Early Vertical Investment

How I Rank Characters on This List:

• Characters will be evaluated with the perspective of someone wanting to main that unit. The value of a unit's constellations is determined by how much they improve that character and their most optimal team/use case. Overall account value will not be taken into account.
• I will only be taking into account a character's C1 or C2. Anything beyond that will not factor into my rankings. (May update to consider r1 in the future.)
• A character's performance in Spiral Abyss is the only thing I will take into account for this list.

Standard Banner Characters:

• Since there is now a consistent way to obtain standard banner characters and their constellations for free, I will be ranking them. Additionally, because they are free, I will rate their constellations a little more leniently.

Tier 0:

• Neuvillette: The fact that Neuvillette is a viable solo option at C0 in some cases is ridiculous. However, both his C1 and C2 increase his viability not only as a solo character, but also as an on-field carry in a 4-man team. Specifically, they allow him to max out his A1 passive while still giving him access to a double-hydro team with Furina. Don't get me wrong, Furina is his best team with or without his C1, but the con just makes her that much better of a teammate. His constellations synergise so well with his kit and the increase in damage and QoL is quite nice.
• Furina: Possibly the best C1 and C2 in the entire game. They just allow your team to deal so much extra damage. With both enabled she frontloads 50% of her buff and increases the ceiling for it while also allowing her to ramp up the buff much quicker. Absolute game changers in terms of front-loading damage (which is the best type of damage).

Tier 1:

• WIP