Last Updated on January 1, 2026 by “Talha”
Genshin Impact has been evolving every year since it was released in 2020, and by the end of 2025, with the version Luna III ending, the roster of female characters the game offers has reached an impressive new level. Starting from on-field damage dealers to flexible supports that enable new teams, female characters in Genshin Impact now define the game’s meta. In this article, we will explore the best female characters in Genshin Impact in 2026, focusing on both their team performance and their raw numbers.
This guide will divide the characters into DPS, Sub DPS, and Supports, instead of just ranking them, for the players who are deciding which characters to invest their Primogems, time, and resources in. Character roles are getting more important as the content in the game is getting more and more difficult. With each character, we’ll do a breakdown of what they contribute to their teams and the most efficient teams to run them with.
What is Genshin Impact?
Genshin Impact is an open-world role-playing game that is an action game made by HoYoverse (previously MiHoYo). In the game, players collect “Characters,” each with a particular Element (like Pyro, Hydro, Electro, etc.) and a weapon type (Sword, Claymore, Bow, etc.), then build teams to explore a vast fantasy world called Teyvat. Characters grow stronger via ascension (raising their level cap), upgrading talents (their main skills), equipping weapons and artifacts, and forming synergy with other characters on the team. Over time, new regions, storylines, and characters are continually added.
Genshin Impact is fundamentally founded on synergy. There is no character who exists alone; even the most powerful units are based on effective team support, reactions between the elements, and rotation planning. This is even more relevant in the endgame content, like the Spiral Abyss, Stygian Onslaught, or Imaginarium Theatre, which is more about team building than strength.
Explanation of Core Combat Mechanics
Elemental System and Reactions
Genshin Impact is based on the elemental system of combat. Characters use such elements as Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, Electro, Anemo, Geo, and Dendro on the enemies. When elements react, it causes reactions that increase the damage or utility.
There are also reactions like Vaporize and Melt, which increase damage directly and use strong DPS characters. Others, such as Bloom, Hyperbloom, and Swirl, deal area damage and increase the synergy of the teams. The knowledge of the reactions that a character can facilitate is vital in measuring their strength.
Character Roles in a Team
Any effective team in Genshin Impact has distinct roles assigned. DPS characters are the ones that spend the largest amount of time in the field, dealing damage. Sub DPS characters are engaged in damage when out of the field or on brief rotations. Support characters give buffs, healing, crowd control, or the use of an element that strengthens other members of the team.
Women characters are excellent in all three roles, and in most cases provide versatile kits that enable them to fit into various team styles.
Constellations and Their Impact
Constellations tend to open more roles of the characters and can radically change their performance. Many characters perform well at C0, but some do not perform at their optimum level until upgraded to a key constellation. Here, the constellation levels are indicated in case they have a major impact on the role or power of the character.
DPS Characters
In 2026, female DPS characters in the game stand among the most powerful carries, combining both strong scalings and new mechanics. These DPS characters define a new damage ceiling.
Mavuika
Character Overview
Mavuika was introduced with the release of the nation Natlan. She is the Pyro Archon and embodies the nation’s war-driven culture, and this theme is obvious in her gameplay as well. She thrives as a Main DPS, requiring more time on-field, but providing a consistent and high damage output. As the archon of the nation, her kit centers on sustained Pyro damage, with a burst that rewards players when it is used at the right timing with the right elemental and team setups. She excels in both single targets and groups of enemies, with her flexible gameplay style.
What Mavuika Offers to Her Teams
Mavuika’s greatest strength lies in her ability to maintain Pyro application with barely any downtime. Her elemental skill enhances her normal and charged attacks, while her burst delivers a powerful damage spike that scales well when the right buffs are used.
She pairs exceptionally well with Hydro Sub DPS characters like Furina or Yelan, enabling reliable Vaporize reactions. In Melt teams, Cryo applicators allow her to reach even higher damage ceilings. Unlike older Pyro DPS units, Mavuika does not suffer heavily from energy recharge issues because of the Nightsoul mechanics, making her rotations smooth and forgiving. Her strongest team, however, requires Citlali and Xilonen, both buffing her damage, helping her reach new damage potentials. Supports focus on buffing her attack, elemental damage, or reaction consistency, allowing her to dominate different end-game content with minimal setup complexity.
Skirk
Character Overview
Skirk is a Cryo DPS unit with a kit revolving around precision and mobility. Although she’s very flexible and can run with various teams, much like other Cryo DPS characters, she shines the brightest in a Freeze team. Her animations are quick and fluid, which makes her gameplay more fun and engaging.
She carries with her an air of mystery after spending years in the Abyss. She is Childe’s Master and the disciple of one of the five sinners, the “foul” Surtalogi. Her combat mastery in the lore translates into a kit that’s initially hard to understand, but once you get the hang of it, it will reward you.
