Character Investment
How to most effectively spend resources
A common reason that players will get stuck in the higher floors of Abyss is that they will suddenly be unable to output enough damage to clear a Chamber. Usually, the main reason for this is that they have spent their resources (primarily resin) inefficiently, either by investing in the wrong things, or trying to invest in too many characters at once.
This guide will walk you through where to focus your resources to have the best chance at clearing Abyss as early as possible. The faster you reach Floors 9 - 12, the more Primogems you will have access to every reset!
General Tips
Focus on investing on 2 Main DPS and 2-4 Supports (including 2 healers)
Spreading out your resources is a common reason players aren't able to progress through Abyss. If your goal is to get through Abyss, it's best to prioritize just a few characters to start.
Save your Fragile Resin until AR45
The highest level artifact domains guarantee a 5★** artifact** with every run, and these unlock at AR45. Artifacts are key to beating higher floors of Abyss, and having a large stock of Fragile Resin as soon as you're able to access the highest level domains is the best way to gear up quickly.
Prioritize weapon levels
You can craft enhancement ores at the blacksmith without using resin. This makes weapon levels very resource efficient for damage. When entering a new World Level, you should prioritize getting your weapon to the max level as soon as possible.
Build Guides
If you're not sure what artifacts/weapons/builds are best for a character, check out the Genshin Helper Team's Build Guide!
AR 1 - 29
You should expect to clear Floor 3 around AR20-25. Once you've gotten Xiangling, you can hold off on progressing through Abyss until higher ARs. Rewards in Floors 1- 8 don't reset, so there's no rush to do it.
Artifacts
Focus on equipping artifacts for their set bonuses and don't worry too much about artifact levels
Look out for any 4★ artifacts you find that have the correct mainstat. These can be worth levelling if you need more damage
DPS Sets
Berserker
2
CRIT Rate +12%
Resolution of Sojourner
2
ATK +18%
Brave Heart
2
ATK +18%
Martial Artist
2
Increases Normal Attack and Charged Attack DMG by 15%
Martial Artist
4
After using Elemental Skill, increases Normal Attack and Charged Attack DMG by 25% for 8s
Support Sets
Exile
2
Energy Recharge +20%
Scholar
2
Energy Recharge +20%
Instructor
4
Upon triggering an Elemental Reaction, increases all party members' Elemental Mastery by 120 for 8s
Benchmarks
Main DPS
40/50
50/50
2
+8 on 4★ with mainstat
+0 otherwise
Support
40/40
40/40
1
+0
AR 30 - 44
Once you reach AR35 or AR40 and unlock Level 70 or 80 characters/weapons, you should attempt the higher floors of Abyss. Even with minimal artifact investment, it's possible to clear up to about Floor 10 of Abyss at this point.
Artifacts
It may be tempting to start farming artifact domains at AR40, however these don't yet guarantee a 5★ artifact, so it is better to wait until AR45. Two exceptions here are the support sets Noblesse Oblige and Viridescent Veneer. These mostly used for their set bonuses, so will work fine even with 4★ pieces.
Continue to focus on set bonuses over levelling artifacts.
5★ artifacts will start dropping from world bosses. Keep an eye out for any that drop with the correct mainstat for your main DPS. These will often be worth levelling.
DPS Sets
Gladiator
2
ATK +18%
Gladiator
4
Increases Normal Attack and Charged Attack DMG by 35%
Berserker
2
CRIT Rate +12%
Resolution of Sojourner
2
ATK +18%
Brave Heart
2
ATK +18%
Support Sets
Exile
2
Energy Recharge +20%
Scholar
2
Energy Recharge +20%
Instructor
4
Upon triggering an Elemental Reaction, increases all party members' Elemental Mastery by 120 for 8s
Noblesse Oblige
4
Using an Elemental Burst increases all party members' ATK by 20% for 12s. This effect cannot stack
Viridescent Venerer
4
Increases Swirl DMG by 60%. Decreases opponent's Elemental RES to the element infused in the Swirl by 40% for 10s
Tenacity of the Millelith
4
When an Elemental Skill hits an opponent, the ATK of all nearby party members is increased by 20% and their Shield Strength is increased by 30% for 3s. This effect can be triggered once every 0.5s. This effect can still be triggered even when the character who is using this artifact set is not on the field.
Benchmarks
Main DPS
70/80
80/80
6
+16 on 5★ with mainstat
+12 on 4★ with mainstat
+0 otherwise
Support
50/60
60/60
2
+0
AR 45+
If you have been saving your Fragile Resin, this is where you start spending them on the artifact domain for your main DPS. Once both teams are well equipped damage wise, you should be able to clear Floor 12!
Artifacts
The exact artifact choices will be different for each character. Check out a build guide to see what is best for your choses character.
