Genshin Impact: Zhongli Talent Guide

As the Geo Archon, Zhongli has jurisdiction over the nation of contracts, Liyue. And just in time for Sumeru, he’ll be available for reroll alongside the new character, Tighnari. Since Zhongli’s been around for over a year now, his Talent materials are readily available for any player with access to Liyue.

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Leveling up his Combat Talents requires the Weekly Boss drop from Childe – Tusk of Monoceros Caeli. Zhongli also needs the Teachings of Gold series, which is available on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays at the Taishan Mansion.

Combat Talents

Rain of Stone – Normal Attack

This allows Zhongli to perform up to 6 consecutive strikes in his Normal Attack. He ends consecutive Normal Attacks with a fun spear kick which sends his polearm spinning into enemies.

His Charged Attack allows Zhongli to teleport a short distance as his spear strikes from above. You can dodge some attacks at the cost of stamina by doing this.

His Plunging Attack deals AoE DMG upon impact. All three receive a boost from his second Passive Talent that scales off of Zhongli’s maximum HP.

Dominus Lapidis – Elemental Skill

Zhongli’s Elemental Skill creates a Stone Stele – yes, his funky pillar has a name. If you hold his Skill, Zhongli will create a Stone Stele if the maximum number hasn’t been reached yet. This translates to either one or two Steles, and the second only appears if you activate Zhongli’s C1. Additionally, Zhongli generates a Jade Shield, deals AoE Geo DMG, and when possible, drains Geo from up to 2 enemies. The last effect primarily impacts enemies with some sort of Geo shield, such as large Geo Slimes. But it can also be used for really quick mining.

When on the field, the Stone Stele continually deals AoE Geo DMG, which can resonate with other Geo constructs. This is why Geo Traveler and Zhongli work so well together, because Stone Stele resonates with Traveler’s meteors, so you can just cover the ground in Geo. Steles can be climbed and used for blocking attacks, like the Electro waves the Electro Hypostasis likes using.

Finally, the Jade Shield is also affected by this Talent. It provides 150% DMG Absorption against all Elemental and Physical DMG – so if you hate damage, you’ll be covered for a while. Anyone protected by the Jade Shield will also decrease the Elemental RES and Physical RES of enemies in a small AoE by 20%.

Planet Befall – Elemental Burst

Zhongli summons a giant meteor out of nowhere, dealing Geo DMG to opponents in its AoE and inflicting the Petrification status to them. During Petrification, opponents cannot move for a short amount of time. Unfortunately, most bosses are not affected by Petrification, but Planet Befall can do some serious damage. If you like big numbers, you can get big numbers.

Passive Talents

Resonant Waves – 1st Ascension

This Talent directly affects the Jade Shield. When the Jade Shield takes damage, it will Fortify. The Jade Shield’s Fortify provides a 5% bonus to Shield Strength. This bonus can stack up to 5 times and lasts until the Jade Shield disappears. It’s simultaneously very helpful and very useless. Usually, the battle ends or the Jade Shield disappears before you really notice a difference.

Dominance of Earth – 4th Ascension

Upon activating the 4th Ascension, Zhongli deals bonus damage based on his Max HP. This is the Talent most players build around and also why, if you try hard enough, you can successfully build Zhongli as a Main DPS. The Talent affects all of Zhongli’s attacks.

Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attack DMG increases by 1.39% of Zhongli’s HP. Dominus Lapidis’ Stone Stele, resonance, and hold DMG – when you make Zhongli T-pose and generate the Jade Shield – increases by 1.9% of Zhongli’s Max HP. Finally, Planet Befall’s DMG increases by 33% of Zhongli’s Max HP.

Arcanum of Crystal – Utility Passive

Utility Passives activate immediately, meaning they’re readily available as soon as you get the character. When Zhongli forges Polearm weapons, he will refund 15% of the ores used. When paired with the Raiden Shogun, you can save on both ore and Mora when forging Polearms. It’s helpful if you find yourself running low on ores for Weapon Enhancements.

Combat Talent Materials

Remember, each Combat Talent can go up to Level 10. To triple crown a character, multiply all materials by three.