Genshin Impact 3.7 second half banner: Can't decide between Kazuha and Alhaitham?

The character event banner for Genshin Impact version 3.7’s second half is honestly one of the best ones we’ve had for a while. It features reruns for the 5-star Anemo sword user Kaedehara Kazuha and 5-star Dendro sword daddy Alhaitham, two of the most coveted characters in the entire game.

With the release of Fontaine and new characters from that region looming in the horizon, should you tap into your Primogem hoard in the current banner and pull for Kazuha, Alhaitham, and their signature weapons?

Read on and we’ll help you decide.

Get Kazuha, just get Kazuha

With all due respect to the wine-loving Anemo Archon Venti, we would argue that Kazuha is gameplay-wise the true Anemo Archon.

The wandering samurai from Inazuma boasts a strong and versatile kit that lets him greatly empower the elemental damage of your party, making him a must-have in many Hypercarry teams, while also dishing out good damage of his own. Because of that, Kazuha is one of the few characters in Genshin Impact that we can confidently say is a must-have.

What makes Kazuha such a great character is his A4 passive, which grants a party-wide Elemental DMG bonus to the element that he triggers the Swirl reaction with that scales off his Elemental Mastery.

When Kazuha has, say, 1,000 Elemental Mastery, he provides a whopping 40% Elemental DMG bonus. When combined with the 4-piece set bonus of the Viridescent Venerer set, which decreases the Elemental RES of enemies to the element being Swirled, Kazuha provides a massive damage boost that is virtually unmatched by any other character in the game.

Not only that, Kazuha’s Elemental DMG bonus can be triggered for multiple elements. When played right in a team with one or two synergistic elements (Pyro and Hydro for Vaporize, for example), Kazuha can exponentially boost your team’s damage output.

Those insane damage buffs makes Kazuha a must-have for Hypercarry teams that are focused on empowering a single character's damage as much as possible. A good example of this is the Raiden Shogun Hypercarry team, one of the strongest lineups in Genshin Impact which features the Raiden Shogun, Kazuha, Bennett, and (C6) Kujou Sara.

With Kazuha’s massive elemental damage boost, Bennett’s huge ATK buff, and Kujou Sara’s Crit DMG bonus from her C6, only Electro-immune enemies will be able to stand against the Raiden Shogun once she unleashes her fearsome Musou No Hitotachi.

So if you have Hydro, Pyro, Cryo, or Electro characters that you feel aren’t hitting hard enough, slot Kazuha into their teams and you’ll soon see them destroy whatever enemies stand in their way.

With that said, Kazuha can only really be used in teams with the aforementioned elements and won’t have a place in Dendro, Geo, or Physical teams. But that’s hardly a knock against him, as those have their own ways to boost damage.

If you’re still looking for more reasons why Kazuha is a great pull, then he’s also very easy to build.

Let’s talk about weapons first. Of course, Kazuha reaches his full potential when he has his signature, the Freedom-Sworn, but don’t feel forced to pull in the weapon banner because he has great 4-star and free-to-play options.

You can either go for the craftable Iron Sting or the gacha weapon Xiphos Moonlight. Both weapons give the same amount of Elemental Mastery, though the Xiphos Moonlight also gives Energy Recharge buffs that makes it the better option over the Iron Sting if you have it.

As for Kazuha’s artifacts, you only need to get the aforementioned 4-piece Viridescent Venerer set and you won’t need to worry about getting Crit substats (though they are nice to have). Since Kazuha’s Elemental DMG bonus scales off his Elemental Mastery, you just need to get Elemental Mastery main stats on your sands, goblet, and circlet.

If you got this far without being convinced to pull for Kazuha, then I don’t know what to tell you. He’s definitely worth every Primogem spent and will carry you far. Seriously, if you have the Primogems, just go get him. I guarantee you won’t regret it.

Need a strong Dendro DPS? Get Alhaitham

The Dendro element and its myriad elemental reactions have dominated the Genshin Impact metagame since the release of version 3.0. That alone makes Alhaitham one of the strongest DPS characters in the game, though his hard-hitting, Elemental Mastery-scaling kit definitely helps.

Alhaitham’s kit lets him unleash a barrage of Dendro-infused attacks, which deals solid damage on its own while also letting him consistently trigger Dendro reactions to further boost your damage output.

