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- Xinqiu, Xiangling, and Bennet were so strong at launch that 5-star characters couldn’t compare, which would’ve led to Genshin Impact’s power creep.
- Newer characters like Hutao quickly overshadowed previous meta characters like Diluc.
- The Geo rework, new artifact sets, release of Dendro, and characters like Furina all saved Genshin from power creep.
The National Trio
Genshin was a relatively balanced game at the start, with simple characters like Diluc and Klee dominating the meta. What revolutionalized the game was a bunch of Chinese users creating what’s now called the National Team. The team has many variants today, but they all include the Xinqiu-Xiangling-Bennett trio.
Xinqiu singlehandedly applies the most Hydro in the game while providing enough damage reduction and interrupt resistance to not need a shielder. This is further emphasized by Genshin Theorycrafter Zajef, who claims that Xinqiu is the best character in the game.
Bennett serves as possibly the best healer in the game, not only healing but also giving the strongest buff (at the time) to your carry, and Xiangling uses what’s called Snapshotting to carry the tiny duration of Bennett’s buff for the entire duration of her Elemental Burst. Gamewith.net, Gamerant, and Genshin.gg all put these three characters into their highest tiers, along with the best 5-stars.
This trio, paired with any main DPS (or even an enabler like Sucrose or Kazuha), was leagues above what any single character could achieve.
The Power Creep
Genshin Impact’s power creep came soon and strong. The new Hypercarries like Ayaka, Ganyu, and Hutao made Klee and Diluc seem obsolete. There was nothing the latter had that the former two didn’t. Even characters weak on release completely overshadowed the former powerhouse, Diluc.
Dendro: Nahida The Savior
Genshin Impact was going down a road straight to hell until Sumeru came out. The release of Dendro brought new reactions, such as Hyperbloom and Quicken/Aggravate. Dendro had a power floor way above any other team; even with minimal investment, you could deal similar damages to those Hutaos and Ayakas dealing 70k DPS.
This element allowed characters like Nahida and Alhaitham to come out fresh and combat and sometimes overtake previously established powerhouses without flat-out beating them. This also made people use the National Trio less, as Xiangling and Bennett simply had no synergy with Dendro except for a few niche cases.
Dealing With Bennett
They couldn’t create a 5-star Bennett without giving in to power creep. Instead, they introduced more ways to scale character damage. I already talked about Dendro, but the release of Neuvilette created more characters that didn’t need Bennett to hold their own. The Geo rework and the Husk of Oppulent Dreams set also made Geo teams shine, which didn’t need Bennett.
Arlecchino pretty much flipped off Bennett with a passive that states she cannot be healed by outside sources (though people still used him with her).
The Release Of Furina
One of the biggest things against Genshin Impact’s power creep was the release of Furina, who caused a change just as big as Dendro. Healers were obsolete in Genshin because its late game was based purely on DPS. Any character that couldn’t contribute was a liability. The Ocean Hued Clam artifact set from Inazuma was an attempt at fixing this, but it only made healers slightly better.
Furina was amazing because she provided a better buff than Bennett to your entire team, whereas Bennett could only buff the active character. This had a condition, though, where you have to face HP changes while Furina’s burst is active. This and her Elemental Skill that damaged your entire team made healers like Jean sometimes provide more to the DPS than Bennett or Kazuha.
Making Diluc Great Again
The game successfully fixed everything from healers to characters with weak base stats such as Keqing. The only ones still left were Hypercarries like Diluc. While he’s certainly not strong, the addition of Cloud Retainer perhaps accidentally gave him a use case. Diluc has one of the strongest plunge attacks in the game. Coupled with the property of greatsword characters, essentially giving them two damage instances, Diluc became an incredible teammate for Xianyun.
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Moiz Banoori, with a decade of experience in gaming and tech journalism and a degree in journalism, is a notable figure in the industry. He has contributed to various esteemed platforms, showcasing his expertise in both reporting and opinion writing.
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