Best Exploration Characters & Team Comps in Genshin Impact

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There are tons of characters in Genshin Impact and a lot of them have some really handy Talents and skills that will help you explore every region of the game. Sadly since you can only have four characters on your team at a time it can be hard to pick the best ones. Which is why we’ve put together a list of the best characters and team comps for exploration in Genshin Impact!

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Best Exploration Characters in Genshin Impact

Exploration can be a tricky business in Genshin Impact. There are so many different scenarios and needs that will change depending on where you are in the game and what your goals are. Which is why we’re going over the best individual characters for exploring before we get into specific teams.

Ayaka / Mona (Alternate Sprints)

Ayaka and Mona are some of the best characters for exploration in Genshin Impact. This is all thanks to their Alternate Sprint Talents. 

While they may have different names, the two Talents do essentially the same thing. They cloak themselves in their respective Elements while sprinting. Not only are they faster than typical sprints, they also apply their Element to nearby enemies upon exiting their sprint. However, the really special thing about these Alternate Sprints is that they let you sprint across water.

In regions like Inazuma, which is made up of tons of islands and filled with streams and rivers, having characters who can run over watery paths makes exploration a breeze. Sprinting over water consumes a lot less Stamina than swimming too, so you can get further in a much shorter amount of time.

If you’re still struggling to cross a body of water, even with these two characters’ Alternate Sprints, there’s a trick to let you conserve Stamina. Instead of just sprinting at full speed, tap the movement button constantly. It will take you longer to reach your destination, but it’ll consume less Stamina. Here’s a demonstration video by YouTuber “Dion Gaming” if you’re trying to visualize it.

Kazuha / Wanderer (Vertical Mobility)

While being able to cross the sea in a single sprint is pretty handy, being able to move through the air is arguably even better. Which is why Kaedehara Kazuha and the Wanderer are also two of the best characters for exploration in Genshin Impact. 

Kazuha’s Elemental Skill allows him to leap high up into the air, with the distance being increased if you charge it up. While you would normally follow it up with a Plunging Attack in combat, in the case of exploration, you’re mainly using it gain some height while scaling cliffs.

But the best thing about this ability is that it can be used when Kazuha is already in the air too. This can give you an extra boost when gliding from long distances. In addition to all that, his Passive Talent also helps conserve Stamina when sprinting too.

While the Wanderer cannot use his Skill while already in the air, his unique ability essentially lets him fly for a short amount of time. After using his Skill, Hanega: Song of the Wind, the Wanderer also leaps into the air. 

Unlike Kazuha though, the Wanderer doesn’t immediately begin floating back down. Instead, he creates a new Stamina bar. While the new bar depletes pretty quickly, players will be able to move around in the air or ascend / descend at will too. Very helpful for exploring around cliffs or even just trying to reach that pesky Dendroculus that seems just out of reach. Some puzzles can even be completely bypassed with this ability.

Sayu / Yelan (Fast Movement)

If you’re going to be traveling on foot across long distances in Genshin Impact, you will want to have at least one of these two characters on your team – especially once you begin your exploration of the desert in Sumeru!

Sayu and Yelan are known as the taxis of Genshin Impact, as both have Elemental Skills that allow them to move rapidly without expending Stamina. Holding down their Elemental Skill will prompt each to begin rolling/dashing forward. You can either control their direction yourself or just kind of let them go. Either way, you’ll be moving a lot more quickly than regular sprinting, all without using up your Stamina bar.

If you have both, you can easily keep switching between the two and using their Skills back-to-back to quickly traverse Teyvet. There will be some moments where both Skills are on cooldown, but that’s when you can just normally sprint for a bit.

One thing to note is that while Sayu is rolling around with her Skill, Stamina does not regenerate. This is the opposite for Yelan, as your Stamina will continue to regenerate while she’s dashing with her Skill.

Nahida (Resource Gathering)

Thanks to her Elemental Skill (when held down), Nahida is able to collect resources from a fairly decent distance away. Which means less swimming, climbing, and running around for you. She saves time, Stamina, and helps you avoid the most tedious parts of exploration in the game.

Not to mention she is a very powerful Sub-DPS character to have backing up a DPS, so you won’t have to lose out on too much damage potential. 

