Genshin Impact: The Healer Tier List And Tips For Using Them
There is a lot of talk in the Genshin Impact community about which characters are the best and how each character ranks against the competition. DPS, or Damage Per Second, characters are often given the highest amount of esteem in this regard. Yet, also filling a widely needed niche, healers should be given even more thought than other positions on a team.
If a DPS is to make a game easier to win, healers are the characters that make the game harder to lose; there are currently around 7 to 8 healers in Genshin Impact. In short, healers like the Acting Grand Master Jean, and the defensively-minded Noelle, are the characters that make the difference between a player's team dying and living. That said, especially in co-op mode where the player's teammates actively rely on a healer's support, learning to best use these characters is in the best interest of all Genshin Impact fans. However, many fans still have difficulty figuring out which character is the best healer in Genshin Impact.
Updated on August 12th, 2021, by Scott Vengel: With Yoimiya's banner just started, Genshin Impact fans have been introduced to two new members of the game's cast. Of course, Yoimiya remains the central focus of the banner, yet her companion also has a lot to offer. Sayu, the small ninja of the Shuumatsuban, is the newest healer to be added to Genshin Impact's list since Diona back in update 1.2. As such, this tier list will be updated to include the new healer, as well as to include some information that may have been missed. Sincerely, we hope that this guide will be helpful for all players that have yet to be acquainted with the game's large cast of healers.
8 Xingqiu (8 - C)
C Tier
- Rating: 4-star sword-user
- Element: Hydro
- Healing Scaled To: Max HP
- Healing Source: Skill/Burst (Rain Blades)
To be frank, Xingqiu hardly qualifies as a healer. Yet, by technicality, the heir of the Feiyun Commerce Guild does have the small potential to heal his teammates. That is if players should build him just right.
Xingqiu's healing capabilities are tied to his Rain Blades, which players will not have unlocked until his 1st ascension. This in itself is a limitation, given that players can't use Xingqiu as a healer until they upgrade him. However, in addition, his healing is not high stat-wise compared to other healers and will only affect the active character; there is no global healing for Xingqiu. Ultimately, this also means that Xingqiu is a solo-mode-only healer that can easily be bested by Barbara.
Of course, for those solo players looking to use Xingqiu as a healer, it is not impossible. To increase Xingqiu's healing capabilities, a good mix of Max HP and Healing Efficiency artifacts will do the trick. Nonetheless, players should be aware: Xingqiu's healing will require smart transferring of his Rain Blades to other characters, making it a task that requires patience and practice to master.
7 Diona (7 - B)
B Tier
- Rating: 4-star bow-user
- Element: Cryo
- Healing Scaled To: Max HP
- Healing Source: Burst
An archer with minor healing properties, Diona is perhaps not the best option for a healer. Not a main healer at least, given that other choices provide more effective heals. Sadly, Diona's healing ability's only benefit is that it can heal others over a duration of time. That said, the fan-favorite bartender from the Cat's Tail does make a sufficient substitute healer, or a support healer, with skills that make combat easier for everybody.
Generally speaking, a substitute healer is an alternative for when the main healer falls in battle. Many might mistake this as a wasted position, but Diona will not find any waste as a substitute healer. Where she lacks in healing potential, she makes up for it with versatility. Her charged attacks apply Cryo status, making Diona a good enabler for melt and superconduct reactions.
6 Bennett (6 - B)
B Tier
- Rating: 4-star
- Element: Pyro
- Healing Scaled To: Max HP
- Healing Source: Burst
Bennett, like Diona, isn't necessarily the best healer around. In fact, in terms of sheer healing ability, the community's favorite bad-luck-stricken adventurer is slightly worse than Diona. Nonetheless, in terms of overall team usability, Bennett does have some benefits when built correctly that cannot be found in Diona's move-set.
While both characters have fairly similar healing potential, Bennett offers more support potential than Diona can. With a burst that also increases the attack of the players within a certain area, Bennett can heal and provide strong support at the same time. In other words, Bennett is simply more versatile and will find more passive use than Diona.
5 Barbara (5 - A)
A Tier
- Rating: 4-star catalyst-user
- Element: Hydro
- Healing Scaled To: Max HP
- Healing Source: Skill, Burst
One of two free healers in the game, Barbara is often one of the first characters that players use for healing specifically. And despite her free status, her healing is the first on this list that can be used comfortably as a main healer. Both Barbara's elemental skill and burst offer a focus on healing, so unless someone goes out of their way to build her DPS (which some people do) then she is going to need to be built as a healer.