Aim for a 1 CRIT Rate : 2 CRIT DMG ratio for your character. This will affect your weapon and circlet choices.
In some cases, a good set of substats on artifacts may be better than trying to maintain a 4pc set bonus. This can also happen if you get unlucky and don't drop a CRIT circlet in your required set. If this happens, you may want to go for just a 2pc bonus and wear 3 off-set pieces.
Artifact farming is quite RNG heavy, so don't try to chase perfect substats right from the start. Focus on finding just a correct mainstat piece first. You should almost always level the first one of these you find for your set.
DPS Breakdown by Piece
+12 / +16 / +20
Least important piece for DPS
Common drop with fixed mainstat
Don't level unless it has at least one CRIT stat, preferably two
Feather
+16 / +20
Common drop with fixed mainstat
Don't level unless it has at least one CRIT stat, preferably two
Sands
+20
Difficult to get correct mainstat on-set
Level the first one you find on-set, ignoring substats
Goblet
+20
Very difficult to get correct mainstat on-set
Level the first one you find with the correct element in any set, ignoring substats
Circlet
+20
You should always choose a CRIT mainstat for DPS
Very difficult to get CRIT on-set
Level the first one you find on-set, ignoring substats
Choose CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG depending on whichever gets you closer to a 1:2 ratio
Supports
Artifacts for supports are much harder to generalize. Supports that have high damage abilities may be worth investing in early on, whereas supports that mostly heal or buff may not need much investment at all.
Focus on your main DPS characters first, but once you have the correct mainstat pieces for those, don't neglect your supports!
Benchmarks
Main DPS
70/80 - 80/80
80/80
8
+20 on 5★ with mainstat
Support
60/70
70/70 - 80/80
4 - 6
+8 or +12 on 5★ with mainstat
Building to 36★
Once you reach AR50, you will have access to another ascension level. You should pre-farm materials to be able to immediately ascend your main DPS weapon to 90/90 as soon as you reach AR50. This will give you a best damage boost for it's cost.
Avoid levelling characters to 90/90! Character ascensions and levels are much worse for damage than weapons for their cost. If you want to reach 36★ as quickly as possible, don't spend your resources here.
Obtaining all 36★ in the Abyss is going to be a pure DPS check. To pass this you will need to start paying more attention to artifact substats to increase your damage further.
You will also want to start investing in characters other than just your main DPS. Many characters you would think of as "support" do significant damage when equipped with proper artifacts. This can often be better than trying to maximize substats for a single character.
Artifacts
5★ artifacts with the correct mainstat and two CRIT substats may be worth levelling even if they are an off-set. A well rolled piece can very easily be better than trying to maintain a set bonus.
Benchmarks
DPS
80/80 - 90/90
90/90
8 - 10
+20 on 5★ with mainstat and good substats
Support
70/70 - 80/80
80/80 - 90/90
6 - 8
+16 or +20 on 5★ with mainstat
FAQ
What character should I build?
While some characters are stronger than others, you should invest in characters that you truly enjoy playing. Any character can be used to clear all the content in the game as long as they’re built right and have a strong supporting team. The main difference will be that some characters will take more resources to reach the same point as another, so find a balance between viability and enjoyability.
Check out Building a Composition for some suggestions on strong teams you can build around a character you enjoy.
Should I spend Primogems on Resin refreshes?
Ultimately it's up to you how you want to spend your Primogems, but in general you should not refresh. While refreshing gets you better gear faster, if you spend your resources correctly you will have more than enough Resin naturally to make your way through Abyss in a month or two of playtime.
Should I keep fighting weekly bosses if I don't need any of their talent material drops?
Yes! Weekly bosses give a lot of resources for their cost, particularly Gladiator/Wanderer set pieces. You should continue to do them. Who knows, you may one day roll the character that needs that material anyway.
How important are character constellations for Abyss?
Not at all! You can 36★ Abyss with all C0 characters. Some constellations however do give a significant boost, but it does vary from character to character. If you are investing in a character, research which constellations are most important and try for them when they're featured if you need the boost. 5★ constellations are absolutely not necessary and you should only get those if you can afford them.
I don't see Elemental Mastery mentioned anywhere. How important is it?
EM can be powerful for the right characters/compositions but difficult to generalize, so we haven't mentioned it. You will have to research builds for the characters you choose to invest in to see if EM will be beneficial for you or not.
When should I stop investing in a character?
Fully optimizing a character takes a large amount of time/resources, and is not recommended. You should only do this once you have a team that can 36★ Abyss and only for fun.
As a general guideline for a DPS role, aim for above 1700 ATK, and roughly 50% CRIT Rate / 100% CRIT DMG. After that, you should start looking into investing in supports as well invested supports can output a significant amount of damage for a lot less than it would cost to improve your DPS stats further.
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