The best free Genshin Impact characters, ranked

Key points

• A total of 10 Genshin Impact characters have been released for free since its release.
• Characters like Xiangling remain top picks due to excellent synergy and damage.
• Some free characters, such as Amber and Lisa, are weaker and less profitable for investments.

Genshin Impact is home to some of the most beautifully designed characters. The game features a diverse cast of 89 characters that continues to grow with subsequent patches. These characters are the stars of the show and a major reason for the game's success.

To make the open world experience even more enticing, each player has the opportunity to earn free characters by completing certain set-in-stone objectives. This is a great way to build a formidable team as players begin their journey in Teyvat.

Updated November 19, 2024 by Siddarth Narasimman: It's been more than four years since Genshin Impact graced the screens of gamers around the world. Since then, a total of 10 characters have been released for free, permanently, to make the experience of exploring Teyvat much easier and more attractive. These characters serve as a starting point for players to have a team capable of tackling the challenges of various regions. However, not all free characters are equal in terms of strength. There are clear differences in the power level of permanently available characters, and this list should help players decide which free characters are worth investing in and which aren't.

Limited and exclusive free characters

A total of 27 characters, including seven 5-star characters, were available for free during specific periods. Most of them were presented as part of a release's flagship event, with a few exceptions, where achieving a series of objectives resulted in obtaining a copy of the character. The following characters were released for free during particular time periods:

• Jean, Diluc, Mona, Dehya, Tighnari, Keqing, and Qiqi (“A Quest to Kindle Ancient Flames” limited-time event)
• Fischl (peak events 1.1 and 2.8)
• Beidou, Chongyun, Ningguang, Xingqiu, Xinyan, Yanfei, Yun Jin, Yaoyao and Gaming (various Lantern Rite and Flagship events)
• Aloy (Reach Adventure Rank 20 before version 2.2. No longer available)
• Diona (Flagship Event 1.5)
• Dori (Peace Event 3.2)
• Faruzan (Flagship Event 3.6)
• Layla (Flagship Event 3.8)
• Bennett (flagship event 4.0)
• Freminet (Flagship Event 4.2)
• Gorou (4.6 Flagship Event)
• Kirara (Flagship Event 4.8)
• Candace (Flagship Event 5.1)

10 Amber

Outrider of the Knights of Favonius

• Rarity: 4 stars
• Element: Pyro
• Weapon: Bow
• Role: Sub-DPS

Four years have passed since then Genshin Impact release and Amber still remains one of the worst characters in the game. The first character each player would receive was already a weak character when the roster was quite small.

With a myriad of characters introduced in countless patches, Amber is simply awful and not worth building unless players really like her design and kit. There are dozens of characters who play his role much better. Amber is easily the weakest free character players can get into Genshin Impact.

9 Noella

The maid of all maids

• Rarity: 4 stars
• Element: Geo
• Weapon: Claymore
• Role: Main DPS, support

Noelle is a pretty solid main DPS to build for beginners. However, it suffers from being a Geo unit, which is not a very popular element in the current meta, with a few exceptions such as Xilonen, Zhongli, and Navia.

Noelle brings decent damage and defensive abilities to the table, but she lacks good synergy with many of the popular teams in the meta. Noelle is a decent character to get through the early stages of the game with Genshin Impact, but it sells out quickly once players start getting better characters.

8 Lisa

Librarian of the Knights of Favonius

• Rarity: 4 stars
• Element: Electro
• Weapon: Catalyst
• Role: Sub-DPS, Support

Lisa is one of the first characters that players will receive for free. She's a handy Electro user who can enable various elemental reactions while dealing decent personal damage. However, it has long cooldowns and is lackluster compared to other Electro units.

4-star characters like Fischl, Xingqiu, Xiangling, and others fit best into almost any team composition Lisa can fit into. His animations take too long, and his overall kit isn't noteworthy enough to deserve a higher place on this list.

7 Kachina

Nanatzcayan Young Brave Heart

• Rarity: 4 stars
• Element: Geo
• Weapon: Polearm
• Role: Sub-DPS

Kachina is the latest free character to be released Genshin Impact. Like other Natlan characters, she has excellent exploration skills, making her an easy character to use. In terms of combat, Kachina isn't great.

