Genshin Impact Weapon Tier List [May 2024] - GamingScan (2024)

When it comes to weapons in Genshin Impact, their rarity is often an accurate reflection of their power. Any 5* weapon is better than any 4* weapon. And 3* weapons generally aren’t worth using if you’ve got other options. It’s as simple as that.

Part of the reason for this is their main stat ATK value. Most skills in the game scale off of your ATK stat. Weapons of higher rarity simply give more ATK than weapons of lower rarity.

What’s more, the main stat ATK from weapons and the innate ATK from character levels are the only things that calculate towards a character’s base attack.

Weapons and artifacts that give ATK% as the main stat or substat only take the character’s base attack into the equation. So the bigger the ATK number on the weapon, the more DMG you’ll get from all the percentage-based ATK bonuses.

We did still rank all 3* weapons to help new F2P players optimize their starting experience!

After all, there are some standouts among the 3* crowd. Albedo famously has the 3* Harbinger of Dawn Sword as his best-in-slot, outperforming even 5* weapons. But these are exceptions, not rules.

How Should You Evaluate Weapons?

When picking a weapon, also important to look at what stats your character needs. All weapons give flat ATK, but they also feature one of the following substats: Elemental Mastery, ATK%, DEF%, HP%, CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, Elemental Recharge, and Physical DMG.

Unless you’re using the best weapon for a given character, you should pick a weapon with a substat that patches a hole left in your stats by artifacts. This will make your character more well-rounded.

Lastly, every weapon has a passive effect. The impact of these passive effects can range from inconsequential to incredible.

Through refinement, you can increase the potency of these effects up to four times by feeding them duplicate items. This isn’t done in the enhance window! The enhance window is for leveling up weapons; the refine window is for refining them.

Ranking Criteria

When compiling this weapon tier list, we made sure to keep flat ATK, substats, and passives all in mind, all of which will be displayed. We will show the ATK value of the weapon at level 1.

Since all weapons use the same multipliers as they level up, this is an easy way to compare their damage with numbers that aren’t blown out of proportion.

We also took into consideration how many characters can make good use of each weapon. If a weapon simply shines in the hands of one or two characters, but all the other characters who can use it don’t want anything to do with it, it gets a lower rating.

Furthermore, if several weapons serve the same purpose (i.e. Energy Recharge for supports) we tried to give one of them a higher ranking than the others to distinguish the clear standouts.

Finally, let it be known that all weapons within a certain tier are treated as equal! Sometimes their placement may lead you to believe we scored weapons relative to one another in a given tier, but we didn’t. After all, every tier will have its fair share of support weapons and damage weapons, and you can’t really compare these two by any meaningful metric.

To keep things simple and intelligible, we made a separate tier list for every weapon type, since it doesn’t matter how a Claymore compares to a Bow.

Claymores

S-Tier

Even among 5* weapons, some are better than others. These Claymores are the best of the best.

Wolf’s Gravestone is a Claymore that every DPS wants. Both its substat and its passive increase ATK%, but the passive also has a proc that can increase Base ATK for the entire party.

Increasing Base ATK is a massive buff that nets you more value out of all of your multipliers. So while this weapon may appear to have less damage than some other 5* Claymores, in reality, it probably does more damage. Even supports won’t mind having it just to proc the passive.

Despite giving more base DMG than Wolf’s Gravestone, Skyward Pride does less DMG overall.

That’s because it’s not a weapon designed for DPS characters. The Energy Recharge and fun passive cater more towards a support playstyle. And any support will be more than happy to equip this item.

A-Tier

These 5* Claymores have the potential to be S-Tier but aren’t as universally useful.

The Unforged can outdo Wolf’s Gravestone in terms of DMG if you can get it to max stacks and maintain a shield. Only here’s the thing – the number of Claymore characters that are built around using a shield is exactly one, and that one is Noelle who can get as much mileage out of an r5 Whiteblind at c6.

Of course, the shield can be made by any support instead. But the fact that this weapon needs time to get going and that it needs to be built around bumps it down to A-Tier.

At level 1, the Song of Broken Pines only gives 3 more DMG compared to Wolf’s Gravestone and the Unforged, but the margin only grows wider and wider as the weapons make their way to level 90!

It also gives both Physical DMG and ATK%, which is generally better than going all-in on one stat. And if that wasn’t enough, proccing the passive also increases Normal ATK speed, letting all Claymore users attack as quickly as Razor with his Burst. There’s only one reason this weapon isn’t in S-Tier – some characters just don’t want Physical DMG.

B-Tier

These are the most reliable 4* Claymores in the game.

