The Sumeru roster keeps expanding despite us being out of the region, with Genshin Impact’s Sethos. We meet him in fellow electro-user Cyno’s second story quest, and he has a very interesting past as a former vessel of Hermanubis. But that’s not what we’re here for – here’s how to get the best Sethos build and make him formidable on the field.
If you want to get Sethos, grab the new Genshin Impact codes here and check out who’s on the next Genshin Impact banner in the future Genshin Impact updates. Also, see where everyone ranks in our Genshin Impact tier list.
Here’s everything in our Genshin Impact Sethos build guide:
What’s the best Sethos build?
Sethos is a four-star character who uses a bow as a weapon, and the electro element.
| Best weapon | Hunter’s Path |
| Weapon substitutes | Scion of the Blazing Sun |
| Best artifact set | Wanderer’s Troupe |
| Main stats | Sands – Elemental mastery Goblet – Electro damage bonus Circlet – Crit rate/damage |
| Sub stats | Elemental mastery, crit rate, crit damage, attack |
Sethos’ kit places him as an on-field electro DPS, focusing on charged shots with his bow. We recommend pairing him with dendro users like Nahida or Emilie to set off reactions, along with either another electro or hydro user to ensure you get hyperbloom, quicken, and aggravate reactions all the time.
In terms of equipment, the best bow for Sethos is the Hunter’s Path, and the ideal artifact set to go for is a full set of Wanderer’s Troupe. As for stats, focus on elemental mastery and an electro damage bonus. Some crit rate and crit damage will also help Sethos.
How do I use Sethos?
Sethos is a main DPS, so you’ll need him on field most of the time. Make sure to set up any elements you plan on using in reactions before swapping to him so that his bow shots can ping off the reactions.
The hardest hitting part of Sethos’ kit is the second charge level of his charged shots. Use his elemental burst, then his skill, and then start charging your shot. Then, simply repeat to keep the damage going!
What are the best Sethos weapons?
Sethos benefits from any bow that increases crit rate, crit damage, or elemental sections. If you have a Hunter’s Path, this will work very well, if not, the four-star Cloudforged bow is almost made perfectly for his kit. This is an event-exclusive weapon, however, so if you don’t have one knocking around, you can use Scion of the Blazing Sun.
You can also use the Slingshot bow if you lack other options. Considering it’s a three-star weapon, it performs well on Sethos. Aim for an R5 version if you can. Make sure you hit targets that are quite close, so you can activate the weapon’s skill and avoid the decrease in damage.
| Weapon | Effect | How to obtain |
| Hunter’s Path (five-star) | Bonus stat: Increases crit rate Skill: Gain a 12% electro damage bonus, and obtain the Tireless Hunt effect after hitting an opponent with a charged attack. This effect increases charged attack damage by 160% of Sethos’ elemental mastery. This effect will be removed after 12 charged attacks, or ten seconds. This can trigger once every 12 seconds |
Weapon banner (as a boosted five-star) |
| Slingshot (three-star) | Bonus stat: Increases crit rate Skill: If a normal attack or aimed shot hits a target within 0.3 seconds of being fired, the damage increases by at least 30%. However – if it takes longer to hit, damage decreases by 10% |
All banners |
| Cloudforged (four-star) | Bonus stat: Increases elemental mastery Skill: After Sethos’ elemental energy decreases from charging his shots, his elemental mastery increases for 18 seconds. This can stack twice |
Mutual Security Enhancing Simulation Event |
| Scion of the Blazing Sun (four-star) | Bonus stat: Increases crit rate Skill: After a charged attack hits an opponent, a Sunfire Arrow descends upon the opponent hit, dealing 60% of Sethos’ attack as damage, and applying the Heartsearer effect to the opponent for ten seconds. Opponents affected by Heartsearer take 28% more charged attack damage. A Sunfire Arrow can trigger once every ten seconds |
Battle Pass reward |
| Prototype Crescent (four-star) | Bonus stat: Increases attack Skill: Aimed shot hits on enemies’ weak points increase Sethos’ movement speed by 10% and attack by 36% for ten seconds |
Forged |
What are the best artifacts for Sethos?