What Skirk Offers to Her Teams
Skirk excels as an on-field DPS with strong Cryo infusion and consistent damage scaling. Her elemental skill infuses her normal and charged attacks with cry and deals consistent and strong damage. Her burst offers comparatively less utility, but can still be used cause of how cool it looks.
She performs exceptionally well in Freeze teams when paired with Hydro applicators, locking enemies in place while dealing uninterrupted damage. At the same time, she remains viable in Melt setups when supported by Pyro enablers, trading crowd control for higher damage numbers. Her best teams include Escoffier and Furina, buffing her damage while applying Hydro, and also sustaining her. In the Abyss and other end-game content with mobile enemies, her movement-focused kit gives her a noticeable edge, helping players finish floors and levels much faster.
Nefer
Character Overview
Nefer is a character hailing from Sumeru who now resides in Nod-Krai. She was released recently and stole everyone’s hearts with her contributions and sacrifices in the Archon Quest. She is a Dendro DPS who deals the most damage when she’s on the field, dealing sustained damage over time. As a catalyst user, her attacks are already imbued with Dendro, but her skill and the right rotations really help in increasing her damage output.
What Nefer Offers to Her Teams
Nefer’s most viable teams are Bloom, Hyperbloom, and, in some cases, Burgeon. Because of her consistent Dendro application, pairing her with Hydro and Electro characters helps trigger reactions more reliably. Her elemental burst increases her reaction damage, thus making her one of the strongest Dendro enablers in various teams.
As most main DPS Characters recently released, she does not rely solely on raw personal damage. She mainly scales through output, which results from elemental reactions. This makes her insanely effective in scenarios with a lot of enemies. Teams built around Nefer tend to be more explosive and even fast-paced. Including Lauma in her teams helps trigger more Lunar reactions, making her the best support for Lauma till now. Further, she pairs exceptionally well with Hydro and Electro Sub DPS characters, who can trigger hyperbloom constantly. Ineffa and Aino are good partners for her, as they amplify Lunar Bloom. For consistent damage, she can be paired with Furina as well.
Sub DPS Characters
Sub DPS characters help a team function more smoothly. They can provide off-field damage, elemental application, and utility, all without demanding too much time on the field.
Furina
Character Overview
Furina is a Hydro sub DPS character, with a kit that blends damage and team-wide buffs. As a former Archon (figure), her design reflects authority and control, both in lore and gameplay. She isn’t a traditional healer or buffer; however, she’s a hybrid unit that rewards you if she is played correctly. As she makes the world her stage, she enables a lot of teams and characters if you use the right teams and rotations.
What Furina Offers to Her Teams
Furina offers the best off-field Hydro application, possibly the best in the game. She is definitely invaluable for any teams that want to use vaporize, freeze, or bloom. Her burst scales and provides buffs based on team HP changes, thus encouraging synergy with healers or characters who drain their HP during combat. Her skill, dealing consistent damage and applying Hydro, also drains the HP of all characters in your teams.
Besides damage, she provides powerful buffs that increase the overall team output of the teams she is in. This makes her exceptionally strong with DPS characters like Mavuika, Nefer, and Skirk, who benefit from both her Hydro application and the buffs she provides. Furina fits into a wide variety of teams and elevates even average team setups into S-tier teams. Although she was released two years ago, she is still very much relevant in the meta.
Lauma
Character Overview
Lauma is a Dendro Sub DPS designed to enable Lunar Bloom reactions. Her kit emphasizes consistency, with a skill and burst that buff the elemental damage, and follow the active character around applying dendro.
As the leader of the Frostmoon Scions, she has a gentle presence and offers fun interactions that players can have with the people in the Scions and some animals as well.
What Lauma Offers to Her Teams
Lauma excels in teams that rely on dendro-based reactions such as Lunar Bloom. Her elemental skill deploys a deer that deals persistent Dendro damage, even when she is not on the field.
She pairs exceptionally well with Dendro DPS characters, like Nefer, where her Dendro application, along with a Hydro character, deals Lunar Bloom damage, ensuring frequent reaction triggers. Unlike other Dendro units, she requires minimal field time, thus allowing the main DPS characters to maintain their rotations uninterrupted.
With the release of Columbina, she may be able to make more team comps viable.
Yelan
Character Overview
Yelan remains one of the strongest and most versatile Hydro sub DPS characters in 2026. Her kit has aged exceptionally well due to its simplicity, mobility, and damage scaling.
As a character, Yelan blends elegance with lethality, and her gameplay reflects that balance perfectly.
What Yelan Offers to Her Teams
Yelan provides rapid Hydro application and high off-field damage through her burst, which synergizes with normal attack-focused DPS characters. She also offers a ramping damage buff to the active character, further enhancing team output. Often her burst is compared to Xingqiu’s, and although they both work in similar ways, which would be a better option often depends on the team you will run. Personally, I like taking Yelan in one team and Xingqiu in another.
