So, Genshin Impact finally heard your prayers to the Wind God Barbatos and brought back Venti from the limited-time character banner. That's probably why you're here. Perhaps you were lucky enough to have gotten him and can finally show off to friends the best support character in the game.
That's no overestimation, by the way. Venti is just that good; he can turn a 4-5 minute Abyss or Domain sessions into sub-1-minute speedruns. That's by far the best quality of life improvement granted by a character in Genshin Impact. In order to achieve that though, one must understand how Venti works by learning about his talents.
His Normal Attack Is Usually Ignored
First thing's first, ignore the Normal Attack talent. Venti actually has one of the lowest base ATK stats out of all the characters in the game. So it stands well within reason that he's not made to do normal bow attacks.
Many players then ignore his Normal Attack talent and this is a good thing as it lets them save up on talent level-up resources. It's just that Venti's selling points are his Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst which heavily outshine everything else he can do.
Charged Shots Are Good For Swirl Though
With that said, the Normal Attack talent isn't that useless. While Venti's physical damage is too low, he can still apply the anemo element quickly and consistently enough. It's not as consistent as Sucrose, whose attacks spit out anemo, though.
Venti's charged shots do deal anemo damage and are a good alternative for when players are waiting for Elemental Skill or Burst cooldowns to end. Moreover, since they also deal anemo damage, they benefit well from Venti's preferred artifact set, which is a 4-piece Viridescent Venerer with an anemo damage goblet.
His Elemental Skill Is Mostly For Crowd Control
Venti's Elemental Skill, Skyward Sonnet is one of the most useful crowd control abilities in the game due to its low cooldown. It can go off every six seconds and synergizes well with his Elemental Burst.
Its damage is a little lacking though and it clearly wasn't made for killing stuff. Instead, it's useful for launching enemies into the air as anyone caught in Skyward Sonnet gets forcefully elevated and then has no choice but to fall down slowly as if gravity decided to spite them.
Holding His Elemental Skill Creates Updrafts
Apart from toying with enemies, another awesome use for Skyward Sonnet would be for exploration. Holding Skyward Sonnet creates an updraft that launches players (and enemies) into the air.
The players have gliders so they can benefit from this updraft, making oculus acquisition easier or bypassing the need for climbing. The catch is that holding the Elemental Skill doubles its cooldown.
His Elemental Burst Makes Him Viable As A Main DPS
Now, on to the Elemental Burst, Wind's Grand Ode. This is what makes Venti the most desirable support character in the game. He essentially fires off a black hole that sucks in enemies and keeps them there for several seconds.
Funny enough, the damage Venti does from this makes him qualify as a DPS character. In some cases, he can even out-damage bonafide DPS or carry characters if given the right support for his Swirl reactions. There's also the fact that Venti can fire it off readily and reliably off-cooldown.
The Burst Is Also The Best Crowd Control Ability In The Game
One reason why Venti is considered as the best support in the game is how there's no other ability like Wind's Grand Ode in the game at the moment. The closest would be Sucrose but her abilities work differently and don't take the enemies out of the fight.
Venti practically pulls off a sudden armistice that lasts for eight seconds with his Wind's Grand Ode. By the time the 15-second cooldown is over, he's ready to do it again. During the downtime, he can easily toy with enemies further using his Elemental Skill.
It's Still Useful Against Several Abyss Mages With Different Elements
Venti does have a problem when using his Elemental Burst against enemies like Abyss Mages as anyone with a shield isn't affected by the ability's effect. However, he's in luck if the said Abyss Mages have different elements.
That's because Wind's Grand Ode picks up another element for its Swirl reaction and continuously applies it. That means Wind's Grand Ode can easily eat through Abyss Mage shields if they have different elemental compositions. That's something to keep in mind when dealing with them.
It Doesn't Pull In Large Enemies
In addition to enemies with shields, Wind's Grand Ode has one glaring weakness: it doesn't work that well against large enemies. That would be Mitachurls or anything bigger. World Bosses also count among these.
They are still affected by Venti's Swirl reactions and Elemental Absorption and will definitely get damaged but they won't be out of the fight. That's why Venti's Elemental Burst isn't always a be-all-end-all solution against anything in Genshin Impact.
His Elemental Skill Can Turn Any Character Into Xiao
Luckily, Venti has more tricks up the sleeve that lets other characters deal high damage for him. Thanks to his passive talent, Embrace of the Winds, Skyward Sonnet's updraft lasts 20 seconds. Whatever can players do during that duration?
Well, some have taken to abusing the plunge attack mechanic as this lets characters deal massive amounts of damage. All players have to do is open their gliders in Venti's updrafts and then attack once they're above. Rinse and repeat for an improvised version of Xiao.
Stormeye Lets Him Be An Energy Battery
Speaking of energy-hungry characters like Xiao, Venti can do much for them thanks to his other passive talent, Stormeye. It turns Venti into a generator; after his Wind's Grand Ode wears off, he gets 15 Energy.
Additionally, he grants even more energy to anyone who uses an element involved in any Elemental Absorption that happened during Wind's Grand Ode. Oftentimes when using Venti, other characters' Elemental Bursts are also ready to go off soon after they used it. That's why everyone wants the bard.