Genshin Impact: 8 Best Characters To Use With Zhongli

Zhongli is well regarded as one of the best characters in Genshin Impact, which is certainly fitting for the oldest of the Seven. He is indisputably the best Shield Support in the game, with no one rivaling him in strength, reliability, and convenience. However, despite being primarily Support, Zhongli can do massive damage with his devastating Burst, casually throwing a meteor that delivers AOE Geo damage and briefly petrifies enemies. It also serves as a reminder that, despite his serene demeanor, Zhongli won the Archon War and he certainly didn’t do so by hiding behind a shield.

If built primarily for his shield, Zhongli is a universal perfect match. There isn’t a single character who would not benefit from the protection he provides, not to mention how useful he is to players for easing any difficult fights. While he’s recommended for almost every popular team comp just on the basis of convenience, there are certain compositions and characters who bring out the best in the Lord of Geo.

Chongyun

Chongyun has always been a solid character, but his limited utility made him one of the least flexible of Genshin’s claymore users. That is, until Shenhe’s release. Chongyun’s ability to convert normal damage into Cryo is key to taking advantage of Shenhe’s cryo-centric kit, opening up opportunities for some unique new team comps. And players looking to experiment will be pleasantly surprised by how well the Lord of Geo handles the cold.

Using Chongyun’s skill, a Physical Build Zhongli becomes a Cryo DPS capable of benefiting from Shenhe’s powerful damage buffs. Zhongli’s built-in resistance shred and high-speed normals allow him to take particular advantage of this position, able to fit more attacks into the duration of Chongyun’s buff than other, slower characters. With Yunjin’s extra normal attack damage buff or a Superconduct enabler added on top, this team can do impressive damage.

Tartaglia

Zhongli and Tartaglia are, in both the story and combat, seemingly unconventional but surprisingly well-suited partners. Before the Heart of Depths domain was released, one of the most popular DPS builds for the Harbinger utilized a 4-piece Retracing Bolide set. Substantially boosting a shielded character’s normal attack damage, Bolide is often considered only viable on a team including Zhongli, as his shield is the easiest way to activate the sets ability. With both Childe’s ranged and melee stances considered ‘normal’ damage, he’s one of the few characters who can effectively utilize the sets advantages. All things considered, Childe and Zhongli are almost tailor-made to be the perfect pair for Bolide.

For those who want to stick to Heart of Depths, Tartaglia can, of course, benefit from the protection of Zhongi’s shield like any other DPS. In fact, the shield is especially useful when using his melee stance, ensuring he can dive into fights as recklessly as his heart desires.

Hu Tao & Xiao

While Hu tao and Xiao, Genshin’s top two Polearm DPS, have far from identical playstyles, they benefit from Zhongli in almost the exact same way. Both characters are considered close-range ‘risky’ carries who require careful HP management due to the damage they take from their abilities. Because of this, having a shield to keep them from taking any extra damage alleviates a lot of the stress of their playstyles, making it easier to take advantage of their high damage potential by  allowing for more aggressive methods of combat.

As on-field DPS characters, Hu Tao and Xiao also especially benefit from Zhongli’s Resistance shred. This is one of the easiest debuffs to get in the game – requiring nothing more than activating his shield, which will almost always be in use anyways. This ability cuts an enemy’s Elemental and Physical Resistance, opening opponents up to even more damage from these two hard hitters.

Yun Jin

Newcomer Yun Jin is part of the recent theme of specialized support characters, with her (along with Shenhe and Gorou) having a kit centered around more specific styles of play – rather than broadly applicable abilities. It’s an expected change for a growing roster, maintaining older character’s viability by adding more unique characters. And, in the case of Yun Jin and Zhongli, giving older characters entirely new combat possibilities.

With Yun Jin’s Burst, normal attacks get a hefty damage boost within the ability’s duration. Zhongli’s high speed normals make him perfect for this buff, capable of fitting plenty of hits in before the ability ends. This opens up his rarely used Physical build to much higher levels of damage output, making Zhongli a credible option for a main DPS. With Geo Resonance and Zhongli’s shield as extras, this new Geo Polearm pair-up has plenty of potential.

Ningguang

Ningguang and Zhongli are one of the best examples of how powerful Geo Resonance can be. On her own, Ningguang, currently Genshin’s only Geo Catalyst, is a great Burst DPS option, but her overall viability as a main DPS is limited by requiring a highly invested build to compensate for her low base attack.

With Zhongli, Ningguang gets stacked buffs from Geo Resonance and her Passive, a shield to prevent staggering and enable closer combat, a combined 40% cut to Geo Resistance, and additional AOE Geo damage from the construct resonance. With Zhongli, even a low investment Ningguang can become a formidable main DPS, getting double the damage on her normal attacks and reaching much higher numbers across the board than with her shield buff alone. For her part, Ningguang’s buff can make Zhongli’s already powerful Burst absolutely devastating, compensating for her lack of AOE abilities. Together, the former and current leaders of Liyue prove how influential a good team can be in Genshin – as well as how, no matter what era, Liyue Never Loses.

Itto

Zhongli is one of the best support options in Genshin for Itto, especially since he fits into Itto’s ideal mono/mostly Geo team comps. Similarly, Itto is the DPS most able to take advantage of all that Zhongli offers. While he’s certainly sturdier than Hu Tao or Ganyu, Itto is still a close-combat DPS who benefits from having a shield, especially with the added interruption resistance to balance out his slower attacks. His Stele’s can resonate with Ushi to do AOE damage and, if that’s not enough, Planet Befall is always there to do some crowd control.

Zhongli is also the best way to guarantee Itto gets the benefits of Geo Resonance. With Gorou as his go-to support, Itto would have to rely on Crystallise in order to gain shields. This is definitely possible, given that not every Geo character has a shield, but not always reliable. With Zhongli rounding out a triple Geo comp, Itto is assured the Resonance buff, along with all the other blessings of Rex Lapis.

Ganyu

Having fought for Rex Lapis during the Archon War, it’s fitting that Ganyu is a great choice for DPS in a Zhongli team. Given that his shield is perfect for keeping Ganyu’s charged shots from being interrupted, they’d probably work well no matter their relative power level. However, Ganyu is far, far from a good or even great DPS, and describing her as such is severely underestimating her potential.

Since her release, Ganyu has often been considered the best DPS in Genshin Impact. While it is almost impossible to concretely call any single character ‘the best,’ Ganyu does boast an extremely high damage ceiling, multiple strong team comps, and a consistently powerful kit. When coupled with Zhongli’s shield and his universal Resistance debuff, Ganyu becomes essentially unstoppable.

Albedo

Figuring out ideal team compositions in Genshin is not always easy, especially with the ever increasing roster of characters, weapons, artifact sets, and enemies. The world of Genshin ‘meta’ is invaluable for players looking to optimize their characters, but the bar for entry can be daunting for beginners. Thankfully, there are some basic team compositions that have proven to be consistently reliable and versatile, and Zhongli and Albedo’s ‘Double Geo’ is at the top of that list.

The key to this duo is their incredible off-field advantages, providing shield support, resistance shred, energy generation, and AOE Geo damage. This makes for an almost infallible foundation with unmatched versatility. They’re the ideal support duo for ‘risky’ carries like Xiao, can be paired with a Viridescent Venerer user for huge Resistance shred, and their reliability makes them great for experimenting with characters. For players looking for a strong frame to build a team on, Zhongli and Albedo are as sturdy as stone.

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