with her a lot of offensive abilities, focused on powering up her Electro abilities and dealing tons of damage around her, making her the new best character with a Catalyst as her weapon.

Next, Mona is one of the best supports in the game right now, as she can immobilize several enemies at once, allowing for many Cryo reactions, while her taunting phantom can also protect your other units. She is closely followed by Sucrose, a character who can launch enemies into the air with her Anemo skills, and her burst allows her to make some good elemental combinations with all enemies trapped in a gigantic vortex, while thanks to her bombs and her high base attack stats.

Klee can become as strong as a supernova in battle, although her range can be a little tricky to deal with, while Sangonomiya Kokomi has become the best healer by excellence, as all of her abilities are purely based on making your team survive, even against the hardest enemies.

We can’t also forget about Barbara, another great healer fantastic for emergencies, although she has one of the lowest base ATK stats in the game. Ningguang’s unique shield can help you shape the combat as it blocks projectiles and grants buffs, and her attacks can make a lot of DPS. Yanfei has a lot of strong charged attacks thanks to her Scarlet Seals passive, which increases her damage potential.

Finally, Lisa’s Electro skills are good due to her high base ATK, but these are just of little use compared to other Electro characters.

Claymore-user Characters

Among the heavy Claymore users, Eula has completely overtaken the top tier as she can deal massive amounts of physical damage thanks to her stacks, her Cryo capabilities, and her fast strikes. Besides, she has now found some competition with the arrival of Arataki Itto, the half-human half-oni legend who can slay everything around with the power of a rageful beast.

Not so far we find Diluc, one of the best DPS characters in the game with high base ATK power and devastating Pyro abilities, while Beidou is a character with explosive power that can deal with any challenge you find in front, however, she depends on how much you enhance her power.

Noelle may be a little weak compared to others, her defensive stats and abilities make her one of the tankiest characters in the game, and Sayu can deal damage and also heal party members, and her elemental skill can deal different kinds of damage as she spins across the battlefield, infused with the elements she interacts with.

Chongyun’s Cryo abilities allow him to do lots of elemental reactions, that can immobilize and overcome any enemy if paired with a good Hydro character, Razor is among the best close combat characters thanks to his skills that increase his melee damage, however, his lack of utility with elemental reactions can be quite hard to deal with, and as for Xinyan, she has the best base attack of all 4-star characters, becoming a good option in case you don’t have Diluc or a good Pyro character on hand.

Polearm-user Characters

The little pool of Polearm characters is currently dominated by four powerhouses with different elements and skillsets, starting with Zhongli and his Geo abilities that make him one of the most wanted characters around the game, with big damage outputs and a lot of resilience in combat, together with Xiao, who is a character based on being a DPS machine, capable of hitting multiple enemies at the same time and with his burst, becomes a demon that can destroy anything on his path.

They are accompanied by Hu Tao, whose attacks can deal large amounts of Pyro DMG thanks to her elemental skill, and combined with her burst, she can become an OP high-damage dealer, while the Raiden Shogun, who shocked her way into the top tier thanks to her majestic Electro abilities, and combined with her passive Energy regen, she is one of the best elements to carry around your team.

As for the next tier characters, Xiangling can be a good alternative for a Pyro character thanks to her area skills and rapid attacks, and Shenhe can make fantastic Cryo effects with her AoE skills and boost other Cryo character attacks, making her a good support character.

Rosaria’s arsenal makes her a very useful character for her Cryo AoE reactions, but compared to other Cryo characters, her utility is very limited. Thoma is also a great pick due to his powerful shields that give you a brief Pyro affinity, and while Yun Jin’s best attacks depend mostly on how much you charge her skills, her burst can increase quite significantly your party’s attacks based on her DEF.

Sword-user Characters

Closing these tier lists we find Bennett, who although doesn’t have impressive attack stats, his damage bonuses and healings, as well as his good elemental control, makes him one of the best utility characters, together with Xingqiu, who with his Elemental skills can provide DMG reduction as some great elemental reactions, making him a fantastic sub-DPS unit.

They are followed by Kamisato Ayaka, a great damage dealer with Cryo affinity who can use lots of reactions to exterminate all enemies around, along with Kaedehara Kazuha, who has a lot of potential both as a DPS and as support with his Anemo abilities, that can strike your enemies around to create great elemental effects.

Very close to the top tier, Albedo counts with Geo skills that make him more viable to deal with hordes of enemies, while Jean’s versatility as support and sub-DPS is fantastic for your team, thanks to her CC abilities and HP regen.

Next, Keqing has some of the best combinations in stats that along with her Electro power, makes her an amazing melee fighter, and Kaeya is one of those characters with Cryo skills that can be quite useful sometimes, with rapid strikes and devastating area damage, and while her performance has gone down over time, Qiqi still has good attack stats as well as healing abilities that benefit your whole team, in case you face some risky situations.

Finally, the Traveler’s attacks can deal quite some damage in his Electro variant, along with useful elemental reactions. Nonetheless, his Anemo variant can also be useful for some quick fights or when Pyro and Electro effects are on the table, and lastly, his Geo variant can be useful for some full Geo party combinations and effects.

And with this, our Genshin Impact characters tier list has come to an end. That said, you should look forward to everything that will arrive in Genshin’s 2.5 update, as a new challenge in Inazuma awaits you.

• Read more: Genshin Impact 2.5: Release date, Yae Miko, Kagura's Verity catalyst, character banners, and more
  

Featured image courtesy of miHoYo.