Genshin Impact Tier List

In this Genshin Impact tier list, I aim to rank the best characters of the game based on their potential, power, and roles. The tier list is split into three distinct roles: DPS, Sub-DPS, and Support. Find out who you should get and invest in as soon as possible, and who can be a filler character for the collection.

Genshin Impact Best Characters Tier List 2026

Genshin Impact contains 118 playable characters, but the majority of these characters are not worth your time, especially considering how expensive it is to upgrade them. The best Genshin Impact characters are usually the cornerstone of your team comp, and it’s crucial to identify who will take this place. It’s not always a good idea to fill your team with S-Tier characters only. Before we dive into the tier list, here are a few points I have to touch upon:

• Personal Opinion: It’s a subjective tier list. Some of my placements may differ from commonly accepted ones
• General Ranking: I don’t rank C0 and C6 separately. I believe characters should be ranked on their overall potential and not the perfect conditions. This way, this tier list can be appreciated both by whales and F2P players.
• No Sub-Tiers: Even though most other websites tend to split tiers into something like SS-Tier or S-, I think this is an overcomplication. The characters in my tier list are placed in their rough strengths, so the top of the S-Tier can be drastically stronger than the bottom of the S-Tier, but they are still S-Tier characters.

Now with that out of the way, let me introduce you to the Genshin Impact best characters tier list for 2026:

Surprised to see so many characters in S-Tier? Well, the constant power creep makes it so that it’s absolutely pointless to release characters of lower tiers, and that’s why Odette, Alyosha, and even Cryo Traveler are all in S-Tier. Right off the bat, my advice is to pick some good characters you like and stick to them, cause getting enough resources to boost each new big thing in the patch isn’t a viable strategy. Even if you’re dirty rich, you’re unlikely to play like that. I’ll provide advice on which characters are safe for investment later in the list. Alternatively, if you don’t want to grind and don’t trust low gacha percentages, you can check out Genshin Impact accounts for sale from trusted vendors. Also, if you are wondering why I bundle all characters together in one tier list, it’s just for quick reference. Below you’ll find tier lists for each role.

Genshin Impact Best DPS Characters Tier List

The stars of the show, DPS characters are traditionally treated as more important and more powerful than others, though I think that supports are equally, if not more, important. Top of the S-Tier DPS characters are self-sufficient and can deal tons of damage without other characters’ buffs and extra prep. For them, it’s the icing on the cake, and not the whole dessert. DPS are the characters that spend most of their time on the field and are the ones you’ll be playing the most. Here’s a tier list of the best Genshin Impact DPS characters:

Much like before, the list goes from the strongest to the weakest. Basically, Sandrone is the hardest-hitting DPS of S-Tier, while Venti is somewhat weaker, though still a character worth your time and resources. Let me explain each of the S-Tier DPS briefly:

