Alhaitham Genshin Impact Guide for Artifacts, Weapons, and Skills

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As the top hypercarry DPS for the Dendro element, a lot rests on Alhaitham’s shoulders. He’s one of the best damage dealers in the game right now– even without elemental reactions. Consequently, Alhaitham is also one of the most complex Genshin Impact characters both lore-wise and in gameplay. And you’ll certainly want an Alhaitham Genshin Impact guide.

More often than not, you’ll likely be messing up his damage rotations, but that should matter much if you build him well enough. So regardless of how well you can perform his min-maxed rotations, make sure to follow our Alhaitham Genshin Impact guide so he doesn’t get too cranky.

The Best Artifacts for Alhaitham

Genshin Impact is a little more flexible for its character equipment, unlike Honkai: Star Rail. 

Still, you’ll want Alhaitham’s best-in-slot artifact set for maximum damage output. That would be the Gilded Dreams artifact set which you can farm in the Spire of Solitary Enlightenment in Avidya Forest, Sumeru.

It plays off Alhaitham’s main damage stat, which is Elemental Mastery. 

Gilded Dreams

Gilded Dreams has the following bonuses for Alhaitham: 

• 2-Piece Bonus – Increases Elemental Mastery by 80.
• 4-Piece Bonus – Within 8s of triggering an Elemental Reaction, the character equipping this will obtain buffs based on the Elemental Type of the other party members. ATK is increased by 14% for each party member whose Elemental Type is the same as the equipping character, and Elemental Mastery is increased by 50 for every party member with a different Elemental Type. Each of the aforementioned buffs will count up to 3 characters. This effect can be triggered once every 8s. The character who equips this can still trigger its effects when not on the field.

That’s a chunky wall of text, alright. 

But the gist is that it will boost Alhaitham’s Elemental Mastery even further (and you’ll want the Elemental Mastery bonus instead of the ATK bonus, meaning you need to pair him up with at least two non-Dendro characters.

Deepwood Memories Is Also Viable

Since Deepwood Memories focuses on Dendro damage boosts, it’s also a good alternative choice for Alhaitham. The difference in damage output is frankly negligible, and you can even mix-and-match this one with Gilded Dreams– though the 4-piece bonus is still ideal. Here are its bonuses: 

• 2-Piece Bonus – Dendro DMG Bonus +15%
• 4-Piece Bonus – After Elemental Skills or Bursts hit opponents, the targets’ Dendro RES will be decreased by 30% for 8s. This effect can be triggered even if the equipping character is not on the field.

It’s up to the artifact stats, really. Speaking of which, here’s what you need to prioritize: 

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Artifact Stats to Prioritize

Like most characters in Genshin Impact, Alhaitham has one main stat that will dictate his performance in combat. It’s the aforementioned Elemental Mastery. 

With that said, he could also go with ATK stats, as some of his damage scales off it. And as usual, CRIT stats work well in further boosting his output. So in order of importance, here are the artifact stats (main and sub) to prioritize: 

1. Dendro DMG (Goblet)
2. Elemental Mastery (Sands)
3. CRIT Rate / CRIT DMG (Circlet)
4. ATK (everything else)

That also works for substats though you might want to prioritize CRIT for those. You could get away with a lower CRIT Rate stat (60 percent at least) since Alhaitham hits frequently and multiple times during rotations.

Best Weapons for Alhaitham

Alhaitham came with his own 5-star weapon, and that’s naturally his best-in-slot gear. So just give it to him if you have it.

• Light of Foliar Incision (CRIT DMG) – CRIT Rate is increased by 4%. After Normal Attacks deal Elemental DMG, the Foliar Incision effect will be obtained, increasing DMG dealt by Normal Attacks and Elemental Skills by 120% of Elemental Mastery. This effect will disappear after 28 DMG instances or 12s. You can obtain Foliar Incision once every 12s.

Its secondary stat is CRIT DMG, so you’ll want CRIT Rate on your Circlet artifact. 

