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Introduction: The Genshin Impact Debate Club
The Genshin Impact Debate Club is a 3-star Claymore weapon in Genshin Impact, instantly recognizable by its sturdy appearance, described as a “handy club made of fine steel”. It’s humorously dubbed “the most persuasive line of reasoning in any debater’s arsenal”. This weapon is a common find for many players embarking on their journey through Teyvat. While it serves as a reliable starting point for new Travelers, it’s important to understand that it is fundamentally an early-game option, eventually giving way to more powerful 4-star and 5-star weapons as your adventure progresses.
Stats and Unique Passive: Blunt Conclusion
The Debate Club provides a solid foundation, especially for characters whose damage scales with their Attack (ATK) stat. At Level 1, it offers a Base ATK of 39 and an ATK% secondary stat of 7.7%. As you ascend and level it up to its maximum, Level 90, its Base ATK increases to 401, and its ATK% secondary stat reaches a respectable 35.2%.
The defining feature of the Debate Club is its unique passive ability, known as Blunt Conclusion. This effect activates after you utilize a character’s Elemental Skill. Once activated, your Normal and Charged Attacks will deal additional Physical Damage in a small Area of Effect (AoE) upon hitting an enemy. The amount of this bonus damage is directly proportional to the wielder’s ATK. The effect of Blunt Conclusion lasts for 15 seconds.
While the additional damage can only occur once every 3 seconds during this period, there’s a valuable nuance: if your character’s Elemental Skill has a relatively short cooldown and can be used multiple times (such as Diluc’s Elemental Skill), re-activating the skill will refresh the internal 3-second cooldown of the passive trigger. This allows for more frequent instances of the bonus damage within the overall 15-second duration.
The potency of this passive damage also improves significantly with each refinement level:
- At Rank 1, the additional damage is equal to 60% of ATK.
- This percentage increases to 75% at Rank 2, 90% at Rank 3, 105% at Rank 4, and a maximum of 120% at Rank 5.
Refining the Debate Club involves spending Mora, with costs of 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 for the first four refinements. Interestingly, the final refinement to Rank 5 costs no Mora.
Acquiring the Debate Club
Obtaining the Debate Club is quite straightforward due to its 3-star rarity. It can be acquired from any of the Wish Banners available in Genshin Impact, including the Standard Banner, Event Banners, Weapon Banners, and even the Newbie Prayer. Because of its common classification, it is one of the most frequently appearing items when pulling on banners, meaning you’ll likely accumulate multiple copies over time without needing to actively seek it out. It can also be found in various chests scattered throughout the game world.
Ascending and Awakening the Weapon
To fully elevate the Debate Club to Level 90, you will need a cumulative sum of 400,000 Mora and 403 Mystic Enhancement Ore. The ascension process itself is broken down into several stages, each requiring specific materials that can be gathered from different in-game sources.
The required materials include:
- Weapon Ascension Materials: These are the “Mist Veiled Elixirs.” You will need 2 Mist Veiled Lead Elixir, 6 Mist Veiled Mercury Elixir, 6 Mist Veiled Gold Elixir, and 3 Mist Veiled Primo Elixir in total. These materials are typically farmed from the “Liangshan Labyrinth” dungeon, which is available on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
- Enemy Drops (Mist Grass): For these, you’ll require 10 Mist Grass Pollen, 12 Mist Grass, and 18 Mist Grass Wick. These items are dropped by Fatui Cicin Mages.
- Enemy Drops (Masks): The mask materials consist of 6 Damaged Masks, 10 Stained Masks, and 12 Ominous Masks. These are commonly obtained from defeating Hilichurls.
The total Mora cost for all ascension stages combined amounts to 105,000. While it is possible to fully level the Debate Club, it’s generally advised that this weapon is best suited for the early game. Many players find that investing heavily in a 3-star weapon for full leveling “does not make sense” because it will almost always be outperformed by any 4-star weapon you acquire later. Therefore, the common strategy is to use the Debate Club as a stepping stone and then repurpose it as valuable “upgrade fodder” to enhance higher-tier weapons once they become available.
Who Benefits Most: Recommended Characters
The Debate Club is a versatile Claymore that can be equipped by any character who wields a two-handed weapon, making it a viable early-game choice for several damage-oriented characters. Its primary benefit comes from its ATK% secondary stat and its passive, which deals AoE physical damage, making it particularly useful for characters who scale with ATK or focus on physical damage output.
