Hu Tao is the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, a person vital to managing Liyue’s funerary affairs. She does her utmost to flawlessly carry out a person’s last rites and preserve the world’s balance of yin and yang.
Aside from this, she is also a talented poet whose many “masterpieces” have passed around Liyue’s populace by word of mouth.
This guide is based on the Community Character Builds by the Genshin Helper Team.
Table of Contents
Skills Overview
Normal Attack: Secret Spear of Wangsheng
Normal Attack
Performs up to 6 consecutive spear strikes.
Charged Attack
Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to lunge forward, dealing damage to opponents along the way.
Plunging Attack
Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact.
Elemental Skill: Guide to Afterlife
Hu Tao consumes a set portion of her HP to knock the surrounding enemies back and enter the Paramita Papilio state.
Paramita Papilio
- Increases Hu Tao’s ATK based on her Max HP at the time of entering this state. ATK Bonus gained this way cannot exceed 400% of Hu Tao’s Base ATK.
- Converts attack DMG to Pyro DMG, which cannot be overridden by any other elemental infusion.
- Charged Attacks apply the Blood Blossom effect to the enemies hit.
- Increases Hu Tao’s resistance to interruption.
Paramita Papilio ends when its duration is over, or Hu Tao has left the battlefield or fallen.
Duration: 9 seconds
Cooldown: 16 seconds
Blood Blossom
Enemies affected by Blood Blossom will take Pyro DMG every 4s. This DMG is considered Elemental Skill DMG.
Each enemy can be affected by only one Blood Blossom effect at a time, and its duration may only be refreshed by Hu Tao herself.
Blood Bossom Duration: 8 seconds
Elemental Burst: Spirit Soother
Commands a blazing spirit to attack, dealing Pyro DMG in a large AoE.
Upon striking the enemy, regenerates a percentage of Hu Tao’s Max HP. This effect can be triggered up to 5 times, based on the number of enemies hit.
If Hu Tao’s HP is below or equal to 50% when the enemy is hit, both the DMG and HP Regeneration are increased.
Cooldown: 15 seconds
Energy Cost: 60
Ascension 1: Flutter By
When a Paramita Papilio state activated by Guide to Afterlife ends, all allies in the party (excluding Hu Tao herself) will have their CRIT Rate increased by 12% for 8s.
Ascension 4: Sanguine Rouge
When Hu Tao’s HP is equal to or less than 50%, her Pyro DMG Bonus is increased by 33%.
Passive Talent: The More the Merrier
When Hu Tao cooks a dish perfectly, she has a 18% chance to receive an additional “Suspicious” dish of the same type.
Talent Priorities
Normal Attack > Skill > Burst
Hu Tao is most effective when used with Xingqiu to proc Vaporize/Freeze Melt reactions. Freeze Melt refers to freezing enemies for Melt setup, since unlike Diluc or Klee, Hu Tao doesn’t shatter frozen enemies.
When ending Hu Tao’s combos with an Elemental Burst, if you do not jump/dash cancel the last charged attack, the Elemental Burst will still benefit from Hu Tao’s Elemental Skill.
It is recommended to use cancels when performing your Hu Tao combos as to maximize damage.
N2CJ for [C0] and N2CD for [C1].
N3CJ/N3CD can be used to conserve stamina at the cost of damage.
*N = Normal Attack, C = Charged Attack, J = Jump, D = Dash
Constellations
Best Constellations: C1 & C6
C1: Crimson Bouquet (Awesome!)
While in a Paramita Papilio state activated by Guide to Afterlife, Hu Tao’s Charged Attacks do not consume Stamina.
C2: Ominous Rainfall
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.
C3: Lingering Carmine
Increases the Level of Guide to Afterlife by 3.
Maximum upgrade level is 15.
C4: Garden of Eternal Rest
Upon defeating an enemy affected by a Blood Blossom that Hu Tao applied herself, all nearby allies in the party (excluding Hu Tao herself) will have their CRIT Rate increased by 12% for 15s.
