Genshin Impact Hu Tao Guide

Genshin Impact Hu Tao Guide: Introduction

Genshin Impact Hu Tao is a playable Pyro characte who serves as the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. Despite her eccentric and playful demeanor, she takes her role seriously, ensuring that funeral rites are carried out with respect and tradition. Her unique personality and combat style make her a fan-favorite among players.

Genshin Impact Hu Tao excels as a Polearm-wielding Main DPS, with her damage primarily coming from Charged Attacks empowered by her Elemental Skill, which infuses her attacks with Pyro and scales off her HP. To maximize her damage, she is best paired with Hydro characters like Xingqiu or Yelan to trigger powerful Vaporize reactions. Players should prioritize leveling her Normal Attack talent and Elemental Skill while focusing on HP%, Elemental Mastery, Pyro DMG, and CRIT Rate/DMG stats. Her best weapon is Staff of Homa, but alternatives like Staff of the Scarlet Sands, Primordial Jade Winged-Spear, Deathmatch, and Dragon’s Bane are also viable.

For artifacts, a 4-piece Crimson Witch of Flames set is ideal, but other options like Shimenawa’s Reminiscence or Gilded Dreams can work depending on playstyle. In terms of team composition, Genshin Impact Hu Tao thrives alongside Xingqiu, a shielder or buffer like Zhongli, and a character that provides off-field support such as Kazuha or Rosaria. To ascend her, players need Agnidus Agate materials, Juvenile Jade, Silk Flowers, and Whopperflower Nectars. Her constellations enhance her DPS significantly, with C1 being one of the most impactful upgrades.

Genshin Impact Hu Tao Guide: How to Obtain Hu Tao

Genshin Impact Hu Tao is a 5-star Pyro character, obtainable exclusively through limited-time event banners. Her debut banner, “Moment of Bloom,” was first introduced in March 2021 during Version 1.3. Since then, she has had multiple reruns, with notable appearances in November 2021 (Version 2.2), February 2023 (Version 3.4), and September 2023 (Version 4.1).

The rerun schedule for Genshin Impact Hu Tao’s banner has varied, with intervals ranging from several months to over a year. While some reruns have occurred between October and November, others have been scheduled at different times, such as February and September. Therefore, predicting her next appearance can be challenging, as it depends on the game’s update plans and event schedules.

As of February 2025, there is no official announcement regarding the next rerun of Genshin Impact Hu Tao’s banner. Players interested in obtaining her should monitor official Genshin Impact channels for updates on upcoming event banners. It’s advisable to save Primogems in anticipation of her return, especially considering the unpredictability of her rerun schedule.

Genshin Impact Hu Tao Guide: Talents

Genshin Impact Hu Tao’s Talents consist of her Normal Attack, Elemental Skill, Elemental Burst, and Passive Talents. It is generally agreed that leveling her Normal Attack Talent first will yield the best results.

Normal Attack: Secret Spear of Wangsheng
Hu Tao performs up to six consecutive spear strikes. Her Charged Attack consumes stamina to lunge forward, dealing damage to opponents along the way. It is key to use Charged Attacks after short Normal Attack chains, which can be canceled by a dash or jump. Her Plunging Attack allows her to dive from mid-air to strike the ground, damaging enemies and dealing AoE DMG upon impact.

Elemental Skill: Guide to Afterlife
Hu Tao consumes a portion of her HP to knock back surrounding enemies and enter the Paramita Papilio state. While in this state, her ATK increases based on her Max HP at the time of activation, though this bonus cannot exceed 400% of her Base ATK. Her attacks are converted to Pyro DMG, which cannot be overridden by any other elemental infusion. Charged Attacks apply the Blood Blossom effect to enemies, causing them to take Pyro DMG every four seconds.

This DMG is considered Elemental Skill DMG, and only Hu Tao can refresh its duration. Additionally, Paramita Papilio increases her resistance to interruption, ensuring she can continue attacking without being easily disrupted. The state ends when its duration is over, or if Hu Tao leaves the battlefield or falls in battle.

