Wangsheng Funeral Parlor’s mysterious consultant. Handsome, elegant, and surpassingly learned.
Though no one knows where Zhongli is from, he is a master of courtesy and rules. From his seat at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, he performs all manner of rituals.

This guide is based on the Community Character Builds by the Genshin Helper Team.

Skills Overview

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

Press
Commands the power of earth to create a Stone Stele.

Stone Stele
When created, deals AoE Geo DMG.
Additionally, it will intermittently resonate with other nearby Geo constructs, dealing Geo DMG to surrounding opponents.
The Stone Stele is considered a Geo construct that can both be climbed and used to block attacks.
Only one Stele created by Zhongli himself may initially exist at any one time.

Cooldown: 4 seconds

Hold
Causes nearby Geo energy to explode, causing the following effects:

If their maximum number hasn’t been reached, creates a Stone Stele.
Creates a shield of jade. The shield’s DMG Absorption scales based on Zhongli’s Max HP.
Deals AoE Geo DMG.
If there are nearby targets with the Geo element, it will drain a large amount of Geo element from a maximum of 2 such targets. This effect does not cause DMG.

Jade Shield
Possesses 150% DMG Absorption against all Elemental and Physical DMG.
Characters protected by the Jade Shield will decrease the Elemental RES and Physical RES of opponents in a small AoE by 20%. This effect cannot be stacked.

Shield Duration: 20 seconds
Cooldown: 12 seconds

Elemental Burst: Planet Befall

Brings a falling meteor down to earth, dealing massive Geo DMG to opponents caught in its AoE and applying the Petrification status to them.

Petrification
Opponents affected by the Petrification status cannot move.

Cooldown: 12 seconds
Energy Cost: 40

Ascension 1: Resonant Waves

When the Jade Shield takes DMG, it will Fortify:
– Fortified characters have 5% increased Shield Strength.
Can stack up to 5 times, and lasts until the Jade Shield disappears.

Ascension 4: Dominance of Earth

Zhongli deals bonus DMG based on his Max HP:

Normal Attack, Charged Attack, and Plunging Attack DMG is increased by 1.39% of Max HP.
Dominus Lapidis’ Stone Stele, resonance, and hold DMG is increased by 1.9% of Max HP.
Planet Befall’s DMG is increased by 33% of Max HP.
The DMG increase based on Max HP is considered Additive Base DMG Bonus in the Damage Formula.

Passive Talent: Arcanum of Crystal

Refunds 15% of the ore used when crafting Polearm-type weapons.

Constellations

Best Constellations: C2 & C6

C1: Rock, the Backbone of Earth
Increases the maximum number of Stone Steles created by Dominus Lapidis that may exist simultaneously to 2.

C2: Stone, the Cradle of Jade (Great!)
Planet Befall grants nearby characters on the field a Jade Shield when it descends.

C3: Jade, Shimmering through Darkness
Increases the Level of Dominus Lapidis by 3.
Maximum upgrade level is 15.

C4: Topaz, Unbreakable and Fearless
Increases Planet Befall’s AoE by 20% and increases the duration of Planet Befall’s Petrification effect by 2s.

C5: Lazuli, Herald of the Order
Increases the Level of Planet Befall by 3.
Maximum upgrade level is 15.

C6: Chrysos, Bounty of Dominator (Awesome!)
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.

Reminder: Zhongli can be built with various roles, but the best 2 would be Shield Support and Burst Support. The recommended weapons and artifacts for each role are different so please take note of the heading!

Role 1: Shield Support

Talent Priorities

Skill > Burst
Since his shield is the main objective for this role, his Skill is the one you need to focus on. You want to stack as much HP as possible to make sure his shield is sturdy enough to tank incoming damage. Certain weapon and artifact set can capitalize Zhongli’s shield which are mentioned below.

Keep in mind that the damage reduction from Xingqiu’s Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst and/or Beidou’s Elemental Burst can be utilized on Zhongli’s shield, making it basically unbreakable.

