Though nowhere near as explosive as the debates over which character is strongest, many an internet argument has erupted in Genshin Impact's short lifetime around which element is the most useful. Right now, it's difficult to argue against pyro users being the leaders of the pack (even if this writer prefers electro characters).
While the battle for elemental supremacy smoulders on, it's easier to rank the usefulness of elemental resonances -- the stat bonuses awarded for doubling up on one or two elements in your party -- in the meantime.
8/8 A Quick Reminder For Players
Common rules for building your online and offline parties that you should remember::
- resonance is a bonus for the whole party and not just the units triggering it
- a KO'd character still triggers resonance
- when in co-op mode, your resonance only counts with teammates in the same instanced fight
- if one player goes in a domain and one goes to a world boss those two players are not resonating
Without any further ado, let's explore elemental resonance, how it works, and how best to use it.
7/8 Protective Canopy
The benefit of bringing four elements into battle is apparent. A pyro, hydro, electro, and cryo team, for instance, has almost no strategic downside and can break any shield from abyss mages or fatui agents (except for geo fatuis who are harmless anyway).
The cost of that benefit, however, is that this resonance (or lack thereof) is pretty useless for your stats. By not doubling up on an element, you'll receive a 15% boost to your physical and elemental resistance. As other lists have pointed out, incoming damage is rarely the reason you lose in Genshin, so a defensive boost is welcome but unnecessary.
6/8 Soothing Water
There are a few ways to build a powerhouse hydro-centric team. Tartaglia is a formidable DPS, Xinqui and Mona are essential supports, and Barbara is probably the first healer you built. Sadly, hydro resonance doesn't do much to strengthen your team as it decreases the duration of pyro debuffs and increases healing by 30%.
Tartaglia and Mona can do a ton of damage together, but that isn't thanks to their resonance. If nothing else, Soothing Water may allow you to forgo Qiqi, Diona, or Barbara and replace them with a healing weapon-equipped DPS instead.
5/8 High Voltage
Sorry fellow electro fans, but this resonance can't be ranked much higher...it could maybe go one spot up but that's it. Razor, Fischl, and Beidou are hugely popular and r/Keqingmains is more active and productive than any other Genshin character subreddit. If anything, the strength of electro characters is that they're still strong despite lackluster reactions and resonance.
High Voltage decreases the duration of cryo debuffs and boosts energy generated from electro reactions. However, considering the insane scaling on melt and vaporize reactions in the late game, prioritizing constant electo-charges and superconducts is usually the less efficient strategy.
4/8 Impetuous Winds
Impetuous Winds is the toughest resonance to pin down in terms of utility. It decreases stamina drain by 15%, increases movement speed by 10%, and decreases cooldowns by a small-but-noticeable 5%. None of these boons really contribute to a huge damage boost on their own, but many characters deal the majority of their damage with charged attacks and skills. This elemental resonance allows them do that more.
The versatility of anemo units is also a bonus. Jean is, without a doubt, the best all-rounder, covering damage, crowd control, and healing on her own. Sucrose is similarly useful with Venti being such a good combat and traversal support that it's almost insulting to every other unit. Xiao is all the rage right now (until Hu Tao drops) and every player starts the game with the anemo main character. Combine any of these two (even if neither is your main dps) for a considerable boost to your movement and attack speed.
3/8 Shattering Ice
Shattering Ice isn't a flashy resonance and it knows that it doesn't need to be. This resonance decreases the duration of electro debuffs and increases CRIT chance against enemies who have a cryo debuff.
This doesn't sound like much on paper, but given the scarcity of CRIT rate gear, any bonus you can find is worth it. Ganyu is already absurdly strong, so pair her with another top-tier unit like Qiqi, Diona, or the upcoming Rosaria for relentless criticals.
2/8 Enduring Rock
A few weeks ago, this would have easily been the worst resonance. At launch, Enduring Rock decreased your chances of getting stunned on hit and gave a 15% ATK boost while shielded. The latter bonus is super underwhelming for reasons that will be revealed below, and the former is almost useless since getting interrupted by enemies is usually the least of your problems in Genshin.
Now, geo resonance grants a 15% shield buff, shielded characters deal 15% more damage, and enemies' geo resistance decreases 20% on-hit. Powerful units, such as Ningguang, are nearly unstoppable now and "meh" units like geo Traveler are suddenly competitive.
1/8 Fervent Flames
You probably guessed from the intro that pyro resonance would rank close to the top. Even if you don't want to admit it, Fervent Flames is wildly impactful with its cryo debuff mitigation and 25% ATK bonus. Yes, there are limits to how much ATK can be stacked before returns diminish.
But every bit of ATK you gain elsewhere means that you can trash those ATK artifacts and replace them with valuable CRIT or elemental gear. Unlike the other conditional resonances, the Flames ATK boost is active all of the time. Talk about over-powered.
