Best Characters to Level Up Early | Best Free Characters

There are ten free, early game characters in Genshin Impact. Read on to know which recommended early game characters to level up, which ones have a high priority for grinding and precautions to take while raising them.

Early Game Characters to Level

Pre - Adventure Rank 20

Priority	Character
S	Noelle
A	Traveler (Anemo)	Lisa	Kaeya
B	Amber

Jump to Rating Explanation

Post - Adventure Rank 20

S	Barbara				Xiangling				Traveler (Dendro)
A	Collei						Lynette
B	Traveler (Geo)			Traveler (Electro)			Traveler (Hydro)			Aloy

Jump to Rating Explanation

Ratings Explanation

Pre - Adventure Rank 20 Explanation

S Priority Characters

Character	Explanation
Noelle	• Claymore character, with huge team utility. • Summons a shield and can heal party members. • powerhouse that doesn't require in-depth game knowledge to play.

A Priority Characters

Character	Explanation
Lisa	• Excellent Electro character who can trigger Electro-based reactions such as Overloaded and Superconduct. • Holding her Elemental Skill, Violet Arc, charges her attack and gives her Electro damage a larger Area of Effect.
Traveler (Anemo)	• Later in the game, the Traveler can change the element they carry, depending on the Statue of the Seven they've unlocked, giving you more diverse options. • The Traveler's constellation materials can be obtained by playing the game.
Kaeya	• A strong Cryo attacker from the start, with short Elemental Skill cooldown and low energy costs. • Pairs well with the other starter characters.

B Priority Characters

Character	Explanation
Amber	• Provides Pyro and long range utility. • Can quickly be replaced with better units as you progress the game.

Post - Adventure Rank 20 Explanation

S Priority Characters

Character	Explanation
Barbara	• Upon reaching Adventure Rank 20, you can obtain Barbara via mail rewards. • She can heal party members with both Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst • Barbara can also provide Hydro application, making her valuable in many ways after AR20
Xiangling	• Players can obtain Xiangling through completing Floor 3 of Spiral Abyss. • She's a great Pyro unit and can even be levelled further to support other characters even later in the game.
Traveler (Dendro)	• Dendro Traveler is also a great support once you reach the region of Sumeru, both in terms of Dendro reactions as well as exploration. • Similar to Anemo Traveler, the constellations can be obtained easily through progressing the main story and exploration.

A Priority Characters

Character	Explanation
Collei	• After Version 3.1, players get to invite The Sprout of Rebirth, Collei after clearing Floor 4, Chamber 3 of the Spiral Abyss. • Collei can help with plenty of ranged puzzles in Sumeru and is a good Dendro support or sub-dps as well.
Lynette	• Players get a free copy of Lynette after reaching Adventure Rank 25! • Lynette provides Ousia mechanic for exploration and puzzles in Fontaine. • She can provide decent Anemo support with her Elemental Burst.

B Priority Characters

Character	Explanation
Traveler (Geo)	• Geo constructs can be useful in exploration. • Lower priority for players with Noelle or other Geo units built.
Traveler (Electro)	• High energy cost for a support. • By the time players reach Inazuma in the main story, better Electro characters are likely available to use. • Less useful compared to Traveler's other elements.
Traveler (Hydro)	• High energy cost for a support. • By the time players reach Fontaine in the main story, better Hydro characters are likely available to use. • Less useful compared to other Traveler's other elements.
Aloy	• Only available to get in October to November 2021, no longer available for new players. • Cryo damage pales in comparison to most other characters even in the beginning.

Precautions for Leveling Up

Limited EXP Books

EXP books used to raise character levels are limited, since they can only be obtained from adventuring, exploration, and quest rewards. You will run out if you use them to raise character levels evenly, so we recommend using them sparingly.

Early Level Cap is Lv.20

The initial level cap is only up to Lv.20. Reaching an Adventure Rank of 15 or higher allows you to use Character Ascension to increase the level cap to 40. This lets you further train the high-priority characters listed here. We recommend stocking up EXP Books as much as possible.

Character Ascension | How to Ascend

Free Characters in Genshin Impact

All Free Characters

All Free Characters
Traveler (Geo)	Traveler (Anemo)	Amber	Lisa
Kaeya	Barbara	Noelle	Xiangling
Traveler (Electro)	Lynette	Traveler (Dendro)	Collei
Traveler (Hydro)

Limited-Time Free Character

Limited-Time Free Character
Aloy

Aloy was a collaboration character between Genshin Impact and Horizon Zero Dawn. She was available for free for PS4 and PS5 players from September 1, 2021, and on all platforms from October 13, to November 24, 2021 during Version 2.1 and 2.2!
How to Get Characters

Genshin Impact Related Guides

All Tier Lists

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All Genshin Impact Tier Lists
Character Tier List	Best Team Comp
Weapons Tier List	Artifact Tier List
Reroll Tier List	Best Free Characters