"This place is pretty dead... By which I mean, there's nothing to kill."

Known as the 11th of the Fatui Harbingers, Tartaglia (or Childe or Ajax, take your pick) is a peculiar character you will come across in the game. Will he be your friend or will he stab you in the back? We can only wait to find out.

Tarataglia comes into the Genshin Impact scene as one of the most unique and flexible playable characters in the game so far. He is a 5-star Hydro Bow user who can switch from ranged damage dealer to melee!

Don’t be fooled by that mischievous smile! His versatility and gameplay may overwhelm you in building him as an effective unit. Not to worry! We got you covered. Here are the top three ways to build Tartaglia:

3. Physical DPS Build 

Coming in at number three is considered an unconventional build for Tartaglia, but Physical DPS build for him is very much still viable and as much fun as the other builds. To achieve this build, you must prioritize levelling up his Normal Attack skill to optimize his damage. 

Tartaglia’s Passive Skill also gives one free level up to the entire team’s Normal Attack skill, so that’s a huge plus!

Not to mention, achieving this build can be done by using different Artifact pieces! That would certainly help cut down your farming time.

Artifacts to use: 

• 2-piece Bloodstained Chivalry or 2-piece Pale Flame (Physical Damage +25%) with 2-piece Gladiator’s Finale or 2-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence (ATK +18%)

An alternative build for this would be to use 2-piece Bloodstained Chivalry and 2-piece Pale Flame instead for a more consistent Physical DMG increase.

Stats and substats to look for:

• Flower (Flat HP fixed): ATK, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Plume (Flat ATK fixed): ATK, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Sands (ATK%): ATK, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Goblet (Physical Damage Bonus): ATK, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Circlet (Crit Rate or Crit Damage): ATK, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage

Of course, a well-built Tartagila wouldn’t be one if he is equipped with the wrong weapon. He uses a Bow, and with a variety of choices in Genshin Impact to choose from, we went ahead and picked the best weapons for both F2P and P2W players.

Best weapons for Physical DPS Tartaglia:

• Without involving the Wish (gacha) system, Hamayumi is no doubt the best craftable weapon a Physical DPS Tartaglia can use. 

• If you got lucky and managed to pull Rust from the Wish system with your hard-earned Primogems, then this would most definitely be a better weapon for Tartaglia as it increases his Normal Attack damage by a significant amount. Not to mention, it is more consistent than Hamayumi.

• Lastly, if you like spending something extra to magnify your Physical DPS Tartaglia, then fear not, for the weapon Thundering Pulse will surely increase his damage by a lot. As long as you’re not afraid to get your credit card out (or you saved Primogems for a really long time), then this weapon will be the holy grail for this build.

And, finally, a good Physical DPS Tartaglia would be better if placed in an optimal team. Any Physical DPS unit would need to trigger the Superconduct (Electro + Cryo) elemental reaction as it will decrease the opponent's physical damage resistance by 40%. 

With that being said, here are a few sample team compositions for Physical DPS Tartaglia:

• Tartaglia, Fischl, Diona, Bennett
• Tartaglia, Beidou, Kaeya, Diona
• Tartaglia, Raiden Shogun, Qiqi, Kaedahara Kazuha

See Physical DPS Tartaglia in action!

2. Burst DPS Build

At number two is a build that will focus more on Tartaglia’s Elemental Burst. Note that this build would place Tartaglia with more of a support role, only appearing in the battlefield for a short amount of time, but even with his quick appearances, he is sure to wipe out a big chunk of your enemies

Here’s what you need for this build.

Artifacts to use:

2-piece Noblesse Oblige and 2-piece Heart of Depth

• 2-piece effects: Elemental Burst DMG +20% and Hydro DMG Bonus +15%.

Stats and substats to look for:

• Flower (Flat HP fixed): ATK, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Plume (Flat ATK fixed): ATK, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Sands (ATK%/Energy Recharge): Energy Recharge, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Goblet (Hydro Damage Bonus): Energy Recharge, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Circlet (Crit Rate or Crit Damage): Energy Recharge, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage

Weapons needed for this build can vary. You may use a weapon that would help mitigate Energy issues if you are having them, but it is optimal to use weapons that will increase Elemental Burst damage. Here are the best weapons for Tartaglia with this build for F2P and P2W players.

