Hu Tao Quick TL;DR DPS Build Guide

UPDATED FOR 1.5 😁!

PSA #1: Don’t want to die? Then make sure your DPS is alive and kickin so they can keep your team from passing onto the afterlife

PSA #2: Both Hu Tao’s abilities scale off ATK, but more importantly HP as well! Don’t expect her to be a facetank DPS though, since you’ll be trading most of that HP for more damage 🙂

IMPORTANT TIPS:

1. The Pyro enchantment she receives CANNOT be overwritten – this means that things like Chongyun E won’t be as problematic with her, allowing you to run him on your team if you want
2. Blood Blossom damage will be blocked by shields still – if you use it on something like a wooden or ice shield, then the DoT proc will simply burn/melt the shield (unless they’re in their animation to put out the fire in wooden shield’s example)
3. Blood Blossom only ticks twice – just a reminder that it ticks every 4s with an 8s duration (ticks once halfway, and another at end)

IMPORTANT TIP: THE HEAL DOES NOT PROC IF YOU DON’T HIT ANYONE WITH IT. The heal itself can also stack 5 times. For example, hitting one enemy with Q while above 50% HP will heal 9.23%. However, if you hit 5 enemies with Q while above 50% HP it will heal 9.23% x 5 (46.15% Max HP healed)

PSA #3: Her sprint isn’t just some fancy effect btw. You can run through enemies with it — BUT the enemies will still track you + you can get hit while invisible near the end of the animation (not sure if intended or just poorly programmed)

Talent Leveling Order: Normal > E > Q (only prioritize Q > E if you’re running her burst DPS)

WEAPON #1 (Recommended for best DPS): Staff of Homa

How do I get it D: ? – It’s time to roll boys (gacha)

This is by far her best in slot. Can easily reach 4k+ ATK with SoH, but the additional CRIT DMG is also massive due to her 4th hidden stat being CRIT DMG as well. Primordial Jade-Winged Spear is also extremely suitable for overall use

Vortex Vanquisher is only optimal if you’re running a Retracing Bolide/shield comp. Otherwise, Dragon’s Bane has tested to be better with overall with flex team comps

WEAPON #2 (Recommended for early DPS): Dragon’s Bane

How do I get it D: ? – It’s time to roll boys (gacha)

If you have a Hydro/vaporize comp, Dragon’s Bane far outshine any of the other 4-star weapons. Xingqiu was the easiest/highest damage ouput (as he’s practically made for normal attack spammers), but Mona works great for burst DPS as well. Barbara with TTDS also fits extremely well — Cryo/melt also works fairly

Deathmatch feels nice for the ATK buff, but also for the CRIT% it provides. Buff is practically up 24/7. Blackcliff Pole is reliable IN OVERWORLD CONTENT. If you’re deciding which to take into Abyss between Deathmatch vs. Blackcliff — Deathmatch will perform much better

Lithic Spear is alright as well, but strains you into taking a Liyue-based team which is inefficient

ARTIFACT #1 (Recommended for best DPS): Crimson Witch of Flames

How do I get it D: ? – Hidden Palace of Zhou Formula Domain (AR 30 locked, 20 Resin per run)

4-set Crimson is great for overall sustained damage. It’s pretty much a jack of all trades in terms of performance. The 4-set bonus really accentuates vaporize/melt damage, but just be aware you won’t really benefit from the stacking bonus due to Hu Tao’s E being 16s CD

IF you have the time/resources, or was lucky to get good Wanderer’s Troupe pieces, then 2-set WT + 2-set Crimson is also an extremely good set (recommended for running full EM comp with Sucrose/Venti + Xingqiu + Bennett) – downside being don’t expect as much damage if you’re not properly applying pyro/hydro

ARTIFACT #2 (Recommended for early DPS): Sojourner + Berserker

How do I get it D: ? – Sojourner at Midsummer Courtyard Domain (AR 22 locked, 20 Resin per run). Berserker at any World Boss (40 Resin per run) or chests.

Alternatively, you can just stack two 18% ATK+ sets, or even run 4-set Sojourner for a niche charged attack build early on. The benefit of Berserker is if you’re farming from bosses, it can also help drop Wanderer’s Troupe pieces as well

Main stats:

HP% Sands + substat prioritization is highly recommended as her E scales infinitely better with HP than ATK (even more so if you have Staff of Homa)

Substats: CRIT DMG > CRIT% > HP (HP% if not main stat) > EM/ATK%

If you want other characters let me know. Hope this helped. Bye.