C5: Floral Incense
Increases the Level of Spirit Soother by 3.
Maximum upgrade level is 15.
C6: Butterfly’s Embrace (Fantastic!)
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 once every 60s.
Recommended Weapons
- Staff of Homa (5✩)
- Staff of the Scarlet Sands (5✩)
- Ballad of the Fjords (4✩)*
- Dragon’s Bane (4✩)
~= Deathmatch (4✩)* - Primordial Jade Winged-Spear (5✩)*
- Lithic Spear (4 Stacks) (4✩)*
- Missive Windspear (4✩)
- Blackcliff Pole (0 stack) (4✩)*
~= White Tassel (3✩)*
1) Staff of Homa (ATK: 608 • Crit DMG: 66.2%)
[Refinement 1] 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.
2) Staff of the Scarlet Sands (ATK: 542 • Crit Rate: 44.1%)
[Refinement 1] The equipping character gains 52% of their Elemental Mastery as bonus ATK. When an Elemental Skill hits opponents, the Dream of the Scarlet Sands effect will be gained for 10s: The equipping character will gain 28% of their Elemental Mastery as bonus ATK. Max 3 stacks.
3) Ballad of the Fjords (ATK: 510 • Crit Rate: 27.6%)
[Refinement 1] When there are at least 3 different Elemental Types in your party, Elemental Mastery will be increased by 120.
Note: Ballad of the Fjords (4 Stacks): At [R5], these weapons are better than Staff of the Scarlet Sands.
4) Dragon’s Bane (ATK: 454 • Elemental Mastery: 221)
[Refinement 5] Increases DMG against opponents affected by Hydro or Pyro by 36%.
5) Primordial Jade Winged-Spear (ATK: 674 • Crit Rate: 22.1%)
[Refinement 1] On hit, increases ATK by 3.2% for 6s. Max 7 stacks. This effect can only occur once every 0.3s. While in possession of the maximum possible stacks, DMG dealt is increased by 12%.
Note: Is better than the [R1] variants of Dragon’s Bane and Deathmatch with ideal stacking. While this is a very strong weapon when fully stacked, maintaining the stacks on Hu Tao isn’t ideal in realistic situations making the weapon less consistent than other options.
6) Lithic Spear (ATK: 565 • ATK: 27.6%)
[Refinement 1] For every character in the party who hails from Liyue, the character who equips this weapon gains 7% ATK increase and a 3% CRIT Rate increase. This effect stacks up to 4 times.
Note: Lithic Spear (4 Stacks): At [R5], these weapons are better than Staff of the Scarlet Sands.
7) Missive Windspear (ATK: 510 • Energy Recharge: 41.3%)
[Refinement 5] Within 10s after an Elemental Reaction is triggered, ATK is increased by 24% and Elemental Mastery is increased by 96.
8) Blackcliff Pole (ATK: 510 • Crit DMG: 55.1%)
[Refinement 1] After defeating an opponent, ATK is increased by 12% for 30s. This effect has a maximum of 3 stacks, and the duration of each stack is independent of the others.
Note: Despite seeming quite good due to the Crit DMG substat, Blackcliff Pole at 1 stack performs only slightly better than an [R5] White Tassel in practice as it is difficult to maintain stacks consistently. It is not recommended to buy this weapon specifically for Hu Tao and should only be used if you already have one.
Recommended Artifacts
- Crimson Witch of Flames (4)
- Shimenawa’s Reminiscence (4)*
- Gilded Dreams (4)*
- Crimson Witch of Flames (2) / +80 EM set (2) / +20% HP (2) [Choose Two]*
- Retracing Bolide (4)*
1) 4-Pc Crimson Witch of Flames
2-Piece Bonus: Pyro DMG Bonus +15%
4-Piece Bonus: Increases Overloaded and Burning, and Burgeon DMG by 40%. Increases Vaporize and Melt DMG by 15%. Using Elemental Skill increases the 2-Piece Set Bonus by 50% of its starting value for 10s. Max 3 stacks.
