Overview of Genshin Impact Weapon Types
In Genshin Impact, there are currently five different types of weapons. Each character is only able to wield one weapon type. These weapon types include:
- Swords
- Claymores
- Bows
- Polearms
- Catalysts
Each weapon type offers its own unique advantages and synergies with specific characters. The choice of weapon depends primarily on your available characters and playstyle preference. Furthermore, equipping the right weapon can increase elemental damage, energy regeneration, and elemental mastery, enhancing the effectiveness of elemental abilities and triggering powerful elemental reactions.
Now, let’s take a closer look at each weapon type:
Swords
Swords are versatile weapons that offer a balanced mix of speed and damage. They are commonly wielded by characters specializing in quick attacks and agile movements. Their attacks are the middle ground of melee weapons, comparable in damage and speed to those of Polearms, though with a shorter reach.
Claymores
Claymores are heavy, two-handed weapons that emphasize power and strength. They deal much more damage per swing, although their attacks hit slower than melee weapons like Swords and Polearms.
Bows
Bows boast long-ranged attacks, with Charged Attacks capable of hitting monsters from a distance. A fully-Charged Attack deals elemental damage, allowing for strategic combat.
Polearms
Polearms have fast attacks and a long forward reach, dealing moderate damage per hit. They excel at wide-area attacks and have several strong s like Raiden Shogun, Zhongli, Hu Tao, Xiao, Xiangling, and Shenhe. Most polearm s are significant damage dealers or enable huge damage, with the exception of Zhongli, who enables near invincibility.
Catalysts
Catalysts allow characters to harness elemental powers and cast spells. All Normal and Charged Attacks performed with a Catalyst are considered elemental damage, depending on the wielder’s natural element/vision.
Overall, playable characters in Genshin Impact come in various archetypes, including swordsmen, archers, mages, and polearm wielders. With diverse playstyles and advantages, experimenting with different weapon types will help you figure out which one you enjoy the most.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Each Weapon Class
Strengths and Weaknesses of Each Weapon Class in Genshin Impact
- S+ Tier (Game Changers): These weapons are the best in the game, offering unparalleled benefits that significantly outperform others.
- S Tier (Very Strong): Slightly less impactful than S+ but still incredibly powerful, offering versatility and strength.
- A Tier (Solid Choices): Great weapons that perform well in specific scenarios or with certain characters, though they may lack the versatility of higher tiers.
- B Tier (Average): While not top-tier, these weapons are still useful and can enhance your gameplay if used correctly.
- C Tier (Least Recommended): The lowest tier, often outclassed by other options, but can still be useful in niche situations.
Specific Weapon Analysis:
- Mistsplitter Reforged: This is a top-tier sword for its unparalleled base attack, crit damage bonus, and elemental damage bonus ive. It is universally powerful, serving as the best in slot for virtually any DPS sword , including Ayaka and Keqing. Its broad usage and significant damage enhancement capabilities make it an S+ tier weapon for any sword-wielding character.
- Staff of Homa: This weapon has an impressive base attack combined with a significant crit damage bonus, making it a top-tier choice for DPS characters. Its unique ability to increase attack power based on the wielder’s HP percentage, especially when HP falls below 50%, caters to characters like Hu Tao, whose abilities scale with HP.
- Polearms: These weapons have the longest range of any melee weapon in the game, putting them above Swords and Claymores. Just from gameplay mechanics alone, Polearms could be considered the ruler of weapons in Genshin Impact.
- Sword of Descension: This is considered the worst 4-star weapon in the game. It has the lowest attack with only 440 ATK at level 90, and can only be used by the Traveler for maximum effect.
- Weapon Variants: There are 5 weapon variants in Genshin Impact:
- Bows
- Catalysts
- Claymores
- Polearms
- Swords
The character you choose to use will determine which weapon type they are capable of utilizing.
General Ranking of Weapon Types:
Genshin Impact’s Weapon Types Ranked Worst To Best:
- Polearms
- Bows
- Swords
- Catalysts
- Claymores
How Weapon Rarity Affects Gameplay in Genshin Impact
In Genshin Impact, a weapon’s rarity directly impacts its overall power. Higher rarity weapons generally have significantly better base stats, stronger ive abilities, and better scaling. This means they provide a larger damage boost as the character levels up compared to lower rarity weapons. Essentially, higher rarity weapons make a character significantly more powerful in combat.
Key points about weapon rarity and its effects on gameplay include:
- Stat differences: Higher rarity weapons have higher base ATK and secondary stat values at every level compared to lower rarity weapons.
- ive abilities: Only 3-star and above weapons have ive abilities that can significantly enhance a character’s playstyle depending on the weapon.
- Refinement: Higher rarity weapons can be refined multiple times to further enhance their ive abilities, while lower rarity weapons lack this feature.
- Acquisition difficulty: Obtaining higher rarity weapons is generally harder as they require pulling on the gacha system (wishes), while lower rarity weapons can be obtained from chests or crafted.
Choosing the best weapon for a character often means prioritizing a high rarity weapon that synergizes well with their abilities and playstyle. Moreover, players with lower rarity weapons might struggle against harder content, highlighting the importance of acquiring high-tier weapons for endgame challenges.
While weapons are important, they may take a backseat to characters and artifacts, especially since you can switch weapons among characters. However, for your main DPS, maxing out their weapon can provide a substantial damage boost. Ultimately, the best approach is to align your resources with your desired team composition and playstyle, ensuring you have a well-rounded setup.
