Team building is extremely important in Genshin Impact. But with the ever increasing number of playable characters, it can be difficult to determine who the best choices for each role are. In this article, we’ll cover who the very best main DPS, sub DPS, supports, and sustains are. Read on to find out the best characters for each role are as of 5.0!
15. Zhongli (Sustain)
The Geo Archon Zhongli focuses on providing extremely strong shields for your team. He’s a very flexible character who can easily be slotted into most teams as a sustain option. You shouldn’t have any problems keeping your team alive with Zhongli around.
Zhongli is great for these reasons:
- Zhongli is the strongest shielder in the game, and his shields make gameplay very comfortable. His shields can typically take several hits before breaking, giving your team very strong survivability and resistance to interruption. The pillar created by his Skill also pulses to deal Geo damage to nearby enemies, making the Tenacity of the Millelith a very viable artifact set to further increase shield strength while also providing a nice attack boost.
- Zhongli has two other notable support abilities built into his kit. First, when your characters are protected by his shield, nearby enemies have all Elemental Res and Physical Res decreased, allowing your DPS characters to deal more damage. This is especially nice in mono Geo teams since Geo res shred is very rare. Second, his Burst petrifies enemies for a few seconds, keeping them in place.
14. Baizhu (Sustain)
Baizhu is a Dendro healer. He has very high healing output as well as some additional support capabilities. With Baizhu on your team you should have a very easy time keeping everyone alive.
Baizhu is an amazing sustain option because:
- Baizhu has strong teamwide healing on his Skill, so his healing can be used very consistently. This is especially notable for teams with Furina. Baizhu is one of the best options for Furina teams because his high healing output offsets the HP drain that she inflicts on your team and helps to maximize her Fanfare stacks quickly.
- Baizhu’s Burst creates shields around your active character. Although the shields are weak, they do increase your resistance to interruption. These shields also heal your active character when they break or expire. The shield is refreshed every 2.5 seconds, so they greatly improve your active character’s survivability through stagger immunity and constant healing. His Burst also deals Dendro damage to opponents, which helps to facilitate Dendro reactions.
- Characters protected by Baizhu’s Burst gain a damage bonus to all Dendro reactions based on Baizhu’s max HP. Baizhu’s healing also scales on HP, so stacking HP not only increases his healing output but also provides a damage bonus for your Dendro reactions. Keep in mind that this damage bonus only applies to your active character.
13. Hu Tao (Main DPS)
Hu Tao is a Pyro main DPS with a high risk, high reward playstyle. She has the potential to deal very high single target damage. Her kit revolves around sacrificing a portion of her HP in order to gain a huge attack boost that scales on her max HP.
Hu Tao is a great main DPS because:
- Hu Tao is best played in Vaporize teams with fast Hydro application from characters like Xingqiu. She’s amazing against single target bosses, but can struggle in AoE content.
- Hu Tao does sacrifice her own HP in order to deal damage, but her Burst heals her in addition to dealing damage. If her HP is below 50%, then the healing and damage are increased. This helps to offset her HP drain and makes it possible to run her in teams without a healer.
- In addition to her high damage output, Hu Tao also provides her team with a 12% Crit Rate buff. This is a small buff, but it’s a nice addition to her kit to help increase the damage of her teammates.
12. Fischl (Sub DPS)
Fischl is an Electro DPS. When she uses her Skill, she summons a raven named Oz to deal Electro damage. Oz’s duration can be refreshed with Fischl’s Burst, so her off-field damage has great uptime.
Fischl is a great sub DPS because:
- When Oz is on the field, he is constantly attacking nearby enemies and applying Electro to them. Additionally, her Ascension 4 passive launches an additional Electro attack whenever your on-field character triggers an Electro-related reaction.
- Fischl generates a lot of Electro particles, so she’s a great battery for energy hungry Electro characters. She’s a great choice for double Electro Aggravate teams.
- Fischl has a high damage ceiling. In the right teams, Fischl’s damage rivals and sometimes even exceeds 5 star sub DPS characters like Yae Miko.
11. Raiden Shogun (Main DPS)
The Electro Archon, Raiden Shogun is a very formidable ally to have. She has a very flexible kit and can deal very high Electro damage in the right teams.
Raiden Shogun is a great main DPS because:
- Raiden is primarily designed to be played as a main DPS. Her Burst deals high damage and infuses her Normal, Charged, and Plunging attacks with Electro, making up the majority of her damage. However, Raiden Shogun’s Skill enables her to deal Electro damage from off-field to opponents via coordinated attacks whenever your active character deals damage. This works for any active character, not just Raiden, so she can be played as a sub DPS to enable Electro reactions for your on-fielder.
