Spiral Abyss can be difficult without proper characters. Take a look at the best characters to use on Spiral Abyss and build your team.
When it comes to End Game in Genshin Impact, there is no other option than Spiral Abyss. It is the current hardest content in the game, and it seems like miHoYo isn’t that keen to add other gameplay options anytime soon.
Read more: Genshin Impact: Best DPS Characters Tier-List
Completing Spiral Abyss also allows you to collect 600 primogems in every abyssal moon phase, so it’s a good feature for players to try out their best characters and get all twelve stars in Spiral Abyss.
But doing that can be quite difficult if you don’t have the proper builds and characters. Finding the best characters to use on Spiral Abyss can be a difficult task. I struggled a lot at first because I didn’t have the right support or sub-DPSs.
Spiral Abyss is ever-changing and is the META. Therefore, the DPS characters that are popular now might not be in the future (Ex. Diluc).
But there are certain support and sub-DPS units that won’t lose their significance no matter how big the META shifts are.
In this guide, I will discuss those units that I think are the best characters to use on Spiral Abyss in Genshin Impact based on the latest abyss usage data and my personal experience with them.
Tier-list & Ranking Explained
Take a look at the following to understand my reasoning behind each tier:
| Tier | Description |
|---|---|
| SS | Characters placed in this tier are meta-defining. Most players use them in the spiral abyss, and they offer more unique mechanics, support & DPS potential than any other, making them a game changer if you can use them in your teams. |
| S | The S-tier is for characters that excel in most teams and are part of the Genshin meta. But some cons hold them back from getting to the SS tier. Like having a constellation requirement or High DPS & low support potential or vice versa or not being versatile enough to be effective in every type of spiral abyss run. |
| A | A tier is a place for characters with excellent DPS or Support qualities but only excel at one role perfectly or aren’t versatile enough to be used varietally. |
| B | This tier is dedicated to characters that will require good investments and offer better performance with constellations. They are a standard choice at C0 but truly shine at C6 with proper gears. The characters in this tier list are able to provide good support or DPS output in most combat scenarios. |
| C | Characters in the C tier don’t have the best mechanics and do not have many team synergies. Their damage and support output is decent but nothing meta-defining, but with heavy investments and specific team comps, they can hold out a decent performance. |
| D | This tier is for characters that offer a standard damage and support output, which can easily be neglected as there are better alternatives in the game. |
Best Characters to Build for Spiral Abyss Tier-list
| Character Name | Role | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Kazuha | Support, Buffer, Debuffer, Burst DPS | SS |
| Nahida | Dendro Support, Buffer, DPS | |
| Yelan | Main DPS, Driver, Burst DPS, Sub-DPS | S |
| Zhongli | Shielder, Sub DPS, Burst DPS, Support, DPS | A |
| Xingqiu | Burst Support, Healer | |
| Bennet | ATK Buffer, Healer, Burst Support, Burst DPS | |
| Kokomi | Healer, Buffer, Driver | B |
| Baizu | Healer, Shielder | |
| Kuki | Support, Healer, Burst DPS | |
| Xiangling | Burst Support | C |
Top 10 Characters to Use on Spiral Abyss
Xiangling
Spiral Abyss Usage Rate (As of Phase 2 Version 4.2): 22.9%
| Category | Details |
| Talent Priority | Elemental Burst > Elemental Skill > Normal Attack |
| Best Supports | Bennet, Xingqiu, Kazuha |
| Team Role | Burst DPS |
| Artifact | – 4-piece Noblesse Oblige – 2-piece Noblesse Oblige + 2-Crimson Witch – 4-piece Crimson Witch |
| Stat Priority | Energy Recharge, elemental Mastery, Crit Rate/Crit Damage, ATK percent |
One of the first 4-star characters you get in the game, Xiangling has been part of the Spiral Abyss META ever since day 1 of Genshin Impact. She fills the role of a sub-DPS & driver.
She is quite good without any constellations, but once you unlock her C6, she starts to build up more damage. Xiangling National Team is arguably one of the most effective ones in the game, and you don’t need to invest many primogems or resources in her to be useful.
She is number 10 on this list and placed on the C tier, considering the usage rate, damage difference from C0 to C6, and combat mechanics.
Pros
- Good burst damage with long duration
- Flexible and suited for most team comps
- Gets better with constellations
Cons
- Gouba’s pyro application is a hit or miss
Kuki Shinobu
Spiral Abyss Usage Rate (As of Phase 2 Version 4.2): 39.8%
| Category | Details |
| Talent Priority | Elemental Skill > Elemental Burst > Normal Attack |
| Best Supports | Kokomi, Nahida, Xingqiu |
| Team Role | Driver, Burst DPS, Support |
| Artifact | – 4-piece Thundersoother – 4 piece Deep Wood Memories – 4-piece Noblese Oblige |
| Stat Priority | Energy Recharge, elemental Mastery, Crit Rate/Crit Damage, ATK percent |
When it comes to glow-up in Genshin Impact, you must point to Kuki Shinobu. Before the release of Dendro, she was one of the least-picked characters in the Genshin META, but now she is frequently placed in Dendro comps that require a driver for those quick reactions.
