Originally posted on October 5, 2021

Anemo is the first element you come into contact with in the world of Genshin Impact, and it will probably stick with you through your Teyvat travels. The wind element reacts with most other elements to create strong Elemental Reactions, and most Anemo Characters provide some kind of utility on the battlefield.

We’ve ranked all of the Anemo characters to help you get a feel for which one is best -- they’re all pretty great though. The first couple is always up for debate, and it depends on how you like to play the game.

1. Xiao

The top of the Anemo character list is Xiao. He’s a five-star character, which means that his stats will naturally be better, and level up better, than four-star characters. He’s also a polearm user and the only polearm Anemo character at that. If you have a great staff, it might be worth using him just because of that.

Xiao excels at zooming to enemies to deal quick damage, and he can jump into the air and dash down to do massive damage in an area. His Elemental Burst ability makes him hit harder while also giving his basic attacks Anemo. He’ll also be able to jump higher to do more damage -- however, this will cause him to take damage.

He works well as the main damage dealer for your team, but he can also be a great secondary attacker for Pyro characters with his Anemo elemental reactions. 

2. Kazuha

Kazuha is one of the newer Anemo characters, and he’s pretty popular. In the story of the game, players get to spend a great deal of time with Kazuha. Without spoiling anything, most people end up really liking his character.

When he’s on the battlefield, he acts as a strong secondary attacker. You can build him as your main attacker, but his abilities and Elemental Reactions make him the perfect character to swap to in-between ability cooldowns -- he can really help charge up your team’s abilities if you have a Pyro character on your team.

Similar to Xiao, he has an ability that can make him go in the air. This lets him easily dish out damage with plunge attacks. His other ability will gather enemies in one area, making it easy for Kazuha to attack many enemies at once.

3. Venti

Venti was one of the first five-star characters in the game, and he’s been a fan-favorite Anemo pick since. He’s also incredibly useful on the battlefield. 

He’s best built as a support character because of his abilities. Similar to Kazuha, Venti can create an updraft that lets him fly into the air. However, this is best used for getting around Teyvat, and it comes in handy -- especially if you’re trying to farm materials in the world.

Venti’s real power comes from his ability that brings all enemies into one spot, making them incredibly easy to hit. Chain this with a Pyro character or other Elemental Reactions and you can take out hordes of enemies in seconds. 

4. Sucrose

Sucrose is arguably one of the most powerful four-star characters, and she’s basically a watered-down version of Venti. However, she’s much easier to get, making it easier to get her Constellations as well.

Sucrose’s abilities both focus on dragging enemies into one area, and her Elemental Ability will deal damage in intervals while also applying any Elemental Reactions. It’s the perfect solution for anyone who doesn’t have Venti -- which is most Genshin Impact players.

She’s also able to be used as a main damage dealer but she works best as a support, just to start chaining Elemental Reactions. She doesn’t have to be on the field for her Elemental Ability, which makes her pretty handy.

5. Jean

Jean is another five-star Anemo character, but she just doesn’t have the same amount of control over the battlefield that even four-star Sucrose has. However, she has her place for those who enjoy how she plays.

For example, if you’re near a cliff, she’s infamous for being able to just knock enemies off -- who needs to worry about killing a slime if it falls out of existence? She can also heal herself and her team, making her a valid option if you’re not running another healer in your party but need an Anemo character. 

While she’s not as valuable to most teams as Sucrose is, she’s going to be able to deal more damage and scale quicker than Sucrose can just because of her star level. She’s also one of the very few characters in Genshin Impact that has a skin, meaning that you can buy a cute costume to change her look.

6. Sayu

Sayu is famous for quite a few reasons -- she’s voiced by popular streamer Lilypichu in English, and she can zoom around the map by curling into the equivalent of a hamster ball.

Her spinning ability deals Anemo damage to any enemy she hits, and she can hit the same enemy multiple times. This is great for applying Elemental Reactions, and she makes a pretty useful secondary attacker. At the end of her ability, she jumps out and attacks with a Claymore, dishing out some pretty big damage.

She also has a taunt, which helps her since the Claymore takes a bit to wind up and use.

7. Traveler

The last Anemo character on this list is the Traveler, which is your character in the game. Let’s face it -- while the Traveler might have a place in your heart, his or her Anemo abilities aren’t up to par with the rest of the team.

At the beginning of the game, the abilities are useful for learning how to use Elemental Reactions since the Traveler can spread effects around. However, the damage just isn’t there, and the abilities give the player very little control over the battlefield.