Genshin Impact: How Abyss Usage Data works

abyss usage data featured

While looking for some Genshin Impact-related content, you may have already stumbled across Youtube videos or Reddit posts about the current Abyss Usage Data, which included information on which characters are most picked in certain rooms of the one and only endgame challenge of the game.

The fanbase refers to this data as a way to discern whether a character is worth pulling or not. But do you know how this data works and how they actually gather it in the first place? You may already guess that it doesn’t come from any official sources, as Hoyoverse is very secretive with Abyss-related info.

Here, we’ll explain how the Abyss Usage Data actually works, how it was created, and why you shouldn’t so blindly believe in it as an “official tier list” for viable characters in the Abyss.

What is the Abyss Usage Data?

Since the Spiral Abyss is widely considered one of the best ways of measuring a character’s strength in the game, people wanted an easy way to see which characters are actually being used and how well they fare in it. Showcases are popular among the community, but data will always speak for itself.

Your personal page in the Hoyolab forum does contain your progress in the current Abyss rotation in the Battle Chronicle area, but there’s no way to compare it with other people’s data, so it’s not a great help either. With that in mind, the community decided to measure data by themselves.

abyss usage data chronicle
Credit: Hoyoverse

How did they accomplish that? By giving players forms where they can provide those exact information in order to compile it all into websites or infographics.

Sites like spiralabyss.org seem to be discontinued as their info is largely outdated, but this is a good example of how the Abyss Usage Data works. They display very intuitively how popular those characters were in the challenge, especially on Floor 12.

READ MORE: Genshin Impact Version 3.3 release date and leaked banners

How is the current data gathered?

The Chinese data is usually gathered in the NGA forums, which are known for hosting some of the most dedicated (and biggest whales/high spenders) players in the community. Most of them will surely clear Floor 12 every two weeks without fail since they have committed a lot of time and resources to the game.

Some of the most popular western data is being gathered by the Spiral Stats Team via their official forms, which you can fill out here. Gathering data available in the Battle Chronicle, they will put it all together for easier viewing. 

abyss usage data nga
Credit: NGA

The team posts their results in both the official Genshin subreddit and Hoyolabs. The data has also proven how strong some characters like Kazuha, Kokomi, and Raiden Shogun can be despite their initial bad reputation. All of them are now regarded as some of the strongest characters in their roles.

But there are some negative points you should be aware of, and here we’ll explain some of them.

Not always the most reliable source

While the works are very detailed, including even builds and average stats for characters, there are some things you must take notice of when analyzing the graphics.

The first aspect is the sample size. The latest sample from the current abyss rotation (October’s second Lunar Phase) had around 1600 accounts verified for 36* stars, which is less than 1% of the total amount of western Genshin players. While many players don’t even dare tackle the Abyss, you can be sure that a lot more players have fully cleared it.

Since this is not a general measure, the efforts of that one brave Xinyan main who does everything to clear the floors with their favorite character are often left to obscurity. Characters who can clear it will not always appear in the Abyss Usage Data.

There are many factors for using this small sample size, ranging from interest from the community, how hard it could get to compile larger info and general knowledge of the forms. 

abyss usage data spiral stats
Credit: Spiral Stats Team

Another issue is how the data will initially show all the info considering both whales and F2P players. This is more evident in the Chinese data, where most people have allegedly spent more than the usual Welkin/BP player.

The Spiral Stats team does a great job of dividing topics with exclusively F2P teams or with less than 2 5-star characters, but the raw data will still include everything. Limited weapons and constellations are also here.

The Abyss Usage Data will also vary depending on the current Lunar Phase bonus and the last few banners. The current rotation is great for Nilou but not so good for Pyro characters. This does not mean that Yoimiya or Hu Tao would be bad choices here.

READ MORE: Genshin Impact Nilou Build Guide: Weapons, Artifact Sets, Roles, Constellations, and more

In the end, the Abyss Usage Data is best used as a reference, not a rule. You can clear the Abyss with any characters you want by investing enough in them, no matter how popular they are. 

But if your final goal is to simply get those extra gems, just use one of the popular compositions. They have been proven to work well, so give them a try. Data never lies. Most of the time, at least.

Genshin Impact is currently available for PS4, PS5, Android, iOS and Pc.

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