The best artifact set for Sethos is Wanderer’s Troupe as it boosts his charged attack damage, but you can mix and match sets with elemental mastery boosts to get the most out of his artifacts as you can, without relying on stats. A four-piece set of Gilded Dreams will also add to his damage, with the attack and elemental mastery bonuses.
| Artifact set | Effect | How to obtain |
| Wanderer’s Troupe | Two equipped: Increases elemental mastery Four-piece set: Increases Sethos’s charged attack damage by 35% |
Weekly and world bosses, artifact strongbox |
| Gilded Dreams | Two equipped: Increases elemental mastery Four equipped: Within eight seconds of triggering an elemental reaction, Sethos obtains buffs based on the type of other party members. For every electro party member, he gets a 14% attack boost, and for every other elemental type party member, he gets 50 elemental mastery. This can trigger once every eight seconds, even when he is not on the field |
Spire of Solitary Enlightenment in Sumeru |
| Thundering Fury | Two equipped: Increases electro damage Four equipped: Increases the damage of overload, electro-charged, superconduct, and hyperbloom by 40%. Increases the damage of aggravate by 20%. If quicken or another electro reaction triggers, Clorinde’s elemental skill cooldown decreases by one second. This can occur once every 0.8 seconds |
Midsummer Courtyard domain in Mondstadt |
| Flower of Paradise Lost | Two equipped: Increases elemental mastery Four-piece set: Sethos’ hyperbloom damage increases by 40%. After he triggers the reaction, he gains another 25% bonus. Each stack lasts ten seconds and can stack four times. This effect can trigger once per second, including when Sethos is not on field |
City of Gold domain in Sumeru |
Artifact stat recommendations
Main stats:
- Sands: Elemental mastery
- Goblet: Electro damage bonus
- Circlet: Crit rate or crit damage
Sub-stats:
- Elemental mastery
- Crit damage/rate
- Attack
To find out more about how artifacts work, check out our Genshin Impact artifacts guide.
What are the best Sethos team comps?
Sethos relies on elemental reactions and elemental mastery to do good damage, so we really recommend pairing him with Nahida. Kazuha, or Sucrose, can group enemies making it easier to hit them, and off-field characters like Fischl, Furina, and Yelan can help pop off plenty of reactions. If you require a shield or healer, Baizhu will be your best bet as he can also apply dendro to enemies.
Sethos
What are Sethos’ abilities?
Here’s what Sethos does in battle, and how his kit works. Essentially, you use his ultimate to boost his normal attacks, which become infused with electro, and then use charged shots to hit the enemy for heavier damage.
Active skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Normal attack – Royal Reed Archery | Normal: Sethos performs up to three consecutive shots with his bow Charged: Sethos performs precise Aimed Shots with increased damage. While aiming, Sethos applies electro to his arrows, causing electro damage to targets. He has different effects depending on how long he holds a charge – Level one: Fires an arrow that deals electro damage Level two: Fires off a Shadowpiercing Shot that pierces enemies with electro damage. Once the Shadowpiercing Shot is fully charged, Sethos cannot move around the field until it is fired Plunging: Sethos fires a hail of arrows to deal AoE damage |
| Elemental skill – Ancient Rite: The Thundering Sands | Sethos gathers the might of thunder and deals AoE electro damage while jumping backward. If this attack triggers electro reactions (electro-charged, superconduct, overloaded, quicken, aggravate, hyperbloom, or electro swirl), Sethos recovers some elemental energy |
| Elemental burst – Secret Rite: Twilight Shadowpiercer | Sethos performs a secret rite and enters the Twilight Meditation state, where his normal attacks become Dusk Bolts, that deal electro damage. This also has a damage increase based on Sethos’ elemental mastery. Sethos cannot fire charged shots in this state, though the Dusk Bolt damage counts as charged attack damage |
Passive skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Black Kite’s Enigma (unlocked at ascension one) | While aiming, the charge time decreases 0.2 seconds based on each point of Sethos’ current energy. Charging time can reduce a total of 0.3 seconds this way. If he fires a Shadowpiercing Shot, he consumes all tallied energy, whereas a level one charged shot consumes 50% |
| The Sand King’s Boon (unlocked at ascension four) | Sethos gains the Scorching Sandshade effect, which increases the damage of Shadowpiercing Shots by 700% of Sethos’ current elemental mastery. This effect cancels five seconds after a Shadowpiercing Shot hits an enemy, or when Sethos uses four Shots to strike enemies |
| Thoth’s Revelation (unlocked automatically) | Sethos displays the location of Sumeru-specific materials on the mini-map |
What are Sethos’ constellations?