Elemental Burst: Spirit Soother
Hu Tao commands a blazing spirit to attack, dealing Pyro DMG in a large AoE. Upon striking an enemy, she regenerates a percentage of her Max HP, with up to five triggers depending on the number of enemies hit. If her HP is at 50% or lower when the attack lands, both its DMG and HP regeneration effects are increased. While her Burst can be useful for survival, using it in every rotation can actually be a DPS loss, so players should time its use carefully.

1st Ascension Passive: Flutter By
When the Paramita Papilio state ends, all allies in the party (excluding Hu Tao) gain a 12% CRIT Rate boost for eight seconds.

4th Ascension Passive: Sanguine Rouge
When Hu Tao’s HP is at 50% or lower, her Pyro DMG Bonus increases by 33%. This mechanic encourages players to maintain her HP below the threshold to maximize her damage potential.

Utility Passive: The More the Merrier
When Hu Tao perfectly cooks a dish, she has an 18% chance to receive an additional “Suspicious” dish of the same type, adding a fun and unique touch to her character’s personality.

Genshin Impact Hu Tao Guide: Weapons

Genshin Impact Hu Tao is a Pyro DPS powerhouse, and choosing the right weapon is key to maximizing her damage. Since her kit scales heavily with HP and Crit stats, the best weapons for her provide Crit Rate, Crit DMG, or HP-related bonuses. While Staff of Homa remains her undisputed best-in-slot, several other polearms can still enhance her performance based on available artifacts and team compositions. This guide breaks down the best options, from premium 5-star choices to solid 4-star and even budget-friendly alternatives.

Staff of Homa
Staff of Homa is generally considered Hu Tao’s best-in-slot weapon. It increases her HP and provides additional ATK that scales off her HP, which perfectly complements her kit. The weapon also has a CRIT DMG sub-stat, making it easier to build an optimal CRIT Rate/CRIT DMG ratio. Due to its synergy with Hu Tao’s playstyle and scaling mechanics, it remains the top choice for maximizing her damage potential.

Staff of the Scarlet Sands
Staff of the Scarlet Sands is a strong alternative, despite Hu Tao not being able to gain full stacks from its passive. The weapon remains competitive due to its high CRIT Rate and Elemental Mastery bonuses. It also provides additional ATK based on Elemental Mastery, making an Elemental Mastery Sands artifact a good pairing when using this weapon. While it doesn’t directly enhance her HP scaling like Staff of Homa, it still offers strong offensive stats.

Primordial Jade Winged-Spear
Primordial Jade Winged-Spear is another viable option, outperforming many 4-star weapons. It has a CRIT Rate sub-stat and provides additional ATK with each hit, making it a decent choice for Hu Tao, though it lacks direct synergy with her HP-scaling mechanics.

Deathmatch
Deathmatch, available through the Battle Pass, provides plenty of CRIT Rate and has an effective passive for boss battles. The weapon is particularly useful in single-target fights, where Hu Tao benefits from its ATK and DEF boost against one or more opponents.

Dragon’s Bane
Dragon’s Bane at Refinement Rank 5 is an excellent pick, increasing DMG against opponents affected by Hydro or Pyro. This weapon works well when Hu Tao is paired with Hydro supports like Xingqiu or Yelan, who enable frequent Vaporize reactions. However, players should be cautious about diminishing returns when stacking too many Elemental Mastery buffs.

White Tassel
White Tassel, a 3-star weapon found in chests, increases Normal Attack DMG and has a CRIT Rate sub-stat, making it surprisingly strong and better than many 4-star alternatives. While it lacks the raw stats of higher-rarity polearms, its bonuses can still enhance Hu Tao’s damage output.

Weapon Selection Priorities
When selecting a weapon for Hu Tao, prioritize Crit Rate and Crit DMG to optimize her damage output. Even when using lower-rarity weapons, HP scaling is generally preferred over raw ATK. Any weapon with CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG as a sub-stat will work effectively, ensuring that Hu Tao can deal consistent and powerful Pyro damage.

Genshin Impact Hu Tao Guide: Constellation

Genshin Impact Hu Tao’s constellations significantly enhance her DPS, with nearly all of them providing notable improvements to her gameplay. While her base kit is already strong, her constellations refine her playstyle and increase her damage potential, making her an even more formidable Pyro DPS.

