When playing Genshin Impact, players often tend to focus almost exclusively on damage dealing. However, with every good DPS character in the game, an amazing support character offers defensive benefits.
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Shield users may be overlooked by fans in the community, but they offer a service that can seldom be utilized outside of crystallize reactions. Using shields as a matter of talents rather than reactions, shield users are the only characters that can reliably stop the damage from ever reaching the character on the field. That said, some players still have trouble deciding which shield characters are the best.
Updated November 3, 2023, by Elara Leclair: Despite shield users not being particularly popular among players due to the current meta, their utility has seen a resurgence thanks to self-damage inflicting reactions, such as Bloom-related reactions. Moreover, with the release of the new Fontaine region, which focuses on HP gain or loss, as well as the need for significant resistance to interruption, shield characters have become more prominent. They work well, especially when paired with characters like Lyney or Neuvillette. Although there aren't many new Geo characters on the horizon, with the earliest release being Navia in upcoming patches, players can still make good use of older characters from various elements, especially those that offer more party benefits than just providing a shield.
Shield Overview
Shielding is one of the more straightforward mechanics in Genshin Impact. Shields work by absorbing attacks made against the player, taking the impact of the attack instead of the on-field character's health. One of the few defensive processes, shields can be made via two different processes: reaction and talent shields.
Reaction shielding is the process of making a shield via the crystallize reaction, by combining Geo with either Cryo, Pyro, Hydro, or Electro. Generally speaking, reaction shielding is the more limited variant of shielding in Genshin Impact because it requires more prep time (by setting up two characters' abilities) and is generally weaker. That said, the reaction shield is more accessible given that any Geo character such as Albedo, Geo Traveller, Yun Jin or Ningguang will be able to provide a shield using the Crystallize reaction.
On the other hand, talent shielding creates a shield based on the elemental skill or burst of a character. These shields are distinct in their design and offer unique bonuses in comparison to the shields created by the Crystallize reaction. As these shields are based on a different scaling and are often stronger, the characters that use them are referred to as shielders.
Characters That Need Constellations to Unlock the Shield Ability
While most of the best shield characters in Genshin Impact make for full-blown shield users available directly at pull, some require more effort to unlock their shielding abilities. These characters will need constellations to unlock the shielding portions of their talents.
Kaeya
At constellation 4, Kaeya will automatically create a shield when his health goes below 20%. A perk of this shield is that it can absorb Cryo damage with increased efficiency. Nonetheless, the health requirement makes Kaeya unusable as a shield user.
Yanfei
At constellation 4, Yanfei will automatically create a shield whenever she uses her elemental burst. Like Kaeya's shield, Yanfei absorbs Pyro energy with increased efficiency. However, unlike Kaeya, because her shield is tied to burst usage, Yanfei can be used as a shield user.
Beidou
Beidou is currently the only Electro character who has access to shielding to some extent. At constellation 1, Beidou creates a shield that scales based on her HP, which also absorbs Electro Damage at a higher rate than others.
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On top of the shield generated by her constellation, Beidou also has a unique counter mechanism that requires the player to be holding her elemental skill to use her shield and parry with it to deal significant damage. This ability requires good timing, so Beidou is not often used for her counter mechanic. Nevertheless, her shield can be incredibly useful in team compositions, such as Hyperbloom, to help the active character take less damage from the reaction.
The Best Shield Characters in Genshin Impact
8 Xinyan
To put it bluntly, most people underestimate Xinyan's abilities. Players often view her talents as being underwhelming, overly complicated, or even useless. However, these kinds of players are indeed missing out on a fairly good shield user.
Interestingly enough, Xinyan's shield becomes stronger the more opponents are around her. Connected to her elemental skill, Xinyan's shields both infuse her with Pyro and protect her against Pyro with increased efficiency. In the end, this means that Xinyan makes for an incredibly offensive shield user, especially against crowds.
7 Layla
Layla's outstanding uptime of Elemental Burst and powerful shield, combined with the scaling of her abilities from HP, make her an easy character to build and use in a variety of teams. Layla's shield is one of the strongest in the game and her Cryo application is quite well.
However, her personal damage output is weak and her support abilities are locked behind constellations, making her usage quite limited at low or no constellations. Additionally, she does not generate many Energy Particles either, so she's not very versatile.
