Genshin Impact just recently released update 1.2, which added brand new locations, quests, and upgrades to the mobile game. Furthermore, these changes have altered the best possible party members for players of Genshin Impact, one of the best RPGs of 2020.
Along with the massive new map location called Dragonspine and some brand new enemies added to Genshin Impact, update 1.2 also changed up the overall tier list for the best characters. There are new five-star chase rares that players can wish for, including Albedo (Geo) and Ganyu (Cryo). So now that the meta has been shaken up a little, it's time to take a look at the new order of the best heroes for Genshin Impact in December 2020.
S Tier
Diluc is a fan-favorite for a reason; this Pyro hero smashes enemies with massive amounts of damage. His Elemental Skill is not only powerful with a wide range of attacks, but it also has a very short cooldown. This makes taking out several enemies at once both easy and satisfying. While Genshin Impact recently added a system for getting Wishes for leveling up, getting five-star characters can be expensive, but Diluc is well worth any effort players put into getting him.
Venti is one of the most sought after Wishes in Genshin Impact. This wind-powered bard uses air manipulation to not only power his song, but also his bow. Venti has a powerful Elemental Skill called Skyward Sonnet that throws enemies up into the air and holds them there, effectively stunning them. It's impossible to state how useful such a Skill can be in any number of situations; players can even ride the wind up if they need to get up somewhere fast.
Qiqi has the ability to heal both herself and her party members while doing damage, making her one of the most useful support characters. When she uses either her Elemental Skill or her Burst, it does Cryo damage, then heals anyone that attacks them. She is by far the best Cryo character, the best healer, and players really can't go wrong picking her, no matter who the rest of the party is. Qiqi's best build includes stacking up her attack power, as her healing is in proportion to that stat.
Fischl is an easy character to love. She has ranged abilities with her bow, but can also use Nightrider to deal some up close and personal damage in melee range. She is both mobile and versatile, and she can even turn into a raven and escape from hopeless situation while still dealing some damage. That and Fischl is a free character in Genshin Impact.
Klee is the adorable firebug that throws Klee Pyro bombs to destroy enemies. She is one of the few characters in Genshin Impact that can give Diluc a run for his money in pure damage output, and she can even throw both bombs to explode enemies and also a ten-second laser that can really tally up the damage.
Tartaglia's banner was back in November, and for those who were luck enough to get him, he makes for a great addition to any party. If players are looking to round out the elements of their team with a Hydro character, Tartaglia is the best possible man for the job. His ability increases the attacks of party members, can do AoE damage at both range and melee distances, and is quite a damage dealer himself. There's a lot to be said for not only being able to hack up enemies but also boost the DPS of those around him.
A Tier
Albedo is the brand new character from update 1.2 that players are very excited about; he's the first Geo character that is good enough to want to add to a party. Albedo's Elemental Skill and Burst allows players to create surges of Geo damage with the placements of Solar Isotoma, while Geo bombs explode around enemies, making Albedo a great secondary DPS swordsman.
Keqing is amazing at fast-paced, high movement combat. She speeds from one location to the next, slamming enemies with flurries of sword strokes and lighting. She was also one of the original characters in Genshin Impact, and Keqing just celebrated her birthday about a month ago.
Mona is in the A Tier mostly because of her unique ability to run on water. Her taunting skills are mostly situational; she works really well with some of the other characters but doesn't play nice with others.
If players haven't gotten a Qiqi, Diona is the second best healing character. While she doesn't have the same massive DPS and healing abilities as Qiqi, Diona does have a useful shield and a AoE that heals party members and deals damage to enemies at the same time.
If players are looking to replace both Qiqi and Venti in a party, Jean is the only character that can even come close to doing it. She heals, has decent crowd control, and players can even choose the direction that they blow enemies away in, making her Elemental Skill extremely useful.
Bennett is one of the best support characters for other Pyros. If other characters are above 70% health, they will deal additional Pyro damage with attacks, which can help to give other Pyros a boost of fiery fury. Bennett can also heal other players below 70% health.
