Top Ten BEST Characters In Genshin Impact (2023) 

Let's be honest, almost all of us were shocked yet glad that Kokomi had a revolutionary change in genshin Impact's history. She went down below immediately after her release to rising to the top as a meta character. Reminds me of her demo where her ancestors dwelled deep in the ocean and this time, Kokomi (current generation) can now see the starry sky above.

Video Summary; Honorable mentions: Fischl Zhongli Yelan Top 10 (in no particular order): Kazuha Bennet Xingqiu Kokomi Nahida Hu Tao Sucrose Raiden Shogun Kamisato Ayaka Xianling

There's no way you've put extremely inflexible hypercarries in top 10, but not Yelan who is easily one of the strongest and most versatile units in the game on par with Nahida and Kazuha. Just because she has a great 4* analog doesn't make her less valuable or powerful.

Despite what everyone may say, the best character is the friends we made along the way.

There is no good reason why Yelan should not be on the list. Her single target DPS alone is literally more than most entire teams.

Very strange to see Yelan in honorable mentions section due to Xingqiu having way more versatility and utility, and then not even see Ganyu in the honorable mentions, who may have lower raw damage, but not only has better utility in cryo application but also greater versatility as she can be played support, freeze, or melt DPS, whereas Ayaka is just raw damage. Adding on the mentioning of using Kazuha in the overworld, but not mentioning other characters' overworld utility like Yelan's running, Nahida's item collection, Zhongli's mining, etc.

I pulled Kokomi by accident cause I had extra primos after pulling Ganyu. I had no idea she’d end up being such a core part of my teams, especially w Nahida. I’m rlly glad things turned out that way :)

It's hard to explain how satisfying it is to see people finally see how good Kokomi is. I used to say, she's incredibly easy to build, makes you basically immortal and even though at the time, the characters to really synergize with her weren't as many as now, with how long she can spread hydro so easily, it was only a matter of time before she became a beast.

Yelan in honorable mentions is baffling to say the least

I'm surprised you mentioned Kazuhas overworld utility but didn't mention nahida's or zhongli's. I mean being able to grab multiple thing from a distance (Even if its not too much) with nahida is really handy. Also the ore mining with zhongli is very efficient and while razor can break ores with his e, i feel like he doesnt have the same range as zhongli and well zhongli as you mentioned is very useful in combat been able to slot in many teams while razor is really niche

Vars: Yelan is an honorable mention cuz she’s less versatile than Xingqiu Also Vars: puts Hu Tao and Ayaka near the top of the list despite only being known for their raw damage At least be consistent with your own rules man. Aight list all things considered.

So Hu Tao is in the list while Yelan, a top tier support with among the highest abyss usage rates, is only an honorable mention? Sorry, that's just bs. And I say that as someone who likes Hu Tao more than Yelan.

I think there is one strange thing about your character selection in this video. You put Yelan in honourable mention and Xingqiu in top ten because the latter is more versatile, while the former focus mostly on damage. This is reasonable, and I agree with it, but right next to it, you put Ayaka in the top ten and leave Ganyu off the list. It is strange to me, because while Ayaka has better damage than Ganyu the latter is much more versatile with the ability to be both great DPS and support. From my perspective, Ganyu, while dethroned from ice DMG queen position, has better chance to stood against passage of time thanks to her ability to play as different roles in the team.

Okay reading the comments I realize, yeah, I’m not the only one who was surprised at not seeing Ganyu on the list, and that I’m not the only one who thinks she is overall a more valuable unit than Ayaka due to her versatility. I get probably excluding her due to not wanting to populate the top of the list with Cryo on-fielder DPS units, but I see I’m not the only one who thinks she should have then made honorable mentions list by the same token Yelan did.

Nothing means more to me then Kokomi finally getting the love she deserves. She was one of my first five star pulls and I would not trade her for any other character

Raidens burst at 11:33 was such an overkill 😂

I have Kokomi since day 1 and boy, I absolutely regret nothing. Not only that she is absolutely easy to build, but she kept literally everyone alive even when my coop mate and I had no decent shielder or at low level. I once cleared a level 88 domain with 2 level 40s characters with her 😂😂😂

the fact that kokomi isnt put on most top tens but she still is constantly on the top 4 most used character in abyss alongside bennet, zhong li & nahida for almost 12 months (being above raiden, yelan, kazuha, xiangling and ayaka) and not even once going below it speaks a lot about how much she is a sleeper top-tier pick character and how the negative IQ mentality people still have and push of "only big dmg is meta" is prevalent no mather how good the character is in pratice over spreadsheets

my current team is thoma, raiden, nahida and kokomi and man the girls carry me so hard. once i raise my alhatiham im going to swap off my thoma since i dont really use burgeon/burning nearly as much as catalyze and bloom. having even 3 of the top 10 can honestly make the entire game easier than just zhongli

13:53 Shogun's Burst Buff is not static but dynamic meaning that if her E was to wear off during battle Xiangling's Burst damage would also go down during that time

Hoyo is too regretful for the old 4 stars huh.

