The best Genshin Impact characters are those that you choose. Seriously, it’s a game all about picking companions that you like and investing time and effort building them with strong weapons and artifacts. Investing in a character in Genshin is never a minor thing, especially if you get into the nitty gritty of artifact farming and either wishing for five-star weapons, or getting the best no-spend alternative you can through quests.
That said, it’s handy to know what each character’s strength is, especially if you’re just starting out. There are a lot of characters arriving all the time as with Candace, Tighnari, and Nilou, and with Sumeru released, it’s likely that we’re going to get lots more. If you know how characters compare to each other in terms of strength and versatility, it makes creating a decent party that little bit simpler, especially as you’re never going to have every single character in the game. Unless you bankrupt yourself that is.
In this Genshin Impact characters list, I’ll go through every potential party member, rank them, and talk a little bit about what makes each of them unique. Lower down I’ll also explain about upcoming characters, how banner Pity works, and who you can grab for free simply by completing various quests.
Here are the best Genshin Impact characters
| Tier | Characters |
|---|---|
| S | Yelan, Ganyu, Hu Tao, Raiden Shogun, Venti, Ayato, Arataki Itto, Bennett, Xingqiu, Zhongli, Albedo, Ayaka, Jean, Eula, Kazuha |
| A | Cyno, Tighnari, Heizou, Yae Miko, Shenhe, Yun Jin, Gorou, Klee, Diluc, Kokomi, Yoimiya, Aloy, Yanfei, Mona, Tartaglia, Xiao, Diona, Sucrose, Keqing, Ningguang, Razor, Fischl, Noelle, Xiangling, Kuki |
| B | Nilou, Candace, Dori, Collei, Thoma, Aloy, Barbara, Sara, Sayu, Beidou, Chongyun, Kaeya, Rosaria, Qiqi, Xinyan |
| C | Lisa, Traveller (all elements), Amber |
Genshin Impact tier list
S-tier
A-tier
B-tier
C-tier
New characters
Who are the new Genshin Impact characters?
The new Genshin Impact characters are Nahida and Layla. The first is the human vessel of the Dendro Archon, Lesser Lord Kusanali, so you can expect her to be a powerful five-star Dendro character. The second, Layla, is a Cryo character, though not all that much is known about her right now other than that she’s a student of the Sumeru Akademiya. We’ll get to see the abilities of both when the Genshin Impact 3.2 livestream rolls around, but the exact air date hasn’t been announced yet.
How banners work
What is Pity in Genshin Impact?
To get Genshin Impact characters, you have to use the game’s gacha system to ‘Wish’ on a banner. You use Genshin Impact Primogems to purchase Intertwined Fate or Acquaint Fate that amount to a single wish and can be used individually or in sets of ten for a guaranteed four star hero.
Different banners feature different characters and boosted pull rates, so if you want a specific character and don’t want to spend money, it’s better to save up your Primogems and wait for them to be featured. The Genshin Impact pity and soft pity systems are also important to understand:
- After nine wishes without a four star, the tenth wish is guaranteed to be four star.
- After 89 wishes without a five star, the 90th is guaranteed to be a five star. From 75 wishes onwards the chance to pull a five-star is increased every wish until it hits 100% on the 90th.
- After 79 wishes on a weapon banner without a five star, the 80th is guaranteed to be five star. From 65 wishes onwards the chance to pull a five-star is increased every wish until it hits 100% on the 80th.
If you pull someone you already have, they are converted into an item that lets you unlock a Constellation upgrade for your current version of the character.
Free characters
Who are the free characters in Genshin Impact?
Genshin Impact also gives you six free characters (and one who is technically free) for completing various story quests and challenges. Here’s how to get them and the order they are available in:
- Amber: Complete the quest “Wind-Riding Knight”
- Noelle: Use ten of your free starting wishes on the beginner banner
- Kaeya: Complete the quest “Crash Course”
- Lisa: Complete the quest “Spark Amongst the Pages”
- Barbara: Complete the ‘Song of the Drago and Freedom’ quest
- Xiangling: Clear floor three, chamber three in the Spiral Abyss
- Collei: Reach AR 20 and complete floor four, chamber three of the Spiral Abyss
You can purchase further characters from a rotating pool at Paimon’s Bargains with Masterless Starglitter, a resource you accumulate through wishes. It’s lesser twin, Masterless Stardust, is also earned through wishes and can be used to buy both kinds of Fate for use in wishing.
It’s worth keeping an eye out for free four-star seasonal characters as well, like Fischl in the upcoming Summertime Odyssey event in version 2.8.
Frequently asked questions
How many Genshin Impact characters are there?
As of version 3.1 there are 55 characters in Genshin Impact. These are split between:
– 29 four-stars
– 26 five-stars
– Eight Anemo
– Seven Geo
– Ten Electro
– Two Dendro
– Nine Hydro
– Ten Pyro
– Ten Cryo
You can view every character in the archive in your in-game menu.
Who is the strongest Genshin Impact character?
I think the strongest Genshin Impact character is Zhongli. While it’s a hard question to answer given that different characters have different roles, the five-star Geo Archon provides so much value in terms of his shields, and he’s incredibly simple to build.
All you need to do is get him as much HP as possible, then have him whack down a Geo pillar to give your party almost unbreakable defense. When it disappears, simply use the skill again and you’ll almost never take damage. He can also pop in and occasionally drop a meteor that decimates shields and turns enemies to stone.
Who is the most meta character in Genshin?
The most meta character in Genshin Impact is Bennett. While Genshin doesn’t feature a meta in the same way a lot of games do, since it isn’t PvP, Bennett and his Fantastic Voyage burst consistently appear in high damage parties.
That’s because he pairs exceptionally well with everyone; you just plant his AoE burst for the attack boost, then do whatever else you’re going to do. It’s essentially a flat increase to the party’s damage output, and that’s never not useful. As a four-star, he’s also easy to get, and his burst’s attack boost scales with his own attack, so he can still pack a punch while providing that support value.