Once players get past the bliss of the anime world spliced with the Breath of the Wild gameplay formula, then it becomes readily apparent what kind of game Genshin Impact really is. Like most mobile RPGs, it involves a lot of grinding and while it has a dizzying amount of in-game resources to keep track of, the most important will always be the players' time.

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When it comes to shortening the amount of time spent on grinding in Genshin Impact, DPS is always the most important factor. As such, including characters in your party with the highest DPS potential is paramount to efficiency. Besides, these characters give players a sense of power and strength. For the record, these characters were officially designated as "DPS" by the developers themselves, so put down those pitchforks and torches, pretty please?

Updated August 7, 2023: by Rebecca Timberlake: As with most gacha games, the roster of Genshin Impact is always changing and shifting, and with it, the roles of existing characters can change, too. Where someone was once a great source of damage, they may now either be outranked by a newcomer, or simply better at filling a different role and leaving room for others to step in and shine. This list has been updated to reflect these changes.

Shikanoin Heizou

• Element: Anemo
• Weapon: Catalyst

Shikanoin Heizou was first released alongside Kazuha's rerun, but his abilities made him stand out. As a Catalyst user, he can deal constant Anemo damage to the enemies along with burst damage from his Elemental Skill and Burst. Anemo is a great element since you can trigger the Swirl reaction with it.

This reaction can help you reduce the opponent's RES if you have the Viridescent Venerer set. Overall, Heizou can dish out a good amount of damage regularly if you pair him with the right characters.

Nilou

• Element: Hydro
• Weapon: Sword

Nilou is a dancer who has a major role in Sumeru's Archon quest, and she has quite a unique kit. While she doesn't deal a lot of Hydro damage through her Skill or Burst, her special bloom ability is what makes her one of the best DPS. After using her Elemental Skill, Nilou applies an effect to all her party members.

This effect occurs if your party has Dendro and Hydro characters only, and it deals extra damage from the cores generated after triggering the Bloom reaction. Nilou can easily delete a horde of enemies if you pair her correctly, but her passives also make her quite a niche character and you have to build the whole team around her.

Fischl

• Element: Electro
• Weapon: Bow

Fischl started off as all-around support back in 2020 but, when players discovered that her C6 version turns her pet crow Oz into a Gatling gun, things changed, fast. Now Fischl players can deal thousands of both Physical and Electro damage in late-game domains, and this damage occurs every time the active character uses a normal attack.

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It is evident that Fischl's DPS increases exponentially as you get more constellations on her, but it's not that hard to get constellations for four-star characters in Genshin Impact. Along with the Aggravate reaction, her off-field damage is off the charts.

Diluc

• Element: Pyro
• Weapon: Claymore

The fabled Diluc is currently considered the simplest DPS available by the community. That's because Diluc's pyro damage stacks easily and hits like a train multiple times making it great against swarms of enemies or bosses. With time, multiple Claymores have been released in the game that caters to his abilities.

His Elemental Burst? He unleashes a fire phoenix that keeps pushing into enemies, damaging them until it explodes. His Elemental Skill can also be used thrice before it enters a short cooldown. The only problem is that his Burst pushes the enemies away from you, and that's the last thing you want while using a close-range character.

Tartaglia

• Element: Hydro
• Weapon: Bow

The first harbinger to be released as a playable character, Tartaglia (or Childe) is one of Hoyoverse's favourites. He has the highest number of reruns among all the characters, and he even got a signature Bow with his first rerun called Polar Star. Ever since the release, Tartaglia's ability to change his weapon has caught everyone's attention.

After activating his Elemental Skill, Childe will switch his weapon to dual blades that can attack the enemies in quick succession. Along with his Riptide effect, he is one of the best Hydro applicators in the game. Although, the cooldown of his Skill has slowly brought him down in DPS ranking.

Kaveh

• Element: Dendro
• Weapon: Claymore

Kaveh is a great character to build a Bloom team around, as well as an excellent choice for any Dendro reactions if you favor Dendro-based attacks. He's capable of healing himself which is helpful if you either don't have a team healer, or if you're struggling to keep up with healing your party. When building Kaveh up as a DPS, you'll want to focus first on his Elemental Burst, as it's the strongest of his attacks.