Nahida improving quicken and hyperbloom teams are true except for anemo hyperbloom team where nahida dendro is too strong that it is rare to have electro on enemies for your anemo unit to swirl.

actually the elemental burst buff from raiden's skill can not be snapshotted basically any buff that affects the stats that are visible in the character menu can be snapshotted but those that buff other stats (like burst damage in this case) are dynamic buffs then there's elemental mastery that gets snapshot for amplifying reactions but not transformative ones (don't know about catalyse)

I already have Bennet, Xianling and Sucrose. Now I just need to get Xingqu during the Lantern Rite, and I’ve got the holy quintet of 4 stars!

You could argue fischl should be on the list instead of raiden/hutao/ayaka simply because of the team synergy fischl has

I agree with the comment section regarding Yelan (and possibly Fischl) but regardless very informative video and helpful for many players!

Respect your opinion but hard disagree on some points. You said the honorable mentions arent as multi purpose as the main list characters, but then you have Fischl and Yelan as honorable mentions, while someone like Hu Tao makes it into the main list ?? First off, Fischl. She is literally the current best electro applicator in the game, with a straight foward build and is pretty much the core electro of any Quicken comp. Every single major aggravate/spread team has Fischl for a reason. Her insane electro application and the off field DMG she provide through aggravates due to her passive not having ICD. As for Yelan, I think you completely forgot about her passive lol. Yes Xingqiu has slightly better Hydro application and some utility (which IMO you kinda overrated, as the "healing" he offers is basically a non factor and the resistence to interruption provided by his skill only lasts as long as the swords themselves, which have worse durability than pretty much any shield that isn't crystallize), but Yelan's passive basically makes her a fusion between him and Bennett due to the attack buff it provides. If you want to bring overworld into the equation the gap gets even further as Yelan's E gives you the current fastest running speed in the game for exploration. Now you compare Fischl and Yelan to someone like Hu Tao. First off, Hu Tao is nigh-unplayable without a shielder due to her passive getting her to low HP, and if you use healing to deal with that, you obviously lose a big chuck of her DMG. She is also cluncky to play without C1 due to stamina issues and Team-wise, the gap in DMG potential between Hu Tao/Zhongli/Double Hydro and any other team Hu Tao can be in is quite large. Considering that, how is that someone like Hu Tao, that requires so much more investment and a specific team centered around her makes it into a list whose one of the main criteria you stated is how multi purpose a character is, yet versatile units that fit into a multitude of teams like Fischl and Yelan dont ?

May I suggest a "top 10 most versatile 5* to spend your primogems?" There's so many characters I really like and want, I'm having a hard time finding who prioritize as a F2P.

I'd give a spot to Beidou or at least as an honorable mention. Would love to see you make a video that talks about her.

"I find myself using Yelan more because she's very top-heavy" Alright there, Vars 😂

Yelan honorable mention no way Wtf she is arguably the best character in the game for abyss as well as open world scenario so much that I will recommend people going for her C1 that will bring so much comfort in the open

It's hilarious looking back at how many people were hating on Kokomi purely for negative crit rate. That was when people wanted every single character to be a main DPS. She has always been the best healer in the game, which is why I wanted her, the addition of corrosion and ocean hued clam just made her even better.

Putting Fischl in honourable mention only is a crime. She's flexible as all hell and is also a main stay in multiple meta comps.

As a Hu Tao main (c2 with Homa) i can say she is very strong BUT she is inflexible as hell. You require Yelan or Xingqiu (at least at c4) or both at the same time if you want to do big boy damage. You 100% require a Zhongli in abyss. You can not use Hu Tao without that strong shield. Yes Diona or noelle are both useable but their shields arent strong enough. Dont get me wrong, i use my Diona (c6) for another team. You also need to learn her game mechanics shes not an easy DPS to learn for optimum damage and stamina consumption. I love my hu tao and genuinely going for c3 even tho i dont need it at all, but she belongs below some of the ones you have said. And yes you need c1 to play hu tao without it its really difficult to play her.

