The Best Weapons For Albedo In Genshin Impact
Albedo can be a highlight to any team comp as a Geo Sub-DPS and energy battery in "Genshin Impact." He's not a hyper carry like Xiao or a "broken" DPS like Ganyu, but his Abiogenesis: Solar Isotoma Elemental Skill can deal significant Geo DMG, provide utility to his teammates as moving platforms, and generate energy particles to charge their abilities. His Geo battery rep especially makes him an ideal team member for mono Geo comps like those with fan-favorite Itto, Goro, and Yun Jin.
Most Albedo builds focus on building his DEF stat, which increases the damage for his Elemental Skill. As one Redditor describes, his skill is the "geo version of Oz." In short, its intermittent damage is helpful to his teammates for the Geo application it provides plus the damage. Energy Recharge also becomes important because of how often players want to use said skill. So, when choosing Albedo's weapons, it's important to keep in mind any buffs to his Elemental Skill, ER, DEF, Crit Rate, or Crit DMG.
These are just five of the best weapons you should consider for building Albedo.
Cinnabar Spindle (4-star)
- Ability: Elemental Skill DMG is increased by 40% of DEF. The effect will be triggered no more than once every 1.5s and will be cleared 0.1s after the Elemental Skill deals DMG.
Cinnabar Spindle is an event-exclusive weapon from the Shadows Amidst Snowstorms event. It's perfect for Albedo, whose Elemental Skill is responsible for the majority of his Geo DMG. The Geo DMG scales with Albedo's DEF, so his ideal weapon would complement that as much as possible. So, Cinnabar Spindle meets that need with a DEF substat and an increase to his Elemental Skill DMG by 40 percent to boot.
Again, the only downside of this weapon is that it was a limited-time one. You can't even refine (strengthen with copies of the same weapon) it if you didn't grind for the materials during the event. If you don't have it already, you should consider one of the others on this list.
Festering Desire (4-star)
- Ability: Increases Elemental Skill DMG by 16% and Elemental Skill CRIT Rate by 6%.
Festering Desire is a free-to-play weapon that first appeared in Albedo's debut event, The Chalk Price and the Dragon. The sword contains the corrupted remains of the old Dragonspine god, Durin, that Albedo entrusted to the Traveler because of their ability to purify contaminated materials. It just so happens to meet Albedo's needs as a sub DPS, too.
Festering Desire might not be a DEF booster like Cinnabar Spindle, but it still provides a significant buff to his Elemental Skill. The Energy Recharge substat plus the 16 percent Elemental Skill DMG and the 6 percent Elemental CRIT Rate buffs mean that he can fire off his Elemental Skill as much as possible and destroy enemies with Geo DMG. Just make sure his artifacts support him with a sturdy DEF. Festering Desire isn't enough on its own to outrun a poor DEF stat.
Note: If you missed out on Festering Desire, the Favonius Sword is a great backup for filling the same ER void.
Harbinger of Dawn (3-star)
- Ability: When HP is above 90%, increases CRIT Rate by 14%.
In general, Harbinger of Dawn works for sword users in early to mid-game so long as you have a competent healer. It's only a three-star weapon, but because it's inevitable that you'll get more copies for refinements while pulling for 5-stars, it can end up challenging even weaker 4-star weapons.
Crit DMG is one of the most valuable stats for your character, and the 14 percent CRIT increase when the character is mostly healed only adds to that value. Note that the Crit Rate only applies when you have a healing support like Barbara to keep your HP full or consistently protect Albedo by withdrawing him immediately after using his Elemental Skill, though.
Albedo has a notoriously low ATK stat that Harbinger of Dawn overlooks, too. As one Reddit user explained, "The vast majority of [Albedo's] damage comes from his skill, which scales off of defense instead of attack. So the double crit rate crit damage stat boosts of HOD provide the most damage since the low atk doesn't come into play."
Mistsplitter Reforged (5-star)
- Gain a 12% Elemental DMG Bonus for all elements and receive the might of the Mistsplitter's Emblem. At stack levels 1/2/3, Mistsplitter's Emblem provides a 8/16/28% Elemental DMG Bonus for the character's Elemental Type. The character will obtain 1 stack of Mistsplitter's Emblem in each of the following scenarios: Normal Attack deals Elemental DMG (stack lasts 5s), casting Elemental Burst (stack lasts 10s); Energy is less than 100% (stack disappears when Energy is full). Each stack's duration is calculated independently.
Mistsplitter Reforged has an ability that's difficult to use to its fullest without complete consciousness of how you're playing. However, it's a 5-star weapon with a CRIT DMG substat, so that's going to be helpful to any character even without the ability in mind. Its 12 percent Elemental DMG is standard for all Elemental types (Geo, etc.) and the 8, 16, or 28 percent Elemental DMG bonus based on Elemental type and stacks is just the cherry on top.
That being said, it isn't advisable to pull Mistsplitter Reforged just for Albedo. Also, Albedo can only activate up to 2 stacks for Mistsplitter Reforged because his Normal Attack doesn't deal Elemental DMG. Many content creators agree that 4-star, 3-star, and free-to-play weapons can meet his needs just as well while saving your Primogems.
Primordial Jade Cutter (5-star)
- Ability: HP increased by 20%. Additionally, provides an ATK Bonus based on 1.2% of the wielder's Max HP.
Similar to Mistsplitter Reforged, Primordial Jade-Cutter is a shoe-in simply because of its Crit Rate substat. Can't make use of high Crit DMG if you never crit at all, right?
Again, this isn't something worth pulling for if you plan to use if specifically for Albedo. It's just something to swap over to the alchemist if it's available. None of Albedo's abilities scale with HP, so the ability won't complement him as much as it does other characters who can make use of the HP boost. However, it already raises Albedo's HP by 20 percent by itself plus the thousands of HP he already has. Based on 12,000 HP, the ATK bonus can add up to around 2,500 extra damage (12,000 times 0.20 plus 12,000 times 0.012). That's a small buff to his low ATK stat but it's something. The over 40 percent Crit Rate will do most of the damage if Albedo has a higher Geo DMG and Crit DMG artifact set equipped too.