Genshin Impact Tier Lists are Misleading You

Tier lists are everywhere in the Genshin Impact community. Whether it be something as straightforward as who your favourites are to something as silly as ranking the characters as Genshin players, if you can think of it, there’s likely a tier list for it. Most of these tier lists are entirely for fun and are just matters of opinion at the end of the day, but there’s one very common type of tier list that isn’t quite as inconsequential: the meta tier list.
These tier lists aim to rank the game’s roster based on how strong they are, most often in the context of Floor 12 of the Spiral Abyss. The reason I say these aren’t as inconsequential as the others is because players look to these tier lists to determine which characters they should pull for and build. While these tier lists can be a helpful resource for players, they are often misleading and in my view not the most helpful way of guiding players’ investment.
Apologies for the scuffed audio! I'm still working things out as I go, and it should get better with future videos.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:22 Merits of Tier Lists
03:11 Issues with Tier Lists
10:18 Alternatives to Tier Lists
11:39 Conclusion

[@vanessab6125]

Whenever I see tierlists, I think it's quite funny how many of the holy grail meta characters I barely have any use for.
When I was still relatively new in Genshin I pulled Kazuha, hearing that he was a really good character to pull for. For a very very long time I have barely used him and only started doing so in more... I guess you could say whacky teams that aren't "meta". The reason for that is that in most of my teams that I very frequently use, like Nilou bloom, Wanderer hypercarry or even hyperbloom were I really really need a defensive unit like Baizhu with my Nahida and whatever electro and hydro I choose, Kazuha simply doesn't fit in my team.
And so my Kazuha sits there benched most of the time. Kazuha, a character that is ranked SS+ tier everywhere, but I simply have no use for him. I like him and I don't regret pulling for him, I even eventually got his C1. But at the end of the day, he is a very low priority character for my personal account.
Benny is another interesting case because aside from my Wanderer team, I never use him anywhere, simply because I hate circle impact so much and Wanderer makes it feel less awful with his range. I have no idea when the last time was I used Xingqiu and I haven't even built Xiangling. And despite all of that, I get by pretty well I'd say.
So yeah, I can definitely agree that are "meta" characters and there are characters that are a good fit for me personally.

[@matthewvalentyn751]

This is very informative but it's opened so many questions for me now as a returning player who is unfamiliar with a ton of characters and relearning the ones I used to know as well

[@Lesterberne]

Just ask people (especially meta players in discord help channels)

[@ukyorulz]

IMHO people overthink tier lists. They simply reflect how good a character is in the meta. If you are playing off-meta, obviously your account may benefit more or less from various characters. The key is not to focus too much on individual characters and their rankings, and instead understand the underlying logic behind those placements.
I don't build male characters on my account so characters like Kazuha, Bennet, Zhong Li and Xinqiu are useless to me. However understanding why they are good helped me immensely with planning out my acct.

[@Itsa22pewpewpew]

I agree with your perspective. I do feel meta tier list are very subjective. It’s possible to complete things with characters you like. That’s what makes the game special, people can choose how they want to play. The meta in my opinion was created by whalers, they do lack the consideration that everyone starts and gets characters at different times and some don’t utilize resources the same way or prioritize the same things as the whale players. It creates confusion, disappointment, and unnecessary pressure when people try to keep up with some of the unrealistic standards being set

[@NotaLexGenshin]

Agreed, though I think it's not just whales but also long-time players who have accumulated a lot of resources over the years.

[@crimsonECH1DNA]

I think my biggest issue with tierlists is they kind of play it both ways of super adhering to KQM standards (C6 4 stars, C0 5stars) but its also clear people who make them take early constellations into consideration when evaluating 5 star characters, Hu Tao is a big perpetrator of this.

[@Lesterberne]

Great vid!

[@vrancaasangma3716]

Sigewinne is the BEST 👍

[@NotaLexGenshin]

She's so cute!!!

[@vrancaasangma3716]

@@NotaLexGenshin Yes the reason to pull 🫡

[@SCP--mv6eb]

very interesting video

[@chakolatechip]

While tier lists can be misleading your issues with them seem to be more a misinterpretation of the information presented by the tier lists.

[@bighat8794]

This ☝

[@BussyKittykat]

Honestly who gives a f about meta just play charcters that you like or pretty playstyle

[@NotaLexGenshin]

Fun > meta for sure!