Take a look at our Wuthering Waves tier list to find out who the best DPS is, or the best healer to take with you. We rank each playable character based on their usability, strengths, damage, and healing abilities, as well as the community's preference overall. While we do take the game's meta into account, this tier list can be used for any type of team.
We've also got a full list of Wuthering Waves codes to grab some freebies on your new adventure, and you can check out our builds for Wuthering Waves Yinlin, Wuthering Waves Jinhsi, and Wuthering Waves Changli here.
Wuthering Waves tier list
This tier list ranks all the Wuthering Waves characters in the game from S- down to C-tier – but remember, just because your favorite might not be in the top tier doesn't mean they're not worth building.
Note that these rankings are based on each character with no resonance chain unlocked.
| Rank | Wuthering Waves character |
| S | Brant, Camellya, Carlotta, Jinhsi, Phoebe, Shorekeeper, Xiangli Yao, Zani |
| A | Calcharo, Cantarella, Changli, Encore, Jiyan, Mortefi, Roccia, Sanhua, Verina, Yinlin, Zhezhi |
| B | Baizhi, Danjin, Jianxin, Lumi, Rover (havoc), Rover (spectro), Youhu |
| C | Aalto, Lingyang, Yangyang, Yuanwu |
| D | Chixia, Taoqi |
Wuthering Waves S-tier characters
Brant
Wuthering Waves Brant can dish out damage. He can heal your team. He can provide a shield. He gives a fusion damage boost. Also, he's a flamboyant pirate who sails the high seas – what else do you want?
He's fun to use and fits into so many teams, even with the fusion boost. Though we recommend him with Encore or Changli in a dual-DPS team. As he heals and buffs (and can do plenty of damage), he frees up another slot for a second buffer or more damage dealers of your choice.
Camellya
Sorry, Encore, Wuthering Waves Camellya is the best havoc DPS in the game now. She has a complex kit bursting with blooming good attacks that target multiple enemies at once, both on the ground and in mid-air.
You can use her with the likes of Sanhua, Mortefi, and Shorekeeper to really boost her damage and clear out bosses in the blink of an eye.
Carlotta
As we enter Rinascita, we meet Wuthering Waves' Carlotta. In combat she uses a couple of guns and the glacio element, dealing ranged damage to targets. She hits hard, and can work very well with buffers, dual DPS like Changli, or even on her own.
Jinhsi
Wuthering Waves Jinhsi is a spectro-using five-star DPS and a very capable one at that. She works well against single targets and groups thanks to her versatile kit, where she can enhance her basic and resonance attacks to deal more damage.
If you really want to bump up Jinhsi's damage, using her with fellow S-tier units Mortefi and Yinlin is a great idea, as their coordinated attacks help to boost her personal damage.
Phoebe
Wuthering Waves Phoebe is a great pull choice if you need a DPS that doesn't require too much investment. She can work excellently with four-star and standard five-star weapons, but her damage only goes up if you get her signature rectifier.
She works really well with spectro Rover, and you can safely use Verina or Shorekeeper for a full spectro team.
The Shorekeeper
The Shorekeeper is Wuthering Waves' first limited healer and can keep your team in tip-top shape along with providing buffs to crit rate and damage – as well as a specific buff for the Rover.
You can use her in almost any team due to her being a healer, and she can safely take some of Verina's workload. See how to build this mysterious lady here in our Wuthering Waves Shorekeeper build guide.
Xiangli Yao
Xiangli Yao is, for better or worse, a straight upgrade to Calcharo. While we still love the Sephiroth-alike, Xiangli is easier to use and dishes out a ton of electro damage.
Simply build up his attack stat, then in battle, use his skill and punch things. It's that easy, and you'll get some great damage out of him. Plus, you get a free copy of him in the 1.2 update.
Zani
Zani is finally in the game and provides heavy spectro damage using Phoebe and Rover's spectro frazzle application. She weilds a giant shield-like sword, and looks super cool while doing it. Using her in the right team unlocks some serious damage potential, and she can sweep through most game modes with ease. The only caveat is that you need Phoebe as her teammate to truly unlock her output.
How do I get more Wuthering Waves characters?
To get new characters in your roster, you'll need to pull on the Wuthering Waves banners. There are two character-related banners at any time – the event banner with a limited-time five-star, and the standard banner, where all four-stars and a pool of standard five-stars are available.
The standard five-star characters are:
- Calcharo
- Lingyang
- Verina
- Encore
- Jianxin
In every ten wishes, you're guaranteed to get a four-star which, usually, is a character – and then within 80 wishes, you'll get a five-star character on the limited banner so save up that astrite and get pulling!
That's our Wuthering Waves tier list! If you, like us, are a big fan of mobile RPGs check out what we know about the Project Mugen release date right here, and what's going on in the next Genshin Impact update.