- Raiden’s coordinated attacks have a 50% chance to generate energy and have 100% uptime. This allows her to be a great Energy battery for your team.
- When Raiden’s Skill is active, your active character will gain a damage buff to their Bursts. Her Skill’s duration is longer than its cooldown, so this buff can have 100% uptime.
10. Yelan (Sub DPS)
Yelan is a Hydro sub DPS character. When her Burst is active, she deals Hydro damage from off-field and is great at facilitating Hydro reactions.
Yelan is a great sub DPS because:
- Like Xingqiu, Yelan is a character who deals off-field Hydro damage through her Burst when your active character uses Normal attacks. Her Hydro application is slower than Xingqiu’s, but her damage output is often higher.
- While Yelan’s Burst is active, your active character will receive a damage buff starting at 1% and increasing by 3.5% every second, capped at 50%.
9. Xiangling (Sub DPS)
Xiangling is a Pyro sub DPS that deals high damage from off-field through her Burst’s Pyronado. Her Pyronado has a large range, making her a great option in AoE content. She applies Pyro very quickly and her damage output can be quite high.
Xiangling is a great sub DPS because:
- Xiangling has the potential to dish out a lot of damage. Her Burst hits enemies in a wide AoE and applies Pyro without any internal cooldown. This allows her to keep up with other characters who apply their own elements quickly to proc a lot of reactions.
- Xiangling’s Burst retains any buffs that were active when it was cast. This means that any attack or damage buffs that Xiangling receives will buff the entire duration of her Pyronado, even if the buff expires before her Burst ends. This makes her an amazing teammate for Bennett because his attack buff will be active for her Burst’s entire duration.
8. Alhaitham (Main DPS)
Alhaitham is a Dendro main DPS and he is one of the strongest DPS characters currently available. Dendro reactions are extremely strong and thanks to Alhaitham’s fast Dendro application, he has a lot of great team options.
Alhaitham is a great main DPS because:
- Alhaitham can fulfill an on-field role in any Dendro team archetype. Be it Hyperbloom, Quicken, or Burgeon, Alhaitham is a great DPS choice for all of them.
- Alhaitham can deal high damage in both AoE and single target scenarios. Because the Spiral Abyss often has one side that is more focused on AoE and one side more focused on single target, this means that Alhaitham can often be a great DPS choice for either side. Imaginarium Theater has a lot of AoE chambers, so he can also perform very well there.
- One of Alhaitham’s passive talents increases his damage based on his Elemental Mastery. This is great for Alhaitham because building EM contributes to this damage bonus as well as increasing reaction damage.
7. Arlecchino (Main DPS)
Arlecchino is a Pyro main DPS. Arlecchino places a Bond of Life on herself in exchange for increased damage output and Pyro-infused Normal and Charged attacks. Arlecchino is similar to Hu Tao, however she has a higher damage ceiling and more flexible teams.
Arlecchino is an amazing main DPS because:
- Arlecchino excels in a wider variety of teams, so she can be an extremely strong option in Vaporize, mono Pyro, and Overload (with Chevreuse).
- Arlecchino can’t be healed by any of your other party members during combat, leaving her Burst as her sole form of healing. That being said, her Burst heals her for quite a lot.
- Arlecchino’s kit provides her with strong buffs to increase her damage output and survivability. She increases her own Elemental and Physical Res based on her attack stat, decreasing the damage that she takes to mitigate her inability to be healed by the rest of your party. She also has a permanent 40% Pyro damage bonus.
6. Bennett (Sustain)
Bennett is a Pyro healer and buffer. His Burst heals your active character if they are under 70% of their max HP and provides a massive attack buff. This makes Bennett a very sought after support character who performs excellently in a wide variety of teams.
Bennett is a great healer because:
- The attack buff that Bennett provides to your active character is massive. This makes Bennett a very desirable teammate who works well with almost any attack scaling character.
- Bennett fulfills both the role of a buffer and healer in one teamslot, making team building with him very flexible.
- Bennett’s Burst is high cost, however his Skill has a very low cooldown. This allows for easy spamming to get his Burst back up and to battery other Pyro characters in your party.
- If you have Bennett’s C6 activated, he provides all characters in his Burst a Pyro damage bonus and infuses melee weapons’ Normal, Charged, and Plunging attacks with Pyro.
5. Xingqui (Sub DPS)
Xingqiu is a Hydro sub DPS character who deals damage from off-field through the Rain Swords created by his Burst. When your active character uses Normal attacks, Xingqiu’s Rain Swords trigger a Hydro attack on the same target.
He’s a great sub DPS because:
- Xingqiu’s Burst will deal fast Hydro damage alongside any character who uses Normal attacks. His Rain Swords also orbit around your active character and apply Hydro to any enemy that they touch. This makes Xingqiu the most consistent source of off-field Hydro application in the game provided you’re using an on-fielder who uses Normal attacks.
