Ranking all the Genshin Impact 4-star swords: Which are the best?

Since the release of Genshin Impact in 2020, we’ve been given tons of weapon options, some of which have become necessary to our teams.

With sword-wielders being the most numerous character type by weapon in the game at 11 (12 if you count Kuki Shinobu, who will be released in the second half of version 2.7), players should have a lot of swords in their armory.

From gacha, to event-only, to craftable, here’s a comprehensive tier list of all of the 4-star swords, if they are worth pulling for or crafting, and who they’re best paired with! For S-tier support weapons, you could even consider levelling multiple copies, just so your different Abyss teams can tap onto their benefits!

Note: All weapon stats listed below are at max ascension, level 90. Information is accurate up to version 2.7

S-Tier

The Black Sword (Battle Pass)

• Base ATK: 510

• Crit Rate: 27.6%

The Black Sword is one of the best swords you can get your hands on. With Crit Rate as its main stat, and a passive that can heal you when you crit, a DPS character can fully enjoy using this weapon without much problem or restrictions.

The only downside to this weapon, however, is that it is only available to get when you purchase the battle pass. So it will be harder and will take a long time to refine, if you so chose to do so.

Use on: Keqing, Jean, Kamisato Ayaka, Kamisato Ayato

Favonius Sword (Gacha)

• Base ATK: 454

• Energy Recharge: 61.3%

If your whole team has energy problems, just slap a Favonius Sword on your support and you’re good to go.

The passive is easy to proc and will meet your energy needs, plus it’s perfect for keeping your burst up when your cooldown ends.

Use on: Kaeya, Bennett, Qiqi, Kaedehara Kazuha, Geo Traveler, Anemo Traveler

Sacrificial Sword (Gacha)

• Base ATK: 454

• Energy Recharge: 61.3%

Like all the other weapons in the Sacrificial series, the Sacrificial Sword is a game changer for your support.

The reason is simple — because it can reset the cooldown of your skill, giving you more chances to proc energy particles.

It's perfect for characters who have a long skill cooldown, and also comes with the nice Energy Recharge stat at that.

Use on: Xingqiu, Qiqi, Geo Traveler, Anemo Traveler, Bennett, Kaedehara Kazuha

Amenoma Kageuchi (Craftable)

• Base ATK: 454

• ATK%: 55.1%

The Amenoma Kageuchi is a great craftable weapon that not only gives you a high ATK% substat, but when refined can also rectify energy problems for your DPS and gives you high burst uptime.

It’s great when you want a little more independence for your DPS without having to rely on a different teammate to be a battery.

Use on: Kamisato Ayaka, Kamisato Ayato, Keqing, Jean, Kaeya, Electro Traveler, Geo Traveler, Anemo Traveler, Bennett, Kaedehara Kazuha

Festering Desire (Event)

• Base ATK: 510

• Energy Recharge: 45.9%

Although only having been available as an event reward during version 1.2, Festering Desire is a highly coveted weapon for players who started playing in the later stages of the game.

It’s technically like the Favonius Sword, but gives your support an added edge with the skill damage boost and Crit Rate increase. Here's hoping HoYoverse can make it available to other players soon.

Use on: Xingqiu, Albedo, Keqing, Kaeya, Jean, Geo Traveler, Anemo Traveler

A-Tier

Iron Sting (Craftable)

• Base ATK: 510

• Elemental Mastery: 165

Although niche with its Elemental Mastery main stat, the craftable Iron Sting is great for support characters who can proc elemental reactions or Swirl elements (such as the Sunfire build for Jean).

The added benefit of being able to stack elemental mastery with this weapon means you can achieve higher damage with your reactions.

Use on: Kaedehara Kazuha, Jean, Anemo Traveler, Kaeya, Xingqiu

Prototype Rancour (Craftable, Quest)

• Base ATK: 565

• Physical DMG Bonus: 34.5%

Don’t be deterred by its Physical DMG Bonus main stat, the Prototype Rancour boasts the second-highest base attack for a 4-star weapon and is also great for supports whose buffs are based on their base ATK.

Otherwise, it’s also perfect for Physical Damage builds when you don’t have the 5-star Aquila Favonia.

Use on: Jean, Bennett, Kaeya

Lion’s Roar (Gacha)

• Base ATK: 510

• ATK%: 41.3%

Lion’s Roar has a whopping 20% DMG increase against enemies affected by Pyro or Electro at just R1.

This is great for DPS characters with element-focused or elemental reaction-dependent builds that can utilize either mono-Pyro or Electro-Charged compositions.

In fact, in some cases, an R5 Lion's Roar could very well outperform an R1 5-star weapon!

Use on: Keqing, Xingqiu, Ayato, Bennett

B-Tier

Blackcliff Longsword (Starglitter Shop)

• Base ATK: 565

• Crit DMG: 36.8%

Although the Blackcliff Longsword is one of the few swords that ascends with Crit DMG (the other being Mistsplitter Reforged), this weapon isn’t actually anything stellar when you reach late game.

The passive is conditional and isn’t as useful, and you need to spend rare Starglitter from the shop to get it.

You're probably better off using that Starglitter to get 4-stars from the shop, or trying to C6 Kaeya.

Use on: Kamisato Ayaka, Keqing, Xingqiu

Royal Longsword (Starglitter Shop)

• Base ATK: 510

• ATK%: 41.3%

Another Starglitter Shop weapon, the Royal Longsword is also a decent weapon in early game, but becomes less than stellar as you progress to late game.

The passive, although increasing Crit Rate by 8% with 5 stacks max, isn’t really reliable.

Use on: Keqing

The Alley Flash (Gacha)

• Base ATK: 620

• Elemental Mastery: 55

The Alley Flash boasts the highest base ATK for a 4-star weapon in the game, which is great when your support’s buffs depend on their base ATK or your DPS is in want of some extra ATK.

The passive, however, is a bit of a disappointment, unless you’re pretty good at dodging or never go without your shielder.

Another downside to this weapon — its meager Elemental Mastery main stat.

Use on: Bennett, Jean, Kaeya, Keqing, Xingqiu, Kaedehara Kazuha

Cinnabar Spindle (Event)

• Base ATK: 454

• DEF%: 69.0%

Although technically only viable for Albedo, the fact that Cinnabar Spindle is tailor-made for him and is his 4-star Best-in-Slot is great.

Hopefully as the game progresses, we get more characters who scale off of defense and can also use this sword.

Use on: We just said it's only viable for Albedo

C-Tier

The Flute (Gacha)

• Base ATK: 510

• ATK%: 41.3%

This weapon is a great starter to use when you’re in early game or have yet to unlock better swords, and is best used by characters who have fast normal attacks or require area-of-effect damage.

In the late game, however, this weapon is overshadowed by Amenoma Kageuchi.

Use on: Jean, Qiqi, Keqing

Sword of Descension (PS4 exclusive)

• Base ATK: 440

• ATK%: 35.2%

The Sword of Descension is the PS4 exclusive weapon of the Traveler. It’s nothing special, but the aesthetic fits when you choose the female twin as your Traveler.

However it’s not really worth ascending once you get better 4-star weapons.

Look out for our 4-star weapon rankings for the other weapon types in Genshin Impact soon!

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

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