In today’s guide, we will cover the best ways to build Heizou, and give in-depth information on his best weapons, artifacts, and the most effective team comps. We will also discuss his talents, the costs of leveling him up, and his constellations. But first, we will begin with a brief introduction to the character.
Heizou is a young prodigy detective from the Tenryou Commission. Genshin Impacts’ newest character release in the 2.8 update is an Anemo Catalyst user. Despite being a 4-star, Heizou has proved to be one of the most fun characters as of late. He punches and kicks his enemies into the Abyssal depths and dishes out big numbers in the process.
An Overview
Heizou’s playstyle is very unique. He utilizes elemental energy in martial combat, unlike other catalyst users who fire off projectiles. Making him the first of his kind and refreshing to play, However, some players may not feel the same due to varying playstyles and preferences.
Heizou’s Ascension and Talent Costs / Mats
Leveling up your Heizou makes building him more worthwhile since, with every Ascension Level, Heizou will gain a boost in Anemo DMG.
Heizou’s Ascension Costs
At certain Level milestones, Heizou will need some extra items to Ascend:
| Ascension Level | Materials Required | Mora Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Level 20 | x1 Vayuda Turquoise Silver x3 Onikabuto x3 Treasure Hoarder Insignias | 20,000 |
| Level 40 | x3 Vayuda Turquoise Fragments x2 Runic Fang x10 Onikabuto x15 Treasure Hoarder Insignias | 40,000 |
| Level 50 | x6 Vayuda Turquoise Fragments x4 Runic Fang x20 Onikabuto x12 Silver Raven Insignias | 60,000 |
| Level 60 | x3 Vayuda Turquoise Chunk x8 Runic Fang x30 Onikabuto x18 Silver Raven Insignias | 80,000 |
| Level 70 | x6 Vayuda Turquoise Chunk x12 Runic Fang x45 Onikabuto x12 Golden Raven Insignias | 100,000 |
| Level 80 | x6 Vayuda Turquoise Gemstone x20 Runic Fang x60 Onikabuto x24 Golden Raven Insignias | 120,000 |
| Totals | x 18 Treasure Hoarder Insignia x 30 Silver Raven Insignia x 36 Golden Raven Insignia x 1 Vayuda Turquoise Sliver x 9 Vayuda Turquoise Fragment x 9 Vayuda Turquoise Chunk x 6 Vayuda Turquoise Gemstone x146 Onikabuto x46 Runic Fang | 420,000 |
Heizou’s Talent Upgrade Costs
Upgrading Heizous talents bring out the maximum DMG potential of your build.
| Talent Level | Materials Required | Mora Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Level 2 | x3 Teachings of Transience x6 Treasure Hoarder Insignias | 12,500 |
| Level 3 | x2 Guide to Transience x3 Silver Raven Insignias | 17,500 |
| Level 4 | x4 Guide to Transience x4 Silver Raven Insignias | 25,000 |
| Level 5 | x6 Guide to Transience x6 Silver Raven Insignias | 30,000 |
| Level 6 | x9 Guide to Transience x9 Silver Raven Insignias | 37,500 |
| Level 7 | x4 Philosophies of Transience x4 Golden Raven Insignias x1 The Meaning of Aeons | 120,000 |
| Level 8 | x6 Philosophies of Transience x6 Golden Raven Insignias x1 The Meaning of Aeons | 260,000 |
| Level 9 | x12 Philosophies of Transience x9 Golden Raven Insignias x2 The Meaning of Aeons | 450,000 |
| Level 10 | x16 Philosophies of Transience x12 Golden Raven Insignias x2 The Meaning of Aeons x1 Crown of Insight | 700,000 |
| Totals | x3 Teachings of Transience x21 Guides of Transience x38 Philosophies of Transience x6 Treasure Hoarder Insignias x22 Silver Raven Insignias x31 Golden Raven Insignias x6 Meaning of Aeons x1 Crown of Insight | 1,652,500 |
Heizou’s Talents
Heizou’s talents showcase the character’s versatility. His passive talents are excellent for both damage output and casual exploration, as he buffs your team’s elemental damage and also provides a significant decrease in stamina consumption.
His combat talents are ideal for elemental teams and grouping, as his skill deals more damage the more you proc swirl reactions, and his burst can aid in grouping small enemies.
Heizou’s Normal Attack
Fudou Style Martial Arts
Heizou performs a 5 attack sequence, dealing Anemo DMG. Consumes stamina to perform a backflip kick that also deals Anemo DMG
Our suggestions, and thoughts:
If you wish to use Heizou’s on-field support build for your off-field units, this talent should be prioritized when leveling up your character. It’ll deal continuous Anemo DMG making it possible to swirl Pyro, Cryo, Electro, or Hydro very easily.
The community uses the N and C notations to denote normal and charged attacks, respectively. So for this character, we recommend using an NC combo which is normal into a charged attack. N4C is also viable, it translates to 4 normal attacks into a charged attack, making a seamless transition from his normal attack kicks into a charged kick.
