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These are the best builds for Hu Tao, everyone’s favourite and creepy five-star Pyro DPS in Genshin Impact. Hu Tao uses a polearm and she is your main DPS in any team you put her in, and her damage is mighty impressive.
Genshin 4.1 has been released and Hu Tao is currently having another re-run on the banner. If you pull her, you should follow this guide for the best builds for Hu Tao. If you want more Genshin, we have a guide for the best builds for Neuvillette and a page dedicated to Genshin Impact codes you can redeem.
Hu Tao best Artifact Sets
The best artifact set for Hu Tao is the four-piece Crimson Witch of Flames. This set will enhance Hu Tao’s natural Pyro DPS and give her a huge boost to Pyro damage thanks to both of the passive effects from the set bonus. You could also use a four-piece Shimenawa’s Resistance to directly improve Hu Tao’s Normal and Charged attacks, but for the most part, the best builds for Hu Tao utilise the Crimson Witch of Flames. Hu Tao’s main Skill damage scales off her HP stat, which means Hu Tao is best built as a Pyro DPS with a focus on HP.
| Artifact Set | Set Bonus | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Marechausses Crimson Witch of Flames x4 | Two-piece bonus: Pyro DMG Bonus +15%. Four-piece bonus: Increases Overloaded, Burning, and Burgeon DMG by 40%. Increases Vaporize and Melt DMG by 15%. Using an Elemental Skill increases 2-Piece Set effects by 50% for 10s. Max 3 stacks. | Crimson Witch of Flames is the best Artifact set for Hu Tao. When using Hu Tao in a Vaporise or Melt team, you will benefit from the increased reaction damage. It is also the best overall for Hu Tao as a Pyro DPS. |
| Shimenawa’s Resistance x4 | Two-piece bonus: ATK +18%. Four-piece bonus: When casting an Elemental Skill, if the character has 15 or more Energy, they lose 15 Energy and Normal/Charge/Plunging Attack DMG is increased by 50% for 10s. This effect will not trigger again during that duration. | Shimenawa’s Resistance is a decent alternative to the Crimson Witch set, but it is not her best-in-slot. While it isn’t bad, you want to focus more on Hu Tao’s Pryo DMG in conjunction with her Skill and Normal Attacks. |
For Hu Tao’s artifact stats, she needs an HP% Sands, a Pyrdo DMG Goblet, and a Crit Rate or DMG Circlet. This will result in the best build for Hu Tao as a Pyro main DPS, and she will benefit more from an HP% Sands than ATK every time. When it comes to substats, focus on Artifacts that have Crit Rate/DMG, HP%, and ATK. Use this table below for information on Artifact stats for the best builds for Hu Tao in Genshin.
| Artifact Piece | Main Stat | Sub Stats |
|---|---|---|
| Sands | HP% | HP > Crit > ATK |
| Goblet | Pyro DMG Bonus | HP% > Crit > ATK |
| Circlet | Crit Rate/DMG | HP% > Crit > ATK |
Hu Tao – ATK% vs. HP% Sands
The damage difference between using an ATK% Sands vs. an HP% Sands is significant. Hu Tao will nearly always benefit from having an HP% Sands to increase her Skill DMG over anything else, which is her main source of DPS due to how her HP stat scales the damage of her Elemental Skill.
Hu Tao best weapons
The best weapon for Hu Tao is the Staff of Homa, her signature five-star weapon. Since these limited five-star banner weapons are notoriously difficult to pull reliably, we don’t recommend spending resources on pulling on this weapon, despite how useful this weapon is to Hu Tao. There are plenty of four-star alternatives that are amazing choices for Hu Tao.
The Deathmatch polearm is the best four-star weapon for Hu Tao. Deathmatch provides her Crit Rate and a significant boost to ATK%, which will help Hu Tao deal damage outside of her Elemental Skill. However, this weapon is exclusively from buying the battle pass. If you don’t want to do that, giving Hu Tao the Dragon’s Bane polearm or the three-star White Tassel polearms are perfect alternatives for Hu Tao. Check out the table below for more of the best weapons for Hu Tao:
| Weapon | Rarity | Stat | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff of Homa | 5-Star | Crit DMG | HP increased by 20%. Additionally, 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 an additional 1% of Max HP. |
| Deathmatch | 4-Star | Crit Rate | If there are at least 2 enemies nearby, ATK and DEF are increased by 16%. If there are less than 2 enemies nearby, ATK is increased by 24%. |
| Dragon’s Bane | 4-Star | Elemental Mastery | Increases DMG against enemies affected by Hydro or Pyro by 20%. |
| White Tassel | 3-Star | Crit Rate | Increases Normal Attack DMG by 24%. |
Any of these weapons will help you achieve the best build for Hu Tao in Genshin. Of course, her signature weapon will always be superior to any of these alternatives because it boosts Hu Tao’s HP, but it is not required to allow Hu Tao to be built as an incredibly strong Pyro DPS.
Hu Tao Talent Priority
Hu Tao deals most of her damage by using her Elemental Skill which infuses her weapon with Pyro damage and greatly increases how much she does per hit. due to this, you want to focus on levelling Hu Tao’s Skill and Normal/Charged attack Talents at the same time. Hu Tao’s Ultimate should only be levelled once you’ve done the other two since it will help manage Hu Tao’s HP with self-healing.
Hu Tao Constellations
Hu Tao’s Constellations aren’t too helpful in making her do more damage. Her best Constellation is C1, which causes her Charged Attacks to cost zero stamina while her Skill is active. Otherwise, nothing on there is worth pulling for several times. We don’t recommend pulling for multiple constellations on the featured banner characters simply because it costs so many resources.
| Constellation | Effect |
|---|---|
| Crimson Bouquet (C1) | While in a Paramita Papilio state activated by Guide to Afterlife, Hu Tao’s Charge Attacks do not consume Stamina. |
| Ominous Rainfall (C2) | Increases the Blood Blossom DMG by an amount equal to 10% of Hu Tao’s Max HP at the time the effect is applied. Additionally, Spirit Soother will also apply the Blood Blossom effect. |
| Lingering Carmine (C3) | Increases the Level of Guide to Afterlife by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| Garden of Eternal Rest (C4) | Upon defeating an enemy affected by a Blood Blossom that Hu Tao applied herself, all nearby allies (excluding Hu Tao herself) will have their CRIT Rate increased by 12% for 15s. |
| Floral Incense (C5) | Increases the Level of Spirit Soother by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| Butterfly’s Embrace (C6) | Triggers when Hu Tao’s HP drops below 25%, or when she suffers a lethal strike: Hu Tao will not fall as a result of the DMG sustained. Additionally, for the next 10s, all of her Elemental and Physical Res is increased by 200%, her CRIT Rate is increased by 100%, and her resistance to interruption is greatly increased. This effect triggers automatically when Hu Tao has 1 HP left. Can only occur every 60s. |
That’s everything you need to know about the best builds for Hu Tao in Genshin Impact. If you want more guides, check out our best builds for Lynette and our best builds for Zhongli to learn more.
