The wonderful world of Genshin Impact has a host of colorful characters. Its resident knight in training is no exception to that rule. Noelle's a character who has a lot to offer. While many players often opt to focus almost exclusively on DPS, Noelle is a fantastic choice for those who are looking to add a little survivability to their party.Related: Genshin Impact: Things You Need To Know About NoelleWhat makes Noelle so interesting is that she is a very competent healer, but unlike so many other support units in the game, she is the opposite of squishy. She is the iron wall that heals. Oh, and if you aren't interested in her durability, she isn't a bad option as a DPS either.

10/10 Defense, Defense, Defense!

Noelle's Elemental Skill Breastplate has its healing effectiveness tied directly to her defense stat. So, when you are grabbing artifacts, that is the attribute you should emphasize. Finally, you will have a use for all those artifacts that come packing that (typically) dreaded defense stat.

Defense is what determines Noelle's healing strength, and it is also what determines her attack power while using her Elemental Burst. If you get her sixth constellation, Must Be Spotless, then her defense becomes even more important.

9/10 Noelle Is Beginner Friendly

Noelle has a simple, yet effective, move set. Her Elemental Burst has her extend her sword range dramatically, so there isn't any real trick to using it. She also doesn't bruise easily, due to her high defense. And on top of all of that, Noelle heals. This makes her a really reliable character for newer players to use.

If you are a new player, and you do pull Noelle, she will provide you with a very stable character who can make your team substantially more hardy. If you're looking for some early game artifacts, you should probably focus on the Guardian's Flower set, as it provides a nice defensive boost.

8/10 She's A Shield Buster

Hey, everyone hates those pesky shields. Of course, every claymore user is great for breaking shields. Noelle, though, has a huge advantage in her Elemental Burst. It extends her attack by a substantial amount, meaning her range allows her to tag basically all the enemies within a reasonable distance.

Related: Genshin Impact: Every Shield User In The Game

Pair that with her charged attack which has her spin around clocking everything in her range, and you have a character who will crush shields with the greatest of ease. Of course, when dealing with Abyss Mage shields, it is better to use the opposing element, but Noelle can still wreck these shields without breaking a sweat. So, she is good in a pinch, or if you just want a catch-all shield destroyer. However, a quick word of caution, those Fatui shields are extraordinarily tough, so your mileage may vary with those.

7/10 Noelle Is Great For Squishy Teams

The problem with building teams around the critical stat is that they can sometimes end up being a little on the frail side. However, not only does Noelle have the ability to heal your team (which is always useful when your squad is taken out by a strong gust of wind), but she also provides a defensive buff to party members who are low on health.

That's right, even when Noelle isn't active, she greatly assists your team's survivability. When a character gets to emergency levels, they will receive a barrier. This can be a literal lifesaver.

6/10 The Patchwork Knight

One of the best aspects of Noelle having such a heavy emphasis on defense is that the equipment that she uses will be built around a stat that is considered useless for most characters in the game. Usually, any given player is going to groan when they level up an artifact only to gain a defensive sub-stat. And you probably just throw away your items that have primary defensive bonuses.

So, you can end up having a lot of stuff that is perfect for Noelle completely accidentally. If you are still earlier in the game, and are trying to build up a second squad for the abyss, having a really durable character who can heal, that you threw together with scraps, is definitely not a bad thing.

5/10 Spin To Win

If you have built Noelle to be a healer, she can take an entire party from the edge of death to being fully healed with a single charged attack or standard attack combo while having her breastplate active. That is how potent Noelle can be as a healer. Better yet, the breastplate also buffs her defense, so she will be able to spin through most attacks.

Now, the potency of her heal will depend on her artifacts and her constellation level, but even a thrown-together Noelle will typically be a pretty sturdy healer capable of keeping your party alive and well.

4/10 Maiden Beloved

Once again, if you are looking for high survivability, the Maiden Beloved artifact set will give you that extra boost to healing. Better yet, you can obtain the Maiden Beloved set while grinding for the Viridescent Venerer set for your Anemo users.

Typically, you probably aren't going to build a character around the Maiden set, which means that you can end up with a bunch of these. This isn't an artifact set for the people who want that big damage, but for those just looking to be tanky, this is a great option, especially if you have a bunch of pieces just kicking around.

3/10 She Can DPS Too

While Noelle has always been able to play the DPS role with the Gladiator artifact set, with the release of the Husk Of Opulent Dreams artifact set, she is now even more capable of being a pretty strong DPS character.

Related: Genshin Impact: The Best DPS Characters, Ranked

Of course, this moves her away from her healing a little, but even so, her heals will still pack a decent punch due to the defense buff of the Husk Of Opulent Dreams artifact set, and she will still be able to take a shot better than almost anyone else. Add in a character like Bennett who can give her a damage boost, and you will see some absurd numbers with her.

2/10 Noelle Is Substantially Better At Constellation Six

So here's the rub. While you don't need Noelle to be at constellation six for her to be effective, she gains a huge attack bonus to her Elemental Burst when she is. Moreover, she gets to keep her burst for an additional second for every enemy she kills while the burst is active (up to a maximum of ten seconds).

The good news is that her high constellation dependency is primarily for people looking to go the DPS route and rack up those huge numbers. So, if you are just looking to beef up your team, and add a support unit with high survivability, that isn't the end of the world.

1/10 Blinded By The White

Of course, if you are willing to spend the Primogems, you are probably better off going for one of the potent five-star weapons - more specifically, the Redhorn Stonethresher. However, Noelle players can walk another, less expensive, path: they can opt for the Whiteblind. This sword is a godsend for the Genshin player on a budget. One of Noelle's best weapons is this four-star great sword you can build yourself.

You still, of course, have to get those precious weapon billets to obtain it, so there is a luck element to getting it fully leveled up (and some grinding involved), but nonetheless, this is a weapon you can obtain without having to rely on your precious Primogems. The sword itself feels like it was almost designed to accompany Noelle, as it buffs defense on successful hits. While it isn't her very best weapon in the game at this point, the Whiteblind certainly works well for her and is very obtainable for the typical free-to-play gamer.

Next: Genshin Impact: Noelle Build Guide