RELATED: Genshin Impact: Underrated Characters Who Are Great In The Sub-DPS Role
Generally speaking, a support character in Genshin Impact is anyone who plays a role other than that of a DPS or healer. These roles include providing healing, buffing, debuffing, crowd control, battery, shielding, and enabling, while not being present on the battlefield most of the time.
20 Niche Support Characters: Sara, Gorou, Shenhe, Faruzan
Since the launch of Sara, the first niche support character that specializes in amplifying the power of a single element, Genshin Impact has followed up with further support characters that are only truly effective when used in teams focused on a particular element’s damage. The game currently offers Sara (Electro 4-star), Gorou (Geo 4-star), Faruzan (Anemo 4-star), and Shenhe (Cryo 5-star) support characters, all of which necessitate the presence of their respective element within the team in order for their support capabilities to be effective.
Another downside of these specialized support characters is that, in order to compete with more generic support characters, they require constellations, which can be harder to obtain for certain characters such as Shenhe. While these characters can provide a significant boost to a team if used correctly, their lack of versatility is why they are not as popular as other support characters.
19 Xiangling
Rarity: 4-star polearm-user Element: Pyro Support Type: Enabling, Attack-boosting
It is difficult to categorize Xiangling as a traditional support character since her Pyro application makes her better suited to act as a sub-DPS. Her consistent Pyro application allows her to easily enable melt and vaporize reactions off-field, which can be highly beneficial in many team compositions. At Ascension 4, Gouba will leave a Chili Pepper after disappearing. This Chili Pepper will provide a 10% increase in character attack damage, giving a small but welcome boost to whoever picks it up.
Xiangling’s constellations can be a great asset to Pyro DPS units, as her first constellation reduces the Pyro resistance of enemies by 15% when hit by Guoba, and her sixth constellation increases the Pyro DMG of characters by 15% during the duration of her Elemental Burst, Pyronado. As Xiangling’s most valuable ability is her Burst, it is recommended that players focus on her Energy Recharge values, as a low Energy Recharge will make it difficult to keep her Burst up consistently due to its high Energy cost.
18 Thoma
Rarity: 4-star polearm-user Element: Pyro Support Type: Shielding, Enabling, Attack-boosting
Similar to Xiangling, Thoma is also a Pyro polearm user, but his damage scaling is not as impressive as Xiangling’s. However, Thoma makes up for this with the strong shields that he can provide with his Elemental Skill and Burst, which are especially effective against Pyro enemies. Additionally, his popularity has grown further due to his ability to enable the Burgeon reaction, which is something that Xiangling struggles to do due to her fast pyro application.
However, Thoma’s most powerful support ability is unlocked when players reach his sixth constellation. When his shield is activated or refreshed with his Elemental Skill or Burst, Thoma provides a significant boost to the party’s Normal, Charged, and Plunge Attack damage. Despite having a high-energy cost for his Elemental Burst, Thoma is relatively easy to build as his shield scales only from HP. To further boost the team’s DPS and shield strength, Thoma is also an ideal candidate for equipping Tenacity of the Millelith.
17 Yun Jin
Rarity: 4-star polearm-user Element: Geo Support Type: Attack-boosting, shielding
Yun Jin is a highly versatile Geo support character, designed to buff the party’s Normal Attacks with her Elemental Burst. Her fourth ascension unlocks a passive that increases her DEF stat, based on the number of different elemental characters present in the party when she casts her Elemental Burst. This makes her an invaluable asset to any team composition.
Furthermore, Yun Jin’s constellations are generally beneficial for the party. Her second constellation provides an additional Normal Attack DMG increase, while her sixth constellation unlocks her potential as one of the best Normal Attack buffer in the game, providing an attack speed buff that is rarely seen in Genshin Impact and applies to all party members.
16 Rosaria
Rarity: 4-star polearm-user Element: Cryo Support Type: Crit Rate-boosting Enabling
Rosaria is an outstanding Sub-DPS Cryo character, capable of dealing immense damage while providing a powerful and unique buff to the team. When built right and utilized with a well-coordinated team, Rosaria can offer a constant 15% increased Crit Rate to other party members and consistent Cryo application to enable elemental reactions with her Elemental Burst. Her second constellation provides a significant increase in her capabilities as a Sub-DPS and Support, while her sixth constellation is an invaluable asset to Physical teams, reducing enemies’ Physical RES if players are fortunate enough to unlock it.
If played in a team without any other Cryo users, players should focus on Energy Recharge considerably to consistently maintain the Crit Buff and Cryo application. Otherwise, she can be built similarly to DPS characters. Her Elemental Skill can also be beneficial in some situations for crowd control, providing an opportunity to close the gap between the party and the enemy, though it does not work against larger enemies and bosses.
