A party can contain four strong characters and still perform badly if all four want to stay on the field. Team building starts with jobs, elements, and timing. Choose one character or reaction as the main source of damage, then use the other slots to help that plan happen consistently.
You do not need four five-star characters. Four-star and free characters can provide healing, shields, buffs, elemental application, Energy, and off-field damage. A lower-rarity character who completes the team is more useful than a rare character whose abilities do not connect with the other three.
Give Each Slot a Job
- On-field damage or driver: stays active and uses Normal Attacks, Charged Attacks, Skills, or Bursts while other effects are running.
- Off-field damage or elemental application: uses an ability that continues working after the character switches out.
- Support: increases damage, reduces enemy resistance, groups targets, or improves how the team's reaction works.
- Sustain: heals, shields, reduces damage, or prevents interruption so the rotation can continue.
These are jobs, not strict character classes. One support may also heal. One off-field attacker may provide the element needed for every reaction. If the team already survives comfortably, the fourth slot can add damage or utility. If characters keep falling, replace a small damage increase with reliable healing or shielding.
Energy also decides whether a team works. Elemental Skills create particles that help refill Bursts, and characters usually receive more useful Energy from particles that match their element. Energy Recharge increases how much Energy a character gains. If an important Burst is never ready when the rotation restarts, add Energy Recharge, use Skills more carefully, or bring a teammate who creates suitable particles.
Choose One Reaction Plan
Elemental reactions happen when compatible elements meet on a target. A team becomes easier to build when you decide which reaction should happen most often and which character should trigger it.
- Vaporize uses Hydro and Pyro. Melt uses Cryo and Pyro. Both can multiply the damage of the hit that triggers the reaction.
- Freeze uses Hydro and Cryo to stop many enemies. Bosses usually cannot be frozen, so the team still needs enough direct damage.
- Electro-Charged uses Hydro and Electro. Overloaded uses Pyro and Electro and can move smaller enemies away from melee attacks.
- Bloom uses Hydro and Dendro to create Dendro Cores. Electro turns the cores into Hyperbloom, while Pyro turns them into Burgeon.
- Quicken starts with Dendro and Electro. More Electro can trigger Aggravate, while more Dendro can trigger Spread.
- Anemo can trigger Swirl with Pyro, Hydro, Electro, or Cryo. Geo can create Crystallize shards with those elements for defensive shields.
Current versions also include Lunar reactions such as Lunar-Charged, Lunar-Bloom, and Lunar-Crystallize. They require characters whose talents enable the Lunar version. Matching two elements is not enough by itself. Read the enabling character's talent and the in-game tutorial before changing a normal reaction team into a Lunar team.
Plan a Short Rotation
A rotation is the order used to activate the team's abilities. Start with the longest support effect, shield, or enemy debuff. Add the off-field elements and damage. Switch to the on-field character while those effects are active. When they end, use the Skills needed to restore Energy and begin again.
The exact order depends on duration and cooldown. A buff that lasts eight seconds should not be activated long before the damage dealer enters. An off-field Burst that costs a lot of Energy may need its Skill used first so the character can catch the particles. Practice the order against a normal boss and watch which ability is missing at the start of the second rotation.
Do not keep a support on the field using weak Normal Attacks while the main damage dealer is ready. Switch after the support completes its job. A few seconds saved on each rotation can improve the team more than a small artifact upgrade.
Build With the Characters You Own
Start with a pair that already works. A Vaporize team needs dependable Hydro and Pyro application. A Hyperbloom team needs Dendro and Hydro for cores, plus an Electro character who can hit those cores. A Freeze team needs Hydro and Cryo, then can use the remaining slots for grouping, buffs, healing, or shields.
Check whether the team can apply its elements, survive, refill important Bursts, and repeat the rotation. Fix the missing part before replacing several characters. A clear four-character plan is cheaper to build and easier to improve than copying a team that depends on weapons or Constellations you do not own.
Once every slot has a job, use the Genshin Impact character build guide to choose levels, weapons, talents, and artifacts. New accounts can begin with the Genshin Impact beginner guide.
