July 23, 2022

Categories: Tips

Best Zhongli Genshin Impact build: Artifacts, weapons, more

Table of Contents

Zhongli is more than just a five-star Geo character in Genshin Impact, he is the Geo Archon himself. The unassuming Liyue know-it-all is one of the strongest characters thanks to his massive shields. Here’s the best Zhongli build in Genshin Impact, with his top artifacts, weapons, and more.

Zhongli is a fan-favorite character in Genshin Impact ⁠— and it’s for more than just his good look or his status in Liyue. He is an incredibly powerful Geo Polearm that can boost your allies with big shields and buffs (with the right artifacts), all while being no slouch himself damage-wise.

We’ve got the best Zhongli build in Genshin Impact here, including the artifacts and weapons you need to make the most out of him.

Zhongli is a powerful Geo ally useful in every Genshin Impact team comp.

Zhongli abilities in Genshin Impact

Normal Attack: Rain of Stone

Normal Attack: Performs up to 6 consecutive spear strikes.
Charged Attack: Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to lunge forward, causing stone spears to fall along his path.
Plunging Attack: Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact.

Elemental Skill: Dominus Lapidis

Zhongli’s Elemental Skill, Dominus Lapidis works in two ways. If you press it down, it will create a Stone Stele. However, hold down your skill button, and you’ll explode Geo energy around your pillars, dealing AOE damage and shielding allies. It will also drain nearby Geo enemies of their armor.

The shield also acts as an offensive tool, reducing enemy resistances in a small AOE around them. The Stone Stele can also be climbed, and will resonate intermittently to deal Geo DMG in an area.

Elemental Burst: Planet Befall

Zhongli brings a falling meteor down to earth, dealing massive Geo DMG to opponents caught in its AoE and applying the Petrification status to them. Aside from it being the most epic looking ability in the game, it’s great for holding enemies in place before swapping to an ally to do massive damage.

With enough constellations, it will also generate a shield for allies akin to Dominus Lapidis.

Zhongli is the ultimate shield character in Genshin Impact.

Zhongli constellations

Lucky enough to find multiple copies of Zhongli? He has some great constellations you can take advantage of:

Level 1 ⁠— Rock, the Backbone of Earth: Increases the maximum number of Stone Steles created by Dominus Lapidis that may exist simultaneously to 2.
Level 2 ⁠— Stone, the Cradle of Jade: Planet Befall grants nearby characters on the field a Jade Shield when it descends.
Level 3 ⁠— Jade, Shimmering through Darkness: Increases the Level of Dominus Lapidis by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15.
Level 4 ⁠— Topaz, Unbreakable and Fearless: Increases Planet Befall’s AoE by 20% and increases the duration of Planet Befall’s Petrification effect by 2s.
Level 5⁠ — Lazuli, Herald of the Order: Increases the Level of Planet Befall by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15.
Level 6 ⁠— Chrysos, Bounty of Dominator: When the Jade Shield takes DMG, 40% of that incoming DMG is converted to HP for the current character. A single instance of regeneration cannot exceed 8% of that character’s Max HP.

Best Zhongli artifacts in Genshin Impact

Because Zhongli doesn’t rely on Geo DMG (or being on field) as much as a DPS, taking a full artifact set of Archaic Petra isn’t necessarily required. In fact, it’s better to invest in Noblesse Oblige, given how much of Zhongli’s kit revolves around his big-hitting Elemental Burst. Tenacity of the Millelith is a top option too, boosting his shield strength after dropping his pillar.

Of course, a four-set of Archaic Petra isn’t bad ⁠— the Crystallize buff is nice ⁠— but it can be more effective to run a 2-2 split with Noblesse Oblige.

