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Introduction:
This is an updated guide for Hu Tao, who is getting a rerun in patch five point one of Genshin Impact.
Hu Tao Overview:
Hu Tao is an On-Field five-star D.P.S. character who uses a Pyro vision. She specializes in single-target damage and has specific team composition requirements to maximize her potential.
Hu Tao’s Normal Attack, Secret Spear of Wangsheng:
Normal Attack: Executes up to six consecutive spear strikes.
Charged Attack: Uses stamina to perform a lunging strike that damages opponents in its path.
Plunging Attack: Attacks from mid-air to the ground, damaging opponents along the descent and causing area of effect damage upon impact.
Hu Tao’s Elemental Skill, Guide to the Afterlife:
Initial Skill: Hu Tao uses some of her H.P. to knock back enemies and enters the Paramita Papilio state.
Paramita Papilio State:
Attack Increase: Boosts Hu Tao's attack based on her maximum H.P. at the time of activation, with a cap of four hundred percent of her base attack.
Elemental Conversion: Converts attack damage to Pyro damage, which cannot be overridden by other elements.
Charged Attacks: Inflict Blood Blossom, causing Pyro damage over time.
Resistance: Enhances Hu Tao's resistance to being interrupted.
Blood Blossom Effect: Enemies suffer pyro damage every four seconds, considered elemental skill damage. This effect can only be applied to each enemy once and can only be refreshed by Hu Tao.
Duration: Paramita Papilio ends after a certain time, or if Hu Tao leaves the battlefield or is defeated.
Hu Tao’s Elemental Burst, Spirit Soother:
Summons a blazing spirit that performs the following actions:
Damage Type: Deals Pyro damage to enemies within a large area of effect.
H.P. Regeneration: Regenerates a portion of Hu Tao's maximum H.P. when hitting an enemy, with this effect able to trigger up to five times depending on the number of enemies struck.
Enhanced Effects: If Hu Tao's H.P. is at or below fifty percent when the ability hits, both the damage dealt and the H.P. regeneration are increased.
Hu Tao’s Acension One Passive, Flutter By:
When Hu Tao's Paramita Papilio state, activated by her Guide to Afterlife ability, concludes, it grants a buff to her team. Specifically, all party members except Hu Tao receive a twelve percent increase in their critical rate for eight seconds.
Hu Tao’s Acension Four Passive, Sanguine Rouge:
When Hu Tao's health drops to fifty percent or below, she receives a thirty three percent increase in her Pyro Damage Bonus, enhancing her Pyro-based attacks.
Hu Tao’s Utility Passive, The More the Merrier:
When Hu Tao perfectly cooks a dish, there is an eighteen percent chance that she will also produce an additional suspicious version of the same dish.
Hu Tao’s Talent Leveling Priority:
One: Level Hu Tao’s Normal Attack. Two: Level Hu Tao’s Elemental Skill. Three: Level Hu Tao’s Elemental Burst.
Hu Tao’s Constellation One, Crimson Bouquet:
While in the Paramita Papilio state activated by her Guide to Afterlife ability, Hu Tao's charged attacks do not consume any stamina.
Hu Tao’s Constellation Two, Ominous Rainfall:
The Blood Blossom damage caused by Hu Tao's abilities is enhanced by an amount equal to ten percent of her maximum H.P. at the time the effect is applied. Additionally, her Spirit Soother ability will now also apply the Blood Blossom effect to enemies.
Hu Tao’s Constellation Three, Lingering Carmine:
This constellation increases the level of Hu Tao's ability, Guide to Afterlife, by three levels. The maximum level for this ability, after upgrades, is fifteen.
Hu Tao’s Constellation Four, Garden of Eternal Rest:
When Hu Tao defeats an enemy affected by a blood blossom she applied, it triggers a bonus for her team. All nearby allies, excluding Hu Tao, receive a twelve percent increase in their critical rate for fifteen seconds.
Hu Tao’s Constellation Five, Floral Incense:
This constellation increases the level of Hu Tao's ability, Spirit Soother, by three levels. The maximum level for this ability, after upgrades, is fifteen.
Hu Tao’s Constellation Six, Butterfly's Embrace:
When Hu Tao's health drops below twenty-five percent or she receives a lethal hit, the following effects are triggered:
Survivability: Hu Tao will not be knocked out from the damage that triggered this effect.
Resistance Boost: For the next ten seconds, all her elemental and physical resistances increase by two hundred percent.
Critical Rate Increase: Her critical rate increases by one hundred percent.
Interruption Resistance: Her resistance to being interrupted is greatly increased.
Activation Condition: This effect automatically activates when Hu Tao is reduced to one H.P.
Cooldown: This ability can only trigger once every sixty seconds.
Constellation One vs. Signature Polearm:
I would recommend pulling for Hu Tao’s Constellation One over Staff of Homa in most cases because it removes the need for jump cancels. However, if you want to play Hu Tao in Xianyun teams, I would recommend Staff of Homa because you do not jump cancel anyways on Xianyun teams. Other constellations are not recommended for Hu Tao because of the opportunity cost of pulling for better characters on your account.
Hu Tao’s Weapon Priority:
One: The Staff of Homa is the best in slot polearm for Hu Tao. Two: The Staff of Scarlet Sands is the best alternative five-star limited gacha polearm for Hu Tao. Three: The Ballad of the Fjords is the best battlepass four-star polearm for Hu Tao. Four: The Dragon's Bane is the best four-star gacha polearm for Hu Tao. Five: The White Tassel is the best free-to-play three-star polearm for Hu Tao. Six: The Primordial Jade Winged-Spear is decent if you pull it on the standard banner.
Hu Tao’s Artifact Sets:
One: Four-piece Crimson Witch of Flames is the best artifact set for Hu Tao but has a low domain farm value because Lavawalker can also be acquired from the domain, which is a bad artifact set. Therefore, the best way to obtain Crimson Witch of Flames artifact pieces is by using the Artifact Strongbox.
Two: Four-piece Shimenawa's Reminiscence is the second best artifact set for Hu Tao but has an equal priority to Crimson Witch of Flames because its domain has a high domain farm value since Emblem of Severed Fate can also be acquired from its domain, which is a really good artifact set.
Three: Four-piece Gilded Dreams is an alternative if you want to run an Elemental Mastery-focused Hu Tao. The domain has a high farm value because the Deepwood Memories artifact set can be acquired from it too. However, Gilded Dreams is not as good as either Crimson Witch of Flames or Shimenawa's Reminiscence.
Four: Four-piece Marechaussee Hunter is another alternative only if you are using Furina on your Hu Tao team.
Five: A two-piece artifact combination that Hu Tao can use while farming for a four-piece set is the two-piece Tenacity of the Millelith and two-piece Wanderer's Troupe.
Hu Tao’s Build—Artifact Main Stats:
Sands: H.P. Percent or Elemental Mastery. Goblet: Pyro Damage Percent. Circlet: Critical Rate or Critical Damage.
Artifact Substat Priority:
One: Aim for one hundred to one hundred fifty Elemental Mastery, including buffs. Two: A one to two crit ratio. Three: Elemental Mastery within the two hundred to three hundred range with buffs. Four: H.P. percent.
Energy recharge requirements:
Do not build energy recharge on Hu Tao. Instead, players should use her Elemental Burst when it becomes available.
Conclusion:
Overall, I would not recommend pulling for Hu Tao because Arlecchino is a much better on-field pyro main D.P.S.