Wuthering Waves may only be running in version 1.3, but there are over 10 different characters you can play with including both 5-star and 4-star units. We’ve broken down all those characters, ranking them from the best to the worst in our tier list.
If you’re wondering whether to pull for Xiangli Yao from the banner or save your hard-earned Astrite for future units, we have you covered. Wuthering Waves also offers a couple of free 5-star and 4-star units if you are just starting out. Here is how all of them fit into the current meta.
Wuthering Waves tier list
Our tiers explained
Here is a brief explanation of how our tiers work:
- S: These are the best characters in the game
- A: These are exceptionally powerful units with minor weaknesses
- B: Situational units that will work in very specific situations
- C: These are underwhelming units and not worth it unless you lack good characters
- D: Not worth spending resources
S-tier characters in Wuthering Waves
Shorekeeper
Shorekeeper is a healer and team buffer in Wuthering Waves who provide Crit boosts for the entire team. She is the stronger support unit in the game right now, and the only downside to her kit is that she needs Concerto Energy and good rotations.
However, that is something you can easily fix as there are a number of good Rectifiers that work with her. This makes her a must-pull unit in the game as she can work with every single DPS in the game.
Xiangli Yao
Xiangli Yao is a 5-star Electro DPS unit in Wuthering Waves and he is quite possibly one of the best in the game.
He has absurd damage numbers where he can shut down every enemy in the game as long as they don’t have Electro resistance. He has amazing synergy with both Yinlin and Zhezhi who are the best supports in Wuthering Waves.
Additionally, Xiangli Yao is free-to-play which makes him extremely accessible even for free-to-play players.
Zhezhi
Zhezhi is a powerful 5-star Glacio Resonator in Wuthering Waves. She can deal powerful coordinated attacks and can buff the damage output of other DPS units in the party.
She is also quite easy to use with lots of untapped potential where her damage will improve even further with future characters.
Here is our guide for Zhezhi if you are looking to pull for her.
Jinhsi
Jinhsi is the best DPS unit in Wuthering Waves. Her damage numbers are extremely high with both her Skill and Ultimate wiping out enemies with ease. Apart from that, Jinhsi can fly in the air during combat, making it easy to dodge enemy attacks.
She is also very easy to use and has multiple options in terms of weapons. This makes her viable for both new and free-to-play players.
Yinlin
If you are looking for a hybrid unit that can deal damage while also buffing the main DPS in the team, Yinlin is the best option. Her biggest advantage is that she can deal a massive amount of damage with very little field time.
Her off-field damage is also very high and she functions well against both bosses and mobs. She is also a good future investment unit as her Outro skill buffs up the DPS massively. This means future quick swap teams will require Yinlin and adding her to your collection early will be a smart choice.
She also works well in a free-to-play setting and is easy to get to grips with, making her a worthwhile consideration.
For the best Yinlin build in Wuthering Waves, check out our guide.
Verina
Verina is your character of choice if you’re looking for a powerful utility healer in Wuthering Waves. One of the biggest differences between a good healer and a bad one is what extra they bring to the table apart from simply healing your team.
Not only can Verina heal, but she also provides party-wide buffs and DMG amplification, making her the best fit for every team.
She is also free-to-play and can make the most out of the 5-pc Healer set. Verina is also very easy to understand and needs very little field time to activate her heal and buffs.
For the best Verina build in Wuthering Waves, check out our guide.
A-tier characters in Wuthering Waves
Changli
Changli basically lies on the border of S-tier and A-tier in terms of positioning. She is one of those units that can function both as a main-DPS as well as a sub-DPS. Her personal damage numbers are high, but the buffs she provides are even better.
Her Outro Skill provides a 20% Fusion DMG Amplification and 25% Resonance Liberation DMG bonus which makes her a must-have unit for almost any main-DPS unit. Additionally, she can gap close quite well, which means bosses that have a habit of running way, won’t be able to do so against Changli.
Her only weakness is a lack of synergy with other units. She can also be a bit complicated to learn, meaning new players might find it hard to make the most out of her.
For the best Changli build in Wuthering Waves, check out our guide.
Jiyan
Jiyan used to be an S-tier unit on release, but right now he is a comfortable A-tier character. Jiyan has very high damage potential as his Ultimate deals enormous damage. He’s easy to play and works against single-target enemies as well as mobs.
His ability to parry is one of the best in the game and he gets better with higher investment. Finally, Jiyan also has good crowd control, which makes him self-sufficient.
The only downside is his extreme reliance on the Ultimate ability. You need to make sure his Forte Circuit is filled and his Ultimate is ready every time you switch onto him. If not, Jiyan’s damage falls off massively.
For the best Jiyan build in Wuthering Waves, check out our guide.
Encore
Encore is a powerful Fusion DMG 5-star unit that can function as a jack of all trades. She is the most flexible DPS character in the game and can be slotted in almost any team. While Changli is her best support, you can also use her alongside Yinlin and Mortefi.
Her damage numbers are quite good, and she’s easy to understand and play. Additionally, Encore can be picked up very early from either of the starter banners or the free 5-star ticket, which makes her very accessible.
Her only downside is that she’s particularly squishy and her parrying isn’t the best, leaving her vulnerable on the battlefield.
For the best Encore build in Wuthering Waves, check out our guide.
Mortefi
Mortefi is a powerful unit that can function in any team that requires coordinated attacks. One of the biggest advantages of this character is that he can charge his Outro Skill very quickly. His damage is exceptionally high and can be paired with almost every heavy hitter.
His kit is very simple and even a new player can get him to function at the highest level with ease. Finally, he gets even stronger once you pick up Waveband Sequences.
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His only downside is that his Ultimate ability has a very high cooldown, so you need to be alert with his rotations in combat.