C1: Crimson Bouquet
Crimson Bouquet is one of Hu Tao’s most impactful constellations. While in the Paramita Papilio state activated by Guide to Afterlife, her Charged Attacks no longer consume Stamina. This removes stamina management concerns, allowing for more freedom to dodge attacks and fit in additional Charged Attacks during her Elemental Skill. Many players consider C1 to be as important—or even more important—than obtaining her signature weapon, Staff of Homa.

C2: Ominous Rainfall
Ominous Rainfall increases Blood Blossom DMG by an amount equal to 10% of Genshin Impact Hu Tao’s Max HP at the time the effect is applied. Additionally, Spirit Soother (her Burst) will now apply the Blood Blossom effect. While this adds extra damage, it is not a game-changing boost compared to C1. Players seeking a major power spike may be better off rolling for Staff of Homa instead of pushing for this constellation.

C3: Lingering Carmine
Lingering Carmine increases the level of Guide to Afterlife (Hu Tao’s Elemental Skill) by 3, with a maximum upgrade level of 15. This is a straightforward talent buff that enhances her main damage source, making it a solid but not essential upgrade.

C4: Garden of Eternal Rest
Garden of Eternal Rest grants a CRIT Rate buff to all party members (excluding Hu Tao) when an enemy affected by her Blood Blossom effect is defeated. The 12% CRIT Rate boost lasts for 15 seconds, making it valuable for off-field DPS characters who synergize well with Hu Tao. This constellation provides strong team-wide utility but is situational, as it requires Hu Tao to be the one applying Blood Blossom and securing kills.

C5: Floral Incense
Floral Incense increases the level of Spirit Soother (Hu Tao’s Elemental Burst) by 3, with a maximum upgrade level of 15. Since Genshin Impact Hu Tao’s Burst is not a major part of her damage rotation, this constellation has minimal impact on her overall DPS. It is generally not worth prioritizing.

C6: Butterfly’s Embrace
Butterfly’s Embrace is Hu Tao’s ultimate constellation, providing both a massive damage boost and a survival mechanic. When Hu Tao’s HP drops below 25% or she suffers a lethal hit, she will not fall and instead gains a 10-second buff that grants 200% increased Elemental and Physical RES, 100% CRIT Rate, and greatly improved resistance to interruption. This effect can only occur once every 60 seconds and ensures that Hu Tao is nearly impossible to knock out of combat. With this constellation, she no longer needs to build CRIT Rate, allowing full investment into CRIT DMG for extreme damage output. C6 is a game-changing upgrade, but its necessity depends on personal playstyle and investment.

Genshin Impact Hu Tao Guide: Artifacts

4-piece Crimson Witch of Flames
This is the best artifact choice for Hu Tao, as Vaporize reactions are central to her playstyle. This set increases Pyro DMG and boosts the damage of Overloaded, Burning, Vaporize, and Melt reactions. Additionally, using an Elemental Skill increases the 2-piece bonus by 50% for 10 seconds, stacking up to three times. This set is also accessible through the artifact Strongbox at the alchemy workbench, making it easier to farm.

4-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
A viable alternative to Crimson Witch, this set provides an ATK bonus and increases Normal/Charged/Plunging Attack damage by 50% for 10 seconds after consuming 15 Energy. Though slightly weaker than Crimson Witch, it can still provide good results and is easier to farm due to the domain’s resin efficiency.

4-piece Gilded Dreams
This set is also a strong option if Genshin Impact Hu Tao is the only Pyro character on the team, as it grants a significant Elemental Mastery bonus. The 2-piece effect grants 80 Elemental Mastery, while the 4-piece effect increases ATK based on teammates of the same Element and grants more Elemental Mastery if teammates are of different Elements. This set is best used in teams that focus on Elemental Mastery scaling.

2-piece Crimson Witch of Flames and 2-piece Gilded Dreams or Tenacity of the Millelith
A mixed set of 2-piece Crimson Witch of Flames with 2-piece Gilded Dreams or 2-piece Tenacity of the Millelith can also be a good choice. This combination balances Pyro DMG, Elemental Mastery, and HP, making it useful for different playstyles.

