I wanted to make a different kind of tier list than the standard community one for Genshin Impact because one thing I've noticed, or at least wish I knew when I started, was how difficult it can be to build up multiple characters--most of us knew to focus on 1-2 main DPS units but the selection process on how you choose who to invest in is never really discussed in detail because everyone just wants to say "play with who you like" which is TOTALLY fine and definitely the better way to play the game.
But what if you didn't get who you wanted? How do you decide who to invest your precious resources in as you progress through the game?
If you just follow the standard tier list, I think you'll more likely find yourself in a situation where you end up investing in characters who aren't good investments because of how replaceable they are. The whole tier list is centered around damage and DPS in general but because the characters are basically the least important part of the equation, I don't think that's the right approach to take.
Anybody can be a DPS. Some are better at it than others, of course, and generally this is true within the sub-hierarchies of roles a character can fulfill (so obviously not everyone can heal, but among those that are capable of doing so, some are better at it than others). I think they community has done an outstanding job of illustrating the competence hierarchy within designated roles but I'm going to present a problem that I hope will realign the conversation on how a tier list should be done for low spending or free-to-play players.
Let's say you just started the game and you had your heart set on Xiao, since 1.3 just launched recently. The odds of getting him are quite low and, unfortunately, you only managed to pull Beidou and Razor, two four-star Electro claymore users. If you were to decide who to build up based on the tier list, Razor is ranked in A at the present, and Beidou in B. What the tier list doesn't assign is value to versatile units, or penalize for inflexible ones. Razor can really only be a physical DPS carry, whereas Beidou can also do that, be an Electro damage dealer, and provide a little defensive utility.
Continuing with that very example, let's now say you're nearing the end of the Xiao banner and you've managed to get pretty far into the game. I don't know if this is mathematically possible, but let's say you hit AR 40 in two weeks, so you've got some pretty highly-leveled units with your DPS's at about 70. Your artifacts definitely aren't there yet and the higher levels of spiral abyss are thus a little out of reach, but you've been managing your resources really well and once you start artifact farming, you'll have two solid teams ready to go... and then you pull Xiao. Ohhh my god it's the character you wanted all along and he's finally here! You invested in Razor and now Razor is going to take a back seat to Xiao because they're competing for the same role of main DPS and Xiao is just better and cooler to you.
Not counting artifacts, it takes about 10 days worth of resin to level up a character and their weapon to 70, if you focus SOLELY on them, and of course, not counting artifact farming, which can take a month or more if you're a true min/max-er. With Razor on the bench, that investment currently yields you nothing because you replaced that unit; he's still a very good DPS but he can't fill any other roles so you have to bench him. If you had taken that time to invest in Beidou instead, you could now adjust her role to be a support to Xiao since she's capable of it, and a good partner for him. Because of her versatility in this regard, she holds value better and therefore is a better investment of your extremely limited resources.
I don't want to argue we shouldn't have the current tier list, but it provides an incomplete understanding and a misleading one for low/no-spending players that has certainly caused people to waste time and resources, so I thought I'd take a stab at injecting my opinions on units that I believe have the most *value* and I'll explain a little bit about the decisions behind this tiering after I show you:
As you can see, it does bear a fair bit of similarity to the community tier list, but I'm going to select individual examples to explain drops and rises.
Perhaps the most controversial is putting Diluc in A-tier. Again, this is not to take away from his prowess as a main DPS--the math is well documented and he continues to be a highly effective choice for the role, but all his teams are Diluc teams--you can't really use him to support a Xiao, so you better really love Diluc if you're going to invest in him. But because he's SO good as a main DPS, it's not justifiable to put him any lower than A. Klee is higher not just because her DPS is slightly higher, but she can apply Pyro more frequently and off the field through her bombs left over, which is very valuable, whereas Diluc has to be out there.
Similarly, this principle applies to Xiao and Childe in the A-tier also, but Kaeya, a clearly inferior DPS choice sits in the same tier because while still being a strong choice in the DPS role, really excels more as a sub-DPS and is great for continuously applying Cryo to trigger reactions for teammates. He can be a main DPS both from a Cryo and physical damage standpoint as well as support. A very good investment, and the second best DPS carry on freeze-teams after Ganyu who sits in S-tier as she can fulfill DPS and sub-DPS roles, apply lots of Cryo, and is really the best at all of those things right now. I also suspect Kaeya's value will drop when Rosaria comes out, as they have similar kits and hers is just better at dealing damage but much remains to be seen in that regard with her ult being stationary.
Next, you could make the argument Chongyun can do all those things Kaeya can and, technically, provides more Cryo application. Why put him in B, then? For starters, Chongyun's use is generally more niche and it's harder to fit him on a team because his elemental skill turns most units' damage into Cryo. In some cases, that's awesome, and he can be truly outstanding in his role, but not always. Because that relegates him to a more niche role than Kaeya, I placed him in B-tier. If you're going to invest in him, you should definitely do so once you have all the pieces you'll need for that team.
There are instances in which specialists still ranked quite high, for example Qiqi, because her healing is absurdly good. I know some people have taken to calling her "the worst 5-star" because her healing is sort of overkill but I actually placed Albedo lower because there are fewer healers than sub-DPS units at this point in time and only one of your two Spiral Abyss teams can have Bennett plus the next best option for strictly healing is also a 5-star (Jean) and one of the most versatile units in the game lol.
On that note, Diona dropped a tier that she and Qiqi currently share because as far as shields go, hers have been extremely lackluster in my experience and her healing is far worse than other healers besides Noelle who has a better shield and can actually DPS fairly effectively as well. Diona may have an EM boost, but it's situational, requires C6, and confines you to circle impact; these drawbacks have made it an unnoticeable improvement in my clear times when testing.
Ultimately, if you see similar characters, I try to put them in different tiers and prioritize the characters who are either more versatile or just so much better at the role they share that it really is worth investing in them over their competition unless your personal situation creates a particular niche that one couldn't possible account for in a tier list. This list will also tend to bias support units as someone like Bennett or Venti can be used on a huge variety of teams and automatically improve them because of what they can offer. Also the nature of being less invested simply by being a support (generally you don't need a level 90 Xingqiu for him to do awesome things, so getting the last ascension to unlock the talents (and maybe leveling to 70 if you want) is among the more recommended advice regarding supports I've heard across the community.
If you get an S-tier, I think it's about as safe as investment as you can have. A-tier is right there as well, but definitely choose your carries/ main DPS units thoughtfully as they will be consuming most of the resources you spend resin on. B is fine if you know you like the character or know you need them for a particular team comp, such as Chongyun on a Diluc melt team, but understand that investment is just riskier because those characters likely won't have as much utility unless something changes. I actually hold C in a higher regard than people might expect, but each one is out classed in everything it does by another unit. Physical carry Xinyan? Razor is better. Healer Barbara? Hope you like getting frozen, dawg, maybe try Bennett instead?
The only adjustment I might make and I'm not *sure* of is placing the Travelers much higher. I say "much" because you get the gems needed to ascend them just from playing the game naturally, AND they're going to be able to switch to more elements in the future. I think there's a lot of potential there, but we don't know anything for sure yet, and you might want to save your Mora and EXP books for other units right now.
As everyone who's ever done a guide for this game has said, play however you want to get the most enjoyment from the game. I just wanted to make sure someone at least started the discussion on value of units to fill in the missing information that is unavoidable with the current community tier list.
Safe travels :]