Artifact	Details
Archaic Petra	2-Piece Set: Gain a 15% Geo DMG Bonus. 4-Piece Set: Upon obtaining an Elemental Shard Created through a Crystallize Reaction, all party members gain a 35% DMG Bonus for that particular element for 10s. Only one form of Elemental DMG Bonus can be gained in this manner at any one time.
Noblesse Oblige	2-Piece Set: Elemental Burst DMG +20%. 4-Piece Set: Using an Elemental Burst increases all party members’ ATK by 20% for 12s. This effect cannot stack.
Tenacity of the Millelith	2-Piece Set: HP +20% 4-Piece Set: When an Elemental Skill hits an opponent, the ATK of all nearby party members is increased by 20% and their Shield Strength is increased by 30% for 3s. This effect can be triggered once every 0.5s. This effect can still be triggered even when the character who is using this artifact set is not on the field.

Best Zhongli weapons in Genshin Impact

Zhongli has an arsenal of polearm weapons he can make use of in Genshin Impact, At the top of the class, Staff of Homa stands out on Zhongli because of the HP increase while also giving him an ATK bonus based on that.

Primordial Jade Winged-Spear is also a great option, although does prompt Zhongli to get more field time compared to something like Prototype Starglitter due to the stacking ATK bonus (the latter is a great option if you lack Energy Recharge).

Pick one of the best Zhongli weapons listed below, and you’ll have a great time:

Zhongli Talent Level-Up and Ascension materials

While Zhongli hails from Liyue, most of his Talent Level-Up and Ascension materials can be found all around Teyvat.

Basalt Pillars are farmed from Geo Hypostases in Guyun Stone Forest (so too are the Prithiva Topaz ores) while the Slime materials can be farmed in almost every location on the map. The Cor Lapis local specialty will be dotted around Liyue’s western mountains and caves, especially near Mt. Hulao.

Here’s how much of these materials you need to farm to max out your Zhongli in Genshin Impact:

Zhongli Talent Level-Up materials

Talent Level-Up Materials
Talent Level-Up Materials	Teachings of Gold x9	Guide to Gold x63	Philosophies of Gold x114
Common Ascension Materials	Slime Condensate x18	Slime Secretions x66	Slime Concentrate x93
Weekly Boss Materials	Tusk of Monoceros Caeli x18

Zhongli Ascension materials

Ascension Level	Mora Cost	Materials
1	20,000	Prithiva Topaz Sliver x1	–	Cor Lapis x3	Slime Condensate x3
2	40,000	Prithiva Topaz Fragment x3	Basalt Pillar x2	Cor Lapis x10	Slime Condensate x15
3	60,000	Prithiva Topaz Fragment x6	Basalt Pillar x4	Cor Lapis x20	Slime Secretions x12
4	80,000	Prithiva Topaz Chunk x3	Basalt Pillar x8	Cor Lapis x30	Slime Secretions x18
5	100,000	Prithiva Topaz Chunk x6	Basalt Pillar x12	Cor Lapis x45	Slime Concentrate x12
6	120,000	Prithiva Topaz Gemstone x6	Basalt Pillar x20	Cor Lapis x60	Slime Concentrate x24

Zhongli trailer in Genshin Impact

Zhongli’s Geshin Impact trailer, named Dominance of Earth, diving into his backstory not only as a consultant at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, but also during his time as the Geo Archon.

It also goes into some of his combos, dealing how well he pairs up with other Geo allies and just how much damage his shields can soak up (spoiler: it’s a lot).

Best Zhongli team comp

Ningguang and Zhongli play off each other nicely with their Geo structures.

Zhongli best works as a Sub DPS rather than a Main DPS, mostly because of how effective his shields are at protecting allies while he’s off the field. You can drop your skills, then have your harder hitting allies finish off the work.

However, before you get a high DPS character in, you need to build out Geo Resonance because of how Zhongli’s skills work. Albedo and Ningguang work best for this, but literally any Geo ally ⁠— including the Traveler ⁠— that can help his pillar resonate more damage is great.

Then, any allies that can deal massive amounts of damage in quick succession around Zhongli’s petrification are a great fit. Childe (Tartaglia) and Hu Tao fit the bill here nicely. Throw in a support in there like Xingqiu or Bennett for some extra healing, and you’ve got yourself a very well-rounded team comp.

Zhongli can slot into pretty much any team comp in Genshin Impact to great success, but shines when you build a roster around him.

If you’re looking for more great Genshin Impact builds to round out your team, check out our list below:

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