Genshin Impact Zhongli Build Guide: Best Artifacts, Weapons, Ascension And Teams

There is a plethora of characters in Genshin Impact. Some are geared towards dealing damage while others take on a support role. However, one character can easily take on both tasks; he’s called Zhongli. 

While this pretty much works in your favor, knowing how to make the best use of him is tougher than it looks. Especially when there are so many weapons and artifacts that just seem to be perfect for Zhongli. 

In this guide, we will analyze Zhongli as a character to find out what works best for him to become the sideline carry every team needs. 

With that said, let’s jump right in and get started!

Who Is Zhongli In Genshin Impact?

Zhongli, or Zhōnglí (钟离) is a Geo-type playable character in Genshin Impact. He’s the current vessel of the Geo Archon, Morax. This information is only revealed later on in the game.

While the exact reason hasn’t been revealed in detail, Morax has decided to experience the world from a Mortal’s perspective, thus giving birth to the Legend of Zhongli.  

While having the bearing of a God, Zhongli enjoys his time in the mortal world, severing every enemy in his path to main stability and control. 

He doesn’t seem to have any interest in conquest but is fairly familiar with the art of battle. 

Builds For Zhongli In Genshin Impact

As mentioned previously, Zhongli is almost one with the Geo element and can pretty much wield any polearm to become a menace on the frontlines. 

However, he’s a hybrid that can become both a carry and support as long as the conditions are right. With that said, here’s what you will be building on Zhongli:

Best Weapons On Zhongli

While Zhongli does well with most burst builds, he can still do just as well by opting for more defensive options. 

To maintain a good balance between both aspects, we recommend going the following weapons:

Staff of Homa

This is a 5-star Polearm weapon that’s essentially obtainable from Weapon Event Wishes. Due to its rarity, the damage numbers can often rack up to insane heights.

This weapon increases your base HP by 20 – 40% while providing ATK bonuses according to 0.8 – 1.6% of your maximum HP. Essentially, it’s a tailor-made weapon for bruisers.

In addition to the mentioned bonuses, your attack damage experiences an additional 1 – 1.8% of your max HP increment whenever your HP falls below the 50% mark. 

Having said that, here’s what the Staff of Homa is capable of in terms of raw stats:

Base ATK (LVL 1 – 90)	2nd Stat Type	2nd Stat (LVL 1-90)
46 – 608	CRIT DMG	14.4% – 66.2%

The HP-scaled bonuses will deactivate as soon as you leave the battlefield. Therefore, you need to hold your ground there in order to make the most out of the Staff of Homa. 

This weapon was available during the following events:

1. Epitome Invocation ( 2021-02-23 ): This wish was previously available from February 23, 2021 – March 16, 2021.
2. Epitome Invocation ( 2021-11-02 ): This wish was previously available from November 2, 2021 – November 23, 2021. 

Once you have the Staff of Homa in your grasp, be sure to prepare the following materials to cover its ascension costs:

Item	Quantity
Mora	225,000
Grain of Aerosiderite	5
Piece of Aerosiderite	14
Bit of Aerosiderite	14
Chunk of Aerosiderite	6
Dead Ley Line Branch	23
Dead Ley Line Leaves	27
Dead Ley Line Sprout	41
Slime Condensate	15
Slime Secretions	23
Slime Concentrate	27

Black Tassel (Optional)

Despite its 3-star rarity, the Black Tassel is an exceptionally strong polearm – especially in the game’s early stages.

Slimes can be the Geo character’s biggest enemy, making the Black Tassel a perfect counter against them. 

It essentially increases your base DMG against a being of slime race by 40 – 80%. This metric is dependent on the refinement levels. 

The Black Tassel is only preferable during early levels of your gameplay as it’s not worth your complete investment due to its rarity. 

Having said that, here’s what the weapon is capable of in terms of raw stats:

Base ATK (LVL 1-90)	2nd Stat Type	2nd Stat (LvL 1-90)
38 – 354	HP	10.2% – 46.9%

This bonus ensures you’re always tanky enough to cast and absorb as many shields as needed while providing a good cover for your team. 