Heizou’s Elemental Skill
Heartstopper Strike
Upon pressing, perform a Heartstopper Strike that deals Anemo DMG.
Holding will charge up your skill and make it stronger. An approximate 5 second hold provides the maximum stacks of the Declension effect.
Declension makes your skill do maximum DMG. An even greater bonus is provided if you hold for greater than 5 seconds.
Our suggestions, and thoughts:
This ability is going to be vital for any form of playstyle as it will be the main source of your DMG in all Heizou’s builds. Although the 10-second cooldown may be cumbersome, it makes sure that you gain enough declension stacks before unleashing your next skill. Declension stacks can be gained in two ways, one of which has already been discussed. This method is not the most viable because Heizou takes 5 seconds to charge up, leaving you open to attacks and wasting precious time in Spiral Abyss or time-trial challenges.
An alternative would be to make use of his 1st Ascension passive: Whenever Heizou swirls, he will gain a Declension stack. Making use of this passive is much more viable since you will be dealing damage while the skill is on cool down and also be gaining stacks simultaneously.
Thus, you should consider bringing along a support character that can continuously enable Heizou to swirl one (or more) of the 4 elements mentioned above. A detailed guide on team comps is coming up soon!
Heizou’s Elemental Burst
Windmuster Kick
Our suggestions and thoughts:
This ability scales significantly with every talent level. So, it is worth spending your Mora on – especially if you are considering using Heizou as an on-field character. Again, if you have off-field supports like Xingqiu or Beidou, getting that extra Iris DMG will not be an issue.
Unlocked Automatically
Pre-Existing Guilt
Decreases sprinting Stamina consumption for your own party members by 20%.
*Insert happy face* Ever drowned while getting to an island? Fallen of Stormbreaker Mountains? This ability should reduce the frequency of such painful accidents.
1st Ascension Passive
Paradoxical Practice
When Shikanoin Heizou activates a Swirl reaction while on the field, he will gain 1 Declension stack for Heartstopper Strike, this effect can be triggered every 0.1s.
This talent was discussed in Heizou’s talents section, making him much more effective in time-sensitive battles.
4th Ascension Passive
Penetrative Reasoning
After Shikanoin Heizou‘s Heartstopper Strike hits an opponent, it increases all party members’ (excluding Shikanoin Heizou) Elemental Mastery by 80 for 10s.
This is a nice ability to have as it increases the effectiveness of your Elemental Reactions. Although this ability is not as powerful as Sucrose’s Mastery boost, it is still significant enough to mention. Can’t complain!
Heizou’s Constellations
A brief note is necessary here.. C0 Heizou is an amazing unit. Please do not feel forced to roll for a character’s constellations. They are nice to have and can boost the effectiveness of a character but aren’t worth spending real-world currency on unless you have a large reserve of expendable income.
However, if you do end up getting more constellations, congratulations! Let us get you familiar with Heizou’s Stella Fortuna.
Constellation Lv. 1
Named Juvenile Casebook
This ability is incredibly handy. The increased ATK SPD allows Heizou to gain Declension faster and also do more DPS. Its effects are comparable to Rosaria’s and Xinyan’s first constellation.
Constellation Lv. 2
Investigative Collection
Heizou’s Wind Tunnel might feel a bit underwhelming to some. Since characters like Venti and Kazuha already exist, the standard was already set pretty high. So it’s no surprise that a 4 star like Heizou does not have serious crowd control built into his kit. However, this constellation does change that slightly. Please consult the following image that displays whether the enemy was pulled in before and after c2.
Constellation Lv. 3 + 5
Esoteric Puzzle Book + Secret Archive
These two constellations buff the talent level of every character in the Genshin world. So no major discussions are to be had here.
Constellation Lv. 4
Tome of Lies
This constellation is more of a “quality of life” change. Heizou already has a low energy cost and can get away with lower Energy Recharge on his substats. For this constellation to work, however, it is important to note that an enemy must have Pyro, Cryo, Electro, or Hydro afflictions.
Constellation Lv. 6
Curious Casefiles
A maximum of 16% CRIT Rate can be achieved in this way, the CRIT DMG bonus activates when you possess all four Declension stacks. The difference between a C0, C3, and C6 Heizou is shown below.
Heizou’s Best Artifact Sets
Heizou does not require players to farm any new artifact sets. He will mostly prefer making use of the Viridescent Venerer and Gladiator’s Finale /Shimenawa’s Reminiscence sets to buff his Anemo DMG and ATK.
4-Piece Viridescent Venerer
The character has received a 15% Anemo DMG bonus. Swirl DMG increased by 60%. Decreased Opponent’s Elemental RES to the element infused in the swirl by 40% for 10 seconds.
