The Geo Archon Zhongli has nothing to do with the Dendro power and the Sumeru region that update 3.0 introduced in Genshin Impact, but his rerun still found its place in the banners of this game version. Those who missed the 5-star character in his previous appearances have a chance to catch up. Since Tighnari will be included in the standard banner starting with patch 3.1 (coming Sept. 28), and Collei will be available for free through an event, your Primos may be well spent on everyone’s favorite Geo daddy. This build guide will show you how to best equip Zhongli in Genshin Impact.
Genshin Impact Zhongli: best weapons
Zhongli is one of the most powerful shield supports in the game, and he excels at keeping your other characters alive. Since his shield is based on his hit points, this attribute is the focus of the build.
Accordingly, when it comes to weapons, Hu Tao’s signature weapon, the Staff Of Homa, is the best choice for Zhongli. The lance gives you a whopping 20% extra health and, based on health, increases the wearer’s attack.
Alternative weapons for Zhongli are:
- Vortex Vanquisher (5-star polearm) – increases Shield Efficiency and Attack.
- Primordial Jade Winged-Spear (5-star polearm) – increases Attack.
- Engulfing Lightning (5-star polearm) – increases Energy Recharge and Attack.
- The Catch (4-star polearm) – increases ability damage.
- Prototype Starglitter (4-star polearm) – increases damage; craftable and therefore a good free-to-play option.
Genshin Impact Zhongli: best artifacts
As for artifacts for Zhongli, you should follow one of two routes depending on how much you want to specialize him as a shield support. If that is the only task you require the Geo character to perform, then you should go for a full set of Tenacity of the Millelith. The set increases health by 20% at two pieces and increases damage for all troop members based on shield strength from four pieces onward. So not only does it provide better protection for your team, but it also supports their offensive efforts.
The other route is a bit more aggressive and pushes Zhongli into more of a sub-DPS role. In this case, two pieces of Archaic Petra – which increases Geo damage by 15% – and two pieces of Noblesse Oblige – which increases special ability damage by 20% – are recommended.
Pay attention to the following distribution of stats:
- Plume: Attack (main stat), Critical Damage, Critical Hit Rate, HP %, Energy Recharge (sub stats).
- Flower: HP (main stat), Critical Damage, Critical Hit Rate, HP %, Energy Recharge (sub stats).
- Sands: HP % (main stat), Critical Damage, Critical Hit Rate, ATK %, Energy Recharge (sub stats).
- Goblet: Geo Damage % (main stat), Critical Damage, Critical Hit Rate, ATK %, Energy Recharge (sub stats).
- Circlet: Critical Damage (main stat), Critical Damage, Critical Hit Rate, HP %, Attack % (sub stats).
Genshin Impact: How to play Zhongli?
Use your off-field-DPS and sub-DPS characters first, and only then switch to Zhongli. Activate his secondary special ability by holding down the key for the special ability – this is his shield skill. After that, bring your main DPS onto the field so that they benefit from the still active elemental abilities of the previous characters as well as from Zhongli’s shield.
Once this has expired, bring Zhongli back and use his Elemental Burst to briefly petrify the enemies on the battlefield. Once again, take advantage of this period with your party’s main DPS to deal more damage.
Afterward, the rotation starts all over again with the sub-DPS characters into Zhongli.
Genshin Impact Zhongli: best teams
Zhongli is a key to the success of many team compositions, including the following groups:
- Hu Tao (Main DPS), Xingqiu (Sub DPS), Albedo (Sub DPS), Zhongli (Support).
- Ganyu (Main DPS), Xiangling (Sub DPS), Bennett (Support), Zhongli (Support).
- Ningguang (Main DPS), Fischl (Sub DPS), Bennett (Support), Zhongli (Support).
- Eula (Main DPS), Raiden (Sub DPS), Shenhe (Support), Zhongli (Support).
In these quartets, Zhongli falls into the aforementioned role as a supporter: while he doesn’t heal damage, he keeps a lot of it from happening in the first place, while also reducing the enemies’ damage resistances. All this maximizes the defensive and offensive capacities of your characters. When it comes to shields, nobody can fool the Geo Archon in Genshin Impact.
Written by Marco Wutz on behalf of GLHF.
