Genshin Impact Twin Nephrite

Understanding the Value of Genshin Impact Twin Nephrite

At first glance, 3-star weapons might seem less appealing, particularly due to their lower base attack stats compared to their 4-star and 5-star counterparts at higher levels. For instance, a Debate Club and Genshin Impact Twin Nephrite at Level 80 has a base ATK of 355, whereas a 4-star weapon might have around 450, and a 5-star weapon close to 590.

However, the real strength of many 3-star weapons lies in their unique effects and secondary stats, which can be incredibly potent, especially when fully refined. Maxing out their refinement, often to Refinement 5, is generally easier with 3-star weapons because they are more common drops. This ease of refinement allows their effects to shine brightly, sometimes even outperforming 0-refinement 4-star weapons.

For characters that don’t rely heavily on their weapon’s base ATK, or for support characters whose utility comes from their abilities rather than raw damage, a well-chosen 3-star weapon can be a fantastic, resource-efficient choice. The key is to understand which weapons offer “useful effects” that complement specific character builds or team compositions.

Best Characters

Character	Why It Works Well
Lisa	Gains Crit Rate for better burst and skill damage; works in both support and DPS roles.
Yae Miko	Benefits from Crit Rate for high burst damage; good placeholder if no 4★+ catalyst.
Wanderer (Scaramouche)	Uses Crit Rate for consistent DPS output; boosts his Anemo-based normal attacks.
Heizou	Anemo catalyst DPS that scales well with Crit Rate; helps trigger swirls more effectively.
Yanfei	Pyro DPS who relies on crits for scaling; good early-game weapon for her.
Klee	Can benefit in early-game as a Crit Rate option for Pyro charged attacks.
Mona	Though more reaction-based, she can still use Twin Nephrite to increase personal damage.

Notable 3-Star Bows

When it comes to bows, a couple of 3-star options stand out for their specific niches:

• Slingshot: This bow is excellent for bow users who act as a primary damage dealer. Its secondary stat boosts Crit Rate, and its effect significantly increases normal and aimed shot damage by up to 60%. The trade-off is that you need to be relatively close to your targets, as hits on enemies not within 0.3 seconds will reduce the damage by 10%. Despite this, a max refined Slingshot can even outperform some 4-star bows at the same level for characters like Fischl as a main DPS.
• Raven Bow: This bow is often considered one of the best 3-star options for supportive bow users like Fischl and Venti. It provides Elemental Mastery as a secondary stat and boosts damage against enemies affected by Hydro or Pyro by up to 24%. While Fischl and Venti aren’t Hydro or Pyro themselves, they are frequently paired with characters of those elements in team compositions, making the Elemental Mastery and damage bonus highly effective for triggering elemental reactions.

Powerful 3-Star Catalysts

Catalysts feature some of the most impactful 3-star weapons, largely due to their unique support capabilities:

• Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers (TTDS): This catalyst is widely regarded as one of the best 3-star weapons available due to its “absurd effect”. Its secondary stat provides Health Percentage (HP%), which is useful for healers who scale with HP, such as Barbara. Its main draw, however, is its effect: when you switch characters, the next character to take the field gets a massive ATK increase of up to 48% for 10 seconds. This effect occurs once every 20 seconds. This makes it incredibly potent for boosting your main damage dealer by briefly swapping to a character holding TTDS before unleashing your carry’s abilities. It’s a “giant boost to your carry, exactly what you want from a support unit”.
• Magic Guide: In contrast to TTDS, Magic Guide is more damage-oriented. It provides Elemental Mastery as its secondary stat and increases damage against enemies affected by Hydro or Electro by up to 24%. This makes it a strong option for catalyst users like Mona, Lisa, or Sucrose when your team is built to consistently apply Hydro or Electro status effects. It offers almost twice as much Elemental Mastery as Mappa Mare, making it a potentially better choice for units focused on triggering elemental reactions if the conditions are met.
• Twin Nephrite: This catalyst increases Movement Speed and ATK by 12% at Refinement 1 (up to 20% at Refinement 5) for 15 seconds after defeating an enemy. Its secondary stat is Crit Rate, which can be valuable. Characters like Ningguang, Klee, Mona, Lisa, Yanfei, Yae Miko, and Shikanoin Heizou can all make good use of this weapon, especially if their builds benefit from Crit Rate and the passive effect. For Ningguang, it can be a “best F2P option” unless you acquire certain 4-star catalysts. While some users note its low base ATK might make it less ideal for characters like Heizou whose damage is upfront and needs higher base ATK, its Crit Rate sub-stat and passive can still make it “decent” for him, especially when other options are limited. However, its passive may not always work against bosses since it requires defeating an enemy.
• Emerald Orb: This catalyst increases ATK by 20% for 12 seconds upon causing Vaporize, Electro-Charged, Frozen, Bloom, or Hydro-infused Swirl reactions. This buff applies to the character holding the weapon and does not have a listed cooldown. It can provide a constant 40% damage buff if paired with specific elemental setups, such as Lisa and Barbara for Electro-Charged reactions.