• Sandrone: Extremely high damage, and she works very well with Yae Miko, Odette, and Alyosha, utilizing some reactions introduced in 7.0
• Mavuika: Versatile damage dealer that can deal burst and over-time damage. Fits best into Pyro teams with Citlali and Xilonen
• Nefer: Strongest elemental DPS. If you enjoy playing in teams that rely on their elemental reactions, this is your choice
• Skirk: Great Cryo damage, and this patch favors her heavily. Escoffier is really good with her for the Cryo/Hydro res reduction and healing
• Flins: Can use special burst at least twice per rotation at C0. Focuses almost entirely on Lunar damage
• Neuvillette: Amazing ranged DPS with self-healing. Has a combo with three fast charged attacks after using Burst and Skill
• Zibai: Made for Lunar-Crystallize teams. Combine her with Illuga to increase the reaction’s damage and reduce Energy consumption
• Wriothesley: Deals Cryo damage with normal attacks and works great with Pyro characters, funnily enough
• Varka: Huge Anemo damage and is generally good, but if you want to unleash his full potential, build the team around him
• Mizuki: Very big buff in 7.0 made her much stronger. She can deal direct Stellar-Swirl damage, and Odette and Cryo Traveler help her trigger it frequently
• Varesa: An Electro DPS. Pair her with Chevreuse for enemies weak to Electro and watch Varesa delete them
• Cyno: Another great Electro DPS. Combine with other Electro characters, cause his Burst costs 80 energy
• Arlecchino: Fan-favorite Pyro DPS. Use Citlali in a team with her, cause Arlecchino’s normal attacks have Pyro on them, and with Citlali she can trigger Melt on them
• Chasca: Quite an interesting DPS. She can copy the elements of her teammates into bullets. Teaming with Citlali, Furina, and Bennett lets her trigger Melt and Vaporize at the same time
• Lohen: Very quick trigger of Cryo damage, which makes him very good in a team with Durin cause they both can trigger Melt very often
• Mualani: Big Hydro burst damage (not Burst, just big one-time damage). Team up with Mavuika and Emilie to pop Vaporize frequently
• Kinich: Probably the one character that needs reactions the most, and that’s why he’s a bit lower on the list. Take Emilie and Durin with him to trigger Dendro and Pyro reactions
• Cryo Traveler: A free DPS in S-Tier? Yes! Cryo Traveler is super strong and works really well with Yae Miko with her Electro damage for Stellar-Conduct
• Venti: Pretty much unchanged at what he does best - pulling enemies together for AoE attacks. Now can deal better damage on his own

One important point about this DPS tier list is that some of these characters also can work as a sub-DPS or a Support, so expect to see some familiar faces further down. For now, let’s move on to the sub-DPS part.

Best Sub-DPS Characters in Genshin Impact

Sub-DPS are called that cause they don’t stay on the field for long, unlike main damage dealers, but many of the sub-DPS chars can also be main DPS and vice versa. It just depends on the team you’re building. Sub-DPS mostly provide reaction triggers and elemental bonuses. The better the character is at doing damage and providing buffs for your main DPS, the higher they are on the list. Let’s go over the best sub-DPS characters in Genshin Impact:

Just like before, let’s take a look at each of the characters from the S-Tier separately, and I’ll explain why they work so well as off-field DPS:

• Furina: Unquestionable leader as a sub-DPS. Insanely high off-field damage, and her Burst buff increases the whole team’s damage as their HP changes
• Durin: Can deal Pyro damage while the other character is active. You can also switch between the forms, one of which lowers enemy resistance and the other does more damage, either with Melt or Vaporize
• Ineffa: Off-field Electro damage that’s popular in this patch and shields for the team. Super good in Hydro teams for allowing Lunar-Charged reactions
• Yae Miko: Her turrets are the main source of her off-field damage, and she can easily apply Electro damage for Stellar-Conduct combos
• Linnea: Geo and Lunar-Crystallize damage while not on the field. She lowers Geo resistance, increases Elemental Mastery, and heals when it’s needed. What else do you need?
• Lauma: Pack her into Neer and Columbina teams to proc her Lunar-Bloom bonuses. Best Dendro off-fielder, imo
• Odette: New and already super strong character, though most would use her as a support. I think you can utilize her as a sub-DPS pretty successfully. She leaves a copy, dealing Cryo and Stellar damage, which lets her proc Stellar-Conduct and Stellar-Swirl. Fit her into a team with Sandrone and let them wreak havoc
• Mavuika: Great on-field DPS, but she doesn’t have to stay there to be useful. Her Skill lets her drop Pyro attacks from above, and her Burst increases the damage of the character you switch to
• Escoffier: Skirk is the main pairing for Escoffier due to their compatibility with Hydro and Cryo damage. Simple, yet strong team comp
• Yelan: Her Burst applies Hydro attacks to your main DPS's normal attacks while boosting their damage
• Fischl: Say this name 10 times. Fischl can summon Oz and switch out while he continues beating enemies with Electro. Great for Aggravate, Overload, and Electro-Charged teams
• Cryo Traveler: They are just too good to ignore. Can deal Cryo and Stellar damage pretty reliably while not taking too much time from your main damage dealer. Works best with Yae Miko
• Nahida: Procs Dendro damage on enemies when reactions trigger. Increases the main DPS’s Elemental Mastery
• Xiangling: Pyronado is easily one of the most fun and battery-draining abilities in the game. It continues to spin after Xiangling leaves the field and repeatedly triggers Vaporize or Melt while it lasts
• Xingqiu: If you want to proc Hydro super easy, this is your choice. His Burst adds Hydro attacks to your normal ones for Vaporize, Bloom, and Electro-Charged teams
• Venti: Just pop his Burst and switch out to hit the dragged-in enemies with big AoE. Works with pretty much any reactions
• Nilou: A flip on Bloom when the team is made up only of Hydro and Dendro characters. Dendro Cores get changed to Bountiful Cores, which are faster and deal more damage
• Albedo: Very little time on field and lots of impact. Albedo can place his skill and leave while adding Geo damage to your active DPS’s attacks.