Serpents Spine could have gone into the A-Tier. Generally speaking, CRIT Rate is the best substat a weapon could have. And in terms of damage, the Serpent Spine scales incredibly well. It also gets a huge DMG boost from additional refinements, which you can reliably get from purchasing the Battle Pass. At r5, it actually does more DMG than some 5* weapons.

The reason we put it in B-Tier is just that, come endgame, avoiding damage becomes increasingly difficult. In higher Abyss Floors you have to worry about environmental damage in addition to your enemies. Plus, with the introduction of bleed mechanics, not even Zhongli’s shield can make you immune to this. And each instance of damage you take, no matter how small, will make the Serpent Spine worse. In one sentence: It’s a high-risk high-reward weapon.

For characters who only want to increase the DMG of their Elemental Burst, Amuoumaru is a 5* in disguise, especially with refinement. Put this on Beidou, whose godly off-field Burst DPS keeps her relevant despite being an Electro character, and watch your jaw drop as massive purple DMG numbers flood your screen.

This isn’t to say that the weapon is only good for non-right clickers. With a relatively high base ATK a good ATK% scaling, your right clicker will still dish out respectable 4*-tier DMG. But the following option is still better suited for maximizing their DMG:

Prototype Animus is a very safe choice in terms of 4* Claymores. Everyone can benefit from the ATK% substat.

DPS characters will love critting with the passive proc. And support characters can use it to get a couple of swings in and go off-field as soon as they proc the extra damage.

Favonius Greatsword is the go-to support Claymore option, with decent stats, Energy Recharge, and even a built-in way to accelerate energy acquisition.

A CRIT DMG weapon that you can easily get to refinement 5 and that has a built-in way of increasing ATK%?

Sign us up.

Unlike the Royal Greatsword, the Blackcliff Slasher is actually worth the Starglitter! At maximum stacks, the damage of this weapon encroaches upon 5* territory. Unfortunately, you can’t get any value out of the passive when fighting Bosses.

C-Tier

These Claymores can certainly shine, but they need the right light.

The only 4* weapon to feature DEF% as its substat, Whiteblind is a Claymore that most characters actively avoid.

The fact that the passive increases Base ATK and DEF makes you feel slightly better about using this weapon. However, in the hands of a c6 Noelle, it’s A-Tier, believe it or not.

*Deep sigh…*

This weapon isn’t bad. It edges out Prototype Archaic on most Claymore users who care about their Burst. It you already have a Prototype Archaic, then you needn’t bother with this—the difference really is marginal. The reason it’s in C-Tier is that it got completely power crept by Akuoumaru, which can give a heftier Burst DMG bonus at r1 than the Sea-lord can at r5.

And we appreciate this. If you like having a meme weapon in your game, you can knock yourself out; if you don’t, you can rest easy knowing that you aren’t throwing anything away because you refuse to use it.

The craftable Inazuma Claymore seems better on paper than in practice. It’s still an amazing option for Claymore users in need of Energy Recharge, but of all of them only Beidou is able to really abuse the passive. The Nagamasa is definitely a weapon to watch out for, as its stock can easily rise with the release of new Claymore characters.

Snow-Tombed Starsilver is, in most cases, a worse Prototype Archaic. Not even all Physical DMG characters will prefer this, only Cryo Physical DMG characters, i.e. Eula.

If you consider that both weapons are craftable and that Northlander Claymore Billets used to craft Claymores have abysmal drop rates, we just don’t see why you would pick this over the Archaic.

Sacrificial Greatsword is a B-Tier support Claymore on characters like Chongyun who play around their Elemental Skill.

But most Claymore supports in need of an Energy Recharge weapon would rather have the Favonius Greatsword.

Lithic Blade sounds like one of those 4* that can be abused with the right build. And it can. In an all-Liyue build, it offers anywhere between 12% and 28% CRIT Rate.

That alone would land it in B-Tier at higher refinements. But the weapon requires you to build your entire team around it, so it only works in specific situations. It does get better with refinement than most other weapons though.

Surprised to see a 3* weapon this high on the list? Skyrider Greatsword is easily the best 3* Claymore in the game.

Its base DMG may be low, but you can effortlessly build up the stacks on its passive for a sizeable 40% ATK buff. The assumption is that you have this weapon at r5, of course.

D-Tier

They’re better than nothing, but you should avoid these Claymores if at all possible.

The Bell is commonly regarded as the worst 4* weapon in the entire game, and for good reason.

Claymore characters don’t want HP% as a substat and they would rather do anything else than proc a shield every once in a while. Depending on the character, you may even want to run a 3* Claymore over the Bell.

Royal Greatsword is one of the two Claymores that can be exchanged for Starglitter – a currency that’s hard to come by.

