The Wanderer, or Scaramouche, is a 5 star anemo character in Genshin Impact. He’s one of the most powerful characters in the game and incredibly useful for exploration. If a character’s writing can persuade you into pulling for someone in Genshin, then it’s worth noting he’s one of the most well-written in the cast. Those of you who played Sumeru’s Archon Quest will know what I mean by that.
Scaramouche’s Strengths
- Scaramouche is one of the best single-target hypercarry units in the game.
Flexibility is on your side with Scaramouche. As long as you understand the pairings you want for him, you can build almost any composition. Although he doesn’t build EM, Scaramouche is still plenty good at triggering elemental reactions and dealing damage.
He benefits the most from having a crowd control teammate like Kazuha or Venti in your team, as he struggles with dealing consistent AoE damage.
His range is among the best in the game. He can even fly above enemies, allowing players to constantly dish out heaps of damage without getting touched.
Relatively easy combos. For the most part, you’re going to want to simply be spamming normal attacks. However, if you AREN’T running his main weapon, you’re going to want to use as many charged attacks as you can.
It’s worth noting as a complimentary pro that Scaramouche has engaging gameplay and (some) skill ceiling; he can do something known as “animation canceling,” to charged attack again before the duration of the previous animation finishes. It requires knowing the timings of his charged attacks very well (and making sure you don’t get knocked out of the air), but once you learn how to do it consistently, it’ll increase your damage numbers.
While in midair, Scaramouche doesn’t consume stamina to use charged attacks.
Scaramouche has a healthy abyss clear thanks to his kit.
So not too bad, right? You can see why people want him; he’s a top-tier DPS with relatively easy combos (that charged attack cancel can be a bit hard, though) and a kit that’ll keep you enthralled and loving every second of his gameplay. But what about why not to pull him?
Scaramouche’s Weaknesses
- For peak performance, Scaramouche is reliant on Faruzan at c6. Getting a 4 star on Genshin to C6 is something that takes either a lot of money, a lot of luck, or a very long time pulling on rate-up banners. Remember, there’s no guarantee for a specific 4 star, so you could pull 300 times and not get a single copy of Faruzan (if you were unlucky enough).
- He’s vulnerable to being knocked out of his E unless you’re running him alongside a shielder of some kind.
- He has energy issues, so using his burst consistently every damage rotation is near impossible unless you have a good battery in the team.
- Despite being anemo, Scaramouche lacks the CC ability so commonly associated with the element.
- Low burst damage means you aren’t quite going to be getting those incredibly long, juicy strings of numbers.
Overall, Scaramouche offers a plethora of benefits (and believe me, once you have him, exploration is a breeze regardless of the region. )Although he’s an amazing unit, Scara still has flaws to be mindful of.
Keeping those things in mind, let’s talk about artifact sets.
Scaramouche, pictured above, uses his burst, Kyougen: Five Ceremonial Plays. This is the animation that plays upon pressing Q when the meter is full.
1. Hypercarry: Desert Pavilion Chronicle
Desert Pavilion Chronicle,pictured above, is one of many options for Scaramouche. As you can see in the image above, it’s specifically curated for him; not only does it provide a 15% anemo damage bonus, but it also increases your normal attack speed by 10%. You’ll want this artifact set the most, but it’s completely fine if you cannot get it or have better pieces from another set.
Why Desert Pavilion?
- 4 piece Desert Pavilion Chronicle is Scaramouche’s BiS (Best in Slot) set because its two and four piece set bonuses were specifically created to synergize with his kit..
- Characters in the future may make use of this set as well, which means that even if you grind for this artifact and later decide you don’t want Scaramouche or you bench him, there may be a character released who benefits from it.
- It boosts his normal attack speed, a stat buff that is incredibly rare to find in Genshin yet one wanted so badly by Scaramouche.
- Upon charged attacking, it also provides a 40% damage increase to all types of normal attacks.
- The buff duration is long enough that you don’t have to worry about it going away during a rotation (15 seconds).
Artifact Stats:
Goblet: Anemo Damage main stat.
Flower: Flat HP main stat.
Feather: Flat Attack main stat.
Sands: ATK% main stat.
Circlet: Crit Rate or Damage main stat.
For substats, you’ll want to aim for a ratio of 1:2 between crit rate and crit damage (while, of course, managing attack bonuses). Crit rate and damage are the most important, while atk% is more important than flat atk, and atk is more important than energy recharge.