Technically speaking, anyone can be a sub-DPS if you think hard enough, but these are the characters that fit this role the best. Let’s finally move on to the support tier list.

Meta Supports Tier List for Genshin Impact

Supports are as strong as always, and not many of them can be seen in the two previous categories. The support characters are always good for utility, but they’re not usually good for DPS. There are some exceptions to that, but generally you use them for buffs, debuffs, healing, shields, reaction procs, and so on. Basically, anything that directly or indirectly improves your team. The strongest support characters in Genshin Impact are:

Odette is indubitably the strongest character of this patch for her potential as both a high-tier sub-DPS and a support. She’s also a part of the current best team setup. But don’t let me get ahead of myself. Let’s go over each of the best supports in Genshin Impact:

• Odette: Triggers reactions and is part of both meta Stellar-Conduct and Stellar-Swirl teams. She increases damage and contributes Cryo damage on her own.
• Columbina: A key Lunar-based support. She enables all Lunar types of damage. Her Burst buffs these reactions even further and makes them hit even harder
• Nicole: A bubble plus an attack boost. Varka and Durin really appreciate her, as they rely on attacking without interruption, and she gives that
• Citlali: One of the strongest supporting characters. She gives a shield and does Cryo damage like an off-DPS when you switch away. She also reduces Pyro and Hydro resistance through Melt or Freeze effects
• Bennett: A classic healer that you’ll find much more useful while your team isn’t fully upgraded. As a big bonus to the heals, he also gives a large attack boost, so even if you don’t need healing, you can use him just for this bonus alone
• Xilonen: Another healer, but this one’s better for elemental teams. At skill level 10, Xilonen can cut 36% of resistance to elements. She’s good for any team
• Furina: Her + another healer makes Burst simply OP. She buffs the team’s damage when their HP changes
• Sucrose: One of the strongest supports for teams relying on reactions. She cuts enemy resistances, shares Elemental Mastery with the rest of the team, and can pull enemies together
• Kazuha: Pulls enemies in one place while increasing elemental damage mixed with his Anemo damage. Can be fit into any party pretty easily. Is especially useful in teams with big AoE
• Iansan: Creates a circle that boosts the damage of the active character inside it. Simple, neat, strong
• Nahida: She can mark several enemies and reapplies Dendro when your team triggers reactions. The active character also receives bonus Elemental Mastery
• Chevreuse: Only usable with Pyro and Electro characters, but excels there. Triggering Overload in such teams lowers resistances to Pyro and Electro by a whopping 40% and boosts attack by 40% as well
• Prune: Kind of a strange support. She works best with Anemo Hexerei characters, like Varka. Once her bell triggers Swirl, she gives the active character up to a 50% damage boost. That is, if you have a high enough ATK stat on her
• Illuga: Best for Geo and Lunar-Crystallize teams. His Burst boosts Lunar-Crystallize damage, reaching a 160% boost with three characters of the Geo or Hydro element in the party
• Zhongli: Best shield in Genshin Impact and lowers all elemental and physical res by 20% around the shielded character. Useful for characters that want to stay in the face and don’t want to be interrupted, especially if they are squishy
• Venti: Definition of flexibility, as he can be used in any role and still be very successful in it. Here, I put him as an S-Tier support cause of his ability to crowd-control smaller enemies and keep the chosen element on them
• Shenhe: Cryo teams only. Increases Cryo damage based on her ATK stat, and her Burst gives a +15% Cryo damage bonus and lowers Cryo resistance by the same amount
• Mona: Best support for burst damage teams. You gotta set it up properly, but her Burst makes affected enemies take more damage, and her new Hexerei buffs make her irreplaceable in Vaporize teams. Well, kinda. You can find some better options, but she’s still a solid choice
• Alyosha: A new character that’s not absolutely broken? Well, kinda. He’s outclassed by Odette. He can buff both ATK stat and Stellar-Conduct damage, plus he has heals for the active character and applies Electro off-field