15 Albedo
Rarity: 5-star sword-user Element: Geo Support Type: Elemental Mastery-boosting, Shielding
Albedo’s exceedingly short cooldown on his elemental skill grants him an excellent AoE zone, making him an ideal sub-DPS for Geo DMG off-field. Moreover, each interval of the AoE zone can help to form shields with Crystallize reactions when used with a Pyro, Cryo, Electro, or Hydro user. The most unique aspect of Albedo’s Crystallize generation is that he does not remove the applied element when doing so, meaning that he does not interrupt other potential elemental reactions.
Furthermore, Albedo’s 4th ascension passive, which increases team Elemental Mastery by 125 after he uses his Elemental Burst, can be a great addition to many teams. Additionally, due to his easy build and scaling with DEF, Albedo can also be a great addition to support a Geo-focused team with Gorou and Itto.
14 The Traveler (Dendro)
Rarity: 5-star sword-user Element: Interchangeable, (Dendro) Support Type: Elemental Mastery-boosting, Enabling
The Traveler is currently the only character in the game that can have different talents based on the Element players choose. Currently, the traveler can be equipped with Anemo, Geo, Electro, and Dendro elements. Although all elements are designed for support, Anemo, Geo, and Electro are easily overshadowed by other characters’ abilities. Because of this, players who want to have Traveler on their team should ideally focus on his Dendro abilities, which are quite significant for Dendro Elemental Reactions. This can make Traveler a viable sub-DPS in Dendro Team compositions.
Dendro Traveler has impressive off-field Dendro damage and application potential due to their Elemental Burst, which summons a Lea Lotus Lamp that deals constant Dendro Damage. This lamp can change properties when it comes into contact with Hydro, Electro, or Pyro elements. Hydro is recommended for Bloom teams while Electro is great for Aggravate, Spread, and Hyperbloom teams due to its higher attack speed and increased Dendro application. As the Traveler’s Constellations increase, they unlock more support tools such as the Elemental Mastery buff for the entire team. While it is a long process, it is free to obtain the Traveler’s constellations, so it is highly recommended for players to take advantage of them. For players who want to take their time with exploration, at least getting the fourth constellation is still quite advantageous.
13 Mona
Rarity: 5-star catalyst-user Element: Hydro Support Type: Enabling, DMG Buff, Crowd Control
Players who have been closely following Genshin Impact for a long time have likely noticed that Mona has become a popular choice for top-tier Burst DPS builds. This is due to her Elemental Burst ability, which amplifies Elemental DMG when used at the right time. Mona’s Burst ability creates a debuff bubble that not only traps enemies but also amplifies the damage dealt to them and deals an additional explosion of Hydro damage when the bubble is popped. This Hydro explosion can be used to trigger powerful Elemental Reactions such as Melt or Vaporize, dealing massive amounts of damage. Furthermore, Mona’s first Constellation, which is relatively easy to obtain as she is a Standard 5-star character, provides a significant buff to her support capabilities for Elemental Reaction-based teams.
Alongside her Elemental Burst, Mona was the first exploration character to feature an alternative sprint, making travel in the water much faster and allowing a unique movement style for high-speed actions. Her Elemental Skill allows for an easy Hydro Application, which is best suited for Freeze teams, and this skill also has additional crowd control ability, as it summons a decoy that taunts enemies.
12 Venti
Rarity: 5-star bow-user Element: Anemo Support Type: Crowd Control, Battery, Debuffer (via 4p Viridescent Venerer)
Crowd control makes for a fair niche area of support skills. However, Venti does show the strength of this skill in particular. In general, Venti is one of the best support characters in Genshin Impact when it comes to crowd control. Venti’s Elemental Burst sucks opponents in and a skill that launches them in the air, constantly dealing Anemo Damage. Although this ability is less effective against larger and more mobile enemies, it can still be used effectively in melee teams that would otherwise have difficulty hitting the enemy, as it can be used to group them together without launching them into the air.
RELATED: Genshin Impact: Mistakes Players Make When Using Venti
If built correctly, Venti can be an outstanding battery and sub-DPS, especially if players have some of his constellations unlocked. As with other Anemo user support characters, Venti can take advantage of the Viridescent Venerer artifact set, which not only increases Swirl DMG but also decreases the opponent’s Elemental RES to the element infused in the Swirl by 40% for 10s. This means, even if it is difficult against self-infused enemies, if his Burst is infused with the right element, it can significantly increase the damage output of the main DPS of the party.