Main Stats and Substats
The optimal main stats for Genshin Impact Hu Tao’s artifacts depend on playstyle, but in most cases, HP% Sands, Pyro DMG Bonus Goblet, and CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG Circlet (whichever balances her CRIT ratio) are ideal. If using Staff of the Scarlet Sands, an Elemental Mastery Sands may be preferable. Substats should prioritize CRIT Rate/CRIT DMG, followed by Elemental Mastery and HP%. ATK% is less useful for Hu Tao since her damage scales primarily from HP and reactions.

Pyro Reaction Build
This is the most common setup for Genshin Impact Hu Tao, maximizing her Pyro DMG and reaction-based output with 4-piece Crimson Witch of Flames. This build works best when paired with Hydro characters like Xingqiu or Yelan for consistent Vaporize reactions.

Burst DPS Build
This build focuses on enhancing her Elemental Burst damage using 2-piece Crimson Witch of Flames and 2-piece Noblesse Oblige, though this is generally considered suboptimal since Genshin Impact Hu Tao’s Burst is not her main damage source.

Genshin Impact Hu Tao Guide: Team

Hu Tao	Xingqiu	Yelan	Zhongli

Hu Tao Double Hydro Team (Best Meta Team)
Hu Tao serves as the main DPS, dealing Pyro damage through Charged Attacks and Vaporizing attacks with Hydro support. Xingqiu provides Hydro application through his Burst, allowing Genshin Impact Hu Tao to trigger Vaporize consistently. He also grants slight healing and damage reduction. Yelan adds additional Hydro application, high off-field damage, and her Burst boosts Hu Tao’s overall damage output. Zhongli acts as the team’s shielder and debuffer, protecting Hu Tao while also reducing enemy resistances for increased damage.

Why This Team Works
Vaporize reactions are consistent thanks to Xingqiu and Yelan ensuring every Charged Attack can trigger Vaporize, maximizing Genshin Impact Hu Tao’s damage. Zhongli provides the best shield in the game, making Hu Tao’s gameplay more comfortable and uninterrupted. Yelan’s passive increases Hu Tao’s damage over time, and Zhongli’s shield further reduces enemy resistance. Xingqiu and Yelan also generate enough energy to maintain their Elemental Bursts consistently. This team excels in both single-target and AoE fights while keeping Genshin Impact Hu Tao safe from interruptions.

Genshin Impact Hu Tao Guide: Ascension and Talents Materials

To fully ascend Genshin Impact Hu Tao and maximize her talents, you’ll need to gather specific materials and allocate a considerable amount of Mora. Below is a detailed breakdown of the required materials and costs:

Ascension Materials and Costs:

Talent Level-Up Materials and Costs (Per Talent):

Total Materials for All Three Talents:

Material Sources

Genshin Impact Hu Tao Guide: Conclusion

Genshin Impact Hu Tao is one of most powerful Pyro DPS characters, excelling in Vaporize-based team compositions. Her unique playstyle revolves around managing low HP to maximize damage, making her both rewarding and mechanically engaging to play. With Staff of Homa as her best weapon and Crimson Witch of Flames as her ideal artifact set, she can unleash devastating Charged Attacks that capitalize on elemental reactions. While she requires careful stat balancing, prioritizing Crit Rate, Crit DMG, Elemental Mastery, and HP% ensures she reaches her full potential.

Her Constellations can enhance her overall effectiveness, with C1 (Crimson Bouquet) offering the biggest improvement by eliminating stamina concerns during her Elemental Skill. While higher constellations can boost her damage and survivability, Genshin Impact Hu Tao is already incredibly strong at C0 with the right build. Pairing her with Xingqiu or Yelan ensures she can consistently trigger Vaporize, while Zhongli’s shield allows her to play aggressively without interruption. Additional Anemo support like Kazuha or Sucrose can further enhance her Pyro damage by reducing enemy resistances.

Overall, Genshin Impact Hu Tao remains one of the most dominant single-target DPS units in Genshin Impact, capable of melting through enemies with well-timed Charged Attacks. She rewards skilled play with high-risk, high-reward damage output, making her a favorite among dedicated players. Whether using top-tier weapons or more accessible options, as long as she is built properly and supported by the right teammates, Genshin Impact Hu Tao can be a devastating force in any battle.