Genshin Impact's sword class offers quick, close-range normal attacks and solid damage while also covering a wide variety of elemental abilities. More mobile than the other weapon types, a sword is a staple of any team and is an effective weapon to battle all kinds of enemies in the game.
Currently the most populated weapon type, it can be difficult to decide which sword user to invest in. From sub DPS like Xingqiu or Albedo to Healers like Jean and Qiqi, they cover a multitude of party roles and playstyles. Flexible building can make almost any character a strong choice, but some sword users naturally stand out from the pack.
The Traveler
Despite being billed as a 5-star, the Traveler universally performs worse than most other characters. Suffering from low base stats, unimpressive abilities, and poor scaling, the Traveler is rarely the ideal choice for a team. Anemo Traveler is severely hampered by immobility during their Skill's cast time and long cooldowns, while Geo and Electro offer incredibly little damage overall.
Traveler's primary benefit is giving players free access to elements and abilities that might otherwise be constrained to 5-star characters. Geo Traveler's construct comes in handy for blocking damage or for pressure plate puzzles if a player doesn't have Zhongli or Albedo. Electro Traveler functions quite well as a battery for Bursts, able to substantially boost Energy Recharge for the party and act as a solid support choice for Burst-oriented team comps.
Jean
Jean is a highly versatile Anemo unit, capable of providing healing, crowd control, and AOE damage. Jean's normal attacks are a convenient source of party healing, and her Burst offers a bigger HP boost as well as Anemo damage. Her Skill can be used to pull enemies in, but this comes at the cost of significant stamina drain and temporary immobility.
Jean's healing scales off of her Attack, which, because of her mediocre base stats, necessitates specific Artifact builds and high investment. While she can function well without them, she relies on Constellations to unlock her full potential--which, as a 5-star, is not easily achieved. Considering Sayu, one of Genshin's newer Claymores, is a 4-star who offers more convenient healing and Anemo application, Jean's flexibility isn't enough to keep her from being overshadowed.
Qiqi
Qiqi is often criticized for her lack of overall versatility, but she is by far the best on and off-field healer in the game. She has the highest base defense in the game by a large margin and, since her healing scales off Attack, she's sturdy and strong enough to hold her own on the field--especially helpful given that her Skill allows her to heal her party (even in co-op) using her normals.
Qiqi is overall limited, however, by her long cooldowns, high energy requirement, and lack of consistent Cryo application. For beginner players, however, her overhealing can keep their team alive through almost anything, taking much of the stress out of boss fights or the Spiral Abyss. Even for experienced players, Qiqi is especially useful against bleed damage effects like Sheer Cold, Balethunder, or Rifthound's Corrosion.
Keqing
Keqing is a high-mobility, high-damage DPS who excels with either Physical or Electro builds. She has some of the fastest normal attacks in the game, and an especially strong Charged attack, letting her quickly chain heavy hits. Her Skill allows her to target weak points on enemies and deal ranged Electro damage, or teleport to her mark for either close-range positioning or a quick escape route. The teleporting ability can also be incredibly useful in exploration for saving Stamina or getting to a hard-to-reach location.
Keqing's Burst is great for crowd control, doing AOE electro damage while keeping her temporarily invulnerable and buffing her Crit rate. Keqing does rely a lot on Stamina maintenance, however, which can be tricky to work around. However, Keqing is still a great choice for DPS, and the right team can easily make her shine.
Kaeya
Kaeya is often underrated due to being a free character, but he not only acts as a strong early-game Cryo option but also a solid late-game sub-DPS. His Skill's 6-second cooldown makes it easy to swap him in for quick Cryo application, and his Passives apply self-healing and particle generation buffs for extra utility. It does have a very limited AOE range, which substantially limits its use against mobs of enemies.