Since Kokomi's first banner she had a massive "upgrade" (not for her kit but by players) and this is why I love her so much She has became more popular since 3.0 and dendro changed players view whit elements and artéfacts. And I need to get this out of my chest, this year Lantern Rite was émotionnel for me I cried during the cutscenes... Rest In Peace Guizhong... And Happy Lantern Rite to everyone

I always happy to see Raiden in the tier lists tho I know how how powerful she is it’s still so good to see your fave character in the list😊

Stopped watching when Yelan didn't make the list

I'd like to point out that Xingqiu will be featured in Hu Tao/Yelan banner in the second phase so maybe you can look out for both yelan and xing

At 13:51 you said Xiangling snapshots Raiden burst DMG buff..... That's not the case, Raiden's buff is one of the few dynamic buffs that Xiangling can't snapshot. It can however buff her even when it's activated after Pyronado is cast

it’s crazy how a negative crit rate passive can fuel losers to attack a voice actress who’s just doing her job; *voice acting*

Suprised not to see Ganyu even in honorable mentions. Why so? When she became mediocre or just ok at best? You can easily get huge raw damage on her. Easily combined with top supports like Bennet, Sucrose or Xiangling. Works great in any situation (except cryo immune enemies obviously). I left Genshin for about year and when came back she was great as before unlike my other main Klee. Isn't this is futureproof? Her only downside is that she needs shielder or good CC. She is definetly isn't character that should be avoided

I said it before and i will say it again, imo ayaka and ganyu are equal on strength, for me it makes no sense how so many people thinks a little more dmg from ayaka can overthrow all the utility ganyu provides without being behind in dmg. But oh well, everyone has their own opinions ig.

Im so happy to see kokomi in this list.i still remember players used to trash talk when i use her in co op.dendro made her op.

Pretty solid list! 8/10 of them are also in my top 10! I do have Zhongli + Yelan over Hu Tao + Ayaka, but do see a strong argument for both

Confused about Yelan ngl xD

I missed Amber, Amber and her best skill: Lighting Up Torches 🙂

I was onboard with Kokomi immediately - a pure healer with -100% crit rate? What a relief, I can ignore those pesky stats and focus on HP% without penalty? And then the Ocean Hued Clam artifacts dropped and she was suddenly so, so broken. Lately I run Nahida, Kokomi, Klee, and the last person is dead weight because they so often don't even get into the rotation.

It’s crazy how soothing your voice is, I didn’t even really needed to watch this video but I did bc you sound so nice

In your previous videos you've always reiterated that Genshin's combat is easy and that offensive power is always favored over defensive setups, then why does Yelan being "hyper damage oriented and doesn't offer flexible utility" seen as an issue here? Also, why is Kazuha's overworld capabilities mentioned here while Yelan's E goes unmentioned. You even went on your way to say you use Yelan more than Xingqiu. If both characters are equally strong, then just put them both in the list? "I didn't want one element to cover too many spots" Come on now lmao, what are we doing here.

As a Yelan main who also owns c6 xingqu finds this video very objectionable.. you cannot put yelan in honourable mentions when she is argubly the best hydro character there, deals tons of damage, have a minute amount of crowd control , overworld exploration running ability, scales completely of the stat which is most easy to get, have great f2p options, and for xingqu to be equally good as her you need a 5 star weapon on him.. she is a character on par with raiden and nahida

kokomi is great for hyperbloom but being a healer isn't the most desirable attribute in genshin because of abyss 12 being a dps check. Making you unkillable isn't appealing if you still get knocked around by enemies and lose dps time

I'm stuck between pulling for hu tao or yelan because i could really use a 2nd dps but yelan will basically fit in any team i build. tough choice

I was honestly a little surprised you called Hu Tao easy to play. Even at c1 (which ive had for over a year) she zooms all over the place when facing multiple enemies, and it can be a bit hard to navigate, and at c0 a /lot/ of people find her insanely difficult to play. Id also personally put Yelan and Zhongli over Ayaka/Sucrose, but I get why people would disagree on the ZL part. I think Hu Tao being in the top 10 in general is pretty understandable though, just because of the absolutely insane single target damage she can deal with not that much investment into the other teammates

the fact he mentioned shogun needing investment but not the fact that hu tao only works in two team comps (double hydro or double geo) and that both of them require two limited 5 stars without counting herself makes me kinda mad tbh

I’d actually argue that a new player would be better of going fir Yelan than Xingqiu. I say this because you want Xingqiu at C6, and that can be difficult fir new players. You can never really guarantee a C6 4 star, but you can gaurentee Yelan. Plus, fir a new player, she provides some ease fir exploration.

