Most people treat Genshin Impact characters like a spreadsheet. They look at a bar graph, see a big number, and decide that’s the "best" unit. But if you’ve actually spent a few hundred hours in Teyvat, you know it’s never that simple. The meta shifts. Hoyoverse loves to throw a curveball. One update, everyone is obsessed with raw Hydro damage; the next, we’re all scrambling to figure out how Dendro reactions actually scale with Elemental Mastery. It’s a mess. A beautiful, complicated mess.
The Problem With Powercreep and the "Must-Pull" Myth
Stop listening to the hype for five seconds. Honestly. Every time a new banner drops, the community enters a fever pitch. "Arlecchino is the new queen of DPS!" or "Neuvillette broke the game!" While those statements might have some truth—Neuvillette really is absurdly strong—it ignores the fact that Genshin Impact characters are only as good as the internal synergy of your specific account.
Take Bennett. He’s been around since day one. He’s a four-star. By all logic in a gacha game, he should have been obsolete three years ago. Yet, here we are in 2026, and the "Boken da Boken" kid is still the backbone of almost every high-level Abyss floor. Why? Because Hoyoverse builds characters around roles, not just raw power. If you have a C6 Kazuha but no one to Swirl, he’s just a guy with a sword and a nice outfit.
The "Must-Pull" label is a trap. It’s designed to make you spend Primogems out of fear. Real expert play isn't about having every five-star; it's about understanding the "Internal Cooldown" (ICD) of their abilities. If a character applies Pyro too slowly, they can't trigger Vaporize consistently. That makes them "bad" for certain teams, regardless of how high their base attack is. You have to look at the frame data. You have to look at the Gauges.
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How Elements Actually Interact Under the Hood
Elements aren't just colors. They are heavy math. When we talk about Genshin Impact characters, we’re talking about Elemental Gauge Theory. This isn't something the game explains in the tutorial. Basically, every attack has a specific "strength." A "Strong" Pyro application will linger on an enemy longer than a "Weak" one.
This is why Xingqiu is often better than many five-star Hydro units. His rain swords apply Hydro so fast and so consistently that a Pyro DPS like Hu Tao can Vaporize every single hit. If you replace him with a slower Hydro applicator, her damage literally halves. It’s a massive swing.
The Dendro Revolution and EM Scaling
Dendro changed everything. Before Version 3.0, Elemental Mastery (EM) was kinda niche. Then Hyperbloom happened. Suddenly, characters like Kuki Shinobu—who most players ignored for a year—became S-tier overnight.
Hyperbloom is "low floor, high ceiling." You don't need 300% Critical Damage. You just need a character with a lot of EM and a fast Dendro source like Nahida. It’s the great equalizer. It allowed F2P players to clear the Spiral Abyss without needing to whale for constellations. But it also made the game feel different. It moved away from "one big hit" to "a thousand tiny green numbers."
Why Design Matters More Than You Think
Let’s talk about the Archons. Raiden Shogun, Zhongli, Nahida, Furina. They represent the peak of Genshin Impact characters because they redefine how you play.
Zhongli didn't just provide a shield; he removed the need to dodge. He changed the mechanical requirement of the game. Furina didn't just buff damage; she made HP fluctuation a core mechanic for every team she touches. This is where the depth lies. It's not about the "waifu" or "husbando" appeal, though the art team at Hoyoverse is clearly doing heavy lifting there. It’s about the kit design.
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A character like Dehya is a perfect example of a design controversy. On paper, she’s a tank. In practice, her kit felt disjointed at launch. She didn't fit the existing "Vape/Melt" meta. It took months for players to find niche "Burgeon" or "Monopyro" setups where she actually felt useful. This shows the limitation of the "meta." It’s a living thing. A "bad" character is usually just a character waiting for the right teammate or the right artifact set to be released.
The Hidden Cost of "Vertical Investment"
You’ve got two choices when building your roster. Horizontal or Vertical.
Horizontal investment means getting a lot of different Genshin Impact characters to Level 80. You have options. You can play Freeze teams, Geo teams, or Overload teams. It’s fun. It keeps the game fresh.
Vertical investment is when you pick one character and you go all in. C6R5. (Constellation 6, Refinement 5 weapon). This turns the game into a joke. A C6 Yelan can solo most content in the game without even switching to another character. But is it worth the thousands of dollars? Probably not for most people. The sweet spot is usually C2. For many five-stars, C2 is where the "broken" mechanic lives. Raiden’s defense shred or Nahida’s ability to let blooms crit—these are the game-changers.
Artifact RNG: The Real Endgame
You can have the best characters, but if your artifacts roll into Flat DEF, you're toast. This is the part everyone hates. The "grind."
The difference between a "good" character and a "god-tier" character is often just 20% more Critical Rate. It’s boring. It’s tedious. But it’s the reality of the game’s power scaling. Expert players don't just farm for one character; they farm "efficient" domains. The Deepwood Memories/Gilded Dreams domain is a prime example. Almost every Dendro team needs those sets. Farming there is a better use of your Resin than chasing a niche set for a single character.
Stop Ignoring the Four-Stars
Seriously. If you aren't using Xiangling, you're playing on hard mode.
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The "National Team" (Xiangling, Bennett, Xingqiu, and a flex slot) is still one of the most powerful compositions in the history of the game. These are all Genshin Impact characters you can get for free or via the shop. They outperform many five-star teams because their kits were designed before Hoyoverse fully understood how to balance the game's internal cooldowns. They are "happy accidents" that the developers now have to balance the entire game around.
- Bennett: The ATK buff is unparalleled.
- Xiangling: No ICD on her Pyronado means she melts everything.
- Xingqiu: Damage reduction + insane Hydro application.
- Fischl: The queen of "off-field" Electro damage.
- Sucrose: Almost as good as Kazuha for grouping and EM buffing.
The Future of Teyvat’s Roster
As we move further into the story, the complexity is only increasing. We’re seeing more characters that scale off Max HP or even current Bond of Life. The mechanics are getting weirder. And that’s a good thing. It prevents the game from becoming a stale numbers race.
When you’re looking at your roster, don't ask "Who is the best?" Ask "Who do I actually enjoy piloting?" Because at the end of the day, you're the one clicking the buttons. If you hate the "Charged Attack" playstyle of Ganyu, it doesn't matter if she can hit for 100k. You’ll be miserable playing her.
Actionable Steps for Roster Management
- Audit your Elements: Do you have at least one solid "Enabler" for every element? You need someone who can apply the element from off-field. Think Nahida for Dendro or Raiden/Fischl for Electro.
- Focus on Energy Recharge (ER): This is the most underrated stat. If your "Burst-reliant" characters can't use their Ultimate on every rotation, your DPS drops to zero. A character with 200% ER and mediocre Crit is often better than a character with 50% ER and massive Crit.
- Level your Talents: It’s the only guaranteed power increase. Artifacts are a gamble. Talents are a sure thing. Get your main abilities to Level 9 before you go back into the artifact trenches.
- Watch the "Internal Cooldown": Research your favorite character on the KeqingMains (KQM) database. They have the most accurate frame-by-frame data on how these units actually function.
- Don't pull for weapons unless you have the units: A five-star weapon is a luxury. A new character opens up an entirely new way to play the game. Prioritize the units first.
The game isn't going anywhere. There's no rush to "beat" it. Your Genshin Impact characters are your tools—pick the ones that make the puzzles fun for you. Whether that's a Mono-Geo "Itto" smash-fest or a complex "Nilou" Bloom explosion, the choice is ultimately yours. Just make sure you're building for synergy, not just for show.