It would be C-Tier if it didn’t cost Starglitter. Guaranteeing a crit every few hits even without a high CRIT Rate sounds good, but it’s not worth the Starglitter.

To get the most out of this Claymore you need to keep enemies afflicted with either Hydro or Electro. But the substat here is Elemental Mastery – a stat that increases the DMG of Elemental Reactions.

And procing Elemental Reactions removed Elemental afflictions. Do you see the problem here? Hard pass! And yes, we know that Electro-Charged doesn’t remove afflictions, but that’s the worst reaction in the game.

Debate Club is a miniature Prototype Archaic. As a F2P player, it’s the best option Claymore characters have at the beginning of the game when you lack 4* options.

E-Tier

Just don’t…

Only Noelle wants DEF from her weapons, and even F2P players can craft her a Whiteblind for free.

Increasing Base ATK is amazing, but even with that the rest of the sword just offers too little.

Given the Stamina requirements, the Charged Attack DMG buff doesn’t even make up for the HP% substat.

Rainslasher is already a D-Tier weapon and this is just a strictly worse Rainslasher.

Bows

S-Tier

All 5* Bows are good, but these just stand out!

Skyward Harp is considered to be the best Skyward weapon by a long shot. This is mainly due to it having CRIT Rate as a substat.

Not only that, the passive also increases CRIT DMG and gives crits a favorable chance to inflict additional DMG in a small AoE once every few seconds. It just doesn’t get any better than this. There are certainly other 5* bows that can do more DMG in the right hands, but nothing is as universally good as Skyward Harp.

Elegy of the End is an amazing 5* bow for supports. Energy Recharge is always a worthwhile stat to have, and how can you not love getting a party-wide buff to Elemental Mastery and ATK%?

Some characters will have a harder time getting the passive to proc than others, but in most cases, you can count on having this buff during every encounter.

A-Tier

These Bows are S-Tier on some characters, but not all of them.

The official description for this weapon’s passive is a mess, so here’s the TL;DR:

You get a flat increase to your Skill and Burst DMG. In addition to this, whenever you use a Normal Attack/Charged Attack/Elemental Skill/Elemental Burst, you get a stacking ATK% buff for 12s.

Given that Childe is the only character who can effortlessly get max stacks on this weapon, it’s obviously the best weapon for him, but on most other characters you will have to adopt some unusual play patterns to maximize the usefulness of this bow, and even then you likely won’t reach its maximum potential. Despite being powerful, not every character wants it, and this is why, even though it sports that juicy CRIT Rate substat, Polar Star goes into A-Tier.

Every bow character can make use of the DMG amplification abilities of this bow, but it’s only S-Tier in the hands of Ganyu.

At face-value, Thundering Pulse appears as an instant S-Tier bow – it gives CRIT DMG and a huge buff to Normal Attacks.

But therein lies the issue with this bows applicability. Many Bow users, like Venti or sub-DPS Fischl, don’t use Normal Attacks but instead rely solely on their abilities. And then there are characters like Ganyu or Amber who are all about that Charged Attack DMG. On characters who want to Normal Attack at the exclusion of everything else, the bow is S-Tier, but there aren’t many characters like that in the game.

B-Tier

As far as 4* Bows go, it doesn’t get any better than this.

The DMG buff this bow provides for your Skills and Bursts is massive.

The overall impact falls off if your character also likes to do a lot of Normal or Charged Attacks for damage, but many support Bow characters just want to swap in, use their abilities, and get out.

Compared to other Battle Pass weapons, the Viridescent Hunt scales rather poorly. But that doesn’t stop it from being one of the best 4* weapons in the game.

Such is the power of CRIT Rate as a substat! In terms of its passive, the damage it provides is decent but not worth refining. That said, the crowd control is nice for grouping up enemies and setting up big Bursts.

Rust is the opposite of the Stringless. The more your character relies on their Skill and Burst, the less they want this.

But on characters who are all about Normal Attacks, like Childe, Rust offers 5* DMG.

Alley Hunter is never a bad option for bow characters that you only want to swap in for a short while.

The damage buff is more difficult to maintain than something that’s always on, like the Stringless passive, but like the Stringless it offers a buff to overall DMG and not only the ATK%. If you have a character whose abilities let them continue to do DMG even when they aren’t active this gets even better.

C-Tier

These Bows can be incredible but require very specific characters.

The event-exclusive Windblume Ode is just an all-around solid weapon, especially if you used the opportunity to take it to r5 just by participating in the event.

It’s good on both supports and DPS characters with a focus on Elemental Masteries.

Hamayumi seems like a weapon that’s just waiting for the right character to abuse it, but at the moment there is no such character in the game. Most bow users either focus on Normal Attacks or Charged Attacks, rendering this jack-of-all trades approach inferior to something more specialized like Rust. That said, Hamayumi is craftable, so if you don’t have these more specialized options, this is a great alternative.

