The Complete Guide to Shikanoin Heizou in Genshin Impact

Shikanoin Heizou, a unique 4-star Anemo character from Inazuma, brings a refreshing playstyle to Genshin Impact.

This guide goes deep into the best builds, weapons, team compositions, and strategies for maximizing Heizou’s potential.

Let's dive in!

‍

The Complete Guide to Shikanoin Heizou: Best Builds and Team Compositions

Heizou’s Talents and Playstyle

Normal and Charged Attacks: Fudou Style Martial Arts

Normal Attack: Heizou delivers up to four consecutive strikes.

Charged Attack: Consumes stamina to unleash a powerful kick, dealing AoE Anemo damage.

Use charged attacks for AoE Anemo damage and to trigger swirl reactions efficiently.

‍

Elemental Skill: Heartstopper Strike

Tap: Quickly unleashes a Heartstopper Strike, dealing Anemo damage.

Hold: Charges up to deal increased damage. Each second of charging generates stacks of "Declension," further boosting the skill's damage.

Regularly use the tap version for consistent damage output.

Hold for burst damage in controlled situations.

‍

Elemental Burst: Windmuster Kick

Heizou performs a powerful kick, generating a wind vortex that pulls in enemies and deals AoE Anemo damage.

Additional damage is dealt if enemies are affected by Hydro, Pyro, Cryo, or Electro.

Excellent for crowd control and enhancing damage through elemental reactions.

Ideal for setting up combos with teammates’ abilities.

‍

Talent Priority

Elemental Skill: Prioritize for maximum damage output, given its lower cooldown and high scaling.

Elemental Burst: Also important for AoE damage and control, especially in crowd situations.

Normal Attack: Lower priority unless Heizou is used frequently as the main on-field DPS.

‍

Passive Talents

Penetrative Reasoning: Increases other party members' Elemental Mastery after Heizou's Elemental Skill hits opponents.

Paradoxical Practice: Heizou gains Declension stacks when triggering a Swirl reaction, enhancing his Elemental Skill.

Pre-Existing Guilt: Decreases sprinting Stamina consumption for your own party members.

‍

Artifact Builds for Heizou

Anemo DPS Build

Viridescent Venerer (4-piece)

Increases Swirl damage by 60%.

Decreases opponents' Elemental RES to the element infused in the Swirl by 40% for 10 seconds.

Increases Heizou's Anemo damage and Swirl reactions while debuffing enemies, enhancing overall team damage.

Use charged attacks and Elemental Skill frequently to trigger Swirl reactions and capitalize on Venerer set bonuses.

‍

Main Stats Priority

• Sands: ATK% or Elemental Mastery (EM)
• Goblet: Anemo DMG Bonus
• Circlet: Crit Rate or Crit DMG (balanced with substats)

‍

Substats Priority

Focus on Crit Rate, Crit DMG, ATK%, and Elemental Mastery

‍

Elemental Mastery (EM) Swirl-Focused Build

Viridescent Venerer (4-piece) / Mix of 2-piece Wanderer's Troupe and Gilded Dreams for additional EM

Focus on triggering as many effective Swirl reactions as possible.

Ideal for teams heavily reliant on elemental reactions.

‍

Main Stats Priority

• Sands: Elemental Mastery
• Goblet: Anemo DMG Bonus or Elemental Mastery
• Circlet: Elemental Mastery or Crit Rate (if sufficient EM from other sources)

‍

Substats Priority‍

Prioritize Elemental Mastery, followed by Crit Rate/Damage and ATK%.

‍

Best Weapons for Heizou

5-Star Weapons

Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds

Increases Crit Rate and boosts movement SPD.

Gains an Elemental DMG Bonus for each second in battle.

Enhances Heizou's overall DPS and Elemental DMG, beneficial for longer fights.

‍

Skyward Atlas

Increases Elemental DMG Bonus and provides additional ATK DMG.

Boosts Heizou's Elemental Skill and Burst damage significantly.

‍

Memory of Dust

Increases Shield Strength and ATK. Under shield, ATK is further increased.

Useful for a shielded team composition, enhancing both survivability and attack power.

‍

4-Star Weapons

The Widsith

Provides one of three random bonuses (ATK, Elemental DMG, or Elemental Mastery) when the character takes the field.

Offers versatility and can significantly boost Heizou's Elemental Mastery or DMG for short bursts.

‍

Solar Pearl

Increases Elemental Skill and Burst DMG after normal attacks and vice versa.

Suits Heizou's playstyle, enhancing both his normal and elemental attacks.

‍

Sacrificial Fragments

Elemental Skills have a chance to end their own CD.

Allows Heizou to potentially use his Elemental Skill more frequently, enhancing reaction potential.

‍

Mappa Mare

Triggering an Elemental reaction grants an Elemental DMG bonus for a period.

