Anemo characters tier list for Genshin Impact version 3.0

William Davis Published 25/08/2022

Anemo characters are extremely valuable in Genshin Impact, and two stand out as the absolute best heading into version 3.0. Our tier list will be your guide to the game’s anemo characters.

Anemo is possibly the most important elemental effect in Genshin Impact. By boosting other elemental reactions and spreading them with swirl, it forms the bedrock of some of the game’s strongest teams. The cast of anemo characters is also diverse, with several four and five-star options. If you’re looking to add some elemental mastery to your adventure team, this is our tier list for anemo characters in Genshin Impact 3.0.

As always, Genshin Impact is a fairly easy game and all story content can be completed with whatever team players like to play. This list mostly focuses on the characters’ usefulness in combat, but many lower-tier characters have niches off the battlefield as well.

S Tier – Venti, Kazuha
A Tier – Jean, Sucrose, Xiao
B Tier – Sayu, Heizou, Traveler

Sayu, Heizou, and Traveler are non-combat anemo

First up, this is the B tier of our anemo characters tier list. While this is the bottom tier, it doesn’t mean that the characters are useless. Instead, their true value lies outside of combat.

Sayu is a popular pick thanks to her elemental skill, which is a fast way to travel across the game’s map. She’s also useful for hunting down Crystal Cores and other animal materials. However, Sayu isn’t the strongest character in combat. Her claymore weapon type doesn’t do her any favors, and her swirl application’s only real X-factor is that it comes with a heal.

Heizou is the only Xiao alternative as an anemo DPS character, but he’s not a popular pick. Declension stacks can be difficult to play around, and the reward is strong but tough to maximize. Heizou’s weapon also poses some problems, though many free-to-play options exist.

Finally, the base form Traveler. This is the first of many characters that Genshin Impact players get their hands on, but he’s far from the best anemo representative as of 3.0. Low numbers and mediocre skills make them quickly outclassed. It makes sense, as if Traveler was overpowered, there wouldn’t be much reason to roll on the gacha to replace them.

Jean, Sucrose, and Xiao are strong swirl starters

While the top-tier anemo characters pack both damage and crowd control, these more specialized characters can still get plenty done in Genshin Impact.

Jean is a popular pick as a standard banner five-star, and she’s a great choice as an early DPS or support. However, she’s later outclassed by other main DPS options and more dedicated supports. Jean’s burst Dandelion Breeze is also an amazing heal, though many players reserve her for Theater Mechanicus.

Sucrose is often treated as a lesser version of Venti, but getting compared to Venti is a compliment. Sucrose’s ability to apply swirl can rival Kazuha and Venti, but she doesn’t come with the energy resupply or direct damage. She also lacks crowd control, but teams that account for her weaknesses can still be quite strong.

Xiao rounds out mid-tier anemo character list, though he has a clear niche as the only five-star anemo DPS. He’s also the best at it, though his selfish play style requires a specific sort of team to sustain. Even with full support, Xiao still isn’t considered a top-tier attacker. He’s still good enough to jump attack through most challenges.

Kazuha and Venti are the absolute best anemo characters

Kazuha and Venti are the two best anemo characters in Genshin Impact, but their kits actually offer completely different play styles.

For Kazuha, he is the best elementary mastery characters in the entire game. Thanks to swirl, elemental reactions can deal high amounts of damage. Kazuha’s elemental burst is also a decent source of crowd control, but its sustaining anemo field helps set up some of the strongest team compositions in the game.

As for Venti, Wind’s Grand Ode is still good for setting up swirl. It particularly excels at crowd control. Smaller enemies get sucked up and become unable to attack while larger ones are still pulled in. There are other crowd control skills in Genshin Impact, but Venti’s remains the absolute best.