In theory, every Bow user who wants more uptime on their Skill and quicker access to their Bursts should want this weapon.

But there’s just such a wide selection of amazing 4* Bows, and each Bow user would prefer something else as their first choice.

Does your character rely on both Physical DMG Normal Attacks and their Elemental Skill (but not their Elemental Burst) for damage?

If so, there’s no single 4* bow that can compete with the Mitternachts Waltz. But due to how narrow the requirements for it are, we have no choice but to put it in C-Tier.

Normally, we place Favonius weapons in B-Tier. But what can we say… the 4* Bow competition is very tough.

No support character will feel bad about using this bow, but there are better options.

Compound Bow is the poor man’s Rust – a great option for any DPS character that focuses on Normal Attacks (and in this case Aimed Shots).

Blackcliff Warbow is actually worth spending Starglitter on. In other weapon categories, Blackcliff weapons usually make the B-Tier.

CRIT DMG on a stick is always amazing, and if you can get the passive to max stacks you’ll do 5* worth of damage. But with so many great Bows to choose from, it’s better to hoard your Starglitter for characters.

While the Claymore and Spear belonging to this weapon series are both excellent, the Bow falls short for one simple reason: No bow user cares about their burst nearly as much.

D-Tier

These Bows are great options for new F2P players lacking any of the above weapons.

Slingshot is the best 3* bow in the game. You should never underestimate the power of CRIT Rate. And if you get close and personal with your enemies, you get a very sizeable DMG buff as well.

If you can get enough CRIT Rate, the CRIT DMG provided by this weapon will make up for its 3* base ATK.

At r5, it does more DMG than Prototype Crescent, a 4* bow that requires precious Billets to craft. Stick to this weapon if you feel like playing the mini-game of hit the enemy in the eye.

Did you know not all enemies in Genshin Impact have weak points? So against some enemies, this is E-Tier.

But the passive buff is worth it if you can proc it, especially with refinement. It also requires a slower and less optimized playstyle that’s not to most players’ liking, especially on Mobile.

E-Tier

These are the weapons you feed to your other weapons.

Royal weapons are just not worth the Starglitter needed to buy them, least of all the Royal Bow.

It doesn’t do E-Tier DMG, but just buy the Blackcliff Bow instead if you feel like spending your hard-earned Starglitter.

Nothing about this weapon is good…

You want to keep your opponents continuously afflicted with elements and you want to rely on Elemental Reactions? Those two ideas don’t mix well.

This has got to be the most fun passive in this entire Tier List. If not for the long cooldown, it would’ve made at least C-Tier.

It breaks our hearts to put it in E-Tier, but that’s where it belongs… Do try it out if you want to grab screenshots of some insane damage numbers, especially with Amber doing a Charged Attack against Frozen enemies’ weak spots.

Let’s face it, no one is swapping to this weapon every time they encounter a specific enemy.

Swords

S-Tier

If you could choose your 5* Swords you should choose these.

Primordial Jade Cutter is easily the best and most universally usable 5* Sword. At level 90, it gives enough CRIT Rate on its own that you won’t have to worry about this stat at all.

On its own, the HP% would be bad, but seeing as it also increases your ATK based on Max HP it’s a welcome addition to any character.

On DPS sword characters who rely on Elemental Infusions like Ayaka and Keqing, Mistsplitter Reforged is the S-Tier Sword to end all S-Tier Swords. It has a massive base ATK, CRIT DMG as the substat, and the ability to buff Elemental DMG twice with the passive. At r1, you can get up to +40% Elemental DMG, which is just insane.

But even characters without Elemental infusions will love this sword for its CRIT DMG substat and the ability to buff up their Elemental Skill and Burst, which in all likelihood do Elemental DMG.

This is the best 5* sword for supports. Its party-wide buff is amazing and easy to proc.

And it even enables your supports to do some more damage, in case you feel like having some fun with your enemies.

A-Tier

All of these weapons could be S-Tier if the Primordial Jade Cutter wasn’t so incredible.

There are exactly zero Sword characters that function around making a shield.

Of course, you can rely on another character to provide the shield, but at that point, you’re building your team around a weapon instead of just using the weapon to make any team stronger. Nevertheless, if you go through this effort you’ll be well rewarded!

For Physical DPS characters, Aquila Favonia is incredible. It has a huge base ATK, it gives both additional Physical DMG and ATK%, and the proc on its passive helps you out of tough spots by healing you and damaging enemies in an AoE when you start taking damage.

Unfortunately, some of the best Sword DPS characters like Keqing and Ayaka would rather do Elemental DMG than Physical DMG.

