Genshin Impact’s Raiden Shogun is the electro archon of Inazuma, and, as a five-star electro character, she’s just as powerful as you’d hope the holder of that title would be. So let’s take a look at her best build, including team comps, weapons, and more.
If you want to see how the archon of Inazuma sizes up against the rest of the crew, be sure to check out our Genshin Impact tier list. And, if you want to pull on the next Genshin Impact banner, we’ve also got a list of all the new Genshin Impact codes.
Here’s everything in our best Genshin Impact Raiden build:
What is the best Genshin Impact Raiden build?
Raiden Shogun is a five-star electro polearm wielder. She’s an incredibly powerful unit, capable of dishing out a dizzying amount of damage in both DPS and sub-DPS roles – in fact, the Raiden National team places her at the forefront of one of the strongest lineups in the game, and is an extremely popular choice in the Spiral Abyss.
Here’s a brief overview of our best Genshin Impact Raiden Shogun build:
| Rarity | Five-star |
| Element | Electro |
| Weapon | Polearm |
| Best weapon | Engulfing Lightning |
| Weapon substitutes |
|
| Best artifact set | Emblem of Severed Fate |
| Artifact substitutes |
|
| Main stats |
|
| Sub stats |
|
Raiden’s best weapon is her signature five-star polearm, Engulfing Lightning. Her best artifact set is Emblem of Severed Fate. When picking artifacts for her, we recommend prioritizing attack%, crit, and energy recharge.
In terms of leveling talents, we recommend prioritizing Raiden’s elemental burst first, then her elemental skill. You can leave leveling her normal attack until last.
Raiden is a very flexible unit that synergises with a wide range of teammates, as long as they benefit from electro reactions. She deals a respectable level of personal damage even without much investment, has some very powerful free-to-play weapon choices, and is a strong DPS or sub-DPS even at C0 – though her early constellations are major upgrades, especially her C2.
How to use Raiden
In combat, your top priority should be setting up Raiden’s buffs properly and condensing her damage.
You should always start a battle with Raiden’s elemental skill before switching to other characters, as this imbues her allies with electro damage and sets up her Chakra Desiderata stacks. After this, you should use all other characters’ bursts before using Raiden’s to get the max number of Chakra Desiderata stacks.
If you have an anemo character equipped with Viridescent Venerer on Raiden’s team, you should also aim to trigger the ten second VV buff right before you switch to Raiden to use her burst. So, generally, your Viridescent anemo character should be the last of Raiden’s teammates to use their skill and burst before her, so they can swirl and trigger that tasty resistance shred.
Also note that, in order to make the most of Raiden’s burst, you should keep her on-field for its full duration, and ensure that any buffs are set up beforehand.
What’s the best weapon for Genshin Impact’s Raiden Shogun?
Raiden’s signature weapon is the five-star polearm, Engulfing Lightning. It compliments her kit perfectly by boosting bother her energy recharge and attack.
Of course, it is a five-star limited banner weapon, and may be a bit pricy if you’re a low spender or F2P. Luckily, Raiden also greatly benefits from the Catch, especially at R5 – which you can earn by catching fish and trading them in at the Inazuma Fishing Association.
Alternatively, the Battle Pass weapon Deathmatch also compliments her kit well, and at R5 it even out-performs The Catch, though that would mean paying for the premium Battle Pass and getting to level 30 five times.
Other five-star polearms also make great options if you’ve got them laying around, with Staff of Homa, Primordial Jade Winged-Spear, Calamity Queller, and Skyward Spine all complimenting her in different ways. For a breakdown of how all the different polearms size up against The Catch, check out the Keqingmains guide.
| Weapon | Effect | How to obtain |
| Engulfing Lightning | Bonus effect: increases energy recharge Skill: increases attack by 28% of your energy recharge over the base 100% (to a maximum bonus of 80% attack). Also gain 30% energy recharge for 12 seconds after the equipping character uses their elemental burst |
Gacha |
| The Catch | Bonus effect: increases energy recharge Skill: increases elemental burst damage by 16% and elemental burst crit rate by 6% |
Exchange at the Inazuma Fishing Association |
| Deathmatch | Bonus effect: increases crit rate Skill: if there are at least two enemies nearby, attack increases by 16%. If there are any less than two enemies nearby, attack increases by 24% |
Battle Pass reward |
| Primordial Jade Winged-Spear | Bonus effect: increases energy recharge Skill: on hit, the wielder’s attack increases by 3.2% for six seconds, for a maximum of seven stacks. This effect can only occur once every 0.3 seconds. While the character possesses seven stacks, their damage dealt increases by 12% |
Gacha |
What are the best artifacts for Raiden Shogun?
The best artifact set for Raiden is easily Emblem of Severed Fate, which boosts her energy recharge and elemental burst damage dramatically. No other set comes close to this one, so this should always be your primary choice.