11 Kokomi
Rarity: 5-star catalyst-user Element: Hydro Support Type: Enabling, Healing
Interestingly enough, while Sangonomiya Kokomi is not easily applied as an offensive character in any capacity, she is almost too natural at being one of the best healers and supports in Genshin Impact who gained extra popularity thanks to Dendro-related reactions. Her elemental skill creates a “bake-kurage” which automatically applies Hydro-based status conditions (much like Mona’s phantoms). However, the twist is that Kokomi also includes healing capacities and an increase in “bake-kurage” strength with her elemental burst.
As Kokomi is able to heal, deal damage and apply Hydro to enable elemental reactions all off-field at the same time, she can be considered a versatile character that can fill many roles in a team composition. She is best suited for Bloom and Hyperbloom teams, as she will be able to heal the character that takes damage from Dendro Core explosion with ease.
10 Diona
Rarity: 4-star bow-user Element: Cryo Support Type: Shielding, Healing, Battery, Enabling
Diona is widely known as a healer, thanks to her Elemental Burst, but she also brings some unique advantages to the team. Her Cryo application isn’t as powerful as many other enablers, but her AoE healing zone also applies Cryo in intervals. Furthermore, Diona’s Elemental skill is extremely useful, generating a shield and energy, particles making her a formidable battery for the team.
Additionally, if her sixth constellation is unlocked, Diona can be an invaluable asset for teams that rely on Elemental Reactions and high Elemental Mastery. Her sixth constellation will not only allow her Elemental Burst to heal but also grant additional Elemental Mastery to all party members, greatly boosting their damage output.
9 Yaoyao
Rarity: 4-star polearm-user Element: Dendro Support Type: Healing, Battery, Enabling
Yaoyao, the highly anticipated first Dendro Healer in Genshin Impact, was finally made playable in patch 3.4. Her unique skill set offers both on-field and off-field healing, making her one of the most powerful healers, in the game. To maximize her utility as a support character, players should strategically place her White Jade Radishes to ensure the most effective Dendro application and reactions for their team as she can have significant Dendro application capabilities if she’s positioned well.
Yaoyao is a relatively straightforward character to build and offers immense value as a support. Players should focus on HP%, Energy Recharge, and Elemental Mastery when constructing her and, if fortunate, unlocking her first constellation, to maximize her healing and particle production, while also amplifying Dendro Damage and Dendro Reactions. Further constellations will add even more healing and utility to the team.
8 Raiden Shogun
Rarity: 5-star polearm-user Element: Electro Support Type: Battery, Enabling
As the Electro Archon Raiden Shogun brings a wide range of skills centered around the power of Electro, she is also the best energy regeneration support in the game. Raiden can be slotted into any team comp that needs an Electro element, a Sub-DPS burst unit, and a support unit that can help recharge the Elemental Burst of the team. Thanks to their unique abilities and skill set, Raiden Shogun is one of the most versatile characters in the game, making her one of the best characters to obtain.
Her Elemental Skill is extremely valuable for enabling Elemental reactions, as it provides consistent Electro application off-field while also providing a buff that can increase the party’s Elemental Burst Damage. Meanwhile, her Elemental Burst is also incredibly powerful, allowing her to be used as a Burst-DPS, especially when used after other Elemental Bursts. Following the initial Burst Damage, if players prefer to keep Raiden on the field and continue attacking with electro-infused attacks, she can also help generate Energy for herself and other party members during this duration.
7 Zhongli
Rarity: 5-star polearm-user Element: Geo Support Type: Shielding, Debuffing, Crowd Control
Zhongli is a five-star character renowned for offering a unique shield, and as the Geo Archon, this ability is truly remarkable. Objectively speaking, Zhongli’s shields are the strongest in Genshin Impact with base 150% damage absorption against all elemental and physical damage, to the point that players don’t even need a healer in their team if they have a well-built Zhongli. He can also fit any team composition with ease.
RELATED: Genshin Impact: Things You Didn’t Know About Zhongli
Characters protected by the Jade Shield of Zhongli will decrease the Elemental RES and Physical RES of opponents within a small AoE by 20%, providing a significant offensive boost. His Elemental Burst is also incredibly powerful, boasting a sizeable AoE and temporarily petrifying enemies. No other character can match the strength and duration of Zhongli’s shield, along with the additional benefits it provides.
6 Yelan
Rarity: 5-star bow-user Element: Hydro Support Type: Enabling
Yelan is an incredibly versatile character, able to fulfill both sub-DPS and support roles. Her Elemental Skill is also a form of a fast sprint, allowing them to traverse the game world with ease during exploration. Additionally, the skill also generates a Hydro-infused string, which Yelan can use to bind enemies to deal massive damage.
