Genshin Impact tier list: Best characters as of the September 2021 anniversary

D-tier characters in Genshin Impact

The characters listed here are at the bottom of the barrel. Although they’re okay when used in a few situations, they completely pale in comparison to most of the ones that we’ve discussed beforehand. There are mechanics or quirks that prevent them from truly excelling.

Lisa

• Element: Electro
• Role: Sub DPS
• Pros: Decent Electro AoE casting capabilities.
• Cons:
  • Lengthy cooldowns.
  • Poor damage scaling compared to other Electro options.

Sayu

• Element: Anemo
• Role: Support (Healing)
• Pros: Elemental burst can act as a turret to damage enemies and heal allies.
• Cons:
  • Periodic healing is only possible through her burst.
  • Poor damage compared to most other Anemo characters.
  • Clunky controls since you’re trying to roll and come into contact with other elements that can be infused. In Kazuha’s case, all he needs to do is press “E” to infuse something in the environment.
• Related article: Sayu build guide

Noelle

• Element: Geo
• Role: Support (Shields and healing)
• Pros: Can heal, shield/absorb, and deal decent damage.
• Cons: Very weak compared to most other characters.

Kokomi

• Element: Hydro
• Role: Support (Healing)
• Pros:
  • Powerful healing elemental skill that pulses several times. This also acts as a turret that shoots enemies.
  • Elemental skill doesn’t apply wet status effect on active characters unlike Barbara (no risk of getting frozen).
• Cons:
  • Elemental skill can only heal characters if they’re close to its radius.
  • Heal-on-attack can only be done when her burst is active.
  • A talent causes a -100% crit rate penalty, making her extremely weak. Many of her talents and constellations emphasize improving her offensive capabilities even though they’re useless since she can’t land crits anyway.
• Related article: Sangonomiya Kokomi build guide

Xinyan

• Element: Pyro
• Role: Main or Sub-DPS
• Pros:
  • Pyro AoE capabilities are okay.
  • Can generate shields.
• Cons:
  • Shields are more effective against Pyro, and Pyro enemies need to be countered by Hydro, Electro, or Cryo reactions instead of a pure Pyro character.
  • Lower damage potential compared to other Pyro characters; wasted investment since there are better DPS characters out there.

Yanfei

• Element: Pyro
• Role: Main DPS
• Pros: Decent damage potential if you can make her abilities work in your favor.
• Cons:
  • You need to maximize her seals, making her a selfish carry even though she’s not as strong as other Pyro characters.
  • Requires normal and charged attacks in a combo string to be more viable, which can slow down your playstyle.
  • Not that good when it comes to elemental reactions unless you’re using Xingqiu as an off-field DPS.
• Related article: Yanfei build guide

Amber (F-tier)

• Element: Pyro
• Role: Torch lighter
• Pros: She can quickly light torches in puzzles.
• Cons:
  • She’s Amber.
  • Burst costs a lot of energy but it’s very weak.
  • Elemental skill is on a timed fuse, making it hard to proc elemental reactions properly.
  • With so many other decent Pyro options, there’s absolutely no need to use her.

This is how we rank the best (and worst) characters in our Genshin Impact September 2021 anniversary tier list. Which ones do you already have in your squad and how do they fare? Let us know.

Genshin Impact is available via its official website. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.