From an ayaka and ganyu main i say Ganyu is about equal to Ayaka, she deserved a spot in the top 10 too

I mean i wouldve switched Hu tao and Yelan, since Yelan would be more versatile in alot of diff team comps and she enables plenty of teams

I like that he stopped releasing videos as Premiers first

Already went for Ayaka twice (lost the 50/50) on both of her banners :(. Though I don't really need her. Ayato, does a great job at keeping enemies frozen when paired with (Sucrose/Kazuha) and Rosaria + one more hydro. Also a great turn-your-brain-off character. Apply hydro via flex character(or Ayato Q) character, then swirl with Kazuha,/Sucrose, Rosaria E followed by Q switch back to Ayato and delete your enemies. Not skipping the next Kokomi rerun though.

It's strange that ganyu is not here

How is ayaka versatile though? Like she only has 1 or 2 optimal team

Do you think it is worth it to go for a 10 pull in the main account on any of the banners?

I suffer with being one of the few people lacking a sucrose lategame, on the bright side I’m not missing any other good supports anymore.

I would split this list into you "need" these (you will survive without them but they unlock a new domain of the game to you): Bennet Xingqiu Kazuha/Sucrose Nahida And characters you will not regreat (your qol and game experience will skyrocket) Shogun Kazuha (just because sucrose has enough to help you out) Ayaka Hu tao Xiangling Kokomi

If it were up to me i'd put Yelan in the top 10. Ofc you could use xingqiu, but in my opinion she has way more utility, not only in damage but exploration as well. Exploring the overworld with her is much less time consuming and more fun. In my opinion it can be easier to build her than xingqiu since she is f2p friendly, doesn't need atk, and she ascends with crt rate. Also not to mention that she increases on field characters dmg from her talent. You could also argue that she has the best c6 in the game by the sheer amount of dps she outputs. She could be used in many comps unlike hu tao for example, who can only be playd as a dps and preferably in a vape comp. Although Yelan may not be the best without her c2 in vape comps, she is still very useful and fun also! I definetaly recomend getting her

i am playing zhongli in an account and kokomi in other acc. trust me my brain still works pretty hard while playing them

Sucrose and Kokomi. I had use of Xinqiu somewhere else,so I replaced him with Kokomi in my Tazer comp. Those characters have quite poor artifacts and yet they performed better than my main comp, which is my Diluc with multiple god tier artifacts... I cant imagine how good it will be when I upgrade their artifacts, especially their EM as Sucrose has just mere 400 EM ( she should have twice that )

I can’t lie this list does really further the point that the majority of vars viewers and vars himself are casual players talking about meta units and saying comfy characters are meta

i feel like if mihoyo ever releases a cryo catalyst user they'll be so op simply bc they could just perma freeze the enemy with xingqiu/yelan with just their normal attacks

I take great joy in playing Nilou. She's such a no-brainer. Just do some piruettes and watch the world explode with dendro slapping leaves.

my dps builds are not great so I usually bring my kokomi in co-op and i feel like im actually contributing also her little jellyfish can deal some serious physical damage haha it still surprises me sometimes

Not in any order because there is no 100% viable pull list tbh. These are the units that pop up in my mind immediately, which mean there still other units that are very good but I would not recommend as hard as these below. 5*: Zhongli, Ei, Nahida, Yelan, Ayaka, Kazuha. 4*: Bennett, Xingqiu, Sucrose, Fischl, Xiangling.

I agree with that bit about Xiangling. All patches do seem to have something new to increase her damage plus all of the polearms are so good on her, some better than others but still viable, making her so incredibly easy to build. The og 4 stars were just unintentionally strong.

From what I recall, Shogun's burst amp does not snapshot no matter who it is

I'm kinda glad I didn't get Yae Miko because I hadn't realized that Kazuha was getting a rerun right after 😅

I'm conflicted. I really want Yelan cause she's free to play and I'm guarantee, but I already have Xingqiu and don't think it will be worth wise to waste a guarantee on her when I still need Nahida.

There’s 100% no justification for Hu Tao to be over Yelan

My team currently is keqing, hu Tao, noelle, xingqiu . Who should I go for next I want someone relatively fun to play and will help me out a lot

I'm a f2p player not focused a lot in optimisation, what do you think of a team ( Fischle, Benette, Xiangling , Sucrose ) ?

Many of the vision users of Mondstadt appear to be consistently stronger than the vision holders of other regions thus far.

