Wuthering Waves tier list: Best characters, ranked

Wuthering Waves is packed with interesting characters to collect. Most characters require time and patience to obtain, so it’s important to know which ones you should unlock with your hard-earned Astrite. Here’s our tier list of every character in Wuthering Waves based on their strength, value, and utility.

Wuthering Waves DPS tier list

S-tier

• Carlotta – The latest addition to the “overpowered white-haired woman” meta in Wuthering Waves, Carlotta is a stylish and potent DPS that can easily melt single targets. Even without her best teams, she can easily clear difficult content if you build her right. She’s a stylish Glacio gunslinger with very quick gameplay.
• Camellya – The Spin2Win Havoc DPS who lived up to all the hype around her. Camellya is the easiest to use out of the top three DPS units in Wuthering Waves due to the minimal setup and existence of Sanhua, which lets her melt enemies with ease and without prior setup, thanks to her powerful AoE burst and damage.
• Jinhsi – Despite all the new competition, Jinhsi remains the biggest nuke damage dealer in the game. She can dish out big Spectro damage with her Resonance Skill and Liberation with a barebones team setup. However, it requires setup while you play, and she struggles against Spectro’s enemies.

A-tier

• Xiangli Yao – The only reason he’s not in S-tier is that the best team requires you to have Yinlin. Xiangli Yao is perhaps the best DPS character in Wuthering Waves for overworld clears and endgame boss fights. Plus, his flashy gameplay and quickswap potential make him fun to play.

• Jiyan – Besides being a great DPS in single-target and AoE scenarios, he also provides some crowd control and is beginner-friendly thanks to his Resonance Liberation, which makes parrying easier. While he has fallen a bit behind in the meta, he’s still a very powerful and competent DPS.

B-tier

• Havoc Rover – While not exactly on the same level as Xiangli Yao or Jiyan yet, Havoc Rover’s constellations give them the potential to reach this level. They can deal a surprising amount of damage with the right setup and even clear endgame tower stages.
• Encore – Encore has proven herself the best Standard Banner character after Verina, as people who played her realized she can deal as much damage as Jiyan. However, her damage is single-target rather than AoE, making her a bit weaker in comparison.

C-tier

• Calcharo – Despite being one of the most fun-to-play Electro main DPS with cool gameplay, Calcharo has fallen off due to nerfs and his kit being clunky and requiring expert play to get his full potential. Still usable, just nowhere near the best.

D-tier

• Chixia – She’s a four-star DPS with big mobility but average damage, and she only excels in single-target scenarios. 
• Lingyang – He’s one of the standard five-star Resonators you can obtain for free, but he pales in comparison to everyone else. As a Glacio main DPS, he’s very clunky to play, and because of his broken kit, Lingyang is arguably one of the worst characters to have.

Wuthering Waves Sub-DPS tier list

S-tier

• Sanhua – Even as a Glacio four-star, Sanhua is one of the best sub-DPS units that deals great damage and provides Basic Attack buffs, ATK buffs at C6, and has the fastest rotation in the game to get quick Outros and Echo set buffs.
• Zhezhi – Now part of two of the best team comps in the game as the best sub-DPS for both Jinhsi and Carlotta. If you’re looking for a powerful and flexible sub-DPS, Zhezhi gets the job done with her coordinated attacks and fantastic Glacio damage amplification.

A-tier

• Changli – She’s an amazing damage dealer who can work as both DPS and sub-DPS, and she deals a ton of Fusion damage. However, finding a dedicated place where she can shine requires you to learn how to quickswap well, which isn’t casual-friendly.
• Yinlin – As one of the best sub-DPS characters, Yinlin deals big damage with her coordinated Electro attacks and increases Resonance Liberation and Electro damage of other units. She would be higher up if there was an Electro-DPS besides Xiangli Yao who could make full use of her.

B-tier

• Mortefi – He’s easily one of the best four-star Resonators who is theoretically very powerful. However, besides Jiyan comps, Mortefi rarely finds himself as the best in slot for most teams.
• Danjin – Despite many people wanting to initially play her as a DPS, Danjin has carved out a sub-DPS niche for herself where she focuses on buffing Havoc carries and getting some damage in during her rotations. Unfortunately for her, Havoc carries currently have better alternatives.

C-tier

• Jianxin – Thanks to her utility, Jianxin can shield, deal damage, and group up opponents, which makes her a jack-of-all-trades but, unfortunately, a master of none.
• Spectro Rover – Unlike his Havoc version, Spectro Rover provides utility for their team but is outclassed by other utility damage dealers. Their use case lies in applying time-slow and Spectro Res shred.
• Yangyang – She’s one of the first four-star Resonators, and while Yangyang is a sub-DPS with a bit of crowd control, her damage is simply lackluster.

D-tier

• Lumi – Unfortunately, the nnewest 4-star character is a disappointment despite her cute design. Her playstyle doesn’t fit well with anyone, and her numbers are lackluster.
• Aalto – Despite being the only Aero buffer in Wuthering Waves, there is no place in the meta for Aalto.

Wuthering Waves Support tier list

S-tier

• Shorekeeper – Shorekeeper is the best Support in Wuthering Waves due to her powerful heals, quick rotations, and strong buffs. She can increase ATK, Crit Rate/DMG, amplify DMG, give massive heals, and fit in basically every single team. She is a must-have support unit.
• Verina – She’s a very reliable healer support who can provide big heals and attack buffs while having short rotations. Verina works well in every team, and even better, you can claim her for free.

B-tier

• Baizhi – She’s basically a budget Verina who provides some heals for the team and gives an attack boost for the on-field carry. Use and build her if you really have no alternative.
• Yuanwu – Yuanwu is good for only two things. Building Jinhsi’s stacks in her team and proc’ing the healer set buff with Originite: Type IV Gauntlets.

C-tier

• Youhu – While she’s a decent healer, she lags behind all three other healers in nearly every aspect, making her a hard sell.

D-tier

• Taoqi – While she can definitely work in Jinhsi and Carlotta teams, Taoqi still faces her biggest problem of the split scaling between her Shields and Forte, making her hard to build and use.