Recommended Weapons

Black Tassel (3✩)
Favonius Lance (4✩)*

1) Black Tassel (ATK: 354 • HP: 46.9%)

[Refinement 5] Increases DMG against slimes by 80%.

2) Favonius Lance (ATK: 565 • Energy Recharge: 30.6%)

[Refinement 5] CRIT Hits have a 100% chance to generate a small amount of Elemental Particles, which will regenerate 6 Energy for the character. Can only occur once every 6s.

Use this polearm over Black Tassel if you value the team’s energy (But remember that you need to build some amount of Crit Rate if you are running Favonius Lance to trigger the passive).

Recommended Artifacts

Tenacity of the Millelith (4)
Archaic Petra (4)*
Deepwood Memories (4)*
~= Instructor (4)*

1) 4-Pc Tenacity of the Millelith

2-Piece Bonus: HP +20%
4-Piece Bonus: 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.

2) 4-Pc Archaic Petra

2-Piece Bonus: Geo DMG Bonus +15%
4-Piece Bonus: Upon obtaining an Elemental Shard created through a Crystallize Reaction, all party members gain 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.

Can be more useful than Tenacity of the Millelith (4) in teams that don’t scale as well with ATK buffs or already have another Tenacity of the Millelith holder. Although it’s hard to utilize the set without extending rotation times since the holder of the set (Zhongli in this case) has to pick up the shard for the buff to take effect.

3) 4-Pc Deepwood Memories

2-Piece Bonus: Dendro DMG Bonus +15%
4-Piece Bonus: After Elemental Skills or Bursts hit opponents, the targets’ Dendro RES will be decreased by 30% for 8s. This effect can be triggered even if the equipping character is not on the field.

This set works best in Dendro reaction-focused teams (Bloom/Burgeon/Hyperbloom/Spread) that prefer having Deepwood Memories on Zhongli so that they can run more damage-focused sets such as Gilded Dreams / Flower of Paradise Lost instead for the highest overall damage gain. That said it means keeping the enemies near Zhongli’s pillar to have good uptime on the Dendro resistance shred effect, which can be difficult with no grouping abilities in a team.

4) 4-Pc Instructor

2-Piece Bonus: Increases Elemental Mastery by 80
4-Piece Bonus: Upon triggering an Elemental Reaction, increases all party members’ Elemental Mastery by 120 for 8s.

This set is usually only used in a few heavily reaction focused teams, such as Ganyu Melt or Hu Tao Vape, where you’re maximising your damage in exchange for a stronger shield. Though Zhongli’s shield is still usually more than strong enough even with fewer substat rolls to strengthen it.

Artifact Main Stats	Artifact Sub Stats
Sands – HP% Goblet – HP% Circlet – HP% / Crit Rate* Crit Rate should only be considered when Zhongli is equpping Favonius Lance to reliably proc the passive.	HP% Flat HP Energy Recharge

Role 2: Burst Support

Talent Priorities

Burst > Skill
Zhongli can be utilized as a Geo Burst damage dealer due to his short Elemental Burst cooldown (12s) and low Energy cost (40 Energy). His Elemental Skill Hold Cast (Shield) scales with HP and at Ascension 4, you would unlock a talent that allows your Elemental Burst to scale with 33% of Zhongli’s Max HP, making him a great source of Shield and damage.

Recommended Weapons

Staff of Homa (5✩)
Primordial Jade Winged-Spear (5✩)
Skyward Spine (5✩)
~= Vortex Vanquisher (5✩)
~= Calamity Queller (5✩)
“The Catch” (4✩) [R5]
Deathmatch (4✩)
Engulfing Lightning (5✩)
Lithic Spear (3 stacks) (4✩)
Blackcliff Pole (0 stacks) (4✩)
Missive Windspear (4✩)
Favonius Lance (4✩)

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) 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%.

3) Skyward Spine (ATK: 674 • Energy Recharge: 36.8%)

[Refinement 1] Increases CRIT Rate by 8% and increases Normal ATK SPD by 12%. Additionally, Normal and Charged Attacks hits on opponents have a 50% chance to trigger a vacuum blade that deals 40% of ATK as DMG in a small AoE. This effect can occur no more than once every 2s.

