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The best Genshin Impact Shikanoin Heizou buildLearn how to put together the best possible Heizou build in Genshin Impact
Learn how to put together the best possible Heizou build in Genshin Impact
Want to learn the best build for Shikanoin Heizou in Genshin Impact?Shikanoin Heizou joinedGenshin Impact’s ranks in Version 2.8 (July 2022). He may be the 51st playable character overall, but he’s the first male character to wield a Catalyst, as well as the first Anemo vision holder to bring a magic book to a fantasy swordfight. Furthermore, since Anemo doesn’t technically deal damage on its own, he’s the first Catalyst user to perform melee attacks (albeit elementally-charged ones) as his normal combat technique, and indeed is the first Genshin Impact character to fight close-up with his fists rather than with a weapon.
Speaking for myself, I’ve always found Catalyst wielders less appealing than the other four weapon user types because of how squishy they can feel in close combat, so I’ve been looking forward to Heizou’s introduction and the opportunity to properly pummel a few fools in between hurling Anemo spells at them. So read on for details of the best build we’ve seen for Shikanoin Heizou, including his best weapons, artifacts, party members, and more.
Character Demo - “Shikanoin Heizou: Cyclone of Investigation” | Genshin ImpactWatch on YouTube
Character Demo - “Shikanoin Heizou: Cyclone of Investigation” | Genshin Impact
How to build Shikanoin Heizou for a sub-DPS/elemental support role
Despite his impressive martial arts performance, Heizou doesn’t quite manage to avert the common wisdom that an Anemo character isn’t suitable for a main DPS role. However, his elementally-backed normal attacks coupled with his ability to generate the Swirl reaction with most other elements make him a great choice for a mix sub-DPS and elemental damage support role.
Best weapon: Kagura’s Verity
4-star alternative:Solar Pearl or Sacrificial Fragments
If you’re in the reasonable position of playing Genshin Impact for free and therefore having very limited access to 5-star weapons or the Gnostic Hymn track of the BP, no need to worry: there’s still a 4-star Catalyst you can obtain easily enough with your drip-feed of free pulls on standard wishes.Sacrificial Fragmentsgrants a simple yet desirable effect: when Heizou deals damage with his Elemental Skill, there’s a 40% chance that the skill’s cooldown will end instantly (up to once every 30 seconds). Given Heizou’s unique status as a melee Catalyst fighter, this can be extremely useful for keeping him attacking quickly and effectively in close-up combat.
Best artifacts: Viridescent Venerer
As perhaps the first true Anemo DPS candidate in Genshin Impact’s history, it’s well worth giving Heizou any items from theViridescent Venererset you have handy; the bonuses above speak for themselves when it comes to improving both his sub-DPS and elemental support activities. If you have the luxury of shopping around for stats and substats on this set, try to aim for the following for Heizou’s most effective mixed DPS/support build:
Talent priority: Heartstopper Strike (Elemental Skill)
Secondary:Fudou Style Martial Arts (Normal Attack)
Ideally the lion’s share of Heizou’s damage should be coming from his Elemental SkillHeartstopper Strikeas often as you can use it, so naturally this is the top priority when it comes to levelling up his talents. It’s rare that I recommend prioritising a character’s Normal AttackFudou Style Martial Artsabove one of their elemental talents, but given its importance to this mixed build (and the novelty of getting to use unarmed melee attacks!) it should take a close second to his Elemental Skill when you level up. His Elemental Burst is good too, and I don’t recommend neglecting it, but it definitely takes third-place priority when levelling.
Here’s a full list of Heizou’s talents and what they do:
Party composition
5-star alternative:Kokomi replacing Bennett as healer
This high-DMG party set-up utilises Heizou’s Anemo element to create aSwirl elemental reactionwith his teammates' visions and spread the elemental damage across a wider area. In addition to their individual elemental effects, Pyro DPSXianglingand Hydro sub-DPSXingqiucan also work together to produce the Vaporize reaction, which doubles damage to afflicted enemies for its duration when Xingqiu deals the second attack (or 1.5x damage if Pyro is applied second).Bennettis one of the best healers in the game, not to mention a dab hand at DPS in his own right, allowing you to form an all-damage team if you want to rotate all four characters in during combat. Furthermore, placing him on a team with Xiangling applies the Fervent Flames resonance for a 25% boost to all base attack damage, which will then feed back in to Heizou’s Swirl effects.
How to level up Shikanoin Heizou in Genshin Impact
Ascension Materials
To fully ascend Heizou, you will need the following materials:
Talents
To fully level up any one of Heizou’s three active talents, you’ll need to collect the following materials:
Constellations
Below is a full list of Heizou’s Constellations:
How to get Shikanoin Heizou in Genshin Impact
Following his debut on Version 2.8, Heizou followed his fellow 4-star characters in joining the standard wish pool. This means that he’s a potential pull from all wishes on the Wanderlust Invocation (standard permanent) banner, and all time-limitedCharacter and Weapon Event Wish banners. You’ll have an even better chance of pulling him when he’s featured on a 5-star character’s banner with a boosted drop rate, so we’ll be sure to keep you updated on the next time this is going to happen.
For help getting your hands on a copy of Heizou — or any other Genshin Impact character of your choice, for that matter — see our guide togetting more characters in Genshin Impact. To this end, you’ll also want to check out ourGenshin Impact codes listto ensure you’re claiming all the freebie currencies you can!
There are a ludicrous number of characters available in Genshin Impact, and unless you’re some kind of oil baron, you’re going to need to be selective about which ones you wish to pull from the gacha. To help you make your choice, take a look at ourGenshin Impact tier listto see who we’d rate high and who we’d recommend skipping.
