Genshin Impact – best weapons for Zhongli, chosen by us

Zhongli is the Geo archon of Liyue and is universally considered one of the best Support characters you can have on your team. Zhongli provides the strongest shield in Genshin Impact, while also being a strong sub-DPS. The best weapons for Zhongli enhance this playstyle, and you should focus on HP more than anything.

Zhongli is a polearm user who specializes in the Geo element and provides his team with powerful shields and can shred enemy resistance, all of which scale with his maximum HP. This makes him an ideal character to build as a shield support character. 

Elsewhere in Genshin, we have guides covering the best weapons for Jean and the best weapons for Nahida. Now, these are our picks for the best weapons for Zhongli in Genshin Impact.

Wavebreaker’s Fin

• Lvl 90 Base ATK: Attack +620
• Lvl 90 Bonus Stat: ATK +13.8%
• For every point of the entire party’s combined maximum Energy capacity, the Elemental Burst DMG of the character equipping this weapon is increased by 0.12%. A maximum of 40% increased Elemental Burst DMG can be achieved this way.

Zhongli can dish out damage as well as he can shield, and if you want a balance between the two you should focus on a more DPS-oreintated build for Zhongli, which is where the Wavebreaker’s Fin comes in. As a general rule of thumb for Zhongli, if he gets ATK% or DPS from his weapon, you should focus entirely on HP stats on his artifacts to make his shields the best they can be.

The benefit of this is that he can still hurt enemies with his Burst and Skill, and his shield will be extremely tanky all the while. The weapon skill scales off energy capacity and provides a sizeable buff to your Elemental Burst damage. For a Burst-focused Zhongli, this weapon will help you crush small foes with ease.

Favonius Lance

•  Lvl. 90 Base ATK +565
•  Lvl. 90 Bonus Stat Energy Recharge +30.6%
• Passive effect: CRIT Hits have a 60% chance to generate a small amount of Elemental Particles, which will regenerate 6 Energy for the character. Can only occur once every 12s.

While Zhongli rarely wants for Energy Recharge, you can give him the Favonius Lance to help him provide mode particals for your team. Zhongli is notoriously bad at generating Energy Particals, and this weapon helps cover this pain. With that said, the Fav Lance shouldn’t be your first port of call, and we would only reocmmend this weapon if you have nothing else to give him. Due to his low Burst cost, Zhongli will never struggle to use his Burst, and this will ensure he has almost if not entirely 100% uptime on his burst.

Skyward Spine

•  Lvl. 90 Base ATK +674
•  Lvl. 90 Bonus Stat Energy Recharge +36.8% 
• Passive effect: Increases CRIT Rate by 16% and increases Normal ATK SPD by 12%. Additionally, Normal and Charged Attack hits on enemies have a 50% chance to trigger a vacuum blade that deals 100% of ATK as DMG in a small AoE. This effect can occur no more than once every 2s.

Even though the ER on this weapon is overkill, it does come with a decent attack speed boost and an increase to Crit Rate. Both of these things will help Zhongli perform better as a DPS, but there are other characters who can use this weapon better, such as Raiden Shogun.

The energy recharge sub-stat will allow you to quickly stack up energy and cycle in his powerful Elemental Burst. While you generally want to avoid using Zhongli’s normal attack, you won’t benefit from the speed buff it provides if you skip on it. It’s up to you, but we don’t think it’s worth it for Zhongli.

Vortex Vanquisher

• Lvl. 90 Base ATK +608
• Lvl. 90 Bonus Stat ATK% +49.6
• Passive effect: Increases Shield Strength by 20%. Scoring hits on opponents increases ATK by 4% for 8s. Max 5 stacks. Can only occur once every 0.3s. While protected by a shield, this ATK increase effect is increased by 100%.

The Vortex Vanquisher is Zhongli’s signature weapon, but it isn’t his best by any means. While it does include a passive that helps improve his shield strenght, it fails to provide him with any more HP. Since this is Zhongli’s most crucial stat – which, by the way, can increase his damage alongside his shields – it falls short compared to other options.

Black Tassel

• Lvl. 90 Base ATK: Attack +354 
• Lvl. 90 Bonus Stat: HP +46.9%
• Passive effect: Increases DMG against slimes by 20%.

Generally speaking, the Black Tassle is Zhongli’s best weapon nine times out of ten. It is a three-star polearm, but it gives a huge bonus to HP at level 90, which is incredibly good for Zhongli if you just want his shields and Burst. Typically, this is the best way to build Zhongli because his shields are the best in the game and ignoring them would be foolish. The black tassel is a straightforward weapon to obtain and you will easily have it at R5. The passive effect is pointless, the only thing you want this weapon for is its HP stat.

✓ jack’s opinion

Black Tassel… really?

Really! This three-star weapon is so easy to get and it is the only one that specifically offers HP% as its substat. Staff of Homa is better, but who has these just lying around to give to Zhongli?

Staff of Homa

• Lvl. 90 Base ATK +608
• Lvl. 90 Bonus Stat CRIT DMG +66.2%
• Passive effect: HP increased by 20%. Additionally, it provides an ATK Bonus based on 0.8% of the wielder’s Max HP. When the wielder’s HP is less than 50%, this ATK Bonus is increased by 1% of Max HP.

The Staff Of Homa is the best weapon for Zhongli by far. It is a five-star polearm that you can only get from its feautred weapon banner, and it only runs alongside Hu Tao as it is her singature weapon. This is one of the best weapons for Zhongli to build due to its powerful Passive Effect that boosts HP by 20%.

This 20% HP increase is ideal for Zhongli, since both his shield strenght and overall damage are buffed by this stat. It also has one of the highest flat Attack values paired with the HP% scaling attack bonus. It is a perfect offensive and defensive tool for Zhongli, who receives the best of both worlds as a Support and sub-DPS.

That’s all the best weapons for Zhongli in Genshin Impact. We highly recommend using one of these weapons on him, regardless of how you build him. We have a clear preference for the Black Tassel because it enhances his shields, and the difference in damage isn’t important due to Zhongli’s playstyle.

For more Genhsin Impact, we have guides covering the best DPS characters in the game and the best weapons for Kazuha.

Best weapon for Zhongli FAQs

Is The Catch good for Zhongli?

No. We don’t recommend using The Catch on Zhongli since it focuses too much on ER that is better used on other characters, such as Raiden or Xiangling.

Is Jade Winged Spear good for Zhongli?

No. The Primordial Jade-Winged Spear is far too damage orientated for Zhongli and it ignores a huge part of his kit. You could run it on him if you want pure DPS, but it is not a good weapon for him.