Having said that, you’d be able to obtain this weapon from the following sources:

• Standard Wish (Wanderlust Invocation): Can be obtained indefinitely. 
• Beginner’s Wish: Can be obtained until all 20 wishes are exhausted. 
• Character Event Wishes: Can be obtained indefinitely. 
• Weapon Event Wishes: Can be obtained indefinitely. 
• Orban Dialog Reward: Can be obtained as long as the reward is triggered. 

On that note, the Ascension of a 3-star polearm is not that costly, but it can still set you back in the following amounts:

Item	Quantity
Mora	105,000
Grain of Aerosiderite	2
Piece of Aerosiderite	6
Bit of Aerosiderite	6
Chunk of Aerosiderite	3
Fragile Bone Shard	10
Sturdy Bone Shard	12
Fossilized Bone Shard	18
Firm Arrowhead	6
Sharp Arrowhead	10
Weathered Arrowhead	12

Primordial Jade Winged Spear (Optional)

The Primordial Jade Winged Spear is an exceptionally good 5 star Liyue Polearm that can push Zhongli into the pure DPS realm.

It essentially increases your On-Hit ATK by 3.2 – 6.0% for the next 6 seconds. This effect can stack up to 7 times but can only occur every 0.3s. 

You will experience an additional 12 – 24% boost in damage once you reach maximum stacks. This enables the weapon to melt the tankiest of opponents with sheer ease. 

In terms of stats, the Primordial Jade Winged Spear can do the following:

Base ATK (LVL 1-90)	2nd Stat Type	2nd Stat (LvL 1-90)
48 – 674	CRIT Rate	4.8% – 22.1%

Since the weapon relies heavily on stacks, we recommend you weave in as many hits as possible to deal the most amounts of damage. 

Having said that, you can obtain it from the following sources as long as you have sufficient luck:

• Standard Wish (Wanderlust Invocation): You have an indefinite chance of obtaining the polearm weapon.
• Weapon Event Wishes: Can be obtained from any event wish. However, it had a boosted drop rate in the following ones:
  1. Epitome Invocation ( 2021-02-23 ): This wish was previously available from February 3, 2021 – February 23, 2021.
  2. Epitome Invocation ( 2021-01-02 ): This wish was previously available from January 5, 2022 – January 25, 2022. 
  3. Epitome Invocation ( 2021-05-31 ): This wish was previously available from May 31, 2022 – June 21, 2022.

With that out of the way, the ascension costs of this weapon will set you back the following amounts:

Item	Quantity
Mora	225,000
Luminous Sands from Guyun	5
Lustrous Stone from Guyun	14
Relic from Guyun	14
Divine Body from Guyun	6
Hunter’s Sacrificial Knife	23
Agent’s Sacrificial Knife	27
Inspector’s Sacrificial Knife	41
Recruit’s Insignia	15
Sergeant’s Insignia	23
Lieutenant’s Insignia	27

Best Artifacts On Zhongli

As a being of both worlds, there aren’t a whole lot of incompatible Artifacts for Zhongli. Anything goes as long as it works in sync with his abilities and playstyle intent. 

However, you’d have to specifically look for the following sets in order to get the most value out of him:

Tenacity of the Millelith

This artifact set is available in 4-star and 5-star rarities and includes 5 main component pieces. There are unique set bonuses at the 2-piece and 4-piece marks.

This set consists of:

• Flower of Life: Flower of Accolades
• Plume of Death: Ceremonial War-Plume
• Sands of Eon: Orichalceous Time-Dial
• Goblet of Eonothem: Noble’s Pledging Vessel
• Circlet of Logos: General’s Ancient Helm

Once the mentioned set items have been obtained, the following bonuses will automatically activate upon equipping:

2 – Piece Bonus

This bonus increases your base HP by 20%, making Zhongli tankier than before.  

