10 Genshin Characters Who Had The BIGGEST Comebacks (From Being Trash to Becoming Meta)

Analysis: #GenshinImpact characters who used to be trash, but have now found their place in the meta over time. This is a Genshin video essay / deep dive into the history of some of these characters!

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
0:49 - Zhongli
2:02 - Kokomi
3:17 - Yae Miko
4:26 - Kuki Shinobu
5:27 - Traveller
6:29 - Albedo
7:43 - SPON
9:17 - Candace
10:33 - Thoma
11:17 - Bennett
12:15 - Diluc
13:46 - If you made it this far...

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[quillzen]

I see a theme of if you are a 5 star limited healer you will be hated and forgotten for a few versions when you come out.

[TBROWN]

I think baizhu should be on here. Faurina made him meta in the spiral abyss. He have been too 10 in characters pick since she came out.

[Etoile.Atelier]

This is why I focus on characters I like rather than meta characters. The meta can always change, and I'd rather have characters I enjoy. My diluc, Venti, and Kaeya have carried me from mondstat to fontaine 😊

[lnsflare]

There's also Noelle becoming meta again with her crazy synergy with Furina. Ditto for C6 Dori, who is arguably even better on that front.

[checker]

I think keqing is also a character who had a big redemption meta wise thanks to dendro, I remember the struggle of being a Keqing main in 1st and 2nd version cycles before her dendro teams became available

[Kryo_GTS]

I got Kuki C6 on her release and was highly pleased with her because she offered exactly what i personally needed at the time, then after Dendro dropped she only got better. Kuki was never a disappointment for me at any point.

[ajstoys]

I think for diluc that's he's kinda different since he was literally meta on release but like ever since other 5 star characters came he just began turning into a character nobody really cared to use anymore but obviously he had his rise again with xianyun who basically made him insanely good. Also I think baizhu should be on this list just saying he's the real "Trash turned to gold"

[ShiraFuyu]

Looking back at Zhongli, i still wish they revamped the Liyue Series weapon. A real shame that Vortex Vanquisher looks amazing on him yet barely contributed. Meanwhile, Khaj Nissut doesn't look good at all for Nilou and it's her best weapon

[cqwiii]

Hopefully there will be a part 2 next year including Sigewinne 💀🙏

[lnsflare]

I mean, Geo Traveler is a bit clunky to use, but they hit hard, generate a ton of Geo particles, gets buffed by Chiori's weapon, benefitted from the Geo Resonance buff, and gives a slight buff to party Crit Rate with their Burst.

Electro Traveler is pretty much a clunkier Electro Xingqiu who focuses on regenerating Energy and works with Beidou's Burst. They probably are still the second or third best general battery in the game behind the Raiden Shogun herself.

[asheclips]

i joined during albedo’s rerun at the start of sumeru (i can’t remember the exact patch, but i know i specifically joined on albedo’s rerun) and i really wanted to get him. i didn’t, and i was really sad.

i saved up for like three to four months for his rerun, and when the chronicled wish banner was announced, I knew who I was pulling for.

I got him within my first 40 pulls. After that, I went for chiori’s weapon. i got two red horns, but i didn’t give up and i got a copy of the sword.

my albedo is now on a team with navia. his skill tick hits for around 26k every time. he was max ascended immediately after i got him, as well as getting a crown.

i don’t care if chiori’s “better”. albedo has been my favorite character ever since i saw him. and with enough time and effort, he’s now become one of my best units on my account.

in short, fuck the meta - i play who i want.

[foodiemin]

My team of Diluc, Kaeya, Noelle, and Traveller has saved my bottom so many times. I love making random teams and using ALL the characters I have turn by turn. It is so much fun!! That is why I am thoroughly enjoying the current theatre-event thingy. I have been using that playstyle since I started this game.

[powwowken]

Candace actually makes me angry... Her entire kit revolves around buffing normal attacks which requires her to stack pure HP to get the most out of. Okay fine, right?
Except her Talents ONLY buff her damage multipliers, so a 1/1/1 Candace can fill her primary role just as well as a 10/10/10 triple crowned Candace and if that's not a perfect example of terrible kit design then I honestly don't know what is.

[TheJH]

something you missed with Candace is that with the release of Yaoyao, you can now have a Yaoyao-Candace+electro hyperbloom core in which you can use Yaoyao's burst onfield without any downsides

[KategariYami]

Miko Mains Rise Up! But for real Miko was never actually bad, nor is or was she ever clunky. People just played EEEQEEE which is the Clunky way to play her, but I'm sure you know as well as I know: that's not how she works. Her EM passive was weird prior to Dendro, true, but even now there's an argument to still run an ATK Sand on her in Aggravate teams, so one could argue nothing has changed too much and she's still hella good.
"Oh but just Fischl" - you ever try to play Fischl in the Chevvy Overload teams with a Pyro On Fielder like Father? It's hard to get an Underlying Electro Aura no? Either way, without an underlying Electro Aura, Fischl's DPS falls off a cliff. And depending on what your build is, her DPS falls off a cliff if it's not Aggravate memes.
Miko doesn't suffer from any of this.

Miko is just super flexible.

In bed.

[ash-]

Moral of the Everything is changed when Dendero nation attacked.

Also you missed keqing my friend. I would rather put Keqing instead of Albedo in this list.

[neoinfinity]

This is why favorite character is always over meta value, Koko is my favorite hydro I ignored the dumb hate on her lacking damage then later greatly enjoyed her character development arc through both events and Sumeru release.

[usmanya]

i wonder if dehya can count as she finally now has teams where she can work decently now on teams that don't use NAs and one's she's actually amazing(Neuvillette Hyperbloom.). her kit still stinks though.

[alfredxsiv]

1:55 pre-buff zhongli also didn't spawn a pillar if you used his hold skill, meaning he literally have zero particle generation similar to Qiqi unless you do a weird tapE->other stuff->holdE rotation.

[abrobaS_]

I remember that when Kazuha went out I tried so much and got him, but my friends started saying I threw my account in the trash by getting him bc he was the worst 5 star

in the end I made him my strongest DPS and buffer character and those friends are suffering trying to get him now that he is one of the most valuable 5 stars in the game