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In this article:
- Tighnari is the latest 5-star character to be introduced to Genshin Impact and is currently the game’s only Dendro DPS character.
- Tighnari is based on a real historical scholar named Al-Tighnari who also worked as a botanist.
- His talents are centered on increasing his personal damage and allowing the player to trigger powerful reactions between Dendro and other elements, particularly Hydro and Electro.
- Since he is a bow character whose damage chiefly comes from charged attacks, there are certain artifact sets and weapons that work better with his kit compared to others.
Genshin Impact has been out since September 2020 which means we’ve been waiting for the release of Dendro for two years. Now that Sumeru is out and Dendro is here, there’s a whole new world of team compositions and characters for players to get to know and master. The very first Dendro 5-star gives us access to new and powerful Dendro reactions that have proven to be gamechanging when paired up with previously underrated characters.
If you’ve recently pulled for Tighnari, you’ve come to the right place because we’ll be going over a number of fun ways you can play Tighnari with other new characters, upcoming characters, and characters ou may have not considered playing before.
Tighnari 101: An Overview of the Avidya Forest Watcher
Tighnari is a new DPS character introduced in the 3.0 patch together with the release of the Sumeru region and Dendro element. As the first Dendro DPS, Tighnari is currently our first peep at what Dendro can really do as a damage-dealing element. It’s no secret that Pyro and Cryo have ruled the roost for most of Genshin‘s existence but Dendro has brought out a ton of previously missed potential in Electro.
But back to Tighnari. We meet him early in the Sumeru Archon Quest and if you’ve already played it, you may have gotten the impression that he’s Sumeru’s version of Albedo. That wouldn’t be too off base since this Forest Watcher, rangers who protect Sumeru’s forests, chose fieldwork over a cushy career in Sumeru Akamdemiya.
This is no surprise as Tighnari is named after Al-Tighnari, an Andalusian Arab botanist who often travelled around Andalusia and North Africa.
As a playable character, Tighnari translates the real history of his multi-talented namesake into a number of roles:
- Main damage dealer: Tighnari is a bow character whose damage per second mostly comes from his Charged Attacks similar to Ganyu but also Yanfei. If you play Yanfei, you might remember her Scarlet Seals gimmick that buff her attacks after she uses her Elemental Skill. In Tighnari’s case, the longer you wait and hold his charged attack, the more damage it will deal.
- Dendro applier: Aside from dealing more damage, holding Tighnari’s charged attack longer lets him deal multiple instances of Dendro Damage to enemies. Imagine it like Ningguang’s burst because it also tracks enemies and chases them down with Dendro arrows. Tighnari’s Elemental Skill lets him deal AoE Dendro
- Single and multiple target attacker: Tighnari has quite a flexible kit as his Normal Attack talent lets him deal both single and multiple target damage. The first version of his Charged Attack shoots a single Dendro arrow while holding it longer lets you generate a total of 4 Dendro arrows.
When building Tighnari as a DPS, you’ll want to focus on your Crit Rate, Crit Damage, Elemental Mastery, and Attack stats. If you’re planning to use him for only applying Dendro, you won’t have to focus as much on those stats, but you might want to give him more Elemental Mastery and Energy Recharge as well. Of course, this isn’t the “ideal” way to build him, but it’s your game and your Tighnari.
What Are Tighnari’s Talents, Priority Talents, and Stat Priorities?
Tighnari has six talents. Just like other Genshin characters, the first three can be upgraded to Level 10 using a Crown of Insight. Additional constellations can take his active skills up to Level 13, but this is expensive since Tighnari is a 5-star character.
Tighnari Genshin Impact Active Talents
Tighnari’s three active talents are: Khanda Barrier-Buster, Vijnana-Phala Mine, and Fashioner’s Tanglevine Shaft. Yes, the names are a mouthful so whenever possible, let’s just call them Normal/Charged Attacks, Elemental Skill, and Elemental Burst. Though Tighnari is designed as a DPS, none of his talents force him to stay on the field to deal damage aside from his Normal/Charged Attacks.
- Khanda Barrier-Buster (Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks): Tighnari can deal 4 consecutive shots that deal Physical Damage but it’s the Charged Attacks that you really want to focus on. Charged Attack 1 lets you deal a single Dendro arrow while Charged Attack 2, which you get by holding it a bit longer, lets you shoot a Wreath Arrow that bursts into 4 more dendro arrows upon striking an enemy. These arrows will then track enemies and deal Dendro Damage.
- Vijnana-Phala Mine (Elemental Skill): Tighnari’s Elemental Skill lets him throw a Vijnana Stormheart (the catalyst-looking thing from the first photo) which deals AoE Dendro Damage. This also doubles as a taunt. While the skill is active, it takes Tighnari 2.4 seconds less to charge his Wreath Arrows. If you’re thinking of maximizing this by pairing him with characters that increase Attack speed, you will hit a wall as the effect stops after the skill ends or after you’ve fired three Wreath Arrows.
- Fashioner’s Tanglevine Shaft (Elemental Burst): Tighnari’s Elemental Burst works similarly to Ningguang’s in the sense that both of them fire “homing missiles” that track enemies to deal Elemental Damage. In Tighnari’s case, though, he’ll shoot six Tanglevine Shafts that also deal Dendro Damage. After these hit, they’ll create a second wave of Tanglevine Shafts that will also track enemies and deal Dendro Damage.
On paper, Tighnari already deals a lot of damage especially when you think of the single and multiple target capabilities of his kit. His passive skills also work towards increasing his damage by helping buff his Elemental Mastery. This is great since building a DPS normally forces you to hunt for Crit Damage, Crit Rate, and Attack stats.