4 – Piece Bonus

Whenever your elemental skill hits an opponent, your nearby party member’s attack is increased by 20%. Consequently, their shield strength also experiences a boost of 30%. 

This effect lasts for the next 4 seconds and can be triggered once every 0.5 seconds. Upon reactivation, the timer will reset, and the effect can be triggered even when your character is no longer on the battlefield. 

How To Obtain

Both the 4-star and 5-star variants of the Tenacity of the Millelith set can be obtained from the Ridge watch. 

This is a domain located in the mountainous area between Mondstadt and Liyue. You’d have to challenge and clear the higher levels of this domain to gain this artifact. 

Archaic Petra

This golden Artifact Set is available in 4-star and 5-star rarities, respectively. Just like the Tenacity of the Millelith, this one also comprises five main artifacts.

With that said, here’s what you need to get in order to complete the Archaic Petra set:

• Flower of Life: Flower of Creviced Cliff
• Plume of Death: Feather of Jagged Peaks
• Sands of Eon: Sundial of Enduring Jade
• Goblet of Eonothem: Goblet of Chiseled Crag
• Circlet of Logos: Mask of Solitude Basalt

Once you’ve collected these items, the following set bonuses will automatically activate:

2 – Piece Bonus

Your Geo DMG bonus is increased by 15%, and since Zhongli is a Geo character, the Archaic Petra essentially ramps up his damage to configure him into a DPS carry. 

4 – Piece Bonus

Whenever you obtain an Elemental Shard that’s created specifically through a Crystallize Reaction, your party members gain a 35% DMG bonus on that specific element. This effect lasts for a total of 10 seconds. 

However, the bonus can only be activated for a certain element – there’s no room for simultaneous activation. 

How To Obtain

This Archaic Petra set can be obtained by challenging the Domain of Guyun. Simply keep clearing the levels in order for the reward to increase in quality, and you’ll eventually have the complete set!

What’s The Best DPS Team For Zhongli?

Zhongli is generally picked for his support capabilities. However, that doesn’t mean that he’s not a good main DPS. 

Rather, he works the best as long as he’s given the spotlight. With that said, here’s how you can incorporate Zhongli as the main carry:

Itto

Just like Zhongli, Itto is a sub-support DPS that can take on both roles pretty easily. He possesses a high base CRIT Rate and great taunts to keep up with Zhongli’s momentum-based damage. 

However, since he’s a bit costly on the energy costs, Itto is best used as a sub DPS carry instead of the main one. 

Gorou

Gorou acts as a secondary sub-DPS of the team that can not only boost overall defense but can also heal all the characters in your team while providing Geo-based buffs. 

He’s pretty good as long as the entire team is Mono-Geo. Therefore, he’s your go-to for an OTP team with Zhongli as the main Damage.

Albedo

Albedo is the team’s main support due to his effectiveness in providing large bursts of Supplemental Geo DMG.

Since his Elemental Skill is pretty much Spammable, you’d be able to buff Zhongli to become a one-man army. 

Zhongli: Ability Rundown

You can do a lot with weapons and abilities. However, Zhongli’s main kit revolves around his abilities. Therefore, you’d need to have a good grasp of how he works in order to make him shine.

With that said, here’s how his abilities work: 

Basic Attack: Rain Of Stone

Zhongli’s basic attack performs six consecutive strikes of his spear. This damage can scale accordingly with the level of your basic attack.

Therefore, the damage numbers can scale as follows:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1-Hit DMG (%)	30.77	33.27	35.78	39.36	41.86	44.72	48.66	52.59	56.53	60.82	65.74
2-Hit DMG (%)	31.15	33.69	36.22	39.85	42.38	45.28	49.26	53.25	57.23	61.58	66.56
3-Hit DMG (%)	38.58	41.72	44.86	49.34	52.48	56.07	61	65.94	70.87	76.26	82.42
4-Hit DMG (%)	42.94	46.43	49.93	54.92	58.42	62.41	67.9	73.4	78.89	84.88	91.74
5-Hit DMG (%)	10.75 × 4	11.63 × 4	12.5 × 4	13.75 × 4	14.63 × 4	15.63 × 4	17 × 4	18.38 × 4	19.75 × 4	21.25 × 4	22.97 × 4
6-Hit DMG (%)	54.5	58.93	63.37	69.7	74.14	79.21	86.18	93.15	100.12	107.73	116.44

Charged Attack

Zhongli’s Charged Attack consumes a chunk of his Stamina to lunge in the forward direction while causing stone spears to fall behind him in the path of the dash. 

