5.5 Tier List and the Best Characters as of April 2025

This is a Genshin Impact Tier List for Version 5.5 as of APril 2025. We rate the best 5-Star and 4-Star characters, the best Main DPS, Sub-DPS, and Support characters. We update this guide daily, so check out the latest changes with the 5.5 Tier List!

Notes:

1. Main DPS

• Rank S: Varesa

2. Sub-DPS

• Rank B: Traveler (Pyro), Traveler (Dendro), Traveler (Geo), Traveler (Anemo), Traveler (Hydro)

3. Support

• Rank SS: Lansan
• Rank C: Traveler (Electro)

1. Main DPS: Varesa

Varesa is a Plunge Attack DPS, and among all characters within the same role, Varesa takes the reins of the strongest. Her playstyle in comparison is easier-to-use and more execute due to her having access to Plunge Attacks on her Charged Attack, Elemental Skill, and Elemental Burst, meaning there won't be a situation where you have to wait for your cooldowns to have her plunge.

While she does not have access to other synergistic weapons outside of her signature, her base scaling is incredibly high that it compensates the fact that she does not have access to Melt or Vaporize like Gaming.

Among the Natlan DPS (except Mavuika), Varesa matches their strength in their respective teams while being easier to use, so it's a matter of preference should you want to wish a Plunge Attacker like her.

2. Support: Iansan

Highly valuable ATK buffing which is sought out in the game where Bennett is the monopoly means that her kit being a sidegrade to him makes her incredibly relevant and deserving of the highest tier. We recommend getting her at C0~C2, or as much constellations as you can afford to improve her efficiency.

In comparison with Bennett, she is more viable than him if she supports heavy movement characters like Clorinde, Varesa, or other Natlan characters, and slightly less efficient but not unusable with non-heavy movement characters like Raiden or Arlecchino. Moreover, she is not tied to positional requirements as her buffs follow the character instead of needing to stay in a circle, not to mention that she can hold the ever-reliable Scroll set.

However, Iansan cannot be a comfortable healer pick as her heals are significantly short and slow, and her heals are among the lowest of all healers in terms of potency. You will likely need another sustain pick, like Bennett ironically, for general prolonged use.

3. Main DPS: Gaming

As Gaming gets more accessible and powerful supports through Iansan and Citlali, investment required for him is less steep as before, and with the damage potential he can bring we decided to reinstate his original tier up.

4. Sub-DPS: Raiden

In line with Dendro becoming slightly less relevant in the current meta, so did Raiden. The need for her Electro application as a Sub-DPS has as much value as other Electro characters like Fischl and Ororon, and it only depends what type of application you need in which team.

1. SS Tier

Characters that stand out as one of the strongest units in their intended team comps within a small amount of investment, who also has the edge of potentially staying relevant for long periods of time.

Main DPS: The sheer damage potential ensures that their longevity can be maintained, not to mention their great ease of use and comfortability to defeat enemies. They greatly utilize existing and any potential future support units due to their universality as they are able to be inserted in the best team comps within their respective elements. More often than not, they do not necessarily require a specific character to perform at their best.

Sub DPS: Characters who are the best Elemental Applicators and teammates in several top-tier team comps, all while having good damage of their own.

Support: Universal buffers whose utility are essential to increase most top-tier team comps' overall damage and comfort, and sustainers who offer the best talents to prevent your party from ever being wiped out.

2. S Tier

Characters that reach their peak strength with the recommended investment. There's only small rooms for improvement and they ensure that you can beat any content with ease.

Main DPS: The starting point of the best characters at the recommended level of investment. They can match up against the best characters in the highest tier but needs a little bit more investment in their weapons, constellations, or other equipment.

Sub DPS: Characters with superb damage, or are often the core applicators for some relevant team comps in the game. There may be certain alternatives who are able to work better in a particular team comp.

Support: Offers one of the best buffs or sustain in their own particular niche, but are less accessible if put to other team comps.

3. A Tier

Characters who can only become strong with maximum investment on all aspects (artifacts, weapons, team comps) to achieve similar performance as the other characters in the upper tiers. This is the cut-off point for the strongest characters in their respective roles.

Main DPS: Requires max investment on both their own and all three of their other teammates to be able to match up against characters in the upper tiers.

Sub DPS: Good Elemental Applicators or damage dealers up until a point, who specifically shines in their own team comps. They are also often used in some niche or specialized team comps.

Support: Offers specialized buffs or sustain, but have certain limitations in their own kits that prevents them from being more universal.

4. B Tier

Characters with solid performance in their respective roles. They shine in specific team compositions, but not so much on their own.

Main DPS: Characters who require max investment, but may still not be enough to compete against the best DPS in the game due to limitations on their kit, stats, or talent scalings, and gets no sufficient help from current meta units.

Sub DPS: Decent Elemental Application and damage on their respective team comps, but are not entirely required on such parties.

Support: Characters who are good on their intended role, but sees minimal usage from the top-tier team comps versus the other characters in the higher tiers.

5. C Tier

Characters who can do the job for their respective role, but can be replaced quickly due to mere lack of good numbers from their talents or stats, or are stunted by their own cooldowns and energy requirement.

Main DPS: Damage scaling is lower in comparison, but are able to do their job in the right team comp. More often than not, it's better to pick characters who can trigger better reactions.

Sub DPS: Offers some manner of application and damage, but are stunted by their own scalings or rate of application.

Support: Characters who can offer sustain or buffs and are decent at doing it. However, there exists better alternatives who are easier or more efficient to use in the long run.

6. D Tier

Characters with limited combat utility. You can use these characters if you don't have anyone else, but we recommend replacing them with a better character for that role.

Main DPS: Damage scaling is very low to be able to keep up, even against elite mobs.

Sub DPS: Extremely niche and offers no real edge in terms of damage and application against characters in all other tiers.

Support: Characters that have some manner of support, but are outright replaced with characters that are more accessible or useful in a given team comp.

1. Main DPS

• The main damage dealer of the party, which is often the hypercarry, the on-field driver, or the trigger for Elemental Reactions.
• Damage dealt is mostly from the character being on-field for an extended period of time, often being the final character in your team's rotations.

2. Sub DPS

• Providers of off-field damage and utility via Elemental Application. These characters focus on helping the Main DPS trigger reactions by setting up the necessary elements, while also dealing damage of their own.
• Characters with Talents that stay on the field even after being switched out.
• Characters with damaging talents that are meant for quick-swap teams.

3. Support

• Provides support in the form of buffs, shields, heals, or crowd control via the use of their Elemental Skills, Burst or Passive Talents, and are primarily used off-field.
• Have Talents capable for elemental application, not necessarily for dealing damage.