You’d think Skyward Blade is a support weapon, but your character needs to stay on the field to reap the benefits of the passive.

The DMG boost you get after using your Burst is significant, and the Energy Recharge makes it so that you can get to your Burst quicker, but it all just feels a bit all over the place. It’s still a 5* weapon so it’s better than all 4* swords, but we would take any other 5* sword over this one if given the chance.

B-Tier

These weapons put other 4* Swords to shame.

Many players consider the Black Sword to be an honorary 5* weapon. CRIT Rate is amazing, as always, but it also increases Normal and Charged Attacks by a sizeable amount.

The fact that it also heals you every 5 seconds is just the cherry on top.

Festering Desire is almost like a Stringless bow for sword users. On characters whose primary source of damage comes from their Elemental Skill (like Geo Traveler), this weapon is a must-have.

Or give it to any support and they’ll appreciate it. We just hope players who weren’t around during patch 1.2 when this weapon was given as an event reward will still be able to obtain it somehow.

The massive base ATK and loads of CRIT DMG alone are enough to land Blackcliff Longsword a place in the B-Tier.

If you can sustain max stacks on the passive, it will do more damage than any other 4* sword. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to use the passive when facing single enemies.

Amenoma Kageuchi is a great 4* option for DPS characters who need a way to accelerate their Energy gain without gimping their damage potential by wasting an artifact main stat or weapon substat on Energy Recharge. Only characters with super long cooldowns on their Elemental Skill would not want this – think Xingqiu or Qiqi. Its base ATK may be low, but the ATK% scaling on it is S-Tier.

It is, admittedly, a bit lacklustre at r1, but as a craftable weapon, the Amenoma is a solid choice for beginner players looking to invest in a versatile weapon that most characters can use and that can be easily refined.

C-Tier

These weapons can be B-Tier in the right hands.

The Flute is an incredibly fun Sword to use. The passive isn’t limited by any cooldown, so you’ll keep procing AoE DMG as long as you keep attacking your enemies. It’s an all-around great weapon that’s just outshined by many of the B-Tier options.

The only sword that has a higher base ATK than the Alley Flash is the Aquila Favonia. That’s right, it has more base ATK than any of the other 5* weapons! And its passive even further increases all DMG dealt by the character using this weapon.

Unfortunately, the passive goes away if you take damage. It’s a high-risk high-reward weapon that can do A-Tier DMG if used properly but will fail to reach its full potential in most cases.

Every character who wants to get closer to their Elemental Burst will appreciate having a Favonius Sword. It pales in comparison to the Festering Desire, so that’s why it was demoted to C-Tier. If you don’t have Festering Desire, consider it a B-Tier option.

This is a great weapon for supports who really care about resetting the cooldown on their Elemental Skill (like Qiqi or perhaps Xinqiu), but most Sword supports will prefer the Favonius Sword if given the choice.

Not only does this weapon have a ridiculously high base ATK, its passive also increases its base ATK (and DEF) even more as you start whaling on your enemies.

If your DPS does Physical DMG, this craftable weapon is easily B-Tier.

If you need Elemental Mastery as a substat, this weapon is a great option.

Otherwise, the DMG granted by the passive isn’t enough to make up for the DMG lost by having Elemental Mastery as the substat.

What could be better than a weapon that gives CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG? A weapon that does both! Don’t let the 3* nature of this sword fool you – it has the potential to outdamage many 4* weapons.

You do have to play around keeping your character above 90% HP, but the results are well worth it. On Albedo, this weapon is A-Tier or maybe even S-Tier, and we don’t say this lightly – you would rather have an r5 Harbinger of Dawn than any r1 5* weapon.

D-Tier

It’s better than nothing, but not by a lot.

This is a PlayStation exclusive sword. On all characters but the Traveler, it has a rather low base ATK. The passive is not bad at all, especially if used by the Traveler. But here’s the catch: The passive only works when playing on a PlayStation.

You can’t even use cross-save to get this weapon on a PS4/PS5 and then use it on PC or Mobile. If you’re playing on a PlayStation and you use the Traveler on your team as a DPS, then and only then is this weapon maybe B-Tier.

The damage potential of this weapon is huge, but realizing this potential to its fullest is next to impossible.

The Royal Longsword would rank in C-Tier if only it didn’t cost precious Starglitter.

If you’re a F2P beginner who’s still missing 4* swords this is the most reliable support option for you.

Another reliable 3* option, this time for DPS characters. Harbinger of Dawn has a way higher ceiling, but if you’re finding it difficult to keep your HP up it’s better to use this instead.

E-Tier

Even F2P beginners have better options.

