It earned as much criticism as it did praise in the early days following its release but Genshin Impact continues to grow in popularity. The ever-increasing cast of eccentric characters is undoubtedly the biggest draw for most players, as are the equally diverse skill sets and play-styles they bring out.
Choosing the best elemental skills is no easy task but those abilities that most effectively combine utility and cool factor are listed below. Don’t fret if your fav didn’t make the cut, plenty of skills could be honorable mentions here, and as the Amber-mains have proven, no character is truly useless.
10 Sweeping Fervor (Xinyan)
With the Sweeping Fervor skill Xinyan gets her foot in the door but she still isn’t invited to the proverbial party, which is a drag… because she’d probably bring great tunes. A lot has been said about Xinyan already – namely that her elemental burst is one of the game’s most underwhelming and that her laundry list of bugs make her nigh unplayable.
Still, Sweeping Fervor will be too good to ignore once said bugs are exterminated. Xinyan is meant to facilitate a strong defense by rewarding aggression. Fervor has her swing her guitar like an axe, hitting one enemy deals fire damage and grants a small shield, hitting two enemies grants a bigger shield and hitting three makes Xinyan pulse with pyro AoEs for a short time. Patch 1.2 didn’t fix the problem of this skill inconsistently triggering its intended side effects but hopefully a repair comes soon, once that happens no mosh pit will be able to contain Xinyan.
9 Foul Legacy: Raging Tide (Tartaglia)
What makes Fischl and Tartaglia the game’s best archers? The fact that their skills have nothing to do with archery. Foul Legacy bends water into swords and a spear, all of which are more fun to use than a bow, Tartaglia’s actual armament, in Genshin Impact.
Adding hydro to his attacks, which allows for melt and vaporize combos, is a nice bonus but most players are just happy to not be forced to use a bow, which is by far the clunkiest weapon for those not abusing exploits. Ganyu may change how the player-base feels about slinging arrows once she drops, but for now the best archers in the game remain those who don’t actually do that much archery.
8 Tidecaller (Beidou)
“Which button is dodge again?” The rallying cry for all Beidou-mains. Once you get used to absorbing incoming damage and dishing it back out any other tactic just feels cowardly. Tidecaller allows Beidou to shield herself and absorb damage, especially from electro attacks. Absorb enough damage, or use Tidecaller just as you take a hit, to counter attack with a massive electro damage bonus. Who needs to evade when you’re a pirate-shaped chainsaw fueled by the ire of your enemies?
7 Herald of Frost (Qiqi)
Qiqi has been well represented in prior talent rankings and she makes just as strong a showing here with Herald of Frost. Much like her burst element, Qiqi’s skill promotes the stealing of health directly from enemies, flawlessly complementing her jiangshi (or Chinese hopping vampire) design. Herald not only provides Qiqi with continuous healing, but it also returns HP to the entire party when she attacks her foes.
6 Icy Paws (Diona)
Placing Diona higher than Qiqi may seem like a contrarian choice, after all, the latter is regarded as the best healer currently available and touts a skill set worthy of such distinction. However, since utility on and off the battlefield is an important consideration when building your party it would be foolish to underrate Mondstat’s undisputed chicken hunting champion.
Icy Paws seeks out avian wildlife better than any other skill, which greatly increases the number of life-saving Sweet Madames you’ll be able to cook. Considering Diona belongs to Springvale’s line of half-cat people it makes sense that she would be an expert in poultry retrieval. While Icy Paws doesn’t offer healing directly, with ideal gear it can create a shield to block up to 30,000 points of damage, which is actually its intended use.
5 Astable Anemohypostasis Creation 6308 (Sucrose)
Sucrose – the Knights of Favonius’ deputy alchemist in residence and so-called “harmless sweetie” – has a pretty devious secret. Both her elemental burst, Forbidden Creation Isomer 75, and her skill, Astable Anemohypostasis, were born out of attempts to summon and control synthetic versions of world boss Beth, The Anemo Hypostasis. These wind demigods allow Sucrose to create a whirlwind that rounds up enemies, and the swirl reaction spreads any nearby elemental afflictions to all those caught in the vortex.
4 Gale Blade (Jean)
So far Genshin has revealed very little about the Knights of Favonius leader, Grandmaster Varka, but given the strength of Acting-Grandmaster Jean it’s safe to assume that the commander-in-chief is no joke. Jean is a valuable asset to your party in her own right. Her Gale Blade skill is a Star Wars-esque force choke and force push combo, it allows Jean to hoist and toss enemies with ease and also spreads elemental damage across the field, even the giant lawachurl mobs aren’t safe. Sith Lords need not apply.
3 Nightrider (Fischl)
Countless blogs have already declared Fischl an “honorary 5-star” character, and not without reason. Genshin expects players to focus on leveling at least four characters, but since you’ll only ever have one on the field at a time (outside of co-op) a great deal of value comes from those who can cast damage-over-time skills that remain active after you’ve switched out to a different unit. Fischl reigns supreme in this category.
Nightrider summons her spectral raven familiar, Oz, who serves as a lightning-bolt-hurling mini turret that deals damage alongside whoever else you place on the field. Oz’s characterization is another bonus, as Fischl’s reluctant servant/semi-imaginary friend, Oz is the only one truly aware of the extent of Fischl’s mystical royal roleplay delusion. Since his very existence depends on said delusion Oz is inclined to humor the imaginative princess.
2 Skyward Sonnet (Venti)
Another popular nickname for Sucrose from the Genshin fandom is “budget Venti.” The moniker is a bit unfair, since Sucrose has plenty to offer to your team on her own and is more likely to level up her constellation than Venti, due to his extreme scarcity. With that said, it is true that Venti can do everything that Sucrose can and then some. Skyward Sonnet is on a short cooldown and can knock enemies upwards and swirls other elements just like Sucrose does, holding down Skyward Sonnet summons a much larger gust that Venti can actually use to glide, meaning he offers not only reliable crowd control, but greatly increased mobility as well.
1 Stellar Restoration (Keqing)
If Keqing isn’t Genshin Impact’s most popular character then at the very least she has the most dedicated fans. Reddit groups like r/keqingmains are constantly coming up with new guides not just for their “best girl” but for the game as a whole. Stellar Restoration is one of the greatly discussed components of Keqing’s kit – it has a short cooldown and deals decent damage, it also can be aimed and thrown or tapped to auto lock-on to your nearest enemy. The most impressive thing about Stellar Restoration is that it allows Keqing to teleport both in and out of battle, which makes her better than any other character at finding shortcuts and breaking into cordoned-off areas, when it comes to exploration Keqing is SSS-tier.
