Genshin Impact – the 12 best characters for exploration

Want to know about the best characters for exploration in Genshin Impact? The world of Teyvat is massive, already featuring several different countries and regions with many more yet to come.

You will be climbing mountains, running through large fields, and swimming through bodies of water while also having to do activities such as farming ore or solving Elemental puzzles. This might seem slow and arduous at first, but many characters will make your travels much easier.

For more Genshin, read our guides for the latest Genshin Impact codes and get up to speed with the Genshin Impact 4.4 release and events. Now, these are the Genshin Impact best characters for exploration.

All Resource Marker Characters

Resource marking is invaluable when you are out exploring the world. Some characters have passives that will highlight local specialities and ore veins on your map in real-time as you explore. This allows you to easily find obscurely-placed ascension materials you might struggle to find otherwise. Different characters provide this benefit for their specific regions. The list goes as such:

Character	Regional Speciality Marker
Klee	Mondstadt – Regional Speciality
Qiqi / Yanfei	Liyue – Regional Speciality
Ningguan	Liyue – Ore
Tighnari	Sumeru – Regional Speciality
Gorou	Inazuma – Regional Speciality
Lyney	Fontaine – Regional Speciality

Make sure to use these characters when looking for certain region specialities. For example, Klee is excellent for spotting Cecilia in Mondstadt, whereas Tighnari is useful for spotting Kalpalata Lotus in Sumeru and so on.

Geo Traveler

The Traveller will suffice for most of your exploration needs if you do not have too many good options. So far in the game, the Traveler has learned and mastered the elements of Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, and Hydro. This makes the Traveler very flexible when dealing with Elemental puzzles, granted you may have to swap the element at a Statue of the Seven.

The best part about the Geo Traveler is their Elemental Skill can help with platforming and helping you reach difficult places. By placing a Geo Structure, you can climb on top of it and use it as a means to reach somewhere higher up. Out of all the other Elements for the Traveler, Geo is the best when it comes to exploration.

Kamisato Ayaka

Ayaka is one of the two characters in the game with a unique sprint that is faster than most other characters. She is a 5-star Cryo Sword user from Inazuma who can turn into a stream of ice when she sprints. Similarly, Mona has the same ability except she turns into water.

Ayaka can easily traverse large bodies of water due to her unique ability, which is great because swimming can be a bit of a hassle. Not only this, but even if her stamina runs out, she will create an ice platform to regain your stamina, so you don’t have to worry about drowning if you time it well. You can also build ice bridges or solve Cryo puzzles with her Elemental Burst, Elemental Skill, and even her Normal or Charged attacks.

Keqing

Keqing is fantastic for vertical exploration, giving you a little bit more distance thanks to her Elemental Skill. When used, you can place her Skill in the air or across a gap, and then instantly teleport to the location of the Skill.

You can use this in a ton of situations, and it is especially helpful for climbing, solving puzzles, and getting to a good vantage point. Keqing’s Skill isn’t the best by itself, but when paired with the likes of Zhongli or Geo Traveler, you can create a party full of excellent exploration capabilities.

Sayu

This small ninja from Inazuma has many tricks under her sleeve. Many overlook Sayu, but she has some of the best exploration utility in the game. Sayu is a 4-star Anemo character from Inazuma. Her main appeal is her Elemental Skill, which turns her into a small ball that rolls around at enemies. The movement speed from this skill can be used outside of combat to move around quickly, and it has a fairly low cooldown too.

Not just that, the skill is able to absorb different elements it comes into contact with. This is very useful when trying to solve Elemental puzzles in the overworld. She is also able to approach and collect Crystalflies without startling them to aid in all your Condensed Resin crafting needs.

Yelan

Yelan’s Skill is one of the fastest sprints in the game, giving you a decent speed boost when exploring. While Yelan doesn’t help you navigate any climbable terrain with more ease, she is great for speeding around areas if you’re in a hurry. The speed boost is significantly faster than the normal sprint, but you will be beholden to the cooldown to use it again. Outside of the speed it provides, Yelan’s Skill is devastating in combat, making her great for both.

Xiao

Xiao is a great character to have for those struggling with climbing due to a small stamina bar. First of all, his passive talent reduces climbing Stamina consumption by 20% for your party, which is a really handy buff. This will alleviate a lot of the climbing frustration that many who fail before reaching the top face.