- Xingqiu has extremely strong defensive utility built into his kit. His Burst’s Rain Swords increase your active character’s resistance to interruption. They also provide damage reduction and a small amount of healing when they expire or shatter. Xingqiu provides a nice boost to your team’s survivability in addition to dealing high off-field damage.
4. Kaedehara Kazuha (Support)
Kazuha is an Anemo support character with multiple strong abilities. He’s an amazing support to slot into any team that relies on damage of a Swirlable element.
Kazuha’s a great support character because:
- Like any Anemo character, Kazuha can wear the Viridescent Venerer artifact set to decrease the enemy res of elements that he Swirls. Additionally, any element that he Swirls grants characters in your party matching that element a damage bonus based on his Elemental Mastery. At 1000 EM, that’s a 40% damage bonus.
- Kazuha should be stacking EM to maximize the damage bonus that he provides the team, and high EM also translates to high Swirl damage.
- Using Kazuha’s Skill draws enemies towards him. This makes it much easier to draw enemies to a specific position than abilities like Venti’s Burst, which may not target the enemy that you wanted it to. He has some of the strongest and easiest to use grouping capabilities in the game.
3. Furina (Support)
Furina’s introduction to the game opened up a lot of new team building options. She deals Hydro damage from off-field with her Hydro summons with her Skill, and her Burst provides a huge teamwide damage boost based on teamwide HP changes. She can also change to a healer stance, swapping her damage dealing summons for a healer summon. However, this is a huge damage loss so it’s not recommended.
Furina is an amazing character for these reasons:
- Furina’s damage scaling for her DPS summons is quite good, allowing her to contribute solid Hydro damage while also providing significant buffs to the team.
- Furina’s Burst buffs your entire team’s damage output and healing output based on fluctuations in HP. When your team’s HP increases or decreases, she gains Fanfare stacks that increase the damage bonus. Her DPS summons drain the HP of your entire team, so running her with a strong teamwide healer makes maxing out her Fanfare stacks quite easy.
- Because Furina’s summons drain your team’s HP, she can enable characters who do not have any HP manipulation built into their own kits to utilize the very strong Marechaussee Hunter artifact set. This set provides a huge Crit Rate boost when the wearer’s HP increases or decreases, but many characters can’t consistently activate the effect without Furina.
2. Nahida (Support)
Nahida is the premier character for off-field Dendro damage and buffs. She’s a best in slot teammate for almost all Dendro teams and tends to be a massive upgrade over other sources of off-field Dendro
Nahida is amazing because:
- Nahida’s Skill has the highest Dendro application in the game. Her Skill marks all enemies hit and links them together. Whenever one of the linked enemies takes damage from a Dendro reaction, all of the linked enemies take damage based on Nahida’s attack and EM, enabling AoE damage across all linked opponents.
- Nahida’s Burst provides your active character with an EM buff based on 25% of your highest teammate’s EM. This will usually be Nahida herself. If she has 1000 EM, then your active character will get a 250 EM buff. Dendro teams are very reaction reliant, so high EM will increase your damage output by quite a bit.
- Nahida has a passive talent that converts her EM into Crit Rate and Crit Damage. This allows her to focus her build completely on EM in order to maximize the EM buff that her Burst provides, while also gaining Crit stats on top of that in order to increase her own personal damage.
1. Neuvillette (Main DPS)
Neuvillette is a Hydro catalyst, and his release set a new standard for main DPS characters. The Iudex of Fontaine boasts high damage output, great survivability, and team flexibility. So far, there haven’t been any new characters that come close to taking the top spot from him.
Neuvillette is the best main DPS because:
- Neuvillette has high damage scalings and a massive range. His Charged attacks create a large Hydro blast in front of him. You can easily move around and change the direction that you’re facing mid-blast, making it very easy to hit multiple enemies.
- Neuvillette is extremely self-sufficient. His Charged attacks consume some of his HP while he is attacking until he reaches 50%, however picking up the water droplets created by his Skill and Burst provide healing, allowing you to top up his HP at the start of each Charged attack. His damage also scales on his HP, so his total HP will be quite high. He can definitely survive a hit if you need him to.
- Neuvillette can be used in just about any team that needs Hydro: mono Hydro, Electro-Charged, Hyperbloom, Burgeon, Vaporize, or Freeze are all viable options. He has a passive talent that increases the damage of his Charged attack based on the number of different Hydro related reactions triggered, with a maximum of 3. He gets even stronger when played with non-Hydro elements, although his multipliers are high enough on their own that mono Hydro can still be a strong team as well.