4) “The Catch” (ATK: 510 • Energy Recharge: 45.9%)

[Refinement 5] Increases Elemental Burst DMG by 32% and Elemental Burst CRIT Rate by 12%.

5) Deathmatch (ATK: 454 • Crit Rate: 36.8%)

[Refinement 1] If there are at least 2 opponents nearby, ATK is increased by 16% and DEF is increased by 16%. If there are fewer than 2 opponents nearby, ATK is increased by 24%.

6) Engulfing Lightning (ATK: 608 • Energy Recharge: 55.1%)

[Refinement 1] ATK increased by 28% of Energy Recharge over the base 100%. You can gain a maximum bonus of 80% ATK. Gain 30% Energy Recharge for 12s after using an Elemental Burst.

7) 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.

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.

9) 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.

10) Favonius Lance (ATK: 565 • Energy Recharge: 30.6%)

[Refinement 5] CRIT Hits have a 100% chance to generate a small amount of Elemental Particles, which will regenerate 6 Energy for the character. Can only occur once every 6s.

Recommended Artifacts

Emblem of Severed Fate (4)
Noblesse Oblige (2) Archaic Petra (2)*
Noblesse Oblige (4)*
Tenacity of the Millelith (4)*

1) 4-Pc Emblem of Severed Fate

2-Piece Bonus: Energy Recharge +20%
4-Piece Bonus: Increases Elemental Burst DMG by 25% of Energy Recharge. A maximum of 75% bonus DMG can be obtained in this way.

2) 2-Pc Noblesse Oblige + Archaic Petra

Noblesse Oblige: Elemental Burst DMG +20%
Archaic Petra: Geo DMG Bonus +15%

On lower ER requirements where Zhongli doesn’t need to worry about his energy needs, this set pulls ahead of Emblem of Severed Fate (4).

3) 4-Pc Noblesse Oblige

2-Piece Bonus: Elemental Burst DMG +20%
4-Piece Bonus: Using an Elemental Burst increases all party members’ ATK by 20% for 12s. This effect cannot stack.

This set provides Zhongli more utility when casting his Elemental Burst, you can use this set on Zhongli if there is nobody else on the team who’s equipping this set.

4) 4-Pc Tenacity of the Millelith

Just like Noblesse Oblige (4), this set provides Zhongli with more utility if his Elemental Skill hits an enemy. This set also provides Zhongli with stronger shields.

Artifact Main Stats	Artifact Sub Stats
Sands – ATK% / HP%* Goblet – Geo DMG Circlet – Crit Rate / DMG ATK sands provides more damage than HP sands, but it does have lesser Shield HP. If you want more Shield HP, you can consider running a HP sands.	Crit Rate / DMG ATK% HP% Energy Recharge Flat ATK Flat HP

Team Compositions

Vaporize + Shield Zhongli

The most common team for Zhongli is as a shielder for his boss- Hu Tao. Hu Tao and Xingqiu are the duo that deals damage while Kazuha and Zhongli as the Elemental RES shredder (In addition to Elemental Resonance). Since Hu Tao needs to be on low HP to deal more damage, Xingqiu’s minor healing and Zhongli’s shield should be able to keep the team’s survivability.

Normal ATK DPS + Shield Zhongli

With 2 Geo characters, you will activate Geo Elemental Resonance that increases shield strength by 15%, in addition to an extra 15% DMG for characters protected by the shield. Albedo can be swapped with other characters, as you only need 2 Geo characters for the Elemental Resonance, but Albedo here can also act as a Sub DPS.

Mono Geo + Burst Zhongli

Aside from the Geo Resonance, Zhongli’s shield can further decrease Geo RES on enemies, making everyone on the team deal high Geo damage on the affected enemies. Since Zhongli is in the Burst role, you can swap Albedo for Ningguang since anyone who passes through her Jade Screen have increased Geo DMG.