Here are some characters who can effectively utilize the Debate Club, especially in the initial phases of your Genshin Impact journey:
| Character | Effectiveness of Debate Club | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Diluc | ★★★★☆ | Excellent early-game choice; synergizes well with his fast Elemental Skill. |
 Razor | ★★★★☆ | Great for pre-AR45; boosts ATK well for physical DPS. Outclassed later. |
 Beidou | ★★★★☆ | Works universally; easy passive trigger and useful ATK sub-stat. |
 Noelle | ★★★☆☆ | Viable early on; passive hard to maintain due to long skill cooldown. |
 Eula | ★★★★☆ | Good for physical DPS; passive and sub-stat benefit normal attacks. |
 Xinyan | ★★★★☆ | Passive synergizes well with her kit; boosts her overall damage. |
 Kaveh | ★★☆☆☆ | Poor synergy with Dendro core playstyle; only boosts normal ATK. Looks nice on him, though. |
Maximizing Its Potential: Gameplay Tips
Utilizing the Debate Club effectively is quite straightforward and does not require complex game mechanics. To get the most out of its Blunt Conclusion passive, your main strategy should involve activating your character’s Elemental Skill as soon as its cooldown is ready, and then consistently following up with Normal and Charged Attacks. This simple rotation ensures that the weapon’s bonus damage is almost constantly active, contributing significantly to your overall damage output, especially for characters with short Elemental Skill cooldowns. The passive is also very easy for characters like Mavuika to trigger.
However, it’s important to recognize that the Debate Club’s peak effectiveness is generally confined to low Adventure Ranks. As you advance through the game and face increasingly formidable enemies, the damage contribution from this 3-star weapon will inevitably become insufficient. The prevailing advice among the Genshin Impact community is to replace the Debate Club as soon as you acquire your first 4-star weapon. Once replaced, the Debate Club becomes an excellent resource for “upgrade fodder,” efficiently used to enhance higher-rarity weapons.
Debate Club vs. Other Claymores
When considering the Debate Club, it’s natural to compare it with other Claymores that are often accessible to players. This helps illustrate its place in your weapon progression.
A common comparison is made with the Prototype Archaic, a craftable 4-star Claymore (previously known as Prototype Aminus). At Level 90, the Prototype Archaic boasts a significantly higher Base ATK of 565, which is quite a leap from the Debate Club’s 401. Although the Debate Club provides a higher ATK% secondary stat (35.2% at Lv. 90 compared to Prototype Archaic’s approximately 27.6% ATK% at Lv. 90), the Prototype Archaic’s superior Base ATK usually translates to greater overall damage output. The Prototype Archaic’s passive deals a substantial 480% ATK AoE damage once every 15 seconds.
In contrast, the Debate Club’s passive delivers 120% ATK AoE damage every 3 seconds for 15 seconds, totaling a theoretical 600% ATK damage over that duration if every proc connects. Despite the Debate Club’s seemingly higher total passive multiplier, the Prototype Archaic’s higher Base ATK often leads to more substantial damage across all of a character’s abilities—Normal Attacks, Charged Attacks, Elemental Skills, and Elemental Bursts. For this reason, the Prototype Archaic is widely considered to be a much stronger option and is frequently recommended as the best free-to-play weapon for physical damage dealers such as Razor, once it becomes available. Moreover, obtaining refinements for Prototype Archaic is relatively easy since its billets are dropped by weekly bosses.
Another 3-star Claymore that often comes into consideration is the Skyrider Greatsword. This weapon enhances your ATK by a percentage up to four times on normal and charged attacks and features a Physical ATK secondary stat, making it a strong contender for main damage dealers using Claymores.
While the Debate Club excels when paired with characters who have short Elemental Skill cooldowns, allowing for continuous passive activation, the Skyrider Greatsword is generally seen as the superior 3-star option for raw, consistent damage output, especially if you can reliably build and maintain its ATK stacks. However, in specific scenarios, such as short damage windows or against enemies where continuous attacks are difficult, the immediate burst from the Debate Club’s passive procs (or the Prototype Archaic’s single large proc) might be more beneficial.
Finally, for characters like Razor, the Bloodstained Greatsword is sometimes brought up. However, it’s generally not advised for a physical Razor build due to its Elemental Mastery secondary stat, which doesn’t benefit his primary damage type. In such cases, the Debate Club is a better alternative, only being truly surpassed by the Prototype Archaic for free-to-play physical damage builds.
In essence, the Debate Club is a commendable entry-level weapon, providing accessible ATK boosts and consistent AoE damage in the early game. Its true value lies in its availability and how readily its passive can be utilized by appropriate characters. However, as you progress through the game and encounter more challenging content, you’ll find that more powerful 4-star and 5-star alternatives will emerge, and the Debate Club will transition into a valuable resource for enhancing those higher-ranking weapons.