These are the other competitive 5-star alternatives for Alhaitham: 

• Mistsplitter Reforged (CRIT DMG) – Gain a 12% Elemental DMG Bonus for all elements and receive the might of the Mistsplitter’s Emblem. At stack levels 1/2/3, Mistsplitter’s Emblem provides a 8/16/28% Elemental DMG Bonus for the character’s Elemental Type. The character will obtain 1 stack of Mistsplitter’s Emblem in each of the following scenarios: Normal Attack deals Elemental DMG (stack lasts 5s), casting Elemental Burst (stack lasts 10s); Energy is less than 100% (stack disappears when Energy is full). Each stack’s duration is calculated independently.
• Haran Geppaku Futsu (CRIT Rate) – Obtain 12% All Elemental DMG Bonus. When other nearby party members use Elemental Skills, the character equipping this weapon will gain 1 Wavespike stack. Max 2 stacks. This effect can be triggered once every 0.3s. When the character equipping this weapon uses an Elemental Skill, all stacks of Wavespike will be consumed to gain Rippling Upheaval: each stack of Wavespike consumed will increase Normal Attack DMG by 20% for 8s.
• Primordial Jade Cutter (CRIT Rate) – HP increased by 20%. Additionally, provides an ATK Bonus based on 1.2% of the wielder’s Max HP.

All of those are tricky to obtain, so we have budget 4-star alternatives.

Budget Alternatives

For Alhaitham, 4-star options can be more limited, especially if you want to play off his main offensive stat though these weapons will do in the meantime while you don’t have any of the 5-star weapons above.

• Black Sword (CRIT Rate) – Increases DMG dealt by Normal and Charged Attacks by 20%. Additionally, regenerates 60% of ATK as HP when Normal and Charged Attacks score a CRIT Hit. This effect can occur once every 5s.

Black Sword will sadly require you to spend a bit of money for the Battle Pass, and its availability can be scarce depending on the season. So here’s a more accessible alternative: 

• Iron Sting (Elemental Mastery) – Dealing Elemental DMG increases all DMG by 6% for 6s. Max 2 stacks. Can only occur once every 1s.

It’s good for Alhaitham, and the best part is that it’s craftable– assuming you saved up some billets.

Skill Priorities for Alhaitham

Most of Alhaitham’s damage and his rotation depends on his Elemental Skill so make sure to prioritize that one when leveling up his talents. You still can’t go wrong with his Elemental Burst and Normal Attack though only level those up after maxing out the Elemental Skill.

Here’s what to level up for Alhaitham from most important to least important: 

1. Universality: An Elaboration on Form (Elemental Skill) – Rushes forward, dealing Dendro DMG to nearby opponents when the rush ends, causing a Chisel-Light Mirror to form. Holding this skill will cause it to behave differently (teleport).
2. Particular Field: Fetters of Phenomena (Elemental Burst) – Creates a Particular Binding Field and deals multiple instances of AoE Dendro DMG. If Chisel-Light Mirrors exist when this ability is unleashed, all such Mirrors will be consumed and increase the number of DMG instances dealt. 2s after this ability is unleashed, if 0/1/2/3 Mirrors were consumed, Alhaitham will generate 3/2/1/0 new Mirrors in turn.
3. Abductive Reasoning (Normal Attack) – Performs up to 5 rapid strikes (normal). Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to unleash 2 rapid sword strikes (charged).

Do keep in mind that attacking (whether normal or charged) with Alhaitham if he has no Chisels is a waste. His Chisel-Light Mirror mechanic infuses his attacks with Dendro damage, even if there’s only one (there’s a maximum of three).

His Elemental Skill and Burst will generate those Chisels, so always use them when available, preferably both at the same time.

Alhaitham Team Comp

Alhaitham will and should be the main star of any team, as he’s a hypercarry DPS. Every other party member is there to buff him up or help him kill enemies faster. 

You’ll want to ensure that he’s the only main DPS role character on the team. So these characters synergize well with Alhaitham. 

• Raiden Shogun (her attacks help boost Alhaitham’s Dendro damage and can cause a reaction while also granting massive energy regeneration).
• Nahida (Dendro resonance and impressive buffs go a long way)
• Xingqiu (great support for triggering Elemental Reactions with Alhaitham)
• Yelan (like Xingqiu but with higher damage ceilings)
• Kuki (great for Hyperbloom and Quickbloom teams)
• Zhongli (we don’t want Alhaitham’s rotation getting interrupted now, do we?)
• Fischl (for dual Dendro, dual Electro Spread teams)
• Yae Miko (flexible for Elemental Reaction teams)
• Kazuha (practically great for any Elemental damage team)

Generally, Electro and Hydro support characters pair well with Alhaitham, especially those that can keep up with his fast attacks. In conjunction with the proper team, this Alhaitham Genshin Impact guide will help you keep up to his standards.