Zhongli / Geo Traveler (Platform Creation)

On the surface Zhongli wouldn’t seem like a helpful addition to the best team comps for exploration in Genshin Impact but he’s actually quite handy to have in your party. 

The pillar created by his Elemental Skill is incredibly helpful in solving pressure plate puzzles. They can also offer up a platform for players to climb then rest on to restore Stamina during a daunting climb. Additionally, holding Zhongli’s Elemental Skill sends out a concussive shockwave that lets you instantly mine tough ores and minerals too.

If you don’t have access to Zhongli, then Geo Traveler can largely serve the same role. However, the the boulder the Traveler summons is a bit more finicky than Zhongli’s pillar and has a tendency to glitch out when placed on walls (even though you can aim the placement).

Kirara (Wall Walking)

If you hate climbing in Genshin Impact, then Kirara is the character for you. When you hold down her Elemental Skill, she’ll transform into delivery form. In this form, she’s able to run directly up vertical surfaces. Sadly, she only has so much Stamina and can’t sprint in this form, but you can extend the distance she can travel with food buffs or other character Talents too. 

It’s also just kind of funny to watch a small cat cube scurry up cliff faces. 

Characters with Exploration Passives

Unless you spend time reading through Talent descriptions for each and every character, you may be surprised at just how many characters have Exploration Talents. They aren’t as straightforward as the characters we covered above but they’re incredibly helpful nonetheless.

The prime examples of characters with Exploration Talents are actually some of the first characters you play as in the game. Both Kaeya and Amber have some pretty handy Passive Talents for exploring.

Kaeya’s Talent Hidden Strength for example, decreases sprinting Stamina consumption by 20% for the whole party. Amber’s Talent Gliding Champion does the same thing with gliding Stamina instead.

Both Talents are very helpful for the early game while your Stamina bar is tiny. Even once your Stamina bar is fully upgraded, it’s still pretty nice to be able to sprint further and glide farther on the same amount of Stamina.

If you don’t feel like using Kaeya or Amber, there are other characters that provide the same effect with their Passive Talents. Just note that you cannot stack Stamina cost-reducing effects by running multiple characters with the same effect.

Reduced Sprinting Stamina Consumption:

• Kaeya
• Razor
• Kaedehara Kazuha
• Shikanoin Heizou

Reduced Gliding Stamina Consumption:

• Amber
• Venti
• Colleil

Reduced Climbing Stamina Consumption:

• Xiao
• Candace

Faster Movement:

• Rosaria (during the night)
• Dehya (during the day)
• Anemo Resonance – If you have at least 2 Anemo characters on your team, it will trigger Anemo Resonance. This grants 10% more move speed and reduces all Stamina consumption by 15%.

There are also many characters with Passive Talents that allow you to more easily find and gather resources. The following characters highlight any nearby regional specialties on your minimap (but only for their native region):

• Klee (Mondstadt)
• Mika (Mondstadt)
• Yanfei (Liyue)
• Qiqi (Liyue)
• Gorou (Inazuma)
• Tighnari (Sumeru)

In a similar vein, Ningguang’s Passive Talent will show nearby ore deposits on your minimap. Luckily, Ningguang’s Talent is not limited to just one region and should work anywhere in Teyvat. 

Best Exploration Team Comps in Genshin Impact

Now that we’ve covered individual characters great for exploring, let’s get into the actual best team comps for exploration in Genshin Impact!

In General

The terrain of Teyvat, the puzzles you face, and the obstacles you encounter are all going to demand having access to certain Elements and weapon types. Which means there is no one team you can choose that will be perfect for every situation. 

The best you can do is choose characters with the most flexibility when it comes to exploration that won’t also sacrifice your damage output. After all, exploring gets a little tricky if even the smallest band of hilichurls can take you out.

While there is no one team that can fit every single exploration need you’ll encounter in Genshin Impact, there are some that will at least minimize the number of times you’ll need to swap a character out.

That’s why we considered the most common obstacles and exploration challenges you’ll face to craft the closest-to-perfect exploration team you can get! 

Best Team for Mobility

This is definitely one of best team comps for exploration in Genshin Impact when it comes to overall mobility. If you need to get somewhere far away from a teleport waypoint, no matter the surrounding terrain this is the team for you.

