Zhongli Build Guide (Patch 4.0)
| Shield Bot Zhongli | |
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Tenacity of the Millelith (4) |
Sands - HP |
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Flex slot in HyperDPS |
| Burst Support Zhongli | |
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Noblesse Oblige (4) |
Sands - ATK / HP |
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Flex slot in HyperDPS |
Zhongli’s Role and Skills
Zhongli functions primarily as a support shielder for his team. His Elemental Skill (E) on Press creates a geo construct that resonates periodically dealing AOE Geo DMG. Meanwhile his E on Hold creates a shield, geo contruct and deals AOE Geo DMG. The shield created scales based on Zhongli’s Max HP and is the most important aspect of his kit. His Burst (Q) summons a rock meteor that crashes down onto enemies dealing Geo DMG and also petrifying them for a short duration.
Petrification causes the enemies to be immobile/stun and is different than frozen state as it cannot be broken by heavy attacks or elemental reactions. His 2nd Ascension Passives gives a substantial buff towards his E (resonance, and hold DMG is increased by 1.9% of Max HP) and Q (DMG is increased by 33% of Max HP) damage based on his Max HP further solidifying the direction for his intended build.
How To Build Zhongli
This kind of playstyle is very straightforward; stack as much HP as possible. Prioritize HP scaling polearms such as Black Tassel and artifact sets such as Tenacity of the Millelith (4) to capitalize on Zhongli’s Shield. Most of the time, especially on a HP-focused Zhongli, casting Elemental Burst is a DPS loss due to the cast time, which is why you’d only want to cast Elemental Burst for the Crowd Control it offers, and not for damage.
Note that if paired with Xingqiu and/or Beidou, the damage reduction from orbitals 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.
Artifact set
Tenacity of the Millelith (4)
Easily Zhongli’s best artifact set as it boost the entire party ATK while also increasing the shield strength.
Archaic Petra (4)
Can sometimes be more useful than 4 piece TotM in teams that don’t scale well with ATK buffs or already have another ToTM holder. However, it can be awkward as Zhongli has to pickup the shard for the buff to proc.
Deepwood Memories (4)
This set works best in Dendro reaction team so other characters can run more damage focused sets such as Gilded Dreams / Flower of Paradise Lost. It also means you’ll have to keep enemies near Zhongli’s pillar so that you can shred Dendro RES.
Noblesse Oblige (4)
Zhongli is an excellent holder of 4pc Noblesse since he usually starts rotations with his Burst. He personally benefits from the 20% ATK buff as his Burst is dynamic, in addition to providing a valuable ATK% buff to his teammates.
Emblem of Severed Fate (4)
If you’re building Zhongli for his Burst DMG then this is your best set as it provides high burst damage while also helping his energy needs.
Noblesse Oblige (2)
Archaic Petra (2)
On lower ER requirements where Zhongli doesn’t need to worry about his energy needs, this set pulls ahead of 4 piece EoSF as it does the most damage.
Weapon
Black Tassel (3✩)
BiS weapon if you’re building him for his shield strength as it is the only polearm with HP% secondary stat.
Favonius Lance (4✩)
Use this weapon over Black Tassel if you value the team energy (Note that you need to build some amount of Crit Rate if you are running Favonius Lance to trigger the passive)
Staff of Homa (5✩)
Homa caters to all of Zhongli’s desired stats for Burst Support role. It has no requirements for the rotation, makes building him easier, and directly increases all of Zhongli’s damage. Additionally, the HP to ATK conversion further minimizes the damage difference between HP and ATK stats on Zhongli.
Wavebreaker’s Fin (4✩)
Calculated with 240 overall team Energy. It has a great passive for Burst damage.
The Catch (4✩)
Very accessible 4-Star option that increases Burst damage.
Its performance relative to non-ER weapons is increased at higher ER requirements, such as when Bursting every rotation. “The Catch” R5 specifically overtakes Wavebreaker’s Fin R5 at around 140-150% ER.
Talent
Shield Bot
Skill (E) > Burst (Q)
Burst Support
Burst (Q) > Skill (E)
For Shield Bot Zhongli, you’ll wanna prioritize his Skill as it boost his shield strength and pillar damage. For Burst Support role, his Burst will take priority since you’ll wanna do as much damage from his Burst. Regardless of Zhongli’s role, both talents will be utilized and there won’t be many situations where you’ll ignore one for the other.
Main stat & substat (Shield Bot)
Sand: HP%
Goblet: HP%
Circlet: HP% / Crit Rate
- HP%
- Flat HP
- Energy Recharge
Main stat & substat (Burst Support)
Sand: ATK% / HP%Goblet: Geo DMGCirclet: Crit Rate / DMG
- Crit Rate / DMG
- ATK%
- HP%
Constellation
C2 > C1
C2
Zhongli’s most valuable Constellation.
This Constellation simplifies Zhongli’s rotations by summoning a shield on Burst cast, allowing him greater flexibility in adjusting his Steles’ position while maintaining 100% shield uptime. This fixes its main problem at C0—namely, that it can be a DPS loss in many teams. For more information, please refer to the FAQ.
The shield summoned by his Burst will also protect Co-Op teammates, giving Zhongli a rare Co-Op shielding ability.
C1
Zhongli’s second-most valuable Constellation. C1 makes it easier to maintain uptime for Tenacity of the Millelith (ToM) and Pale Flame (PF)’s passives (from increased Stele tick coverage). It also indirectly buffs Zhongli’s Energy generation, and it increases damage in Hybrid and Microwave teams.
C1 doesn’t increase Zhongli’s Energy generation directly, as the Particle generation cooldown is shared between the two Steles. Despite this, C1 increases the reliability of his Energy generation by increasing Stele AoE coverage (increasing the chances of hitting an enemy) and lowering the chance of all Steles being destroyed by enemies.