Like most Gacha games,Wuthering Wavesoffers a variety of 5-star units that are much better than most characters in the game. These P2W characters are the best at each one of their roles and can immensely change how a team feels when they join them.
Despite 5-star Resonators generally being better than their 4-star partners, there’s still a noticeable gap in power among these premium characters. Therefore, players may be interested in knowing thebest 5-star characters inWuthering Waves.
Updated on July 18, 2025, by Nahda Nabiilah: Wuthering Waves is soon entering the 2.0 era, and many 5-star Resonators have been added since the initial release. In total, there are seven new characters who are released after Jiyan, resulting in a total of 15 5-star characters as of WuWa 1.4. Due to the many missing units in the article, this piece has now been updated to include everyone before Rinascita is released in version 2.0.
Weapon
Sword
Everyone starts withSpectro Rover as their DPS inWuthering Waves. However, they’re not there to stay. In fact, after your first 5-star DPS, or even some 4-star ones, you start to see how your Spectro Rover’s DMG falls back.
Spectro Rover is not the weakest DPS out there and definitely has some good qualities, but there will always be a better DPS than them. At least, they still work perfectly as a guide to teach new players inWuthering Waveshow to use their Forte Gauge.
Gauntlet
Lingyang is a Glacio DPS inWuthering Waves. He heavilyrelies on his Resonance Liberationand Forte Gauge to deal DMG. While his DMG is acceptable compared to other DPS in the game, he still feels way too slow when he’s in his Striding Lion state. If two enemies are standing away from each other, he needs time to reach each one of them.
That said, he excels against bosses and delivers ahurtful DMGto them, making him super helpful to farmOverlord Echoes inWuthering Waves.
Broadblade
Calcharo is anall-rounded main DPSthat can deal DMG with any of his attacks. His DMG is considered notably high, especially when he enters his Ultimate state. However,Calcharo is more tame in AoE situationsand shines better in single-target DMG ones. Although he was the top-tier Standard Banner option whenWuWawas first released, he got powercrept by other strong DPS, earning him a low spot on the list.
Jianxin is only limited by herself to trying to do everything at once. That is especially apparent from theamount of time she takesto set everything up for the next character in rotation since she needs to tank DMG, shield, heal, parry, and build up her own Concerto meter.
That being said,Jianxin can still collect enemies with her Resonance Liberation, while her Outro can make any DPS a Nuker with her whopping 38% Ultimate Buff.
Havoc Rover can inflict a lot of DMG with their Basic ATK or Resonance Liberation. No matter how you choose to play them, they’restrong enough to get the job done. The only problem theHavoc Rover has is not having a dedicated Supportthat can buff their kit.
You eitheradd Sanhua to maximize the DMGof their Basic ATK or Jianxin to do the same for their Ultimate. Danjin can give them a 23% Havoc DMG, but you’re going to lose a great DPS just to Outro buff Havoc Rover.
Rectifier
Encore is very fun to play while getting the job done. She can deal with amassive amount of DMGwhile switching between Ranged and Melee modes. Encore also plays well with others since you may cancel her Heavy ATK and Echo Skill to switch with other characters.
When Encore enters her Melee stance during her Resonance Liberation state, she becomes unstoppable. That’s where she does most of her DMG and what makes her rank so high among the best 5-stars inWuthering Waves.
Yinlin is a prime example of an off-field DPS. She has excellent AoE DMG and provides great Liberation DMG and Electro DMG buffs for DPS like Xiangli Yao. Sadly, her teams aren’t as strong as the meta Jinhsi + Zhezhi pairing, which causes her to not claim any of the top rankings.
Additionally, while Yinlin is amazing with her BiS weapon, Stringmaster, her performance tanks without it, making her not very F2P friendly.
Mastering Changli can be difficult since she has some fancy rotations and canceling, but it’ll surely be rewarding. Jinhsi’s mentor is excellent at being both a Sub-DPS and Main DPS, making her a versatile unit to have.
Changli’s Outro gives Fusion DMG and Liberation DMG bonuses, so she’s the perfect teammate for characters like Encore. Additionally, since she works great in a quick-swap team, other Sub-DPS with minimum field time like Yinlin also work great with Changli.
Both Calcharo and Xiangli Yao are practically free characters to an extent, so it’s unfortunate for Calcharo that Xiangli Yao is much better than him. Unlike Calcharo’s unforgiving rotations and frequent interruptions, Xiangli Yao is much easier to use and more forgiving.
Players can pair Xiangli Yao with characters such as Yinlin for her insane Liberation + Electro DMG buff, and a second buffer like Verina.
Zhezhi is one of the strongest off-field DPS inWuthering Waves. However, damage is not the only thing she does. First, all of her hits are considered Basic Attack, making her easy to build as she simply must focus on Basic Attack DMG.
Second, Zhezhi is incredibly simple to use and can be swapped in and out swiftly. Third, she grants plenty of useful buffs that make her brilliant for many characters, not just Glacio ones. Finally, she also gives Resonance Energy, further emphasizing her role as a buffer who simultaneously deals a lot of damage.