Best weapons for Burst DPS Tartaglia:

• The Stringless is an excellent 4-star weapon for this build. Not only will it increase your Elemental Burst damage, but it will increase your Elemental Mastery as well. If Tartaglia triggers a Vaporize (Hydro + Pyro) reaction, his damage will intensify.

• Favonius Warbow is one of two 4-star Bows that has an Energy Recharge substat,  and this will greatly help keep his Elemental Burst always available.

• For a 5-star weapon, Polar Star would function as the best option for this Tartaglia build, as the weapon will both increase his Elemental Burst damage and ATK stat. 

Since Tartaglia built with emphasis on his Elemental Burst, this would mean that he will function as a support for the Main DPS. The good news for this is that he will become very flexible in team compositions. The suggested team compositions would then be:

• [MAIN DPS], Tartaglia, Bennett, Xiangling
• [MAIN DPS], Tartaglia, Beidou, Thoma
• [MAIN DPS], Tartaglia, Zhongli, Albedo

Witness Tartaglia obliterate all his enemies with one shot here!

1. Heart of Depth Hydro Main DPS Build

And in number one is the build that is considered the best for Tartaglia. The Heart of Depth artifact set is built specifically for him. It’s passive skill focuses more on Hydro Damage Bonus, not to mention it increases his Normal Attack damage after triggering his Elemental Skill.

These buffs are vital for Tartaglia, since triggering his Elemental Skill does switch him to his Melee Stance where all his attacks will be Hydro Damage. It is also important to note that attacks coming out of his Elemental Skill are considered Normal and Charged Attack damage.

For this build, levelling up all of Tartaglia’s skills is important, but focus on Elemental Skill first.

Here’s what you need for the Heart of Depth Tartaglia build:

Artifacts to use:

4-piece Heart of Depth

• 2-piece effect: Hydro DMG Bonus +15%
• 4-piece effect: After using Elemental Skill, increases Normal Attack and Charged Attack DMG by 30% for 15s.

Stats and substats to look for:

• Flower (Flat HP fixed): ATK, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Plume (Flat ATK fixed): ATK, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Sands (ATK%): ATK, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Goblet (Hydro Damage Bonus): Energy Recharge ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage
• Circlet (Crit Rate or Crit Damage): Energy Recharge, ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Damage

Tartaglia will need weapons that center on increasing his Normal Attack damage. Here are some weapons he can use for this build:

Best weapons for Heart of Depth Tartaglia:

• The weapon Rust would be amazing for this build, much like with the Physical DPS build, as the weapon focuses on Normal Attack damage. However, the glaring issue for this weapon is that it will decrease Tartaglia’s Charged Attack damage, making your moveset limited.
• The Battle Pass Bow The Viridescent Hunt will cost some money and some hard work, but this is hands-down the best 4-star weapon for Tartaglia. Its passive skill creates a small whirlwind that pulls enemies in that will make it easy for him to slash through.

• Thundering Pulse is also the best weapon for this build, but another good 5-star weapon that Tartaglia can use is Skyward Harp. This weapon is technically more accessible as it is always available in the Normal Wish banner. Skyward Harp will increase both Tartaglia’s Crit Rate and Crit Damage, significantly increasing all of his damage output.

For this build, here is the best team composition for Tartaglia.

• Tartaglia, Bennett, Xiangling, Diona
• Tartaglia, Zhongli, Albedo, Bennett
• Tartaglia, Raiden Shogun, Beidou, Kaedehara Kazuha

Witness Tartaglia use this artifact set to its full potential here!

And that does it for the top 3 builds for our Harbinger Tartaglia!

If you don’t have Tartaglia, you’re going to have to wait for his Event Banner “Farewell of Snezhnaya” to be re-run. Hopefully, it won’t be that long since Genshin Impact recently started running three or more Event Banners every Version. Good luck!

Which build will you be building him as? Just a reminder, though, that you can build him in whichever way you want. Enjoy the game as you please!

Did you like this comprehensive guide? Here are a few others that are as comprehensive as this one!

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• [Top 10] Genshin Impact Best 4-Star Characters