Alternatively, if you’ve not yet managed to get a decent Emblem of Severed Fate set, you can combine two pieces of Thundering Fury with two pieces of Noblesse Oblige. However, this should only be a temporary placeholder.
There is some room for Raiden to use Gilded Dreams in a hyperbloom team, or Deepwood Memories if there isn’t another character holding that set on the team. However, these are more situational, experimental builds, and for the sake of team flexibility and personal damage, we generally recommend sticking to Emblem of Severed Fate and keeping the Gilded Dreams and Deepwood Memories sets for her other teammates.
| Artifact set | Effect | Where to get |
| Emblem of Severed Fate | Two equipped: energy recharge is boosted by 20% Four equipped: elemental burst damage is increased by 25% of energy recharge. A maximum of 75% bonus damage can be obtained in this way |
Momiji-Dyed Court domain on Yashiori Island in Inazuma |
| Thundering Fury | Two equipped: electro damage is increased by 15% | Midsummer Courtyard domain in Starfell Valley, Starsnatch Cliff |
| Noblesse Oblige | Two equipped: elemental burst damage is increased by 20% | Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern domain in Minlin, Mt. Aozang |
Artifact stat priorities
When choosing artifacts for Raiden, you should try to prioritize the following stats.
Main stats:
- Sands: attack%
- Goblet: electro damage bonus
- Circlet: Crit rate or crit damage (try to maintain a 1:2 rate to damage ratio overall)
Sub-stats:
- Attack%
- Crit damage
- Crit rate
- Energy recharge
To find out more about how artifacts work, check out our Genshin Impact artifacts guide.
What are the best Raiden team comps?
The most famous Raiden team is easily ‘Raiden National’, which pairs Raiden with the powerful four-stars, Xiangling, Xingqiu, and Bennett. This team has been one of the most popular to take on Spiral Abyss for a very long time, and stands up well against a vast majority of the game’s content.
However, this line-up is far from the only successful Raiden team comp and, as mentioned in the build section, she can comfortably fit into many teams that benefit from electro applications – from hyperbloom to electro-charged and overload teams.
Here are some examples of strong Raiden team comps.
| First character slot | Second character slot | Third character slot | Fourth character slot |
 Raiden |
 Xiangling |
 Xingqiu |
 Bennett |
| Raiden |
 Ayato |
 Nahida |
 Kuki |
| Raiden |
 Yae Miko |
 Sara |
 Jean |
| Raiden |
 Sucrose |
 Fischl |
Bennett |
| Raiden |
 Lisa |
 Venti |
 Kokomi |
| Raiden |
Kokomi |
Nahida |
 Yaoyao |
What are Raiden’s abilities?
Here are all of Raiden’s skills and attacks.
Active skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Normal attack: Origin | Normal: perform up to five spear strikes Charged: consume stamina to perform an upward slash Plunge: plunge from mid-air, dealing AoE damage on impact with the ground |
| Elemental skill: Transcendence: Baleful Omen | Raiden Shogun deals electro damage to nearby opponents, and grants nearby party members the Eye of Stormy Judgment
|
| Elemental burst: Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu | Raiden Shogun unleashes the Musou no Hitotachi and deals AoE electro damage, using Musou Isshin in combat for a certain duration afterwards. The damage dealt by Musou no Hitotachi and Musou Isshin’s attacks are increased based on the number of Chakra Desiderata’s resolve stacks consumed when this skill is used Musou Isshin: While in this state, Raiden Shogun will wield her tachi in battle. Her normal, charged, and plunging attacks are infused with electro damage, which cannot be overridden. When these attacks hit opponents, Raiden Shogun will regenerate energy for all nearby party members. Energy can be restored this way once every one second, and can be triggered five times throughout this skill’s duration While in this state, Raiden Shogun’s resistance to interruption is increased, and she’s immune to electro-charged reaction damage. While Musou Isshin is active, Raiden Shogun’s normal, charged, and plunging attack damage will be considered elemental burst damage. The effects of Musou Isshin are cleared when she leaves the field Chakra Desiderata: when nearby party members (excluding Raiden Shogun herself) use their elemental bursts, Raiden Shogun builds up resolve stacks based on the energy costs of the elemental bursts performed (maximum 60 stacks). Resolve gained by Chakra Desiderata will be cleared 300 seconds after she leaves the field |
Passive skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Wishes Unnumbered | When nearby party members gain elemental orbs or particles, Chakra Desiderata gains two resolve stacks. This effect can occur once every three seconds |
| Enlightened One | Each 1% above 100% energy recharge that Raiden possesses grants her 0.6% greater energy restoration from Musou Isshin and a 0.4% electro damage bonus |
| All-Preserver | Spend 50% less mora when ascending polearms and swords |
What are Raiden’s constellations?
