You don't have to be a fan of Genshin Impact yourself to know that those who are take choosing a main very seriously. Even KFC couldn't pass up the opportunity to brand their buckets with Genshin guys and gals and cash in on Genshin-fever. The reasonable balancing of said characters, however, reveals an ironic incongruence between fan culture and the actual gameplay: any character can be viable with the right items, therefore choosing which character to invest in is far less important than spending time gathering gear.
Most Genshin early-adopters have long since leveled up their eight characters required to clear endgame content and — though the urge to collect each new hero never fades — any veteran player will confess that spending wishes on weapons, instead of characters, nets higher returns in damage output. Since the game's best weapons are awarded at random, building the optimal brawler is easier said than done, requiring loads of money, luck, or both.
If you've been burned by five Wolf's Gravestones when all you wanted was a single Staff of Homa, or if you've preemptively decided the gachapon headache isn't for you, then purchasing the battle pass for its weapons is one way to guarantee yourself an endgame-ready armament. These weapons have nearly identical main stats (each boosts ATK and CRIT rate in similar increments), so your best bet will be determined by which refinement ability fits your individual needs.
5/5 The Black Sword
It's difficult to crown a best-in-class among the battle pass weapons because they exist specifically as a means to boost ATK and CRIT rate when the wishes haven't been going your way. These weapons were never meant to be show-stoppers, just reliable items that can be obtained without gambling. With that said, The Black Sword (TBS) is considered by many to be the least exciting battle pass weapon, even if they're all similarly powerful.
Just like The Viridescent Hunt, Solar Pearl, and Serpent Spine, TBS boosts ATK by 510 and CRIT rate by 27.6 percent at level 90. If these stats sound appealing it's because they are... TBS's weakness then is its "Justice" ability. Without refinements Justice grants 20 percent more damage to normal and charged attacks and restores 60 percent of a character's ATK as HP with every critical hit. At maximum refinement these stats increase to 40 percent more damage and 100 percent of ATK restored as HP.
Justice is by no means the worst weapon ability in the game, but with so many other options for healing and boosting damage (Bennett being the most obvious example) Genshin's fencers would be better off ditching the heal-on-crit ability for a more aggressive damage boost. TBS is suited for physical-DPS Keqing builds, since she performs best when dealing charged attacks as often as her stamina will allow. Jean is better off with an energy recharge sword as opposed to TBS, and the recently debuted Kazuha prefers high elemental mastery. Of course, even for Keqing-mains, the addition of the Primordial Jade Cutter (which drastically increases ATK, CRIT rate, and max HP) makes TBS completely irrelevant should you find yourself in the gacha gods' favour.
4/5 Solar Pearl
Like every battle pass weapon other than Deathmatch, Solar Pearl offers an alluring 510 ATK and 27.6 percent CRIT rate increase at 90. Since 50 percent CRIT rate is the recommended lower limit for endgame characters, grabbing any battle pass weapon will get you more than half way to that target without even accounting for artifacts.
Most of Genshin's catalyst wielders channel magic to buff other party members' attacks, amplify burst damage, or heal, for that reason Solar Pearl can be a bit of a niche pick, especially since The Widsith and Thrilling Tales are already highly versatile and easily acquired. For Ningguang and Klee, however, Solar Pearl is nothing short of devastating. Without refinement Solar Pearl's ability "Solar Shine" grants 20 percent increased damage to skills and bursts for six seconds following a normal attack, and the same bonus to normal attacks for six seconds following a skill or burst. At max refinement Solar Shine increases to 40 percent increased damage. In other words, doing just about any attack (other than charged or plunge) boosts the damage of another kind of attack.
Klee can already deal extreme, consistent pyro damage, and Ningguang constellations (which allow her to immediately recast a broken Jade Screen and grant a second volley of burst projectiles) are fairly easy to obtain. This means that these two characters are exceptional DPS carries when Solar Pearl is giving them constant damage buffs.
3/5 The Viridescent Hunt
The Viridescent Hunt (TVH) is nobody's best four-star weapon, but it is formidabble in the hands of any archer that has high ATK and is in need of CRIT rate. Once again, this weapon boasts 510 ATK and 27.6 percent CRIT rate. Venti, Fischl, Ganyu... every Genshin archer has a different four-star bow that's better suited to their needs than TVH. However, this bow's "Verdant Wind" ability generates whirlwinds that group up enemies and deal 40 percent of character ATK (increasing to 80 percent at max refinement) every half-second for four seconds, making it useful on any hero.
Amber can use this ability to catch more enemies in her burst or in Baron Bunny's explosion, Fischl can chain more electro-charged enemies together, Ganyu can ensure her bloom shot hits more targets, and Venti can be made an even more oppressive crowd controller. Every second counts in Spiral Abyss and Verdant Wind can corrale mobs and ensure that all of your area-of-effect attacks dish out maximal damage.
2/5 Deathmatch
Deathmatch is a peculiarity among the battle pass weapons for a number of reasons. First and foremost, its "Gladiator" ability isn't suited to one combat environment, rather, the ability changes depending on the number of enemies in the area. When engaging two or more enemies, without refinement, Gladiator boosts both ATK and DEF by 16 percent. When fighting one-on-one, however, Gladiator boosts ATK alone by 24 percent. At max refinement these bonuses increase to 32 percent ATK/DEF or 48 percent ATK. Essentially, Gladiator makes you stronger and sturdier in Spiral Abyss, and even stronger still (but without extra DEF) in boss fights.
Secondly, level 90 Deathmatch gives 454 ATK and 36.8 percent CRIT rate, breaking the 510/27.6 pattern seen in other battle pass weapon stats. Since CRIT is generally harder to come by than ATK, and scales better at higher values, this stat alotment is beneficial.
1/5 Serpent Spine
Serpent Spine may not be the best weapon on the battle pass (there really isn't a clear winner) but it belongs to what is arguably the best weapon family: claymores. If Hu Tao and Ganyu shared the same weapon type then perhaps that hypothetical family would be number one, but for now Eula, Diluc, Razor, and Beidou make a compelling argument for the strength of the claymore, one that appeals to whales and free-to-players alike.
Serpent Spine once again provides 510 ATK and 27.6 CRIT rate at level 90. The "Wavesplitter" ability increases damage dealt by six percent, and damage received by three percent, every four seconds that the wielder is on the battlefield, stacking up to five times. Taking damage removes a Wavesplitter stack. This increased damage is well worth the risk since all of the aforementioned claymore wielders synergize well with Xinqui, who provides defensive buffs with his elemental skill. Beidou can even ignore a hit entirely every eight seconds, making Wavesplitter seem tailor-made for the Pirate Lord. At max refinement the damage bonus increases to 10 percent, and the penalty decreases to two percent, every four seconds, meaning the risk diminishes as the reward climbs.
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=320&h=160&dpr=1.5)
