Everyone loves Genshin Impact’s Zhongli, and it’s not hard to see why. The mortal form of Morax resides in Liyue and works as a consultant at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. He’s the former geo archon, wielding a polearm as a five-star unit. He applies the strongest shield in the game with almost no competition but can be a devastating damage dealer, too.
For more titillating Teyvat treats, here are all the current Genshin Impact codes, Genshin Impact events, and our Genshin Impact tier list to see where your teammates rank. Here are the best builds for Genshin Impact’s Neuvillette and Genshin Impact’s Xiao.
Here’s everything in our Genshin Impact Zhongli build guide:
What’s the best Zhongli build?
Zhongli is a five-star character who uses the geo element, and is an excellent shielder.
| Rarity | ★★★★★ |
| Element | Geo |
| Weapon | Polearm |
| Best weapon | Staff of Homa |
| Substitute weapons | Black Tassel, Skyward Spine |
| Best artifact set | Tenacity of the Milelith |
| Artifact substitutes | Archaic Petra, Noblesse Oblige |
| Main stats | Sands: HP Goblet: HP or geo damage bonus Circlet: HP |
| Sub-stats | HP, energy recharge, crit rate/damage |
Zhongli’s best role is as a shielder in your teams, equipped with a Staff of Homa and a four-piece set of Tenacity of the Millelith artifacts. You should focus on upgrading his elemental skill first and stacking up his HP with weapon and artifact stats.
You can get some hefty damage out of him as a burst sub-DPS, too – that meteor is no joke. Upon hit, it petrifies enemies and deals a huge single blast of damage in a sizeable AoE. If you’re building him as a sub-DPS, then a set of Archaic Petra will work better than Tenaicty, but HP is key for Zhongli’s shield.
In terms of team composition, Zhongli plays incredibly well with glass cannons like Xiao and Hu Tao, and he slots easily into mono-geo comps, as his pillars resonate with other geo constructs (like Albedo’s flower or the Traveler’s meteor), furthering the damage they can deal.
How do I use Zhongli?
To use Zhongli as a shielder, simply hold his skill to deploy a Stone Stele, and apply a shield to your active character. If you have him at C2, this applies to your entire party in multiplayer, too. That’s it – that’s how you shield with a Zhongli! Depending on how high his HP stat is, his shield may run out or be broken before you can redeploy his skill again, but usually, it lasts until his skill cools down before you need to reapply.
The geo application of his stone stele doesn’t interfere with most elemental interactions and can create shields with the crystallize reaction to keep other party members safer for longer in co-op without his C2. He’s essentially a shield vending machine.
What are Zhongli’s best weapons?
Which weapon you choose for Zhongli depends on which role you’d like to use him in. As a support unit, Zhongli’s best weapon is the Staff of Homa, followed by the Black Tassel, though the Rightful Reward is a solid choice too. As a burst sub-DPS, Staff of Homa is still top of the pile, but the replacement changes to Skyward Spine – which is probably your best bet if you’re a free-to-play player. Zhongli’s signature weapon, Vortex Vanquisher, is of course a great option given its 100% attack increase when he is protected by a shield.
Look, I know what you’re thinking – why is there a three-star on the table? The Black Tassel is the best three-star weapon for Zhongli and a really good option for those who aren’t blessed with five-star polearms. It adds a good chunk of HP, which goes toward Zhongli’s shield duration.
| Staff of Homa | Stat: Crit rate Skill: Increases HP by 20%, and provides an attack bonus based on 0.8% of Zhongli’s max HP. When Zhongli’s HP is less than 50%, the attack bonus is increased by an additional 1% of the max HP |
Limited weapon banner |
| Black Tassel | Stat: HP Skill: Increases damage against slimes by 40% |
All banners |
| Skyward Spine | Stat: Energy recharge Skill: Increases crit rate by 8% and normal attack speed by 12%. Additionally, normal and charged attack hits on enemies have a 50% chance to trigger a vacuum blade that deals 40% of his attack as damage in a small AoE. This effect can occur no more than once every two seconds |
Standard banner |
| Favonius Lance |
Stat: Energy recharge |
All banners |
| Deathmatch | Stat: Crit rate Skill: If there are at least two enemies nearby, Zhongli’s attack is increased by 16%. If there are less than two enemies nearby, his attack is increased by 24% |
Battle pass reward |
What are the best artifacts for Zhongli?