She can apply electro effortlessly to opponents from both her elemental skill and burst. Moreover, her burst will heal your party significantly if you can utilize it properly.
Furthermore, she only gets better as you unlock her constellations. And the community seems to agree as well. That’s why she is ranked at 9 and belongs to the B tier right now!
Pros
- The best 4 star option for Quicken teams
- Offers both healing and electro-application
- Easy to build
Cons
- Losses HP before healing
- Only highly effective in Dendro comps
Baizu
Spiral Abyss Usage Rate (As of Phase 2 Version 4.2): 71.5%
| Category | Details |
| Talent Priority | Elemental Skill > Elemental Burst > Normal Attack |
| Best Supports | Nahida, Xingqiu, Kazuha |
| Team Role | Healer, Shielder, Burst Support |
| Artifact | – 4-piece Deepwood Memories – 4-piece Tenacity of the Millilith – 4-piece Maiden Beloved |
| Stat Priority | HP, HP%, Energy Recharge, elemental Mastery |
Placed at the B tier and 8th on this list of the best characters to use on Spiral Abyss is Baizu. This 5-star Dendro unit will fill two roles in your team. His primary role is being a healer (He’s a doctor) and providing valuable Dendro Applications to your team.
He is an effective driver, but if you want to fill the support role, you can add the Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayer as his weapon. This will provide a 48% (If you have R5) ATK% bonus to the character you switch to after Baizu.
Pros
- Offers shield and healing
- Heals the entire party
- Can play the role of Dendro driver
Cons
- Attack animation is sluggish and slow
Kokomi
Spiral Abyss Usage Rate (As of Phase 2 Version 4.2): 49.6%
| Category | Details |
| Talent Priority | Elemental Skill > Elemental Burst > Normal Attack |
| Best Supports | Kazuha |
| Team Role | Healer, Burst Support, Driver |
| Artifact | – 4-piece Tenacity of the Millilith – 2-Maiden’ Beloved + 2-piece Tenacity of the Millilith – 4-Maiden’s Beloved |
| Stat Priority | Energy Recharge, elemental Mastery, Crit Rate/Crit Damage, ATK percent |
Kokomi is arguably the best healer in the game. She can be used in various team comps and acts as a driver and passive buffer through her elemental skills and proper artifact placement.
Moreover, her burst extends the duration of her elemental skill if you can time it right, resulting in you having no cooldown on her elemental skill. She can also save your team with her burst and take the field while she is healing everyone (including herself).
Like Baizu, she also fills the buffer role with the help of Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayer. But her buffs don’t stop there, as you can use the Millilith artifact set to boost her buffing capabilities further. With all these usefulness, she is placed in the B tier, taking the 7th place.
Pros
- One of the best healers in the game
- Great hydro applicator
- Suitable for almost every team comp that needs Hydro
Cons
- Comes with -100% crit rate
Bennet
Spiral Abyss Usage Rate (As of Phase 2 Version 4.2): 35.5%
| Category | Details |
| Talent Priority | Elemental Burst > Elemental Skill > Normal Attack |
| Best Supports | Xingqiu, Kazuha, Any ATK focused Unit |
| Team Role | Buffer, Healer, Burst DPS, Support |
| Artifact | – 4-piece Noblesse Oblige – 2-piece Noblesse Oblige + 2-Crimson Witch – 4-piece Crimson Witch |
| Stat Priority | Energy Recharge, HP, HP% |
If you have been playing Genshin Impact even for a little bit, you know how good of a unit Bennet is. Not only does he offer massive healing, but he significantly buffs your party members with his elemental burst.
Inside his burst, he also becomes a highly effective buffer as it shortens the duration of his elemental skill recharge. His burst also has very high scaling, and you can play him as a burst support as well with the right artifact placements.
He will also play the role of Noblesse support in your team, allowing you to make space for other passive-boosting artifact users. Due to all these stats, Bennet is placed in the 6th place, securing the A tier on this list of best characters.
Pros
- The best ATK buffer in the game
- Heals the entire party
- Comes with good burst damage multipliers
Cons
- Doesn’t heal a character to 100% HP
Xingqiu
Spiral Abyss Usage Rate (As of Phase 2 Version 4.2): 57.5%
| Category | Details |
| Talent Priority | Elemental Burst > Elemental Skill > Normal Attack |
| Best Supports | Bennet, Fischl, Kazuha |
| Team Role | Healer, Burst DPS, Support |
| Artifact | – 4-piece Emblem of Severed Fate – 2-piece Noblesse Oblige + 2-Emblem of Severed Fate – 4-piece Noblises Oblige |
| Stat Priority | Energy Recharge, Crit Rate/Crit Damage, ATK percent |
Xingqiu is next in A tier and 5th in this list of best characters for Spiral Abyss. He plays the role of Sub-DPS, Driver. Burst- Support & healer in a team. Both his elemental skill and burst will heal your character upon usage and application of hydro.
The damage scaling for both is also quite high, making him ideal for all hydro-based reactions. His constellations improve his effectiveness significantly.
When paired with the right artifacts and weapons, he becomes one of the great supports in the game. You may have to invest a bit more resin & mora for him, but all of it is worth the trouble!