I think Xiangling is broken not because of snapshot instead because of ICD.

Kokomi can got outheal if you got max stack corrosion but if your kokomi have decent artifact especialy got atk spd support yeah even max corrosion unable to knock her out.

I just enjoyed watching you absolutely demolish those enemies

Hu Tao loses points for being a terrible rapper

3:02 about Yelan: "... at the end of the day she is very top heavy." ... yeah we know she is... waifu>Meta (unfortunately i almost exclusively play Claymore but still ... nice~)

tbh there's a pretty big problem with Xingqiu affecting mainly new players, energy. Xingqiu's burst needs 80 energy, and in most pyro cary vape teams (except for Hu Tao's), he's the sole hydro. His E has a huge cool down and generates 5 hydro particles, which generates 15 energy if he's on field. If you don't have a high refinement sacrificial, you'll basically never be able to get his burst back up on time (if you do the math, even if assuming monsters drop ~20 energy during this time, you'll still need like 400% ER). My C0 Xingqiu has a R1 sacrificial with 290% ER and I can confirm that it is not enough if the sacrificial reset E does not trigger.

12:25 EXCUSE ME gorou what are you DOING there

i think the list is pretty good. but i not only agree with many comments saying that yelan should be in the top 10 but moreover i think zhong li should be in there. and fischl *is* really great too. if you just called it top 13 characters and mixed the honorable mentions into the other 10 without a particular order, then i would have to completely agree with the list i think. there are some who suggest ganyu. i'm not sure whether i agree but i also wouldn't mind top 14 with her in it too. yes, you need to make a cut-off at *some* point. But i think after those 13/14 we should be good.

Your list contradicts itself You put Yelan in the honorable mention because she's a slight downgrade to C6 Xingqiu which is understandable I don't think many would disagree with that but then we Arive at Sucrose and you say she's a slight downgrade to Kazuha but that's still broken and it's in top 10 soooo like what are you even Trying to do here? Not to mention your heavily focused on trying to look at Yelan as a Xingqiu replacement but in reality Xingqius best teams are with Yelan and Yelan's best teams are with Xingqiu. Edit: Also in the comments I saw the Ganyu not and Ayaka discussions and yes you contradict yourself again with putting Ayaka top 10 when she's less versatile than Ganyu who was not in the honorable mention on top of that.

I have an alt account where I got double lucky, in permanent banner I got kuqing on the 1st 10 pull and xioa on the 1st 10 pull of the character banner. And have yao yao on that too so I definitely know what character to go for, in that account... But in my main account I'm kind of a dilemma.

these are definitely some of the characters of all time

Good list, though after experimenting and watching videos of Sucrose and Kazuha, they are both more side grades than upgrades/downgrades, it's more impressive to see Sucrose being on par with a 5* than Kazuha trying to beat a 4*, they are both good units but Sucrose impresses me most.

Kazuha has been far and away my favorite character in the entire game since his release. Whaled for him to get him C2, and loved his kit so much I made him a hypercarry on field DPS with zhongli, bennett, and venti. Everything about him, his lore, his design, his voice lines, his gameplay loop, it's just so perfect. I genuinely don't think MHY will be able to top him any time soon. He's like the Jhin of Genshin.

*nervously waits for my fave to be on this list cus why not*

Hmm I get why you cut Yelan but I’d argue the double hydro core is incredibly flexible, supporting taser, vaporize, and hyperbloom. I don’t need to add to the already existing comments there though. Instead, I’d cut Hu Tao for Fischl. She single-handedly carries Aggravate. While that’s not the most popular reaction out there, she’s a staple in most taser and a solid chunk of hyperbloom/quickbloom so well-worth the investment and definitely flexible. I might’ve cut Kokomi for Childe too but eh he’s difficult so

10: Fischl 9: Sucrose 8: Zhongli/Kokomi 7: Xiangling 6: Raiden 5: Bennett 4: Xingqiu 3: Kazuha 2: Yelan 1: Nahida

vars is getting bolder

And in the number one spot, Neolle the geo archon! As I expected

Ahhhhh I still need Kokomi. Got Raiden last banner & still need to build HER but ahhh I wanna Koko. & YaoYao but free, plus I got Alhaitham 20 pulls from Raiden so let's go!

I honestly find Xingqiu overrated compared to Yelan, especially since, starting out, I found her easier to build and much more useful for fights and exploration. I find I am still trying to find good artifacts to get him to decent damage while I can slap on unwanted HP artifacts and get much easier damage output from her. Why worry about his utility when I find someone like Diona to cover his spot?