This is just bad… inexcusably, unequivocally bad…

Sounds good, doesn’t work.

This weapon has promise, but it doesn’t do enough to get to D-Tier.

Catalysts

S-Tier

Every Catalyst user wants a piece of these weapons.

This is hands-down the best catalyst for DPS characters.

The passive bonus to Elemental DMG takes time to ramp up and only works while your character is active, but the added Movement Speed will make it easier to stay alive without needing to switch to other characters. And, of course, CRIT Rate is still the one stat to rule them all.

A-Tier

These will do if you got unlucky on the weapons banner.

We’re not sure why the folks at miHoYo felt so strongly that they needed to release almost all weapons in this set so soon.

Surely, we’ll get characters of all weapons that play around Shields eventually. You can get an insane buff to your DMG if you build your team around this weapon, but the fact that you need to build an entire team around it stops it from being S-Tier.

Skyward Atlas is the best 5* catalyst for supports, but only because there are no truly great support catalysts. It gives less Elemental DMG than the Lost Prayer, but the buff is always active.

And much like Fischl’s Oz, the proc from this passive will stay on the field and continue to do DMG even when you switch characters. It will even follow you around.

B-Tier

There’s no Catalyst user that doesn’t want one of these weapons.

The Widsith has one of the most interesting passives in the game. Sure, you don’t know which of the 3 buffs you will get, but this hardly matters since they’re all amazing.

And then there’s the CRIT DMG substat. It does take some skill to reach the DMG ceiling of this weapon – you need to identify which song was procced and adjust your attacks accordingly. But the DMG floor is still incredibly high, so you can just do the same thing regardless of which buff you have and still achieve great results.

It’s such a shame the passive doesn’t buff Charged Attacks as well. Many great Cayalyst DPS characters like Ningguang and Yanfei are built around using their Charged Attacks. Nevertheless, the buffs this does prove are amazing, and the CRIT Rate substat is always appreciated.

The fact that the passive causes Elemental Reactions to increase your Elemental DMG is what sells us on this weapon.

You can’t go wrong with giving Catalyst users more Elemental DMG. And aside from Ningguang, they are all adept at creating impactful Elemental Reactions, so the Elemental Mastery substat is also great.

Wine and Song is a very versatile weapon. Support characters love their Energy Recharge weapons, and unlike the Favonius Codex or the Sacrificial Fragment, Wind and Song can also effortlessly increase their ATK.

C-Tier

These Catalysts can be incredible in the right situations.

We have never placed a 5* weapon below A-Tier until now, but Everlasting Moonglow is just bad.
As a Catalyst with HP scaling and increased Healing Bonus, the weapon is obviously intended for Kokomi, but even on her, it’s not that much better than Prototype Amber.

The high base ATK is still there, but it’s not enough to redeem a limited 5* catalyst that pretty much no catalyst user wants to use.
Can it outperform some B-Tier weapons? Absolutely!
But it needs the right situation to be incredible, which is how we’ve defined the C-Tier for catalysts.

On characters that get more damage out of their Normal and Charged Attacks than their Skill and Burst, this weapon is even better than Solar Pearl.

But there aren’t very many characters that fit this exact description.

This is the best weapon you could equip on Barbara, as her healing scales with HP.

Other support characters won’t be able to make use of the HP% substat nearly as well, but you won’t mind that in the least when your main DPS is walking around with that sweet +48% ATK buff.

Like all Favonius weapons, the Codex is great for supports in need of more Energy Recharge.

Most Sacrificial weapons give Energy Recharge, but Sacrificial Fragment offers Elemental Mastery.

This makes it more suitable for DPS characters who want to reset the cooldowns on their Elemental Skills. At the moment, Sucrose is the only Catalyst user who cares for this effect, but we may get more in the future.

Eye of Perception is a solid option for DPS characters. There’s nothing wrong with it.

It increases ATK% and the proc does a lot if you’re fighting multiple enemies. But you just have so many better options.

Normally, we put Blackcliff weapons in B-Tier. But there’s already a Catalyst that gives CRIT DMG – the Widsith.

And unlike the Blackcliff Amulet, you can rely on its passive regardless of whether you’re fighting a single Boss or an army of lowly hilichurls.

D-Tier

When it comes to Catalysts, know that D-Tier options are even worse than with other weapons.

Catalyst users have more amazing 4* DPS weapons than most other weapon users.

Even if you somehow don’t own any of them, it’s better to spend the Starglitter needed to purchase this weapon on a Blackcliff Amulet.

Hakushin Ring would have arguably been the best 4* Energy Recharge catalyst for support characters if its passive wasn’t limited to Electro Reactions. If you can meet its requirements, you will be well rewarded. Not only will the catalyst user be able to cast their Burst more efficiently, they will also buff Elemental DMG for themselves and hopefully your DPS as well. But the requirements are just too restrictive to make the item worth investing in.

