Best Zhongli Build: Weapons, Artifacts & Teams (v7.0)

SHIELD SUPPORTBURST SUPPORT

SHIELD SUPPORT Build

Weapons

1

Black Tassel

HP%

Provides HP% substat, directly increasing shield strength. Its passive is irrelevant, but the raw HP makes it a top free-to-play choice for tankier shields.

2

Favonius Lance

Energy Recharge

Generates energy for the team with its passive, helping her burst stay up. The CRIT Rate substat makes it easier to trigger the passive, but at the cost of some shield HP.

Artifacts

1

Archaic Petra

4

When Linnea picks up a crystallized shard, the whole team gains Geo elemental damage bonus. Useful in geo/duo teams, but requires a Geo source to create crystals. Not ideal for pure shield support.

2

Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City

4

Support set that buffs Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, or Electro damage after a Nightsoul reaction. Only useful if Linnea can trigger it; otherwise skip.

3

Deepwood Memories

4

-30% Dendro RES on enemies hit by her Skill or Burst. Strong in Aggravate or Spread teams, but unrelated to shielding.

4

Instructor

4

Boosts Elemental Mastery by 120 for the whole team after triggering a reaction. Great for reaction-focused teams, but requires Linnea to proc a reaction and sacrifices her own HP.

5

Tenacity of the Millelith

4

2pc gives HP% for stronger shields; 4pc boosts team ATK by 20% when her Skill hits opponents. The standard shield-support set, easy to maintain uptime if her skill has a short cooldown.

6

Vourukasha's Glow

2

Tenacity of the Millelith

2

2pc gives +20% HP for shield scaling. The 4pc effect is rarely relevant for a support role, so only use this for the HP 2pc in hybrid sets.

Substats Priority

1HP%

2HP

3Energy Recharge

Talents Priority

1ESkill

2QBurst

3NANormal Attack

Recommended Primary Stats

Sands

HP%

Goblet

HP%

Circlet

HP%CRIT Rate

SHIELD SUPPORT
Stack HP aggressively. Prioritize Black Tassel and Tenacity of the Millelith (4) to maximize Zhongli's shield. Casting Elemental Burst is usually a DPS loss due to cast time; use it only for crowd control, not damage.
When paired with Xingqiu and/or Beidou, their damage reduction from Skill and Burst orbitals makes Zhongli's shield nearly unbreakable.
Artifact Main Stats & Substats: Only build CRIT Rate when equipping Favonius Lance to reliably trigger its passive.
Weapon Choices: Favonius Lance > Black Tassel if the team values energy; requires enough CRIT Rate to proc.
Artifact Sets:
- Archaic Petra (4): Better than Tenacity in teams that don't scale well with ATK or already have another holder. Awkward usage — the holder must pick up the shard, which may extend rotation.
- Scroll of the Hero of Cinder City (4): Preferred over Archaic Petra when multiple Geo or Cryo/Hydro/etc. characters benefit from DMG% bonus.
- Tenacity of the Millelith (4): Best shield HP, but inconsistent against bosses; needs good construct placement. Use other buffing sets if the team prefers them.
- Deepwood Memories (4): Ideal in Dendro reaction teams (Bloom/Burgeon/Hyperbloom/Spread) to free up DPS sets like Gilded Dreams. Requires keeping enemies near pillars for uptime.
- Instructor (4): Niche use in heavy reaction teams (Melt Ganyu or Vaporize Hu Tao); weaker shield but still usually sufficient.

BURST SUPPORT
Zhongli can serve as a Geo burst damage dealer thanks to 12s cooldown and 40 energy cost. His hold Skill (shield) scales with HP, and Ascension 4 talent adds 33% of max HP to Burst damage. In low-investment or tight rotations, using Burst may be a DPS loss.
Weapon Choices: Favonius Lance surpasses other options for team energy; requires CRIT Rate to trigger.
Artifact Main Stats: ATK% sands yields more damage than HP% but less shield HP. Use HP% if a stronger shield is needed.
Artifact Sets:
- Noblesse Oblige (2) + Archaic Petra (2): Ahead of Emblem of Severed Fate (4) when Energy Recharge needs are low.
- Noblesse Oblige (4): Provides team utility on Burst; use if no other teammate holds it.
- Tenacity of the Millelith (4): Boosts shield strength and grants ATK% when Skill hits an enemy; similar utility to Noblesse.