Genshin Impact Main DPS Tier List

Genshin Impact currently has 113 playable characters as of Luna V. This is an updated version of these characters (that are generally considered main DPSes) ranked based on their main DPS capabilities. Characters that purely act as drivers are not considered, though characters that have utility as drivers while providing main DPS capability are considered. They will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Peak performance:
   • How much team damage does the character’s best team deal?
2. Flexibility:
   • How many “good” teams does the character have, and how many different characters can this use as teammates to make a “good” team?
3. Necessity/Damage Contribution:
   • How much damage percentage does the character contribute to the team?
   • How necessary is this character on the team? If this character were replaced with another character, how would the team damage be affected?

The following assumptions are made:

1. Neutral and still enemy
   • No enemies with special mechanics (e.g., Frostnight Herra) or resistances (e.g., Pyro Hypostasis)
   • We will not assume enemies fly up for three minutes to say Ganyu and Lyney are the best
   • Both single-target and AOE will be evaluated
2. Mediocre Primogem investment
   • No 5* constellations or limited weapons. However, 5* characters with free selectable constellations will be evaluated at C1. While they won’t be evaluated, 5* characters with notably strong early constellations or signature weapons will be noted
     • Standard 5* characters will be evaluated with relatively higher constellations
   • We will assume that 4* characters will generally be at C6. However, we know that it will be hard for players to have newer or niche 4* C6. We will note whether they receive major upgrades from later constellations
   • Amber, Lisa, and Kaeya will not be evaluated at C6
3. Equal resin investment
   • We will not compare a top 1% Nefer to a bottom 1% Flins and declare that Nefer is conclusively better
4. Mediocre gameplay levels
   • We will assume you can do something like dash cancel Hu Tao or Nefer’s charged attacks. However, we won’t assume you can do something like Skirk’s walk cancels or Mavuika’s insane combos

Tier List

C

D

Explanations

SS

These characters are the strongest in the game

1. Zibai
   • Zibai is a premiere DPS in the modern game who deals large amounts of Lunar-Crystallized damage. She is better than her other Lunar counterparts (Flins and Nefer) at mediocre primogem investment since her premier teammate (Illuga) can be obtained through her banner in parallel, whereas Flins and Nefer must obtain their premier teammates (Ineffa and Lauma, respectively) in series. It also helps that another good teammate of hers (Gorou) is an old four star. Additionally, she outdamages Mavuika with average gameplay.
     
     Zibai is also the more flexible than her Lunar counterparts, being able to utilize almost any supportive Geo character.
2. Mavuika
   • Mavuika is an insanely good DPS, with great damage in Melt, Vaporize, and Overload. Along with Zibai, she is one of the most flexible DPS characters in the whole game, especially when compared to the other SS tier DPSes—Flins and Nefer. However, Mavuika scales extremely well with gameplay optimizations, and she is not necessarily better than the Lunar DPSes’ vertical ceiling with only mediocre gameplay.
     
     Mavuika also has extremely good AOE damage.
3. Flins
   • Flins is another Lunar DPS who specializes in Lunar-Charged damage. His damage ceiling is extremely high, though his premium team options are extremely limiting (his premium team is practically fixed). Still, he does not have any special gameplay requirements or rotations. Furthermore, his non-premium flexibility and ceiling are much better than Nefer’s.
4. Nefer
   • Nefer is the final Lunar DPS who specializes in Lunar-Bloom damage. While she has an extremely high theoretical damage ceiling, she cannot reach that with mediocre gameplay; mediocre gameplay will almost certainly require running a sustain slot that cannot give her many buffs, resulting in lower damage than the other carries in SS tier. Nefer’s flexibility is also much than the other SS characters

SS-

These characters, while not the strongest, are extremely strong and still noticeably stronger than the rest of the cast

1. Skirk
   • Skirk is a potent Cryo DPS. Her teams with Furina and Escoffier deal a huge amount of damage, and even mediocre gameplay can get basic combos down. Even though Furina and Escoffier restrict her a lot, she still has some decent flexibility with her last teammate; Mona is a good option with mediocre primogem investment.
2. Varesa
   • Varesa is an extremely strong Electro DPS. She is also extremely easy to play. However, she wants multiple new C6 4* which can be touch on mediocre primogem investment, and she does fall off quite heavily without them. Still, her damage is noticeably better than the characters below, and she does have extremely good flexibility in her team archetypes.

