Raiden Shogun is an Electro Polearm user and one of the most hotly anticipated characters ever added to Genshin Impact.
The Electro Archon was the most powerful and most dangerous enemy we ever faced in the game’s story. But while her gameplay seems to reflect her power as presented in the game’s story, realizing the full potential of this power can be quite a challenge.
This is because Baal needs to be built differently than your average Genshin Impact characters, most of who follow a similar pattern in terms of desired weapons and artifacts. She also needs very specific teammates to really shine.
In this guide, we’ll tell you how to prioritize her talents, which weapons and artifacts work best on her and why, and who her ideal teammates are, among other things.
Table of ContentsShow
Talent Priority
| Talent | Description | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Attack (Origin) | Normal Attack: • Perform up to 5 consecutive spear strikes. Charged Attack: • Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to perform an upward slash. Plunging Attack: • Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact. | Unless you want to run Baal in the most sub-optimal way where you rely on her Normal and Charged Attacks to dish out DMG in Polearm mode, this is her least important talent by far. |
| Elemental Skill (Transcendence: Baleful Omen) | The Raiden Shogun unveils a shard of her Euthymia, dealing Electro DMG to nearby opponents, and granting nearby party members the Eye of Stormy Judgment. Eye of Stormy Judgment • When characters with this buff attack and deal DMG to opponents, the Eye will unleash a coordinated attack, dealing AoE Electro DMG at the opponent’s position. • Characters who gain the Eye of Stormy Judgment will have their Elemental Burst DMG increased based on the Energy Cost of the Elemental Burst during the Eye’s duration. • The Eye can initiate one coordinated attack every 0.9s per party. • Coordinated attacks generated by characters not controlled by you deal 20% of the normal DMG. | At first glance, Baal’s Elemental Skill resembles the Electro Traveler’s Elemental Burst, only with 100% uptime! This already seems like some serious power-creep, and that’s without counting the fact that Baleful Omen also buffs the Elemental Burst DMG of active characters. Despite how insanely good this all sounds, Baleful Omen is somehow still only her 2nd priority talent. |
| Elemental Burst (Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu) | Gathering truths unnumbered and wishes uncounted, the Raiden Shogun unleashes the Musou no Hitotachi and deals AoE Electro DMG, using Musou Isshin in combat for a certain duration afterward. The DMG dealt by Musou no Hitotachi and Musou Isshin’s attacks will be increased based on the number of Chakra Desiderata’s Resolve stacks consumed when this skill is used. Musou Isshin While in this state, the Raiden Shogun will wield her tachi in battle, while her Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks will be infused with Electro DMG, which cannot be overridden. When such attacks hit opponents, she will regenerate Energy for all nearby party members. Energy can be restored this way once every 1s, and this effect can be triggered 5 times throughout this skill’s duration. While in this state, the Raiden Shogun’s resistance to interruption is increased, and she is immune to Electro-Charged reaction DMG. While Musou Isshin is active, the Raiden Shogun’s Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attack DMG will be considered Elemental Burst DMG. The effects of Musou Isshin will be cleared when the Raiden Shogun leaves the field. Chakra Desiderata When nearby party members (excluding the Raiden Shogun herself) use their Elemental Bursts, the Raiden Shogun will build up Resolve stacks based on the Energy Cost of these Elemental Bursts. The maximum number of Resolve stacks is 60. The Resolve gained by Chakra Desiderata will be cleared 300s after the Raiden Shogun leaves the field. | There’s a lot to unpack here so let’s start from the top: In addition to dealing massive amounts of initial DMG, this Burst will also make Baal switch to a sword stance. This sword stance uses separate multipliers from the Normal Attack Talent. Furthermore, buffs to Elemental Burst DMG will also buff up her Sword attacks (a luxury that characters with similar transformative Bursts like Xiao and Noelle don’t enjoy). And on top of that, she can restore loads of energy for the whole team, thereby kickstarting the whole rotation once again. This isn’t just Baal’s most important talent, it’s one of the best talents in the entire game. |
Passive Talents
| Talent Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| All-Preserver | Mora expended when ascending Swords and Polearms is decreased by 50%. | While underwhelming and unexciting, getting a discount on anything is always valuable in this game. |
| Wishes Unnumbered | When nearby party members gain Elemental Orbs or Particles, Chakra Desiderate gains 2 Resolve stacks. This effect can occur once every 3s. | This talent makes it easier to build up Resolve stacks for any team, but what we like the most is how it makes running characters with low-costed Bursts alongside Baal more forgiving. |
| Enlightened One | Each 1% above 100% Energy Recharge that the Raiden Shogun possesses grants her: • 0.6% greater Energy restoration from Musou Isshin • 0.4% Electro DMG Bonus. | This is a catch-all passive that makes Baal a better support and a better damage dealer just by stacking Energy Recharge. Even without this bonus, she could already restore up to 12.5 Energy for the entire team with the Burst talent at level 10. And seeing as she is the only character in the game with a Burst that costs 90 Energy, you won’t ever feel bad about having too much Energy Recharge. |
Raiden Shogun is a unique character. We’re not exactly sure how to classify her… she’s an off-field DPS insofar as her Elemental Burst has 100% uptime; she’s a Burst Support thanks to the massive DMG her Burst brings to the table; she’s a downright DPS while wielding her sword, given how she can pump out numbers bigger than some other DPS characters; she’s a support due to how much she can buff other characters’ Bursts and replenish their energy. The does everything.
