Genshin Impact Yelan build: Hydro spy
Genshin Impact Xiao build: Demon hunter
Genshin Impact Ayato build: Ayaka's big bro
Genshin Impact Ayaka build: Frostflake Heron
Genshin Impact Venti build : Drunken bard
Looking for a great Genshin Impact Heizou build? As the first melee catalyst-user, this Tenryou detective is one of the most fun-looking characters to arrive in Teyvat for quite some time. He may only be a four-star character, but Heizou feels pretty distinctive, kicking and punching the hell out of ne'er do wells with the power of the wind.
He's like a cross between Sherlock Holmes and one of those fighting police detectives that you see in old martial arts movies. As is pretty typical for Anemo characters, Heizou's abilities centre around infusing his attacks and Windmuster Kick with other characters' elements. Everytime he activates a Swirl reaction he gains Declension stacks due to a passive, strengthening the damage of his not-at-all-scary-sounding Heartstopper Strike skill.
With Genshin Impact 3.0 on the horizon, you might be looking for more info about Collei, Tighnari, and Dori, the new Sumeru characters that were recently announced. Otherwise, here's a great Genshin Impact Heizou build you can try out for yourself once you get your hands on the all-kicking, all-punching police detective.
Builds
The best Genshin Impact Heizou build
To get the most out of Heizou's passive skills, you'll want to build him towards causing Swirl reactions, since he gains Declension stacks every time he does. These stacks boost the damage of his Heartstopper Strike skill. Since he's also a catalyst-user, buffing elemental and Anemo damage is important.
- Weapon: Skyward Atlas/Sacrificial Fragments or Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds/Solar Pearl
There are lots of very good five-star catalysts that boost elemental damage such as Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds and Kagura's Verity, but they also boost crit rate and crit damage as substats, which isn't going to as useful when reactions like Swirl can't crit. Skyward Atlas on the other hand, boosts attack as a substat, grants a 12 percent elemental damage buff, and gives normal attacks the chance to deal an additional favor of the clouds attack that does 160 percent of attack damage.
A less rare alternative could be Sacrificial Fragments. This four-star catalyst buffs elemental mastery, which is good for Heizou's Swirl reactions, and is gives a 40 percent chance of resetting your elemental skill cooldown as soon as you use it every 30 seconds. Needless to say, this will help you farm those Declension stacks faster to strengthen Heizou's skill damage.
Weapon choice with Heizou will largely depend on whether you want to play towards his Swirl reactions or to build his Heartstopper Strikes toward crits. If it's the latter, then Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds, Kagura's Verity, and Solar Pearl are better weapon choices.
- Artifacts: (4) Viridescent Venerer
This one is a bit of a no-brainer, since two-pieces of Viridescent Venerer boost Heizou's Anemo damage by 15 percent. Considering all of his damage is Anemo, this provides a lot of value. Four-pieces will buff Swirl damage by 60 percent, while also lowering opponent resistance to Swirl-infused elements by 40 percent for ten seconds.
Heizou gains Declension stacks when he Swirls due to his Paradoxical Practice passive, so strengthening these as much as possible is a good idea. His Windmuster Kick also causes an explosion based on the element-infused, so lower enemy resistance will help it hit harder. If building Swirl, you'll want attack, elemental mastery, energy recharge, and crit rate/damage if you've space for them.
If you're trying to build Heizou more towards Heartstopper Strike crits and less towards Swirl, forget elemental mastery and prioritise crit rate and crit damage instead. It'd also be worth getting an artifact with the Anemo damage bonus substat, as that will strengthen Heizou's damage across the board.
How to unlock
How to get Heizou in Genshin Impact
Heizou is one of the featured four-star characters on the first banners for Genshin Impact 2.8 from July 13. This means that when you wish for either Kazuha or Klee, there's a chance you'll get Heizou as your guaranteed four-star every ten wishes; potentially less if you're wishing one at a time.
It's not clear whether Heizou will also be on Yoimiya's banner in the second half of 2.8, so it's probably better to wish on him sooner rather than later if you really want him. Four-stars are always added to the regular Wanderlust Invocation banner the version after they arrive, but of course, it's far harder to get them when they don't have boosted rates and are in a bigger pool of characters.
