Elemental Reactions are a core part of Genshin Impact’s gameplay and combat system and for a long time, Dendro was the missing puzzle piece as it was practically absent from the land of Teyvat. For the majority of the game, Burning was the only known Dendro elemental reaction and we only had a few Dendro enemies. Since there were no playable Dendro characters, players didn’t know what this element had in store.
Cut to Version 3.0 and Sumeru was released as the region of Dendro and the Land of Wisdom. We also got the release of the Dendro element alongside it. After a few patches of getting used to it, we now know that Dendro is meant to act as a catalyst for elemental reactions in the game. If Pyro is represented by ATK, Hydro by HP, Electro by ER, Cryo by CRIT and Geo by DEF, then Dendro is represented by the EM stat. In this article, we’ll take a look at how the complete list of elemental reactions in the game rank against each other in terms of efficiency, versatility and damage.
Elemental Reactions Tier List
Genshin Impact’s elemental interactions are unique and interesting. They are intricate but not too complicated which is why many players get the hang of it pretty early and from then on it’s smooth sailing. Over time, some elemental reactions have come to be hailed as meta due to their high damage scaling or versatility and efficiency in combat.
Though the following list is subjective- they are more or less accurate as to where these elemental reactions currently stand in the game in general for all players.
S-Tier
In this category, we have reactions that are most used in the Spiral Abyss and are favoured by both whales and F2P players due to their damage and utility. All of these reactions can also be enjoyed using 4-star units alone and players don’t have to use dedicated 5-star or 4-star units for using these reactions to the fullest.
- Vaporize (Pyro + Hydro)- Amplified DMG reaction.
- Melt (Pyro + Cryo)- Amplified DMG reaction.
- Swirl (Anemo + Pyro/Cryo/Hydro/Electro)- Crowd Control, RES Shred & elemental reactions by spreading multiple elements to multiple enemies in the vicinity.
- Hyperbloom (Bloom + Electro)- Reliable EM scaling DMG from low investment and it has a homing effect to target nearby enemies.
- Freeze (Cryo + Hydro)- Crowd Control since Frozen enemies cannot move.
A-Tier
In this category, we mainly have the Quicken group of reactions due to their high damage numbers at relatively low investment.
- Aggravate (Quicken + Electro)- Increased Electro DMG.
- Spread (Quicken + Dendro)- Increased Dendro DMG.
- Quicken (Dendro + Electro)- Shreds Electro and Dendro RES.
- Electro-Charged (Hydro + Electro)- Stuns mobs and returns energy in intervals.
Quicken alone saved the Electro element which is supposed to be an aggressive element on par with Pyro and Cryo. Quicken teams are also easy to build and sustain- and even their rotations are easy as you don’t have to think much.
Electro-Charged is also on this tier due to its ability to stun mob enemies and even return some energy in the process. While these reactions may not be as great as those in S-Tier, they still hold their ground on the toughest floors of the Spiral Abyss.
B-Tier
In B-Tier, we have listed elemental reactions with noticeable flaws- in one way or another. While these may not be bad reactions per se, they still fall short on the requirements to consistently beat the Spiral Abyss. Their flaws are only still noticeable in the Spiral Abyss as in the overworld, they are more than enough to clear most content.
- Superconduct (Cryo + Electro)- Physical RES Shred.
- Overloaded (Pyro + Electro)- Mobs suffer knockback.
- Bloom (Dendro + Hydro)- Multiple Bloom Cores have an AoE DMG coverage.
Superconduct is here because Physical DMG is really low on the current meta as a whole. There are also only a few characters who are good with Physical DMG at proper investments (Eula, Razor). Overloaded is more often a hindrance as it knocks back mob enemies thus causing you to chase after them and waste time. Its damage is also not worth it. Bloom may have fantastic sub-reactions but in general Bloom cores take a considerable time to explode and only one character makes Bloom powerful (Nilou) and she’s a limited event 5-star with critical combat design limitations.
C-Tier
In C-tier we have severely flawed or limiting reactions. They are either not worth using or require specific characters to function.
- Crystallize (Geo + Pyro/Hydro/Cryo/Electro)- Limited survivability.
- Burgeon (Bloom + Pyro)- High explosive DMG in an AoE.
The shields from Crystallize are only for show as at best they can tank one blow. The crystals are also difficult to pick up mid-combat. Burgeon on the other hand is a great reaction but as of now only Thoma can use this reaction to its fullest which isn’t good. At least players can expect Burgeon to rank higher in the future as more compatible units are released for this reaction.
D-Tier
The following reactions are almost never used by anyone in the game ever and for good reason.
- Shatter (Frozen + Claymore Attacks)
- Burning (Dendro + Pyro)
At this point, most players have forgotten Shatter even exists. Only Chongyun has this reaction built into his kit and it still remains the most useless reaction in the game. As for Burning, it has low DMG scaling, ruins the flow of other reactions and quickly eats through the valuable Dendro aura.
Burgeon and Burning still remain the two reactions that have a high chance of redemption in the future. Burning could use a buff and Burgeon could use more characters who can utilise it. The upcoming new character- Yaoyao is expected to synergise with Burgeon due to her kit giving her Dendro RES to resist the Burgeon explosions but we’ll see for sure if that’s the case upon her final release.