The damage of this so-called ‘feeble scholar’ also scales with Elemental Mastery, further incentivising triggering as many reactions as possible.

With that, you’d want to put Alhaitham in a team with at least one Electro and Hydro character to trigger the following reactions: Spread, which boosts his Dendro DMG, and Hyperbloom, which launches a strong Dendro projectile at nearby enemies. Adding another Dendro character to your party is a good decision too, as it lets you activate the Dendro Resonance buff that boosts your party’s Elemental Mastery.

We recommend the following team composition: Alhaitham, Dendro, Hydro, Electro. This setup lets you consistently trigger the Spread and Hyperbloom reactions to unleash a barrage of Dendro DMG that can melt through both single targets and mobs of enemies.

A premium version of that team with multiple 5-stars can include Alhaitham, Nahida or Baizhu, Yelan, and Kuki Shinobu. If you want a team with just 4-stars alongside Alhaitham, you can go for something like Alhaitham, Yaoyao or Kirara, Xingqiu, and Kuki Shinobu.

One thing to keep in mind when building a team around Alhaitham is that he must be the one taking as much field time as possible, so his supports should have off-field abilities. Good thing is that there are many such characters.

For Dendro, there’s Nahida, Baizhu, the Dendro Traveler, Yaoyao, and Kirara. For Hydro, you can go with Yelan, Kokomi, or Xingqiu. Then for Electro there’s the (Hyperbloom build) Raiden Shogun, Yae Miko, Kuki Shinobu, and Fischl.

When it comes to building Alhaitham himself, go for the usual DPS template while keeping a good balance of ATK, Crit Rate/DMG, and Elemental Mastery.

Let’s start with weapons. As should be obvious, Alhaitham reaches full potential with his signature weapon, the Light of Foliar Incision. But if you have other 5-star swords like the Mistsplitter Reforged, Haran Geppaku Futsu, or Primordial Jade Cutter, those are good alternatives.

But don’t feel forced to give Alhaitham a 5-star weapon, as he can still shine with 4-star swords. Heck, he even has a solid 3-star option.

The Black Sword, acquired from the Battle Pass, is a solid pick if you have it. Though free-to-play options like the Iron Sting or Toukabou Shigure are also good picks, especially at high refinement levels.

If you have nothing else, you can even go for the 3-star Harbinger of Dawn, which gives solid Crit Rate and Crit DMG buffs.

As for Alhaitham’s artifacts, your best bet will be the 4-piece Gilded Dreams, which gives him both ATK and Elemental Mastery for an all-around boost to his damage output.

With that said, going for the Gilded Dreams set requires another character in the party to carry the 4-piece Deepwood Memories set, which reduces the Dendro RES of enemies. If you have no other characters to carry the Deepwood Memories set, then it’s still good to let Alhaitham have it instead.

When it comes to Alhaitham’s artifact main stats, go for Elemental Mastery on his sands, Dendro DMG Bonus on his Goblet, and Crit Rate/DMG on his circlet. The substats you should go for are more Crit Rate/DMG, Elemental Mastery, ATK, and Energy Recharge.

While Alhaitham isn’t a must-pull character like Kazuha, he’s still a worthy addition to any account, especially now that Dendro is still dominating the metagame. But even if the metagame does shift, Dendro should still remain strong as an element and, in turn, Alhaitham will remain one of the best DPS characters in the game.

Should you get Kazuha and Alhaitham’s signature weapons?

Both Kazuha and Alhaitham will reach their full potential when equipped with their signature weapons, though you don’t really need them for those two to shine. So, we recommend keeping your wallets closed and instead opt for 4-star options that still get the job done.

As mentioned above, Kazuha’s best 4-star options are the Iron Sting and the Xiphos Moonlight, with both giving the same amount of Elemental Mastery. The Iron Sting is craftable, though the Xiphos Moonlight does provide Energy Recharge buffs that make it a worthy pick despite it being a gacha weapon.

In the case of Alhaitham, The Black Sword is a solid option if you have it from the Battle Pass. Although free-to-play options like the Iron Sting or Toukabou Shigure are also good pickups, especially if you have them at high refinement levels.

For more details on what new content is in Genshin Impact version 3.7, check out our breakdown of the update here. Genshin Impact version 3.7 will run from 24 May until late June.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

For more gaming news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooGamingSEA. Also follow us on Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube, and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page!