Her rotation is clearly defined as well and has a nice rhythm to it. First, you cast her Elemental Skill. Then you use the Elemental Bursts of other characters to raise her Resolve stack. Once your other characters have used their abilities, you switch to Raiden Shogun, cast her Burst, and go ham! If something should happen to survive her onslaught, you just repeat the process.
Of course, to get her to be this effective you would first need to build her properly—this means prioritizing the right stats, equipping her with the proper weapon, and teaming her up with the most synergistic teammates.
This guide will let you know how to do all of that, but first, let’s consider how good her constellations are.
Constellations
| Constellation Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Ominous Inscription | Charka Desiderata will gather Resolve even faster. When Electro characters use their Elemental Bursts, the Resolve gained is increased by 80%. When characters of other Elemental Types use their Elemental Bursts, the Resolve gained is increased by 20%. | C1 is just a quality of life buff. It doesn’t raise Baal’s DMG ceiling, nor does it buff her supporting capabilities. It makes her more convenient to use by making it easier to reach said DMG ceiling, but by no means is it a constellation to marvel at. |
| Steelbreaker | Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu’s Musou no Hitotachi and Musou Isshin attacks will ignore 60% of opponents’ DEF. | DEF resistance is one of the rarest and most valuable debuffs in the entire game. While C2 isn’t exactly a debuff—it doesn’t benefit other characters—it will noticeably increase the DMG Baal does during her Burst. |
| Shinkage Bygones | Increases the Level of Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | As we’ve previously stated, Musou Shinsetsu is one of the best Elemental Bursts in the entire game, so the fact that you get to buff it at C3 instead of C5 is a huge plus. |
| Pledge of Propriety | When the Musou Isshin state applied by Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu expires, all nearby party members (excluding the Raiden Shogun) gain 30% bonus ATK for 10s. | C4 is strictly a support constellation, but it’s a rather good one. 30% bonus ATK is no small amount, and if you manage your Energy and cooldowns efficiently, you can have almost 100% uptime on this buff while Baal is off-field. |
| Shogun’s Descent | Increases the Level of Shogun’s Descent by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | C5 is a bit mediocre. The Elemental Burst DMG buff provided by Baleful Omen doesn’t increase after Level 10, which would have been the most welcome buff here. |
| Wishbearer | While in the Musou Isshin state applied by Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu, the Raiden Shogun’s Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks will decrease all nearby party members’ (but not including the Raiden Shogun herself) Elemental Burst CD by 1s when they hit opponents. This effect can trigger once every 1s, and can trigger a total of 5 times during the state’s duration. | A flat 5-second cooldown reduction for the rest of the party is no joke. It’s hard to fathom exactly how impactful this will be, but we can already see the potential for abuse. |
Raiden Shogun looks to continue the trend of characters with mediocre C1 upgrades. To reiterate, her C1 isn’t bad by any means—it just doesn’t add anything to her kit that cannot be replicated with a synergistic team composition and proper execution.
That said, her C2 and C3 are both incredible. And better yet, if all you care about is doing the most DMG with the Electro Archon herself, then you can stop at C3 and call it a day. It’s not that the constellations beyond that are bad—on the contrary, they’re very good—but they’re strictly support focused.
As always, we must remind you that a constellation on any character—even one as amazing as the Raiden Shogun—won’t match a wholly new 5* character being added to your account.
So if you’re a F2P player or a low spender who, according to our calculations, can only reliably count on pulling one 5* character every patch, constellations just don’t seem worth it. And if you’re still on the fence, just take a look at this Character Tier List and ask yourself whether constellations can match the value of any S-Tier or A-Tier characters.