Effective 3-Star Claymores

Claymores also have some strong early-game 3-star contenders:

• Debate Club: This claymore is a straightforward damage option, perfect if you don’t want to overthink builds. It has an ATK secondary stat, and its effect causes an on-hit aura that deals additional AoE damage (up to 120% ATK DMG) every 3 seconds for 15 seconds. This makes it very effective for characters like Diluc, Razor, or Chongyun, especially Diluc, who can weave his Elemental Skill into normal attacks to maintain the passive. When fully refined, it can proc its effect multiple times, providing substantial damage.
• Skyrider Greatsword: This weapon offers a Physical Damage Bonus as a secondary stat. Its effect increases both ATK and Defense by 10% (up to 4 stacks) for 6 seconds upon hitting an enemy. While the source mentions it can pull out a lot of damage on physical builds and even outpace a Whiteblind (a craftable 4-star claymore) at the same level with fewer refinements, another user points out that it only increases attack, not attack and defense. Regardless, it is considered a good option.
• Bloodtainted Greatsword: Similar to Raven Bow, this claymore is excellent for elemental reaction teams. It provides Elemental Mastery and increases damage against enemies affected by Pyro or Electro by up to 24%. It works well on characters like Razor or Diluc, provided your team is built to enable consistent elemental reactions, otherwise its elemental mastery secondary stat might fall behind other 3-star options.
• Fillet Blade: Although a sword, it’s often mentioned for its general damage utility. It has an ATK secondary stat and a 50% chance on hit to deal up to 400% ATK DMG to a single enemy, occurring once every 11 seconds. This weapon creates a “playstyle within itself” where you swap in the character, proc the effect, and then swap out for “massive damage spikes”. It’s been found to be “absolutely nuts” on characters like Keqing when max refined.

Useful 3-Star Polearms

While the sources suggest that 3-star polearms are “unfortunately lackluster” in general, there are still a few that can be situationally useful:

• Halberd: This polearm is good for characters who swap in, use a skill, throw out an attack, and then swap out. It provides a free 320% ATK hit, similar to Fillet Blade. It’s especially good for Xiangling if you’re using her mainly for her Elemental Skill/Burst and less for normal attacks.
• White Tassel: This polearm is noted for giving Crit Rate as a sub-stat. It can be decent, particularly for Xiangling if you’re primarily using her normal attacks. However, if Xiangling is used mainly for her Elemental Burst (Guoba), the Halberd might be a better choice.
• Black Tassel: This polearm can be very effective in specific situations, such as domains where most enemies are slimes, as it provides an 80% damage bonus against slimes. While its secondary stat might be “useless” in other contexts, this specialized damage boost can be “insane” for timed challenges.

Effective 3-Star Swords

Swords also offer some solid 3-star choices, particularly for support or niche roles:

• Skyrider Sword: This sword is a great choice for characters with an elemental burst that remains active on the field, continuing to deal damage even after you switch to another character. The ATK buff (a raw ATK buff, not attack speed) and Movement Speed buff from this weapon persist on the unit holding it even after switching out. This means that a character like Xingqiu, whose elemental burst’s water swords continue to attack, will still benefit from the ATK boost even when you switch to your main DPS. Energy Recharge is also a good stat for Xingqiu, making this a strong option for him, second only to Sacrificial Sword or Skyward Blade.
• Fillet Blade: As mentioned earlier under claymores, Fillet Blade is a versatile weapon that can provide significant damage spikes. It’s considered good for burst supports who want to quickly enter the field, use their skills, land a couple of basic attacks for the proc, then swap out. It can be thrown out by characters like Jean or Qiqi to get “insane” healing bursts if their healing scales with attack.
• Cool Steel: This sword increases ATK as its secondary stat and offers up to a 24% damage increase against enemies affected by Hydro or Cryo. It’s a “pretty good weapon” for characters like Qiqi, who scales with attack, or any sword users you want to swap to after applying an elemental status.
• Harbinger of Dawn: This sword is excellent for characters who can maintain high health, as it provides a lot of Crit Damage and a significant 28% Crit Chance while the wielder is above 90% health. For characters with strong self-healing, like Qiqi, who can easily stay topped up, this weapon becomes “definitely the best 3-star sword” for them if they are not just elemental support.
• Traveler’s Handy Sword: This weapon is noted as being “pretty good for Kaeya” by some players.

When to Transition to 4-Star Weapons

While 3-star weapons offer immense value, especially early on, they do have their limits. Many 3-star weapons, particularly those suited for main damage dealers, eventually get “invalidated” by craftable 4-star weapons like Prototype Animus or Whiteblind due to the significant base ATK advantage that 4-star weapons gain at higher levels (Level 80+).

However, the transition isn’t always immediate or necessary. A max-refined 3-star weapon can often outperform a 0-refinement 4-star weapon. The decision to upgrade should also consider resource conservation. While you only lose about 15% of the experience spent on a 3-star weapon when using it to enhance a higher-rarity weapon, continually investing heavily in 3-star weapons that you will eventually replace can “hurt you in the long run,” especially for free-to-play players.

Craftable 4-star weapons are often considered the “next step” as they are accessible without relying on wishes. Examples include Prototype Animus for claymore users (a “much better version of Debate Club” in terms of straight damage, though Debate Club’s frequent proc is notable) and Prototype Malice for catalyst users (which offers self-energy restore and team healing). It’s recommended to consider crafting these 4-star weapons once you have the necessary materials.

In essence, don’t overlook your 3-star weapons! Maxing out their refinement can unleash powerful effects that make them incredibly useful, particularly for support characters or for providing significant damage boosts in specific team compositions. They are excellent for getting started and can even carry you through much of the game until you acquire and refine more suitable 4-star or 5-star alternatives.