Since the release of Genshin Impact, Hydro has been one of the few elements that has consistently stayed on top. Not only can this element react with the rest of the six elements in the game, but it also has some of the best reactions possible. However, there are quite a few characters that use this element.
From the versatile support of Candace to the powerful DPS of Nilou and the complex playstyle of Tartaglia, this article ranks all of the Hydro characters based on their usefulness on the team to help you decide which one to build.
Updated on October 5, 2024 by Sanyam Jain: While Natlan may be Pyro's land, the first character released alongside the region's release was Hydro in the form of Mualani. This character took the community by storm with her stunning damage output, but her weaknesses were exposed as people started playing her more.
14 Candace
- weapon – Polearm
- Area – Sumerian
Having a bounce-back playstyle in Genshin Impact is always fun, and Candace is one of the few characters that offers that. If you time your skill with it right, you can finish it instantly and save a lot of time. However, the low multipliers of Candace's overall set is what puts her in last place.
It provides a buff to your party members' normal attacks during your Ultimate, but also releases a hydro wave when you switch characters. This is a bit counterintuitive as you wouldn't want to shut down from a character that offers high Normal Attack DMG. However, she can be a little more viable if you have her with maxed constellations.
13 Hydro Traveller
- weapon – Sword
- Area – Unknown
Whenever a new area is released in Genshin Impact, the traveler gains a set of new abilities that belong to that area's element. However, HoYoverse doesn't seem to want to provide too many useful features to any Traveler skill sets. Hydro Traveler can produce constant Hydro DMG from his skills and bursts.
However, they have to stay on the field to deal most of that damage, but the multipliers aren't high enough to warrant it. Ideally, you can still use them on a reaction based team where the other elements deal more damage and are applied off the field, but you can't use this character without a shield on the team.
12 Barbara
- weapon – Catalyst
- Area – Mondstadt
The Deaconess of Mondstat is known for her healing abilities and her Elemental skill, Let the Show Begin, which summons water tones that regularly heal active characters and deal Hydro DMG to nearby opponents. Her Elemental Burst, Shining Miracle, also heals a large amount of HP for her entire party.
Barbara is the only healer character that players can get without wishing for it, and she can instantly apply Hydro, which helps trigger elemental reactions. However, her Elemental Skill has a long cooldown and applies a Wet status effect to active characters, making them vulnerable to being frozen or interrupted by electro-charged reactions.
11 Mona
- weapon – Catalyst
- Area – Mondstadt
Mona Magistus is a 5-star Hydro Catalyst character who definitely loves the stars. Her alternate sprint, Illusory Torrent, lets her go underground and even sprint through water. Her Elemental Skill, Mirror Reflection of Doom, creates a Phantom of Doom that taunts nearby enemies, drawing aggro and dealing continuous Hydro DMG.
Additionally, her Burst engulfs opponents in a giant AoE and increases your characters' damage. Mona has been a great support character to increase your DPS damage since the beginning of Genshin Impact, and she can still fill that role quite well. The only reason it's so low on the list is because there are better supports in the game.
10 Tartaglia/Childe
- weapon – Bow
- Area – Snowy
Tartaglia, also known as Childe, is a 5-star Hydro character, the first playable character from Snezhnaya, and a member of Fatui. Childe is unique in that he can change weapon type, primarily using a bow, but can also use a water sword during his elemental skill. It had a lot of hype around it during its first release.
However, as time went on, the negative aspects of his kit began to emerge, as you had to get perfect cycles with him to make him viable. Elemental Skill gets a pretty long cooldown and its damage also got powercrept from other characters. However, he can still be a great Hydro applicator to use alongside characters like Xiangling.
9 Sigewinne
- weapon – Bow
- Area – Fontaine
Sigewinne is supposed to be the healer in Genshin Impact and to be honest she does a pretty phenomenal job. Unfortunately, the meta game doesn't really have a place for just healers at this point, as you can easily use characters like Bennett who not only heal, but also provide ATK support to the team.
Additionally, Sigewinne is in direct competition with Sangonomiya Kokomi, another Hydro healer. Between the two, Kokomi has a much higher and AoE Hydro application, leaving Sigewinne's Burst damage as the only reason to use her. She becomes viable if you have her in Constellation Six, but that's not possible for most people since she's a five star.
8 Xingqiu
- weapon – Sword
- Area – Liyu
Xingqiu is one of the original four-star characters in Genshin Impact and has also been one of the meta supports since the beginning. His Elemental Burst allows him to deal out-of-Hydro damage to opponents whenever the active character makes a Normal Attack, making it ideal for reactions.