Here’s how his damage numbers fare:

Charged Attack
Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Charged Attack DMG (%)	111.03	120.06	129.1	142.01	151.05	161.38	175.58	189.78	203.98	219.47	237.22
Charged Attack Stamina Cost	25

Plunging Attack

Upon jumping mid-air, Zhongli strikes down the ground below while damaging any opponents that manage to get caught in his path. 

This type of attack deals AOE Damage, which can ramp to the following amounts:

Plunging Attack
Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Plunge DMG (%)	63.93	69.14	74.34	81.77	86.98	92.92	101.1	109.28	117.46	126.38	135.3
Low Plunge DMG (%)	127.84	138.24	148.65	163.51	173.92	185.81	202.16	218.51	234.86	252.7	270.54
High Plunge DMG (%)	159.68	172.67	185.67	204.24	217.23	232.09	252.51	272.93	293.36	315.64	337.92

Dominus Lapidis: Elemental Skill

This skill harnesses the power of the earth to fill every inch of land, including mountains and rocks, with the power of Geo.

Once ready, the skill can be unleashed in the following ways:

Press

Zhongli commands the power to conjure a Stone Stele for him.

Hold

Causes the filled energy nearby to explode, resulting in the following effects:

• Create a Stone Stele if the maximum number hasn’t been reached yet. 
• Create a Jade Shield that absorbs damage based on Zhongli’s maximum HP. 
• Deal AOE Geo damage to the surrounding enemies.
• Drains a large amount of Geo element from nearby targets (given they have Geo element) (maximum number of targets is 2). 

Stone Stele

Deals AOE Geo DMG upon creation and can intermittently resonate with nearby Geo Constructs while dealing damage to surrounding enemies. 

The Stone Stele itself is also a Geo Construct that blocks attacks and is climbable. Zhongli can only have a single slate active at one time by default. 

Jade Shield

Zhongli’s DMG absorption increases by 150% against all kinds of Elemental and Physical DMG. The characters that are protected by this effect will lower the Elemental and Physical Res of the nearby opponents. 

Unfortunately, for now, this is a singular effect, so there’s no stacking involved. 

Damage Scaling

The damage of Dominus Lapidis is dealt in the following numbers by default:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Stone Stele/Resonance DMG (%)	16/32	17.2/34.4	18.4/36.8	20.0/40.0	21.2/42.4	22.4/44.8	24.0/48.0	25.6/51.2	27.2/54.4	28.8/57.6	30.4/60.8	32/64	34/68	36/72
Press CD	4s
Hold DMG (%)	80	86	92	100	106	112	120	128	136	144	152	160	170	180
Shield Base Absorption	1232	1355	1489	1633	1787	1951	2126	2310	2506	2711	2927	3153	3389	3636
Additional Shield Absorption (% Max HP)	12.80	13.76	14.72	16.00	16.96	17.92	19.20	20.48	21.76	23.04	24.32	25.60	27.20	28.80
Shield Duration	20s
CD (hold)	12s

Planet Befall: Elemental Burst

Zhongli conjures a meteor to fall down to earth. Upon contact, the meteor deals a massive amount of Geo DMG to the target caught in the attack radius.

This ability applies Petrification status to each enemy hit. 

Petrification

As the name suggests, any enemy with this status active will be unable to move. 

