Offense may be the best defense, but there are certain characters in Genshin Impact who use their DEF stat to do pretty much everything from healing or shielding to dealing damage and even buffing allies. While the character roster that scales off of DEF isn’t nearly as large as those powering up from HP or ATK, some of Genshin Impact’s strongest warriors prioritize building defense over anything else.
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Some are better than others, and some are straight-up bad. Still, there are enough good options to have you wonder who is the best DEF scaling character in Genshin Impact, and if they can compare to the best ATK or HP hoarders.
8
Xinyan
Pyro DPS, Physical Support, Or Shielder?
Xinyan’s character is all over the place, and in not a good way. First, she has split-scalings, which can be a hit or miss in terms of Genshin Impact characters. Unfortunately for her, it’s only a miss in her case. Her shield scales off of her ATK and DEF half and half, but her damage is all based on ATK. Her C6 tries to solve this issue by giving her more damage scaling on her DEF, but unlike Noelle, the ratio isn’t good enough for it to be worthwhile.
There are many other things holding Xinyan back as well. She buffs allied Physical DMG, which makes her best for Superconduct teams. This is a problem because, since she’s Pyro, Xinyan can’t provide the elemental application needed. The scaling on her shield is extremely lacking as well, having a smaller shield than other, older characters like Diona. Even if you want to play her as a carry at C6, she simply can’t compare to other Pyro four-stars like Gaming.
7
Noelle
Healing, Shielding, And Damage!
Noelle is a maid who wants to join the Knights of Favonius. However, no matter how much she tries, they won’t accept her. Despite what many may think, this isn’t because she’s not strong enough, but rather because she’s too selfless and overqualified, and people are worried she’d end up sacrificing herself out of the goodness of her heart.
As a playable character, Noelle is one of the most self-sufficient ones in the game. Her shield is decent, she performs teamwide healing, and her DPS is nothing to scoff at either. She’s a solid four-star carry that has supportive utilities as well. Noelle seems to check all the boxes for what makes a good character, and if she didn’t have massive Energy Recharge issues, she’d be one of the best four-star characters in the game!
6
Itto
Bonk Enemies With An Oni’s Club
Itto is more or less the five-star alternative to Noelle, giving up on the teamwide defensive utility to instead focus fully on damage and offense. Itto seems to do this fairly well, synergizing well with existing Geo supports and dealing significant amounts of damage even with simpler teams.
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However, Itto’s potential is locked behind many things. While he’s still good, he can’t keep up with top-tier hypercarries like Hu Tao or Arlecchino due to how Geo functions as an element. To get close to other good DPS characters, he needs his signature weapon and a C6 Gorou, things not many players have access to.
5
Albedo
Decent Off-Field Geo DPS
The Knight of Favonius’s non-resident part-stone part-dragon scientist’s ability to set up an elevator made Albedo popular through memes alone. However, apart from those, he was in a very weird place in the meta. One on hand, his strong off-field damage was the highest-hitting Elemental Skill in the game. On the other, the lack of DEF buffs inGenshin meant that after you have him built decently, you can’t exactly improve on it.
However, many things came later to aid Albedo. His signature sword, the Cinnabar Spindle, solved all his DEF needs while also buffing his Elemental Skill damage. The Husk of Opulent Dreams artifact set further buffed him, and the Golden Troupe made it easier than ever to build him. Even despite a largely useless Elemental Burst and Geo not being a very good element, Albedo remains a decent source of off-field damage, be it in dedicated Geo teams or not.
4
Kachina
Has Access To Cinder City
Kachina isn’t a good character. As the first four-star you get for free upon unlocking Natlan, Hoyo wanted her to be the least of what Natlan characters can be. She’s a DEF-based support who doesn’t have any skills that support or provide utility. Instead, she’s just a four-star support DPS, something that doesn’t bring much to the table.
However, despite all this, she’s better than many other DEF scalers simply because she’s from Natlan. This is because Kachina has access to Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City, one of the best artifact sets in Genshin, providing absurd DMG Bonuses to your on-field carry.
3
Gorou
Best DEF Buffer
Gorou is an integral part of any team that includes characters scaling off of DEF. For such teams, it’s no exaggeration to call Gorou the Geo Bennett. His Elemental Skill giving a flat DEF bonus means that not only is he extremely good, but super efficient to build as well, not needing any good artifacts to function.
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This non-reliance on artifacts and stats also means that Gorou can hold weapons and artifact sets that other characters, ones who want certain stats, won’t be able to hold. This makes Gorou a splendid wielder of the Favonius Bow, as well as of many four-star artifacts such as The Exile.
2
Chiori
Albedo 2.0, Albedo But Better
Chiori can be explained as being a version of Albedo that’s just better. She can do all that he can do (which isn’t much) by dealing consistent off-field Geo damage with one cast of her Elemental Skill. However, for some reason, she deals more damage than the former. This extra damage is locked behind a condition, though, where Chiori needs another Geo construct to function fully.
So long as you have either a Zhongli, Itto, Kachina, or even Albedo himself, Chiori will be dealing significantly more damage than Albedo with her Elemental Skill. The power creep doesn’t stop there, though, as Chiori’s Elemental Burst is a source of burst damage as well, something Albedo loses out on due to having split scalings.
1
Xilonen
Kazuha, But Geo
Throughout Genshin Impact’s history, there have been certain characters that held a monopoly over all things related to buffs. Bennett for ATK buffs, Furina for conditional ones, and Kazuha for Elemental DMG. Each of these stood uncontested for a long time until Xilonen was released alongside Natlan to challenge Kazuha’s position.
Xilonen isn’t good because of her DEF scalings, since the DEF is only for her damage, something that isn’t exactly her forté. This makes it difficult to rank her properly. Even with no DEF at all, Xilonen’s buffs stay the same as if she had 3,000 DEF.
Thing is, these zero DEF buffs are better than anything any other character on the list can provide, shredding the Elemental RES of enemies hit by her Elemental Skill. This buff is almost as strong as Kazuha’s on top of Xilonen already being a decent healer, making her one of the best characters to pull for regardless of who else you own.
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