Sanhua
Sanhua has the fastest Concerto rotation in Wuthering Waves, making her a top unit for swap teams. Her Ultimate is quite good and has a very small energy cost. This means you can spam her ultimate constantly, increasing the overall DPS of the team.
She is also a free unit, which makes her accessible to new players. Her only downside is that she cannot function outside of quick-swap teams, and players might not be fond of that playstyle.
Baizhi
Baizhi is currently one of the best support units in Wuthering Waves. She has one of the best Outro Skills in the game as she provides a 15% DMG amplification. Her healing is also quite good and she can utilize the 5-pc Healing set quite effectively.
Additionally, at Waveband Sequence 5, she revives a character with full health once they get struck down with fatal damage.
Her only downside is that her attacks are a bit slow, and she can feel clunky to use at times, especially when compared to other characters like Verina.
B-tier characters in Wuthering Waves
Havoc Rover
Despite being the main character, Havoc Rover is a decent DPS option in Wuthering Waves. The damage numbers of the Havoc Rover are quite good, and you can get them for free including their Resonance bands. This also makes them an accessible unit. They also don’t rely too much on their Ultimate, which makes it easy to build.
The problem with Havoc Rover is their field time and the returns you get from them. You need to put the Rover on-field for a long while to deal damage, but the output is quite low compared to some of the units in the S-tier and A-tier.
Yuanwu
Yuanwu is a decent off-field sub-DPS unit that can function as a Hybrid. He does not need much field time and is an easy character to understand. He can also be claimed for free, which makes him an accessible choice.
The problem is Yuanwu’s damage is quite low, which reduces the overall damage of the team. Additionally, he is a DEF scaling unit, and none of the weapons in the game have that, which makes Yuanwu even weaker.
He also lacks any form of offensive buffs, which puts him behind other top-tier Hybrid units.
Jianxin
Jianxin is a pretty fun unit to use in Wuthering Waves. Her damage is decent and can be used viably when in the overworld. She can also heal and shield teammates which is a very powerful ability to possess this early in the game.
She also has a very good crowd-control ability and can gather smaller enemies in one place, thereby making it easier for the DPS to clean up the targets. Her Outro Skill provides a Resonance Liberation DMG bonus that helps out the main DPS in the team.
The problem is, that Jianxin’s crowd control is useless against bosses and bigger enemies. Additionally, her Forte Gauge is difficult to build up, which completely negates her healing and shielding.
For the best Jianxin build in Wuthering Waves, check out our guide.
Calcharo
Calcharo is one of the most fun units in Wuthering Waves. He has pretty good damage potential and also a very high damage ceiling. He gets better with high investment and has good synergy with almost every support unit in the game.
The problem is that Calcharo is also heavily reliant on picture-perfect rotations and even one mistake will come at the cost of his damage. He has a pretty high skill ceiling and is one of the hardest characters to use.
Colcharo’s damage is high, but the effort needed to make that work is way too much and not worth it in most cases.
For the best Colcharo build in Wuthering Waves, check out our guide.
Danjin
Danjin is not very different from Calcharo in terms of usage. She is quite good and her damage is exceptionally high for a 4-star unit. She is also one of the best units that can utilize The Dreamless Echo effectively.
Unfortunately, she is a berserker, which means she will always be in low health on the battlefield. In almost every scenario, she will be one hit away from death due to her HP loss mechanic which is very risky to use. Apart from that, her combos are hard to pull off making Danjin an average unit for most scenarios.
C-tier units in Wuthering Waves
Chixia
Chixia is a pretty average unit in Wuthering Waves. She’s a ranged unit and also very easy to use and understand. She’s free as well, making her accessible to new players. She is also quite mobile, which means you can navigate around fights effectively.
However, her damage is quite low and most single-target. Her Ultimate energy cost is very high and she needs a lot of field time. She can get interrupted quite easily and lacks parrying options making her extremely vulnerable.
Lingyang
Lingyang is the worst 5-star unit in Wuthering Waves. While he can fly and has a very unique playstyle, his kit is mostly underwhelming. His damage is sub-par when compared to other top-tier 5-star units. His combos are hard to execute and his in-air movements make it difficult to dodge boss attacks.
He can be played as a fighting game character where you can juggle enemies, but that doesn’t work against bosses, which defeats the whole purpose of using him.
For the best Lingyang build in Wuthering Waves, check out our guide.
Aalto
Aalto is a pretty average unit in Wuthering Waves. He has a good Outro Skill that can buff Aero DMG. He can spawn clones which can taunt enemies and create space in endgame content. However, this is where his utility ends.
It’s exceptionally difficult to make the most out of his Forte ability in endgame content. His Resonance Liberation does nothing and his overall damage output is way too low to be considered in the current meta.
Yangyang
Yangyang is the ultimate crowd-control unit in this game. She also provides Resonance Energy to the team which comes in handy in high-end content. Her Waveband Sequences further enhance her support capabilities. Finally, she is a free unit, which makes her readily accessible.
However, despite being a support, she doesn’t have any form of damage amplification buffs. Her personal damage is also way too low which brings down the overall output of the team. The crowd-control abilities do not work against bosses.
D-tier units in Wuthering Waves
Taoqi
Taoqi is probably the worst unit in Wuthering Waves. On paper, she can shield, heal, and provide buffs through her Outro skill. However, all of these are hard to pull off due to her kit.
She’s reliant on landing counter hits, which means Taoqi takes up a lot of field time with very little return. Her attack animations are also slow, which significantly reduces her damage output. Finally, there are no units in the game that can effectively use her Outro skill, thereby reducing her potency in the current meta.
If you want to learn more about Wuthering Waves, check out our guide on the Exploration event from version 1.1. If you want to learn about the game in general, check out our guides on codes, Twitch drops, and voice actors.