Damage Scaling

Here’s the amount of vanilla damage the Element Burst Skill is able to unleash:

Levels	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Skill DMG (%)	401.08	444.44	487.8	542	590.78	639.56	704.6	769.64	834.68	899.72	964.76	1029.8	1084	1138
Petrification Duration	3.1s	3.2s	3.3s	3.4s	3.5s	3.6s	3.7s	3.8s	3.9s	4s
CD	12s
Energy Cost	40

Zhongli – Passive Talents

Zhongli possesses a total of three passive talents that activate automatically in and out of the battle – depending on their specific criteria.

They boost his overall damage while also making him sturdy against stronger enemies. 

Having said that, here’s how these talents work:

Resonant Waves – Ascension 1 Talent

Your Jade Shield will fortify upon taking damage. This essentially boosts your Shield’s strength by 5%. This effect can be stacked 5 times and stays until the Jade Shield disappears.

Dominance of Earth – Ascension 4 Talent

Zhongli’s damage-dealing capabilities are increased according to his HP, thereby allowing him to experience a DMG increase in the following areas:

• Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks: Total DMG is increased by 1.39% of your Max HP.
• Dominus Lapidis – Stone Stele, Resonance, and Hold: Your DMG is increased by 1.9% of your Max HP. 
• Planet Befall: Your DMG is increased by 33% of your Max HP.

Arcanum of Crystal – Automatic Unlock

This forging type ability refunds 15% of the materials you use while forging Polearm-type Weapons.

Zhongli – Constellations

Zhongli has a total of six constellations that are distributed according to his level and rank. While some of them are just for a nice roundup of his kit, others are just insane in terms of value.

You’d need one Zhongli’s Stella Fortuna for each Constellation Activation. Having said that, here’s what each constellation does:

Level 1 Constellation – Rock, the Backbone of Earth

This constellation essentially increments Zhongli’s maximum number of Stone Steles that are created with the help of Dominus Lapidis to 2.

This number is linked to the simultaneous existence of Stone Steles; Zhongli has no limit on the number of creations otherwise. 

Level 2 Constellation – Stone, the Cradle of Jade

Your ally characters on the field gain a Jade Shield whenever Planet Befall strikes the area. 

Level 3 Constellation – Jade, Shimmering through Darkness

Dominus Lapidis experiences a 3-level increment. However, the maximum upgrade level for this is capped at 15.

Level 4 Constellation – Topaz, Unbreakable and Fearless

The AOE Damage of Planet Befall is further increased by 20%, while the duration of the Petrification effect is increased by another 2 seconds. 

Level 5 Constellation – Lazuli, Herald of the Order

Planet Befall experiences a 3-level increment. However, the maximum upgrade level for this is capped at 15.

Level 6 Constellation – Chrysos, Bounty of Dominator

40% of the damage hitting the Jade Shield is converted to HP for your current character. 

However, the regen numbers are capped at 8% for a single instance. 

Zhongli’s Ascension: Stats And Material Costs

Here are all the ascension bonuses and material costs associated with leveling up Zhongli to be your main DPS:

