Best Claymores in Genshin Impact, Ranked (+Tier List)

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Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

The Claymore weapon family in Genshin Impact is made up of hulking, two-handed broadswords and clubs. These weapons swing slowly, but hit incredibly hard and with massive reach. Claymores are the go-to choice in most cases for shattering enemy armor and breaking rocks. If you want to destroy your foes (and hopefully not your wallet), you naturally want to know what the best claymores in Genshin Impact are.

In this article, we’ll be going over Genshin Impact’s best claymores and what you can expect from each one. We’ve started by creating a tier list of our top fifteen picks, then curated our rank lists to give you a little more information on the best options. We’ve also listed where you can obtain the weapons and which characters gain the most mileage from them.

Let’s get started!

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Foreword

To give you a better understanding of our rankings, we’ve largely assumed you only have a single copy of each weapon. Only free weapons obtained via events/forging are expected to have been refined with multiple copies. Control yourself and roll responsibly. Don’t go broke trying to get refinement Rank 5 on a five star weapon.

There are also specific character builds out there that may change the ranking of a weapon. Make sure to do your research before investing!

Genshin Impact Claymore Tier List (2.x)

Here are our picks for the fifteen best claymores in Genshin Impact. Keep reading for our breakdown on the best of the best and a few strategies on how to use them effectively.

The 8 Best Claymores in Genshin Impact, Ranked Good to Best

We’ve ranked our top eight claymores, hitting on what makes them great and how to make the most of each when you have them equipped. If a specific weapon is considered the best overall for a character, we’ll have (BiS) next to their name for “Best in Slot.”

8/8

Prototype Archaic (4* Rarity)

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Source: Forging | Good On: Everyone

This is one of the first good claymores you’ll have access to in the game without rolling any banners. This weapon serves as a solid all-around pick for those who want to focus on auto-attacking and is considered the best of the forgeable claymores for most characters.

With a base attack of 565 and 27.6% bonus to attack at max level, it hits respectably hard for how easy it is to obtain early on. Its special effect is to emit a small AOE dealing 240% attack damage on normal or charged hits every 15s. Quite nice, given that claymores typically end up doing AOE damage with their reach anyway. Each refinement copy you add to the weapon boosts the AOE damage by 60%. At max refinement, the AOE deals 480% of your attack.

The only real limitation to obtaining more copies of this weapon is getting lucky with the weekly boss drops for a Claymore Billet. However, you’re likely to obtain a better claymore relatively quickly, so you may want to stick to making only one of these.

While we’re on the forgeable claymore, we’re going to briefly touch upon the other three forgeable claymores and their niche uses.

• Whiteblind — A defense oriented weapon. Really only good on Noelle, as she scales heavily with defense and the weapon’s effect synergizes with her playstyle. Her best F2P weapon.
• Snow-Tombed Starsilver — An inferior version of the Prototype Archaic. No real reason to build it beyond its cool visual design.
• Katsuragikiri Nagamasa — Energy recharge and elemental skill oriented claymore. Only Sayu has a real use for this weapon. Her best F2P weapon if you go for an Elemental Mastery/burst build.

7/8

Luxurious Sea-Lord (5* Rarity)

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Source: Event Weapon | Good On: Everyone

This is possibly the single best claymore ever — a giant, petrified mackerel. A weapon and snack in one, and (most importantly) free!

A fair bit of you will have obtained this weapon from the recent Moonlight Seeker event, along with all of its refinements. As far as a free four-star claymore goes, it’s a pretty decent weapon. Boasting a base attack of 454 and 55.1% bonus attack at max level, it does a fair bit of damage to your enemies (physically and emotionally).

Its true value becomes apparent when you use your burst, as the claymore boosts your burst damage by 12% and summons a barrage of tuna to deal 100% of your attack as AOE damage. It’s got a fifteen-second cooldown, which should be enough to recharge your burst if you’re built for energy recharge. Each refinement copy you add to the weapon boosts the burst damage bonus by another 3% and the AOE damage by 25% At max refinement, you have a 24% burst damage boost and 200% attack AoE blast.

While this weapon certainly won’t be the top of the list for anyone, it’s quite useful as a F2P option on any characters that you’re using solely for their burst. Plus, it’s hilarious slapping people with a fish. Pity that it doesn’t summon a giant tuna like Childe’s whale….

