Genshin Impact: Raiden vs. Fischl (Who’s Better?)

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Both Raiden and Fischl excel as an Electro DPS and battery.

Raiden is a limited 5-star unit, while Fischl is a 4-star unit.

As a battery, they help charge the elemental bursts of their teammates by generating a lot of energy particles. This is while dealing high personal damage.

Fischl is especially great for charging Electro characters, while Raiden works for every character and any number of units.

While they’re both really strong, Raiden slightly outperforms Fischl. This is mainly because she has more utility and stronger teams.

Raiden also has the potential to become a Main DPS while being the strongest battery in-game. Additionally, she’s part of the strongest team against single-target – Rational or Raiden National.

But let’s compare their character values and performance in the two game modes of Genshin Impact: Overworld (Exploration & Co-op) and Spiral Abyss (Meta).

Note: All comparisons made are between C0 5-star and C6 4-star characters.

 

Character Kits

 

Normal Attack

In all her teams, Raiden’s normal attack talents are never used.

Most of her damage comes from her burst so leveling this talent isn’t at all useful.

In most cases, the same applies to Fischl – although she does have a Physical DPS build which can justify leveling this talent.

However, in all her strongest teams, leveling this talent also isn’t useful.

 

Elemental Skill

 
Raiden’s elemental skill: Eye of Stormy Judgment / Genshin Impact
Raiden’s elemental skill: Eye of Stormy Judgment
 

Raiden grants all nearby teammates the Eye of Stormy Judgment. This deals one instance of AOE Electro damage.

Characters with this Eye gain the following effects:

  • Dealing damage to opponents unleashes a coordinated attack that deals AOE Electro damage.
  • Buffs their elemental burst damage based on their energy cost.

The coordinated attacks can only be triggered every 0.9s per party.

If they’re triggered by another player’s character, it deals 20% of the normal damage.

 
Fischl’s elemental skill: Oz / Genshin Impact
Fischl’s elemental skill: Oz
 

Fischl summons Oz while dealing AOE Electro damage.

Holding this skill adjusts the location where Oz is summoned.

Pressing this skill while Oz is still present will resummon him to Fischl’s side.

Oz stays on-field for 10s and deals continuous single-target Electro damage.

 

Elemental Burst

 
Raiden’s elemental burst / Genshin Impact
Raiden’s elemental burst
 

Raiden unleashes one big instance of AOE Electro damage and then enters the Musou Isshin state.

While in this state, she gains the following properties:

  • Her normal, charged, and plunging attacks are converted to Electro damage. These are considered elemental burst damage.
  • When those attacks hit opponents, she regenerates energy for all party members. Energy can be restored every 1s – a maximum of 5 procs can be triggered during her burst.
  • Raiden’s resistance to interruption is greatly increased. She also becomes immune to electro-charged damage.
  • This state ends after 7s or when Raiden leaves the field.

Additionally, when nearby teammates (excluding Raiden herself) cast their bursts, Raiden gains Resolve stacks based on the bursts’ energy cost.

A maximum of 60 Resolve stacks can be gained. All Resolve stacks gained this way will be cleared 300s after Raiden leaves the field.

This mechanic greatly increases Raiden’s burst damage.

The more Resolve stacks Raiden has, the stronger her burst becomes. Because of this, it’s important to cast other teammates’ bursts before her own.

Raiden’s burst costs 90 energy.

 
Fischl’s elemental burst / Genshin Impact
Fischl’s elemental burst
 

Fischl takes Oz’s form and gains increased movement speed.

This strikes all opponents in her path with Electro damage. After leaving Oz’s form, Oz remains on the field.

If Oz is already on the field, this burst will reset his duration.

Fischl’s burst is basically another way of summoning Oz while dealing a bit more damage. This burst costs 60 energy.

