Welcome to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, where the dead have never looked so lively! This is, of course, all thanks to the creepy-cute funeral director, Genshin Impact’s Hu Tao. This adorably spooky gal isn’t all business, though. So let’s take a look at the best Genshin Hu Tao build, featuring all her skills, best weapons and artifacts, and more.
If you haven’t managed to obtain Hu Tao yet, take a look at our Genshin Impact’s Razor, Genshin Impact’s Bennett, and Genshin Impact’s Lynette guides if you need a strong character, or check out our Genshin Impact tier list or Genshin Impact next banner guide. For those of you who are low on primogems, we’ve also created a Genshin Impact codes list, so you’ll have a few more chances to obtain Hu Tao.
Here’s everything you need to know about Wangsheng Funeral Parlor director Genshin Impact’s Hu Tao.
What’s the best Genshin Impact Hu Tao build?
| Best weapon | Staff of Homa |
| Weapon substitutes | Dragon’s Bane (vaporize or overload teams) or Deathmatch |
| Best artifact set | Crimson Witch of Flames |
| Artifact substitutes | Shimenawa’s Reminiscence |
| Main stats |
|
| Sub-stats |
|
Hu Tao’s best weapon is undoubtedly the Staff of Homa. It works wonders with her kit at C0 if you have it at R1. Both of these are pricy options, but there’s definitely a lesser of two evils at play. As a classic pyro DPS, Hu Tao’s best artifact set is Crimson Witch of Flames. Her most important stats are her HP%, pyro damage bonus, crit, and elemental mastery.
When leveling up Hu Tao’s talents, we recommend that you prioritize her normal attack – but don’t neglect her elemental skill and elemental burst, as they’re also important parts of her kit. Additionally, while you can leave her at level 80, getting her to level 90 results in about a 7-8% damage increase, so it’s worth ascending her if you use her a lot (you can see the full sheet of calculations here, as referenced in the KeqingMains Hu Tao guide).
How to use Hu Tao
Hu Tao is an amazing main DPS and can dish out some top-notch single-target damage. She can take a little getting used to due to her unique HP mechanic, but her pyro application is brilliant. However, she comes with her own caveats that can cause a massive variance in her power, and making the most of her kit really depends on how much effort you want to put into her due to how challenging her mechanic is.
As mentioned above, Hu Tao is an incredibly powerful single-target focused unit, which can act as both a benefit and a negative. She’s powerful at all constellations, but combining her C1 with the Staff of Homa weapon sees her damage spike significantly. KQM has a great guide on how to learn her animation canceling to get even more out of this fiery fighter.
Hu Tao’s kit revolves around carefully managing her HP to get the most out of her abilities. Her elemental skill uses her HP to deal pyro damage, and once you unlock one of her passives, having low HP boosts that damage even further. She can then restore her health and deal massive amounts of AoE pyro damage with her elemental burst, resetting the cycle.
What are the best Hu Tao weapons?
Whether at R1 or R5, the Staff of Homa is the best Hu Tao weapon by a mile. It’s generally considered BiS (best in slot) for almost every polearm user but, as it was tailored specifically to Hu Tao, she’s the only one capable of fully utilizing its passive.
If you’re running four-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence or Gilded Dreams, Staff of the Scarlet Sands is an alternative five-star polearm for Hu Tao, thanks to its high elemental mastery to attack conversion and crit rate. As KQM points out, she can’t make the most of the staff’s stacks, but if your Staff of Homa belongs to someone else, give this polearm a go.
If you don’t have Staff of Homa, Dragon’s Bane is a great option for vaporize compositions, and beats out Deathmatch in overload teams. On the other hand, Deathmatch is an easy-to-build option equal to Dragon’s Bane in most scenarios, beating it out firmly in melt team comps or when your Hu Tao is utilizing damage% or elemental mastery buffs.
| Weapon | Effect | How to obtain |
| Staff of Homa | Bonus stat: crit damage Skill: HP is increased by 20%. Hu Tao also receives an attack bonus based on 0.8% of her max HP. When HP drops below 50%, the attack bonus is increased by an additional 1% of Hu Tao’s max HP |
Gacha |
| Staff of the Scarlet Sands | Bonus stat: crit rate Skill: Hu Tao gains 52% of her elemental mastery as bonus attack. When an elemental skill hits opponents, gain the Dream of the Scarlet Sands effect for ten seconds. Dream of the Scarlet Sands: Hu Tao gains 28% of her elemental mastery as bonus attack. Max three stacks |
Gacha |
| Dragon’s Bane | Bonus stat: elemental mastery Skill: Damage is increased by 20% against enemies affected by hydro or pyro |
Gacha |
| Deathmatch | Bonus stat: crit rate Skill: If there are at least two enemies nearby, increase attack and defense by 16%. If there are fewer than two enemies nearby, attack increases by 24% |
Battle pass |
What are the best Hu Tao artifacts?