The Traveler is the only character in Genshin Impact that can change their element. While some elements are far stronger than the others, mainly Anemo, it's the Traveler's ability to change elements at the drop of hat that allows them to fill any empty Elemental slot in a party. All players have to do it find a Statue of the Seven like the new one in Dragonspine to change their Element.
While Barbara isn't the best healing character in the game, she's by far the best dedicated healer. She has both an Elemental Skill and Burst that boosts the HP of party members. Her Skill, Let the Show Begin, is an heal-over-time ability, while the Burst gives the party one big wave of healing all at once. Barbara's best build helps players to keep everyone in the party alive.
The Electro Claymore character Razor would be a higher-tier character if it weren't for how complicated his Skills and Busts were to perform correctly. Razor's power is all in the timing of the Elemental Burst after having three sigils. Razor is a one-man show too, so players looking for a team player won't find one in Razor.
BÂ Tier
While her Elemental Skill summons an adorable panda friend to help join the fight, Xiangling's Pyro abilities are just several ranks below other Pyro characters. The panda friend gets lost very easily, heading in the wrong direction after enemies that players did intend for it to fight. Xiangling's AoE makes her a great addition to any party that doesn't have another Pyro option, however. Her Elemental Burst covers a lot of ground with fire, dealing damage in large quantities. Also, players can earn Xiangling through completing quests, without spending a dime in real money on Wishes.
Beidou's Elemental Skill allow her to use her sword as a shield and store up power in it, then unleash the built up power to deal a lot of damage. Her Burst keeps her from getting interrupted as often by enemy attacks. While these two seem to go hand-in-hand, her Skill is only good if players can manage to pull it off. Timing blocks is hard, and without good timing, players won't be able to build up the attack power in the blade.
While Chongyun is quite the tank, being able to take a ton of damage and deal high damage too, his Skill and Burst just aren't as good as they could be. But if players need a Cryo character with a lot of muscle, Chongyun is a good, 4-star pick.
Kaeya also had a recent birthday, and players got special in-game rewards for it. However, that's about where his usefulness ends. Kaeya's a great free, early game character with some interesting powers. His Skill ices some enemies in a cone in front of him, and the other creates a sort of damage field around him.
While Lisa has some very powerful attacks, they take a long time to charge. While Lisa is a free Genshin Impact character, she should be replaced in any party as quickly as possible, but she is a good middle of the road option as well.
Ningguang is one of the best situational characters in the game. Her ability to block ranged attacks isn't very good, until it is. When being battered by archers or other ranged fighters, players will wish they had Ningguang in their party.
Sucrose is great at crowd control with her Elemental Skill Astable Anemohypostasis Creation and her Burst Forbidden Creation, but other than moving enemies around from place to place at a whim, she isn't much good for anything else.
As with Beidou's Elemental Skill, Xingqiu's defense just doesn't make the cut. Defense will never be as good in Genshin Impact as offense. That being said, a shield of swords is a cool idea; here's to hoping that defensive characters eventually see a little bit of a buff to make them more playable.
C Tier
Xinyan would most likely rank much higher in this Genshin Impact tier list if there weren't already so many highly-ranked Pyro characters. She's a powerful melee DPS character with a great AoE, but her fire powers just aren't anything like the other Pyros in the game, with the exception of Amber.
Noelle tries, but she suffers from the same thing that most Geo character do: she doesn't contribute enough to the party to make her worth the slot. Her armor can repel damage and heal party members, but there are much better tanks and healers in the game.
Amber is the Genshin Impact character has been aching for a buff that she apparently won't get. Her Pyro powers are cute and fun, but every other Pyro character just has massive advantages over her. She's great early game when players don't have many choices for characters, but she'll be replaced as soon as any better Pyro comes along. The only thing she's good at is puzzles that require lighting things on fire, as her arrows are accurate and can light torches from a great distance.
Zhongli was so close to greatness. The beta of this character was great, but he was nerfed from orbit, and it all came crashing down after that. If Zhongli is completely leveled up, which require 6 of him, he becomes absolutely amazing again. However, there are few people who can afford to drop that much real money on getting that many copies of this 5-Star. Thankfully, miHoYo has given into player demands and are looking to buff Zhongli in version 1.3.
Genshin Impact is available for mobile, PC, PS4, and has a Switch version in development.