6/8

Lithic Blade (4* Rarity)

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Source: Limited-Time Weapon Banner | Good On: Everyone

The Lithic Blade is an oddball of a weapon, as it requires having characters hailing from the Liyue region in your party to bring out its true strength. The more Liyue natives, the stronger it becomes.

With a base attack of 510 and 41.3% bonus attack at max level, this claymore is already quite strong. However, its special effect makes it one of the best four-star claymores in Genshin, even if only partially triggered. For each member from Liyue in the party, the weapon wielder gains 7% more attack and 3% crit rate up to a total of four stacks. Each refinement copy you add to the weapon boosts the attack and crit rate bonus by 1%. At max refinement, you have an 11% attack boost and 7% bonus to crit rate.

Frankly put, it’s somewhat difficult to build an ideal team with only characters from Liyue. There are currently three claymore users from Liyue — Chongyun, Xinyan, and Beidou. Of the three, only Beidou sees common usage in most team comps.

Thankfully, the weapon is considered one of the best four-star claymores even with only 1–2 Liyue party members, and is a solid choice for nearly every claymore user. As more characters are released, you can expect to see more teams built around this weapon.

5/8

Skyward Pride (5* Rarity)

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Source: Standard Banner | Good On: Xinyan (BiS), Diluc

The shiny sky blue gleam that all the Skyward weapons have is prevalent as ever on the claymore variant. As is typical of the weapon series, the Skyward Pride is an incredibly strong pick overall but loses out on being the best claymore to more specialized picks.

However, the weapon is still incredibly strong and versatile enough to work with any claymore user. With 674 base attack at max level and a 36.8% bonus to energy recharge, you’ll be hitting fairly hard and have an easier time charging your burst.

As for the weapon’s effect, you have a flat 8% bonus to all damage done and enter an empowered state after using your burst. Each time you land a normal/charged attack, you summon forth a wind blade. These wind blades surge forward dealing 80% of your attack as damage to all enemies in a line, scaling with physical damage and can crit as well!

This effect lasts for either 20s or until you summon eight total wind blades. If you can activate your burst often, then this weapon can enable some truly silly AOE damage. However, outside of its empowered state, this weapon’s damage falls short of our remaining claymore choices. Each refinement copy you add to the weapon boosts the flat damage bonus by 2% and the wind blade damage by 20%. At max refinement, you have a 16% damage boost and wind blades that deal 160% of your attack.

Also, unlike most other five-star weapons, this one is always available via the standard banner, so you’re more likely to run into it. Of course, whether or not you’re happy to be spooked by this weapon while rolling is a different matter….

4/8

Serpent Spine (4* Rarity)

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Source: Battle Pass (Gnostic Hymn) | Good On: Noelle (BiS), Beidou, Chongyun

High risk, high reward — that’s the nature of this weapon. The longer the character wielding this claymore stays on the field, the more damage they’ll deal. Unfortunately, they also take more damage.

With a base attack of 510 and 27.6% crit rate bonus at max level, you can set up some truly devastating hits with this weapon thanks to its special effect. Every four seconds that the wielder is on the field, they do 6% more damage and take 3% more damage. It can stack up to five times and persist through character swaps, but you lose a stack each time you take damage. Each stack is visualized as a small sword floating around your character. If you can consistently maintain full stacks, this weapon can easily rival most five-star claymores. However, given the wind up time on most claymore users’ attacks, it’s rather easy to get hit and take damage.

Thankfully, shields completely negate this issue and let you to wield it to its maximum potential. Noelle works especially well with this weapon, as her shield is more than strong enough, scales well with high crit, and wants to keep fighting on the field to lower the cooldown of her shield.

Because it comes from the Battle Pass, you can be guaranteed one copy approximately each month if you buy the Gnostic Hymn. Unfortunately, that means you need to spend a total of $50 if you want it at max refinement.

Speaking of which, each refinement copy you add to the weapon boosts the stack damage by 1% and reduces damage taken by 0.3%. At max refinement, you have deal 10% more damage and receive only 2% more damage per stack.

3/8

The Unforged (5* Rarity)

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Source: Limited-Time Weapon Banner | Good On: Diluc, Xinyan, Eula

Our third-best claymore is another oddball of a pick. To truly gain max value from this weapon, you need access to a shield as often as possible. If you can do that, it’s one of hardest hitting claymores in the game.