S+

These characters are extremely strong main DPSes, even if they aren’t the top of the top. However, they may want some more resin investment compared to SS and SS- DPS characters

1. Neuvillette
   • While Neuvillette’s vertical ceiling is not exactly at the forefront of the meta, it is still extremely competitive. His flexibility is also the best in the game for any main DPS, as he is able to use almost any supportive character in his teams. He also has very potent AOE damage.
2. Mualani
   • Mualani has extremely potent single-target damage and a relatively high damage ceiling. Her flexibility is also greatly improved due to the recent introductions of Durin and the Hexerei mechanic. However, her AOE damage is non-existent and it is possibly for mediocre gameplay to result in her damage potential drastically reducing. Still, she is a very good main DPS.
3. Arlecchino
   • Arlecchino has a high DPS ceiling with extremely good flexbility (comparable to Mavuika). However, Mavuika is just about better in her in every way. Furthermore, her sustain issues and elemental application in Melt teams can become harder to manage with mediocre gameplay.
4. Durin
   • Durin can be played as a main DPS, and he has a very good vertical ceiling. However, his flexibility can sometimes be extremely limiting, and he has no default elemental infusion.

S

These characters are powerful main DPS characters. However, there is a noticeable discrepancy between them and the top-tier DPS characters, and they want a non-noticeable amount of resin investment to match them.

1. Chasca
   • Chasca has a pretty high DPS ceiling. She is able to take advantage of all kinds of elements and reactions to deal lots of damage. Additionally, she can also take advantage of almost every single PHEC character or support.
     
     While not relevant to this tier list, her constellations are some of the vertical investments in the game. C2 Chasca is comparable to Mavuika.
2. Hu Tao
   • Hu Tao also has a pretty high DPS ceiling. Furthermore, her C1, which is one of her only good vertical investments, is free from the free constellation event, which raises her damage ceiling and comfort levels by a lot. However, her team compositions are more limiting than Chasca’s, as she can really only reach this ceiling in Vaporize teams. Even though her flexibility may be slightly scuffed, there are still lots of good Hydro off-fielders to go around.
3. Gaming
   • Gaming is a great 4* DPS, though he loses a lot of stock without his C6. However, he is extremely restrictive; only one team composition (Melt) allows him to reach his full ceiling, and he is very picky with his supports. His weapon choices with mediocre primogem investment are also relatively limited, and he does have higher gameplay requirements to catch his Manchai. Still, he is a very good option with a high ceiling.
4. Clorinde
   • Clorinde is a great DPS. Even though her vertical ceiling isn’t quite as high as Varesa’s, it isn’t by terribly much. She has lots of flexibility in her team compositions, being able to run Overload, Aggravate, or Electro/Lunar-Charged. Additionally, she is also extremely easy to play, and her weapon options are extremely primogem-friendly.
5. Kinich
   • Kinich is a pretty nice DPS with a decently high vertical DPS ceiling. However, he is extremely lacking in the flexibility department, as he is really only limited to one team composition (Burning). Still, he can utilize lots of different teammates (Mavuika, Durin, Xiangling, Dehya) to reach his potential.
6. Navia
   • Navia is the second-best Geo DPS in the game. Her damage ceiling is decent, and she can use any PHEC character to generate Crystallized shards, greatly aiding her flexibility. The advent of Lunar-Crystallized also eased this requirement. However, the other supportive elements of Lunar-Crystallized (e.g., its supports) did not benefit Navia as much, as she still deals Geo damage and not direct Lunar-Crystallized damage.
7. Klee
   • Klee is a very strong DPS, especially after her Hexerei buffs. Additionally, her constellations are also free from the free constellation event. However, she is quite limited due to her high Pyro application forcing her to run mono-Pyro or Overload teams
8. Varka
   • Varka’s damage ceiling right now is mediocre compared to top-of-the-line characters, but it is still respectable at similar levels of investment. His team compositions can sometimes be limiting, and there is only one composition (Pyro) that lets him reach his full potential. However, his signature weapon is quite a sizeable boost to his damage compared to other primogem investments, which does help his placement

