Epitome Invocation – February 23, 2021

I’ll get straight to it!

Weapons

Staff of Homa

3 Main reasons why it’s so good:

1. Extremely high CRIT DMG scaling – Pretty self explanatory, but for characters who have innately CRIT% this is must get. Allows a flexible Circlet main stat choice as well, between CRIT% or simply ATK% if you already have good CRIT DMG substats
2. Boasts an extremely high base ATK – While it’s not as high as Jade-Winged Spear (which sits at 674 base ATK at level 90), it’s still an extremely strong boost as it is a 5-star weapon. Base ATK is one of the few stats that can raise your total ATK, and rarely available, so having a naturally high scaling is extremely nice
3. Weapon skill is extremely overpowered – It makes you tankier by giving you 20% more HP, and then subsequently provides ATK bonus that is scaled off your Max HP. When you’re below half HP (50%), it also increases the ATK bonus by another 1% (so at R1, you can get 1.8% ATK bonus when you’re below half HP)

This weapon compliments every single polearm character. While you can argue likewise with the other 5-star Polearms, this weapon is just a giant stat check.

Characters that would benefit immensely from this are Zhongli and Hu Tao. Zhongli will have stronger shields, more damage to all his abilities and attacks, and overall become an even stronger burst DPS due to the innate amount of ATK bonuses (and CRIT DMG) that Staff of Homa provides.

On the other hand, Hu Tao, who is expected to be a berserker-type character that bleeds HP for damage, will most likely get the most bang for your buck out of this weapon.

Of course, Xiao (who boasts innate CRIT%) and Xiangling will also do great with the weapon regardless as well!

Lithic Blade and Lithic Spear

2 Main reasons why it’s so good:

1. Insanely high ATK% as a scaling stat – Let’s compare it to Prototype Archaic, which is a staple claymore choice. While it does boast a higher base ATK of 565 compared to Lithic Blade’s 510 at level 90, Archaic only has a 27.6% ATK% bonus compared to Lithic Blade’s whopping 41.3% at level 90. Lithic Spear also provides an insanely good ATK% choice for polearm users, which is much more preferred for burst DPS polearm characters who don’t require much energy
2. Weapon skill is limited, but insanely strong – At R1, both weapons provide a 7% ATK bonus and 3% CRIT% bonus to the wielder, THAT CAN STACK UP TO 4 TIMES. This means at max stacks, that’s a free 21% ATK bonus and 12% CRIT% bonus! This effectively makes the Royal series a joke, as these weapons are practically free buffs for DPS, burst DPS, and supports everywhere

The only downside is that the weapon skills are limited to Liyue characters only. Meaning only the characters below can really use the weapons, and the rest won’t benefit:

• Beidou
• Chongyun
• Xiangling
• Xiao
• Xinyan
• Zhongli

But 2Board, what if I have horrible luck and get other rolls?

That’s totally fine. The weapon banners are a bit more bait, as even if you hit the pity it’s a gamble between the two 5-star pity weapons. However, in this case it’s not so bad, since the alternative 5-star pity if Wolf’s Gravestone – a super solid 5-star Claymore that works on everyone + great for buffing the rest of your team as well

Even among the 4-star variants, the rate-ups are extremely good! Sacrificial Bow is a great weapon for characters who have high energy costs, or extremely long CD’s on their skills (Diona, Fischl, and Childe all benefit greatly from it). The Widsith is a great weapon for burst DPS or nuke DPS characters, and Lion’s Roar is also amazing for Electro DPS Keqing and Bennett DPS as well, so it’s not all too bad!

Hope everyone gets the weapons they want, and get lucked out! Bye.