Ascension Phase	Level	Base HP	Base ATK	Base DEF	Special Stat
0✦	1/20	1143	19	57	—
	20/20	2967	50	148
Ascension Cost (0 → 1)   Genshin Impact | Mora | Source: Wiki 20,000   Genshin Impact | Prithiva Topaz Sliver | Source: Wiki 1   Genshin Impact | Cor Lapis | Source: Wiki 3   Genshin Impact | Slime Condensate | Source: Wiki 3
1✦	20/40	3948	67	198	—
	40/40	5908	100	296
Ascension Cost (1 → 2)   Genshin Impact | Mora | Source: Wiki 40,000   Genshin Impact | Slime Condensate | Source: Wiki Genshin Impact | Prithiva Topaz Fragment | Source: Wiki 3   Genshin Impact | Cor Lapis | Source: Wiki 10   Genshin Impact | Slime Condensate | Source: Wiki 15   Genshin Impact | Basalt Pillar | Source: Wiki 2
2✦	40/50	6604	112	331	7.2%
	50/50	7599	129	381
Ascension Cost (2 → 3)   Genshin Impact | Mora | Source: Wiki 60,000   Genshin Impact | Prithiva Topaz Fragment | Source: Wiki 6   Genshin Impact | Cor Lapis | Source: Wiki 20   Genshin Impact | Slime Secretions | Source: Wiki 12   Genshin Impact | Basalt Pillar | Source: Wiki 4
3✦	50/60	8528	145	428	14.4%
	60/60	9532	162	478
Ascension Cost (3 → 4)   Genshin Impact | Mora | Source: Wiki 80,000   Genshin Impact | Prithiva Topaz Chunk | Source: Wiki 3   Genshin Impact | Cor Lapis | Source: Wiki 30   Genshin Impact | Slime Secretions | Source: Wiki 18   Genshin Impact | Basalt Pillar | Source: Wiki 8
4✦	60/70	10229	174	513	14.4%
	70/70	11243	192	564
Ascension Cost (4 → 5)   Genshin Impact | Mora | Source: Wiki 100,000   Genshin Impact | Prithiva Topaz Chunk | Source: Wiki 6   Genshin Impact | Cor Lapis | Source: Wiki 45   Genshin Impact | Slime Concentrate | Source: Wiki 12   Genshin Impact | Basalt Pillar | Source: Wiki 12
5✦	70/80	11940	204	599	21.6%
	80/80	12965	221	650
Ascension Cost (5 → 6)   Genshin Impact | Mora | Source: Wiki 120,000   Genshin Impact | Prithiva Topaz Gemstone | Source: Wiki 6   Genshin Impact | Cor Lapis | Source: Wiki 60   Genshin Impact | Slime Concentrate | Source: Wiki 24   Genshin Impact | Basalt Pillar | Source: Wiki 20
6✦	80/90	13662	233	685	28.8%
	90/90	14695	251	737

 

Zhongli: Talent Upgrade Materials

Here’s everything you need to evolve Zhongli’s Talents:

Talent Level	Required Ascension	Mora	Common Materials	Talent Level-Up Materials
1 → 2	2✦	Mora | via Wiki 12,500	Slime Condensate | via Wiki 6	Teachings of gold | via Wiki 3
2 → 3	3✦	Mora | via Wiki 17,500	Slime Secretions | via Wiki 3	Guide To Gold | via Wiki 2
3 → 4		Mora | via Wiki 25,000	Slime Secretions | via Wiki 4	Guide To Gold | via Wiki 4
4 → 5	4✦	Mora | via Wiki 30,000	Slime Secretions | via Wiki 6	Guide To Gold | via Wiki 6
5 → 6		Mora | via Wiki 37,500	Slime Secretions | via Wiki 9	Guide To Gold | via Wiki 9
6 → 7	5✦	Mora | via Wiki 120,000	Slime Concentrate | via Wiki 4	Philosophies of Gold | via Wiki 4	Tusk of Monoceros Caeli | via Wiki 1
7 → 8		Mora | via Wiki 260,000	Slime Concentrate | via Wiki 6	Philosophies of Gold | via Wiki 6	Tusk of Monoceros Caeli | via Wiki 1
8 → 9	6✦	Mora | via Wiki 450,000	Slime Concentrate | via Wiki 9	Philosophies of Gold | via Wiki 12	Tusk of Monoceros Caeli | via Wiki 2
9 → 10		Mora | via Wiki 700,000	Slime Concentrate | via Wiki 12	Philosophies of Gold | via Wiki 16	Tusk of Monoceros Caeli | via Wiki 2	Crown of Insight | via Wiki 1

Zhongli: Dominance of Earth: Lore & Ability Showcase

Here is the official showcase of what Zhongli is capable of:

Conclusion

All in all, Zhongli is a pretty calculative character in terms of playstyle. His kit is a mix of both DPS and Defense. He can heal his team and defend them from attacks while dealing a bunch of damage. 

However, you’d need to invest heavily into the Geo element in order to make him work. However, if you do manage to get it right, then Zhongli is one of the best all-rounders in Genshin Impact!