Zhongli is underwhelming, but salvageable.
By: Last Light
Tags: Game Design, Genshinimpact

I need to preface a few things before diving into the meat of this article. I honestly love Genshin Impact. I play multiple hours a day. This is not a MiHoYo bashing article. This is not a Zhongli bashing article. I was really excited for his release and have enough Primogems to guarantee pulling him. This is not a “5 star characters are too expensive” article. This is a “Zhongli does not offer enough for me to want him” article. This does not mean Zhongli is horrible. Every single character in Genshin Impact is usable for content. This is not to attack people who enjoy playing with Zhongli. Zhongli has beautiful animations and all of his voice actors are incredible. His Elemental Burst, Planet Befall, is breathtaking and epic. The artists who collaborated to make Zhongli blew away expectations. His gameplay design feels unique and interesting, but does not feel rewarding to invest in. Players invest their Mora, experience, weapons, and time into Zhongli and are disappointed by Zhongli’s performance. Some time between the closed beta tests and his live release, his numbers and gameplay kit were kneecapped. This is expected, to some extent — if all the circulating rumors about how strong he was were true, he could easily have been the strongest unit in the game. We would like to see some middle ground, but right now he is currently in contention for the weakest 5 star character.

How good is Zhongli?

I am going to make some comparisons to show how powerful Zhongli is relative to other characters.

Main Physical DPS:

Let’s look at him as a main DPS. Multiple people have done frame-by-frame comparisons and all the math, so I will not run back through them, just refer you to this video that also talks about their disappointing experiences. The relevant part is that they found Zhongli’s DPS to be comparable to Xiangling (4 star). He’s serviceable, but outclassed by Razor (4 star). So anyone using him as a main DPS is doing it because they love Zhongli and his amazing animations, which is entirely valid.

Energy Generator:

Zhongli’s Elemental Skill creates a stele that stays on the field and deals AoE Geo Damage every two seconds, generating an energy particle… sometimes. Turns out it’s completely random with about a 50% chance. So one particle every four seconds, usually. That’s if the enemy stays in the fairly small AoE.You can increase the AoE with other Geo Constructs, but they do not increase the energy generation. Even Zhongli’s Constellation 1, which allows him to have a second pillar, will not increase the energy generation, just the AoE, making it a little more consistent. This puts him on par with Ningguang (4 star) for energy generation. The caveat is that Ningguang can use the catalyst Sacrificial Fragments to create more energy, while Zhongli does not have access to a Sacrificial weapon. Even if he did, Ningguang would still outpace him, as her Elemental Skill generates more particles up front. In addition, Ningguang’s Constellation 2 allows her to nearly double the number of times she can use her Elemental Skill. Zhongli is sadly outclassed in this department and even needs assistance to consistently make use of his own Elemental Burst.

Tankiness:

He’s a Geo character that pumps out Crystallize reactions like nobody’s business. He even has damage scaling on his Elemental Burst when he builds HP. All signs point to potentially being able to replace a healer in a team. The problem is how shields work. They do not stack and protect one another. They all take damage simultaneously. You cannot use Zhongli to extend the lifespan of Xinyan or anyone else’s shield. A Crystallize shield, at any given moment, is only going to take one or two hits in late game Spiral Abyss. The hold version of his Elemental Skill only gives 5550 shield if you have 20000 HP. The ice cages in floor 12 Spiral Abyss deal around 7000 damage. He can act as an off-healer, but he will not be able to replace the main healer. Maybe you can get away when running Xingqiu alongside him, as he is also an off-healer. For the majority of players, though, Zhongli’s extra tankiness is superficial in nature.

Burst Support:

This is probably his best role right now. The Elemental Burst costs 40 energy on a 12 second cooldown with great damage. The cooldown perfectly matches the Noblesse Oblige 4-set piece buff. If he were Pyro/Hydro, people would probably say he is broken. Unfortunately, this wraps back around to the energy generation problem. Despite having a low energy requirement, he cannot reliably reach it.

So what would it take for me to pull Zhongli?

At minimum, his energy generation needs to be consistent. With so much of his power being in his burst, both in terms of numbers and visuals, the fact his energy generation is random is frankly inexcusable. Even if he generated one particle every 2 seconds, it would be around the same level as Ningguang with Constellation 2. Considering he is a 5 star, I think this is perfectly acceptable and not overpowered.

In addition, I’d like to see at least one of the following be improved:

His normal/charged attack string: He has a beautifully animated attack string. Sadly its damage is similar to Xiangling. This is honestly where I’d prefer them to take power away if they must. Alternatively, if they make this a focal point, it will be fun to watch and damn satisfying.

Energy generation: I was honestly hoping he’d be an insane battery. Again, his Burst is only 40 energy with a 12 second cooldown, which sounds perfect for Noblesse Oblige, just like Ningguang. Except he doesn’t get Prototype Malice and his energy generation is weak. I would love to see him turned into an energy battery as even standalone, it would mean the player would be able to get more use out of his Elemental Burst.

Supportive damage boosts: The closed beta test leaks had his Petrify amplifying damage, much like Mona’s Burst. They may have decided that was too strong to include in his power budget, but there are more options. He could give Geo Dmg boost to anyone in his Elemental Skill range. The Petrify could have the Shatter Reaction or also have Geo Dmg boost. They could do something similar to Xinyan, where anyone shielded by Zhongli would receive a damage boost.

Tankiness: There’s plenty of characters that currently offer damage reduction. Zhongli could easily be added to the list. Xinqiu’s water swords offer damage reduction, damage, Hydro debuff, and healing. Zhongli’s shield offers…shield.

Ultimately, Zhongli suffers from poor power distribution. It is split among tankiness, his normal attack string, and his burst. His unique mechanic received the least power and suffers from randomness on top of it. This makes him feel far less unique and exciting compared to other 5 stars. It is honestly a shame, as I suspect that he still performed well in terms of sales, so we may not see any changes. Everything else around him, from the story to the voice acting, makes him incredible. I am sure many people are happy with their Zhongli, but I have also seen a large number of people be disappointed. I hope this illustrates the ways Zhongli falls short and shows how MiHoYo can adjust some numbers to make him more satisfying. They have made clear attempts to listen to the community in other areas, so I hope that with the next feedback survey, they will respond positively and help Zhongli out.