 

Passive Talents (Raiden)

 
Raiden’s mora discount for ascending swords and polearms / Genshin Impact
Raiden’s mora discount for ascending swords and polearms
 
  • When nearby teammates gain energy particles, Raiden gains 2 Resolve stacks. This can only occur once every 3s
  • For every 1% above 100% Energy Recharge Raiden has, she gains the following effects:
    • 0.6% greater Energy regeneration from her burst
    • 0.4% Electro damage bonus
  • Mora spent when ascending swords and polearms is decreased by 50%
 

Passive Talents (Fischl)

 
Fischl’s expedition passive / Genshin Impact
Fischl’s expedition passive
 
  • When Fischl hits Oz with a fully-charged aimed shot, Oz deals AOE Electro damage. This is equal to 152.7% of the arrow’s damage
  • While Oz is on-field, triggering an Electro-related elemental reaction procs additional Electro damage – this is equal to 80% of Fischl’s ATK. This can only be triggered by your own active character

    Additionally, this can be triggered every 0.5s. This passive is really strong, especially in teams that use a lot of elemental reactions. It also contributes a good portion of Fischl’s damage

  • When dispatched in a Mondstadt expedition, the time consumed is reduced by 25%
 

Notable Constellations

 
Raiden’s constellation screen / Genshin Impact
Raiden’s constellation screen
 

Raiden has one of the strongest early 5-star constellations.

Her most notable ones are C2 and C3.

  • With C2, the damage of Raiden’s burst ignores 60% of opponents’ DEF. This is among the strongest constellations in-game. It unconditionally increases her DPS by around 50%.
  • C3 increases her elemental burst talent level by 3. This is a damage buff to her burst – aka her main source of damage.
 
Fischl’s constellation screen / Genshin Impact
Fischl’s constellation screen
 

Fischl also has great constellations. The most notable ones are her C3 and C6.

  • C3 increases her elemental skill talent level by 3. This directly buffs Fischl’s main source of damage – Oz.
  • C6 extends Oz’s duration by 2s. Additionally, he performs joint attacks with your active character – these attacks deal 30% of Fischl’s ATK as Electro damage. This greatly increases both her damage and Electro application.
 

In the Overworld

 

Exploration (Single-Player)

 
Fischl’s idle animation / Genshin Impact
Fischl’s idle animation
 

Raiden and Fischl are equally good in single-player.

Because of Raiden’s strong energy regeneration, charging her burst is never a problem. She’s more than capable of recharging her entire burst before its duration even ends.

This makes her feel incredibly comfortable to play. The same applies to Fischl.

Since she also has strong energy regeneration, Oz basically has a 100% uptime.

Once her skill duration ends, her burst is already fully charged – and once her burst duration ends, her skill cooldown is already finished.

 

Co-op (Multiplayer)

Raiden outperforms Fischl in Co-op.

A lot of Fischl’s value comes from being able to perform her roles off-field.

For an off-field character, she has a strong damage output and energy regeneration. But, when placed on-field, her DPS just isn’t better than Raiden’s.

Fischl is still a strong character – just not above Raiden in Co-op.

 

Spiral Abyss (Meta)

 

Gameplay Tech

Raiden and Fischl have 2 different game mechanics in their kit.

Here’s a summary of their gameplay tech.

Gameplay Tech Definition
Snapshot Fischl’s skill and burst (Oz) can snapshot or retain the stats and buffs active at their time of casting. These stats and buff will remain for Oz’s entire duration.
Dynamic The burst damage buff gained from Raiden’s skill is dynamic – it can’t be snapshotted by any ability.
 
Snapshot
 
(1) Oz’s damage while inside Bennett’s burst (2) Oz’s damage after Bennett’s burst ends / Genshin Impact
(1) Oz’s damage while inside Bennett’s burst (2) Oz’s damage after Bennett’s burst ends
 

This is a mechanic that allows certain abilities to snapshot the stats or buffs active when they were cast. Fischl’s skill and burst – Oz – can snapshot.

This can be seen in the photos above.