Wanderer, Yelan, Ayaka, Zhongli

While at first glance this team may seem a little haphazard, we guarantee it is a phenomenal team for exploration in Genshin Impact.

With Wanderer as your Main DPS, he should have enough raw power to deal with most enemies you come up against. For those pesky opponents he can’t solo, Yelan and Ayaka will be there as Sub-DPSes to back him up. Zhongli will also provide some great Support with his Jade Shield to minimize damage taken by the whole party.

This team nearly has it all from phenomenal mobility to decent Elemental Reactions and combat power too. 

Substitutions

For players who don’t have all four of these characters, there are also some very decent substitutions to be made as well. Thanks to their similar Talents, Sayu and Mona can tag in for Yelan and Ayaka respectively without really losing any party mobility. With Sayu in the party, you’ll also be gaining a healer too.

Wanderer can be swapped out for Kaedehara Kazuha, although Kazuha’s DPS ability is a bit lacking in comparison. His Elemental Skill is still fantastic for exploring though, especially since it can be used midair to regain altitude during a long glide. Kazuha also has the added bonus of reducing your party’s sprinting Stamina consumption by 20% as well. If you’re running Sayu as well, this will trigger Anemo Resonance to make you move faster and spend less stamina overall.

Unfortunately, Zhongli’s closest one-to-one substitute would be the Geo Traveler which is a bit less than ideal. So instead, if you’re looking to replace the Geo Archon, we suggest going with a character with a different exploration strength. 

Best Team for Resource Farming

Exploring Teyvat aimlessly can be a fun way to pass the time but not every player enjoys doing so. Which is why we also have a top tier team for explorers who want to focus on resource gathering!

Nahida, Ningguang, Dehya, Qiqi

What these characters lack in direct power, they more than make up for in resource farming ability. You’ll be hard pressed to find a more resource-ful team in all of Teyvat!

While not the most adept at climbing, gliding, or sprinting, Nahida is a really good character to have on your team for resource collecting. She can grab resources from some distance away which will really speed things up if you’re farming. 

Ningguang also makes a fine addition to any exploration team as a personal ore vein detector. Since her ability works in all regions it can be handy if you’re in need of Crystals, Magic Crystals, or regional ore deposits. (She can’t pinpoint those ones herself but they do tend to crop up near Crystal deposits so she can get you close enough). 

Dehya may come as a surprise on an exploration team but she brings some much needed firepower to the team. Her Claymore weapon will also be useful in harvesting ores too. Not to mention Dehya’s Passive Talent The Sunlit Way will also increase your party’s movement SPD by 10% during the day, which is really nice.

Our final Resource Farming team slot goes to Qiqi, though she can be swapped out as needed depending on the region you’re in. The important part is to have a character who can show you where regional specialities are on the map. Qiqi is a big help in finding resources like Violetgrass and Cor Lapis in Liyue while also providing some healing to the party just in case you find yourself on the wrong side of a Samachurl.

Substitutions

Nahida’s Talent in gathering resources from afar is currently unmatched but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other characters uniquely suited to resource farming. Yaoyao’s Passive Talent will allow you to collect skittish critters like Crystalflies with a lot more ease since they won’t be alerted to your presence nearly as quickly.

Ningguang and Qiqi can both be replaced by characters with Talents pinpointing regional specialties. While the team composition may not be as strong, they’ll still be very helpful for exploration. Klee and Yanfei in particular are helpful, since Pyro puzzles have been common in nearly every region of the game.

The best character substitute for Dehya in an exploration team will also probably surprise you. Arataki Itto can make for a mighty fine adventurer when he wants to. Thanks to his Talent Woodchuck Chucked, he grants the party a 25% chance to receive extra wood from trees. It is a bit of a niche need since logs have limited use in Genshin Impact, but it is helpful nonetheless. Especially since having a Claymore wielder on the team is never a bad idea. 

Join the High Ground!

That’s it for the best characters and teams for exploration in Genshin Impact! Who are your go-to exploration characters and teams? Let us know in the comments below!

For more Genshin Impact guides, be sure to check out our guide on How to Get Primogems Fast. For more helpful hints and gaming guides you can also sign up for our newsletter too.

Until next time, ad astra abyssosque and happy gaming!