If you happen to pull more than one copy of Clorinde, or if you’re going for the full C6, you can unlock plenty of helpful boosts to her kit.
| Constellation | Effect |
| C1: Sealed Shrine’s Spiritsong | The crit rate of Shadowpiercing Shot increases by 15% |
| C2: Papyrus Scripture of Silent Secrets | When Sethos meets the following conditions, he gains a 15% electro damage bonus for ten seconds that can stack twice: -Consumes elemental energy through aimed shots -Gaining elemental energy by triggering elemental reactions with Ancient Rite: The Thundering Sands -Using Secret Rite: Twilight Shadowpiercer |
| C3: Ode to the Moonrise Sage | Increases the level of Royal Reed Archery – Sethos’ normal attack – by three, up to a maximum of 15 |
| C4: Beneficent Plumage | When a Shadowpiercing Shot or Dusk Bolt strikes two or more opponents, all party members gain 80 elemental mastery for ten seconds |
| C5: Record of the Desolate God’s Burning Sands | Increases the level of Secret Rite: Twilight Shadowpiercer – by three, up to a maximum of 15 |
| C6: Pylon of the Sojourning Sun Temple | After Shadowpiercing Shot strikes an opponent, the elemental energy Sethos consumes by his passive talent returns. This can trigger once every 15 seconds |
What are Sethos’ ascension materials?
Getting Sethos built up requires you to ascend him through a few different levels – and to do that, you need the following materials.
| Level | Mora | Materials |
| 20 | 20k | One vajrada amethyst sliver, three trishiraite, three faded red satin |
| 40 | 40k | Three vajrada amethyst fragments, ten trishiraite, 15 faded red satin, two cloudseam scales |
| 50 | 60k | Six vajrada amethyst fragments, 20 trishiraite, 12 trimmed red silk, four cloudseam scales |
| 60 | 80k | Three vajrada amethyst chunks, 30 trishiraite, 18 trimmed red silk, eight cloudseam scales |
| 70 | 100k | Six vajrada amethyst chunks, 45 trishiraite, 12 rich red brocade, 12 cloudseam scales |
| 80 | 120k | Six vajrada amethyst gemstones, 60 trishiraite, 24 rich red brocade, 20 cloudseam scales |
Here’s where to get all of Sethos’ ascension materials:
- Vayuda turquoise – obtain from normal and weekly bosses or craft via alchemy
- Trishiraite –mine in the Girdle of Sands area of Sumeru’s desert
- Faded red satin, trimmed red silk, rich red brocade – obtain from Eremite enemies around Sumeru
- Cloudseam scales –these are drops from the Solitary Sulani boss in Chenyu Vale
What are Sethos’ talent materials?
These are the materials you need to collect to upgrade each of Sethos’ individual talents.
| Level | Mora | Materials |
| Two | 12.5k | Three teachings of praxis, six faded red satin |
| Three | 17.5k | Two guide to praxis, three trimmed red silk |
| Four | 25k | Four guide to praxis, four trimmed red silk |
| Five | 30k | Six guide to praxis, six trimmed red silk |
| Six | 37.5k | Nine guide to praxis, nine trimmed red silk |
| Seven | 120k | Four philosophies of praxis, four rich red brocade, one daka’s bell |
| Eight | 260k | Six philosophies of praxis, six rich red brocade, one daka’s bell |
| Nine | 450k | 12 philosophies of praxis, nine red brocade, two daka’s bells |
| Ten | 700k | 16 philosophies of praxis, 12 red brocade, two daka’s bells, one crown of insight |
Here’s where to get all of Sethos’ talent materials:
- Praxis talent books – obtain from the Steeple of Ignorance domain on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays
- Faded red satin, trimmed red silk, rich red brocade – obtain from Eremite enemies around Sumeru
- Daka’s bell – drops from the Shouki no Kami weekly boss in Avidya Forest, Sumeru
That’s all we know about Genshin’s Sethos for now, but while you’re here, grab the new Genshin Impact codes and see where your favorite characters rank on our Genshin Impact tier list.