Bennett’s burst (the red circle) provides an ATK buff.

The first photo shows Oz’s damage while inside the circle. The second photo shows Oz’s damage when Bennett’s burst ends.

Because Oz can snapshot, the damage is similar. The ATK buff will last for the entirety of Oz’s duration.

Additionally, Fischl’s 2nd passive also benefits from this.

The extra 80% ATK Electro damage scales off of Oz’s stats. This means that snapshotting buffs with Oz will also buff the passive’s extra damage.

 
Dynamic

The elemental burst damage buff given by Raiden’s skill is dynamic.

It can’t be snapshotted by any ability.

As a comparison, this is the opposite of Bennett’s ATK buff. His ATK buff can be snapshotted by abilities that can snapshot – like Fischl’s Oz.

A better demonstration of how this works can be seen in the photos below.

 
(1) Xiangling’s burst without Raiden’s buff (2) Xiangling’s burst with Raiden’s buff / Genshin Impact
(1) Xiangling’s burst without Raiden’s buff (2) Xiangling’s burst with Raiden’s buff
 

Xiangling’s burst, like Oz, can snapshot.

This means that it will snapshot the stats she has when it’s cast.

Because Raiden’s buff is dynamic, it will affect Xiangling’s burst even after it’s been deployed.

The visual indicator for Raiden’s buff is the glowing eye above the character.

In the first photo, Xiangling doesn’t have the eye – she isn’t getting a buff from Raiden. Without the buff, she deals 7,261 damage.

After casting Raiden’s skill and gaining the buff, Xiangling then deals 8,192 damage.

 
(1) Xiangling’s burst with Raiden’s buff (2) Xiangling’s burst after Raiden’s buff expires / Genshin Impact
(1) Xiangling’s burst with Raiden’s buff (2) Xiangling’s burst after Raiden’s buff expires
 

The same applies vice-versa.

The first photo shows Xiangling’s burst damage with the buff.

In the second photo, Raiden’s buff expires – and the glowing eye disappears. Because of this, Xiangling’s burst damage decreases.

What does this imply? It means Raiden’s rotations are much less strict!

A lot of abilities can snapshot, so it’s optimal to stack buffs before casting them. Since Raiden’s buff is dynamic, you can provide buffs even after those abilities are cast.

 

Team Compositions

Although they fill similar roles, their playstyles are very different.

Raiden is an on-field DPS that batteries your entire team mostly during her burst.

In contrast, Fischl is an off-field DPS that does damage and generates particles off-field through Oz.

Their teams adjust to these different playstyles – but they do still have some similar teams. Here’s a TLDR on who performs better in those teams and why.

Team Who’s Better? Why?
Rational Raiden Raiden provides more utility. She can charge the entire team’s bursts, provide buffs, and greatly decrease their Energy Recharge requirements.
Beidou Taser Fischl Raiden doesn’t work as Beidou’s driver. In contrast, using Fischl lets you use other units like Sucrose as Beidou’s driver. This is a massive team DPS boost.
Eula Teams Raiden They both work perfectly fine in this team. However, Eula teams deal more damage with Raiden. She also provides more utility for Eula.
Raiden Hyper Raiden Raiden is the main DPS of this team – she’s irreplaceable. Although Fischl works great as a teammate. She deals strong off-field damage and helps charge Raiden’s burst.
 
Rational or Raiden National
 
Rational or Raiden National team / Genshin Impact
Rational or Raiden National team
 

Rational is composed of:

  • Raiden
  • Bennett
  • Xiangling
  • Xingqiu

This is the strongest team against single-target and the easiest meta team to play.

A lot of this is thanks to Raiden’s utility and personal damage. She plays multiple roles, namely as an on-field DPS, battery, enabler, and buffer.

