So, you're diving deep into the world of Genshin Impact, and you keep hearing the term "Sub DPS." What exactly does that mean? Don't worry, guys, I'm here to break it down for you in simple terms. Understanding the roles in Genshin Impact is crucial for building a strong and well-balanced team. Whether you're tackling the Spiral Abyss or just exploring Teyvat, knowing what each character brings to the table can significantly improve your gameplay experience.

Breaking Down the DPS Roles

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of Sub DPS, let's quickly recap the main roles in Genshin Impact. You've got your Main DPS, your Supports, and your Healers. Think of your team as a finely tuned machine, where each part plays a vital role in achieving victory.

Main DPS: The Star of the Show

The Main DPS is your primary damage dealer. This character typically spends the most time on the field, dishing out consistent and high damage. They're the stars of your team, built to maximize their offensive capabilities. Characters like Diluc, Ganyu, and Hu Tao are classic examples of Main DPS units. These characters often have abilities and talents that scale incredibly well with attack power, crit rate, and crit damage, making them capable of decimating enemies with their skills and elemental bursts. Investing in their artifacts, weapons, and talents is paramount to ensuring they can carry your team through the toughest challenges.

When choosing a Main DPS, consider their elemental affinity and how well they synergize with other characters in your team. A well-coordinated team composition can amplify the Main DPS's damage output through elemental reactions and buffs. Furthermore, understanding the enemy's elemental weaknesses and resistances can help you tailor your team to exploit those vulnerabilities, making your Main DPS even more effective.

Support: The Backbone of the Team

Supports are characters who buff the team or debuff enemies, enhancing the overall damage output and survivability. These can include characters that provide elemental application, shields, or healing. Think of characters like Bennett, Xingqiu, and Sucrose. These units may not always deal the most damage themselves, but they significantly amplify the damage of your Main DPS and provide crucial utility.

Support characters often have abilities that can apply elements consistently, allowing for frequent elemental reactions. For instance, Xingqiu's rain swords apply Hydro to enemies, enabling Vaporize or Electro-Charged reactions when paired with Pyro or Electro characters, respectively. Bennett's elemental burst provides an attack buff and healing, making him an invaluable asset in many team compositions. Sucrose can group enemies together and provide elemental mastery buffs, further enhancing the team's damage potential.

Healer: Keeping Everyone Alive

Healers are pretty self-explanatory. They keep your team alive by restoring health, ensuring that you can withstand enemy attacks and continue dealing damage. Characters like Barbara, Qiqi, and Jean fall into this category. While some healers may not contribute much in terms of damage, their ability to keep the team healthy is essential, especially in challenging content like the Spiral Abyss.

Healers come in various forms, with some providing burst healing while others offer continuous healing over time. Barbara's elemental skill heals the active character periodically, while Qiqi's elemental burst provides healing based on the damage dealt to enemies. Jean's elemental burst not only heals the team but also provides a cleansing effect, removing elemental debuffs. Choosing the right healer for your team depends on your playstyle and the specific challenges you face.

So, What is a Sub DPS?

Now that we've covered the basics, let's dive into what a Sub DPS actually is. A Sub DPS is a character that can deal significant damage while not being the primary damage dealer. These characters usually have abilities that allow them to deal damage even when they're off-field. They act as a secondary source of damage, supplementing the Main DPS and ensuring that there's consistent damage output even during ability cooldowns or rotations.

Think of Sub DPS characters as the versatile members of your team. They can step in to deal damage when your Main DPS is on cooldown or when you need to apply specific elemental reactions. They are not just damage dealers; they often bring utility to the team, such as elemental application, crowd control, or even minor buffs. This versatility makes them valuable assets in various team compositions, allowing you to adapt to different combat scenarios.

Key Characteristics of a Sub DPS

• Off-Field Damage: This is the defining trait of a Sub DPS. They have abilities that continue to deal damage even when the character is not actively on the field. Examples include Fischl's Oz, Xingqiu's Rain Swords, and Albedo's Transient Blossoms.
• Elemental Application: Many Sub DPS characters excel at applying elemental effects consistently, enabling elemental reactions. This is crucial for maximizing damage output and controlling the battlefield.
• Burst Damage: While not their primary role, Sub DPS characters often have powerful elemental bursts that can deal significant damage in a short amount of time. This allows them to contribute to burst damage rotations and quickly eliminate high-priority targets.
• Utility: Some Sub DPS characters also provide utility, such as crowd control, buffs, or debuffs. This adds to their overall value and makes them versatile additions to the team.

Examples of Sub DPS Characters

Let's look at some popular Sub DPS characters in Genshin Impact and how they fit into this role.

Xingqiu

Xingqiu is one of the best Sub DPS characters in the game. His Rain Swords provide consistent Hydro application, enabling Vaporize reactions with Pyro characters and Electro-Charged reactions with Electro characters. The Rain Swords also provide damage reduction and minor healing, adding to his utility.