As Hu Tao is a pyro main DPS, Crimson Witch of Flames is the best option. Alternatively, Shimenawa’s Reminiscence has pretty high damage output, too.
As we mentioned above, Gilded Dreams is a good four-piece set if you’re running the Staff of the Scarlet Sands, and you can usually trigger the EM buff in double hydro teams. For early-game content, you can equip her with a full set of Berserker until you get something better.
| Artifact set | Effect | How to obtain |
| Crimson Witch of Flames | Two equipped: pyro damage +15% Four equipped: increases overloaded and burning damage by 40%, and vaporize and melt damage by 15%. Using an elemental skill increases two-piece set effects by 50% for ten seconds. Maximum three stacks |
Hidden Palace of Zhou Formula domain on Bashui Plain, Wuwang Hill |
| Berserker | Two equipped: crit rate +12% Four equipped: when HP is below 70%, crit rate is increased by an additional 24% |
Treasure chests, enemy drops, domains |
| Shimenawa’s Reminiscence | Two equipped: attack +18% Four equipped: when using an elemental skill with 15 or more energy, you lose 15 energy and gain 50% normal/charge/plunging attack damage for ten seconds. This effect won’t trigger again during that duration |
Momiji-Dyed Court domain on Yashiori Island in Inazuma |
| Gilded Dreams | Two equipped: elemental mastery +80 Four equipped: within eight seconds of triggering an elemental reaction, Hu Tao obtains buffs based on the elemental type of the other party members. Attack is increased by 14% for each party member whose elemental type is the same as Hu Tao’s (pyro), and elemental mastery is increased by 50 for every party member with a different elemental type. Each of the aforementioned buffs will count up to three characters. This effect can be triggered once every eight seconds. Hu Tao can still trigger its effects when not on the field |
Spire of Solitary Enlightenment domain in Avidya Forest, Sumeru |
Artifact stat recommendations
Main stats:
- Sands: HP or elemental mastery
- Goblet: pyro damage%
- Circlet: crit rate/crit damage (try to maintain a 1:2 ratio)
Sub-stats:
- Elemental mastery (up to 100)
- Crit rate/crit damage (try to maintain a 1:2 ratio)
- Elemental mastery (100+)
- HP%
- Attack%
- HP
- Attack
What are the best Hu Tao team comps?
Hu Tao is a monster DPS unit so she can fit in a variety of team comps depending on which characters you own and your preferred playstyle. If you’re using Crimson Witch of Flames in your build, we recommend a multi-element team to make the most of those reaction buffs, and make sure to include at least one hydro unit if you’re using Dragon’s Bane.
Here’s an example of a strong Hu Tao team comp:
 Hu Tao |
 Yelan |
 Zhongli |
 Xingqiu |
What are Hu Tao’s abilities?
Active skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Normal attack: Secret Spear of Wangsheng | Normal: Performs up to six strikes Charged: Consumes stamina to lunge forward, dealing damage to enemies along the way Plunging: Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE damage upon impact |
| Elemental skill: Guide to Afterlife | Paramita Papilio: Consumes a set portion of Hu Tao’s HP to knock back enemies and enter the Paramita Papilio State. While in this state, Hu Tao’s attack is increased based on her max HP. The attack bonus cannot exceed 400% of her base attack. Hu Tao’s damage is converted into pyro damage during this time and resistance to interruption is increased. This effect ends when she leaves battle or has fallen Blood Blossom: While in the Paramita Papilio State, Hu Tao’s charged attack inflicts enemies with the Blood Blossom Effect. Enemies affected take pyro damage every four seconds |
| Elemental burst: Spirit Soother | Hu Tao summons a blazing spirit that deals large AoE pyro damage. On hit, a percentage of Hu Tao’s HP is regenerated. This can trigger up to five times, and if Hu Tao’s HP is below or equal to 50%, damage and regeneration are increased |
Passive skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Flutter By | When the Paramita Papilio state ends, all allies (excluding Hu Tao) crit rate is increased by 12% for eight seconds |
| Sanguine Rouge | Hu Tao’s pyro damage is increased by 33% when her HP is equal to or less than 50% |
| The More the Merrier | When Hu Tao cooks a perfect dish, there is an 18% chance to receive an additional “Suspicious” dish |
What are Hu Tao’s constellations?
