Who is the Weakest 5-Star Character in Genshin Impact?
The question of the “weakest” 5-star character in Genshin Impact is often hotly debated, but a consensus generally points to Qiqi as the character most frequently cited. While she boasts a 5-star rarity, her utility and effectiveness often fall short compared to other characters of the same tier, particularly in the contemporary meta. Her kit, while unique, presents several significant drawbacks that lead many players to view her as the least impactful 5-star character in the game. This doesn’t mean she’s entirely useless, but her issues are pronounced enough to warrant the label of “weakest” in many players’ eyes.
Why is Qiqi Often Considered the Weakest 5-Star?
Healing Focus with Limitations
Qiqi’s primary role is as a healer, and she excels at delivering substantial healing outputs. However, her healing is almost solely reliant on her Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst, which lack synergy with the active combat flow in Genshin Impact. Unlike other healers who can heal reactively or passively, Qiqi’s healing is often locked behind cooldowns, requiring her to be on-field to actively administer healing through her attacks. This disrupts the smooth swapping mechanics that most teams rely on. Her Elemental Skill, the Adeptus Art: Herald of Frost, applies a cryo debuff and allows her active character to heal by hitting enemies. However, the range of this effect is limited, and often unreliable, failing to keep pace in dynamic battles, leaving her vulnerable and hindering effective team rotations. Moreover, the significant cooldown of her abilities makes her healing bursts infrequent, hindering her ability to react to sustained damage.
Lack of Utility and Energy Issues
Besides healing, Qiqi brings very little else to the table. She lacks the utility that many other 5-star characters possess, such as crowd control, damage amplification, or elemental application that can drive reactions. Her Cryo application is fairly weak and lacks a reliable off-field presence, making it difficult to use in reactions consistently, hindering her versatility. Furthermore, she faces significant energy recharge issues, making it hard to use her Elemental Burst frequently without heavy investment in Energy Recharge substats, limiting her overall effectiveness. This lack of utility, combined with energy problems, often makes her less appealing than many 4-star healers who can offer similar levels of healing output with more utility.
Outclassed by Other Healers
Perhaps the biggest blow to Qiqi’s perceived strength is that she’s often outclassed by other healers. Characters like Bennett, Barbara, or even newer units like Yaoyao provide similar, or better, healing capabilities, with the additional advantage of having better utility. Bennett, for example, offers powerful attack boosts along with healing, while Barbara’s healing is more consistently applicable and easier to deploy. These alternatives often require less investment and provide better overall support, making Qiqi less appealing, particularly given her 5-star status, where higher expectations are naturally applied.
Why the Debate Still Exists?
Despite the prevailing view that Qiqi is the weakest, there are some arguments to be made for her utility in certain scenarios. Her single-target healing can be incredibly effective in specific situations where one character is taking the brunt of the damage. And in the early game, when team compositions are more limited, she can be a reliable healer until stronger alternatives are acquired. However, as players advance, these situations become less common, and her limitations become more apparent.
The conversation surrounding the weakest 5-star character is often nuanced, taking various factors into account, but the general consensus in the current meta of Genshin Impact continues to place Qiqi at the bottom of the list due to her restrictive healing mechanics, lack of versatile utility, and energy problems.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can Qiqi be a good character with the right build?
Yes, to a certain extent. A well-built Qiqi can be a very effective healer. She particularly shines in certain situations when a team requires a single target heal, but she still struggles with energy and offers little in the way of team support.
2. What artifacts are best for Qiqi?
The Ocean-Hued Clam artifact set is often considered the best for Qiqi, as it converts her excess healing into additional damage. Alternatively, the Maiden Beloved set can maximize her healing output.
3. What are the best weapons for Qiqi?
Sacrificial Sword is the best in slot for Qiqi. Its ability to reset her Elemental Skill cooldown helps alleviate her energy problems and enhances her healing. Other good options include Skyward Blade and Favonius Sword depending on your priorities for damage, healing, or energy.
4. How does Qiqi compare to other 5-star healers like Jean?
Jean outshines Qiqi in several areas. Jean offers both healing and damage in one kit with a useful crowd control. Her kit is also more energy-efficient and less reliant on her skill and burst.
5. Is Qiqi worth pulling for if you lack healers?
If you are extremely new to the game and lack other healers, Qiqi can serve her purpose. However, if you’re able to obtain Barbara, Bennett, or other 4-star options, they will often be more efficient and useful long-term for team composition.
6. Does Qiqi have any advantages over other healers?
Qiqi’s main advantage is her high healing output and ability to act as a solid single-target healer. She can be effective against tough single enemies and is very resilient, though this also comes at the cost of her limited utility and energy needs.
7. Why do many players consider Qiqi the worst 5-star?
She is often criticized for her lack of utility, inefficient energy management, and a healing output that is too slow and inconsistent. Other 5-star characters tend to bring more to the table for their team.
8. Can Qiqi be a good damage dealer?
While her healing output can convert to damage via Ocean-Hued Clam, she is by no means a damage dealer. Her primary role remains that of a healer, and it is not optimal to build her for DPS.
9. How can I make Qiqi more effective in team compositions?
Prioritize building her with enough energy recharge to activate her burst often and use characters that require more passive healing like main DPS characters and make full use of Ocean-Hued Clam. You might also need to invest a lot to ensure high healing potency.
10. Are there any team compositions where Qiqi shines?
Qiqi can find her place in teams where there is a need for consistent healing of a single character, particularly with units like Eula that may struggle to maintain health and need constant on-field healing.
11. How does Qiqi compare to 4-star healers like Barbara and Diona?
Characters like Barbara and Diona offer consistent and reliable healing with more versatile utility. They are often much better and cheaper to build for new players. Diona also provides Shielding.
12. Will Qiqi’s strength increase with future game updates?
While the meta of Genshin Impact does change with new characters and updates, there are no indications that Qiqi will receive a significant buff that would drastically improve her standing in the meta at the moment.
13. Is Qiqi’s healing output worth the investment?
Qiqi’s high single-target healing can be useful in specific scenarios, especially in the early game, but often doesn’t justify the level of investment required to make it truly effective. There are often better and more efficient alternatives.
14. Is it worth trying to get Qiqi constellations?
For the average player, Qiqi constellations are generally not worth pursuing, as they do not drastically change her overall performance. They enhance her healing and survivability but don’t fix her core problems.
15. Should new players worry if they get Qiqi?
While getting Qiqi can be disappointing, it’s not the end of the world. She can still perform her role as a healer in the early game until other options become available. Her healing is reliable so she won’t be completely useless. However, new players are generally better off investing in other, more versatile characters.