The Best Advice For When You Pull Shenhe In Genshin Impact

Shenhe might seem as indifferent as ice itself at first, but beneath that facade lies an Adepti Disciple capable of leveling mountains in a fit of rage. Arguably one of Genshin Impact‘s strongest humans, what protects others from this self-proclaimed “Cursed Child” is the Red Ropes that suppress her emotions.

In the game itself, Shenhe chooses a way different than punching people’s faces in, instead using her exorcism knowledge and various talismans to buff her Cryo allies. If you like her design and are wondering if she’s worth it, here are some things to know before you pull Shenhe.

8

Shenhe Is A Premier Cryo Buffer

Lots Of Buffs And Cryo RES Shred

Genshin Impact has its characters split into seven different Elements, each with their advantages and misgivings. For each element, there is an associated support that does wonders for it. Anemo has Faruzan, Kujo Sara works for Electro, and Gorou buffs Geo.

Shenhe was the first of this archetype of characters, being a buffer for Cryo carries like Ayaka and Ganyu. Her Elemental Skill grants a teamwide buff that increases Cryo damage in a specific way, whereas her Elemental Burst lowers enemy Cryo RES.

7

Shenhe Needs Tons Of Attack

Her Buff Scales Off Of ATK

Shenhe is an ATK-scaling character. Apart from her damage increasing with ATK, the buff she gives party members from her Icy Quills also increases in proportion to her total ATK. This increase is different from the base ATK buff that applies to Bennett, which means Shenhe does count the ATK stats from your artifacts, as well as any ATK percent bonuses.

This makes gearing Shenhe up straightforward yet a bit more difficult than characters like Bennett. To make the most use of Shenhe, giving her enough ATK is just as important, if not more important, than fulfilling her Energy Recharge needs to Burst every rotation.

6

Shenhe Can Be A Good Physical Support

She Reduces Physical RES

Shenhe is usually thought of as a support for Cryo or Freeze teams due to her ability to buff Cryo DMG. An aspect of her kit that often gets overlooked, however, is how she reduces the Physical RES that enemies possess within her Burst’s range.

While Physical characters can’t make full use of Shenhe’s Icy Quills, this RES decrease is a better buff than those that many other Physical supports provide. Furthermore, since Physical teams usually run either Electro or Cryo characters to trigger Superconduct, a portion of the team’s damage still gets buffed by Shenhe.

5

Shenhe’s Elemental Skill Can Do Different Things

Buff Different Things On Hold And Burst

Many Elemental Skills in Genshin Impact function differently depending on whether you tap or hold them, and Shenhe’s is one of them. At first, the hold version just seems to deal more damage in return for having a longer cooldown and doesn’t have a specific effect written in the kit.

However, there is a very big difference, and it’s hidden in Shenhe’s A4 Passive instead. Both versions of the skill grant an ATK Bonus based on Shenhe’s ATK to Cryo attacks, but the A4 grants further bonuses depending on what your characters want to do. For characters that deal most of their damage with their Elemental Skill or Burst, you’d want to tap her skill to buff these. If they use their Normal or Charged Attacks for damage, holding the skill buffs their NA and CA damage instead.

4

Shenhe Can Enable Mono Cryo And Melt Teams As Well

So Long As Cryo Damage Is Dealt, Shenhe Buffs It

When most Genshin Impact fans think of Shenhe, they think of strong Freeze teams that combine Freeze’s inherent crowd control with strong off-field attacks to make use of Shenhe’s buffs. While these are likely what Shenhe was intended to buff, there are other ways that she can function.

Instead of triggering Freeze, removing the Hydro character entirely to instead make a full Cryo team (with maybe a single Anemo character) lets Shenhe buff more characters and in turn results in more damage. Similarly, Shenhe’s buff isn’t tied to having enemies afflicted with Cryo, so even Melt or Reverse Melt teams can make use of her Icy Quills.

3

Shenhe Functions Best In Single-Target

Her Buffs Run Out In AOE

Shenhe’s Icy Quills provide tons of buffs to your team, but they differ from what many other strong supports provide. Instead of only having a fixed duration, the Icy Quills also are fixed in total triggers, much like Yun Jin.

Put simply, if your attack hits five enemies in an AOE, you use up five stacks of Icy Quill’s buff instead of just one. This makes Shenhe a lot worse when against multiple enemies, making her more suited for bursting down bosses.

2

The More Cryo Units, The Better

Each Unit Means More Buffs

Shenhe’s Icy Quills differ from other buffs in multiple aspects. Apart from having a fixed number of triggers, the buff is also character-specific rather than to your entire team. For example, a C0 Shenhe grants five Icy Quill procs. If there’s only one character dealing Cryo DMG, this means Shenhe buffs five instances of damage.

However, in a Mono Cryo team, Shenhe gives five Icy Quill triggers to each character. This takes the number of attacks Shenhe buffs from a meager five to a whopping 20. You don’t necessarily need to do this if your Ayaka already does enough damage, but it’s something to keep in mind if you want to fully utilize Shenhe’s buffs.

1

Shenhe Is Good With Anemo Teammates

Absorption Skills Can Trigger Icy Quills

Anemo characters are some of the best in Genshin Impact purely for their ability to hold the Viridescent Venerer set to reduce enemy resistances. This makes such units good for Shenhe teams since the RES Decrease pairs up well with Shenhe buffing Cryo attacks.

Cryo Swirls do not proc Icy Quills. It’s only the damage dealt by Absorption that gets buffed.

There is more to it than just a combination of buffs, though. Units that have Elemental Absorption on their skills, such as Kazuha or Venti’s Elemental Burst, can also use up Shenhe’s Icy Quills to increase their damage. This makes Shenhe’s buff more effective, granting you more triggers and in turn increasing the overall DPS of your team.