Pros
- Offers damage negator and healing
- One of the best hydro applicators
- Improves significantly at C6
Cons
- True effectiveness is hidden behind constellations
Zhongli
Spiral Abyss Usage Rate (As of Phase 2 Version 4.2): 64.5%
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Talent Priority | Elemental Skill > Elemental Burst > Normal Attack |
| Best Supports | Albedo, Ningguang |
| Team Role | Tank, Shielder, Burst DPS, Support |
| Artifacts | – 4-piece Tenacity of the Millelith – 4-piece Noblesse Oblige – 2-piece Noblesse Oblige + 2-piece Archaic Petra – 4-piece Archaic Petra – 2-piece Noblesse Oblige + 2-piece Retracing Bolide – 4-piece Retracing Bolide |
| Stat Priority | HP, HP percent, Crit Rate/Crit Damage, ATK percent |
The Geo Archon has been dominant in Spiral Abyss since his initial release. His elemental skill allows you to deal passive damage (especially with the 4-piece Millilith artifact set) and provides your active characters with the strongest shield in the game.
Once you start using Zhongli, you unlock easy mode in Spiral Abyss, as you will be able to withstand most attacks, and the downtime of his elemental skill isn’t that long, either.
That’s not all; his burst can petrify almost every enemy in the game (except for bosses) and offers extremely high scaling. So, in offense and defense, Zhongli is the perfect balance between both of them. This is the reason why he is in the 4th place, right at the top of the A tier.
Pros
- Best shield in the game
- Provides resistance shred
- Petrifies enemies with burst
Cons
- Don’t have dedicated weapons
Yelan
Spiral Abyss Usage Rate (As of Phase 2 Version 4.2): 64.9%
| Category | Details |
| Talent Priority | Elemental Skill > Elemental Burst > Normal Attack |
| Best Supports | Bennet, Xingqiu, Kazuha, Fischl, Zongli, Nahida |
| Team Role | Main DPS, Burst DPS, Driver, Support |
| Artifact | – 4-piece Emblem of Severed Fate – 2-piece Noblesse Oblige + 2-Heart of Depth – 4-Heart of Depth |
| Stat Priority | HP, HP% Crit Rate/Crit Damage, Elemental Mastery, Energy Recharge |
One of the characters that has been part of the top 10 list of every Spiral Abyss chart upon their release is Yelan. She is a 5-star bow-based Hydro unit that offers extremely high damage with her elemental skill, burst, and even normal attacks.
She can be played as the main unit, driver, burst DPS, and sub-DPS. At C0, she fills the support role more than the role of a main DPS. That being said, if you have the right artifacts and good team comps, then she is lethal even at C0 as a main DPS.
Due to her versatility and effectiveness, she is 3rd on this list and placed in the S tier.
Pros
- The most versatile character in the game
- Good DPS but even greater support
- Improves significantly at C6
Cons
- True effectiveness is hidden behind constellations
Kazuha
Spiral Abyss Usage Rate (As of Phase 2 Version 4.2): 76.8%
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Talent Priority | Elemental Burst > Elemental Skill > Normal Attacks |
| Best Supports | Bennet |
| Team Role | Support/Burst DPS/Driver |
| Artifacts | 4-piece Viridescent Venier |
| Stat Priority | Elemental Mastery, Crit-Rate, Crit Damage |
Arguably the best character in Genshin Impact, Kazuha has been one of the hottest picks in Spiral Abyss since he was released. This is due to the fact that Kazuha is able to use a 4-piece Viridescent Venerer artifact set on both his elemental skill and burst.
His kit also boosts your elemental mastery and effectiveness, so you can make more reaction-based damages than ever. Along with the high scaling of his burst & skill, Kazuha easily takes the 2nd place and the SS tier in my list.
Pros
- Invaluable in any elemental teams
- Good for explorations
- Provides both buffs to your character and debuff to the enemies
Cons
- C2 improves the character significantly
Nahida
Spiral Abyss Usage Rate (As of Phase 2 Version 4.2): 70.1%
| Category | Details |
| Talent Priority | Elemental Skill > Elemental Burst > Normal Attack |
| Best Supports | Kokomi, Kuki, Xingqiu, Yelan |
| Team Role | Driver, Burst DPS, Support |
| Artifact | – 4-piece Deepwood Memories – 2-piece Deepwood Memories + 2-Gilded Dreams – 4-piece Gilded Dreams |
| Stat Priority | Elemental Mastery, Energy Recharge |
Dendro is still the META of Genshin Impact, and the character who rules this element is Nahida. She can change the damage output of a decent Dendro team to overwhelming in seconds. That is why she is adored by everyone who is running a Dendro comp in the Spiral Abyss.
With insane damage-increasing capabilities and overwhelming cuteness (have you seen her quest?!), she sits at the top of the SS tier and is the no. 1 in this list of the best characters to use in Spiral Abyss.
Pros
- Best Dendro buffer
- Good for over-world exploration
- F2P friendly
Cons
- Burst offers no damage only buffs Dendro reactions
Read more: Genshin Impact: Standard Banner Characters Tier-List
