Genshin Impact, one of the most popular and hottest releases of last year is still going strong with its top of the charts records on Google Play and Android. Genshin Impact is soon going to be celebrating its 1-year anniversary on 28th September 2021. Players will be able to get generous rewards in the form of Intertwined fates, Moras, Primogems, Hero’s Wit, etc by playing and competing in their web events. Apart from these rewards, a new banner is also expected to be going live which might feature some of the most loved heroes by players. Talking about loved heroes, how can we forget the topic for this guide – Zhongli, the all-knowing mysterious guest. 

Zhongli is a 5-star Geo Polearm elemental character that specializes in burst AOE Geo damage and also shreds geo elements from all the nearby enemies. He also has very low burst skill requirements and can deal more AOE damage along with petrifying the enemies hit. After his buff in 1.3, his normal attacks now scale with his HP which makes building him easier as a pseudo-DPS and support-type character. In this Zhongli Guide, we will enlist the various skills, passives, and ascension traits Zhongli has while explaining each of them in real-time combat. We will also give some tips and tricks on how to play Zhongli by shedding some light on some of his builds as well as some combos available using him.

Zhongli Active Attacks

Zhongli’s basic attacks like all other Genshin Impact characters are divided into 4 types of attacks – Normal/ Basic Attack, Elemental Skill, Elemental Burst, and Sprint/Right Click skill. All of these attacks and spells are further divided into different attacks depending on the way you try to use them. They can also be combined for some chain combos. 

Zhongli’s Basic Attack is called “Rain of Stone” and this attack can be further divided into 3-sub categories – Normal Attack/Auto Attack, Charged Attack, and Plunging Attack.

Normal/Auto 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 enemies along the path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact.

His basic attack can perform up to 6 different strikes using his spear. As usual, the damage percentage numbers on his attacks go higher with each strike with the highest being at the 6th strike. The numbers are – 30.8%, 31.2%, 38.6%, 42.9%, 43.2%, and 54.5%. His charged basic attack is a lunge forward type of attack that makes his stone spears fall on opponents above, dishing out damage of 111% and costs 25 stamina.  His plunge attack is an AOE damaging skill that deals more damage according to the charging time of the jump or the height of the jump made. The base plunge damage is around 64% and the variable damage that depends on the height of the jump is around 128-160%. 

ELEMENTAL SKILLS

Elemental Skills are skills that are on a certain amount of cooldown and deal more substantial damage. They are unique to every hero. Zhongli’s elemental skills are called “Dominus Lapidis”. This elemental skill is further divided into 2 types – 1st is when you simply release the skills, and the 2nd one is when you Hold the elemental skill for some time. Let’s see what his elemental skills can do: –

Release Elemental Skill: Commands the omnipresent power of the earth to solidify into a Stone Stele, standing 30 seconds, dealing AoE Geo DMG at the creation.

Hold Elemental Skill: 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 are based on Zhongli’s Max HP. Possesses 150% DMG Absorption against all Elemental and Physical DMG.

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.

Stone Stele:

When created, deals AoE Geo DMG. Additionally, every 2 seconds, it will resonate with other nearby Geo Constructs, dealing Geo DMG to surrounding opponents. Stele creation and Resonance generate 0.5 elemental particles.

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.

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.

Zhongli’s elemental skill that he uses when pressing releases a ‘Stone Stele’ for 30 seconds. This Stone Stele continuously emits Geo damage that also radiates geo damage to other geo constructs. This Stone Stele is itself considered a Geo construct and players can use it to climb on it or jump from it. Stele creation and Resonance generate 0.5 elemental particles. Keep in mind that, however, only 1 Stone Stele can be constructed at a time by Zhongli at a single point in time. This skill can be used to its maximum potential in a Geo heavy area where multiple constructs are there. Zhongli can enable these constructs to dish out heavy Geo damage. Zhongli’s hold elemental skill grants him a Jade Shield that provides damage reduction from both physical and elemental damage. This Jade Shield scales with his MAX HP. This shield also enables the users that are protected by this shield to reduce the physical and elemental defense of enemies by 20% in a small area and this effect does not stack. This skill also makes all the nearby Geo energy explode as well as cause damage. This skill also leeches the Geo element from nearby Geo targets up to a maximum of 2 targets. This effect does not stack again. 

ELEMENTAL BURST SKILLS

Elemental Burst skills can be considered like the ultimate ability used by any hero. Zhongli’s elemental burst skill “Planet Befall” is a great elemental burst skill that unleashes massive Geo damage and applies a Petrification effect on all the enemies hit by this skill. This Petrification is a mechanic that states that opponents under this effect cannot move or use their skills. Let’s understand his burst skill in detail:

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

Zhongli’s elemental burst skill Planet Befall pairs great with other users who have their elemental burst ready as he can easily set up a massive bloodbath of abilities by crowd-controlling enemies. He is a staple pick for this reason itself, however, his Jade Shield is also a great supportive skill that can also be used offensively by reducing damage reduction effects of other enemies. 

