Yun Jin is an upcoming Genshin Impact 4-star character from Liyue. There are currently 6 playable elements in the game: Pyro, Cryo, Hydro, Electro, Anemo, and Geo. There are also 5 weapon types: claymore, catalyst, sword, bows, and spear/polearm. Yun Jin is Geo spear/polearm user, a combination of the strongest element and fastest weapon type. Yun Jin will be available through Wishes or for free through Genshin Impact 2.4’s event “Fleeting Colors In Flight,” if players were to pick her amongst the other free 4-star Liyue characters. When compared to other Geo characters, where will she stand in terms of viability?
There are currently 7 Geo characters in Genshin Impact. Noelle and Arataki Ito are the two claymore/greatsword users, Gorou is the first (and so far only) bow user, and the two sword users are Albedo and Geo Traveler. Ningguang and Zhongli are the sole catalyst and spear/polearm users, respectively. Yun Jin will make the 8th Geo character and 2nd Geo spear/polearm user. Because she still hasn’t been officially released, rigorous testing is still needed in order to fully place her viability amongst all the other Genshin Impact Geo users.
Spears are the fastest weapons in Genshin Impact, so her Normal Attack speed will be on par with Zhongli, another Geo polearm user. Her Normal/Auto attack scaling may even be higher than Zhongli and possibly Albedo. However, wielding a spear means her charged attacks will consume up to 25 stamina, while sword and claymore type weapons only use 20, with the exception of Keqing. Charged attacks from a bow do not consume stamina, but a bit more time is needed to deal maximum damage. Catalysts use up to 50 stamina per charged attack. This is something to consider if the lack of stamina becomes a hindrance in battle.
In contrast, because of their fast attacks, spears are also the weakest melee-type weapons in Genshin Impact. Because of this, it is no surprise that her normal attacks pale in comparison to the slow but powerful claymore attacks by Genshin Impact’s Arataki Ito and even Noelle’s. Yun Jin will have more difficulties breaking shields or dealing with large groups of enemies. However, Yun Jin’s abilities suggest a Support or Sub DPS build, rather than as a Main DPS, so her Normal Attacks should not matter too much in the grand scheme of overall supportive capabilities.
Genshin Impact: How Yun Jin’s Talents & Abilities Compare To Other Geo Characters
Pressing Yun Jin’s Elemental Skill, called “Opening Flourish,” will deal Geo DMG based off her Defense stat. It has decent damage scaling and a relatively low cooldown of only 9 seconds. However, her strength comes from her hold skill. Holding Yun Jin’s Elemental Skill will provide a shield to prevent herself from taking damage while charging the skill. This stance is called “Whirling Opener.” Damage while creating the shield will scale off Yun Jin’s DEF, but DMG absorption will scale off her maximum HP. There will be two charge levels depending on how long the skill is held. Charge levels 1 and 2 will deal massive Geo DMG that scales off her DEF. After unlocking her first Ascension passive Talent, “True to Oneself,” it will allow her to automatically deal charge level 2 damage the moment she is hit while in “Whirling Opener” formation.
On the other hand, her shield only shields herself. Noelle’s shield can provide further healing with Genshin Impact’s new Ocean-Hued Clam set to party members with normal attacks. Unlike Noelle, Yun Jin’s shield does not provide additional benefits. If she switches out before the charging is done, the shield will be canceled and the amount of time used to charge it will determine its damage. She would not be ideal for quick swap teams because of the time needed to fully utilize her Elemental Skill and how she must be present on the field. Her shield is quite sturdy, almost the same scaling as Zhongli’s shield, but it cannot shield other party members, so she loses some team viability there. If someone was looking for a shield, then Zhongli or Noelle would be a better choice in this case. Even the Geo Traveler’s elemental skill and burst can be used to block attacks.