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Unfortunately, Kaveh does have drawbacks. He uses a lot of energy when he attacks, and it takes him a bit longer to rejuvenate. He also lacks off-field damage abilities, so while he was clearly intended to be a main DPS, he requires a lot more support than most.

Xiangling

• Element: Pyro
• Weapon: Polearm

At the start of the game, Xiangling was rated as one of the mediocre characters by the Genshin community. With time, her true potential was realized and she became one of the best off-field damage dealers in the game. Her Pyronado can deal a huge amount of damage, especially if you build her on Elemental Mastery with a Vaporize team.

Moreover, it seems like every single Polearm being released in the game can be used by Xiangling in some way. This is because she works with most stats like Energy Recharge, Elemental Mastery, ATK Percent, Crit Rate, and Crit DMG. Since you can also get a free copy of Xiangling from the Spiral Abyss, she's great for beginners as well.

Kamisato Ayato

• Element: Hydro
• Weapon: Sword

Hoyoverse did a lot of teasing before releasing Kamisato Ayato in the game because they knew that his design and abilities will attract a lot of players. Ayato is one of the two siblings from the Kamisato Clan who control the Yashiro Commission. Both his Elemental Skill and Burst are great applicators of the Hydro element.

After activating his Elemental Skill, you can constantly deal AoE Hydro damage in front that can be doubled with Vaporize reaction. His kit also paves the way for him to be an integral part of a Freeze team. With a short cooldown, he is great for open-world exploration.

Tighnari

• Element: Dendro
• Weapon: Bow

Tighnari was the first five-star Dendro character released in Genshin Impact, and he was added to the Standard Banner roster later. This means that you can get Tighnari at any point by wishing on the Standard Banner or if you lose your 50/50 on the Limited Banner. Once again, his Elemental Skill gives him a buff for a few seconds.

After using the Skill, Tighnari can charge his aimed shots much faster, and they deal two instances of damage. Moreover, his Elemental Burst also deals massive one-time damage, which can be great if you have a lot of Energy Recharge. His damage gets even better in a Spread Reaction team.

Cyno

• Element: Electro
• Weapon: Polearm

Elemental Mastery has been Hoyoverse's favourite stat when it comes to Sumeru characters. The entire Quicken, Aggravate, and Spread reactions are based around EM, and it's the same for Cyno's abilities. Whenever you activate his Elemental Burst, you can deal Electro DMG in quick succession.

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His main damage output comes from using your Elemental Skill at the correct time during your Burst. Almost all of his damage during the Elemental Burst increases based on his EM after getting the Authority Over the Nine Bows passive.

Keqing

• Element: Electro
• Weapon: Sword

Keqing is one of the characters that can be acquired through the Standard Banner. Her Elemental Skill shoots out a Stiletto that damages enemies within a small AoE, and you can blink to this Stiletto and perform another AoE attack. After blinking, your weapon gains Electro infusion for a few seconds.

With time, Keqing went down in the ranking of best DPS, but the introduction to the Aggravate reaction brought her right back up. If you put this character with a few good Dendro applicators, she'll delete all the surrounding enemies. She performs the best against a horde of smaller enemies.

Yoimiya

• Element: Pyro
• Weapon: Bow

Yoimiya was one of the most troubled releases for Genshin Impact as a lot of the players critiqued her playstyle focus. On one hand, her Elemental Skill focuses on enhancing her Pyro damage. On the other hand, her Elemental Burst is more or less a support ability for the party.

Although, people quickly discovered the power of Yoimiya with the Shimenawa's Reminiscence artifact set, and she quickly became one of the best characters to fight boss enemies. Moreover, you won't have to pull Amber out for every Pyro torch puzzle when you have this character.

Nahida

• Element: Dendro
• Weapon: Catalyst

Ever since Sumeru's first teaser, players were excited about the release of the fourth Archon. Nahida was released as a playable character with a unique skill set that provided off-field Dendro damage. Her Elemental Skill can be used to deal Dendro damage and bind a bunch of opponents together.

Whenever an Elemental Reaction occurs on any of these opponents, this mark will deal Dendro damage to all of them. Moreover, her Elemental Burst can buff this Skill in different ways based on the elements of your party members. This little Archon gave way to a new style of building your teams.