She is especially effective alongside Pyro and Cryo DPS units, enabling Vaporize and Freeze reactions effortlessly. In teams with Skirk, Yelan often becomes a core component due to her reliability and low investment requirements, applying hydro consistently with Skirk’s normal attacks.
Her flexibility allows her to fit into nearly any team that benefits from Hydro reactions.
Support Characters
Support characters can help with team survivability, consistency, damage amplification, and crowd control. These female supports offer some of the most impactful utility in the game.
Iansan (C2)
Character Overview
Iansan is a support character whose true potential is unlocked at C2. She specializes in team-wide buffs that scale with elemental reactions, making her ideal for reaction-heavy compositions.
Iansan is a support character from Natlan whose true potential lies in her constellation, more specifically, her C2. She is a specialist in team-wide buffs that scale with elemental reactions, while also increasing the active character’s ATK. Her kit is that of a strategic support, especially for Mavuika, rather than raw power, focusing on enhancing the damage of her allies, much like her role in the Archon Quest in Natlan.
What Iansan Offers to Her Teams
Iansan at C2 also gives good buffs to elemental mastery and reaction damage. This renders her indispensable in the groups comprising Dendro, Electro, and Hydro synergies. She collaborates especially well with Nefer and Lauma, elevating Hyperbloom and Aggravate teams to unprecedented heights. Although she does not heal, her buffs frequently lower the duration of fights, which indirectly increases the survival of the team.
Teams utilizing Iansan should focus on maximising elemental damage.
Xilonen
Character Overview
Xilonen is a support character who focuses on durability, buffs, and control. She is a type of defensive support that does not lose offensive value. Her presence is what makes teams that would otherwise have been unable to survive in high-difficulty content stable.
What Xilonen Offers to Her Teams
Xilonen shields, reduces damage, and buffs the team, increasing elemental damage. She works especially well in teams with a fragile DPS character who requires defense in order to deal damage and survive. Xilonen, in contrast to pure defensive supports, also adds value to damage amplification, which is why she is a good, balanced option for Abyss teams. She complements Mavuika and Skirk, enabling them to remain in the field longer without any distraction, while also buffing their damage. Her utility allows her to be a consistent choice among players who find risky play-specifics unappealing.
Sucrose (C6)
Character Overview
Even in 2026, Sucrose is still one of the most valuable support characters in Genshin Impact. At C6, she cannot be replaced within reaction-oriented teams, as her role is to share her elemental mastery and offer bonuses on elemental damage. Her kit has worn incredibly well, even though she is an older character.
What Sucrose Offers to Her Teams
Sucrose is good at grouping enemies, swirling reactions, and buffing reactions with her elemental mastery buff. At C6, she also offers elemental damage bonuses that enormously enhance team output. She particularly works well in Vaporize, Melt, and Dendro reaction teams. Sucrose, when used together with such characters as Nefer, Furina, or Mavuika, increases damage and consistency. Being easily accessible and easy to invest in, she is one of the most preferred support options by both new and experienced players.
Final Thoughts
The best examples of female characters in Genshin Impact in 2026 show how well and how far the game has been developed. Whether it is the powerhouse DPSs like Mavuika and Skirk or the versatile support characters like Sucrose and Xilonen, these characters have brought the modern meta to synergy over characters who are played in isolation.
The choice of the right character depends upon the composition of the team, the support options that can be used, and the type of gameplay that is desired. However, each of the characters listed in this guide has lasting value and can be considered relevant to perennial team archetypes.
While Genshin Impact continues to grow, female characters still lead the pack in both storytelling and gameplay development, thus defining how players tackle combat in the world of Teyvat.
FAQs
Yes. Sucrose, Yelan, and Nefer are effective in low-cost teams. Craftable weapons and standard supports still enable strong reaction-based compositions.
Mavuika is a star in Vaporize with Furina or Yelan. Skirk is most effective in Freeze or Melt teams. Nefer dominates Hyperbloom teams with Electro sub DPS.
Damage-oriented sets, such as reaction or elemental bonus sets, are favored by DPS units. Sub DPS use off-field damage sets, while supports prioritize elemental mastery or energy recharge.
The majority of the characters work well at C0. The significant improvements are Mavuika C2, Skirk C1-C2, Nefer C2, Furina C1, Iansan C2, and Sucrose C6.
Five-star signature weapons are preferable but not mandatory. Four-star gacha or craftable weapons can also be used on most characters that are F2P-friendly.
Somewhat. Genshin Impact and other Hoyoverse games have a reputation for nerfing characters after some time. But if you invest in at least two DPS characters per region, you’ll be able to clear most of the content for the period.