Constellations are buffs that improve the character’s performance in battles. You can level up Raiden Shogun’s constellations when you get a duplicate of her while making a wish.
| Constellation | Effect |
| C1: Ominous Inscription | Chakra Desiderata gathers resolve even faster. When electro characters use their elemental bursts, the resolve increases by 80%, or by 20% for characters with other elemental types |
| C2: Steelbreaker | Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu’s Musou no Hitotachi and Musou Isshin attacks ignore 60% of opponents’ defence |
| C3: Shinkage Bygones | Increases the level of Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu by three. Maximum upgrade level is 15 |
| C4: Pledge of Propriety | When the Musou Isshin state applied by Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu expires, all nearby party members gain 30% bonus attack for ten seconds |
| C5: Shogun’s Descent | Increases the level of Transcendence: Baleful Omen by three. Maximum upgrade level is 15 |
| C6: Wishbearer | While in the Musou Isshin state applied by Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu, Raiden Shogun’s normal, charged, and plunging attacks decrease the cooldown time of all nearby allied party members’ elemental burst by one second when they hit opponents. This effect can trigger once every one second, and can trigger a total of five times during the state’s duration |
What are Raiden’s ascension materials?
If you want Raiden Shogun to live up to her full potential, you’ll need to ascend her at set level intervals.
Here are all of Raiden’s Ascension materials. You can find out where to get them below the table.
| Required level | Moira | Materials |
| 20 | 20,000 | One vajrada amethyst sliver, three amakumo fruit, three old handguards |
| 40 | 40,000 | Three vajrada amethyst fragments, two storm beads, ten amakumo fruit, 15 old handguards |
| 50 | 60,000 | Six vajrada amethyst fragments, four storm beads, 20 amakumo fruit, 12 kageuchi handguard |
| 60 | 80,000 | Three vajrada amethyst chunks, eight storm beads, 30 amakumo fruit, 12 kageuchi handguards |
| 70 | 100,000 | Six vajrada amethyst chunks, 12 storm beads, 45 amakumo fruit, 12 famed handguards |
| 80 | 120,000 | Six vajrada amethyst chunks, 20 storm beads, 60 amakumo fruit, 24 famed handguards |
Here’s where to get all of Raiden’s ascension materials:
- Vajrada amethyst – drops from weekly and normal bosses
- Amakumo fruit – found in the wild on Seirai Island, Inazuma
- Old, kageuchi, and famed handguards – drops from Nobushi and Kairagi enemies around Inazuma
- Storm beads – drops from the Thunder Manifestation normal boss located on Seirai Island’s Amakumo Peak in Inazuma
What are Raiden’s talent materials?
You can upgrade Raiden’s normal attack, elemental skill, and elemental burst to a maximum of level ten each. Here are all the materials you need to upgrade one of these talents to level ten.
| Level | Mora | Materials |
| Two | 12.5k | Six old handguards, three teachings of light |
| Three | 17.5k | Three kageuchi handguards, two guide to light |
| Four | 25k | Four kageuchi handguards, four guide to light |
| Five | 30k | Six kageuchi handguards, six guide to light |
| Six | 47.5k | Nine kageuchi handguards, nine guide to light |
| Seven | 120k | Four famed handguards, four philosophies of light, one molten moment |
| Eight | 260k | Six famed handguards, six philosophies of light, one molten moment |
| Nine | 450k | Nine famed handguards, 12 philosophies of light, two molten moment |
| Ten | 700k | 12 famed handguards, 16 philosophies of light, two molten moment, one crown of insight |
Here’s where to get all of Raiden’s talent materials:
- Old, kageuchi, and famed handguards – drops from Nobushi and Kairagi enemies around Inazuma
- Light talent books – rewards from the Violet Court domain on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday
- Molten Moment – drops from the La Signora weekly boss in Inazuma
Talent priority
When leveling up Raiden’s talents, you should prioritize them in the following order:
- Elemental burst > elemental skill >> normal attack
Generally, you can leave her normal attacks until last, as they are nowhere near as important as her burst and skill.
Who is Genshin Impact’s Raiden?
Raiden Shogun is the combination of two beings in one body. The first is Ei, the current Electro Archon of Inazuma. The second is the Shogun, a puppet that Ei created to act as the ruler of Inazuma in her stead.
Naturally, as the Archon, Raiden plays an extremely important role in Chapter II of the Archon Quests. She’s a stern woman, and a firm believer in ‘eternity’ – a place in which everything is kept the same, regardless of what goes on. Despite her honorable conduct earning the reverence and respect of her people, this unwillingness to change caused much turmoil in her nation, and led to Inazuma’s long term isolation.
Raiden displays quite a lot of development throughout Inazuma’s story, as the Traveler both challenges and befriends her. Throughout, it’s clear that Raiden is deeply devoted to Inazuma, and her main goal is to protect her people.
That’s everything you need to know about Genshin Impact’s Raiden Shogun. For more Hoyo fun, check out our Honkai Star Rail tier list, Honkai Star Rail codes, Honkai Star Rail update, and Honkai Star Rail events guides.