Klee

• Element: Pyro
• Weapon: Catalyst

A lot of what makes Klee feel clunky for players is also what can make her great as a main DPS, it just depends on how you feel with her and what you look for in both a Pyro character and a source of damage. She offers mostly short ranged attacks, meaning you have to be crafty with where you stand when attacking larger opponents, but this also makes it easier to be sneaky.

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Likewise, Klee isn't a great Pyro for setting up Elemental Reactions, but she works well with a vast majority of the other available characters, so you're not going to have trouble placing her in teams. Her best ability is her Normal Attack, which is rare among Genshin characters, allowing you to hit frequently with high damage instead of damage in shorter bursts with either her Elemental Skill or Elemental Burst.

Arataki Itto

• Element: Geo
• Weapon: Claymore

It's about time Genshin Impact introduced a five-star Geo character that focuses on DPS. In that regard, Arataki Itto slaps - both literally and figuratively. He can unleash tons of Geo damage in quick succession using his abilities. Moreover, he easily synergizes with Geo characters for that sweet resonance.

While he gets his signature weapon, he can also use one of the free-to-play friendly weapons and still produce good damage. He is also one of the few characters that excel in the mono team of the element he belongs to.

Yae Miko

• Element: Electro
• Weapon: Catalyst

The fox envoy living at the Grand Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko has a close relationship with Inazuma's Archon. Much like other Electro characters in the game, the Dendro element has increased her damage immensely. Using her Elemental Skill, you can drop three kitsune on the battlefield that will deal constant Electro DMG.

If you trigger her Elemental Burst with the maximum kitsune on the field, she will send four lightning strikes to destroy the enemies. The short cooldown of her abilities makes her a great character for open-world exploration, and the beautiful animations of this character add to the overall attraction.

Wanderer

• Element: Anemo
• Weapon: Catalyst

The second harbinger to join the playable character roster of Genshin Impact, Wanderer has had quite a history in the main story. Much like his personality, his kit is quite self-centred and brings him to the centre of attention. His Elemental Skill lets him hover over the ground and buffs his Anemo DMG.

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The best thing about Wanderer is that his normal attacks deal a good amount of damage even without any buffs. Moreover, you can use him as the main DPS or as a carrier of reaction with a few off-field applicators. Faruzan can also greatly buff Wanderer's damage, making him even stronger.

Yelan

• Element : Hydro
• Weapon : Bow

Yelan is capable of outrageously high damage as an off-field DPS. Her Elemental Burst, which functions in a much more advanced and powerful way than Xingqui's Burst, has consistent off-field Hyrdo application and excellent damage numbers. Her damage scales off of her HP stat, which is excellent if you have two Hydro units in a party for the Resonance.

Yelan's Elemental Skill is also fun to use, letting her run around at high speed and hit multiple enemies at once. Pair her in a Vaporise team comp with Hu Tao or another Pyro main DPS like Yoimiya and watch the damage rack up.

Albedo

• Element : Geo
• Weapon : Sword

Albedo is one of the strongest Geo units when it comes to off-field DPS. His Elemental Skill has incredible damage modifiers on it, and his attack power scales from his Defence stat. As we all know – and frequently lament – Defence is a stat that appears all too often on your favourite Artifacts. Due to this, it is extremely easy to build Albedo without much investment and he will dominate the battlefield with his Skill and Burst.

While you could have Albedo as your main DPS, he shines more as a sub-character. This is because his personal attack damage isn't great, getting most of his utility from his skill, which creates a substantial AoE and deals damage over time. Not to mention, anyone who hits an enemy inside Albedo's AoE will be struck with an additional instance of Geo damage.

Kaeya

• Element: Cryo
• Weapon: Sword

Kaeya is a strong Cryo character with shorter Cooldown periods for his attacks, making his ability to stay on the field fighting one of his best attributes. He also offers a strong Normal Attack, so you can deal a lot of damage while using little energy. Kaeya is also one of a handful of characters that gain Elemental Skill damage multipliers easily and with higher impact.

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Unfortunately, his Elemental Skill does have a short AoE, so his speed and short Cooldown period is needed to balance this out. A common complaint is that his Constellations are harder to obtain compared to a lot of other characters, and while this is true, his basic stats are strong and easy to build with Artifacts, which makes him a good DPS for anyone, but a great main DPS if you're a casual player or new to the game.