The Ultimate Guide to Team Building: Best 5-Star Partners for Hu Tao in Genshin Impact
Choosing the right team for Hu Tao, Genshin Impact’s powerful Pyro DPS, can significantly impact your gameplay. While she excels as a main damage dealer, pairing her with compatible 5-star characters is key to unlocking her full potential. So, what is a good 5-star with Hu Tao? The short answer is: it depends on your goals and existing roster. However, some 5-star characters synergize exceptionally well with Hu Tao, elevating her damage output and survivability. Generally, characters that provide Hydro application, potent shields, or consistent off-field damage are considered her best partners. Yelan, Zhongli, and to a lesser extent, Kazuha stand out as excellent options that complement her kit beautifully. Let’s delve deeper into these optimal pairings.
Yelan: The Premier Hydro Support for Hu Tao
Hydro Application and Damage Amplification
Yelan is arguably the most popular and effective 5-star character to pair with Hu Tao. Her off-field Hydro application from her Elemental Burst, “Depth’s Clarion”, is consistent and reliable, allowing Hu Tao to trigger the Vaporize reaction repeatedly. This reaction significantly increases her Pyro damage, making her even more formidable.
Moreover, Yelan’s unique passive talent, “Adapt with Ease”, provides a damage bonus that ramps up over time, further amplifying Hu Tao’s damage as the battle progresses. This makes Yelan an invaluable asset to Hu Tao teams, both for her elemental application and damage-enhancing capabilities.
Why Yelan Over Xingqiu?
While Xingqiu is a strong 4-star option, Yelan generally surpasses him due to her better damage scaling and ability to provide a substantial damage buff, especially at higher constellations. While Xingqiu provides more defensive utility with his resistance to interruption, the raw damage output that Yelan brings is generally more desirable in hypercarry compositions that feature Hu Tao.
Zhongli: The Unbreakable Shield for Hu Tao
Enhanced Survivability and Resistance Shred
Zhongli is an excellent choice for Hu Tao teams, primarily for his unparalleled shielding capabilities. His Elemental Skill, “Dominus Lapidis,” creates a robust shield that not only protects Hu Tao from incoming damage but also provides a universal resistance shred on nearby enemies. This further amplifies the damage dealt by both Hu Tao and her teammates.
Hu Tao’s playstyle revolves around maintaining low HP for maximum damage, which can be risky. Zhongli’s shield allows her to operate in this low-HP state without being constantly threatened, making her playstyle safer and more consistent. Furthermore, Zhongli provides a layer of interruption resistance, allowing Hu Tao to execute her charged attacks without getting knocked back.
Zhongli’s Value in Hu Tao Team Compositions
Zhongli’s shield, coupled with his universal resistance shred, makes him a crucial asset in various Hu Tao compositions. He allows for a more aggressive playstyle, removing the need for constant healing, thus optimizing damage output. While his damage is less than other supports, his defensive utility is unmatched.
Kazuha: The Elemental Shredder and Damage Amplifier
Swirl Reactions and Elemental DMG Bonus
Kazuha, the wandering samurai, offers considerable value to Hu Tao teams through his ability to gather enemies, shred elemental resistance, and provide a substantial Elemental DMG Bonus. His Elemental Skill, “Chihayaburu,” and Burst, “Kazuha Slash,” can group enemies together, making it easier for Hu Tao to hit multiple targets.
More importantly, Kazuha’s passive talent, “Poetics of Fuubutsu,” grants an Elemental DMG Bonus to his teammates based on the element he Swirls, which can further amplify Hu Tao’s already formidable Pyro damage. While he doesn’t enable reaction damage in the same way that Yelan does, the multiplicative damage from Swirls and the Elemental DMG Bonus, Kazuha’s value is immense in certain situations.
When to Choose Kazuha
Kazuha shines in scenarios with multiple enemies or when you need to maximize Hu Tao’s overall Pyro damage output. He is especially valuable in overworld exploration, domain challenges, and events with many enemies. While he does not provide the constant hydro application that Yelan offers, Kazuha is a powerful choice in the right circumstances.
