Wuthering Waves Best Characters, Ranked

Since Wuthering Waves‘ launch, players have spent dozens of hours farming all the characters in the game. But with so many to pick and choose from, it’s important to know where you should be spending your resources. We’ve put together this guide, ranking the best and worst resonators in Wuthering Waves, so you don’t have to worry about which character you should prioritize.

Wuthering Waves Tier List – Best Characters Ranked

The characters on this tier list are rated and measured by their abilities, stats, and overall benefits. We won’t be specifically counting any synergies between characters but instead rating how beneficial these characters are across the board in most standard scenarios.

The ratings for this list are as follows. S Tier characters are the greatest and strongest characters in the game, while D Tier characters are the worst and weakest in Wuthering Waves. The higher the rating, the better the character in their field and across most scenarios. This list was made possible using Wuthering Waves patch 1.2.

S Tier Resonators

• Jiyan – Jiyan is one of the earliest five-star characters in Wuthering Waves, and ever since his debut, the character has been regarded as one of the strongest DPS in the entire game. Jiyan does an insane amount of aero damage to both single targets and multiple enemies and can crowd-control groups of foes, making him a near-flawless DPS.
• Jinhsi – Speaking of flawless characters, Jinhsi is right up there with Jiyan. She does an unbelievable amount of damage, thanks to her skills and resonance liberation. Not to mention, Jinhsi has one of the best-looking models and animations in the game. She’s mobile, powerful, and perfect in any team.
• Verina – Since there aren’t a lot of supporting characters in Wuthering Waves, Verina takes the cake as the best sustain-focused resonator out there. She’s just great at healing and protecting the team from impending doom, and whenever Verina’s around, it’s hard to die. She has strong heals and buffs, and is one of the most important characters to have for every situation.
• Xiangli Yao – Xiangli Yao is one of the newer characters in Wuthering Waves, and he’s officially taken the crown from Calcharo as the strongest electro resonator. Xiangli Yao does a lot of damage, slows enemies down, and features a mobile but impactful fighting style that feels natural.
• Zheshi – At base value, Zheshi’s resonance skill, when stacked with normal attacks, plus her resonance liberation afterward, deals a lot of damage on its own. Add in the buff she provides when switching from that state, and Zheshi not only amplifies the team’s overall damage output but continues to contribute to the battle even when off the field. She’s a terrific sub-DPS.
• Changli – Changli does an insane amount of fusion damage. She’s sort of like Jiyan and Jinhsi, where she really does the work when given the chance. She has little to no flaws as a DPS and constantly proves to be one of the strongest characters in Wuthering Waves.
• Yinlin – If there’s one thing that’ll never go out of style, it’s sub-DPS characters. Yinlin is one of those characters most players will continue to use for years to come. She’s great at dealing electro damage alone, but it’s her off-field damage output that makes her viable across many meta team compositions. Yinlin is another must-have for any player.

A Tier Resonators

• Encore – Encore is what you play when you don’t have Changli. Encore does a lot of fusion damage and can easily melt through mobs of enemies, but she requires a little help with crowd control and sustains to bring the party together. Encore pairs well Yangyang, Sanhua, Verina, and Baizhi.
• Calcharo – Calcharo does a considerable amount of electro damage, but when compared to Xiangli Yao, he doesn’t keep up. Calcharo’s abilities allow him to consistently dish out high bursts of electro damage against enemies, and you really can’t go wrong with that.
• Mortefi – Mortefi is one of the best four-star characters in Wuthering Waves. He’s mostly used as a sub-DPS since he has a liberation skill and outro skill that allow him to make coordinated attacks when switching to another character. This interaction is perfect for characters like Jinhsi, Jiyan, and even Changli since it offers a lot of off-field damage.
• Rover (Havoc) – For those who aren’t as lucky as most players, Rover’s Havoc transformation offers a significant amount of damage as a DPS. Not only does this version of Rover allow players to unleash insane bursts of havoc damage, but it’s an easily-acquirable character that still performs well on the field.
• Baizhi – For those who don’t have Verina, Baizhi is the next alternative. Baizhi does decent heals and offers some sustain for teams who don’t have Verina and need help staying alive. She has attack buffs and burst healing skills but can only heal one character at a time.
• Jianxin – Jianxin is one of the few characters who can pretty much do anything except heal. She’s got a lot of durability, significant damage output, parrying mechanics, and even buffs resonance liberation damage. Overall, she’s great to have if you just need someone who can get you by.
• Danjin – Danjin has a unique fighting style that trades her HP for more damage. She’s terrific at taking down enemies, but you just need to be mindful of her HP. That’s the only catch.

B Tier Resonants

• Sanhua – Sanhua can hold her own in battle, but she primarily shines the brightest as a sub-DPS for most teams wielding characters who utilize basic attack patterns like Jiyan, Calcharo, and Encore. She is a little technical in terms of gameplay, so you will need to learn how to utilize her abilities the best you can, but after mastering her fighting style, Sanhua is a force to be reckoned with.
• Yuanwu – If you’re looking for more electro damage, Yuanwu is a great sub-DPS who functions similarly to Mortefi in the way that he provides coordinated attacks. Beyond that, Yuanwu lacks any other benefits that make him worth tuning.
• Rover (Spectro) – For the first character players will get to enjoy, the Spectro version of Rover is a balanced resonator who can do pretty much anything but heal. While they aren’t strong in any way, they’re good enough to get players through the early-to-mid game phases.

C Tier Resonants

• Lingyang – Lingyang is a technical and subpar DPS that falls short of every other competing resonator. Unfortunately, if you can’t utilize his play style to the best of your ability, he’ll always be falling behind. Even though he does okay damage, he’s just not worth pulling for.
• Yangyang – For most of the early-to-mid game, Yangyang is a beast. But once players pull Yinlin and Zheshi or level up Mortefi or Sanhua, it’s time to change teams. She has decent crowd control and offers some sub-DPS benefits like damage buffs, but she’s just so underwhelming in her category that it’s not even worth putting her in a team. In other words, other characters do their job better.
• Chixia – Chixia is one of those characters who won’t disappoint you with her abilities or gameplay, but you won’t be impressed either. She’s just okay across the board as a DPS.

D Tier Resonants

• Taoqi – Taoqi is terrible compared to every other sub-DPS. She’s way too technical in terms of gameplay, and the shields and damage she offers are underwhelming.
• Aalto – Aalto is another situational character who specifically only works with aero resonators like Jiyan. He basically buffs the team’s aero damage, which works wonders with Jiyan, but beyond that, Aalto has no significant value.

And that’s our list of the best and worst characters in Wuthering Waves. For more helpful guides about Wuthering Waves, feel free to read our articles on how to farm Union EXP or where to find Lampylumen Myriad boss in-game.