In general, for a completely new player, it is advisable to focus on character levels, talents (always max the talents for your ascension level), and weapon. Early in the game, it’s easy enough that players do not need to worry about min/maxing. Additionally, players may regret spending resin on low-level artifacts as they can be somewhat ignored until Adventure Rank 35.
It is crucial to note that increasing the damage floor is essential. Artifacts are almost purely luck-based and do not guarantee an upgrade for your character; they remain important, but raising the damage floor should take precedence, especially considering the challenge of obtaining good artifacts.
Each weapon (with 3/4/5-star rarity) comes with a side effect, also called a ive effect. A weapon’s secondary stat can be additional ATK, DEF, Crit, etc. Therefore, strategic decision-making is vital. Even with lower rarity weapons, players can still optimize their character builds by selecting weapons with ives that complement their playstyle and utilizing effective team compositions.
Best Characters for Each Weapon Type
Best Characters for Each Weapon Type in Genshin Impact:
- Bow Characters: Bow characters tend to be some of the most flexible units in all of Genshin. Some of them excel as units, while others possess immensely strong DPS abilities. Key weapons include:
- Skyward Harp
- Elegy for the End
- Four-star options like The Stringless and Favonius Warbow
- Catalyst Characters: Catalyst units are also very flexible and their weapons reflect this variety. While some catalysts specialize in damage dealing, others focus on amplifying abilities such as healing. Best weapons for catalysts are:
- Skyward Atlas (five-star)
- The Widsith (four-star)
- Claymore Characters: Claymore characters wield massive and clunky weapons, making them dedicated DPS units. Seek claymores with strong DPS statistics, including critical damage, attack, and critical rate. Useful claymores include:
- Wolf’s Gravestone
- Skyward Pride
- Sword Characters: There is a variety of sword characters in Teyvat with different roles. Examples include amazing DPS units, powerful secondary damage dealers, general forces, and reliable healers. Best options are:
- Primordial Jade Cutter
- Freedom-Sworn
- Mistsplitter Reforged (five-star)
- The Black Sword
- Favonius Sword
- Sacrificial Sword (four-star)
- Additional Notable Weapons: Some examples of best weapons for specific character types include:
- Skyward Blade for sword s needing energy recharge (e.g., Traveler, Qiqi, Xingqiu, and Bennett)
- Skyward Spine for polearm s dealing physical damage (e.g., Xiangling)
- Wolf’s Gravestone for claymore s with high attack damage (e.g., Diluc, Chongyun, Beidou)
- Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds for catalyst s dealing elemental damage (e.g., Ningguang)
- Elegy for the End for bow s ing their team with buffs (e.g., Aloy, Amber, Collei, Diona)
Bonus Weapon Information:
- Calamity of Eshu is a free-to-play sword weapon ideal for Normal/Charged Attack s like Keqing, especially when using a shield.
- Engulfing Lightning increases ATK by 28% of Energy Recharge over the base 100%, with a maximum bonus of 80% ATK.
- Staff of Homa provides HP increase by 20% and an ATK Bonus based on 0.8% of max HP, enhanced if HP is below 50%.
Comparative Analysis: Which Weapon Type Reigns Supreme?
Comparative Analysis of Genshin Impact Weapon Types
Ranking Based On:
- Base ATK & Sub-Stat: Each weapon type gives a set amount of ATK and comes with its own Sub-stat. This plays a big role in determining the type of builds it can fit and how powerful the weapon could be.
- ive Skill Or Feature: All weapons have a ive skill that provides unique buffs. Although this is secondary to the Base ATK and Sub-stat, ives still contribute to the effectiveness of a character in battle.
- Versatility Of A Weapon: Some weapons are hard-locked into a specific build, while others can fit across multiple builds. Having a versatile weapon benefits the team and facilitates easier transitions between character builds.
Summary Of Tiers:
- SS Tier: Amazing for Multiple Characters and provides significant damage or .
- S Tier: Works with Multiple Characters and provides decent damage or .
- A Tier: Flexible but fairly weak compared to its competitors.
- Or: Not flexible but provides significant and damage.
- Or: Great Stat Stick for multiple characters.
- B Tier: Weak weapon but can work on characters with specific builds as a Stat Stick.
- C Tier: Does not work with many characters and does not provide benefits.
General Overview:
In Genshin Impact, players can choose from five weapon types: swords, claymores, polearms, catalysts, and bows. However, having such a massive weapon pool does not guarantee effectiveness. Therefore, we have curated the Genshin Impact weapon tier list to find and rank the best weapons from each category.
Currently, Genshin Impact offers up to 100 weapons divided into five distinct categories: Swords, Polearms, Claymores, Bows, and Catalysts. Weapons are ranked based on the featured playstyle, overall usability, and learning curve. The best weapons in Genshin Impact include:
- Skyward Harp
- Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds
- Primordial Jade Winged-Spear
- Skyward Pride
- Mistsplitter Reforged
On the other hand, the worst weapons include:
- Prototype Crescent
- Twin Nephrite
- Halberd
- Debate Club
- Fillet Blade
The five tiers we use to rank each weapon type are based on our experience and online research. Weapons that do not fall under the five-tier rankings are considered the worst in the game, offering little to no value either in base stats or after upgrades.
Conclusion:
Each weapon type possesses unique abilities and stats. The stronger the ability and the more characters that can effectively utilize that weapon type, the higher it will be ranked.
