Best Characters to Level Up Early | Best Free Characters | Genshin Impact

There are eight 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 training them.

Early Game Characters to Level

Pre Adventure Rank 20

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

Post - Adventure Rank 20

S	Barbara	Xiangling
A	Collei

Ratings Explanation

S Priority: Noelle

Character	Element	Weapon	Voice Actor (JP)
Noelle	Geo	Claymore	Takao Kanon (高尾奏音)

Straightforward Gameplay

Noelle is your run-of-the-mill Claymore character, with huge team utility to boot. She swings her sword to deal damage, summons a shield to mitigate enemy attacks, and her burst buffs both damage and reach of her normal and charged attacks, while infusing Geo.

Noelle is a powerhouse that doesn't require in-depth game knowledge to play, which is primarily the reason why she scored the top spot for this list.

Has A Geo Vision

One of the key elements of the game's combat the Elemental Reactions. While integrating elements is not much of a task, there's a chance that new players may struggle with this aspect of the game.

Fortunately, one of the good things about Noelle is that she holds the Geo element, an element that doesn't have all the complexity as other elements do.

Can Destroy Geo Shields

Noelle can easily destroy geo element shields and other non-elemental shields. She can do this to a mob with ease, especially when her burst is up.

Great Off-field Utility

Aside from providing damage absorption for the team thru her skill, Breastplate, Noelle also has a 50% chance of healing the entire team, so long as this skill is up and her normal and charged attacks score a hit.

Noelle Stats and Rating

A Priority: Lisa

Character	Element	Weapon	Voice Actor (JP)
Lisa	Electro	Catalyst	Tanaka Rie (田中理恵)

Normal Attacks Apply Electro

Characters using catalyst, for the most part, may have the relatively lower raw damage output compared to other weapon-types, but these characters are vital especially with elemental reactions.

In Lisa's case, she's an excellent Electro character who has plenty of ways of applying Electro to trigger Electro-based reactions such as Overloaded and Superconduct.

Great AoE Coverage

Lisa's skill, Violet Arc has two modes: tap and hold. Tapping the skill sends out a ball of electro that deals a decent amount of damage with a low cooldown.

Holding the skill however, renders the skill to a higher cooldown, but it zaps multiple enemies at once. This is a good way to utilize pyro-inflicted enemies to trigger Overloaded in a large area.

Keep in mind to use Noelle with her, since her shield can keep Lisa from being interrupted while charging Violet Arc.

Lisa Stats and Rating

A Priority: Traveler

Character	Element	Weapon	Voice Actor (JP)
Traveler (Anemo)	Anemo	Sword	Horie Shun (M), Yuki Aoi (F) (堀江瞬)

Can Change Elements

Later in the game, the Traveler can change the element they carry, depending on the Statue of the Seven they've unlocked. As you unlock more areas in Teyvat, you'll also have plentier of elements in your repository!

Constellations Are Easy to Unlock

The Traveler's constellation materials can be obtained by playing the game. Unlike other characters who rely on dupes from wishes, the traveler can get stronger easer than the other roster.

S Priority: Barbara/Xiangling

Character	Element	Weapon	Voice Actor (JP)
Barbara	Hydro	Catalyst	Kito Akari (鬼頭明里)
Xiangling	Pyro	Polearm	Ozawa Ari (小澤亜李)

Upon reaching Adventure Rank 20, you can obtain Barbara and Xiangling through other methods! (Barbara is obtained via mail and Xiangling through an event). They are valuable characters and leveling them is a great investment at the start.

A Priority: Collei

Character	Element	Weapon	Voice Actor (JP)
Collei	Dendro	Bow	Maekawa Ryōko (前川涼子)

Starting Version 3.1, you'll get to invite The Sprout of Rebirth, Collei after clearing Floor 4, Chamber 3 of the Spiral Abyss! Make sure to get her!

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)	Traveler (Dendro)	Collei

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

All Tier Lists

List of Tier Lists

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