Who are the Permanent Five Star Characters in Genshin Impact?

Unlike the popular limited 5-star characters, Genshin Impact has a set of characters that you can pull at any time on the standard "Wanderlust Invocation" banner. These permanent five stars include Jean, Diluc, Keqing, Mona, Qiqi, and the newest addition in version 3.0, Tighnari.

I‘ve played Genshin Impact for over two years, analyzing character strengths, team synergies, and the evolving meta. As a theorycrafter and content creator, I want to provide an in-depth look at each of these six heroes – from their playstyles to their roles in the late game. Let‘s dive in!

Jean – The Dandelion Knight

As the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, Jean‘s healing and crowd control capabilities are invaluable. She boasts Mondstadt‘s highest attack scaling among sword users while also regenerating party HP with her Elemental Skill and Burst.

With her second ascension passive providing attack speed, and her C2 constellation increasing it dramatically further, a late game Jean becomes a high-damage fighter in her own right.

Her unique falling damage mechanic enables nuke builds that can hit for over 100k damage. Vehicles like Venti that lift enemies up exponentially increase this potential.

Jean remains one of only two characters who can cleanse debuffs like pyro application or bleed – you‘ll want her in the Spiral Abyss rotations inflicting those.

While lacking amplifying reactions, Anemo supports the strongest multiplier reactions like vaporize and melt. Jean fits into any non-geo team comp in Genshin and her usage rates reflect that.

Diluc – The Dark Side of Dawn

As the wealthiest most elite citizen of Mondstatdt, Diluc has access to resources enabling him to reach the highest damage potential. Until Hu Tao‘s introduction over a year after launch, Diluc dominated the pyro DPS landscape.

Between his short skill cooldowns for constant uptime on pyro infusion, and his beginner friendly claymore attacks, Diluc dishes out vaporize damage seamlessly. His bursts provide ample AoE coverage for groups of enemies.

While requiring more animation canceling than some newer claymore characters, Diluc‘s combos flow naturally with some practice. I personally used him as my main DPS for the first year of Genshin Impact.

Now nearing the two year mark since Diluc‘s debut, he sees slightly declining use rates in late Spiral Abyss rotations – but still claims a top 5 spot among pyro main carries. Suffice it to say, this winery baron remains immensely powerful.

Keqing – Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing

Don‘t let the Electro element fool you – few characters match Keqing‘s speed and mobility. She dishes out furious sword combos, blinking between enemies and slashing before they can react. Her charged attack spams even faster at high talent levels.

With Crit Rate as her ascension stat, Keqing lands devastating critical hits more consistently than most damage dealers. Utilizing powerful amplifying reactions like vaporize or melt does get tricky with an Electro base element.

However, by quick swapping Keqing in sporadically to drop her skill/burst then rotating supports, she activates Electro-charged and Overload rapidly across multiple enemies. The successes of teams like "Soup" prove Keqing‘s potential in reaction focused builds.

Despite lackluster reactions, Keqing‘s reappearances on limited character banners and regular buffs/events shows Mihoyo‘s obvious favoritism. For these reasons she remains permanently embedded in Genshin‘s elite five stars.

Mona – Astrologist Extraordinaire

A master of hydromancy magic, Mona has perfected the art of popping her Elemental Burst then vaporizing enemies into oblivion. As the only reliable off-field hydro applier before Sangonomiya Kokomi‘s release, Mona enables freeze comps solo with her skill/burst.

Apply hydro -> swirl with Venti/Kazuha/Sucrose -> watch enemies get sucked into her Omen bubble -> hit them with a pyro burst = say goodbye to their health bars.

With some Energy Recharge investment, Mona‘s burst nuke comes online quickly and makes short work of even elite enemies. Groups of small fries disintegrate instantly to her AoE potential.

While tricky to pilot early on, mastering animation cancels and optimal rotations reveals Mona‘s extraordinary ceiling. The tried and true "Morgana" team with Mona, Ganyu, Venti, and Diona has terrorized Spiral Abyss for over a year straight.

Qiqi – Herald of Frost

Don‘t let the doom posting fool you – no character heals better than Qiqi period. Without dying, she applies her healing talisman to enemies with 100% uptime. This provides constant regenerating dots unmatched by any support.

Built purely for healing, Qiqi‘s cryo application enables 4PC Blizzard Strayer freeze teams effortlessly. Pair her with a hydro applier like Xingqiu, grab a cryo DPS like Ayaka, and the enemies never unfreeze.

In late game content like the fierce Spiral Abyss corrosion damage, Qiqi‘s value soars. While expensive to burst with high energy costs, Qiqi never needs batteries when built full HP.

The sheer fact that players lament pulling one of the coveted 5-star characters, despite Qiqi occupying a vital role, proves how universally strong Genshin‘s permanent heroes remain.

Dendro Doom – Tighnari Joins the Fray

With the launch of Sumeru in version 3.0, a new permanent five star bow user enters the mix – Tighnari fulfills the long-teased Dendro element. As a charged shot specialist, Tighnari unleashes rocket-powered arrows packing a punch.

His unique spread and aggravate enabler kit has sparked the rise of new reaction focused teams and archetypes. Though we have yet to see his late game potential fully tested, his versatility across team comps appears high.

As the first and only standard banner Dendro five star, Tighnari has carved a comfortable niche moving forward. With the new bloom-based reactions changing the meta, his value looks set to rise exponentially.

While the coveted limited five star characters understandably gather all the hype, Genshin Impact‘s standard pool contains phenomenal firepower. Jean, Diluc, Mona and friends may eventually fall behind the creeping power creep from newer releases.

But these six will always come back around on reruns. Constellations for them are easier to acquire over time compared to characters like Xiao who reappear once a year. That makes the standard characters a reliable, borderline necessary investment.

For new players lacking five stars, building these heroes first provides huge quality of life improvements through healing, crowd control,amplifying reactions that make the game exponentially more enjoyable. They serve as gateways into heavier investment later down the road.

Veterans should not underestimate the permanent five stars either. Constellations unlock new levels of power spike. Within the last two patches, Jean and Mona have enabled multiple 36 star Spiral Abyss clears for me despite owning every limited character.

In summary: while they may not boast the single target nuke potential of top tier limited DPS characters, the standard five star pool brings invaluable versatility. No account ever feels complete without them.