On paper, this seems like it would be an amazing catalyst for any support. The only problem is, supports would ideally want Energy Recharge or Elemental Mastery as a substat.

Only Barbara scales with HP, and she’s much more useful with the Thrilling Tales of the Dragonslayer. So seeing as a 3* weapon is more valuable than this craftable 4* catalysts, it’s best not to waste precious billets crafting Prototype Ambers.

This item would be simply amazing on a Cryo Catalyst DPS.

There’s only one problem – there’s not a single Cryo Catalyst users in the game, DPS or otherwise.

If you need a 3* Catalyst to give to your main DPS, Twin Nephrite is a solid choice.

The CRIT Rate substat carries it and the passive is alright.

All Catalyst users use Elemental DMG, so this Catalyst adds more damage than meets the eye.

Just don’t equip it to Ningguang, as Elemental Mastery is wasted on her.

E-Tier

Useless junk.

The idea here is to give this to a Hydro Catalyst user and have them grow in power as they cause Elemental Reactions.

But even if you run Mona as a DPS it’s just not worth it.

All passives of this kind are bad and this one is no exception.

Polearms

S-Tier

These Polearms will trivialize content.

Staff of Homa isn’t just the best Polearm in the game, it may well be the best 5* weapon in the game.

The amount of damage it adds to any character is insane so long as you keep them below 50% HP. And it even adds CRIT DMG on top of that.

While not as busted as the Staff of Homa, the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear is still an incredible weapon, with CRIT Rate as a substat and loads of additional damage through the passive.

Polearm users are famous for their swift attacks, so it doesn’t take long to hit enemies 7 times for maximum stacks.

A-Tier

5* Polearms have their winners and their losers.

Even Zhongli gets more value out of the Staff of Home than the Vortex Vanquisher – a weapon literally made for him.

A 5* weapon is a 5* weapon, and you shouldn’t underestimate how immense the damage buff gets at max stacks with a shield on. But we wouldn’t go out of our way to wish for this weapon, even though we’d still enjoy using it.

It’s not often that a 5* weapon is absolutely amazing on one character and simply mediocre on most others, but such is the case with Engulfing Lightning. On Raiden Shogun, this is the 5* weapon to end all 5* weapons.

Other characters who want to use the Emblem of Severed Fate set bonus, like Xiangling, can also benefit from it, but most Polearm users would rather equip another 5* if given the choice.

The base ATK is great and so is the passive. Even the AoE DMG can proc very frequently. But any other Polearm is a better option for a DPS character.

And frankly, it’s not like supports get some insane value out of it either. This is one of the most feels-bad 5* weapons in the entire game.

B-Tier

These are the best 4* Polearms and they’re all reliably attainable by F2P players.

Crescent Pike is the best craftable weapon in the game and arguably the best 4* weapon in the game. Physical DMG sounds like it would be a problematic substat in some cases, but most Polearm DPS characters do rely on Physical DMG!

It’s not that difficult to proc the passive, and once you do proc it you’ll be hitting like a truck. This is one of those weapons that deals 5* DMG and unlike the Blackcliff weapons you can rely on its passive at all times.

Continuing the trend of giving Polearm users 4* options that rival 5* weapons, we’ve got Wavebreaker’s Fin. It actually has more base ATK than Engulfing Lightning, Vortex Vanquisher, and Staff of Homa. Couple this with a super powerful passive that several Polearm characters would kill for, and you’ve got yourself a top tier 4* option. On the right characters, this will do 5* amounts of DMG, especially at higher refinement.

This free 4* weapon obtainable through fishing is an absolute chore to grind for, but definitely worth it for anyone who does so. On Polearm characters who derive most of their DMG from their Elemental Burst—Xiangling and Baal—this is a 5* in disguise. That said, any support or Sub-DPS who needs the Energy Recharge will appreciate wielding the Catch.

It’s hard to get hyped about this weapon when it has to compete with the Crescent Pike. Nevertheless, it does offer some different perks. On the one hand, it increases all DMG, not just that of Normal and Charged Attacks.

On the other hand, the buff may as well not exist when facing single Bosses. Like the Crescent Pike, it can do DMG comparable to 5* weapons, but you need to keep it at max stacks for this.

Deathmatch has a rather low base ATK, but it makes up for this by going ham on the CRIT Rate. The passive also helps make up for this low ATK by giving a bonus to ATK%.

And if you’re facing a single Boss enemy, you get double the ATK%. Just try it out. We know we all instinctively turn away from lower ATK weapons, but Deathmatch can still do B-Tier DMG. It’s not its fault that two other 4* Polearms almost do 5* DMG.

