Although every character in Genshin Impact can be built to make them shine, there are a few characters that need more work than others. And without Constellations, many characters fall short of their intended roles and can even feel underwhelming. Later constellations may change that, but players should be warned that there will be a lot of time and possibly money spent to get them.
Noelle
A Noelle with a full Husk of Opulent Dreams set can put in a lot of work. The Redhorn Stonethresher caters to her high Defense stat and with it, Noelle can become an unstoppable tanky DPS character. The issue lies in the fact that some of her best damage dealing capabilities come from her second and sixth Constellations.
Noelle can thrive as a DPS and a decent enough healer, but finding a way for her to fit on a team can be difficult. Other Geo and Physical characters can do Noelle's job with much less investment. Her ability to heal is covered by characters that can heal and buff allies like Bennett, while her ability to shield her allies can be done by Diona.
Despite this, Noelle can thrive when given the chance and players should be encouraged to use her as they see fit. Whether as a healer or a DPS, she can do both well enough. Just be sure to unlock her first Constellation for a necessary healing buff. Her Defense will carry the effectiveness of her healing but that first Constellation is crucial for Noelle to be reliable.
Lisa
Lisa has high potential but is held back by her Burst and her underwhelming Constellations. She can apply Electro easily but her Burst constantly hits enemies out of it. She is exceptionally good when enemies are stationary, making her one of the best options for fighting bosses.
With lower than average stats in both Attack and HP, Lisa is best reserved for Elemental Reactions. Focus on her Elemental Mastery can make up for her poor stats but the high cost of her Burst makes it difficult to take advantage of quick-swap teams.
Using Lisa will have players really trying to watch their stacks of Violet Arc as it increases her damage for each stack that enemies have on them. Her Elemental Skill is also held back by her low HP and ability to be interrupted during the cast. While Lisa can excel at later Constellations, there is some frustration when dealing with her at the base level.
Related: Farming for Venti, Lisa, Xiangling in Genshin Impact
Amber
Amber has some very long cooldowns for the actual damage that she deals. Her fourth Constellation fixes this issue for her Baron Bunny by reducing the cooldown and adding a second charge, but this requires far too much investment. Additionally, her sixth Constellation further improves upon her Burst, making her very powerful maxed out.
Playstyle determines much of how players feel about Amber. She can be played meticulously by aiming at weak spots or spamming her arrows and dealing purely Physical Damage. Using either build, she is still held back by her low base stats in both Attack and HP. Weak spot builds will definitely need Crit Damage investment as well.
With ATT% as her Ascension Stat, Amber works well in a quick swap team that utilizes her Burst and Skill. At Constellation Two, her ability to manually detonate her Skill is used to great effectiveness. At Constellation Four, her potential is unlocked and can be used in combination with an Anemo character for some high pyro damage.
Xinyan
As one of the best Physical Damage dealers in the game, Xinyan's inclusion as one of the worst Genshin Impact characters may come as a surprise. The reasoning stems from her Constellations needing to be unlocked in order for her damage to reach her true potential.
Xinyan heavily relies on Crits but she also has a Shield, making it confusing for new players needing the extra Defense. Once players know to ignore Defense and see the Shield as a buff for Xinyan, it becomes more apparent when to use it. The properties of the Shield depend on how many enemies are hit, making Xinyan better suited for fighting a group of enemies. Her first Constellation reduces the number of enemies required to have a better Shield, adding to her dependency.
Xinyan's second and fourth Constellations are where she shines. Sweeping Fervor's buff, in particular, makes Xinyan a powerful Physical Damage dealer. Without these Constellations, however, she lacks the reliable level three Shield and the Pyro damage it deals out. She lacks the ability to decrease the enemy's Physical Resistance as well, which is what makes her so good to begin with.
Chongyun
Chongyun is a simple character that has huge potential in the right team composition. While his Constellations don't add much to his own skills, they do make him a fantastic support character. In a Melt or Freeze team, there aren't many characters that can do Chongyun's job better. Once placed in a Physical composition or playing with a Chongyun online, he nerfs many other characters' effectiveness.
Chongyun's second Constellation allows any character that uses their Burst within the circle of his Elemental Skill to have their cooldowns reduced. This adds to his use as a support character but Layered Frost also converts any damage from Swords, Claymores, and Polearms into Cryo damage. This can be valuable on some characters but a Xinyan or Razor will have a huge penalty on their overall damage.
On his own, Chongyun has very slow attacks and relies almost entirely on his Skill to deal damage. Players looking to buff his Cryo damage have to wait for his Elemental Skill, and players focusing entirely on his Attack miss out on the multiplicative bonus of raising both. With the right Artifacts and a good weapon, Chongyun is a welcome addition to any team that doesn't have a Physical Damage dealing DPS.
To know where your favorite Genshin Character ranks, check out the Genshin Impact Character Tier List | All Genshin Impact Characters, Ranked on Pro Game Guides.
Adam Aguilar has been playing a variety of genres since childhood but gravitates towards story driven RPGs like the Final Fantasy series or horror games like the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series. He enjoys analyzing themes found within video games and has been writing about them for over 5 years now. As a Contributing Writer for PGG, Adam has been known to cover anything from Phasmophobia to Genshin Impact!