6 Thoma
To be fair, Thoma's overall shield abilities are pretty much equal in scale to Xinyan's. Scaled off of Max HP, Thoma's shield ability is tied to his elemental skill. Even without Thoma's shield, his skill is really supportive, hitting hard while generating 3 to 4 elemental energy particles for recharge.
However, it's really the that makes this elemental skill. Thoma's shield offers increased Pyro absorption, tackling Pyro attacks 250% more effectively than other elements. This makes Thoma incredibly helpful in domains and boss fights that feature a focus on Pyro attacks, like the Pyro Regisvine, Taishan Mansion, or the La Signora boss fight in Inazuma. He's also been gaining some popularity due to his usefulness in Burgeon team compositions while protecting the active character from taking damage as a result of this reaction.
5 Noelle
Of the entirety of Genshin Impact's shield users, Noelle is one of the most versatile. Her elemental skill applies a shield and acts as the primary source of her healing abilities.
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One of the reasons why she is so versatile is that she can perform both as a great healer and a formidable DPS character. However, her role as a healer and shielder requires her to remain in the field for longer periods of time than other support characters, which is why she isn't as favored as she was in the past.
4 Diona
Diona is a great choice for Cryo Shield support thanks to her Elemental Skill, which generates a shield while also providing healing with her Elemental Burst, which additionally applies Cryo in intervals. Her Elemental Skill also generates a decent amount of particles, making her a great battery for the team. Compared to Layla, Diona provides better overall support with her shield, healing, and Cryo application, making her a more versatile and valuable pick.
That said, there are a few flaws in Diona's shielding abilities. Players will find that Diona's shield time is fairly short due to her low shield scaling and base HP. Consequently, she is not recommended solely as a shield user compared to other characters. However, her versatility more than makes up for this shortcoming, and if players have her sixth constellation unlocked, she can provide the team with an Elemental Mastery buff, adding even more extra value to this character.
3 Kirara
Kirara is a versatile character capable of fulfilling both support and sub-DPS roles due to her impressive Elemental Burst modifiers. She offers strong Dendro application, especially when she is on the field, making her an excellent choice for characters who rely on Dendro reactions. However, what truly sets her apart is her unique ability to transform into a parcel state. In this form, she gains increased movement speed and can apply Dendro to enemies she comes into contact with. This versatile ability not only aids in combat but also makes traversing terrain more efficient, as she can scale cliffs with ease while in parcel form.
In terms of shield abilities, Kirara falls somewhere in the middle, with shields comparable to characters like Thoma. What elevates Kirara in this ranking is her all-round utility. She can function effectively as a Dendro character who provides shields and is well-suited for teams requiring both Dendro application and shielding.
2 Baizhu
Baizhu is one of the only two 5-star characters, alongside Zhongli, who provide a specific shield as part of their kit. In addition to shielding, Baizhu's primary function is to heal the team members while also providing a buff for Dendro-related reactions. It's worth noting that Baizhu's shield ability is only available through his Elemental Burst, so players need to focus on activating it as often as possible to benefit from it.
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However, Baizhu has some downsides as well, such as his shield not being exceptionally strong and the inability to apply it to co-op members. Despite these shortcomings, Baizhu's versatility as a healer, buffer, and shielder still makes him one of the best shielder characters. If on the other hand, players are particularly looking for a strong shield, and not any other versatility, Baizhu falls behind, and players may want to utilize another Dendro shielder like Kirara instead.
1 Zhongli
Zhongli is the only five-star character to offer a unique shield, and, as the Geo Archon, this is more than expected to be a unique ability in comparison to other characters. In fact, objectively speaking, Zhongli's shields are the strongest in Genshin Impact, to the extent that players don't need to have a healer in the team if they have a well-built Zhongli.
Zhongli has the highest base shield strength, with 150% damage absorption against all elemental and physical damage. This also comes with the offensive benefit of reducing the elemental resistance of opponents nearby, making for a dangerous combination with some of Genshin Impact's top DPS characters. Ultimately, there is currently no other character that can match Zhongli's shield strength and duration while also providing the additional buffs that he offers.
Genshin Impact
Genshin Impact is an open-world RPG made by MiHoYo. Focusing on the interactions between seven elements, Genshin Impact is a free-to-play gacha game with a host of characters, weapons, regions, and more.