It offers good damage with its Turbo Twirly ability, but requires a lot of time on the field for a unit that isn't the primary damage dealer. It also has the problem of being a geographic unit, which naturally reduces the amount of team compositions it can be used in.

6 Barbara

Popular idol from Mondstadt

• Rarity: 4 stars
• Element: Hydro
• Weapon: Catalyst
• Role: Support

Barbara is the first free support players will receive as they progress through the Archons of Mondstadt Quest. A consistent Hydro healer, Barbara has strong synergy with many teams thanks to her simple Hydro application.

However, its gameplay is very streamlined and leaves no room for diversity. All he can do is heal and amplify his team's damage through specific means, such as using Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers. Barbara is a decent healer who can be used as a base in the early game, but should preferably be replaced with better characters in the mid to late game.

5 Kaeya

Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius

• Rarity: 4 stars
• Element: Cryo
• Weapon: Spade
• Role: Sub-DPS

Kaeya is another Mondstadt character that players will get very early on in their journey. A powerful off-screen Cryo applicator, Kaeya works best on Freeze teams. The only problem is that Freeze teams have essentially dropped out of the meta in favor of other popular reaction-based teams like Hyperbloom and Vaporize.

Kaeya is still a decent Sub-DPS, but his vitality is very limited. Additionally, he never appears in limited-time character banners, making it extremely difficult to obtain more constellations that increase his overall power even more. Kaeya is a great unit to pilot in the early and mid game, but should ideally be abandoned before ascending to higher world levels.

4 Lynette

Lyney's brother and assistant

• Rarity: 4 stars
• Element: Anemo
• Weapon: Spade
• Role: Sub-DPS

Lynette is the only free Fontaine character that any player can get Genshin Impact. It's a solid Anemo sub-DPS that doesn't require much time on the field. She's also great for exploration purposes and is generally one of the best free-to-play characters in the game.

Lynette's main issue lies in long cooldowns and health drain after using abilities, which can be detrimental to players who are still learning the game. Aside from these flaws, Lynette is quite viable on many teams and can be used for most endgame content.

3 Collei

Avidya's Trainee Forester

• Rarity: 4 stars
• Element: Dendro
• Weapon: Bow
• Role: Sub-DPS

Collei is one of the best Dendro units in the game, especially if players don't have Nahida. It is available for free if players manage to get past the fourth floor of the Spiral Abyss. Collei's direct competitor for the majority of slots in team competitions is the Dendro Traveler.

This is because Collei can apply Dendro more, but the Traveler has more consistent application of the element, making it a better choice overall. However, Collei is a great choice for a Dendro unit if players don't want to use the Dendro Traveler.

2 Traveler

The fourth descendant

• Rarity: 5 stars
• Element: Anemo/Geo/Electro/Dendro/Hydro
• Weapon: Spade
• Role: Sub-DPS (Anemo, Geo, Dendro and Hydro), Support (Electro)

As mentioned above, Dendro Traveler is a great sub-DPS. They are also the only 5 stars that any player will have access to. The Traveler's strength is its ability to leverage five elements at the moment.

Unfortunately, apart from the Dendro Traveler, the other variants are quite poor and not worth investing in. Most variants lack significant field presence or are simply outclassed by better units. The Traveler ranks high on the list simply because its Dendro variant is so good.

1 Xiangling

Head chef of Wanmin restaurant

• Rarity: 4 stars
• Element: Pyro
• Weapon: Polearm
• Role: Sub-DPS

Xiangling continues to maintain her crown as the best free character Genshin Impact, and had little competition to dethrone her from this prestigious post. Xiangling is an amazing Pyro Sub-DPS with an excellent Pyro application.

He has incredible synergy with some of the strongest characters in the game, a superb Elemental Burst, a constant presence on the field without taking up too much time, and he also deals a surprisingly large amount of damage. Xiangling is the complete package when it comes to a Sub-DPS and every player should invest in leveling her up as soon as they acquire her.