Best Alhaitham builds in Genshin Impact

A not-so-feeble scholar.

Alhaitham from Genshin Impact holds a book

Alhaitham is a 5-star Dendro DPS character in Genshin Impact. From his signature Light of Folar Incision to the budget-friendly Harbinger of Dawn, here are the best weapons and artifacts to make Alhaitham a formidable DPS.

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Best weapons for Alhaitham

Light of Foliar Incision

Light of Foliar Incision is Alhaitham’s signature 5-star Sword and his best-in-slot. However, its advantage over other 5-star weapons is fairly small. I only recommend pulling for this weapon if you don’t have any of the other 5-star Swords below and don’t want to use a 4-star option.

Primordial Jade Cutter / Uraku Misugiri

These two 5-star Swords are almost as good as Alhaitham’s signature if you happen to have them already. They offer high CRIT stats and passives that are at least somewhat usable. Consider a Geo teammate if using Uraku Misugiri, particularly Zhongli.

Mistsplitter Reforged / Haran Geppaku Futsu / Splendor of Tranquil Waters

These 5-star Swords perform fairly similarly. They each have desirable CRIT stats, and Alhaitham can generally make use of their passive effects. Splendor of Tranquil Waters requires an HP-draining teammate to trigger its passive consistently. Furina is currently the best teammate for this purpose.

Alhaitham from Genshin Impact
Image via HoYoverse

Wolf-Fang / The Black Sword

Both of the 4-star Swords from the Battle Pass are useful for Alhaitham. Wolf-Fang is the better of the two, especially with Refinements. At Refinement Rank 5, Wolf-Fang can perform better than some of the 5-stars above. This does, however, require you to buy the Battle Pass five times. You should weigh whether the $50 fixed cost is worth it for you.

Toukabou Shigure / Iron Sting

Toukabou Shigure and Iron Sting are the free-to-play 4-star options. Despite being obtainable for free, they’re not bad at all. Toukabou Shigure was a past event weapon, but Iron Sting can still be crafted for free using billets. Iron Sting Refinements improve Alhaitham’s damage by a small amount; there’s no need to use precious billets on them unless you want to.

Harbinger of Dawn

Harbinger of Dawn is a 3-star Sword, but it still provides value with its hefty CRIT stat and useful passive effect. Harbinger of Dawn is only worth using if you can consistently keep Alhaitham above 90% HP. If you can keep the passive up, Harbinger of Dawn can perform better than the 4-star options above. However, this may not be feasible with Furina or in Bloom-based teams.

Alhaitham from Genshin Impact stands behind a desk in a library.
Image via HoYoverse

Best artifact sets for Alhaitham

4pc Gilded Dreams

Gilded Dreams is Alhaitham’s best artifact set for his personal damage, assuming he has a teammate who can hold 4pc Deepwood Memories. This set gives a variable amount of Elemental Mastery and ATK, depending on his teammate composition. Luckily for Alhaitham, both of those stats are useful to him.

4pc Deepwood Memories

If Alhaitham is the only Dendro character on the team, or if no one else can hold 4pc Deepwood Memories, then Alhaitham should hold it himself. Alhaitham needs the Dendro RES shred from the 4pc effect.

2pc combos

While you’re still farming for a 4pc set, you can make do with 2pc combos with beneficial stat bonuses. Focus on sets that grant Elemental Mastery and ATK.

Artifact stats to prioritize for Alhaitham

SandsGobletCirclet
Elemental Mastery
ATK
Dendro DMGCRIT Rate/DMG

Alhaitham will need about 120-135% Energy Recharge to Burst every rotation, as long as he has a Dendro teammate to feed him energy. With Nahida or Yaoyao, you can stay in the lower end of this range. With Baizhu or Collei, though, you may need more. I recommend putting a Favonius weapon on a teammate if possible.

As for other stats, Alhaitham should focus on CRIT stats, Elemental Mastery, and ATK, in that order of priority. Try to shoot for a 1:2 ratio of CRIT Rate to CRIT DMG.

About The Author
Christine Choi
Contributing Writer - Christine has been gaming since she first stole her brother's Game Boy as a kid. She's come a long way since then and has been creating content for Genshin Impact since 2021.
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