Best Weapon
| Weapon Rarity | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Engulfing Lightning 5* | Very few featured weapons complement their intended user quite like the Engulfing Lightning complements the Raiden Shogun. She already receives bonus Electro DMG from stacking Energy Recharge, but this will also convert Energy Recharge into ATK%, which is just insane. |
| Skyward Spine 5* | Skyward Spine is the next best 5* option for Baal. The ATK speed buff is inconsequential, but you can never go wrong with a high base ATK, Energy Recharge, and a bit of added CRIT Rate. The weapon’s passive proc is just the cherry on top. |
| The Catch 4* | The Catch is a 5* item in disguise. Sure, the base ATK can’t compete with 5* options, but the passive more than makes up for it, buffing Elemental Burst DMG and Elemental Burst CRIT Rate. For Baal specifically, it can compete with the Skyward Spine when taken to r5 and stands head and shoulders above all the other 4* options. |
| Favonius Lance 4* | While outclassed by the Catch, Favonius Lance is still a fine 4* option for Baal, with high base ATK, good Energy Recharge, and even built-in Energy acceleration. |
| Prototype Starglitter 4* | You won’t feel great about equipping your Baal with Prototype Starglitter when the Catch is also free, but it will get the job done. Just remember to refresh her Elemental Skill right before casting her Burst to buff up her Normal and Charged Attack DMG. |
Best Artifacts – 4-Emblem of Severed Fate
Baal is a slightly unconventional character, as far as her desired artifact stats go. Whereas most characters stick to the ATK%/Elemental DMG%/CRIT formula, Raiden Shogun works most optimally with Energy Recharge on the Sands, ATK% on the Goblet, and CRIT DMG/CRIT Rate on the Logos.
In terms of substats, you’re looking for CRIT DMG, CRIT Rate, ATK%, and Energy Recharge.
As far as set bonuses go, Raiden Shogun is exceedingly straightforward. You want one thing and one thing only—the 4-Piece Emblem of Severed Fate set bonus. This will increase your Elemental Burst DMG by 25% of Energy Recharge, up to 75% that can be obtained if Baal has 300 Energy Recharge.
By virtue of having the 4-Piece set bonus, you’ll also have the 2-Piece set bonus for an extra 20% Energy Recharge that feeds into this buff. Even with just 200 Energy Recharge, which is very easily obtainable, you’ll get more value from this set bonus than any other set can provide.
Normally, this is where we would recommend some alternative builds, but in this case, even a 4-Piece Severed Fate set with poor substats will outdo any combination of 2-Piece Noblesse Oblige/ Shimenawa’s Reminiscence/ Thundering Fury. If you’re just looking to equip Baal with something while you farm for the 4-Piece Severed Fate, any combination of these four sets will do.
Oh, and if you’re wondering why we didn’t include an Electro DMG Goblet, the answer is simple—diminishing returns.
If you remember, Baal’s passive talent gives her Electro DMG based on her Energy Recharge. And with an Energy Recharge Weapon, Sands, 2-Piece Set Bonus, and possibly some fortuitous substat rolls, you’ll have so much innate Electro DMG that an ATK% Goblet will simply give you more DMG.
Elemental Synergies
Electro is unanimously considered to be the worst element by the community. Just like Beidou and Fischl, Baal isn’t good because of her element. On the contrary, what’s impressive is how she can dish out so much DMG and support the rest of the team so well despite being Electro.
The best Element to pair together with the Electro Archon is:
- Anemo: Swirling Electro is good and all, but in all honesty, the reason Anemo is the best Element to support Electro is simply due to the way the 4-Piece Viridescent Venerer set bonus works. All the DMG Baal does with her Burst is Electro, and with the proper setup, you will be able to shed the enemies’ Electro Resistance and set Baal up for success using this set.
Unfortunately, this is where the amazing elemental synergies end for Baal. With the exception of Cryo, all other Elements are either mediocre or bad. And even Cryo is good for all the wrong reasons:
- Cryo: Mixing Cryo and Electro will result in Superconduct—an Elemental Reaction that deals insignificant AoE DMG and shreds the Physical Resistance of all enemies caught in the AoE by 40%. All DMG that Baal does during her Burst is Electro, making Superconduct worthless. But if you use a Physical DPS while Baal’s Burst is on cooldown, you can significantly boost their performance with this reaction.
- Hydro: Electro-Charged is a unique reaction in that it doesn’t cause the Elemental afflictions to disappear. It can’t CRIT and its DMG is underwhelming unless you can absolutely abuse the reaction for all it is worth, like the Childe and Beidou duo can. Perhaps an upcoming character will pair this well with Baal.
