Hu Tao is the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor whose job is to carry out people's last rites and play a prank or two to victims who don't know better. She has a longstanding rivalry with the zombie Qiqi—as Hu Tao believed, for a long time, that the former should be laid to rest. In battle, Hu Tao is a five-star Pyro polearm user who can dish out major DPS, though it takes some skill to master her moves.
Gameplay
Hu Tao's Elemental Skill puts her in the Paramita Papilio state, which drains a percentage of her HP and infuses Pyro into all of her Attacks. While in this state, her Attack is increased based on her max HP, making her one of the few characters in the game who scales off of this stat.
Enemies may also be inflicted with a Blood Blossom, which deals Pyro Damage every four seconds. Meanwhile, Hu Tao's Elemental Burst heals her HP by a percentage and deals AoE Pyro Damage.
Charged Attack and Stamina Consumption
It's important to know that Hu Tao relies on her Elemental Skill to deal Damage. While the Skill is turned on, you should optimally spam her Charged Attack, as its output is significantly higher than her Normal Attack.
Hu Tao's Charged Attack forces her to dash, which includes a lengthy stop animation. This means that you need to learn how to animation cancel to use Hu Tao efficiently. Moreover, her Charged Attack consumes a ton of Stamina, so she can be difficult to play without unlocking her first Constellation, which removes the Stamina required to cast Charged Attacks.
Weapon
As Hu Tao scales off HP, she needs a ton of this stat to increase her Elemental Skill Attack bonus by as much as possible. As a result, the Staff of Homa, which provides an HP percent increase and increases the wielder's Attack by a percentage of their HP, is her best-in-slot weapon.
Four-star alternatives include the Deathmatch and Dragon's Bane, with the latter being a better choice if you slot Hu Tao into a Vaporize team. Keep in mind that the Staff of Homa is miles better than these alternatives, so consider pulling for her five-star weapon when it's on rotation.
Related: Best Childe / Tartaglia build in Genshin Impact – Weapons, Artifacts, and more!
Artifacts
Hu Tao can have a multitude of Artifact combinations, with the most consistent being two-piece Tenacity of the Millelith (HP +20 percent) and two-piece Crimson Witch of Flames (Pyro Damage Bonus +15 percent).
For Artifact substats, use a Pyro Goblet and consider HP Sands. Her Circlet should be Crit Rate or Damage—whichever you're lacking. If you're building Hu Tao for a Vaporize comp, Elemental Mastery can be a valuable substat to roll for as well.
Best Team for Hu Tao
Hu Tao plays the role of the Main DPS and requires her HP to be under 50% at all times to dish out the best possible Damage. As a result, you want to avoid pairing her with consistent healers like Kokomi or Qiqi, unless you're fine with taking the Damage cut.
Hu Tao is best paired with a shield Support like Zhongli, Diona, or Thoma, a Hydro applicator to trigger Vaporize, such as Xingqiu, and an Anemo character to Swirl Pyro, such as Kaedehara Kazuha. But of course, there are plenty of other characters that could potentially pair well with Hu Tao, depending on what Reactions you're aiming to trigger.
Check out our guide on Best Zhongli build in Genshin Impact – Weapons, Artifacts, and more! to help build the perfect teammate for Hu Tao.
Published: Jan 10, 2022 07:56 am