Hu Tao is one of the strongest DPS characters in all of Genshin Impact, and this 5-Star polearm user has remained a meta mainstay even all this time after her initial debut. The 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor is one of Genshin Impact’s most popular characters, and for good reason. She has a great design, some of the most enjoyable dialogue in the game, and, of course, her kit is absolutely insane. If you’re in need of a Pyro unit for your Genshin Impact team then look no further. Hu Tao is already great with her base stats, but with the right build, she can become one of the strongest units in the whole game.
Hu Tao Playstyle
Hu Tao is an elemental DPS whose main strength lies in her ability to deal massive and constant Pyro damage thanks to her Elemental Skill, which allows her to enter her Paramita Papilio State. When in this state, she coats her normal attacks in Pyro and increases her overall ATK based on her max HP. As such, Hu Tao will be the main damage dealer of your team and you should focus on increasing her Max HP stat whenever you can.
Best Hu Tao Artifacts
A Hu Tao build needs to be focused on her strong suits, which lie in her HP to ATK conversion, and on her ability to deal constant Pyro damage. With that said, we recommend the use of the 4-piece Crimson Witch of Flames set, which not only increases her Pyro DMG by 15% but also increases the damage of both Overloaded and Burning by 40% and that of Vaporize and Melt by 15%, all while increasing her overall Pyro DMG by 7.5% (up to 22.5%) for 10 seconds after the use of her Elemental Skill.
You could also use the 4-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence set, which increases ATK by 18% and consumes Hu Tao’s energy to increase attack damage by a further 50%. Of course, you’d lose out on Hu Tao’s Elemental Burst, so this isn’t recommended unless you already have a set with good stats. There’s also the 4-piece Gilded Dreams set, which increases Elemental Mastery by 80 and further buffs Hu Tao based on elemental reactions.
What Stats Should You Prioritize for Hu Tao?
Taking into account that Hu Tao’s Elemental Skill scales of her Max HP, we recommend that you make use of an HP% Sands of Eon and look for ATK, CRIT, and Pyro damage increases on the rest of her Artifacts. You can check out the best main stats for each artifact below:
- Flower of Life: HP%
- Plume of Death: ATK%
- Sands of Eon: HP%
- Goblet of Eonothem: Pyro Damage Bonus
- Circlet of Logos: CRIT Rate%
We advise you to prioritize the substats CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, and HP%. It is also vital that you get an amount of at least 50% CRIT Rate and 100% CRIT Damage from the artifacts alone so that you can choose her weapon without having to worry about having an adequate CRIT Rate and Damage stat. Remember, Hu Tao will always have a massive amount of CRIT Damage thanks to her innate trait, so focus on CRIT Rate instead when choosing Artifacts.
Best Hu Tao Weapons
Taking into account Hu Tao’s strong suits, her featured weapon, the Staff of Homa, is the best weapon in the game for her since the 5-Star polearm offers not only a huge boost in HP (20%) but also a boost in ATK and in CRIT DMG. This weapon synergizes incredibly well with the build that this guide describes, but other polearms can work with Hu Tao as well since she’s just that good.
Our runner-up choice would be the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear — which has a CRIT Rate substat — making it easier to hit the ideal 70% CRIT Rate. The weapon also allows players to get even more CRIT DMG by pairing it with a CRIT DMG Circlet of Logos since the weapon will boost the CRIT Rate stat enough on its own.
On the 4-Star weapons side, our main choice would be the Dragon’s Bane polearm, which allows Hu Tao to deal 20% more damage to enemies affected by Pyro or Hydro. The Battle-Pass exclusive Deathmatch polearm is also a good pick since it offers a good boost in CRIT Rate.
Best Hu Tao Talents
Since, as we said above, Hu Tao is a character whose kit focuses on her ability to deal elemental damage by imbuing her normal attacks with Pyro thanks to her Elemental Skill, it is vital that you focus on increasing her normal attacks and her Elemental Skill first. However, don’t forget her Elemental Burst is also a vital part of her kit and is capable of dealing massive damage. You can get Hu Tao’s Talent Level-Up Materials from the Taishan Mansion domain — located on Jueyun Karst in Liyue — on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Best Team Compositions for Hu Tao
Hu Tao is a DPS who is able to deal a lot of damage by herself, but one who can only unleash her true potential by being placed in the right team composition. With that said, you need a team capable of allowing her to trigger both the Vaporize (Hydro+Pyro) and Melt (Cryo+Pyro) reactions, which scale off ATK, unlike other elemental reactions in Genshin Impact.
Vaporize Hu Tao Team
Here’s a Vaporize-focused team for Hu Tao:
- Hu Tao
- Xingqiu
- Mona/Kokomi
- Tighnari
With this composition, XIngqiu and Mona or Kokomi can keep enemies afflicted with Hydro for quite some time, allowing Hu Tao to come in and deal massive damage. Tighnari is also a fantastic ally for Hu Tao because he can spread Dendro Cores across the field that Hu Tao can detonate with the Burgeon reaction. Dendro in general is a super strong element to pair with Hydro, so you can swap Tighnari with any Dendro character, really.
5-Star Hu Tao Team
In addition, here’s another powerful Hu Tao team composition with more 5-Star characters:
- Hu Tao
- Xingqiu
- Kazuha
- Zhongli
This mainly follows the same strategy as the other team described above, but swaps in Kazuha and Zhongli to make use of their powerful kits. Zhongli in particular is a great support for Hu Tao and makes her low health less of an issue during combat.
F2P Hu Tao Team
If you’re a purely free-to-play Genshin Impact player, then here’s a good F2P Hu Tao team composition:
- Hu Tao
- Barbara
- Thoma
- Sucrose
Again, this is a Vaporize-focused team that pairs Barbara with Hu Tao to maximize damage output. Thoma is there to provide shields and Sucrose can debuff enemies to further enhance Hu Tao’s potential.
