Genshin Impact: Must-Try Characters For Every Element

Genshin Impact is a free-to-play open-world action role-playing game (RPG) developed and published by HoYoverse. Considered to be one of the best RPG games of all time, it is no wonder that this game still has players even today. The combat system, the immersive open-world environment, a character roster voiced by top talents in the business (including anime voice actors), and a captivating soundtrack make up the whole Genshin Impact experience. But, to get the characters, players must “wish” (pull) for them. This is similar to the majority of free-to-play games and how these games have a rotating banner for featured characters/content. In this article, we will list down the best characters to try for each element. We hope it will aid you in your journeys in Teyvat.

Characters and Elements: Basic Guide

Crucial to Genshin Impact’s game mechanic is the various elements associated with its character roster. Elements, in the lore of Genshin Impact, is the unique power bestowed upon by Archons towards other beings. Characters can use one of the seven available Elements:

1. Pyro (Archon: Murata)– Inflicts fire damage to enemies over time. 
2. Hydro (Archon: unnamed)- Produces water effect to make the player and enemies susceptible to Electro effects.
3. Anemo (Archon: Barbatos, aka Venti)- Wind users. No special status effect.
4. Electro (Archon: Beelzebul, aka Raiden Shogun)- Inflicts electro status effect where attacks and character movement are halted for a short time.
5. Cryo (Archon: Tsaritsa)- Freezing status affects movement and attack speeds.
6. Geo (Archon: Morax, aka Zhongli)- Earth/ground user. No special status effects.
7. Dendro (Archon: Kusanali, aka Nahida)- No particular effect(s). An application of the Dendro element.

Reactions and Resonances

Learning about the Elemental Reactions and Elemental Resonances is an interesting and immersive mechanic in Genshin Impact. Elemental Reactions refer to the combination of Elements to gain bonus effects. Resonances, on the other hand, is a party mechanic that activates effects according to the Elemental types present in the party.

For Elemental Reactions, here is a comprehensive list of bonus effects per pairing.

• Melt (Pyro + Cryo), Reverse Melt (Cryo + Pyro) – Does 50% DMG bonus for Reverse Melt and 100% DMG bonus for Melt. Great for high-damage output team compositions.

• Vaporize (Pyro + Hydro), Reverse Vaporize (Hydro + Pyro) – Same properties as Melt. 50% DMG bonus for Reverse Vaporize and 100% DMG bonus for Vaporize.

• Burning (Pyro + Dendro) – Deals DMG over time on an area of effect depending on the Dendro effect. Grass will spread the fire, for example.

• Overloaded (Pyro + Electro) – Does DMG from a lightning burst and a pyro explosion area of effect. Knocks back enemies.

• Electro-charged (Hydro + Electro) – Straightforward reaction that deals Electro DMG over time to enemies who are Wet. Keeps the Electro and Hydro status effects to pair with other Elemental Reactions.

• Frozen (Hydro + Cryo) – Does not deal damage by itself but deals physical damage through Shatter (heavy attacks like plunging, claymore, and Geo-infused attacks). Renders enemies, except bosses, frozen almost indefinitely.

• Swirl (Anemo + any other Element) – Produces elemental damage depending on the other Element.

• Superconduct (Electro + Cryo) – Deals cryo area of effect damage while lowering the enemy’s physical resistance.

• Crystallise (Geo + any other Element) – Enemies drop crystals that provide shields. Particularly useful for the Element it is paired with.

Elemental Resonance gives additional effects for the party, like a passive skill, depending on the Elements present within the party. Here is the list of Elemental Resonance:

• Fervent Flames (Pyro + Pyro) – 25% increase to attack, and 40% reduction to cryo effect duration.

• Soothing Water (Hydro + Hydro) – Deals 30% more healing while decreasing pyro effect duration by 40%.

• High Voltage (Electro + Electro) – Chance of elemental particles to drop after Electro-charged, Superconduct, and Overload up by 100% while decreasing hydro effect duration by 40%.

• Shattering Ice (Cryo + Cryo) – Critical hit rate increased by 15% against enemies hit by cryo effects including Frozen while the duration of electro effect decreases by 40%.

• Impetuous Winds ( Anemo + Anemo) – Movement speed up by 15% while stamina consumption decreases by 15%.

• Enduring Rock (Geo + Geo) –  Shields and damage up by 15% but geo resistance drops after dealing damage to enemies.
• Protective Canopy (Any four different elements) – Physical and Elemental resistance up by 15%.

Best Characters You Must Try Per Element  

Wishing for the characters listed here might take a long while but, I assure you, it will be worth the wait. Here are the best characters you must try per element. Who knows, they might be a permanent fixture for your team compositions.

Zhongli (Geo) – Zhongli’s shield is one of the strongest in the game, if not the best, due to it being able to deal damage and debuffs to the enemy while shielding allies. He also has a large area of effect damage, and his Elemental Burst can petrify enemies.

Xiangling (Pyro) – As a pyro, Xiangling’s damage output is high. Her Elemental Burst area of effect damage is one of the highest in the game and applies pyro effects plus stays with the enemies after switching out. This is best for applying other Elemental damage.

Traveler (Dendro) – The Traveler has surprisingly good stats as a Dendro. They are often built as a sub-DPS (damage per second) character with really high off-field damage. Traveler, for the most part, is a solid support character.

Raiden Shogun (Electro) – A high damage output character and very versatile with her abilities, Raiden Shogun deals high active and passive damage with her Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst abilities. She also is a nice support because of her being a “Battery” or the one who recharges her allies’ energy.

Ayaka (Cryo) – She has high crit damage and her Elemental Skill lets her traverse short distances. Very useful for combat to get out of a sticky situation. Her Elemental Burst also deals high damage making her a versatile offensive character.

Xiao (Anemo) – One of the most powerful plunging attacks in the game through his Elemental Burst, dealing massive damage; however, Xiao’s HP drains as he uses this ability. Very easy to use and straightforward once you master how to use this particular ability.

Xingqiu (Hydro) – Probably the only character in this list that is a bit complicated to use but if you know what to build for Xingqiu, the reward is great. As a sub-DPS character, Xingqiu can be recalled off-field and still apply Hydro effects to the enemy, making Elemental Reactions easy. By himself, he could deal damage but not so much. Helpful for his damage output is his Elemental Burst which places a rain of swords around Xingqiu and does additional damage to normal attacks. Can be built as a healer.