Tighnari Genshin Impact Passive Talents
Tighnari’s passive talents help increase his damage and incentivize you towards playing with elemental reactions by providing boosts to Elemental Mastery.
- Keen Sight: Tighnari gets an extra 50 Elemental Mastery for 4s after he uses a Wreath Arrow.
- Scholarly Blade: Tighnari gets a damage increase of 0.06% for his Charged Attack and Burst damage for every point of Elemental Mastery that he has.
- Encyclopedic Knowledge: Similar to Qiqi and Yanfei’s talents. This lets you see Sumeru local specialties on your mini-map if you have Tighnari in your party.
Tighnari’s Genshin Impact Talent Priority and Stat Priority
Because Tighnari is designed to be a DPS, you’ll want to prioritize his Attack, Crit Damage, and Crit Rate. As a rule of thumb, you’ll want a Crit Ratio of around 1:2 and Attack stats around 2,000.
Whether you’re building your Tighnari as a DPS or as a support of some kind, a little Elemental Mastery or Energy Recharge won’t hurt since he gets extra damage from Elemental Mastery increases and extra Energy Recharge allows him to unleash his burst faster.
Since he is a DPS, leveling up all of his skills isn’t a bad idea though you might prefer crowning his Normal Attack first since the bulk of his damage comes from Charged Attacks.
What Weapons Should Tighnari Have?
Let’s start with the Best In Slot weapon. Tighnari’s best weapon is undeniably Hunter’s Path, the signature weapon designed for him. This weapon has a Crit Rate substat and a passive that gives Tighnari an extra 12% Elemental Damage bonus. It also buffs Charged Attacks by 160% of his Elemental Mastery, rewarding you for building the stat into your Tighnari.
Other viable 5-star weapon options include Skyward Harp which is available on the standard banner and provides a Crit Damage and Crit Rate. Since he benefits from Charged Attacks, you can also equip him with Amos Bow which increases both Normal and Charged attack damage by 12%.
Thundering Pulse also works thanks to the Crit Damage substat. Alternatively, you can use Aqua Simulacra.
If you’re on a budget and can only use 4-star weapons, there are multiple bows that give an all-around boost to Tighnari. Hamayumi, a craftable weapon, increases Charged Attack Damage by 12%. Prototype Crescent, a favorite among F2P Ganyu mains, also rewards Charged Attacks with an increase in movement speed if you hit an enemy weak point.
For Elemental Mastery, you can go with King Squire which is also great with Collei, the 4-star free Dendro character. But better and more consistent damage boosts can be had with Windblume Ode and The Stringless which both have Elemental Mastery Substats and are synergistic with Elemental Skills.
Lastly, there’s Fading Twilight which increases damage by 6%, 10%, and 14% as you move through its buff states. Like King Squire, this works great for a more support-oriented Tighnari since the effect triggers even when the equipping character isn’t on the field.
What Artifacts Should I Use for Tighnari?
When it comes to artifacts, it helps to think of Tighnari as a Dendro Ganyu. Most of his damage comes from his Charged Attacks and, to a lesser extent, the Elemental Reactions that you can trigger with Dendro.
- Wanderer’s Troupe: 2-Piece Set increases Elemental Master and 4-Piece Set buffs Charged Attack damage if you’re using a Bow or Catalyst. Clearly, you want the 4-Piece set for this one.
- Deepwood Memories: This is the artifact set for Dendro characters we have right now. The 2-Piece Set provides a +15% Dendro Damage bonus while the 4-Piece Set decreases the Dendro resistance of enemies by 30% for 8 seconds after you use an Elemental Skill or Burst.
- Gilded Dreams: A great option for playing with Elemental Reactions. The 2-Piece Set gives you an additional 80 Elemental Mastery while the 4-Piece Set increases damage for your team as a whole by budffing Elemental Reactions. This is set has a really long description that you might want to read slowly in-game. Point is, it’s an all-around damage increase for the entire team as long as you keep making reactions.
You could also equip him with Noblese Oblige set to increase his burst damage, but even his burst revolves around Tighnari’s charged attacks. You can also try Emblem of Severed Fate since it’s usable for pretty much every character, but that’s not an ideal scenario either.
Team Compositions for Tighnari: Elements, Roles, and More
Team Compositions in Genshin are reliant on kit synergies and Elemental Reactions. In Tighnari’s case, this means focusing on Dendro reactions. The Dendro Resonance effect increases Elemental Mastery by 30 points for 6s after you trigger a Dendro reaction. Right now, the only option for that are Dendro Traveler and Collei.
Some of the best reactions for Dendro right now are Bloom, Hyperbloom, Aggravate, and Spread which are reactions that require Dendro, Electro, and Hydro.
Applying Dendro and Electro lets you trigger Quicken which can then be combined with Electro to produce Aggravate or stacked with more Dendro so you can get Spread.
Remember the little lantern things that were shown in the Sumeru trailers? Those are Dendro Cores and you get them by triggering Bloom which is obtained by applying Hydro and Dendro. Dendro Core’s deal AoE Dendro DMG. Combine these cores with Electro to get Hyperbloom.
This means you get a lot of mileage from characters that are great at applying Electro and Hydro. Fischl has always been the best Electro applier thanks to Oz but now that Dendro is out, she’s basically the Xingqiu/Bennet of Dendro. Since Tighnari is a bow character you can try using Beidou for her shield.
Speaking of Xingqiu, he’s also a great choice for Bloom since he’s one of the best Hydro applies in the game but Kokomi has emerged as the better Hydro applier for Dendro so far. Nilou is expected to be even better as her kit is geared towards triggering Bloom.
You can also capitalize on Sucrose‘s Elemental Mastery sharing mechanic and Kazuha‘s burst which lets you extend Dendro auras.
