If you thought Ganyu was broken, Hu Tao truly said, “Hold my beer.”
Though another Hu Tao banner will probably occur sooner, many longtime players are a bit nervous to miss out on Hu Tao again. She went almost a year before returning to the limited wishes!
Genshin Impact: Hu Tao Constellation Guide | Genshin Impact: Hu Tao Talent Guide | Genshin Impact: How to Ascend Hu Tao
So if you manage to pull her before the end of the second Genshin Impact Version 3.4 limited banners, you’ll want to add her to your team as fast as possible. Good luck to anyone pulling for Yelan as well, because these two work very well together for a Vaporize team.
Best Position – Main DPS
Hu Tao deals some massive single target DMG through a combination of her Elemental Skill and Normal Attacks. Because her Skill converts all Normal Attack DMG to Pyro DMG, Hu Tao works best for Vaporize and Melt teams.
Best Weapons
Hu Tao’s damage scales off of her Max HP. Since she primarily relies on her Normal Attack and Elemental Skill for damage, a Weapon with Energy Recharge or Elemental Burst buffs wouldn’t be best for her. If you focus your efforts on building a Pyro reaction team, then anything contributing to Hu Tao’s Elemental Mastery will be useful.
We’re looking for Weapons that boost Hu Tao’s attack – either directly or by increasing her Max HP – or contribute to her Elemental DMG.
5-Star – Staff of Homa
This is Hu Tao’s signature weapon and it is definitely the best for her. Staff of Homa increases the wielder’s CRIT DMG by a percentage. Its Weapon Skill increases HP by 20% and provides an ATK Bonus based on 0.8% of the wielder’s Max HP. When the wielder’s HP is less than 50%, the ATK Bonus increases by an additional percentage of the character’s Max HP.
Already, the Staff of Homa functions like Hu Tao’s Elemental Skill. You’ll most likely be increasing Hu Tao’s Max HP anyways, so the Staff of Homa will also benefit from that.
The Staff of the Scarlet Sands is a good replacement due to its Elemental Mastery buff. This works out surprisingly well, since Cyno will be on the limited banner next. Since the Staff of the Scarlet Sands is Cyno’s signature weapon, it’ll be on the Weapon Banner next.
4-Star – Dragon’s Bane
Catering to Hu Tao’s Elemental Reactions, the Dragon’s Bane increases the wielder’s Elemental Mastery. Its Weapon Skill increases DMG against enemies affected by Hydro or Pyro by a percentage. This is best for a Vaporize team, though it’ll also work well for a Melt team. You just have a higher chance of getting a consistent DMG buff with both Pyro and Hydro in play.
For a true free-to-play option, go with either the Moonpiercer or the Prototype Starglitter. Only use the Moonpiercer if your team has a Dendro character and you trigger Burning a lot. Otherwise, you’ll see better results from the Prototype Starglitter.
3-Star – White Tassel
Out of the three available 3-Star Polearms, the White Tassel is the best for Hu Tao. It increases the wielder’s CRIT Rate and Normal Attack DMG by a percentage, which feeds into Hu Tao’s already massive damage. Plus, she relies on her Normal Attacks to deal the most damage, so the White Tassel’s Weapon Skill contributes the most to Hu Tao’s strengths.
Best Artifacts
You absolutely want the Crimson Witch of Flames for Hu Tao. Unfortunately, Lavawalker isn’t great for a lot of characters, so farm that Domain with a grain of salt. You may get lucky with the rerolling through the Artifact Strongboxes at the Crafting Tables.
For Main Stats, focus on getting HP% for Sands, Pyro DMG Bonus for Goblet, and one of the CRIT stats for Circlet.
For Substats, you want CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, HP%, and Elemental Mastery. Depending on Hu Tao’s performance and HP loss, you can throw some Energy Recharge in for her Elemental Burst.
4PC Crimson Witch of Flames
This is one of the most frustrating Artifact sets to farm, but you do it as a labor of love for your Pyro characters. At 2 pieces, Crimson increases the wielder’s Pyro DMG by 15%.
At 4 pieces, it increases Overloaded, Burning, and Burgeon DMG by 40%. Vaporize and Melt DMG increases by 15%. Using an Elemental Skill increases the 2 piece effect by 50% for 10 seconds – so your character gains a 10-second 65% Pyro DMG Bonus. This effect can stack up to 3 times, allowing for a 165% Pyro DMG Bonus if you can use an Elemental Skill three times within 10 seconds.
4PC Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
If you like efficiency, it’s worth farming for Shimenawa. You can find it in the Momiji-Dyed Court Domain, which also grants pieces of the Emblem of Severed Fate set. Many Sub-DPS characters use Emblem, including Yelan, which makes farming worth your time.
At 2 pieces, Shimenawa increases the wielder ATK by 18%. At 4 pieces, when the wielder uses an Elemental Skill and has 15 or more Energy, they lose 15 Energy. As a result, their Normal Attack DMG increases by 50% for 10 seconds. This effect will not trigger again during that 10 seconds.
Since Hu Tao relies on both her Elemental Skill and Normal Attack Talents for damage, this plays into her strengths. However, this is the set where you may want some Energy Recharge to make up for the Energy loss. And if you struggle keeping Hu Tao alive during her Skill, either don’t use this set, add a Healer Support to your team, or increase Hu Tao’s Energy Recharge so you can use her Burst for healing.
2PC Tenacity of the Millelith + 2PC Crimson Witch of Flames
This combination increases Hu Tao’s HP by 20% and Pyro DMG by 15%. If you notice that you’re relying on Elemental Reaction DMG, then you can also try out 2 pieces of Wanderer’s Troupe.
Best Teams
Overall, Vaporize teams allow Hu Tao to do the most damage. Genshin Impact seems to know that as well, which is probably why Xingqiu is one of the featured 4-Star characters on the limited banner. He is an essential Sub-DPS for Hu Tao.
Other than that, you’re free to play around with other characters. Vaporize teams work best, though you should always feel free to experiment. Once you have a decent understanding of your characters, it gets easier to build teams. For Hu Tao, it may be good to have either a Healer or Shield Support to combat the HP loss from her Elemental Skill.
| Hu Tao | Xingqiu | Albedo | Zhongli |
| Hu Tao | Xingqiu | Yelan | Zhongli |
| Hu Tao | Xingqiu | Sucrose | Thoma |
| Hu Tao | Xingqiu | Barbara | Noelle |