One of the most fulfilling aspects in Genshin Impact is building a team that can help players conquer the game’s most challenging contents. The problem, however, is that players are usually fixated on their DPS characters without realizing that support characters are just as important in maintaining their team’s success in Genshin Impact.
Support characters essentially allow every DPS to reach their maximum potential with the help of their utilities. Without the healing, shields, and crowd control found in the kits of supports, players may even struggle in the overworld where there is barely a challenge.
Hence, we’re gonna look at some of Genshin’s support characters and shed light on their kits to hopefully help players out there decide what characters they can pull to further increase their damage ceiling.
Disclaimer:
Obtaining a 5-star character and their constellations significantly upgrades anyone’s account. But these things can be costly, especially with the limited source of Primogems in-game. Please do not feel forced to roll for a 5-star character or their constellations to increase their effectiveness. We only recommend spending real money on these upgrades if it doesn’t impair your quality of life. That is unless you have sizeable amounts of disposable income.
Diona
Element: Cryo
Weapon: Bow
Rarity: 4-Star
The only support character in Genshin Impact who has both healing and shielding capabilities in their base kit. Diona generally excels in Cryo-centric teams where she offers exceptional utility not only through her shield and healing but also through particle generation, allowing her to fill the role of a battery as well.
She is definitely good at C0 but gets even better with constellations. At C6, more team options will open up for her due to how much value the added 200 EM gives to other reaction-heavy teams. However, pre-c6 Diona is pretty much locked to Freeze teams due to the nature of Cryo element not being a necessity in some of the game’s strongest teams.
Sucrose
Element: Anemo
Weapon: Catalyst
Rarity: 4-Star
An excellent support character for players looking to slot in an Anemo unit in their teams. Although she’s most effective when equipping the Viridescent Artifact set, she has other utilities built into her kit that offer as crowd control and EM buff. That is why Sucrose has seen a lot of success in different reaction comps, where she excels by being an on-field Swirl driver.
Do keep in mind that she can be rather clunky to use compared to other Anemo units which is why she’s rarely in the spotlight. Regardless, she is still a great support, especially when there’s a lot of teams who benefit most from having her instead of other Anemo units.
Zhongli
Element: Geo
Weapon: Polearm
Rarity: 5-Star
The largely uncontested best Shield character in Genshin Impact. Despite the meta being more inclined to favoring offensive utilities, Zhongli remains a popular support due to the sheer amount of protection his skill offers. Players have to stack the HP stat on him, and they can forget about dodging enemies’ attacks.
While seen as a “DPS loss” by some veteran players, Zhongli can actually help increase your team’s damage by preventing endless staggers from tough enemies such as those annoying consecrated beasts. And if his shield wasn’t enough already, Zhongli can also render enemies powerless by petrifying them with his Elemental Burst. This support character truly lives up to his title as the Genshin’s Geo Archon.
Venti
Element: Anemo
Weapon: Bow
Rarity: 5-Star
This character was so overpowered at one point that the developers had to make new enemies that can’t be countered by his pull. When Venti is in your Abyss teams, he performs like nobody else. His Elemental Burst, is by far the best Crowd Control ability in the game with its enormous range that can easily gather enemies in domains and abyss.
He’s also self-sufficient since his energy cost can be further reduced to 45 after unlocking his A4 passive. It’s no surprise that he was able to stay at the top of the meta considering how overpowered his kit can be with the right enemies.
Raiden Shogun
Element: Electro
Weapon: Polearm
Rarity: 5-Star
The ultimate support character for burst-reliant teams. Players mistook THE Raiden Shogun as a “bad DPS” during her initial release without realizing that a huge part of her kit extended beyond just pure damage. Now, she is one of the most popular characters in the game, with her own banner sales and abyss usage rate to speak up for it.
Party members are guaranteed to have increased damage on their Elemental Bursts with her Elemental Skill. This is why players will generally see the Shogun teamed up with characters like Xiangling and Yae Miko who pretty much deal more than half of her damage using their bursts.. Aside from this, the Shogun can also help her teammates recover their Bursts faster by generating a flat amount of Energy each time she strikes enemies in the Musuou Isshin state.
