Genshin Impact has a myriad of free characters available for all players to enjoy. These characters are accessible to everyone and allow you to experience the game without paying or spending Primogems. Unfortunately, some of the free characters in Genshin Impact have a reputation for being weak or worse than many of the newer characters. However, this isn’t always the case, and many free characters have their place in the game.
It’s also important to note that every single character in the game is viable. You can use any of these characters on your favorite team and clear all the content in the game. Therefore, even if a free character is ranked lower than another, that shouldn’t stop you from using a character you really like.
Here are all the free characters in Genshin Impact ranked, in order of worst to best.
Noelle
Unfortunately, Noelle is likely the weakest free character in the game at low investment. Noelle is given to every player for free through a guaranteed Beginner Banner, allowing you to use free summons earned throughout the game at a discounted rate.
Noelle is weak at low investment, as her shielding and healing now pale compared to other characters in the game. To heal the team, she needs to take up field time, which lowers your team’s damage significantly.
Noelle is strong at high levels of investment. This requires her Constellation 6, which means bringing her to her greatest potential is very expensive. Below Constellation 6, her power level is not the same.
Barbara
Barbara is a strong healer, but pure healing in Genshin Impact is not highly desired. Most healers in the game bring another level of utility, like Bennett with high burst damage and his attack buff. Additionally, Barbara’s Elemental Skill inflicts Wet upon the user, which can be detrimental to the player as it can trigger elemental reactions on yourself.
She is suitable if you need a Hydro character on your team but otherwise is not recommended as she does not contribute to team damage in a significant way.
Traveler
The Traveler is a unique character, with three different kits to choose from. However, two of the Traveler’s kits are quite niche. The Anemo Traveler is generally weak, and you will likely have stronger options to choose from. The Geo Traveler works well in Geo teams and can deal lots of damage with his Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst. Geo Traveler can also support his team, as his Elemental Burst provides Crit Rate.
The Electro Traveler is perhaps most useful as a support, allowing you to charge other Elemental Bursts on your team. However, the Electro Traveler has very low damage and is generally only useful as support.
Amber
Amber is generally regarded as the worst character in the game, but she’s actually a valuable Pyro support for a few teams in the meta. For example, did you know that Amber can potentially be one of Hu Tao’s strongest supports?
Amber can be used as a support character because of how quickly her Elemental Burst applies the Pyro element on enemies. If you can charge her Elemental Burst quickly enough, you’ll have tons of Pyro application on enemies, allowing you to trigger Elemental Reactions.
Lisa
Lisa is not particularly strong, but the Electro reaction is a valuable reaction for many teams in the game. While Electro is generally regarded as a weak element, it’s indispensable for Physical teams due to the ability to proc the Superconduct reaction.
When you combine an Electro and Cryo attack, you create the Superconduct reaction, which lowers the Physical Resistance of enemies. This means your Physical damage dealers will deal much more damage. As a result, Lisa is a strong option to apply Electro for many of these teams quickly.
Kaeya
Kaeya is a strong, versatile character that deals tons of damage. He’s most useful as a Burst Support, dealing lots of damage with his Elemental Burst and applying tons of the Cryo element on enemies. However, he can also be used as a main Cryo DPS and Physical carry.
Additionally, Kaeya is cheap and easy to build, and can use various weapons and artifacts. He can be used as a Freeze support, a Melt support, and is generally just a very versatile unit.
Xiangling
Xiangling is one of the strongest characters in the game because she applies tons of Pyro on her Elemental Burst and deals an insane amount of damage with it. Xiangling is an indispensable part in many meta teams, and is frequently paired with Bennett, another 4-star character.
She’s also easy to build, able to use many cheap weapons, and use weak artifacts. Xiangling is truly one of the best units in Genshin Impact, and the best about her: she’s free!
