Originally posted on February 1, 2022
Genshin Impact has a wide range of characters, with many different elemental Visions and skill sets. So much variety means it can be quite hard to choose who to level up and use in battle, but we’re here to help! Regardless of who you choose to raise, you should make sure to level up all your characters to level 20 and Ascend them, to claim your free Acquaint Fate.
Without further ado, here’s our list of the top 5 characters you should level up in Genshin Impact!
#5: Xiangling
Liyue’s resident master chef is equally as talented in battle! Xiangling’s Elemental Skill summons her trusty companion Guoba, who breathes fire at enemies. While Guoba generates Elemental Particles when he hits an enemy, his aim is not great and he is overall not particularly useful. However, Xiangling’s Elemental Burst Pyronado is great at applying Pyro to enemies, setting up Elemental Reactions like Vaporize and Melt for huge damage. Xiangling’s fourth Constellation boosts her Pyronado’s duration from 10 seconds to 14 seconds, making it even more useful and increasing its overall uptime by quite a bit.
Xiangling’s best and most convenient weapon is The Catch. Since every player can get it to Refinement 5 relatively easily through fishing, there’s no gacha involved here! At Refinement 5, The Catch increases Pyronado’s damage by 32% and its Crit Rate by 12%. That’s not all, though - when combined with Xiangling’s best artifact set, the 4-piece Emblem of Severed Fate, 25% of the Energy Recharge from The Catch’s main stat also gets converted into Elemental Burst damage. On top of this, the set gives 20% Energy Recharge for its 2-piece bonus already! Xiangling benefits a good amount from Energy Recharge as Pyronado has quite a high energy cost, so these components all synergise extremely well.
Overall, Xiangling is an incredibly good Burst DPS, being able to apply Pyro very quickly for lots of powerful Elemental Reactions while doing very reasonable damage in the process. She’s also permanently free for all players just for completing Spiral Abyss 3-3, so everyone can get her!
#4: Ganyu
We wanted to avoid listing many 5-star characters as they can be very difficult to get for a majority of players. However, Ganyu is strong enough that she rightfully earned her place on this list.
Ganyu is the best DPS in Genshin Impact - this is a pretty much uncontested fact in the community. A large amount of this Cryo Bow-wielding character’s damage output comes from her charged shot, which has two levels. When held, the charged shot will deal Cryo damage. When held for longer, her Frostflake Arrow will deal Cryo damage, then bloom into additional AoE Cryo damage. This additional damage is incredible - it scales at almost twice the damage of the original arrow, meaning charging up to a Frostflake Arrow (which takes maybe an extra second) triples your damage output. After shooting a Frostflake Arrow, Ganyu’s first Ascension Passive, applies a 20% Crit Rate boost to subsequent Frostflake Arrows for 5 seconds. This makes Ganyu an incredibly capable DPS character due to her massive AoE damage, and when combined with Elemental Reactions like Melt she is terrifying!
Ganyu’s Elemental Skill, Trail of the Qilin, causes her to dash backward and deal AoE Cryo damage while leaving behind a single Ice Lotus. This is no ordinary flower - it taunts nearby opponents, attracting them to attack it, giving you a chance to charge up some Frostflake Arrows! The Lotus will explode, dealing AoE Cryo damage when destroyed or when its duration (6 seconds) ends. At her second Constellation, Ganyu gains an extra charge of this ability.
Celestial Shower, Ganyu’s Elemental Burst, summons a Sacred Cryo Pearl that rains shards of ice, dealing Cryo damage to near opponents. With Ganyu’s 4th Ascension Passive, any party members in the AoE will gain a 20% Cryo damage bonus for the duration of her Burst.
Ganyu’s best weapon is the 5-star Amos’ Bow, which can be obtained from the Standard Wish banner as it increases Ganyu’s ATK and Charged Attack damage. Ganyu’s best 4-star weapon is far more Free-to-Play friendly, as it is the Prototype Crescent that can be obtained from forging. Her best Artifact set is the 4-piece Wanderer’s Troupe set, as it increases her Charged Attack damage by a massive 35%. However, an alternative option is the 2-piece Blizzard Strayer paired with something like the 2-piece Gladiator’s Finale or Shimenawa’s Reminiscence, for a 15% Cryo damage bonus and an 18% ATK bonus.
Ganyu is often used with characters like Xiangling and Bennett in ‘Melt compositions’, aiming to use fast Pyro application, like Xiangling’s Pyronado, to create huge damage with Melt reactions.