A+

These characters are still pretty good and serviceable. However, they will want significant resin investment to match top-tier characters

1. Kamisato Ayaka
   • Kamisato Ayaka is a lot like Skirk in the fact that she is a Cryo DPS who likes to play Freeze teams. However, her power levels are much weaker than Skirk’s in the same team. Still, she is quite serviceable and does have noticeably more flexibility in teambuilding than Skirk.
2. Columbina
   • While Columbina is usually an off-field character, she does have a surprisingly powerful on-field playstyle in the right team. While this on-field playstyle does an unexpectedly large amount of damage, she is practically locked into teams with Lauma and Bloom-related buffers, completely shafting her flexibility. Columbina is also much more hampered due to the assumption of mediocre resin investment.
3. Lyney
   • Lyney is a competitive Pyro main DPS. However, his ceiling has not kept up as he generally wants to be played in mono-Pyro compositions and cannot take much advantage of newer reaction-related supports. Furthermore, his charged-attack based playstyle can also result in difficulty regarding interruption resistance with mediocre gameplay. Still, he is quite powerful.
4. Wriothesely
   • Wriothesely is a decent Cryo DPS. While, unlike Ayaka and Skirk, he does not benefit as much in Freeze from Escoffier (thus making his vertical ceiling lower), he is more flexible in the fact that he can take advantage of Melt-related teams.

A

These characters are definitely not bad characters. However, they have noticeably fallen off and will require significant resin and some primogem investment to match top-tier characters.

1. Venti
   • With his new Hexerei buffs, Venti is a decently formidable main DPS, especially with supports like Durin. However, his DPS ceiling is not as high are premiere DPS characters, and he does want specific off-field characters like Durin or Faruzan to be able to perform his best, greatly reducing his flexibility
2. Al Haitham
   • With the release of Lauma, Al Haitham did benefit somewhat. However, in his best Lauma Quickbloom teams, his personal damage share isn’t as great. Furthermore, his focus on the relatively outdated Quicken reaction does mean that he was not able to catch up as much compared to other DPS characters. Despite his wide array of off-field characters to choose from, Al Haitham’s ceiling—while still decent—is not high enough to justify putting him any higher
3. Diluc
   • Diluc is an interesting DPS who has surprisingly high plunging-attack multipliers, making his teams with Xianyun quite decent. However, his damage ceiling is not as high as Gaming’s, and his flexibility in this role is extremely shafted. As a standard-banner character, his constellations are quite obtainable, though they are still mediocre.
4. Raiden Shogun
   • Raiden Shogun is slightly outdated as a main DPS as her multipliers just aren’t high enough to compete with top-tier characters. However, she does have a great amount of flexibility and is relatively comfortable to play.
5. Razor
   • Razor historically was pretty bad, though his Hexerei buffs helped him a lot. At C6, he can compete with Raiden Shogun by becoming a Pyro DPS with C6 Bennett in Chevreuse Overload teams, especially if he has Varka’s signature weapon. However, his flexibility is extremely shafted compared to Raidens.
6. Xiao
   • Xiao performs decently as an Anemo main DPS. However, he is pretty much unable to take advantage of reactions and has found himself slipping, though some new supports (e.g., Iansan) can benefit him somewhat. Still, he can be quite competitive (though nowhere near top DPSes) with the correct supports; however, that does require a lot of primogem investment as well as extremely limited flexibility.