2) 4-Pc Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
2-Piece Bonus: ATK +18%
4-Piece Bonus: When casting an Elemental Skill, if the character has 15 or more Energy, they lose 15 Energy and Normal/Charged/Plunging Attack DMG is increased by 50% for 10s. This effect will not trigger again during that duration.
Note: Provides higher Normal and Charged Attack damage than Crimson Witch of Flames (4) but lowers your Elemental Burst damage which hurts your AoE damage, also if you’re unable to burst, it might cause survivability issues if you’re not running a healer.
3) 4-Pc Gilded Dreams
2-Piece Bonus: Increases Elemental Mastery by 80.
4-Piece Bonus: Within 8s of triggering an Elemental Reaction, the character equipping this will obtain buffs based on the Elemental Type of the other party members. ATK is increased by 14% for each party member whose Elemental Type is the same as the equipping character, and Elemental Mastery is increased by 50 for every party member with a different Elemental Type. Each of the aforementioned buffs will count up to 3 characters. This effect can be triggered once every 8s. The character who equips this can still trigger its effects when not on the field.
Note: At 3 EM stacks, this artifact set is equal to Crimson Witch of Flames (4) in teams where you are not getting EM from other sources (e.g team or weapon).
4) 2-Pc Crimson Witch of Flames / +80 EM set / +20% HP
2-Pc Crimson Witch of Flames: Pyro DMG Bonus +15%
2-Pc Gilded Dreams: Increases Elemental Mastery by 80
2-Pc Vourukasha’s Glow: HP +20%
5) 4-Pc Retracing Bolide
2-Piece Bonus: Increases Shield Strength by 35%.
4-Piece Bonus: While protected by a shield, gain an additional 40% Normal and Charged Attack DMG.
Note: Retracing Bolide (4) and Crimson Witch of Flames (2) / Tenacity of the Millelith (2) + 80 EM set (2): All these options are almost on equal footing because both of the sets have an equal overall damage output assuming you have 100% shield uptime when using Retracing Bolide (4).
The difference is, you want to use +80 EM set (2) / +20% HP (2) / Crimson’s Witch of Flame (2) when focusing on Nuking and better consistency, while Retracing Bolide (4) is for overall higher AA damage at the expense of lower burst damage, although inconsistent if you cannot keep your shield permanently.
| Artifact Main Stats | Artifact Sub Stats |
|---|---|
| Sands – HP% / Elemental Mastery Goblet – Pyro DMG Circlet – Crit Rate / DMG | Crit Rate / DMG Elemental Mastery* HP% ATK% Energy Recharge Note: Since Hu Tao is able to trigger Vaporize on most of her damage output, Elemental Mastery is quite valuable to her. If you have less than 100 EM total (including from Sucrose EM share, Instructor (4), etc.) EM substat takes priority over Crit Rate / DMG. |
Team Compositions
Vaporize w/ Double Hydro
Arguably the best team comp for Hu Tao as the Hydro Resonance (Xingqiu + Yelan) increases the Max HP of the party. This can enhance the extra ATK converted by Hu Tao’s Elemental Skill, Yelan’s Skill DMG, Zhongli’s shield durability, and the HP restoration from Xingqiu’s Rain Swords. You can replace either one of the Hydro characters with Albedo or Mona.
Vaporize + Melt
An F2P team as all the teammates are 4-star characters except Hu Tao. As mentioned before in Talent Priorities, Hu Tao doesn’t shatter frozen enemies so she can trigger Melt after Freezing enemies using Xingqiu+Cryo. But even with plenty of Cryo being applied, Hu Tao will only get a few Melts in a full rotation.
Mono-Pyro
Easy to play and covers AoE scenarios very well. But remember that Bennett’s healing will make Hu Tao lose her passive skill easily (less than 50% HP to get 33% Pyro DMG).
