With Version 3.0 knocking on our doors with Sumeru and Dendro, we thought it was a good idea to look back on our starter characters and how well they’d fare against the current regions. Starter or free characters are infamously bad in every gacha game but Genshin Impact has a few good ones worth playing with even in the late game.
Free Characters in Genshin Impact Tier List
When we say ‘Free characters’ we do not mean characters who were given away as event rewards. The following characters are all either starter characters or other characters which all players can unlock no matter how late they join and start the game. The following characters are guaranteed in-game free characters that all players can unlock and play.
Other than the Traveller and starter characters- Kaeya, Lisa, Amber and Barbara, we also have Noelle who’s a guaranteed pull from the Beginner’s banner for which you get your Intertwined Fates pretty fast into the game. We also have Aloy who you unlock at AR20 and Xiangling who’s locked as a reward from one of the Spiral Abyss floors Below are their rankings as to how well they hold up in the late game.
S-Tier
These characters are amazing and even to an extent broken starter units that all players must build. They also make the game easy for low and mid-ranked players as both of these characters can serve as dps units or support depending on how you build them. In the late game, they are mostly used as supports but even till mid-game both of them can also double up as your main or sub-dps units.
- Xiangling– Pyro Support/DPS
- Kaeya– Cryo Support/DPS
A-Tier
These characters are high on utility and while still optional builds at best, they serve you pretty well in the early game and mid-game.
- Noelle– Shield & Healing
- Traveller (Geo)– Support & Sub-dps.
B-Tier
In this tier, we have characters that are decent to use but must be replaced as soon as you get better alternatives. They serve their function well but they are far too lacking and flawed compared to other characters in their categories.
- Barbara– Healer
- Traveller (Electro)– ER Support
C-Tier
In this last tier, we have characters you should avoid building from the start. They have flawed kits and their versatility and damage numbers are miserable.
- Amber– Support
- Traveller (Anemo)– Crowd Control Support
- Aloy– DPS,Sub-dps
- Lisa– Support
The above tier list comes before Collei drops in Sumeru who’s also rumoured to be a free character available to all players coming to Sumeru. Those who have read the Genshin Impact Manga would know of her tragic backstory. We’ll just have to wait and see how she fits into this free character meta.