With a respectable base attack of 608 at max level and 49.6% bonus attack, the weapon becomes stronger the more hits you land on your enemies. Each blow increases the damage you deal by 4% for 8s up to a total of five stacks. If you’re shielded, the effect is doubled. Thankfully, it also increases your shield strength by 20%, so you can worry a bit less about your shield breaking. However, unless you’re running Zhongli or Diona, you probably won’t be able to maintain a shield all the time. Crystalize reaction shields also count, but those tend to be a bit more fragile.

Each refinement copy you add to the weapon boosts the shield strength bonus by another 5% and the stacking effect on hit by 1%. At max refinement, you have a 32% attack boost and 24% party wide attack speed and 40% attack buff.

Overall, it’s not the best for anyone, but is a solid second or third pick in nearly every situation. Also, despite revolving around shields, this weapon actually does not perform well on Noelle due to her scaling much better with defense, so be warned about that.

2/8

Song of Broken Pines (5* Rarity)

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Source: Limited-Time Weapon Banner | Good On: Eula (BiS), Razor

The ornate harp-stylized claymore exists as a symbol of the fervor that the people of Monstadt held when rebelling against their tyrant ruler centuries ago. Their fervor is still felt today through the weapon’s unique Rebel Banner’s Hymn effect, rallying an assault against your enemies.

Possessing the highest base attack of all claymores with 741 at max level and a 20.7% bonus to physical damage, this weapon is one of the best claymores in Genshin for auto-attacking. The passive 16% bonus to attack is very nice as well, but it’s the Rebel Banner’s Hymn effect that makes this weapon truly shine.

Each normal/charged attack that hits an enemy grants you a sigil every 0.3s (not an issue given the wind-up time of most claymore swings). Upon obtaining four sigils, your entire team gains a 12% bonus to attack speed and an additional 20% attack bonus for 12s. It’s one of the few effects in the game that boosts attack speed and can let you shred through enemies extremely quickly.

You’ll be able to see the number of sigils floating around your character. The activation effect of the Rebel Banner’s Hymn is signaled by a harp with spread wings appearing across the center of your character.

Each refinement copy you add to the weapon boosts the flat attack bonus by another 4% and the proc effect by 3% for attack speed and 5% for attack bonus. At max refinement, you have a 32% attack boost and 24% party wide attack speed and 40% attack buff.

Unfortunately, you can’t gain additional sigils for twenty seconds after the Hymn is triggered, but eight seconds of downtime is rather negligible. Also similar effects will not stack, so keep that in mind.

1/8

Wolf’s Gravestone (5* Rarity)

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Source: Limited-Time Weapon Banner | Good On:  Razor (BiS), Beidou (BiS), Diluc (BiS), Chongyun (BiS), Sayu (BiS)

We’ve finally reached the final entry on our lists, and a well-deserved one at that. The claw-marked and battle-worn claymore boasts one of the most insane attack boosts in the game. The Wolf’s Gravestone is the absolute best claymore in Genshin Impact.

Everything about the weapon is centered around increasing the wielder’s attack as high as possible, which is fantastic as attack affects all forms of damage. At max level, it has a base attack of 608 and provides an additional 49.6% attack as its secondary stat.

As for the weapon’s effect, you gain an additional flat 20% to the wielder’s attack at all times. If you damage an enemy below 30% health, your entire party gains another 40% attack bonus for 12s. The signal for the effect proccing is a large red wolf symbol flashing over your character’s head.

During that twelve-second window, use the entirety of your team’s abilities to churn out massive damage. Combo skills and bursts together to absolutely destroy your enemies. There is the caveat that the proc effect can only occur once every thirty seconds, but the effect is so strong that you’ll probably be able to kill most enemies within the buff window. On meatier boss enemies, you can expect to get around 3–4 procs of the effect.

Each refinement copy you add to the weapon boosts the flat attack bonus by another 5% and the proc effect by 10%. At max refinement, you have a 40% attack boost and 80% party wide attack buff.

Side note on the proc effect — only have a single member of the party run the weapon. You can’t stack the proc with two characters wielding separate copies of the weapon.

Join the High Ground

That’s it for our list on the best claymore in Genshin Impact! We hope it’s helped you plan out which weapons to go for. If you think that another weapon deserves a mention on our list, then subscribe and leave a comment below.

Happy gaming!