If you have the meta-defining Furina, then you should really start using these four Genshin Impact characters again

Furina, the beloved Hydro Archon, has been one of the most impactful Genshin Impact characters in a while, greatly shaking up the metagame with her arrival in version 4.2 back in November.

More than just her versatility as an off-field Hydro DMG dealer and team-wide DMG buffer, Furina's unique HP manipulation mechanic has also brought previously unpopular characters back to relevancy in the current metagame.

To be specific, four characters have greatly benefitted from Furina's arrival, and they are Jean, Noelle, Mika, and Sayu. Those four characters have the ability to provide team-wide healing, letting them synergise with Furina's burst to quickly give the entire party huge DMG buffs.

So, if you have Furina and Jean, Noelle, Mika, or Sayu, then read on as we break down how to play these characters in the new Genshin Impact metagame!

Jean

For the longest time, many considered Jean to have been powercrept by the likes of Kazuha, Venti, and even Sucrose. Those three provide superior elemental DMG buffs and crowd-control while Jean's dual role of Anemo buffer and healer was considered sub-optimal.

But with Furina's release, Jean has been the go-to Anemo character for almost every Furina team. The huge burst of healing for all party members from Jean's burst lets Furina quickly gain max Fanfare stacks from her own burst, giving the entire party a huge DMG buff much faster. Not only that, Jean can also carry the 4-piece Viridescent Venerer artifact set to further boost her allies' elemental DMG.

When building Jean for a Furina team, your priority should be giving her enough Energy Recharge to ensure she can use her burst as much as possible alongside Furina.

You can do this by giving Jean the Favonius Sword, which also provides your other characters with energy, and having an Energy Recharge main stat on her sands. As for the main stats on her goblet and circlet, we recommend ATK% and Healing Bonus, respectively, to improve her healing and in turn ability to help Furina gain max Fanfare stacks. Also, don't forget that Jean's artifact set must be the 4-piece Viridescent Venerer!

Noelle

Just like Jean, Noelle has been widely considered powercrept by characters who were released after her. Her shield is worse than Zhongli's, and most other shielders like Layla and Kirara, while Itto superseded her as the Geo Claymore DPS character.

But after Furina's release, Noelle has made a big comeback and is now a competitive pick for a Geo DPS character! Noelle synergises with Furina by consolidating the roles of on-field DPS, healer, and shielder into one character, letting you comfortably fill the other slots in the party with off-field DMG dealers or buffers.

While the healing Noelle provides when both her burst and shield is active isn't as good as dedicated healers, it is good enough to give Furina enough Fanfare stacks over the course of one rotation. Noelle has very good damage output on her own too, but having Furina and other supports buffing her boosts it to arguably 5-star levels.

The best Noelle-Furina team right now is a double Geo, double Hydro setup with Noelle, Gorou, Furina, and Yelan. Gorou will provide DEF buffs to boost Noelle's damage while also acting as her battery (and give a bit of additional healing if he's C4). Meanwhile, Yelan provides off-field Hydro DMG and another DMG buff source with her burst while acting as Furina's battery.

When building Noelle in a Furina team, you don't have to deviate from her standard DPS build. Get her any DPS-oriented Claymore (Redhorn Stonethresher is the best!) and the 4-piece Husk of Opulent Dreams set with DEF, Geo DMG Bonus, and Crit Rate/DMG main stats.

Mika

When Mika was released back in version 3.5, he was marketed as the dedicated 4-star support for Physical characters like Eula. However, he didn't really outshine many of the existing supports and couldn't quite hold the niche he was supposed to have like Kujou Sara or Gorou did for Electro and DEF-scaling Geo characters, respectively.

Enter Furina and now Mika finally looks like a great support for Eula. Much like Jean, Mika helps Furina gain Fanfare stacks quickly with the party-wide healing from his burst. With the huge DMG buff provided by Furina's burst paired with Mika's Physical DMG and Attack Speed (plus 60% Physical Crit DMG bonus at C6!) buffs, Eula mains will be very happy when they see her burst produce bigger numbers than before.

Of course, Mika isn't restricted to running with only Eula. He can be run alongside Furina to buff other characters with Physical DMG builds or even Cryo characters like Wriothesley.

When building Mika for a team that also features Furina, you won't need to deviate from the standard build. Give him a Favonius Lance for more energy for himself and his teammates as well as the 4-piece Noblesse Oblige set with Energy Recharge, HP%, and Healing Bonus main stats.

Sayu

Sayu was previously in a similar state to Jean, with her dual role of Anemo buffer and healer proving far less attractive to players who already have the likes of Kazuha, Venti, or Sucrose.

But with Furina's release, Sayu gains a new lease in life as the 4-star alternative to Jean. Inazuma's sleepy shinobi has two sources of party-wide healing from her burst and any Swirl reactions she triggers, also letting her help Furina stack up Fanfare quickly.

How Sayu differentiates herself from Jean is that the area-of-effect of her healing isn't as restrictive. The healing-over-time after the initial cast of Jean's burst only works if the active character is within the circular area-of-effect it creates.

Meanwhile, Sayu can heal her allies as long as they are near the summon created by her burst or she can trigger Swirl reactions. In addition, Sayu also provides a bit better crowd control with her skill, which lets her roll around the battlefield, absorb any elements she runs into, and unleash a big attack at the end of it.

When building Sayu for a team with Furina, go for a balance between energy, healing, and damage from Swirls. In such a case, her best weapon will be the Favonius Greatsword to go with the 4-piece Viridescent Venerer set with an Energy Recharge main stats for her sands and Elemental Mastery on both her goblet and circlet.

Genshin Impact is currently in the first half of version 4.3, which features the debut of Navia and a rerun for Kamisato Ayaka. The second half will feature the debut of the 4-star Pyro Polearm character Chevreuse as well as reruns for the 5-star characters Raiden Shogun and Yoimiya.

Version 4.4 in late January 2024 will feature two more new characters in Xianyun, aka Cloud Retainer, and Gaming.

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

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