Weapons:
Five Star: Tome of the Eternal Flow. If you pulled on Neuvillette’s Weapon Banner (and wow, was that a banner! ) and managed to acquire one, don’t be afraid of putting it on Scaramouche. Since Scara uses charged attacks so much, it’s honestly not a bad option for him and might even tie with Tulaytullah’s Remembrance as his best weapon. It also provides double the crit damage at level 90.
Four Star: Ballad of the Boundless Blue. While intended as an event weapon to benefit Neuvillette, it still provides some interesting bonuses to contemplate that might make it competitive with other weapons. Its main stat might only be energy recharge, but the fact that it increases both normal and charged attacks means it might work wonders for Scaramouche as well, especially if you’ve mastered the ability to animation cancel his charged attacks. This weapon can increase his normal attack damage by 24% and his charged attack damage by 18%. If you don’t have it, Mappa Mare is another option.
Scarmouche’s Talent Priority:
1. Normal Attack: Yuuban Meigen. Performs up to 3 attacks using wind blades, dealing Anemo DMG.
2. Elemental Skill: Hanega: Song of the Wind. Concentrates the power of the winds to break free from the shackles of the earth, dealing AoE Anemo DMG before leaping into the air and entering the Windfavored state.
3. Burst: Kyougen: Five Ceremonial Plays. Compresses the atmosphere into a singular vacuum that grinds all troubles away, dealing multiple instances of AoE Anemo DMG
Best Team for this Build:
Sunfire: Scaramouche, Faruzan, Jean, Bennet.
Sunfire is a great place to start. This team comprises Scaramouche, Faruzan, Jean, and Bennet. This comp is called “Sunfire,” due to the reactions of Jean and Bennet’s bursts. If you don’t have them, it won’t exactly be “sunfire,” but you can still make it work. Just replace Jean or Faruzan with whoever you wish and this team should still work relatively well. It’s strongest here because of the health fluctuations and attack buffs.
2. Main DPS Double Geo: Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
Shimenawa’s Reminiscence, pictured above, is a powerful artifact set, one whose domain simultaneously offers Emblem of Severed Fate. This means that, although the domain is difficult, you’re getting two useful and worthwhile sets at the exact same time. If you have both Raiden and Scaramouche, don’t underestimate the value of this domain.
Why Shimenawa’s Reminiscence?
- The 2 piece +18% alone makes it worth slotting on him if you don’t have anything else.
- Since he doesn’t really care about his burst, Scaramouche can even make use of the 4 piece set bonus.
- It’s competitive with his best in slot artifact set, especially if you’re pairing him with someone like Bennet.
- You’ll also be getting pieces of another artifact set, Emblem of Severed Fate, which still remains one of the best artifact sets in the game. This means grinding for Shimenawa’s is doubly worthwhile.
- You can strongbox this artifact set, which basically means you can take 3 random 5 star artifacts and turn it into one guaranteed Shimenawa’s Reminiscence piece. This makes getting substats and main stats much, much easier.
Artifact Stats:
Goblet: Anemo Damage main stat.
Flower: Flat HP main stat.
Feather: Flat Attack main stat.
Sands: ATK% main stat.
Circlet: Crit Rate or Damage main stat.
For substats, you’ll want to aim for a ratio of 1:2 between crit rate and crit damage (while, of course, managing attack bonuses). Crit rate and damage are the most important, while atk% is more important than flat atk, and atk is more important than energy recharge.
Weapons:
Five Star: Memory of Dust. Memory of Dust is a strong option for teams that make use of shielders (which you might want anyways if you’re annoyed by getting knocked out of the air). It’s not much better than Skyward Atlas unless you’re using a shielder (and that’s totally fine) but if you are, it’s not much worse than his BiS. Memory of Dust is a seriously slept on catalyst; remember, it’s always a viable option if you’re going to be using shield comps.
Four Star: The Widsith. Widsith is, as always, a strong 4 star catalyst option due to its crit dmg. The fact that it can increase attack, elemental damage, OR elemental mastery means that Scaramouche, as an attack-based anemo unit, benefits tremendously from all of the boons.
Scarmouche’s Talent Priority:
1. Normal Attack: Yuuban Meigen. Performs up to 3 attacks using wind blades, dealing Anemo DMG.
2. Elemental Skill: Hanega: Song of the Wind. Concentrates the power of the winds to break free from the shackles of the earth, dealing AoE Anemo DMG before leaping into the air and entering the Windfavored state.
