Genshin Impact tier list: Best characters as of the September 2021 anniversary

A-tier characters in Genshin Impact

Your first thought might be that A-tier characters in Genshin Impact are significantly worse than S-tier characters. Well, that’s not necessarily the case. As mentioned earlier, some of the peeps here were listed because they might be more complicated to use or that achieving high throughput tends to be easier with others. In a way, a few of these characters are comparable to S-tier party members already.

Albedo

• Element: Geo
• Role: Sub/Off-field DPS or Support (Shields)
• Pros:
  • Massive elemental skill radius for crystallize triggers, shield crystal spawns, and blossom damage.
  • Very short elemental skill cooldown.
  • A great off-field DPS option since the blossoms can proc often.
  • Elemental burst increases elemental mastery.
  • Has slightly weaker shields compared to Zhongli, but frequency and generation are more consistent.
• Cons:
  • Stacks DEF (which is very straightforward), but it also means you’re farming for artifacts with stats that no one else will ever use.
  • The “flower elevator” can sometimes get in the way of DPS rotations if it accidentally lifts you up.
• Related article: Albedo build guide

Ayaka

• Element: Cryo
• Role: Main DPS
• Pros:
  • Extremely powerful elemental burst.
  • Elemental burst initially moves but stays in position once it hits an enemy, making it ideal for stationary or larger targets.
  • Special dash movement infuses attacks with Cryo and applies Cryo to nearby enemies, making her great for perma-freeze comps.
• Cons:
  • High investment required. You can just focus on her burst, but she’ll often need to use her normal and charged attacks as part of a combo.
• Related article: Ayaka build guide

Diona

• Element: Cryo
• Role: Support (Healing and shields)
• Pros:
  • Shields that can be applied quickly and with ease.
  • A burst that heals you; stacks with her max HP.
  • Ideal for perma-freeze comps.
  • Elemental burst increases elemental mastery, but only once she reaches C6.
• Cons:
  • Neglected often in engagements when there’s no need for Cryo shields or freezing.
  • Healing can only be done by her burst.

Hu Tao

• Element: Pyro
• Role: Burst/Nuke and Main DPS
• Pros:
  • One of the strongest DPS characters in Genshin Impact.
  • Her Pyro damage-over-time effects are some of the most damaging in the game.
  • Her burst is a deadly nuke.
• Cons:
  • Somewhat complicated to use due to dashing and erratic movement.
  • Requires additional investment to make the most out of all her abilities.
  • Loses health while elemental skill is active.
• Related article: Hu Tao build guide

Mona

• Element: Hydro
• Role: Burst/Nuke DPS
• Pros:
  • Elemental skill can taunt enemies.
  • Ideal for perma-freeze comps.
  • One of the most powerful nukes in the game (when combined with Bennett’s ultimate).
• Cons:
  • Relatively weak on her own or without ideal partners (i.e., Bennett, Ganyu).

Raiden Shogun

• Element: Electro
• Role: Sub/Off-field DPS and Support (Burst recharge/buff)
• Pros:
  • Ultimate synergy among all abilities and teammates. The bursts done by party members give her Resolve. In turn, Resolve boosts the damage of her burst and Electro-infused attacks. Her own Electro attacks will recharge the burst energy of party members to continue the cycle.
  • Elemental skill acts as a turret with high uptime even when different characters are on the field.
• Cons:
  • Requires high investment.
• Related article: Raiden Shogun build guide

Tartaglia

• Element: Hydro
• Role: Burst/Nuke DPS
• Pros:
  • Riptide can be easily spread among nearby mobs, causing greater AoE damage.
  • His burst is one of the deadliest nukes in the game.
• Cons:
  • Primarily used as a melee character; range combat isn’t as viable despite using a bow.
  • Requires you to use his elemental skill to quickly damage enemies via AoE then cancel it after a few seconds to avoid lengthy cooldowns.
• Related articles: Tartaglia build guide

Venti

• Element: Anemo
• Role: Support (Elemental mastery and crowd control)
• Pros:
  • The strongest crowd control/pull in Genshin Impact; can funnel in several mobs that are further away.
  • Extremely high energy recharge allows him to have his burst again; can be used as a battery.
• Cons: Relatively weaker DPS capabilities compared to Kazuha and Xiao.
• Related article: Venti build guide

Xiangling

• Element: Pyro
• Role: Sub/Off-field DPS
• Pros:
  • One of the most amazing off-field abilities in the game. Just pop her burst and switch to another character.
  • Ideal for melt and vaporize comps.
• Cons: Guoba elemental skill can be a little inconsistent when choosing targets.
• Related article: Xiangling build guide

Xiao

• Element: Anemo
• Role: Burst/Main DPS
• Pros:
• One of the best AoE DPS bursts in the game. Pop your burst and start your plunging attack sequence to annihilate hostiles.
• Elemental skill has one of the fastest attack animations.
• Cons:
  • Loses health while elemental burst is active.
  • Cannot recharge energy with elemental skill while elemental burst is active; requires Anemo battery to be more efficient.
• Related article: Xiao build guide

Let’s go ahead and take a look at the B-tier characters in the next part of our Genshin Impact September 2021 anniversary tier list.