Kaeya's Ascension stat is Energy Recharge so, paired with the particle generation from his Skill, he can reliably recharge his Burst very quickly. Glacial Waltz's off-field Cryo damage and solid duration make it excellent for setting up multiple Elemental Reactions--commonly combined with Pyro units for easy Melt damage. Kaeya also gives an incredibly convenient cut to sprinting Stamina, which makes dodging and dashing easier to manage.
Albedo
One of the currently featured characters, Albedo is a Geo sub DPS who excels at providing off-field Geo damage. His Skill allows Albedo to place a Geo construct that deals AOE Geo damage, and its long duration and incredibly short cooldown make it easy to maintain constant uptime. This also helps ensure that Albedo can always get his buff to his Burst by having a construct on the field.
Albedo's Burst is an excellent source of AOE damage and crowd control, easily clearing out mobs. His Burst also provides a significant Elemental Mastery buff, giving a boost to Elemental Reaction damage--making him an invaluable asset to Genshin's Reaction-heavy Catalyst characters like Mona or Klee.
Ayaka
With her high damage threshold and unparalleled Cryo application, Ayaka is one of the best Cryo DPS in Genshin. Ayaka's sprint not only gives her faster movement (and the extremely useful ability to run across water), but it also does Cryo damage whenever she touches an enemy. With her Passive cutting her Dash's Stamina usage, it's easy to deal continuous Cryo damage or even quick swap her in to apply immediate Cryo and set up a Reaction.
Ayaka also does great base damage with her normal attacks, which can be further buffed by her Skill. Despite its long cooldown and high cost, Ayaka's Burst still remains her standout ability, inflicting massive Cryo damage capable of crushing shields and even large enemies. Mechanically, it's one of the most powerful Bursts in the game and, with the right setup, can one-shot difficult enemies or even some boss fights.
Xinqiu
Xingqiu is often considered every Pyro unit's best Support option, with some going as far to say that Xingqiu and Hu Tao are one of Genshin's inseparable character combinations. Xingqiu excels at off-field Support, providing Hydro application, damage reduction, and healing. His Skill, if leveled correctly, is one of the hardest-hitting Hydro attacks in the game, and provides a huge survivability boost for a DPS.
Xinqiu is known for his Burst, which provides damage reduction and adds Hydro damage to the active character's normal attacks. Raincutter's 15-second duration gives the active character plenty of time to trigger and chain powerful reactions. His Burst is relatively high cost, meaning Xinqiu requires a lot of Energy Recharge, but his utility is well worth the investment.
Kazuha
Initially (and unfairly) underrated, Kazuha is many players' "the one that got away" after it became clear that those who called him unimpressive couldn't be more wrong. Like Genshin's mysterious new character Mona Megistus, Kazuha is ridiculously useful by providing easy grouping, energy production, Elemental damage buffs, exploration benefits, and Swirl, AOE, and Elemental Reaction damage. He's an excellent addition to almost any team comp.
Kazuha's Burst creates a large AOE Anemo field, setting up another character to swap in and trigger a reaction. His Skill pulls enemies in while launching Kazuha in the air, where he can then plunge down for extra Anemo and absorb Elemental damage--providing grouping and Elemental reactions. To top off his wide range of utility, it can also be used during exploration to scale heights without climbing, or even in mid-air to save some gliding stamina.
Bennett
The unluckiest boy in Mondstadt might have a hard time finding people to join him, but the Pyro 4-star is plenty of players' first choice when it comes to the Spiral Abyss. Bennett is nearly ubiquitous in team compositions, appearing in so many configurations that it can be difficult to decide which one to use him for.
Burst Support is probably Bennett's most valuable role, maximizing the dual buffs from his Burst while also still providing damage. The healing of Bennett's low-cost long-duration Burst scales off of Bennett's high base HP, and his Skill's particle generation and low cooldown make Bennett largely self-sufficient. With a good amount of Energy Recharge, Bennett can keep his field active near-constantly, reliably supporting Benny's Adventure Team no matter what's thrown their way.