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Genshin Impact offers a vast cast of characters, each with unique skills, elemental abilities, and lore. At first glance, it seems like you can build any team you want and succeed. But as players dive into Spiral Abyss, high-level bosses, and damage optimization, a pattern emerges: everyone starts chasing the same few characters. The term “meta” dominates online spaces, and tier lists determine who’s worth leveling and who isn’t. This article explores how meta-dependence and tier list culture distort Genshin’s team-building flexibility, especially for newer or free-to-play players.
1. The Rise of the Meta: How It Began
When Genshin Impact launched, the lack of competitive PvP made many believe it would be a casual RPG with flexible builds. However, once Spiral Abyss entered the picture, a form of soft competition emerged. Players began optimizing teams to clear content faster, and a demand for “best builds” skyrocketed.
Content creators, analysts, and theorycrafters soon produced tier lists ranking characters based on damage, utility, and synergy. Characters like Ganyu, Hu Tao, and Bennett rose to the top — while others were dismissed as “unusable” or “just for fun.” Over time, the community began to treat these rankings as gospel.
2. Tier List Culture: Community Influence and Its Consequences
Tier lists serve a useful purpose. They help players prioritize limited resources and understand character strengths. But when taken too seriously, they discourage experimentation and creativity. Many players skip characters they like simply because they’re not S-tier.
This leads to a distorted perception of the game. Characters become commodities, judged not for their gameplay or narrative value but for how well they perform in Abyss floor 12. Worse, these lists often ignore the role of investment — a well-built “low tier” character can outperform an under-built “meta” pick in many cases.
3. The Pressure to Follow the Meta
Genshin’s investment system is costly. Leveling characters, talents, and weapons takes weeks of Resin and resources. Because of this, players are afraid to "waste" materials on characters deemed weak. This fear pushes them to only build meta-approved teams, even if they don’t enjoy the characters.
For example, newcomers are often told to build Bennett, Xingqiu, and Xiangling — regardless of their personal preferences — because these units dominate the meta. While effective, this advice sidelines other characters that could still be viable with enough support and creative play.
4. Overlooking Synergy in Favor of Rankings
Tier lists often rank characters in isolation. But Genshin is a team-based game, where synergy between units matters more than individual power. A “B-tier” unit might enable a unique reaction or create a rotation that turns a mediocre team into a powerful one.
For instance, characters like Fischl or Beidou might not top any tier list, but when paired with Taser or Overload compositions, they become incredibly strong. The problem is that players rarely get to discover these synergies because they’re conditioned to stick to what’s trending on Reddit or YouTube.
5. FOMO and Limited-Time Banners
Genshin’s gacha model feeds into meta obsession. Limited-time banners increase the pressure to pull for new "broken" characters. When players see others clearing Abyss with Neuvillette or Arlecchino, they feel like they have to roll — or be left behind.
This fear of missing out drives people to chase the meta, often at the expense of characters they already own. Instead of mastering their current roster, they’re always preparing for the next big meta shift. This cycle creates dissatisfaction, especially for free-to-play players who can’t afford to chase every banner.
6. The Impact on Character Diversity and Usage
Because tier lists are so dominant, many characters end up being neglected. Characters like Xinyan, Aloy, or Candace are rarely used — not because they’re unplayable, but because the community has labeled them as “bad.”
This leads to stagnation in the player base. Everyone ends up using similar team comps in co-op and videos. Creativity is stifled, and the vast diversity of the cast is underutilized. Genshin has over 80 characters, but fewer than 20 see regular use in endgame content.
7. Spiral Abyss: The Meta Testing Ground
Spiral Abyss is currently the only endgame mode that rewards mechanical performance and efficient team building. As such, it sets the standard for what’s considered meta. However, Abyss content is highly curated and often favors specific elements, enemies, or AoE damage types.
This skews perceptions. A character that excels in exploration, open-world bosses, or event domains may be considered “bad” simply because they underperform in Abyss. The game’s most popular content ends up defining character worth — even though it represents only a small portion of gameplay time.
8. The Burden on New and Free-to-Play Players
New and free-to-play players often suffer the most from tier list culture. They don’t have the luxury of pulling every new 5-star or crafting perfect weapons. When the community tells them that their roster is “trash” because it lacks meta characters, it discourages engagement.
This elitism is damaging. Genshin is a game designed for flexibility — there is no PvP, and there are countless ways to build viable teams. Yet tier list culture tells players that only a few builds are worth using, cutting off exploration and enjoyment.
9. HoYoverse's Role in Shaping the Meta
To their credit, HoYoverse has made some effort to balance older characters through weapon support, new artifacts, or indirect buffs via newer teammates. However, some characters clearly remain underwhelming, while others are overtuned.
Limited-time buffs in events or trial domains show how creative builds could work, but these experiments are rarely carried forward into the live game. Without permanent alternate modes to encourage variety, players remain stuck in the same meta loop — chasing the next top-tier unit.
10. Breaking Free: Encouraging a Healthier Approach
To break the meta obsession, both players and developers need to shift perspectives. For players, that means valuing synergy, fun, and creativity over pure numbers. Building a theme team, like a full Liyue or Anemo squad, can be more rewarding than simply copying a spreadsheet.
For HoYoverse, introducing new modes like rogue-likes, tower defense, or boss rushes with alternate rule sets could open up room for niche characters to shine. If the game rewards creativity as much as raw DPS, the tier list will become just one of many paths to success — not the only one.
Conclusion
Meta and tier lists are not inherently bad — they help structure decision-making and support community learning. But when they become the primary lens through which we view characters, they limit creativity, discourage exploration, and devalue personal enjoyment. Genshin Impact was built as a flexible, character-driven RPG. Players should feel empowered to experiment, not trapped by rankings. Only by shifting away from meta dependency can we rediscover the joy of building teams that reflect our own style, not just the Spiral Abyss leaderboard.