  • As an on-field DPS, she is the active character dealing damage. She also contributes a good portion of the team’s overall damage.
  • As a battery, she charges the bursts of her entire team. Because of this, Xiangling and Xingqiu can run lower Energy Recharge and focus more on damaging stats.
  • As an enabler, she quickly applies Electro auras to enemies. This lets Xiangling trigger both vaporize and overload reactions – aka deal more damage from elemental reactions.
  • As a buffer, she buffs the elemental burst damage of the entire team.

Fischl is a good substitute in this team, but a lot of Raiden’s utility will be lost. This team will be weaker without Raiden.

 
Beidou Taser
 
Beidou Taser team example / Genshin Impact
Beidou Taser team example
 

Beidou Taser is the standard Taser team.

This team is composed of:

  • Beidou
  • Fischl
  • 1 Hydro unit
  • 1 Anemo unit

Fischl easily outperforms Raiden in this team.

To drive or proc the Electro discharges of Beidou’s burst, the active character must deal normal or charged attack damage.

The ‘normal and charged attacks’ of Raiden’s burst are considered elemental burst damage. Basically, she can’t drive Beidou’s burst.

Raiden can still work in Beidou Taser, but her burst should be cast once Beidou’s burst ends. This will extend the team’s rotation while decreasing its DPS output.

In contrast, Fischl is undoubtedly Beidou’s best teammate.

She provides strong energy regeneration for Beidou’s burst – all while dealing great off-field damage herself.

Since both of them are off-field, another on-field driver can be used.

Using drivers like Sucrose and Ayato can significantly increase the team’s DPS output.

 
Eula Teams
 
Eula Team with Raiden / Genshin Impact
Eula Team with Raiden
 

Eula teams always include at least 1 Electro unit – Raiden and Fischl are the best characters for this slot.

They both provide consistent off-field Electro that triggers a superconduct reaction.

Superconduct is an AOE elemental reaction between Electro and Cryo. It shreds opponents’ Physical resistance by 40% for 12s. This directly boosts Eula’s Physical damage.

However, Raiden slightly outperforms Fischl. This is because she can charge the entire team’s bursts, especially Eula’s. Fischl also has strong energy regeneration – but not to this extent.

Additionally, Raiden provides AOE off-field Electro with her skill. Her skill lasts 25s per cast.

This guarantees a more consistent uptime on superconduct reactions.

 
Raiden Hyper
 
Raiden Hyper team example / Genshin Impact
Raiden Hyper team example
 

This is a team where Raiden acts as the Main DPS.

This team is composed of:

  • Raiden
  • Sara/Fischl
  • Bennett
  • Kazuha

Unlike the last 3 teams, she isn’t there to provide buffs for other teammates. Instead, the team’s buffs are given to her.

Of course, Fischl can’t replace Raiden here. Instead, they can be used together.

Fischl helps charge Raiden’s burst and deals high off-field damage.

Additionally, their abundance of energy generation makes this team extremely comfortable to play.

 

Who Should You Build?

 
Raiden’s elemental burst animation / Genshin Impact
Raiden’s elemental burst animation
 

Since both are really strong units, it’s best to build whoever benefits your teams the most.

If you’re going to use them in a team mentioned earlier, then build the unit that performs better.

If not, here’s a summary of their main differences in strength to help you decide.

Raiden Fischl
  • Can be used as a Main DPS even at C0. She becomes much stronger with constellations.
  • The strongest battery in-game. She can charge the elemental bursts of any unit and any number of units.
  • Most of her damage is condensed into her short burst duration. This lets her take advantage of buffs with short uptime and enemies with short vulnerability windows.
  • Can be slotted into most teams that need an off-field DPS.
  • Can help charge your team’s bursts while off-field – she’s especially great for Electro units.
  • Stronger in teams where multiple elemental reactions are being triggered.
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Maeri Mgdrg

Maeri is an avid gacha player currently in the clutches of Genshin Impact. She mainly focuses on character analyses, underlying game mechanics, and occasionally reading game code. She also yearns for the day that Dainsleif is finally playable.