Yelan
Element: Hydro
Weapon: Bow
Rarity: 5-Star
The fact that Yelan is regarded as a “5-star Xingqiu” says a lot about how valuable she is as a support character in Genshin Impact. Her single target Hydro application is second only to Xingqiu. Don’t take that pedestal position too lightly, though. This is only ONE of her major strengths. Aside from enabling team reactions, Yelan also has high personal damage to contribute to her teams.
She scales off HP, meaning players will generally find her easier to build thanks to how easy it is to get HP stats in artifact as main stat or substat. Another highlight of her supporting capabilities is her Ascension 4 passive, which makes the active character deal increased damage during her burst’s duration. She’s a good pick for those who prefer a more offensive playstyle.
Kaedehara Kazuha
Element: Anemo
Weapon: Sword
Rarity: 5-Star
A support character that went from being an “easy skip” to a “must pull”. On paper, Kazuha might seem like he does not have anything new to offer especially when characters like Jean and Sucrose have been in the game since release. In actuality however, he adds a significant quality of life upgrade to anyone’s gameplay.
His Elemental Skill is very convenient for grouping due to its relatively low cooldown that can fit in most team rotations. It’s also a day and night difference when it comes to its consistency since Kazuha pulls enemies exactly to where he is at the time of his skill’s casting. This prevents players from targeting the wrong enemies which can happen when using Sucrose and Venti. Kazuha also has his A4 passive that allows him to give party-wide Elemental DMG buff whenever he swirls an element.
Xingqiu
Element: Hydro
Weapon: Sword
Rarity: 4-Star (lol)
Arguably the only support character in Genshin who has found his way in every meta team. Unless the game releases a character that applies AoE Hydro in quicker succession, Xingqiu will remain as the game’s best Hydro Applicator. His rarity does not do him justice considering the amount of support he can provide, comparable to that of even a 5-star.
With his incredible Hydro Application, Xingqiu can enable his teammates to constantly trigger Bloom, Vaporize, and Freeze reactions which is definitely a big game-changer considering that the combat aspect of the game revolves around Elemental Reactions. He also provides micro-heals, damage reduction, and resistance to interruption as long as active characters have Xingqiu’s rainswords orbiting around them. It’s honestly surprising how overloaded his kit is for a 4-star character.
Bennett
Element: Pyro
Weapon: Sword
Rarity: 4-Star
Our support list would be incomplete without the game’s unofficial Pyro archon. Bennett definitely ticks all the boxes of a top-tier support character. This is because he has one of the most valuable Elemental Bursts in the game. For a moderate cost of 60 energy, he will grant active characters absurd amounts of bonus ATK that rivals even the values given by weapons.
What’s even better is that his burst also offers defensive utility as it can also heal characters who fall below 70% of their health. But that’s not even all! With his near spammable Elemental Skill, Bennett also generates a ton of Pyro particles, which means he also takes the role of a Pyro battery.
Nahida
Element: Dendro
Weapon: Catalyst
Rarity: 5-Star
A support character that’s sitting at a tier above every other character in Genshin Impact. Nahida’s the closest definition to what others would call a “must pull” for how much she defines the meta as shown in her near hundred-percent abyss owned to usage rate. She applies so much Dendro with her skill that triggering reactions becomes childsplay once you have her in your teams.
Players also don’t have to worry about cooldowns and energy recharge anymore since her application is tied to her skill which can mark enemies for 25 seconds while having a measly 6-second cooldown. She can also give active characters up to 250 Elementary Mastery as long as they stay within the dome created by her burst. It’s a huge buff considering the meta revolves around maximizing reaction DMG, especially the newer Dendro ones.
Conclusion
The potential of these characters are most notable when they are placed in teams that can actually benefit from their supporting capabilities. It is still recommended to view these characters as a part of their team rather than seeing them as lone units in order to maximize their kit’s advantages.
It’s also important to remember that without the right weapons and artifact sets, these characters may not be able to perform at their expected roles. We recommend looking further into their optimal builds as selecting gears that align with their kits would greatly increase their effectiveness.