C-Tier

You could do worse, but you could easily do better… for free!

Normally when supports need Energy Recharge they turn to Favonius weapons, but Polearm users have the Prototype Starglitter instead.

It’s craftable, so everyone can use it. You may argue that the passive is more geared towards DPS characters, and that is true, but it’s not like you’re losing much by not having the Favonius passive.

Kitain Cross Spear is only the second Elemental Mastery Polearm ever added to the game, and the first one – Dragon’s Bane – is quite restrictive. This alone would’ve made it the best option for all Polearm users in need of Elemental Mastery, but it also has a rather useful passive on top of that. Granted, not many current Polearm users care for Elemental Mastery, but we’re getting new characters every patch and some of them are bound to want EM.

If all you care about is how quickly you can get your Energy from zero to full, Favonius Lance is irreplaceable.

But even then, unless you’re critting with your Skill or Burst, you have to throw a couple of Normal Attacks to get the passive to proc. So in general, it’s better to invest in the free Prototype Starglitter.

With so many amazing 4* options for DPS characters, it just doesn’t seem worthwhile going through the trouble of building a team around this weapon.

Sure, you can get good damage, but both the Crescent Pike and Blackcliff Pole do more DMG and they’re easier to obtain. And if you need CRIT Rate, Deathmatch will give you more CRIT Rate than an r5 Lithic Spear in an all-Liyue team.

Bane effects just aren’t good. But Dragon’s Bane is one of the the only two Polearm that gives Elemental Mastery. Plus, the elements it supports both have to do with Vaporize. That’s why it’s not in D-Tier.

If you need Elemental Mastery, this is an okay option, but not better than the Kitain Cross Spear.

D-Tier

Another selection of F2P-friendly weapons, only much less powerful.

It’s hard not to compare this weapon to Crescent Pike. They’re both craftable Polearms that increase Physical DMG.

Only Crescent Pike has an incomparably better passive. Even Rosaria, a Cryo Physical DMG Polearm user, would prefer Crescent Pike. This just isn’t worth crafting.

If Dragonspine Spear is bad because it requires the same resource to obtain as Crescent Pike, Royal Spear is bad because it requires the same resource to obtain as Blackcliff Pole.

Design-wise they don’t share many similarities, but Blackcliff Pole just stands head and shoulders above this weapon.

We like how no-nonsense White Tassel is. Sure, it’s a 3* weapon so it won’t scale great. But if you mostly just want to Normal Attack, this weapon is has a lot to offer.

What’s more, you’ll effortlessly get it to r5 while trying to obtain better weapons. Oh, and did we mention the CRIT Rate?

Halberd is just a solid generic 3* weapon. It’s serviceable on a main DPS.

And you won’t mind giving it to supports to let them stay on the field just long enough to proc the passive.

E-Tier

And the award for the worse Polearm in Genshin Impact goes to:

It should tell you something about how good Polearms in this game are when there’s only one E-Tier Polearm.

That said, every weapon type needs its rejects, and here that’s clearly Black Tassel, with a horrendous substat and a Bane passive that makes most other Bane passives look good.

Where Is F-Tier?

In our character Tier List, we omitted adding in the F-Tier category because we do believe that every character in this game can be made good (if not great) with proper itemization, playstyle, and team composition. Amber and Xinyan are the two most famous examples of characters often thrown into the F-Tier like yesterday’s garbage, but folks who have invested time and resources into upgrading these characters have managed to do some amazing things with them.

So the way we see it, there are no F-Tier characters in Genshin Impact.

That said, there are most definitely F-Tier weapons in this game. This includes all 1* and 2* weapons.

In addition to their abhorrent ATK, 1* and 2* weapons don’t feature any substats or passives whatsoever. So no matter how bad a 3* weapon may be – and there are some truly awful weapons out there – it’s still exponentially better than any 1* or 2* weapon. But since they don’t have any substats or passives there would be nothing for us to say, except give this speech a total of 10 times. So we saved it all for now.

Conclusion

There aren’t enough resources in Genshin Impact to level up all weapons, so this list will help you decide which weapons to focus on.

But remember, weapons aren’t all there is to optimizing characters. Artifacts play an arguably bigger role here. So if you want to take your game to the next level make sure to check out our guide on the best artifacts for each character in Genshin Impact.

Of course, it’s great knowing what the best weapons and artifacts for certain characters are, but you also need to obtain those characters before you can use them. You can learn all about getting the characters you want by clicking here.

In any case, we hope our guides will enhance your enjoyment of the game. We’ll see you next time you obtain a new weapon. And until then, have fun!