Genshin Impact Shenhe Build Guide

Another child was taken in by the caring Cloud Retainer, and this time, it's another Cryo character. Ganyu? Never heard of her - Shenhe is the new Cryo orphan in town. But just who is the mysterious Shenhe and what is her purpose in the world of Teyvat?

Read ahead to learn how to build the aloof exorcist in TechRaptor's official Shenhe Build Guide.

Genshin Impact Shenhe Build Guide - Team Role

Cryo characters are some of the best units available in Genshin Impact and are dominating the meta. Ayaka, Ganyu, Eula, and even Diona are immensely powerful characters that rank high in tier list charts. Shenhe seems to be no different despite not fitting into a DPS role.

It makes sense, then, that Shenhe exists as an extension of these Cryo characters - a support unit. Shenhe's purpose is largely to boost and bolster her Cryo allies.

Genshin Impact Shenhe Build Guide - Talents

Shenhe Normal Attack: Dawnstar Piercer

• Shenhe's Normal Attack: Performs up to five consecutive spear strikes.
• Shenhe's Charged Attack: Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to lunge forward, dealing damage to opponents along the way.
• Shenhe's Plunging Attack: Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact.

Shenhe Elemental Skill: Spring Summit Summoning

Shenhe deals Cryo DMG differently depending on if the Elemental Skill button is pressed or held. She also grants allies the Icy Quill effect.

• When Pressed: Deal Cryo DMG to opponents along a straight path.
• When Held: Deal AoE Cryo DMG.
• Icy Quill: When Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks, Elemental Skills, and Elemental Bursts deal Cryo DMG to opponents, the DMG dealt is increased based on Shenhe's current ATK.

Shenhe Elemental Burst: Divine Maiden's Deliverance

Shenhe unleashes the power of the Talisman Spirit, allowing it to roam free in this plane, dealing AoE Cryo DMG.

• Talisman Spirit: Creates an AoE field that decreases Cryo RES and Physical RES of opponents within it. It also deals periodic Cryo DMG to opponents within the field. Characters within the field also gain a 15% Cryo DMG, Elemental Skill DMG, Elemental Burst DMG, Normal, Charged, and Plunging DMG Bonuses.

Genshin Impact Shenhe Build Guide - Artifacts

Noblesse Oblige

A set commonly used on Support and Sub-DPS characters. 

• The two-piece set bonus is a 20% boost to Elemental Burst DMG. 
• The four-piece set bonus is a 20% ATK boost bonus to all teammates, which is granted when the Artifact holder uses their Elemental Burst.

Shenhe's ability to bolster her allies' DMG outputs can be heightened even further with the usage of Noblesse Oblige. It's absolutely a must-have on any support character but especially Shenhe.

Blizzard Strayer

The Blizzard Strayer set is commonly used on Cryo characters.

• The two-piece set bonus grants a 15% boost to Cryo DMG.
• The four-piece set bonus raises your Critical Rate by 20%. Frozen enemies give characters an additional 20%, raising the Critical Rate to 40%.

Assuming Shenhe isn't being built entirely as a support unit, throwing two pieces of Blizzard Strayer on alongside two pieces of Noblesse Oblige isn't a bad choice. This set would increase Shenhe's overall Cryo DMG output, making her a more useful DPS.

Genshin Impact Shenhe Build Guide - Weapons

Calamity Queller

A 4-Star Polearm that can be wished for in the weapon banner.

• Secondary stat increases ATK% by a maximum of 16.5%
• Passive grants a 12% Elemental DMG Bonus. Grants a "Consummation" stack after using an Elemental Skill, which causes ATK to increase by 3.2% every second. This is maximized at six stacks for six seconds. The ATK bonus is increased when the character is not on the field.

Calamity Queller is Shenhe's best-in-slot weapon for a multitude of reasons, with the main being the ATK bonus granted off-field. For any support, an ability like this is immensely powerful, as it allows time for Main DPS characters to do DMG while.

“The Catch”

A 4-Star polearm available as a limited-time event reward.

• Secondary stat that increases Energy Recharge by a maximum 45.9%
• Passive that increases Elemental Burst DMG by 16% and Elemental Burst Critical Rate by 6%.

"The Catch" is a free weapon that fits snuggly into Shenhe's kit. The Energy Recharge is beneficial to any character heavily relying on their Burst to provide use and the passives also can benefit a more DPS-oriented Shenhe.

Skyward Spine

A 5-Star polearm that can be wished for in the weapon banner.

• Secondary stat increases Energy Recharge by a maximum of 36.8%
• Additionally increases Critical Rate by 8-16% and ATK speed by 12%. Has a 50% chance on Normal Attack hit to trigger a vacuum blade that does 40-100% of ATK as DMG in a small AoE.

Skyward Spine is a safe choice for almost all polearm users, especially those who utilize their Elemental Burst often. The 36.6% boost in Energy Recharge isn’t quite as much as the other two weapons on this list, but an increased Critical Rate, as well as ATK speed, is hard to pass up.

Genshin Impact Shenhe Build Guide - Team Composition

Shenhe's ability to boost ally Cryo and Physical DMG means most (if not all) of her allies will be Cryo users. Since Cryo is currently meta, this means Shenhe's team compositions will be able to do some of the most DMG the game has yet to see.

A team for Shenhe could look like this:

• Ayaka (Cryo Main DPS)
• Shenhe (Cryo Support/Sub DPS)
• Barbara (Hydro Healer)
• Sucrose (Anemo Sub DPS/Crowd Control)

Ayaka is the Main DPS of this team and will stay on the field a majority of the time. To set up for Ayaka, first, we see Barbara activate her Elemental Skill, which will surround allies with Hydro and keep them healed. Sucrose should pull enemies in with her Elemental Skill. Shenhe will then activate her Elemental Skill and Burst to freeze the enemies and deal Cryo DMG. Ayaka will come onto the field, activate her Elemental Burst and use Charged Attacks, dealing an immense amount of DMG. Rinse and repeat this formula for solid team composition.

This works due to Shenhe's ability to boost Ayaka's Cryo DMG. The team also has a Cryo Resonance, which boosts CRIT Rate.

Shenhe's sorrows forced her into seclusion as she, like Ganyu, struggles to fit into human society. To be able to call the prosperous harbor of Liyue home is but a distant dream for Shenhe, but with the help of everyone's favorite Traveler, perhaps her dream is more possible than it may seem.

For more Genshin Impact guides, stay tuned to TechRaptor.