Summary
Every year,Genshin Impactcelebrates its most awaited Lantern Rite in Liyue, an event full of lights, minigames, and appearances from multiple characters. For you, this also means two things: you’ll get more Primogems and a chance to pick a free four-star character.
Unlike other events that give a specific four-star character for free, the Lantern Rite is a special event that lets you choose between all the four-star characters from Liyue. This, of course, consists of some very powerful supports and DMG dealers. Make sure to choose your free character wisely, as this opportunity only comes once a year.
10Xinyan
Xinyanwas one of the first new four-star characters released after the game’s launch, along with Diona. Since then, she hasn’t really seen the spotlight due to her split scaling of ATK and DEF, and being rather mediocre in all her intended roles.
Her Elemental Skill produces a shield that scales off of her DEF, while all her DMG scales with her ATK. This means you’ll need to sacrifice either of the two, and even then, both her shielding and DMG aren’t very strong.
9Chongyun
Chongyun was one of the original charactersto complete the infamous National Team, a powerful full four-star team that consisted of him, Xingqiu, Bennett, and Xiangling. He’s also a fair pick in Reverse Melt teams, with his Elemental Burst dealing a considerable amount of nuke DMG.
However, with more Cryo characters getting released, both four and five-star, there’s very little reason to keep using him for the fourth slot. His Elemental Skill that provides Cryo infusion to melee characters also isn’t as useful now due to most Cryo characters like Ayaka, Ganyu, and Wriothesley being able to deal Cryo DMG on their own.
8Yun Jin
Yun Jinis a great DMG buffer that can significantly increase the DMG of your Normal Attacks. Despite this, her support only caters to a certain niche, which limits the teams that you can use her on.
She’s great for buffing characters who deal DMG with their Normal Attacks, such as Ayato, Navia, Wanderer, Wriothesley, Yoimiya, Freminet, Razor, and Noelle. However, if you don’t use any of those characters, then there’s little to no reason to get her, as she can’t be used anywhere else.
7Ningguang
Ningguangis a solid pick for new players who need a good DMG dealer in the early game. She’s a catalyst user, which means she doesn’t need to rely on having her Elemental Skill or Burst to deal with Elemental DMG, which is perfect for overworld exploration.
She has a flexible kit that lets you use her both asa main DPS and a quick swap DMG dealer. Her Elemental Skill also provides Geo DMG Bonus to everyone that walks through the Jade Screen that she produces.
6Beidou
Beidouis a great off-field DMG dealer with her Elemental Burst, which gets further enhanced by the Aggravate reaction. She also offers DMG Reduction, which allows you to not use defensive characters, as well as a shield with her first Constellation.
Her main issue is that she needs a lot of Energy and will almost always need another Electro character to battery her, such as Fischl. Another issue is that her Elemental Skill’s DMG and Energy Particle generation highly depend on her getting hit by enemies or your ability to time her parry. Additionally, her DMG drops significantly if you’re fighting a single enemy because her Burst needs to bounce to another target.
5Yanfei
Yanfeiis another four-star catalyst DPS from Liyue. As a Pyro character, she has access to powerful Elemental Reactions such as Melt, Vaporize, Overloaded, and Burgeon, which significantly increase her DMG output.
Her ability to Melt or Vaporize her already powerful Charged Attacks gives her an advantage over other four-star DPS characters. Additionally, she can trigger Pyro Resonance, equip the Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers, and offer shielding with her fourth Constellation.
4Yaoyao
Yaoyaooffers Single-Target healing through her Elemental Skill and teamwide healing through her Elemental Burst, which is great for emergencies. She can also apply Dendro to enemies, allowing you to trigger strong Dendro reactions such as Quicken, Bloom, Hyperbloom, and Burgeon.
Ever since Dendro was released alongside Sumeru in Version 3.0, Dendro characters have always been useful due to their Element’s powerful Elemental Reactions. Yaoyao offers immense value by covering multiple important roles simultaneously, giving you more flexibility in team building. Additionally, her Exploration Passive is useful for catching Crystalflies, as she won’t scare them off.
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3Gaming
Gamingis one of the featured characters in Version 4.4’s Lantern Rite celebration and is the strongest four-star on-field DMG dealer as of this version. His playstyle involves spamming his Elemental Skill to deal multiple Plunging Attacks.
Since Plunging Attacks have huge DMG multipliers, Gaming can deal massive bursts of DMG repeatedly, as his Elemental Burst resets the cooldown of his Elemental Skill, which lets him jump higher. Moreover, being Pyro allows you to Melt and Vaporize his already powerful Plunging Attacks, leading to more DMG that rivals that of other five-star characters.
2Xiangling
Xiangling is the center pointof the infamous National Team, which revolves around buffing her Elemental Burst using Bennett and allowing her to trigger Vaporize with every hit, doubling her DMG output. She’s an exceptional character who’s heralded as one ofthe best DPS characters in the game, among both four and five-stars.
Her Elemental Burst, which is great for both Single-Target and AoE scenarios, is also known for its superior Pyro application, allowing her to be played in any team that requires Pyro, such as Reverse Melt, Overloaded, and Burgeon. Although everyone gets a freeXianglingfrom completing Floor Three of the Spiral Abyss, Xiangling’s constellations contribute a lot to her combat capabilities.
1Xingqiu
Even as a four-star,Xingqiuis known to be one of the best supports in Genshin Impact. He possesses the best Hydro application among all characters, even better than five-stars such as Yelan and Furina, allowing you to consistently apply Hydro on enemies and trigger Elemental Reactions. His Elemental Burst also deals a good amount of off-field DMG, making him a great teammate for main DPS characters.
He’s the best pick for any team that requires consistent Hydro application (Vaporize, Freeze, Electro-Charged, Bloom, Hyperbloom, and Burgeon). Additionally, his sixth Constellation makes his superior Hydro application even more powerful. Of all the Liyue four-star characters, Xingqiu is the best pick, especially if you don’t have him yet.