Xiao’s Elemental Skill is also a really useful dash ability that can be used twice, even mid-air, to allow you to move horizontally quickly without consuming any stamina. This is great for covering gaps when you do not have enough verticality. Not to mention, it is also pretty useful when solving Anemo puzzles.  

Zhongli

Zhongli is the Geo Archon and is responsible for creating entire islands and mountain ranges. While he can’t do that in the game, he can still create one rock pillar, which is quite handy when exploring. The rock pillar can help you gain some stable on-demand verticality and even a horizontal platform to catch a breather when climbing some cliffs. Creative people will find the pillar way more flexible than it appears, especially at Constellation 2, where you can make 2 of them.

Not to mention, when you hold Zhongli’s Elemental Skill, the resulting pillar burst will immediately break all the ore in the vicinity. This is perfect for collecting upgrade materials such as Cor Lapis and other ore veins, saving you a lot of time. It’s also great for solving Geo puzzles. His Elemental Skill’s powerful shield will also protect you from most hazards.

Kaedehara Kazuha

Not only is Kaedehara Kazuha a very powerful character but he is also suited to all your exploration needs. The wandering samurai has excellent aerial mobility, effectively giving him a double-jump abilitiy. His elemental skill has a low cooldown and launches him upwards fairly high for some quick mobility. When gliding, you can even use this skill mid-air for a quick boost similar to a double jump.

You can use this to regain a tiny bit of stamina while gliding, as it will begin to recover until you deploy your glider. His passive ability also reduces sprinting Stamina consumption for your team by 20%, allowing you to cover long distances faster.

Venti

Venti is the Anemo Archon, and true to his role, his abilities produce gusts of wind to aid your exploration. Holding down Venti’s Elemental Skill creates a lasting pillar of wind that you can glide on for several seconds. This verticality is very handy when trying to climb hard-to-reach places. Moreover, since Venti is an Anemo bow user, he is ideal for solving Anemo puzzles. He also has a talent that reduces consumed gliding stamina by 20%, making him great for long glides and traversal. For the best results, pair Venti with Zhongli, using Venti’s skill from atop one of Zhongli’s Steles.

Furina

Furina came out of nowhere and power crept the unique ability only held by Kokomi: being able to walk on water. When you use Furina’s Skill, Furina can walk on the surface of any water for the skill’s duration. The best part is that it has 100% uptime since her skill will be usable again before the water-walking effect wears off.

As the Hydro Archon, Furina’s ability to walk on water makes a lot of sense and it will completely remove any accidental drowning incidents – so long as you remember to keep using her Skill. Bear in mind, that Furina’s Skill only allows her to walk on water, changing character will stop the effect unless you switch back.

Wanderer

The Wanderer, also known as Scaramouche, is the latest addition to Genshin Impact. Like the other Anemo boys, he has impressive mobility with his kit. He is the only character in the game who can fly freely across distances, and his movement speed in his flying state rivals even some of the fastest characters in the game.

His flying state depends on his Elemental Skill, with the best part being that it has an extremely low cooldown and does not consume your Stamina at all. You can cover various vertical or horizontal distances and then rely on your regular Stamina until the cooldown is finished. This makes him the most mobile unit in the game and makes travelling long distances a cakewalk(or flight if you use his skill).

Xianyun (Cloud Retainer)

Xianyun, another Anemo character in the list, has one of the best exploration abilities in Genshin thanks to her Skill. When used, you can perform three jumps in a row, gaining a bunch of height. With this, you can climb mountains with extreme ease and reach most places without any trouble. When you reach the top of Xianyun’s jump, you should deploy your glider to fly further.

Better yet, when you use a plunging attack as Xianyun during her Skill, she will not take damage when you hit the ground. This means you can use Xianyun to reach high places and also to jump down huge drops without taking any damage. In terms of a versatile explorer, Xianyun has most characters beat.

That’s all you need to know about the best character for exploration in Genshin Impact. For more, make sure you read our guides covering

Genshin Impact – best exploration characters FAQs

What is an alternate sprint in Genshin Impact?

This is the term given to sprints that are different to the typical sprint. An example of this is Mona and Ayaka, both of whom transform into a cloud of water and ice respectively when sprinting.

How does Kokomi walk on water?

Kokomi can only walk on water during her Burst. This effect is a passive boon to her kit, but it doesn’t last very long.