#3: Xingqiu
Xingqiu is a Hydro character who wields a Sword, yet plays mostly as a supporting character. Xingqiu’s kit is mostly built around Rain Swords, a feature specific to Xingqiu that reduces incoming damage, increases resistance to interruption, and applies Hydro to nearby enemies. Initially, Xingqiu can have up to 3 Rain Swords, but this limit increases to 4 with his first Constellation.
His Elemental Skill, Guhua Sword: Fatal Rainscreen, slashes twice in front of him and deals Hydro damage. This is a strong attack and scales very well as it is levelled up, but has an extremely long cooldown. When used, it creates the maximum amount of Rain Swords. This skill generates 5 elemental particles, meaning it is incredibly useful for charging Xingqiu’s Burst.
Similar to Xiangling, Xingqiu’s kit focuses heavily on his Elemental Burst, Guhua Sword: Raincutter. For its duration, your active character’s normal attacks will trigger consecutive Sword Rain attacks, dealing Hydro damage. This carries over to other characters, meaning it can be used with characters like Hu Tao, Diluc, and Xiangling for Vaporise reactions. This Elemental Burst also creates the maximum number of Rain Swords, and they cannot expire or be destroyed during the ability’s uptime.
Xingqiu’s best weapon is the 4-star Sacrificial Sword, as it helps circumvent Xingqiu’s long cooldowns with its secondary effect. Its main stat is also Energy Recharge, greatly improving Xingqiu’s Burst uptime. As for artifacts, we recommend the 2-piece Heart of Depth and the 2-piece Noblesse Oblige, for +15% Hydro Damage and +20% Elemental Burst Damage.
#2: Bennett
Bennett is by far the best Support character in Genshin Impact - he’s viable on pretty much every possible team composition in the game. He’s a Pyro Swordwielder who has healing and damage boosts built into his kit.
Passion Overload, Bennett’s Elemental Skill, has different effects depending on how long you hold the button. A short tap will have Bennet strike once quickly with his sword, dealing Pyro damage. Holding will have him strike twice, dealing Pyro damage and launching opponents. A longer hold will have him attack three times, dealing an impressive amount of Pyro damage and triggering an explosion that launches back both Bennett and the enemy. The tap version of the attack generates 2 elemental particles, while the held versions have a chance to generate 3.
As with many other characters, Bennett’s true strength lies in his Elemental Burst - one of the best and most iconic Bursts in the game, Fantastic Voyage. This Burst creates a large, circular Inspiration Field on the ground. If a character within the circle is equal to or below 70% health, their health will regenerate each second, scaling with Bennett’s Max HP. If their health is above 70%, they’ll gain an ATK bonus that scales with Bennett’s Base ATK. It also imbues characters within the circle with Pyro.
Grand Expectation, Bennett’s first Constellation, removes the HP restriction on Fantastic Voyage’s ATK boost, meaning it will always boost ATK even when healing. It also increases the ATK boost by a further 20% of Bennett’s base ATK. Bennett’s fifth Constellation increases the Talent level of his Burst by 3, improving the damage boost and healing. However, Bennett is still a great unit without these, so don’t feel forced into getting them!
Bennett’s best weapons are those with high Base ATK, as it scales the best with his Elemental Burst’s ATK boost. The best of these is the Aquila Favonia, due to its incredibly high base ATK, but the Skyward Blade is also a great option due to its high Energy Recharge stat. For players not looking to spend money, the Prototype Rancour is one of the best options due to its high base ATK. 4-piece Noblesse Oblige, Bennett’s best Artifact set, gives your party a 20% ATK buff when using your Burst, even further increasing Bennett’s ATK boosting capabilities. You should prioritize Energy Recharge as a substat on Bennett’s artifacts.
The incredible damage buffs and healing that come with this Burst make it incredibly versatile and useful on every team, making Bennett a must-have.
#1: Your Favorite
The number one character you should level up in Genshin Impact is… the one you like the most! We know this is cheating, but hear us out: in a game full of numbers and optimization, it can be easy to forget why you play in the first place. You should level up and play with the characters you like the most, whether it’s because of their design, or because you love the way their kit plays. Games are meant to be fun, and you should ensure that’s what you’re getting from Genshin Impact. We recommend customizing your gameplay experience to fit you, as this is what will maximize the fun you find in the game!
You should probably still build Bennett as well, though.
