Skip to main content
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

The best Genshin Impact Hu Tao build, weapons, and Hu Tao F2P options

The best build for the best character (don't argue)

The best Genshin Impact Hu Tao build is turns this funeral parlour owner into a DPS monster, ranking among some of the best characters in Genshin Impact if you’re willing to invest in this five star pyro polearm user.

Hu Tao is a powerful pyro character who is amazing at dishing out massive crit damage especially when making use of elemental reactions. When supported with a well-constructed team comp, Hu Tao can devastated enemies in almost any situation.

Even if you weren’t around to roll for her signature weapon back in version 2.2 of the game, you can still dish out some major damage with Hu Tao.

Genshin Impact Hu Tao

When is the Hu Tao banner?

Hu Tao’s banner begins on January 18 , 2023 when Genshin Impact 3.4 begins. Alongside Hu Tao, you’ve also got Yelan who will be receiving a boosted drop rate too.

Is Hu Tao a DPS?

Yep! Hu Tao is one of the best DPS characters in the game.Not only can they deal loads of damage with crit damage, they also provide the rest of your party bonus crit damage too, making them incredibly valuable.

Hu Tao can also apply almost constant pyro damage thanks to their elemental skill, which applies a pyro damage-over-time effect and changes her normal damage type to Pyro at the cost of some HP. Pair that with her elemental burst, which deals massive pyro damage to enemies around her and triggers HP regeneration, and you’ve got an incredibly powerful DPS carry.

While Hu Tao is good enough on her own, pairing them with another pyro character to trigger the pyro elemental resonance effect, as well as a cryo character to trigger melt elemental reactions, will make them even stronger. Consider bringing along Bennet or Klee for the Pyro, and Ayaka and Ganyu for Cryo

Should I pull for Hu Tao?

Absolutely! Hu Tao is among the best characters in the game, and is a valuable addition to any player’s roster of characters. Not only can you build a whole team around them, they can vastly improve any party you slot them into.

Slotting Hu Tao in as the main DPS carry in your team is a great option regardless on what other characters you own. Newer players can slot in Amber, Kaeya, Lisa, and other entry-level characters that you earn for free. Those with other brilliant picks like Benent, Ganyu etc, you can create a truly exceptional team.

Screenshot from Hu Tao Genshin Impact teaser trailer
Frankly, a must have for any Genshin player.

What is the best Genshin Impact Hu Tao build?

The best Hu Tao build boosts her HP and attack damage, featuring equipment that scale attack with HP wherever possible since that plays directly into their elemental abilities.

Best Hu Tao weapon – Staff of Homa

Staff of Homa is a five star polearm and Hu Tao’s signature weapon. It has a super high base attack value of 46, and increases the users Crit damage by 14.4% at level one, which is absurd. Not only does its passive skill increase your HP, it also grants an attack bonus based on 0.8% of your max HP. In addition, when Hu Tao’s HP drops below 50%, this attack boost increases by an extra 1%.

Sadly, this is a tricky weapon to get these days! It was available in a weapon banner alongside Hu Tao’s release back in version 2.2, and has since not been made available. If you have it that’s great news, but many will have to look to alternatives.

Thankfully, the Staff of the Scarlet Sands exists and is a great runner up choice. This polearm boosts your crit rate by 9.6%, and provides a flat 44 attack at level 1. It provides boosts based on elemental mastery, giving 52% of Hu Tao’s elemental mastery as extra attack. In addition, when you hit an enemy with your elemental skill, the equipped character gains 28% of their elemental mastery as attack for 10 seconds, stacking 3 times.

If you’re looking for a 4-star option, Deathmatch is a great option that provides all the stats that Hu Tao wants: attack and crit rate. You get it by reaching rank 30 on the gnostic hymn. This also has a passive ability scaling an attack and defence bonus depending on the number of enemies nearby.

Best Hu Tao Artifacts – The Crimson Witch of Flames

The Crimson Witch of Flames set is perfect for Hu Tao.

  • 2-piece effect: Increases Pyro damage by 15 percent
  • 4-piece effect: Increases overload, burning and burgeon damage by 40%, and vaporise and melt damage by 15%. Using an elemental skill boosts the 2-piece bonus (pyro damage up 15%) by 50% for 10 seconds. This can stack up to 3 times.

If you’re early in the game and don’t have any of the super rare artefact sets yet, you have some other options available, including the Martial Artist set.

  • 2-piece effect: Increases normal and charged attack by 15 percent
  • 4-piece effect: After using an elemental skill, normal and charged attack damage increases by a further 25 percent.

Shimenawa’s Reminisence may also serve you well.

  • 2-piece effect: Raises attack by 18 percent
  • 4-piece effect: If the user has 15 or more energy when using an elemental skill, they lose 15 energy, and increase normal, charged, and plunging attack damage by 50 percent for 10 seconds
Screenshot from Hu Tao gameplay trailer Genshin Impact
With the right weapons and artefacts, Hu Tao is actually quite scary.

Whatever set you choose, aim for critical hit rate, attack, HP, and Pyro damage for your substats.

What is the best Genshin Impact Hu Tao F2P build?

Even if craftable polearms aren’t going to hit nearly the damage numbers of some of the gacha options out there, you can still make them work with a few decent options.

Best Hu Tao F2P weapon – White Tassel

White Tassel is a 3-star weapon you can find in chests, and it’s a strong contender for one of Hu Tao’s best F2P weapons. It provides 39 base attack, a crit rate boost of 5.1%, and has a passive skill that increases normal attack damage by 24%.

If you have been rolling on banners a little bit, you may have got your hands on the Dragon’s Bane. This four star polearm is a common drop from banners, grants 41 attack, as well as 48 extra elemental mastery. It’s passive effect increases the damage taken by enemies affected by pyro or hydro by 20%.

Best Hu Tao F2P Artefacts – Martial Artist set

As mentioned above, the Martial Artist set is a great cheap option for any player looking to equip some powerful artefacts to Hu Tao.

Check out our recap of the Genshin version 3.4 livestream for an overview of everything you can expect with the big update , and make sure to redeem any active Genshin Impact codes for free primo gems and more ahead of Hu tao’s banner returning!

Sign in and unlock a world of features

Get access to commenting, homepage personalisation, newsletters, and more!

In this article

Genshin Impact

Android, iOS, PS4, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch

Related topics
About the Author
Connor Makar avatar

Connor Makar

Staff Writer

Connor is VG247's roaming reporter, with 3 years' experience in the field. A passionate fighting game fan, he is glued onto the genre and its community. He is tragically a grappler player. And likes gacha.
Comments