I kinda feel bad for Alyosha cause he has a big toolkit for making him strong, but maybe the devs will buff him up in future updates. For now, the tier list looks something like this. If you’re overwhelmed with the amount of characters and are still confused about who you should invest in, below you’ll find a short section to help you with that.

Genshin Impact Characters That Are Safe to Invest In

No Genshin Impact character is completely future-proof, but some are much safer investments than others. Direct nerfs are rarely what should worry you. The bigger risk is power creep, and Version 7.0 has already shown that older DPS characters are under threat. With this logic, I can say that the safest characters are usually supports and off-field damage dealers. They can move between teams relatively painlessly and are varied enough to live or die by one playstyle. Furina, Xilonen, Nahida, Kazuha, Bennett, Yelan, and Zhongli are such examples of pretty safe choices. Find some other safe characters to invest in below:

“So what”, you might ask, “I shoudln’t invest in DPS?” Well, you should, but your priority is to spend pricier resources on Supports, then sub-DPS (who often correlate with DPS, so no worries on that), and DPS last. New carries will eventually appear, but good supports usually just find another team that needs them.

F.A.Q

Who is the best character in Genshin Impact?

There is no single character who is best at every role, but Furina is one of the strongest overall choices because she provides excellent off-field damage and powerful team-wide buffs. Sandrone leads the DPS ranking, while Odette is the strongest dedicated support.

Who is the best DPS character in Genshin Impact?

Sandrone is the highest-ranked DPS. She combines extremely high personal damage with strong reaction synergy and works particularly well alongside Yae Miko, Odette, and Alyosha. Other top DPS options include Mavuika, Nefer, Skirk, Flins, and Neuvillette.

Who is the best support character in Genshin Impact?

Odette is the top support. She can increase team damage, contribute Cryo damage herself, and enable both Stellar-Conduct and Stellar-Swirl teams. Columbina, Nicole, Citlali, Bennett, Xilonen, Furina, Kazuha, and Zhongli are also among the strongest supports.

Who is the best Sub-DPS in Genshin Impact?

Furina is the strongest Sub-DPS in this tier list thanks to her high off-field damage and Burst buff. Durin, Ineffa, Yae Miko, Linnea, Lauma, Odette, Yelan, and Nahida are other strong options when you need damage without keeping the character on the field.

Which Genshin Impact characters are worth investing in?

Supports and off-field damage dealers are generally the safest long-term investments because they can fit into more teams and are less vulnerable to DPS power creep. Furina, Xilonen, Nahida, Kazuha, Bennett, Yelan, and Zhongli are particularly safe choices.

What characters should F2P players invest in?

F2P players should prioritize versatile characters that work in several teams rather than constantly chasing the newest DPS. Bennett, Fischl, Xingqiu, Sucrose, Nahida, and other flexible supports or Sub-DPS characters can provide excellent value without requiring an entire team built around them.

Are older Genshin Impact characters still worth using?

Yes. Power creep has pushed some older DPS characters down the rankings, but many established supports and Sub-DPS characters remain extremely useful. Bennett, Kazuha, Zhongli, Yelan, Fischl, Xingqiu, and Nahida continue to work because their utility transfers easily between different teams.