For Zhongli, you want to stack up a lot of HP in order to get his shield as strong as possible, but energy recharge and crit stats help with his damage. For a shield build, Zhongli’s best artifact set is Tenacity of the Millelith, but the Archaic Petra set is a great choice for DPS Zhongli, as it counters his main flaw of not generating many elemental shards. Noblesse Oblige is also great for increasing your elemental burst damage (big tasty meteors go boom!), too.
We all know what farming for artifacts is like, so if you find yourself in a pinch, a two-piece granting extra HP or energy recharge will suffice. When picking artifacts for Zhongli, you should prioritize pieces HP if you’re going solely for a shield build, or you can throw in some crit stats and a geo damage bonus goblet if you want Zhongli’s personal damage to improve.
| Archaic Petra | Two pieces: Increases geo damage Four pieces: When Zhongli obtains an elemental shard created through a crystallize reaction, all party members gain a 35% damage bonus for the element created. Lasts for ten seconds |
Obtain from the Domain of Guyun |
| Tenacity of the Millelith | Two pieces: Increases HP Four pieces: When an elemental skill hits an opponent, the attack of all nearby party members is increased by 20%, and shield strength is increased by 30% for three seconds. This effect can trigger once every 0.5 seconds, even when Zhongli is not on the field |
Obtain from the Ridge Watch domain |
| Noblesse Oblige | Two pieces: Increases elemental burst damage Four pieces: Using Zhongli’s elemental burst increases all party members’ attack by 20% for 12 seconds. This cannot stack |
Obtain from the Clear Pool and Mountain Cavern domain |
| Vourukasha’s Glow | Two pieces: Increases HP Four pieces: Elemental skill and elemental burst damage increase by 10%. After Zhongli takes damage, the damage bonus is increased by 80% for five seconds. This effect increase can have five stacks. These effects can be triggered even when Zhongli is not on the field |
Obtain from the Molten Iron Fortress domain |
| Emblem of Severed Fate | Two pieces: Increases energy recharge Four pieces: Increases Zhongli’s elemental burst damage by 25% of his total energy recharge stat. You can get a maximum of 75% bonus damage from this set |
Obtain from the Momiji-dyed Court domain |
Stat recommendations
Main stats:
- Sands: HP, energy recharge
- Goblet: HP, geo damage bonus
- Circlet: HP, crit rate, crit damage
Sub-stats:
- HP/%
- Energy recharge
- Crit damage/rate
To find out more about how artifacts work, check out our Genshin Impact artifacts guide.
What are the best Zhongli team comps?
Do you need a shield? Take Zhongli. There – that’s his team comp – every team you need safety in. If you want to use him in a more specific sense, then he excels in a mono-geo team, and as a specific shielder for DPS characters like Arlecchino, Xiao, Neuvillette, and Hu Tao. Navia can work very well with him as his pillar will help create crystallize shards for her.
For a mono-geo team, there are now a couple of options. Zhongli and Gorou are still mainstays, but you can pick Itto or Navia as a DPS, with Chiori or Albedo as sub-DPS and support units alongside them.
Here are the best mono-geo teams for Zhongli:
 Zhongli |
 Albedo |
 Itto |
 Gorou |
| Zhongli |
 Chiori |
 Navia |
Gorou |
Here are some teams where Zhongli provides a shield for a DPS:
| Zhongli |
 Xiao |
 Faruzan |
 Bennett |
| Zhongli |
 Hu Tao |
 Yelan |
 Xingqiu |
| Zhongli |
 Neuvillette |
 Furina |
 Kazuha |
| Zhongli |
Navia |
Furina |
Bennett |
What are Zhongli’s abilities?
Here is what you can do with Zhongli on field, and what his bonus talent is outside of battles. His elemental skill is a support move, whereas the rest of his abilities are for attacking purposes – though the freezing mechanic from his burst can provide a very helpful window to attack enemies.
Active skills
| Normal attack | Rain of Stone Normal: Perform up to six spear strikes Charged: Zhongli consumes a set amount of stamina and lunges forward, damaging enemies along his path Plunging: Plunge from mid-air to strike the ground, dealing AoE when he lands |
| Elemental skill | Dominus Lapidis Press: Zhongli commands the earth to solidify into a Stone Stele which deals AoE geo damage. You can climb the Stone Stele and use it to block attacks or plunge from. Hold: Zhongli expels geo-energy to create a Stone Stele and a jade shield. The shield’s absorption scales on Zhongli’s max HP, and absorbs 150% of all elemental and physical damage. Characters protected by the jade shield decrease the elemental and physical resistance of opponents by 20% |
| Elemental burst | Planet Befall Zhongli calls a meteor that falls from the sky, causing massive AoE geo damage. This can petrify enemies for a few seconds |
Passive skills
| Resonant Waves | When your Jade Shield takes damage you become fortified |
| Dominance of Earth | Normal, charged, and plunging attack damage increases by 1.39% of max HP. Stone Stele, resonance, and hold damage increases by 1.9% of max HP. Planet Befall deals additional damage equal to 33% of Zhongli’s max HP |
| Arcanum of Crystal | Receive 15% of the ores back when crafting Polearm weapons |
What are Zhongli’s constellations?
