HomeGuidesGenshin Impact

The best Genshin Impact Gorou buildLearn how to put together the best possible Gorou build in Genshin Impact

Learn how to put together the best possible Gorou build in Genshin Impact

Gorou from Genshin Impact in close-up. Text in image reads “Canine Warrior: General of the Watatsumi Army”.

Want to learn how to create the best build for Gorou in Genshin Impact?Introduced inGenshin Impact’s December 2021 update, Gorou has the distinction of being the first Bow-wielding Geo character in the game, meaning that you can now pair the Geo element up with all five weapon types. At 4-star rarity Gorou is not too difficult to add to your party, and his ability to prop up his team’s defences make him a perfect candidate for a support character.

For details of Gorou’s best build — including weapons, artifacts, party composition, and levelling requirements — read on below.

Character Demo - “Gorou: The Ever-Victorious Pointy-Eared General” | Genshin ImpactWatch on YouTube

Character Demo - “Gorou: The Ever-Victorious Pointy-Eared General” | Genshin Impact

Cover image for YouTube video

How to build Gorou for a support role in Genshin Impact

Best weapon: Favonius Warbow

Alternative:Sacrificial Bow

Gorou’s strengths lie primarily in his Elemental talents, and so I don’t recommend equipping him with a 5-star weapon unless you’re in the enviable position of having a spare Elegy for the End lying around. Fortunately, you can actually achieve better effects for Gorou with theFavonius Warbowthan with any of the rarer weapons anyway. With this bow, Gorou’s Normal Attack crits have a high chance of generating an elemental orb which restores his energy faster, allowing him to refill his far superior Elemental Burst with desirable speed.

Alternatively, the sturdySacrifical Bowhas a slightly smaller chance to end the cooldown on Gorou’s Elemental Skill after he damages an enemy with the latter. However, this can only occur once every 30 seconds and isn’t quite as likely as triggering the Favonius Warbow’s elemental effect, so I recommend opting for this weapon only if you don’t have a Warbow to give to Gorou or are extremely keen on his skill.

Best artifacts: Husk of Opulent Dreams/Emblem of Severed Fate

Set bonuses:

Alternative:Replace Emblem of Severed Fate with Noblesse Oblige or Archaic Petra

Since Gorou’s best role lies in supporting his party’s DEF, you absolutely want to equip him with two pieces from theHusk of Opulent Dreamsset if at all possible. Here’s a vital hint though: if you’ve already given away all your Husk of Opulent Dreams pieces — which is likely in Gorou’s recommended party set-up — theDefender’s Willset has an identical 2-piece bonus and so can be substituted here freely.

The rest of his best artifact loadout is more debateable, but my preference is for 2 pieces from theEmblem of Severed Fateset, since this provides a significant Energy Recharge boost that brings Gorou’s Elemental Burst back online that much quicker.

However, there’s also a strong argument to be made for replacing the Emblem of Severed Fate pieces with either 2 pieces from theNoblesse Obligeset (for +20% to Elemental Burst DMG rather than recharge) or 2 pieces from theArchaic Petraset (for a simple-yet-powerful +15% to all Geo DMG Gorou inflicts).

Unsurprisingly, you’ll want the stats and substats on Gorou’s artifacts to focus primarily on DEF increases. Aim for the following:

Talent priority: Inuzaka All-Round Defense (Elemental Skill)

Alternative:Juuga: Forward Unto Victory (Elemental Burst)

I strongly recommend sidelining Gorou’s fairly weak Bow attacks in favour of focussing on his Elemental talents. His Elemental SkillInuzaka All-Round Defenseshould be the top priority if you’re placing him in a support role for a team primarily made up of other Geo characters. This is because his General’s War Banner effect becomes extremely powerful when in a party with at least two other Geo users, and starts providing vital DEF boosts straight away.

However, Gorou’sJuuga: Forward Unto VictoryElemental Burst applies similar benefits, buffing DMG rather than DEF, so it’s an important secondary talent to keep up with.

Here’s a full list of Gorou’s talents and what they do:

Party composition

5-star alternative:Arataki Itto as main DPS, while Ningguang replaces Xinqui as sub DPS

Thanks to Gorou’s skills increasing in benefit with every Geo character in his party, it’s a good idea to fill the team with as many Geo users as possible. However, you’ll hit a bit of a snag in that Geo characters suitable for DPS duties are thin on the ground, since the element lends itself primarily to support roles.

While Gorou himself focuses on DEF support and elemental damage,Noellemakes an excellent shield support character for this team. As another Geo character she’ll add power to Gorou’s capabilities, and on a team with no dedicated healer, her shield’s ability to restore HP to the entire party will prove extremely valuable.

Gorou’s introduction card from Genshin Impact. Text in image reads “Canine Warrior: General of the Watatsumi Army”.

How to level up Gorou in Genshin Impact

Ascension Materials

To fully ascend Gorou, you will need the following materials:

Talents

To fully level up one of Gorou’s talents, you’ll need the following materials. Be aware that if you choose to triple crown all three of his talents, you’ll need to collect all of this three times over.

Constellations

Gorou has a 4-star rarity, so if you make frequent use of Genshin Impact’s gacha system, you’re liable to end up pulling duplicates of him from time to time. When this happens, you’ll unlock the following Constellation bonuses for your original Gorou:

Genshin Impact’s Oni’s Royale banner as it appeared during its December 2022 rerun. It features Arataki Itto alongside Yanfei, Gorou, and Faruzan.

How to get Gorou in Genshin Impact

Gorou was first introduced into Genshin Impact in December 2021. As a 4-star character, after his debut he was added to the standard wish pool. This means that any wish made on the Wanderlust Invocation banner and all Character and Weapon Event Wish banners from version 2.4 (January 2022) onwards has a chance of pulling him from the gacha. Furthermore, he traditionally gets a boosted drop rate every time his original bannermateArataki Ittogets abannerrerun, and can theoretically be featured on other 5-star banners from time to time too.

Now you know everything you need to put together the best build for Gorou, quite possibly Genshin Impact’s most adorable puppy-themed hero (sorry,Razor). But there are loads of playable characters in Genshin Impact to choose from, so if you’re looking for details on how Gorou compares to the others, be sure to check out ourGenshin Impact character tier list.