B+

These characters are relatively mediocre and are generally played in wheelchair teams for optimal results. They will require lots of resin, playstyle, and primogem investment to match top tier characters

1. Tighnari
   • Tighnari is a decent early-game Dendro DPS. Since he’s on the standard banner, his constellations (that are actually quite decent) are pretty accessible. His F2P-friendly weapon options are also quite good. However, like Al Haitham, he heavily relies on the relatively outmoded Quicken reaction. Furthermore, he can have gameplay issues with interruption resistance, though that is kind of resolved through his elemental skill.
2. Ganyu
   • Ganyu is a decent Cryo DPS. Unlike the other Cryo DPS characters, however, Ganyu did not benefit as much from Escoffier in Freeze teams—mainly due to the fact that Ganyu Freeze is quite mediocre in single target, which Escoffier teams prefer. While this does put her in an awkward situation, she still is able to utilize both Freeze and Melt to a certain degree. Her constellations are also free from the constellation selector, and her C1 is decently strong for an old character.
3. Wanderer
   • Wanderer is an Anemo DPS in a very similar situation to Xiao. However, he is comparably worse than Xiao since Xiao can use newer content (e.g., Long Night’s Oath, Iansan, Xianyun) that Wanderer cannot. Wanderer can also have issues with interruption resistance with mediocre gameplay, making him have a lower ceiling and worse flexibility than Xiao.
4. Yoimiya
   • Yoimiya is an extremely mediocre Pyro DPS. Her multipliers are not exactly that great, and her C1 from the free constellation selector doesn’t exactly help her. Furthermore, she is also plagued by interruption resistance and ICD issues in reaction-based teams that make her noticeably worse than other Pyro DPS characters with more comfort and higher ceilings. However, Yoimiya does still perform decently in Overvape or Chevreuse Overload teams.

B

These characters are most certainly quite mediocre and will require a great amount of of resin, playstyle, and primogem investment to match top tier characters

1. Childe
   • Childe is a great Hydro driver, much like Neuvillette. However, his personal damage is utterly terrible compared to him, and his cooldowns are absolutely abysmal to manage for the average player.
2. Noelle
   • Noelle holds up great … for a 4* character from 1.0. Her damage is not exactly the best, but her ascension passives and interesting techs with ICD mean that she is able to use newer content like Furina and Lunar-Crystallized without much aid from other characters. However, her personal damage is still not exactly the best.
3. Arataki Itto
   • Arataki Itto is in a similar boat to Noelle. His personal damage is sizeably higher, but he does not have the interesting parts in his kit that allows him to synergize with newer content as well as her, requiring slightly more bricked supports and lowering his damage ceiling. At equal primogem investment, this gives Noelle an extra 5* teammate.
4. Cyno
   • Cyno is plagued by many of the issues suffering pre-Fontaine Electro DPS characters, as he is quite reliant on the outmoded Aggravate reaction. His personal damage is also quite mediocre—and he is very ill-equipped to take advantage of Lauma or Hyperbloom.
5. Keqing
   • Keqing is very similar to a standard banner version of Cyno. While this makes her constellations more accessible, they are still quite underwhelming. Her personal damage is still lower. Interestingly enough, her charged attack stamina is higher than usual, which can make managing stamina an issue with poor gameplay. However, she is more decent in Quickbloom than Cyno.
6. Kamisato Ayato
   • Similar to Childe, Kamisato Ayato is essentially a worse version of Neuvillette. However, his damage potential is lower than Childe’s, and he worse in the drive role as well.

C

These characters are pretty bad. They will require a plethora of investment to match top-tier characters

1. Eula
   • Eula is a DPS who mainly deals Physical damage, which has been greatly neglected practically since her release. This also means that she doesn’t as much from Escoffier. While she can benefit somewhat from Furina, there is no new content tailor-made for her. Still, she does have a pretty nice nuke, and forcing Escoffier teams can sometimes bring enough sub-DPS.
     