Zhongli’s Passive Talents

Passive talents are those talents that do not need to be activated manually and just require some conditions to be met to be activated automatically. These talents are unique to all heroes and can be unlocked at some levels of ascension. There are three types of passive talents for Zhongli: –

• Resonant Waves (Unlocks at 1stAscension) – When the Jade Shield takes DMG, it will Fortify:

Fortified characters have a 5% increased Shield Strength.

Can stack up to 5 times, and lasts until the Jade Shield disappears.

• The dominance of Earth (Unlocks at 4th Ascension) – 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 deals additional DMG equal to 33% of Zhongli’s Max HP.

• Arcanum Crystal (Unlocks Automatically) – Refunds 15% of the ores used when crafting Polearm-type weapons.        

Zhongli’s first ascension passive Resonant Waves empowers his Jade Shield with a new ability called fortification that states that when the party members protected by his Jade Shield take damage, they get fortified. Fortification increases the strength of the shield by 5% each and this can stack up to 5 times till the Shield disappears. His 4th ascension passive skill Dominance of Earth states that Zhongli now deals bonus damage based on his MAX HP on all of his abilities, making him much more useful as a Support DPS character. His normal passive ability states that players can get 15% of the ores used in crafting Geo-Polearm type weapons as a refund back. 

Zhongli’s Constellations

Constellations in Genshin Impact are an essential way to power up your heroes. They not only boost stats but also provide new unique abilities or constellation bonuses that can empower the hero greatly. However, they can only be upgraded by using a duplicate of the same hero multiple times. Zhongli’s constellations are as follows: –

1st Constellation (C1) – Rock, the Backbone of Earth

Increases the maximum number of Stone Steles created by Dominus Lapidis that may exist simultaneously to 2.

2nd Constellation (C2) – Stone, the Cradle of Jade

Planet Befall grants nearby characters on the field a Jade Shield when it descends.

3rd Constellation (C3) – Jade, Shimmering through Darkness

Increases the Level of Dominus Lapidis by 3.

The maximum upgrade level is 15.

4th Constellation (C4) – Topaz, Unbreakable and Fearless

Increases Planet Befall’s AoE by 20% and increases the duration of Planet Befall’s Petrification effect by 2s.

5th Constellation (C5) – Lazuli, Herald of the Order

Increase the Level of Planet Befall by 3.

The maximum upgrade level is 15.

6th Constellation (C6) – 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.

As we can see, all of the constellations are easily self-explained. All of these constellations can greatly enhance the way Zhongli is played.

Zhongli Build, Artifact, and Party Recommendations

Zhongli, as a hero, is primarily designed to provide good Supportive damage, hence the name Support DPS. He can dish out massive damage but for the sake of team balance, players usually build him as a Support DPS as he can provide great utility with his Jade Shield and his elemental burst skill Planet Befall. He can also be considered like an enabler for various other DPS heroes as his burst skill is a great setup to keep targets locked under 1 area. Let’s check out the weapons and artifacts used for Zhongli: –

The staff of Homa – Staff of Homa is considered the best weapon of choice for Zhongli, especially after his buff in 1.3 with his abilities scaling with his MAX Health. The weapon itself provides base 46 attacks and 14.4% critical hit damage. It also additionally increases the wielders HP by 20% and as well as attack bonus of 0.8% per 1% of MAX HP. This effect increases to a 1% Attack increase when HP falls below 50%. This weapon is the best for Zhongli as it lets him do massive damage while still supporting his team members with the rest of his abilities.

The tenacity of the Millelith – This catalyst is the best-recommended choice for every Zhongli as it synergizes the most with the rest of his kit. It provides a base increase of 20% to his maximum health as well as increases the attack of all allies by 20% as well as simultaneously increasing the shield strength by 30% for 3 seconds. This effect can be activated by using an elemental skill and can be activated even when the character wielding this artifact is not in the field, which makes doing a combo with other members very accessible.

Party Member’s Recommendation

• Albedo – Albedo is another Geo elemental character and Zhongli easily synergizes with Geo characters. He can also synergize with Zhongli’s ultimate burst skill as well as an elemental skill by using Albedo’s passive damage and energy recharge.

• Ningguang – Again, the same reason that Geo resonance boosts overall Geo elemental damage and hence, boosting Ningguang’s damage. Jade screen also boosts geo damage while also acting as a Geo construct that will resonate geo damage with Zhongli’s elemental skill.                          

That is everything regarding Zhongli. To read more such guides, check out our Blog section where we cover the latest happenings at Genshin Impact for our lovely community.

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