He relies on his Elemental Skill to replenish particles, which can take quite a while, but you can easily change that by using Sacrificial or Favonius Sword on him. Once you build and use Xingqiu correctly, you won't want to stop using this character.
7 Kamisato Ayato
- weapon – Sword
- Area – Inazuma
Introduced in version 2.6, Kamisato Ayato is known for his excellent damage output and unique moveset. Ayato's Elemental Skill, which is his main focus, allows him to enter the Takimeguri Kanka state, which deals in quick attacks that convert Normal Attack DMG to AOE Hydro DMG. Ayato can deal up to 15 attacks and generate Namisen stacks while in this state, increasing his DMG output.
However, Ayato's abilities as a sub-DPS are limited due to his high energy cost and he needs to be more able to deal with high damage one hit attacks. All in all, Ayata's substantial damage over time and unique movesets make him a great addition to any party, especially when facing mobs or clearing domains.
6 Sangonomiya Kokomi
- weapon – Catalyst
- Area – Inazuma
Kokomi is one of the characters in the game that wasn't that good when they were first released, but entered the meta after some gameplay changes, which is the introduction of Dendra for her. Her Elemental Skill, Kurage's Oath, summons Bake-Kurage, which heals nearby allies and applies Hydro DMG to nearby opponents.
Her Elemental Burst allows her to heal the entire party while also being able to walk on water. Aside from healing, the main reason to use Kokomi in any party is her high Hydro app. It can easily be a reaction trigger for any type of reaction while keeping your team alive.
5 The Nile
- weapon – Sword
- Area – Sumerian
Nilou is a 5 star sword character who is mainly sub-DPS for off field use. Her powerful ability, Bountiful Cores, deals massive AoE damage, but is limited to a group consisting of only Dendro and Hydro characters. This made her a small niche at launch, but as time went on she became much more viable with new characters.
Now you can easily create Hydro and Dendro parties with healer/shielder, buffer, DPS and Nila. As long as you have enough use for both elements on your team, you'll see high damage numbers from her all the time. The best thing about her gear is that she doesn't need to build much Crit.
4 Mualani
- weapon – Catalyst
- Area – Natlan
The first time you try to do Mualani's test in Genshin Impact, you will be thoroughly surprised by the numbers. With a good team, she can easily deal over 200,000 damage on a regular basis, even if you don't have her signature weapon. The best part is that this damage is higher if there is only one opponent, but it decreases when it is spread over multiple opponents.
While this all sounds like a given for the character, Mualani's biggest flaw is her reliance on the Phlogiston mechanic, which doesn't exist outside of Natlan. If you don't have Phlogiston, her skill expires fairly quickly, and depending on how scattered the enemies are, it can sometimes be almost impossible to get value out of her.
3 Neuvillette
- weapon – Catalyst
- Area – Fontaine
Neuvillette is by far one of the most fun characters to use in the game and is also a great character to beat most of the endgame content. With his skill and burst, you can spawn various water drops that can be consumed by his charged attack to unleash a laser-type attack on nearby enemies.
He gains HP when he consumes drops, but also loses them when you use Charged Attack. With multiple elemental applicators off the field, you can easily deal over 40,000 damage per hit with his charged attacks and wipe out almost everything in the game instantly.
2 Yelan
- weapon – Bow
- Area – Liyu
Since its release, Yelan has been one of the best characters in the game because she can do almost everything. While her Skill already deals high Hydro damage, the main part of her kit is Burst, which allows her to deal Hydro DMG out of range and increase the DMG of all characters over time.
She was even better when Hydro Resonance was changed to increase the HP of all party members by 25 percent, which is the stat she scales to. If you somehow manage to get her into Constellation Six, you won't even need any other characters on your team because she will break everything.
1 Furina
- weapon – Sword
- Area – Fontaine
Who else would take the crown of best Hydro character than the Hydro Archon herself? Furina may seem like a generic off-field character on paper, but he has a lot of nuance to his kit that makes him the best. First, like Yelan, he can also increase his party's DMG during his Ultimate.
However, the best thing about her kit is the Elemental Skill, which has two different effects. One effect spawns three creatures that constantly deal Hydro DMG to enemies and follow them around, while the other stays still and heals active characters in a giant AoE. As long as you can manage your team's HP, Hydro will give you the most value in the game.
