Shikanoin Heizou Guide and Best Builds for Genshin Impact

Heizou has the unique ability to infuse Anemo into all of his standard attacks, this allows him to Swirl with really good consistency. This unique combination makes him a very good elemental driver on-field, as long as he has a team designed to take advantage of this.

Heizou also has a stacking mechanic called Declension stacks that build up power for his Elemental Burst Heartstopper Strike. With proper timing and good practice, Heizou can become a decent melee brawler, weaving both his Elemental abilities into his standard attacks for a really strong flow of Elemental Reactions.

BiS Weapon	Skyward Atlas
Alternate Weapons	Kagura's Verity The Widsith Sacrificial Fragments Mappa Mare
Best Artifacts	4-piece Options Viridescent Venerer Lavawalker or Thundersoother 2-piece Option #1 Viridescent Venerer — Anemo Damage +15% Noblesse Oblige — Elemental Burst +20% 2-piece Option #2 Gladiator's Finale — ATK +18% Shimenawa's Reminiscence — ATK +18%
Main Stats	Sand Stats: ATK % Goblet Stats: Anemo DMG Bonus Circlet Stats: CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG
Substat Priority	Energy Recharge until roughly 175% CRIT Rate CRIT DMG ATK %
Talent Priority	Elemental Skill Normal Attack Elemental Burst

Skyward Atlas is Heizou's best overall choice for a 5-star catalyst. As a brawler and main DPSer with a focus on elemental reactions, this weapon has a great stacking buff mechanic that fits Heizou's playstyle quite well. An alternative 5-star weapon choice, Kagura's Verity, has a great weapon unique buff that can help Heizou's damage output get even higher. As for the 4-star choice, The Widsith is the top ranked item to aim for with a ranked up Sacrificial Fragments, above R3, as the next best choice. We also have a great F2P weapon with the Mappa Mare.

For Heizou's artifacts we can focus first on the Viridescent Venerer set as he is an Anemo Damage user, however, if your team already has another Anemo user that is using the Viridescent Venerer set then you could consider using Lavawalker or Thundersoother. Either of these artifact sets can be used when you match Heizou with a Pyro or Electro teammate with strong element application so we can keep the damage buff going from either set.

Heizou can be played as an on-field brawler or as a quick-swap Elemental Reaction driver. These are his two primary playstyles for DPS, with each of them coming down to personal preference and enjoyment. They both can deal damage moderately well, but the damage output does not put him in the top tier of DSPers. However, Heizou is a very smooth character to experience combat with and the fantasy of a melee martial artist is very much at the heart of his playstyle.

Heizou's standard skills are infused with Anemo and he can use his charged attack to Swirl enemies on top of dealing a decent amount of Anemo damage. His Elemental Burst, Heartstopper Strike, has a built in stacking mechanic called 'Declension'. These stacks are built automatically each time you Swirl an enemy up to 4 stacks. The skill can also be charged(held down) to build these stacks manually then unleashed. His Elemental Burst, Windmuster Kick, is a great skill to drive Elemental Reactions as it can group enemies together for a blast of Anemo damage, but also unleashes additional damage if those enemies are under the effects of another element. This Elemental Burst also has a low cooldown at 12 seconds and an Energy cost of only 40 which means Heizou's Energy Recharge requirement aren't massive, so aiming for 175% ER lines up his rotations quite nicely.

Heizou is an on-field DPS with smooth combat and some fun quick-swap potential. The majority of Heizou's damage comes from producing Elemental Reactions so his teammate selection is very important. It is best to place match him teammates who can take advantage of quick-swapping with fast rotations and solid off-field skills that can last. Another top priority is strong Elemental application, and keeping the enemies debuffed.

Main DPS	Sub DPS	Support	Support
Shikanoin Heizou	Fischl	Xingqiu	Beidou

This Taser team is built for fast combat with quick-swapping characters. Heizou is our main DPS, taking the most active position on-field position while the rest of the team jumps in and out with their abilities. This team doesn't have a set rotation and simply follows which ever teammate is needed for your elemental reactions.

Main DPS	Sub DPS	Support	Support
Shikanoin Heizou	Xianyun	Furina	Bennett Faruzan

This team for Heizou, uses Xianyun's buff to make him plunge constantly. Furina and Bennett are used to provide damage buffs to amp up Heizou's damage while he is plunging over and over. This build has somewhat static gameplay with Heizou focused on repeating a plunge attack over and over. The other teammates provide buffs for Heizou's damage with quick swaps for their buffs, while Heizou stays on the field to fight the majority of the time.

Main DPS	Buffer	Buffer	Sub DPS
Shikanoin Heizou	Bennett	Faruzan	Fischl

This puts Heizou on the field to fight while under the powerful buff effects from Bennett and Faruzan. Fischl will provide some off-field DPS and bonus elemental damage while Heizou dominates the battlefield. This team is full of fast Martial Arts action with a fun gameplay style.