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Hu Tao in Genshin Impact is one of the best Polearm users in the game and ranks highly on every tier list, including our own.
Hu Tao is extremely powerful and can be a fantastic addition to any team composition. However, she does play fairly differently from other characters in Genshin Impact.
And that’s what we’re here to do today, we’re going to show you everything you need to know about Hu Tao’s playstyle, Talents, and builds to ensure she’s as powerful as can be.
First, let’s take a look at her Talent sheet to better understand her preferred playstyle.
Hu Tao Genshin Impact Talents & Playstyle
Hu Tao is played best when she’s the Main DPS or damage dealer on the team. Hu Tao uses a Polearm and deals Pyro Elemental Damage.
Her main playstyle is centered around her Elemental Skill to beef up her Normal and Charged attacks. She’s best paired with characters who can leave lasting effects like Cryo or Electro to supercharge Elemental reactions and damage.
Normal & Charged Attack – Secret Spear of Wangsheng
Hu Tao’s Normal Attack allows her to perform a 6-combo spear attack showcased in the above GIF.
Hu Tao’s Charged Attack consumes stamina on use and charges up to dash attack through enemies in a straight line.
Both her attacks in this category are fairly simple but are effective, especially when paired with her Elemental Skill.
Elemental Skill – Guide to Afterlife
Hu Tao’s Elemental Skill, Guide to Afterlife, enters her into Paramita Papilio state. Activating the Skill consumes 30% HP but considering her playstyle this isn’t much of an issue.
When Hu Tao is in Paramita Papilio state, her ATK is increased based on Max HP when activating the skill.
Attacks are now converted to Pyro damage which is excellent for dealing damage and chaining reactions.
Charged attacks also come with a special twist, and apply the Blood Blossom effect on enemies hit by the attack.
Blood Blossom is the effect shown in the GIF above. Enemies afflicted with the condition will take Pyro DMG every 4 seconds until the skill duration ends.
30% HP to activate the skill seems hefty but isn’t too bad in normal circumstances. Since the modifiers scale with Max HP instead of ATK, Hu Tao will inadvertently have a lot of HP to spare.
You’ll need to play Hu Tao by keeping her below 50% HP as the DMG increase is substantial. She also has a Passive Talent Sanguine Rouge that further increases the Pyro Damage bonus by 33% when her HP is at 50% or lower.
We’ll go into further detail below –
Elemental Burst – Spirit Soother
Spirit Soother summons a charming spirit to deal Pyro damage in a big AoE radius. The Burst also regenerates a portion of Hu Tao’s Max HP on hit. This skill can proc up to five times every time you use the Burst, based on how many targets are damaged.
If the Burst is activated when Hu Tao’s HP is 50% or lower, Damage and HP regen are both increased.
Her Talent sheet allows for huge damage potential with massive increases to her ATK and Elemental ATK. Her Skill and Burst are a give and take and if you can pull it off, the results are devastating.
She loses HP on her Elemental Skill but gains energy back for her Burst. Activate the Burst once you’re below 50% HP and you’ll deal major damage and heal a substantial portion of HP back.
Repeat the process and you’ll be burning down every Hilichurl in sight!
Hu Tao Genshin Impact Build – Weapons & Artifacts
Hu Tao is a damage dealer through and through and will be the core component of your team. It’s a good idea to build around Hu Tao because her Damage potential is too good to ignore.
She excels in the DPS/Main Damage Dealer role and since her ATK scales off Max HP, that’ll be our focus. You can also opt to increase Pyro DMG as well as Critical hit rates and damage.
Primary Weapon Choice – Staff of Homa
The Staff of Homa is built for Hu Tao’s Talent sheet and pairs well with her Elemental skill. It increases HP by 20% and increases ATK bonuses scaling off 0.8% of Max HP. When Hu Tao is 50% HP or less, the bonus to ATK is increased by 1% Max HP.
The Staff of Homa mirrors Hu Tao’s Guide to Afterlife skill by amplifying the additional ATK DMG buffs. But if you didn’t have this stunning weapon, here are some alternatives:
Substitute Weapons
- Primordial Jade Winged-Spear – Increases ATK by 3.2% on hit. 7 Stacks Max & happens once every 0.3s. 7 Stacks = +12% DMG Dealt.
- Deathmatch – If at least 2 enemies, +16% ATK. If 2 or fewer enemies, +24% ATK.
Artifact Builds
Hu Tao is best paired with Artifacts that increase Max HP, Pyro Damage, and both Crit Rate/Crit DMG. Artifact Sub stats should also focus on these core stats.
- #1 Crimson Witch of Flames – Pyro +15%
- #2 Shimenawa’s Reminiscence – Attack +18%
- #3 Noblesse Oblige – Elemental Burst DMG +20%
- #4 Berserker – Crit Rate +12%
You should aim for a 4-set Crimson Witch of Flames but can pair up any of the others if you’re missing out on some pieces.
How To Get Hu Tao In Genshin Impact
Sadly, the only way to get Hu Tao is when her Wish Banner is active.
The only way to summon Hu Tao is to wait for a rerun of the Moment of Bloom banner. Previously, the banner was available in March and November 2021.