3. Burst: Kyougen: Five Ceremonial Plays. Compresses the atmosphere into a singular vacuum that grinds all troubles away, dealing multiple instances of AoE Anemo DMG
Best Team for this Build:
Double Geo: Scaramouche, Bennet, Zhongli, Albedo.
This team offers tremendous shielding for Scaramouche, putting him as the pinnacle comp. I would only really recommend using double geo if you’ve got a Memory of Dust for Scara or you just really like these characters. It’s not the best team but it’s certainly strong and can be fun to play around with.
3. Main DPS Quicken: Viridescent Venerer
Viridescent Venerer, pictured above, is a strong option for most supports in Genshin, but it’s an artifact set that maintains such power and strength you can even slot it on DPS characters. To lesser effect for sure, but if you’re new to the game it’s an incredibly powerful and easy to obtain alternative to the others. If you’re using this artifact set, make sure you’re using him in a team with plentiful elements for all the reactions you can get.
Why Viridescent?
- Viridescent is one of the more complicated build setups (in terms of 4 pieces). However, what makes this set worthwhile is the anemo damage and elemental resistance decrease.
- If you’re not using Scara alongside another anemo unit, this artifact set brings even more value.
- It’s always going to be viable for anemo units, regardless of if they’re DPS or not, and its domain is one of the easiest in the game to grind.
- It’s in Mondstadt, which makes it very beginner friendly.
- The 2 piece bonus makes it easy to mix and match with other artifact sets (like Gladiator’s Finale or Shimenawa’s). So if you’re looking for artifacts that have a little wiggle room and don’t require you making use of 4 whole pieces, Viridescent might be good for you.
Artifact Stats
Goblet: Anemo Damage main stat.
Flower: Flat HP main stat.
Feather: Flat Attack main stat.
Sands: ATK% main stat.
Circlet: Crit Rate or Damage main stat.
For substats, you’ll want to aim for a ratio of 1:2 between crit rate and crit damage (while, of course, managing attack bonuses). Crit rate and damage are the most important, while atk% is more important than flat atk, and atk is more important than energy recharge.
Weapons:
Five Star: Tulaytullah’s Remembrance is viewed as Scaramouche’s BiS weapon. It provides crit dmg up to 44% at level 90 and provides buffs to both attack speed and attack damage, two stat bonuses Scara benefits greatly from. If you use this weapon, it’s probably better to normal attack 3 times before charged attacking instead of simply spamming charged attacks. It actually works against you if you use too many of them (the weapon provides buffs based on your attacks and it stacks, and normal attacks are quicker than charged attacks), so be mindful of that in your rotations.
Four Star: Solar Pearl can be a little more difficult to acquire (given that it’s a battle pass exclusive) but if you don’t have anything else, this weapon dishes out a decent amount of damage given that it provides crit rate and increases the damage of normal attacks, skills, and bursts.
Scarmouche’s Talent Priority:
- 1. Normal Attack: Yuuban Meigen. Performs up to 3 attacks using wind blades, dealing Anemo DMG.
- 2. Elemental Skill: Hanega: Song of the Wind. Concentrates the power of the winds to break free from the shackles of the earth, dealing AoE Anemo DMG before leaping into the air and entering the Windfavored state.
- 3. Burst: Kyougen: Five Ceremonial Plays. Compresses the atmosphere into a singular vacuum that grinds all troubles away, dealing multiple instances of AoE Anemo DMG
Best Teams for this Build
Quicken: Scaramouche, Fischl, Dendro Traveler, Faruzan
This team provides powerful elemental reactions and, although Scaramouche doesn’t build EM, still allows you to swirl the elements and deal incredible damage. The higher your Fischl and Dendro Traveler constellations are with this build, the stronger and more potent the damage. Simply be mindful of the lack of shielder in this comp if you run it.
Alright! Now we’ve discussed all of his build opportunities, feel free to mix and match with Scaramouche’s items and artifacts as you want. Part of the fun in these games is being able to find your own builds and things you want to try out. It might not be the “strongest,” but in games like these fun trumps meta. As always, if you’re looking to get him on a rerun, I sincerely hope your pulls go well. If you’re just building him now, have fun!