Genshin Impact’s Yun Jin’s Elemental Burst, called “Cliffbreaker’s Banner,” will deal AoE Geo DMG and applies the “Flying Cloud Flag Formation” effect on all nearby party members. When party members under this effect deal normal attack damage, they will trigger bonus DMG based on Yun Jin’s current DEF. This effect will clear after 12 seconds or after 30 triggers. Her Burst effect allows her to be used off-field, much like Albedo, whose new Genshin Impact signature weapon provided him a huge boost in damage. She would be great support for physical DPS or catalyst wielding characters, but not so much for characters whom make more damage using their elemental abilities.
Additionally, more damage is always nice, but the best Supports tend to provide extra benefits such as powerful shields, damage reduction, or coordinated elemental attacks. For example, Zhongli petrifies enemies with his burst and Albedo provides a massive 125 Elemental Mastery after using his burst for 10 seconds. However, Yun Jin’s 2nd Ascension passive Talent, called “No Mere Traditionalist,” provides additional normal attack damage bonus by 2.5%/5%/7.5%/11.5% of Yun Jin’s defense during “Flying Cloud Flag Formation” when the party contains characters of 1/2/3/4 Elemental Types. This further increases her versatility among all party members, unlike Gorou, whose skill relies on how many Geo characters are in the team.
Most of Genshin Impact’s Geo characters’ damage scales off DEF or HP, including Yun Jin. Yun Jin can make use of the new Artifact set released in Genshin Impact 2.3 called “Husk of Opulent Dreams.” Arataki Ito’s Normal Attack damage and Noelle’s Burst damage are increased by DEF. The more DEF Gorou has, the better his supportive abilities. Albedo’s skill damage scales off DEF, and Zhongli’s shield and Burst scale off HP. Ningguang and the Geo Traveler are the only Geo characters whose damage scales off ATK, and Ningguang is the only catalyst. She works well as DPS or as Sub DPS because her Jade Screen grants bonus Geo damage to party members should they pass through it. Yun Jin could work well with both Arataki Ito and Ningguang, but her passive Talent says otherwise because they are all Geo. Likewise, Geo Traveler works better supporting other characters, rather than as a DPS that needs support.
Genshin Impact 2.4: Will Yun Jin Be Any Good As A Geo Character?
Yun Jin’s rating is a little ambiguous in terms of support. She needs to be present on the field a bit longer in order to maximize the potential of her Elemental Skill, but her Elemental Burst allows her to be off-field and provide bonus Normal Attack damage to party members. It is not yet known whether she can provide enough support for defeating Genshin Impact bosses in one-hit kills, as most other supports can. Her supportive capabilities consist of granting party members more normal attack damage, rather than providing them with increased elemental damage or lowering enemy resistance. It seems like she is limited to physical DPS or catalyst characters, which is ironic, considering her passive talent benefits from having party members with different elemental types.
Team members matter more than usual with her abilities so someone must consider the rest of their Genshin Impact team for all her abilities to be completely used. Geo support characters like Albedo, Noelle, and Zhongli work with almost any team, and even with each other. As mentioned earlier, she is versatile with characters of any element, but her party most likely won’t be able to receive the elemental resonance that comprises two of the same elements. A team full of different catalysts would be inefficient, and a team full of physical attackers would just be as ineffective. There may be a limit on which are the best Genshin Impact characters to use with Yun Jin.
Regardless, players are free to play Yun Jin however they want. She is no different in which players have to fully invest in her in order to utilize all her abilities. This means unlocking all her Constellations and spending hundreds of Resin to farm for her Artifacts. After the controversy with Zhongli’s initial release, miHoYo has buffed Geo. Geo is now one of the strongest elements in the game. Likewise, Xiangling was the only spear user upon release. Zhongli became the second spear user, nearly 2 months later. Shenhe and Yun Jin’s weapon reveal shows a skewed weapon variety. Most characters who use spears are now considered top-tier in Genshin Impact. So, just like how all characters require different builds and playstyles, Yun Jin is most likely by no means “bad.”