Our suggestions, and thoughts:
This set is the best option for Heizou, especially if you’re running an elemental team comp that deals off-field damage. Heizou’s normal attacks will constantly be swirling and dealing massive DMG.
2-Piece Gladiators/ 2-Piece Shimenawas, 2 Piece Venerers
The two piece Gladiators set increases your ATK by 18%
Our suggestions, and thoughts:
If you do not have a good 4-piece Venerer set yet, using the 2-piece Gladiator is a good option as it buffs your ATK, allowing your normal attacks, skill, and burst to do more damage with lesser need for off-field supports.
Heizou’s Best Stats on Artifact Sets
You’re going to be looking for a CRIT or Elemental Mastery build on Heizou. Of course, one could mix and match both, but for the most part, a majority might prefer settling on just one of the two.
CRIT Heizou Build
This build prefers a CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG circlet, depending on which one you need more. Generally, the game nods towards a 1 to 2 ratio between these two stats.
An Anemo DMG goblet is preferred, because… Heizou has an Anemo Vision *insert pikachu face*.
For your sands, ATK as a mainstat is preferred over others.
The substats are going to be one of the three main stats discussed, some EM or Energy Recharge is nice. DEF and HP are NOT preferred but that’s for RNG to decide.
Elemental Mastery Heizou Build
For this build, your circlet, goblet and sands should have EM as mainstat and any other offensive substat such as ATK CRIT DMG or CRIT Rate.
Heizou’s Recommended Weapons
Heizou has quite a few weapons that can work well on him. Most 5 stars are a good option. However, the community maths gurus have ruled most 4-star options to be better.
5 Star Weapons
Lost prayer to the Sacred Winds
This is the best in slot 5-star weapon for Heizou. The massive CRIT Rate boost and high base ATK coupled with an increased Elemental Damage bonus will render your Heizou godlike. We recommend a build focusing on CRIT DMG if you decide to equip this weapon.
Skyward Atlas
The Atlas works in both CRIT and EM builds. The high base ATK and the Main Stat scaling go hand in hand, favoring a solo Heizou build. The Elemental DMG bonus favors his overall kit nicely. A CRIT build is recommended alongside the Atlas.
4 Star Weapons
Sacrificial Fragments
This weapon is very good, it focuses on powering Elemental Teams. The reduced cooldowns make Heizou perform more skills, which greatly increases DPS. The increased Elemental Mastery is going to buff your Heizou’s Swirl DMG beyond comparison.
We recommend using the 4-piece Viridescent Venerer on Heizou if you decide to make use of this catalyst.
Mappa Mare
The f2p option is easily obtainable through the forging feature available in all cities. Players need to beat weekly bosses to obtain catalyst billets. This weapon generally favors an Elemental Team, so it is recommended to use a 4-piece Viridescent Venerer on Heizou.
The Widsith
This weapon is the best overall weapon for Heizou, even dwarfing the likes of 5 stars. At r5, the weapon turns Heizou into a DMG dealing machine. The bonuses coupled with CRIT DMG main stat makes the weapon a very good option. To balance out the increase in CRIT DMG, you are recommended to make use of a CRIT build.
Heizou’s Best Teams
And finally, the all-important section: Heizou’s Teams.
Taser Team
Taser Heizou is the meta, it utilises off-field damage dealers like Beidou, Fischl and Xingqiu.
Beidou’s and Xingqius Burst coupled with Fischl’s Skill constantly proc Electrocharged reaction. Constantly stunning your enemies and dealing chaining DMG that jumps across multiple enemies!
This team comp is recommended for Elemental Mastery builds on your Heizou.
Beidou can be used interchangeably with Yelan, whose Elemental Burst is a wonderful off-field attacker, and paired with Xingqiu, turn out to be quite the deadly combo.
Heizou National
This team enables Xiangling to do tonnes of Pyro DMG, using Xingqiu as the Hydro applier, and Bennett to buff ATK. Heizou’s passive talent can also be used to increase EM, but mainly you’re going to be using him to swirl Pyro or Hydro
Heizou DPS
For personalised teams (that focus on buffing Heizou’s DMG), characters like Bennett and Zhongli are recommended.
Zhongli’s shield can reduce an enemy’s Elemental RES, making them weaker.
If you happen to have C4 Jean, she can also greatly increase the DMG output of your Heizou for such teams. A CRIT build on your Heizou is recommended.
Conclusion
Although Heizou has proved to be a pretty solid DPS, he isn’t on par with Xiao, who is the strongest Anemo unit in the game. But still, do not feel discouraged to pull for a character just because they deal less DMG than some other unit. Heizou’s playstyle (and you’ll hear this from anyone who has played the game for some time) is very refreshing in a world where melee attacks or elemental projectiles are the norms. Heizou provides an enjoyable mix of both.
Have you pulled Heizou yet? Did you enjoy using him? Did you find this guide helpful in building Heizou? Please leave your thoughts in the comments!