Other Potential 5-Star Options
While Yelan, Zhongli, and Kazuha are the most popular and synergistic choices for Hu Tao, other 5-star characters can be valuable in specific situations:
- Nahida: Can provide strong off-field Dendro application for Burning reactions, and offers valuable EM buffs for reaction-based team compositions.
- Mona: Can provide a large damage bonus to Hu Tao via her burst, but the duration of this bonus is short, requiring careful rotation management.
- Raiden Shogun: While not ideal, Raiden can serve as an energy generator and a source of off-field damage, which can be useful when facing multiple enemies.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Is Yelan truly the best 5-star support for Hu Tao?
Yes, in most cases, Yelan is considered the best 5-star support for Hu Tao due to her consistent Hydro application and the damage bonus she provides. She significantly increases Hu Tao’s Vaporize damage potential.
2. Is Zhongli essential for Hu Tao’s team?
While not absolutely essential, Zhongli significantly improves Hu Tao’s survivability and damage output thanks to his shield’s resistance shred. He also allows Hu Tao to operate more comfortably at low HP.
3. Can I use Kazuha in a single-target team with Hu Tao?
Kazuha’s crowd control isn’t as useful against single targets, but his ability to provide Elemental DMG Bonus is useful in nearly every situation. The difference is usually less significant compared to other options.
4. Is there a 4-star character who is as effective as a 5-star support for Hu Tao?
Xingqiu is the best 4-star Hydro support for Hu Tao. He provides consistent Hydro application for Vaporize reactions, although he doesn’t offer the same damage bonus or pure damage output as Yelan.
5. What is the optimal rotation with Hu Tao and Yelan?
A common rotation involves using Yelan’s Burst, then Hu Tao’s skill, then attacking with charge attacks while Yelan’s burst is active. Ensuring a smooth rotation is key to maximizing damage.
6. Should I prioritize Yelan over Zhongli?
This depends on your team’s needs. If you have trouble keeping Hu Tao alive, choose Zhongli. If you need more damage, Yelan is the better choice. In most circumstances though, Yelan’s Hydro application and damage bonus are usually prioritized.
7. Is Nahida good with Hu Tao?
Nahida can be a great addition to Hu Tao teams, allowing for Burning reactions and providing EM buffs. However, this team composition is less conventional than Vaporize-focused teams.
8. Why isn’t Raiden Shogun the best option for Hu Tao?
While Raiden offers consistent off-field damage and energy, her synergy with Hu Tao isn’t ideal due to conflicting energy requirements and diminishing returns on the team’s reaction damage.
9. How does Mona compare to Yelan for Hu Tao?
Mona provides a substantial damage bonus through her burst, but it is short-lived, making her less consistent than Yelan. She works better in burst-centric team compositions rather than sustained DPS.
10. What if I don’t have any of these 5-star characters?
Using effective 4-star characters is viable. Xingqiu, Sucrose, and a shielder like Thoma or Diona can be good substitutes.
11. Does Hu Tao need a dedicated healer in these 5-star comps?
In most cases, with Yelan or Zhongli, a healer is not necessary, but in some cases, a healer can provide comfort and stability if the user has difficulty executing charged attacks properly, such as Bennett or Jean.
12. What is the best artifact set for Hu Tao?
The best artifact set for Hu Tao is generally 4-piece Crimson Witch of Flames. However, 4-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence is a suitable alternative for maximizing damage.
13. How important is HP for Hu Tao?
HP is crucial for Hu Tao as it scales her damage. Optimizing her HP, along with Crit Rate/DMG, is vital for her maximum damage output.
14. How much HP should Hu Tao have?
Aim for around 30,000 – 35,000 HP for optimal performance. This is on top of the other critical stats.
15. What’s the most important aspect to consider when building a team around Hu Tao?
The most important aspect is ensuring that Hydro application for Vaporize is as consistent as possible while keeping Hu Tao at a low HP state in a safe manner. Consistent rotation management is vital for optimal performance.
By carefully selecting her 5-star companions, you can unlock the full potential of Hu Tao and dominate any challenge Genshin Impact throws your way. Remember to consider your current roster, playstyle, and specific team needs when making your choices. Happy adventuring!