Unlocking new constellations improves how a character performs in battle. You level up Zhongli’s constellations by using the Stella Fortuna you obtain when receiving a duplicate Zhongli while making a wish, if you’re lucky like that.
| C1 | Increases the number of Stone Steles created by Dominus Lapidis that may exist at the same time to two |
| C2 | Planet Befall gives nearby characters a Jade Shield in co-op situations |
| C3 | Increases the level of Zhongli’s skill, Dominus Lapidis, by three |
| C4 | Increases Planet Befall’s AoE size by 20% and the duration of petrification by two seconds |
| C5 | Increase the level of Zhongli’s ultimate, Planet Befall, by three |
| C6 | When the Jade Shield takes damage, 40% of it is converted to HP, healing the current character a little. A single instance of regeneration cannot exceed 8% of Zhongli’s max HP |
What are Zhongli’s ascension materials?
If you want Zhongli to reach his full potential, you need to ascend him all the way to 90 in order to boost the amount HP he has, and in turn, his shield’s strength.
| 20➔40 | 20k mora One prithiva topaz sliver Three cor lapis Three slime condensate |
| 40➔50 | 40k mora Three prithiva topaz fragment Ten cor lapis 15 slime condensate Two basalt pillars |
| 50➔60 | 60k mora Six prithiva topaz fragment 20 cor lapis 12 slime secretions Four basalt pillars |
| 60➔70 | 80k mora Three prithiva topaz chunk 30 cor lapis 18 slime secretions Eight basalt pillars |
| 70➔80 | 100k mora Six prithiva topaz chunk 45 cor lapis 12 slime concentrate 12 basalt pillars |
| 80➔90 | 120k mora Six prithiva topaz gemstone 60 cor lapis 24 slime concentrate 20 basalt pillars |
Here’s where you can find all the items you need to ascend Zhongli:
- Prithiva topaz – these geo gems drop from weekly and normal bosses, especially the geo hypostasis and Azhdaha
- Cor lapis – this is a mineable rock found in Liyue, with more around Mt Hulao. You can buy some from Changshun in Liyue Harbor
- Basalt pillars – this boss drop comes from the geo hypostasis in the Guyun Stone Forest
- Slime condensate, slime secretions, slime concentrate -these items drop from slime enemies in the overworld all across Teyvat
What are Zhongli’s talent materials?
Here’s what you need to grab in order to get each of Zhongli’s talents to level ten.
| 1➔2 | 12.5k mora Six slime condensate Three teachings of gold |
| 2➔3 | 17.5k mora Three slime secretions Two guides to gold |
| 3➔4 | 25k mora Four slime secretions Four guide to gold |
| 4➔5 | 30k mora Six slime secretions Six guides to gold |
| 5➔6 | 37.5k mora Nine slime secretions Nine guide to gold |
| 6➔7 | 120k mora Four slime concentrate Four philosophies of gold One tusk of Monoceros Caeli |
| 7➔8 | 260k mora Six slime concentrate Six philosophies of gold One tusk of Monoceros Caeli |
| 8➔9 | 260k mora Nine slime concentrate 12 philosophies of gold Two tusks of Monoceros Caeli |
| 9➔10 | 700k mora 12 slime concentrate 16 philosophies of gold Two tusks of Monoceros Caeli One crown of insight |
Here’s where to find the items you need to upgrade Zhongli’s talents:
- Slime condensate, slime secretions, slime concentrate -these items drop from slime enemies in the overworld all across Teyvat
- Gold talent books – farm these in the Taishan Mansion domain in Liyue on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays
- Tusk of Monoceros Caeli – you can get these as a reward for the Tartaglia weekly boss in the Golden House, Liyue. If you don’t get the right drop, you can transform them at an alchemy station
Talent priority
- Elemental skill > elemental burst > normal attack
There you go – a fabulous Genshin Impact Zhongli build. Once you’ve got him sorted out, we recommend you move on to the other archons like Genshin Impact’s Furina, Genshin Impact’s Venti, and Genshin Impact’s Raiden Shogun.