You can level up Hu Tao’s constellations by using the Stella Fortuna you obtain when receiving a duplicate Hu Tao. Here’s every level-up bonus.
| Constellation | Effect |
| C1: Crimson Bouquet | While in Paramita Papilio state, Hu Tao’s charged attacks don’t consume stamina |
| C2: Ominous Rainfall | Blood Blossom damage is increased by an amount equal to 10% of Hu Tao’s max HP when the effect is applied. Spirit Soother will now also apply the Blood Blossom effect |
| C3: Lingering Carmine | The level of Guide to Afterlife is increased by three |
| C4: Garden of Eternal Rest | When an enemy affected by a Blood Blossom is defeated, all nearby allies (excluding Hu Tao) will have their crit rate increased by 12% for 15 seconds |
| C5: Floral Incense | The level of Spirit Soother is increased by three |
| C6: Butterfly’s Embrace | When Hu Tao’s HP drops below 25%, or when she suffers a lethal blow:
|
What are Hu Tao’s ascension materials?
In order to ascend Hu Tao, you need the following materials:
| Level | Mora | Ascension materials |
| 20+ | 20k | One agnidus agate sliver, three silk flowers, three whopperflower nectars |
| 40+ | 40k | Three agnidus agate fragments, two juvenile jades, ten silk flowers, 15 whopperflower nectars |
| 50+ | 60k | Six agnidus agate fragments, four juvenile jades, 20 silk flowers, 12 shimmering nectars |
| 60+ | 80k | Three agnidus agate chunks, eight juvenile jades, 30 silk flowers, 18 shimmering nectars |
| 70+ | 100k | Six agnidus agate chunks, 12 juvenile jades, 45 silk flowers, 12 energy nectars |
| 80+ | 120k | Six agnidus agate gemstones, 20 juvenile jades, 60 silk flowers, 24 energy nectars |
Here’s where to get all of Hu Tao’s ascension materials:
- Agnidus agate – drops from normal and weekly bosses
- Silk flowers – sold in Liyue and Sumeru, found in Liyue Harbor and the Wangshu Inn, or grown in the Serenitea Pot
- Juvenile jade – drops from the Primo Geovishap normal boss in Liyue
- Whopperflower, shimmering, and energy nectar – drops from whopperflower enemies in Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, and Sumeru
What are Hu Tao’s talent materials?
You can upgrade Hu Tao’s three attacks to level ten. Here are all the materials you need to get one of Hu Tao’s talents to max level.
| Level | Mora | Materials |
| Two | 12.5k | Six whopperflower nectars, three teachings of diligence |
| Three | 17.5k | Three shimmering nectars, two guides to diligence |
| Four | 25k | Four shimmering nectars, four guides to diligence |
| Five | 30k | Six shimmering nectars, six guides to diligence |
| Six | 37.5k | Nine shimmering nectars, nine guides to diligence |
| Seven | 120k | Four energy nectars, four philosophies of diligence, one shard of a foul legacy |
| Eight | 260k | Six energy nectars, six philosophies of diligence, one shard of a foul legacy |
| Nine | 450k | Nine energy nectars, 12 philosophies of diligence, two shards of a foul legacy |
| Ten | 700k | 12 energy nectars, 16 philosophies of diligence, two shards of a foul legacy, one crown of insight |
Here’s where to get each of Hu Tao’s talent materials:
- Whopperflower, shimmering, and energy nectar – drops from whopperflower enemies in Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, and Sumeru
- Diligence talent books – rewards from the Taishan Mansion domains on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays
- Shard of a foul legacy – drops from the Childe weekly boss in Liyue
Talent level priority
When leveling up Hu Tao’s talents, we recommend prioritizing them in the following order:
- Normal attack > elemental skill > elemental burst
However, keep in mind that all three play an important part in her damage output, so don’t neglect any of them!
That’s everything you need to know about Genshin Impact’s Hu Tao. If you’re looking for a new Hoyoverse adventure to try out, check out our Honkai Star Rail tier list and Honkai Star Rail codes. We’ve also got build guides for characters like Honkai Star Rail’s Black Swan, Honkai Star Rail’s Firefly, and Honkai Star Rail’s March 7th.