Genshin Impact Tier List Version 5.2: Best Characters

This is a Genshin Impact Tier List for Version 5.2 as of December 2024. We rate the best 5-Star and 4-Star characters, the best Main DPS, Sub-DPS, and Support characters, and a C0 rating for each character. We update this guide daily, so check out the latest changes with the 5.2 Tier List!

You can check out the explanation of the different tiers and constellation power changes below the tier list table.

1. Tier List Overview Criteria

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, but also do not necessitate a specific character to perform at their best.
• Sub DPS: Characters who are the best Elemental Applicators and are also often the best teammates on several top-tier team comps, all while having good damage of their own.
• Support: Universal buffers who are essential to increase most top-tier team comps' overall damage, and sustainers who offer the best talents to prevent your party from ever being wiped out.

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 only with the right tools.
• 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

2. Role Breakdown

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.

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.

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.

I will update C0 and C6 later! Thank you for watching!