You may have witnessed her with a magical Electro Sword before, but Raiden Shogun Baal was Genshin Impact’s first Electro Polearm wielder. This rather scary ruler of Inazuma was only the second 5-Star Electro character to join Genshin Impact (after Keqing), she’s more than welcome to most players. Fair warning though; she won’t be the easiest character to play. But studying her abilities is totally worth it, as the Raiden Shogun is certainly one of the strongest and most unique Support characters to date.
There’s plenty of info on Baal’s skills and gameplay on the official Genshin Impact site, and we relied on Honey Hunter World for all the missing details. A big thanks to them! Here are some tips on the best Raiden Shogun builds.
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Baal Abilities
Baal is basically a walking battery. She’s a unique Support character equipped with the ability to charge up your team’s Elemental Bursts. Make no mistake though; Raiden Shogun is capable of dealing some pretty high Electro damage by herself too.
Using other allies’ Elemental Bursts will enhance Baal’s own Burst. After using her own, she will in turn regenerate Energy for her allies. Before swapping to the allies’ Bursts again, use Baal’s Elemental Skill to grant them an Elemental Burst damage bonus. We know, it’s a lot of Bursts… just familiarize yourself with this cycle and try to keep it going.
You may have noticed that the Raiden Shogun’s Elemental Burst Energy cost is very high. To power her ability cycle and make use of her buffs, you need to increase her Energy Recharge. So whatever Baal build you ultimately go for, do remember that Energy Recharge is her most important stat.
Origin (Normal Attack)
- Normal Attacks: Performs up to five slashes with the Polearm.
- Charged Attack: Uses stamina to perform an upwards slash attack.
- Plunging Attack: Deals AOE damage on impact.
Transcendence: Baleful Omen (Elemental Skill)
- Baal unveils a shard of her Euthymia, dealing Electro damage to nearby opponents. This attack performs a series of quick Electro slashes.
- Nearby allies receive the ‘Eye of Stormy Judgment’ effect.
- Characters under the influence of Eye of Stormy Judgment will unleash a coordinated attack alongside their own attacks, dealing extra AOE Electro damage.
- They also gain an Elemental Burst damage bonus based on that Burst’s Energy cost.
- This effect can occur once every 0.9 seconds per party. Coordinated attacks from characters not controlled by you will deal 20% of the normal damage.
Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu (Elemental Burst)
- Baal unleashes her ‘Musou no Hitotachi’ attack, pulling an Electro Sword from her own body (yes, really), and dealing AOE Electro damage.
- This is directly followed by ‘Musou Isshin’ attacks.
- The Musou Isshin state infuses all Baal’s Normal, Charged, and Plunging attacks with Electro. Damage done by these attacks will be considered Elemental Burst damage.
- Any hit from a Musou Isshin attack will regenerate Energy for nearby allies. Can occur once per second for a total of five times.
- Baal receives increased resistance to interruption and immunity to Electro-Charged Elemental Reaction damage while Musou Isshin is active.
- The Musou Isshin effects will disappear if Raiden Shogun leaves the battlefield.
- When nearby allies use their Elemental Bursts (excluding Baal), Raiden Shogun gains Resolve stacks as part of the ‘Chakra Desiderata’ effect.
- The amount of Resolve gained is based on the Bursts’ Energy costs. The maximum amount of Resolve is 60.
- Resolve will be consumed upon triggering Baal’s Burst, and will increase damage done by Musou no Hitatachi and Misou Isshin attacks.
- Resolve gained by Chakra Desiderata will disappear if Baal has been inactive for over 300 seconds.
Wishes Unnumbered (Passive 1) – Ascension 1
- When nearby allies pick up Elemental particles or orbs, Chakra Desiderata gains two stacks of Resolve
- This effect can occur once every three seconds.
Enlightened One (Passive 2) – Ascension 4
- Every additional 1% of Energy Recharge (above 100%) grants Baal the following bonuses:
- Plus 0.6% extra Energy restoration from Musou Isshin.
