Summary
For the first two to three years ofGenshin Impact, players could only play around with six out of the seven elements since Dendro was nowhere to be seen. However, this changed with the release of Sumeru and HoYoverse started flooding the banners with various Dendro units, with one five-star even joining the Standard Banner.
As with every other game where characters have different abilities, not all of these characters are the greatest. As an F2P or low-spending player, you have to make sure that you’re spending your resources on the correct character.
Updated on July 15, 2025, by Sanyam Jain:After releasing a ton of Dendro characters during the entire Sumeru arc, Genshin Impact slowed down these releases as they focused on other elements. However, with Kinich’s release in the Version 5.0 update, the element came back into the meta, bringing one of its reactions high up as well.
11Kaveh
While he mightnot have been in the main story,Kavehwas still teased as Alhaitham’s roommate from the very beginning. This character’s kit is quite unique as both the Skill and the Burst can make the Dendro Cores formed by the Bloom reaction explode immediately, while also increasing their damage.
However, the reason for him being the lowest on this list is the lack of good Bloom teams. The only reason to use this reaction in the endgame is if you have Nilou, but her Dendro Cores already explode instantly, which leads to Kaveh not having a proper place in the game at the moment.
10Kirara
Most of us have likely gone through the treacherous mountains of both Liyue and Sumeru, and have grown to despise climbing in Genshin Impact because of that. For people like that,Kirarais a breath of fresh air since you can use her Skill and climb up any mountain quickly without wasting any of your stamina.
However, other than the mobility provided during exploration, Kirara doesn’t have much going for her. Sure she can shield your party and protect them from damage, but many characters can do that and much more.
9Collei
Colleiis a free four-star unit that can be acquired through the Spiral Abyss, and she’s great for creating teams based around the Dendro reactions in the early game. Both her Skill and Burst can apply a ton of Dendro to the enemies.
Unfortunately, as a support unit, she doesn’t have much else going for her. Even after getting all her constellations, you won’t be providing any buffs to your party members, which is quite a detriment compared to the other support Dendro characters mentioned further down the list.
8Dendro Traveler
HoYoverse might not usually like giving a decent kit to the Traveler in Genshin Impact, but it seems like they decided to change it up a bit with the Dendro Traveler. Not only do their abilitiesprovide a good value, but they’re also fun to use because of the various effects you can have on your Burst based on the element applied.
Moreover, this is the only character that you can get to Constellation Six for free simply by exploring Sumeru and finishing the Archon Quest. They provide a phenomenal amount of Dendro application in a big AoE while also increasing your party’s Elemental Mastery for better reactions.
7Tighnari
Released as the first limited-time banner in Sumeru,Tighnariwas later added as the sole Dendro character in the Standard Banner roster. His Charged Attacks work similarly to Ganyu where they have two instances of the charge, and the second instance deals higher damage while also creating some extra objects.
Tighnari’s Skill can taunt enemies and increase his charging speed, while the extra DMG from his Burst makes him feel like a complete character. Just put him alongside some off-field elemental applicators and you’ll see some good damage.
6Yaoyao
Released alongside Baizhu and being the only four-star character from Liyue,Yaoyaohas held her ground quite well in Genshin Impact. She’s a healer who throws a bunny out with her Skill, and this bunny heals the nearby party members if they’re below 70 percent health and deals damage to the enemy if they’re not.
After activating her Elemental Burst, you can run around the field and use both the effects of her Skill at the same time. She also allows some Dendro characters to deal extra damage with her constellations, making her the perfect support.
5Emilie
Emilie’s initial release wasn’t met with a lot of excitement, but her overall value during release was quite a surprise. She’s an off-field Sub-DPS who leaves a turret on the field with her Elemental Skill, which gets buffed for a little while after using her Elemental Burst. This turret deals single-target Dendro DMG at regular intervals.
However, this damage can get a massive boost along with some AoE aspects if you have enemies with the Burning effect near it. While this doesn’t necessarily buff the Burning reaction asNilou does to Bloom, it does make it a viable reaction to use in endgame content since Emilie can destroy it when used correctly.
4Kinich
While Claymore characters have a bit of a stigma in Genshin Impact due to their clunky playstyle,Kinichrises above all of these to become not only one of the best Dendro characters to have, but also one of the best characters to have in general. He’s also one of the most detailed characters in a long while with his grapple mechanics and other animations.
Kinich can deal a ton of single-target damage, which can also convert to AoE if the enemies are close together. He gets a massive buff when you’re using the Burning reaction with him, which also brings the reaction into the meta after not being used for a long while. Thankfully, Kinich also doesn’t get a significant nerf to his abilities outside of Natlan.
3Baizhu
Baizhuwas first revealed during the initial Archon Quest of Liyue, and HoYoverse gated the release of this character for a long time. While some people might not be happy with the nerf given to his muscles, he’s still a phenomenal support unit in the game, especially if you’re using him in a Bloom team with Nilou.
Not only does he constantly sustain your characters, but also provides a two percent increase to Bloom DMG. He’s also one of the best candidates to use with Furina because of his party-wide heals.
2Alhaitham
Alhaithamis one of the coolest characters in Genshin Impact both during the main story and when you get to play him. His Elemental Skill allows him to teleport to a nearby location while also infusing his weapon with Dendro. you may easily deal constant Dendro DMG with this character if you manage him properly.
This unit is fun to play and takes quite a bit of skill to master. The best part about him, however, is that his play style changes quite a lot if you manage to get some of his constellations.