Abilities
Heizou abilities
Here are Shikanoin Heizou’s abilities, passives, and constellations:
| Normal | Performs up to five fisticuffs dealing Anemo damage. |
| Charged | Consumes stamina to perform a sweeping kick that deals Anemo damage. |
| Plunging | Heizou plunges towards the ground, dealing AoE Anemo damage on impact. |
| Tap | Launches a Heartstopper Strike that deals Anemo damage. |
| Hold | Charge and release to unleash a stronger blow and gain Declension while charging. This increases the strength of the next Heartstopper Strike and stacks up to four times. When you possess four Declension stacks, you’ll gain Conviction, increasing damage and the attack’s AoE. |
| Windmuster Kick | Heidou jumps into the air and uses Fudou Style Vacuum Slugger to kick his opponent, dealing AoE Anemo damage. When it hits opponents affected by Hydro, Cryo, Pyro, or Electro, a Windmuster Iris will appear and explode, dealing AoE damage of that elemental type. Heizou can summon four Windmuster Irises this way, though they can only absorb one element. |
| Pre-existing Guilt | Decreases sprinting stamina consumption by 20 percent for your party. |
| Paradoxical Practice | When Heizou performs a Swirl reaction on the field, he gains one Declension stack every 0.1 seconds. |
| Penetrative Reasoning | After Heizou’s Heartstopper Strike hits opponents increases all other party members’ elemental mastery by 80 for ten seconds. |
| Named Juvenile Casebook | When Heizou takes the field, he gains 15 percent increased normal attack speed and one Declension stack. This can be activated every ten seconds. |
| Investigative Collection | When Heizou’s Fudou Style Vacuum Slugger from his burst explodes, it will pull in nearby opponents. |
| Esoteric Puzzle Book | Increases the level of Heartstopper Strike by three. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| Tome of Lies | The first Windmuster Iris explosion in each Windmuster Kick generates 9 elemental energy for Heizou. Each following explosion generates a further 1.5 energy. A maximum of 13.5 energy can be obtained from the Windmuster Kick. |
| Secret Archive | Increases the level of Windmuster Kick by three. Maximum upgrade level is 15. |
| Curious Case Files | Each Declension stack increases the crit rate of Heartstopper Strike by four percent. When Heizou gains Conviction, Heartstopper Strike’s crit damage increases by 32 percent. |
Ascension materials
Heizou Ascension materials
Here are Heizou’s materials for levelling him and ascending his talents:
Character
To level Heizou you’re going to need Vayuda Turquoise, which you get from Anemo bosses like the Anemo Hypostasis in Mondstadt and Maguu Kenki in Inazuma. Sadly, Heizou’s boss material comes from neither of those, so you’ll also need to fight the Ruin Serpent in the Chasm for Runic Fangs. That said, these details could change, so maybe don’t farm those yet. You’ll also need.
- Onikabuto
- Treasure Hoarder Insignias
You can find Onikabuto beetles on trees across Inazuma, with the exception of Watatsumi and Tsurumi island. The official interactive Genshin Impact map shows every location. Treasure Hoarder Insignias come from beating Treasure Hoarder enemies of different world levels and they have three rarities: Treasure Hoarder, Silver Raven, Golden Raven.
The best way to get these is to do the Blossoms of Wealth and Wisdom in Mondstadt, as you can get some of the Mora and XP materials you need at the same time.
Talent
Here’s what you’ll need for Heizou’s talents:
- Treasure Hoarder Insignias
- Transience Scrolls
- The Meaning of Aeons
- Crown of Insight
Treasure Hoarder Insignias come from defeating Treasure Hoarders. You can get Transience Scrolls from the Violet Court Domain on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The Meaning of Aeons is a potential drop from the weekly Guardian of Eternity boss in the Trounce Domain. To unlock this you’ll need to complete the Raiden Shogun’s story quests.
Finally, the Crown of Insight is usually a reward for a single event per season. You can also get a few in the game by upgrading the Sacred Sakura in Inazuma with Electro Sigils, the Frostbearing Tree in Dragonspine with Crimson Agate, or by levelling the new Lumenstone Adjuvant gadget in the Chasm.