     Additionally, since she wants Electro and Furina, she synergizes decently well with Ineffa, which can end up boosting her damage to somewhat decent levels. However, that team does somewhat resemble a wheelchair-archetype.
2. Sethos
   • C6 Sethos can output some amount of damage in proper teams. Since he (and a lot of his good teammates) are 4* characters, this allows more primogem investment to be put toward weapons. However, that still does not exactly fix his dependence on Aggravate and his outdated multipliers
3. Yanfei
   • Yanfei can also output some amount of damage, especially in Vaporize compositions (though she does have some issues with Pyro application, it is not to the point of Klee). However, she is too reliant on an 80-cost burst for her charged attacks in teams without much Pyro particle generation, completely shafting her builds. Her personal damage is not very high, even when compared to Yoimiya, though she does have some respectable AOE. She is very similar to Klee pre-Hexerei buffs.
4. Lynette
   • C6 Lynette turns herself into an Anemo DPS with Anemo infusion. However, she suffers from the issues of most traditional Anemo DPS characters while having poor multipliers. Her Anemo infusion is also overridden by C6 Bennett, though using him with her can have some interesting compositions. However, she can function as a driver.

D

These characters are quite bad, and it is hard for them to match top-tier characters

1. Shikanoin Heizou
   • Shikanoin Heizou is another Anemo DPS similar to C6 Lynette. However, his sustained damage is lower than hers, making him an overall downgrade, despite his larger nuking potential
2. Ningguang
   • Ningguang is another 4* Geo DPS released in 1.0. However, unlike Noelle, she is much unable to take advantage of new content. Combined with her low multipliers, she is currently in a very bad situation.
3. Freminet
   • Freminet, much like Eula, is a Physical DPS. However, his numbers are much, much lower, making him much worse. He suffers from all the same issues while not having anything else to compensate.
4. Dehya
   • Dehya has many problems as a main DPS. For example, jumping cancels her burst mode, which will provide some trouble for average players. Her multipliers and scalings are also extremely low, which is not helped by her dual-scaling (though her C1, which is easily obtainable since she’s a standard banner character, helps it a lot). She can’t even kill a hydro slime.

F

These characters are really bad and nearly impossible to match high-tier characters

1. Amber
   • Amber has a terrible group of abilities; her Baron Bunny is quite useless in most cases. Furthermore, the rest of her kit has terrible synergy. Her charged-attack playstyle also hampers her ability to synergize with many Hydro characters, most notably Xingqiu and Yelan, that other charged-attack based bow DPS characters do not have issue with. Unlike Tighnari and Ganyu, she also doesn’t get a special charged attack to increase her multipliers.
2. Xinyan
   • Xinyan might perhaps be one of the most terribly designed characters in the game in terms of kit. Her damage is awkwardly split between Pyro and Physical, greatly shafting her damage potential no matter how players choose to build her. While C6 Bennett can help mitigate some of these issues by converting to a Pyro DPS (her burst will still deal Physical damage), she is still plagued by poor design. Her elemental skill being a pure sustain skill also does nothing for her damage.

Below F

These characters are so bad to the point they will struggle to match even mid-tier characters

1. Aloy
   • Aloy’s kit might be even more poorly designed than Xinyan’s. Her mechanics are extremely clunky and not the most consistent, and missing even one of her elemental skill bombs means that her DPS is essentially set to 0 for that rotation. She even has no constellations with which to vertically invest in her. The rest of her kit is also pretty unremarkable, though she can at least somewhat try to take advantage of Escoffier
2. Wonderland Manekin(a)
   • It is almost impossible to overstate just how bad this character is. Almost all of their talents are useless, with their elemental skill and elemental burst having an average of less than 50% uptime. Both of their ascension passives are also useless for an on-field DPS playstyle. Their normal attack multipliers are even lower than Layla’s.