That said, Barbara is fairly mediocre in her healing properties compared to other characters, despite being a character entirely reliant on healing abilities. Her burst's heal is dwarfed stat-wise by most characters on this list and it doesn't heal continuously; meaning that once the heal ends, you have to wait for energy build-up to activate her burst again.
Of course, she makes up for this with her elemental skill, which heals a little bit of HP for the team with each hit. Barbara's healing improves by investing in Max HP artifacts, and increasing elemental mastery helps to make Barbara double as a Hydro enabler (applying wet status with her attacks).
4 Sayu (4 - A)
A Tier
- Rating: 4-star claymore-user
- Element: Anemo
- Healing Scaled To: Attack
- Healing Source: Burst, Skill (passive talent)
The newest healer added in update 2.0, Sayu makes for an interesting option. With her healing tied to her elemental burst, as well as her skill via her passive talents (when she initiates a swirl reaction), all of this makes for a fairly convenient healer, requiring only a little bit of practice to master.
As far as being compared to other healers, Sayu fits herself just above Barbara in terms of base stats. However, in more detail, it is a difference of healing per second versus activation healing. Compared to Barbara, Sayu has better per hit healing with her burst than Barbara has with her elemental skill. On the other hand, Barbara does just beat Sayu in terms of immediate healing with her elemental burst; this effectively puts the two on near equal footing as far as healing potential is concerned.
For those looking to utilize Sayu as their main healer, it would be best to use her on the field rather than off. Given that her damage and defensive potential aren't bad as an Anemo claymore user so players may lose out on a lot of healing if they skip out on using her skill. As for artifacts, healing efficiency and attack stats will help to increase the scale of her healing.
3 Qiqi (3 - S)
S Tier
- Rating: 5-star sword-user
- Element: Cryo
- Healing Scaled To: Attack
- Healing Source: Skill, Burst
The zombie from Bubu Pharmacy, Qiqi is considered by many to be the best of the two 5-star healers. Generally speaking, Qiqi and Jean are two sides of a coin: where one specializes in one area and the other specializes in the opposite. Qiqi is the best character in sheer healing capabilities in the cast so far, and this is her main asset as a character.
Both her elemental burst and skill provide passive healing, meaning that it is easy to activate her skill and switch to a different character. That said, her biggest downside is found in the fact that her skill cooldown is slow compared to other healers. When investing in Qiqi, players will find that utilizing attack and energy recharge boosts in artifacts will counteract her long cooldowns with more bursts.
2 Jean (2 - S)
S Tier
- Rating: 5-star sword-user
- Element: Anemo
- Healing Scaled To: Attack
- Healing Source: Burst, Normal Attack (passive talent)
Again, comparing Jean and Qiqi is very difficult. In sheer healing alone, Qiqi is a more accomplished healer when compared to Jean (who heals only with her burst and normal attacks). However, if the player is looking for a more versatile healer, then Jean trumps Qiqi by a landslide with an elemental skill that helps to immobilize the opponent and higher DPS in all areas. In other words, Jean is a character that can work as either a DPS or support while also acting as the main healer in the party; this may in face make her the best 5-star healer in Genshin Impact.
When using Jean, investing in attack stats and energy recharge boosts will make for a very good strategy. This will not only increase the strength of normal attacks and their healing properties but will make for more frequent healing from her elemental burst. In addition, it is a general rule that pairing Jean with a Cryo, Pyro, Hydro, or Electro user will yield the best results, as her burst causes swirl reactions.
1 Noelle (1 - S)
S Tier
- Rating: 4-star claymore-user
- Element: Geo
- Healing Scaled To: Defense
- Healing Source: Skill
In the end, Noelle may be the best healer in Genshin Impact. Yes, it may indeed seem strange for a 4-star to place higher on the list than 5-star healers, but there is more than enough reason for Noelle's placement. For starters, this was a very close call; both Qiqi and Jean rank very close to Noelle in overall usefulness. However, Noelle reigns supreme in efficiency: her constellations are more easily accessible, her versatility is very high for a healer, and her healing itself is very comparable to the 5-star characters.
Noelle is also a defensive healer, which is very unique for the small sample of healers in Genshin Impact. Jean may reign supreme in offensive prowess, and Qiqi in pure healing ability, but Noelle is the hardest to bring down. Coupling this with a healing ability tied to an elemental skill rather than a burst, and the result is a healer that heals more often than other members on this list.
Noelle coupled with a group of two strong DPS characters, like Diluc with his fiery attacks, and an enabler to enhance attacks through elemental statuses makes for the best team composition. Strategy-wise, these DPS characters can be used for long periods of time, switched between each other until their health is low, after which Noelle can appear for long periods of time healing in the process.
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