Supports Heizou's role in triggering Swirl reactions, enhancing subsequent Elemental DMG.

‍

3-Star Weapon

Emerald Orb

Increases ATK after triggering an Elemental reaction.

A solid budget option for Heizou, especially in reaction-heavy teams.

‍

Ideal Team Compositions

Electro-Charged (Taser) Team

Setup: Heizou (Main Swirl/Driver), Fischl or Beidou (Off-field Electro DPS), Xingqiu or Tartaglia (Hydro Application), Flex Slot (Additional DPS or Utility)

Heizou drives the team, swirling Electro and Hydro elements to trigger Electro-Charged reactions, significantly amplifying reaction damage.

‍

Freeze Team

Setup: Heizou (Swirl and Crowd Control), Ganyu or Ayaka (Cryo DPS), Mona or Xingqiu (Hydro Application), Diona or Bennett (Shield/Healing and Buffs)

Heizou swirls Cryo and Hydro to reduce enemy resistance, enhancing Freeze efficiency.

Ganyu or Ayaka capitalize on the debuffed enemies for increased damage.

Diona provides shields and healing, while Bennett offers an ATK boost and additional healing.

‍

Anemo Support Team

Setup: Heizou (Elemental Mastery Build), Main DPS (Flexible, based on Elemental needs), Sub DPS/Support, Shield/Healer (Zhongli, Diona, or Bennett)

Heizou in an Elemental Mastery build maximizes Swirl reaction damage.

Main DPS and Sub DPS/Support should have elements that synergize well for reactions.

A shield or healer enhances team survivability, with Zhongli offering strong shields and Bennett providing healing plus an ATK boost.

‍

Versatile Reaction Team

Setup: Heizou (Swirl Reaction), Pyro DPS (Hu Tao, Klee, or Xiangling), Hydro/Electro Sub DPS (Xingqiu or Fischl), Anemo Support/Healer (Jean, Sucrose, or Bennett)

Heizou works as a Swirl catalyst, enhancing reaction damage from Pyro, Hydro, or Electro elements.

The team composition is flexible, adapting to various elemental reactions.

Additional Anemo support can further reduce enemy resistance, while a healer ensures team survivability.

‍

Constellation Overview

C1: Named Juvenile Casebook

Increases Heizou's ATK SPD by 15% after he's on the field for 5 seconds.

Also grants 1 Declension stack for the Heartstopper Strike when entering the field.

Enhances DPS output by speeding up Heizou's attack animations, making his normal and charged attacks more efficient.

‍

C2: Investigative Collection

Windmuster Kick pulls in opponents and objects within a 5m radius.

Improves crowd control, making it easier to gather enemies for AoE damage.

Particularly useful in grouped combat situations.

‍

C4: Tome of Lies

After using Windmuster Kick, Heizou regenerates 3 Energy for all nearby party members (except himself) every 2 seconds for 6 seconds.

Aids in energy generation for the team, particularly beneficial in teams with high Energy demands.

‍

C6: Curious Casefiles

Each Declension stack of Fudou Style Martial Arts increases Heizou's Crit Rate by 4% and Crit DMG of Heartstopper Strike by 32%.

Significantly amplifies Heizou's Elemental Skill damage, especially when fully stacked.

This Constellation solidifies his role as a powerful Anemo DPS.

‍

Advanced Tips and Strategies

Optimal Use of Elemental Skill (Heartstopper Strike)

Aim to maximize Declension stacks before using the skill for increased damage.

These stacks are gained through swirling reactions.

Tap the skill for quick damage unless you specifically need to hold for stacks.

‍

Elemental Burst (Windmuster Kick) Usage

Use the burst to gather enemies and trigger swirl reactions. It's effective in crowd control and spreading elemental effects.

With its low cost, aim to use the burst frequently. Pair with characters who can easily apply elemental statuses for maximized swirl damage.

‍

Swirling Reactions

Heizou benefits greatly from Elemental Mastery, as it enhances the damage of swirl reactions.

Pair Heizou with characters that apply Hydro, Pyro, Electro, or Cryo to maximize swirling.

‍

Charge Attack Strategy

Heizou’s charge attacks are excellent for triggering swirl reactions.

Weave them into your combat rotation.

Regularly using charge attacks helps manage Heizou's energy, ensuring consistent use of his burst.

‍

Constellation Optimization

C1 and C2 Benefits: Early Constellations enhance his DPS and crowd control capabilities, consider unlocking them if Heizou is a mainstay in your team.

‍

Final Thoughts on Heizou

Heizou offers a dynamic and engaging playstyle, excelling as both a damage dealer and a reaction enabler.

Whether you build him for raw damage or focus on Elemental Mastery, Heizou can be a valuable asset to many team compositions, particularly in reaction-focused setups.

His versatility and unique combat style make him a fun and effective character to play in Genshin Impact.