- Geo: Shields are valuable in this game—invaluable even! Being able to face-tank DMG instead of avoiding it by dodging will increase your DMG output. And while the shields created through Crystallize can’t exactly compete with the real thing, they’re better than nothing.
While Cryo, Hydro, and Geo don’t complement the Raiden Shogun in any impressive way, at least they’re not counter-productive, unlike:
- Pyro: Mixing Pyro and Electro results in Overloaded, an Elemental reaction that deals AoE Pyro DMG (even if an Electro character procs the reaction) and knocks away enemies. Ranged characters like Yoimiya can make excellent use of Overloaded, but melee characters hate it. Chasing down enemies after every hit is not how you maximize DMG.
Best Team Composition
Free-to-Play
- Raiden Shogun
- Rosaria
- Diona
- Sucrose
While it can be argued that all 4* characters are F2P friendly, we also like to include characters who all players are guaranteed to have in our F2P team compositions. This way, even beginner players can still get great value out of this guide. So if you’re missing some or all of these characters, don’t worry, we’ll mention some alternatives that can function just as well.
Ideally, you want a Physical DPS, a source of Cryo, a Viridescent Venerer carrier, a shielder, and possibly a healer. The more roles a single character can accomplish, the higher their stock rises.
Rosaria is used to dish out Physical DMG while Baal’s Elemental Burst is on cooldown. If you don’t have Rosaria you can use Kaeya. We prefer Rosaria because her Burst will also buff up Baal a bit, but Kaeya can be just as adept at dealing Physical DMG during Baal’s downtime. Razor is another good option, only then you’ll have to rely on another party member to provide the Cryo needed for Superconduct, which can complicate matters if you don’t have this next character.
Diona is used for her shield and healing (and proccing Superconduct if she’s the only Cryo character in the team). Her Elemental Burst also costs 80 Energy, which Raiden will certainly appreciate. That said, she’s not essential—the Cryo Resonance does little with Baal’s Elemental Skill active. It’s great that she’s a two-in-one package that offers both healing and shielding, but you could replace her with various characters. The best completely F2P replacements for Diona are Noelle and Barbara. Alternatively, you could get Sara. If you have Raiden Shogun, chances are you have Sara as well. She may not heal or shield, but she can support Baal by boosting her ATK.
Sucrose is another character that we feel safe including here because she’s featured on the same banner as the Raiden Shogun. Do keep in mind, though, that she’s only here because she can equip both the 4-Piece Viridescent Venerer set and the Thrilling Tales of the Dragonslayer catalyst—the items are the real MVP. Sayu may be an even better choice, offering both Healing and the 4-Piece Viridescent capabilities together with an 80 Energy Burst. If you have neither of these characters, then it’s time to dust off that Anemo Traveler.
For Whales
- Raiden Shogun
- Eula
- Kazuha
- Zhongli
The whale team comp works off of the same premise—Electro DMG during Baal’s Burst, Physical DMG during its downtime, and means of buffing both!
Eula is easily the best Physical DPS in the entire game and with Baal, she can proc Superconduct even with her eyes closed. But that’s not where the synergy ends—she also has an 80 Energy Burst that you would love to buff with Baal.
Kazuha is hands down the best character at buffing Elemental DMG in the entire game. It also doesn’t hurt that his own DMG output is deceptively high.
Zhongli is there primarily for the shield. With a shield that strong, you completely eliminate the need for a healer. Zhongli also brings some innate DMG amplification to the table. Best of all, you can buff both his shielding and DMG amplification capabilities by using the 4-Piece Tenacity of the Millelith set.
Is Raiden Shogun Worth It?
At first glance, this looks like a stupid question.
How can she not be worth it? Both her DMG and her supporting capabilities are amazing.
Sure, we can’t exactly see her impacting the meta in a way that’s comparable to her fellow Archons, Zhongli and Venti, but she still offers more value than most other 5* characters.
Nevertheless, there is one huge caveat that Raiden Shogun is currently facing and that you should be aware of—she is Electro.
You may be tired of hearing how Electro is bad—the community has been moaning about this since the game’s launch—but it really does hamper her viability in many team compositions. If you’ve got Eula she’s a no-brainer, but otherwise, you will have to use a 4* Physical DPS or try some experimental Electro-Charge or Geo build. She simply doesn’t have a home in more traditional Freeze, Melt, or Vaporize teams.
So that’s the big caveat. On her own, Raiden Shogun is amazing. But she doesn’t play nice with the majority of the game’s roster, forcing you to play her in a certain way that isn’t exactly meta. She’ll likely only get better as more characters get added into the game, but that doesn’t change the fact that you should only try your luck on the gacha now if you don’t mind these restrictions.