Xingqiu's elemental burst is where he truly shines. The Rain Swords continue to attack alongside your active character, dealing substantial Hydro damage and consistently applying Hydro for reactions. This makes him an ideal partner for Pyro Main DPS characters like Hu Tao and Diluc, as well as Electro characters like Raiden Shogun and Yae Miko.

Fischl

Fischl's Elemental Skill summons Oz, a raven that deals Electro damage to nearby enemies. Oz remains on the field even when Fischl is switched out, providing consistent Electro application and damage. This makes Fischl an excellent Sub DPS for teams that rely on Electro-based reactions like Overload, Electro-Charged, and Superconduct.

Fischl's A4 passive talent, Undone Be Thy Sin, Bolstereth My Resolve, further enhances her Sub DPS capabilities. When Oz is on the field, Fischl deals additional Electro damage to enemies, increasing her overall damage output. Her elemental burst allows her to reposition Oz and deal a burst of Electro damage, providing flexibility and control.

Albedo

Albedo's Transient Blossoms deal Geo damage whenever an enemy takes damage within the Solar Isotoma field. This makes him a consistent source of off-field damage, especially in teams that lack Geo application. His elemental skill is easy to use and has a relatively short cooldown, ensuring that the Solar Isotoma is almost always active.

Albedo's elemental burst provides a burst of Geo damage and increases the Elemental Mastery of nearby party members, further enhancing his utility. He is particularly effective in teams that focus on elemental reactions, as the increased Elemental Mastery can significantly boost reaction damage.

Raiden Shogun

Raiden Shogun can function as both a Main DPS and a Sub DPS, depending on the team composition. Her Elemental Skill, Baleful Omen, provides Electro damage and buffs the Elemental Burst damage of the party. This makes her a valuable addition to teams that rely on Elemental Bursts for damage.

Raiden Shogun's Elemental Burst, Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu, allows her to deal significant Electro damage and regenerate Energy for the party. While she is on the field, her attacks generate Resolve stacks, which increase the damage of her burst. This makes her a powerful hypercarry and a versatile Sub DPS.

How to Build a Sub DPS

Building a Sub DPS is similar to building a Main DPS, but with a few key differences. You'll want to focus on stats that increase their off-field damage and elemental application.

Artifacts

The best artifact sets for a Sub DPS depend on their abilities and role in the team. Some popular options include:

• Emblem of Severed Fate: This set is excellent for characters who rely on their Elemental Burst for damage, such as Xingqiu and Raiden Shogun. It increases Energy Recharge and Elemental Burst damage.
• Tenacity of the Millelith: This set is ideal for characters who provide buffs to the team, such as Albedo. It increases HP and provides an ATK buff to nearby party members when the character's Elemental Skill hits an enemy.
• Noblesse Oblige: This set is a good general-purpose option for Sub DPS characters. It increases Elemental Burst damage and provides an ATK buff to the team after using an Elemental Burst.
• Golden Troupe: This set is excellent for characters whose skills deal damage off-field, such as Fischl.

Weapons

The best weapon for a Sub DPS depends on their stats and abilities. Some popular options include:

• Favonius Sword/Bow: These weapons provide Energy Recharge, which is crucial for ensuring that the Sub DPS can consistently use their Elemental Burst.
• Sacrificial Sword/Bow: These weapons have a chance to reset the cooldown of the character's Elemental Skill, allowing them to use it more frequently.
• The Stringless: This bow increases Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst damage, making it a great option for Sub DPS characters like Fischl.
• Crit Rate/Crit DMG Weapons: If your Sub DPS has good Crit Rate and Crit DMG, weapons that further boost these stats can significantly increase their damage output.

Talents

Prioritize leveling the talents that affect the Sub DPS's off-field damage. For example, if you're building Xingqiu, focus on leveling his Elemental Burst talent. If you're building Fischl, focus on leveling her Elemental Skill talent.

Team Compositions with Sub DPS

Sub DPS characters are incredibly versatile and can fit into a variety of team compositions. Here are a few examples:

• Vaporize Team: Hu Tao (Main DPS), Xingqiu (Sub DPS), Yelan (Sub DPS), Zhongli (Support).
• Electro-Charged Team: Raiden Shogun (Main DPS/Sub DPS), Fischl (Sub DPS), Xingqiu (Sub DPS), Sucrose (Support).
• Geo Team: Arataki Itto (Main DPS), Albedo (Sub DPS), Gorou (Support), Bennett (Support).

Final Thoughts

Understanding the role of a Sub DPS in Genshin Impact is essential for building a strong and versatile team. These characters provide consistent damage, elemental application, and utility, making them valuable assets in any team composition. By choosing the right Sub DPS characters and building them effectively, you can significantly improve your gameplay experience and tackle even the most challenging content in Teyvat. So go out there, experiment with different team compositions, and have fun exploring the world of Genshin Impact! Cheers, mate!