Overall, her skills are highly useful for supplementing the downtime of Main DPS characters, making her a great unit for a variety of team compositions. Her Elemental Burst is particularly noteworthy, dealing massive Hydro DMG when used in combination with an Active character’s normal attack, and consistently applying the Hydro application. She is especially effective in Vaporize and Bloom teams.
5 Sucrose
Rarity: 4-star catalyst-user Element: Anemo Support Type: Elemental Mastery-boosting, Crowd Control
Sucrose is an invaluable Anemo user for any team. In the early days of Genshin Impact, she was often used in together with Mona, to showcase significant DPS numbers. Thanks to her powerful buffs, such as boosting Elemental Mastery, she has been a great addition to any party. Her Elemental Burst is a powerful AoE attack that draws enemies in, and she is particularly adept at creating Elemental Reactions since her charged Skill can hit multiple foes multiple times for greater damage.
RELATED: Genshin Impact: Things You Didn’t Know About Sucrose
For players looking for an Anemo support character, Sucrose is an excellent free-to-play option, particularly for those who don’t have Venti or Kazuha. However, players should be aware that infusing an element with her Elemental Burst could present a challenge, and also has a fairly high energy cost. Additionally, her grouping capabilities are not as great as Venti’s. Despite this, Sucrose remains one of the best support characters in Genshin Impact.
4 Bennett
Rarity: 4-star sword-user Element: Pyro Support Type: ATK Boosting, Healing
Bennett is widely regarded as one of the most powerful support characters in Genshin Impact, thanks to his exceptional healing capabilities and his ability to significantly boost the ATK value of his team members. He is also fairly easy to build and even without much effort into his build, he offers benefits that cannot be found with any other healer.
Due to the recent changes and new characters introduced, Bennett’s popularity has still experienced a slight decline amongst other support characters. Although Bennett doesn’t have much Pyro application, assuming the players haven’t activated his sixth constellation, he can still disrupt Elemental Reaction setups. Additionally, the ATK buff is not as viable as it used to be due to the recent introduction of characters with higher HP or Elemental Mastery than ATK. Despite this, Bennett is still a viable character in the current meta, just not as versatile as others.
3 Xingqiu
Rarity: 4-star sword-user Element: Hydro Support Type: Enabling, Damage Reduction, Healing, Battery
The bookworm Xingqiu is one of the best support characters, rivaling Yelan in many aspects. His Elemental Burst creates a rain of swords around the character, providing consistent Hydro application even when he is off-field. This makes Xingqiu an invaluable asset to any team.
RELATED: Genshin Impact: The Best Builds For Xingqiu
Additionally, what makes Xingqiu distinguished from Yelan and a better support is his Elemental Skill, which provides Damage Reduction as long as the active character has at least one Rain Blade remaining. Xingqiu’s Elemental Skill also provides multiple Elemental Particles, and when equipped with Sacrificial Sword, he can be a good source for generating Energy. Furthermore, Xingqiu has a slight healing capability tied to his first ascension passive, in which the active character will receive a small amount of healing based on a percentage of Xingqiu’s HP and the remaining Rain Blades.
2 Nahida
Rarity: 5-star catalyst-user Element: Dendro Support Type: Buffing, Enabling
There is no doubt that Nahida, as the Dendro Archon, is an exceptional support—equally as impressive as the other Archons if not better. Her proficiency with the Dendro Application is unmatched, as she is a catalyst user and can consistently execute Dendro-infused attacks. Her remarkable ability to trigger Dendro Application off-field without an ICD makes her an invaluable asset to any team composition that is dedicated to a Dendro-reaction. Her proficiency in this area is unparalleled and highly sought-after.
At first, Nahida’s Elemental Burst may not seem so strong, but this would be a mistake. Her Elemental Burst is a great way to boost her and her allies’ damage. It has a great area of effect and lasts a long time, making it one of the best Elemental Bursts in Genshin Impact. All of this makes Nahida a great support character.
1 Kazuha
Rarity: 5-star sword-user Element: Anemo Support Type: Buffing, Enabling, Crowd Control
When it comes to support abilities, Kazuha is highly sought-after in Genshin Impact due to the immense utility he provides. He can complement almost any team composition and is a great asset for teams that utilize Elemental Reactions. His Elemental Skill also offers decent crowd control, pulling even the larger enemies together, something Venti cannot do. His Elemental Burst has an average energy cost but grants a substantial boost to the party’s Elemental Damage.
In general, Kazuha is a highly versatile character, with few weaknesses, making him one of the best support characters in the game. He can be built easily and his exceptional utility makes him an ideal addition to any team.
Genshin Impact is now available on Mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5. A Switch version is in development.
MORE: Genshin Impact: The Healer Tier List And Tips For Using Them
