Table of Contents
Welcome to our first Tier List update report on all Wuthering Waves Resonators. The rankings are from theorycrafting and playtesting since the release of Version 1.2. The next patch on the horizon and a new banner should follow shortly after.
This list is the combined efforts of our expert players and theorycrafters. We understand tier lists such as these can be highly controversial. Our ultimate goal is to do a complete, objective review with more detailed explanations and build guides on each character so everything has better context on why characters are rated this way.
Disclaimer
- We assume that they are played realistically with rather average substats and using their preferred Echo sets.
- Difficulties is not a factor of tier rating, however their ease of use will be mentioned.
- Everyone listed is at Resonance Chain 0, with considerations of 5-Star and 4-Star weapons. The only exception being Rover at Resonance 4+.
- The characters in each tier are not in any particular order.
Main DPS / Main Carry
| Tier | Resonator |
|---|---|
| S Tier | • Jinhsi • Xiangli Yao |
| A Tier | • Changli • Jiyan • Encore • Rover (Havoc) (Male) |
| B Tier | • Calcharo • Danjin |
| C Tier | • Chixia • Lingyang |
S Tier
Jinhsi
Without a shadow of a doubt, Jinhsi is the best main-dps we currently have. She boasts the highest damage output while invalidating most boss's attack patterns with her airborne playstyle. Lastly, she also synergizes well with two of the strongest sub-dps in the game, Zhezhi and Yinlin.
Xiangli Yao
Excelling at dealing single-target damage, Yao is a unit that managed to avoid every pitfall of being a character designed around their Resonance Liberation. Combining an unusually high damage output, simple yet fluid moveset, a built-in enemy slowdown and a modest amount of stagger resistance, it's difficult not to make him work well one way or another.
The only real caveat to Xiangli Yao that is impossible to ignore is the overall depressing selection of Void Thunder Echoes, being extremely clunky or straight up bad at their job. Once better options get added into the game however, Yao is bound to have his position solidified as one of the best damage dealing units in the game.
A Tier
Changli
Despite specialising in area of effect damage, Changli offers a fluid, balanced performance in both single- and multi-target fights, in large part thanks to the gimmick of ignoring a portion of enemy defence stat and her overall mobility. Even when not following her optimal rotation, her moveset allows for a great degree of flexibility when approaching each encounter.
In order to get the most out of Changli's kit, it's important to remember the ability to buffer heavy attacks during animations. Although annoying to do while developing the necessary muscle memory, it allows for sequencing or delaying specific moves that normally either wouldn't be possible or would take too much time to do.
Jiyan
With ToA shifting its focus to more boss fights and fewer trash mobs, Jiyan’s Crowd Control effects have somewhat fallen out of favor. On top of this, Jiyan cannot keep up with Jinhsi’s damage output, making it difficult to place them on the same tier.
B Tier
Calcharo
On paper, Calcharo can compete with top-tier damage dealers if played to perfection with swap cancels. Realistically, most players won’t fall into this category. Optimizing Calcharo’s rotation requires lots of practice (and essentially no lag), which most players won’t be bothered to do.
C Tier
Lingyang
With the introduction of Zhezhi, Lingyang finally has a sub-dps who can provide a Glacio DMG Deepen while keeping field time low and infrequent. Unfortunately, this doesn’t solve any core issues of his kit. Lingyang is still clunky to play, aerial movement can feel restricting or disorienting, and his damage output falls behind significantly compared to other main-dps.
Removed
Zhezhi
Zhezhi’s kit revolves around providing buffs to another damage dealer and dealing damage off-field via Coordinated Attacks. As you might have guessed, Zhezhi performs better as a sub-dps and has little to no benefits in being played as a main-dps.
Yuanwu
His overall skill set is designed around placing a tower and quickly swapping out to another resonator. This doesn’t lend well to a main-dps playstyle so we have decided to remove him from this category.
Sanhua
Sanhua is a bit of an oddball while she specializes and performs well as a sub-dps. A portion of her skill set does cater towards a main-dps playstyle. However, actively trying to activate her Inherent Skill requires you to cast Basic Attack V, is usually a damage loss and eats up a considerable amount of field time. On top of this, Sanhua’s damage output cannot compete with any of the alternatives in the main-dps category.
Sub DPS / Amplifier
| Tier | Resonator |
|---|---|
| S Tier | • Zhezhi • Yinlin |
| A Tier | • Mortefi • Sanhua |
| B Tier | • Jianxin • Rover (Male) • Yuanwu • Danjin |
| C Tier | • Aalto • Taoqi • Yangyang |
S Tier
Zhezhi
To no one’s surprise, Zhezhi is an exceptional sub-dps who synergizes a plethora of team utility. She pairs exceptionally well with Jinhsi, providing a Resonance Skill DMG Deepen and Coordinated Attacks while keeping field time low.
A Tier
Sanhua
While Sanhua is still a strong sub-dps who takes up very little uptime, the release of Yinlin and Zhezhi raised the bar of what a sub-dps can bring to the table. We have dropped her a tier to be in line with Mortefi.
B Tier
Danjin
In most cases, Danjin doesn’t fit into teams as a sub-dps and is usually played as a main-dps. Danjin’s Outro skill provides a Havoc DMG Deepen for 14 seconds to the next character switched in, allowing her to synergize well with Rover (Havoc).
Jianxin
As of late, ToA has been leaning towards more boss fights and fewer trash mobs on harder floors. This has made it difficult to justify bringing Jianxin into ToA when you don’t need any Crowd Control effects.
C Tier
Yangyang
As mentioned previously with Jianxin, ToA has shifted its focus to more boss fights and fewer trash mobs. On top of this, Yangyang is a strict downgrade to Jianxin in both Crowd Control and damage output.
Support / Sustainer
Removed
Zhezhi
Zhezhi’s kit revolves around providing buffs to another damage dealer and dealing damage off-field via Coordinated Attacks. As you might have guessed, Zhezhi performs better as a sub-dps. On top of this, she has no source of self-healing and cannot proc Rejuvenating glow on her own.