- A 0.4% Electro damage bonus.
All-Preserver (Passive 3) – Unlocked
- The Mora cost of Polearm and Sword Ascensions is decreased by 50%.
Best Baal Build
Weapon Options
Along with Baal’s Wish Banner in Genshin Impact 2.1, miHoYo will release a new Inazuma Polearm weapon: Engulfing Lightning. And guess what? It’s absolutely perfect for our Raiden Shogun. It increases Energy Recharge and grants additional bonuses based on Energy Recharge, so it’s easy to see why you should use it if you have the chance.
On the downside, we’re talking about a new 5-Star Polearm here. If you lack the Primogems needed to pull for it, you can still get a strong Raiden Shogun build using a Prototype Starglitter, a Favonius Lance, or (preferably) The Catch.
The Catch is also set to be introduced in Genshin Impact 2.1, and is the second-best weapon for Baal after Engulfing Lightning. It boosts her Energy Recharge as well as her Elemental Burst.
Engulfing Lightning (5-Star) – Increases Energy Recharge as a secondary stat and increases Baal’s Attack based on her amount of Energy Recharge above 100%. Furthermore, after using Raiden Shogun’s Elemental Burst, you’ll receive an Energy Recharge bonus for a limited duration.
The Catch (4-Star) – Grants increased Energy Recharge. Also increases Elemental Burst damage and Elemental Burst Critical Rate.
White Tassel (3-Star) – Only use if you have no 4-Star lances. Increases normal attack damage.
Best Baal Artifacts
When looking for the best Artifacts for Baal, it makes sense to focus on Elemental Burst damage and Energy Recharge. Remember that Baal’s Elemental Burst Energy cost is high, and that she will receive bonuses from a high Energy Recharge. The Emblem of Severed Fate Artifact set is therefore the best option for the Raiden Shogun.
As for secondary stats, try to get additional Energy Recharge on the Sands of Eon Artifact slot. Although the damage bonus between Energy Rate and Attack on the Sands slot is small, just remember that Energy Rate will get you all the additional benefits, which is why it’s better. You may go for Attack (Goblet) and Critical Rate (Circlet) on the others, but additional Attack or Elemental Mastery aren’t bad either.
If you don’t have the Emblem of Severed Fate Artifact set, you can equip the Raiden Shogun with Noblesse Oblige instead. This will still grant Baal a powerful Burst as well as a useful support buff. Just as before, try to use an Energy Recharge stat on the Sands of Eon slot.
If you really don’t have either of these sets, see if you can find some Exile or Thundering Fury Artifacts. The former offers an Energy Recharge increase and the latter may turn Baal into a decent Electro DPS for early game Genshin Impact players.
Emblem of Severed Fate – (2) Increases Energy Recharge by 20%. (4) Elemental Burst damage is increased by 25% of your Energy Recharge.
Noblesse Oblige – (2) Increases Elemental Burst damage by 20%. (4) After using an Elemental Burst, all allies’ attack power is increased by 20% for a duration of 12 seconds.
The Exile – (2) Increase Energy Recharge by 20%. (4) After using an Elemental Burst, you’ll regenerate two Energy for all allies (excluding Baal herself) every two seconds. The effect lasts for six seconds.
Thundering Fury – (2) Grants an Electro damage bonus of 15%. (4) Damage from Overloaded, Electro-Charged and Superconduct Elemental reactions is increased by 40%. Triggering such effects also decreases the Elemental Skill cooldown by one second (no more than once every 0.8 seconds).
Best Team for Baal
Since Baal is an Elemental Burst Support, it’s best to look for teammates with a very powerful Elemental Burst attack. Furthermore, as Baal is not a main DPS or a healer/shield provider, you need to fill those two roles. Eula would be a great candidate for the main DPS position, with Diona as the most suitable Support (also providing a handy Cryo Resonance Critical Rate buff).
If you’re going to pull for Baal, there’s a good chance you’ll get yourself a Kujou Sara as well. And that’s great, because these two are a perfect match. You can use them both as a battery, with Baal quickly charging Kujou Sara and Kujou Sara buffing Baal’s attacks.
As for additional Sub DPS characters, Kazuha or Sucrose are good options. If you’d rather buff the team’s attack more, you can also use a Pyro DPS like Yoimiya and an additional Support like Bennett. Consider putting Qiqi or Jean on the team if you need more healing.
- Top Tier Team
- Main DPS: Eula (Burst), Tartaglia
- Sub DPS: Kazuha, Yoimiya, Mona, Fischl
- Sub DPS/Support: Baal, Kujou Sara (Dual Battery, Elemental Resonance), Xingqiu/Bennett (Attack Buffs)
- Support: Diona, Qiqi, Jean
- Budget Team
- Main DPS: Beidou, Kaeya
- Sub DPS: Lisa, Xiangling
- Sub DPS/Support: Baal
- Support: Barbara, Noelle
Talent Materials
- Talent Level-Up Material: Teachings/Guide/Philosophies of Light
- Common Ascension Material: Old/Kageuchi/Famed Handguard
- Weekly Material: Molten Moment
Constellation
Baal’s Constellation upgrades are good, but not essential. If you’re thinking about spending more Primogems to strengthen her, you might want to go for the Weapon Wish Banner instead. If you do this, you may get yourself an Engulfing Lightning Polearm, which is by far the best Polearm for her.
- Level 1 – Ominous Inscription: Chakra Desiderata gains Resolve faster. The Resolve gained is increased by 80% whenever an Electro character uses their Burst. This boost is limited to 20% if a character of any other Elemental type uses their Burst.
- Level 2 – Steelbreaker: The ‘Musou no Hitotachi’ and ‘Musou Isshin’ attacks (part of Baal’s Elemental Burst) will ignore 60% of their enemies’ defense.
- Level 3 – Shinkage Bygones: Upgrades Baal’s Elemental Burst level by three, giving it a max level of 15.
- Level 4 – Pledge of Propriety: All nearby allies receive a 30% attack power bonus for ten seconds whenever the Musou Isshin (Elemental Burst effect) ends. This buff excludes Baal herself.
- Level 5 – Shogun’s Descent: Raiden Shogun’s Elemental Skill level receives three additional levels, upgrading it to a max level of 15.
- Level 6 – Wishbearer: While the Musou Isshin state is active, Raiden Shogun’s Normal, Charged, and Plunging attacks decrease nearby allies’ Elemental Burst cooldown by one second upon hit (excluding Baal’s own cooldown). This effect can occur up to five times.
Baal Ascension Information
Unsurprisingly, most of Baal’s Ascension materials are found in the Inazuma region. Here’s a full list of materials required to Ascend the Raiden Shogun:
- 1st Ascension (Max Level 20) – 1 Vajrada Amethyst Sliver, 3 Amakumo Fruit, 3 Old Handguard
- 2nd Ascension (Max Level 40) – 3 Vajrada Amethyst Fragments, 2 Storm Beads, 10 Amakumo Fruit, 15 Old Handguard
- 3rd Ascension (Max Level 50) – 6 Vajrada Amethyst Fragments, 4 Storm Beads, 20 Amakumo Fruit, 12 Kageuchi Handguard
- 4th Ascension (Max Level 60) – 3 Vajrada Amethyst Chunks, 8 Storm Beads, 30 Amakumo Fruit, 18 Kageuchi Handguard
- 5th Ascension (Max Level 70) – 6 Vajrada Amethyst Chunks, 12 Storm Beads, 45 Amakumo Fruit, 12 Famed Handguard
- 6th Ascension (Max Level 80) – 6 Vajrada Amethyst Gemstones, 20 Storm Beads, 60 Amakumo Fruit, 24 Famed Handguard
Are you going to pull for Baal? And what are your ideas on the best build for our powerful Raiden Shogun? Feel free to share your ideas in the comments!
