Guides · Improvement
How to increase your damage, ranked by real impact
The fastest Genshin damage gains come from the multiplicative slots first: a team buff on the right multiplier, a clean reaction setup, and removing the stat mistakes that quietly cancel each other out. Each lever below is quantified against the official damage formula.
How to increase your damage
Players almost always farm artifacts first and level talents last — the exact reverse of the optimal order. Here is the priority path, ranked by damage gained per resin spent.
Level your main talent to 9 or 10
Each talent level is a guaranteed 6-7% multiplier on that skill — no RNG. Leveling a talent from 8 to 10 is often worth more than weeks of artifact farming. Do this before anything else.
Level to 90 for reaction & DEF scaling
For transformative and Quicken teams, going 80→90 raises reaction damage ~34%. For ATK/CRIT carries it is less critical (the DEF multiplier gain is small), but still helps against high-level enemies.
Fix your Crit Ratio toward 1:2
Rebalancing 50/200 into 70/160 is a ~6% gain from the same artifacts, because expected damage scales with Crit Rate × Crit DMG — the closer to a 1:2 ratio, the more each roll is worth.
Run an Anemo unit with Viridescent Venerer
40% RES shred is a ~28% damage increase against most enemies — larger than almost any artifact upgrade. Kazuha, Sucrose or Venti holding VV belongs in every reaction team.
Add Bennett or an equivalent buffer
Bennett’s flat ATK buff is the single biggest common buff in the game. Noblesse 4pc (+20% ATK) and Thrilling Tales (+48% ATK on a catalyst support) are free additions on top.
Farm artifacts last
Artifact sub-stat farming has the worst return per resin because it is pure RNG. Once your talents, level, and team are set, farm for the correct main stats first, then refine sub-stats toward 1:2 Crit.
How to choose between two weapons
The honest way to compare weapons is to change nothing but the weapon and watch the expected damage. Here is the framework the calculator follows:
1. Secondary stat first
A CRIT sub-stat weapon often beats a higher-base-ATK weapon, because CRIT is so scarce and hard to farm elsewhere.
2. Passive must trigger
A weapon whose passive you can’t reliably activate is just a stat stick. Read the trigger condition before assuming it works.
3. Scaling type matters
HP- and DEF-scaling characters care far less about base ATK. Match the weapon to how the character actually scales.
To compare directly: add your character to the team, press Gear under their slot, and switch between the two weapons — the character's own number and the team total update instantly.
The 1:2 Crit Ratio, in numbers
Because a Crit Rate roll is worth half a Crit DMG roll, the optimal balance is always 1:2. Here is what that looks like in practice:
| Crit Rate | Crit DMG | Crit multiplier (1 + CR×CD) |
|---|---|---|
| 50% | 100% | 1.50 |
| 60% | 120% | 1.72 |
| 70% | 140% | 1.98 |
| 75% | 150% | 2.13 |
| 80% | 160% | 2.28 |
Notice how the multiplier climbs fastest when both stats rise together. A 60/120 build (1.72) beats a 50/140 build (1.70) despite the second looking flashier — this is why "more Crit DMG" is usually the wrong instinct.
Raw stats are only part of the story — team composition and reactions often matter more than a single artifact roll. Read the team building guide to see how to pair characters and enable the reactions your carry wants.
Common damage mistakes (and how to fix them)
Most "why is my damage low?" posts trace back to one of these eight mistakes. Check your build against each.
1. Testing against the wrong enemy
A low-level Hilichurl takes roughly double the damage of a level-90 enemy because of the DEF multiplier. If your "real" numbers are half what a streamer shows, check the enemy level first — not your artifacts. Always test against a level-90 target with known resistance.
2. Chasing Crit DMG while ignoring Crit Rate
A 50/200 build deals less average damage than a 70/160 build, even though the 200 number looks better in screenshots. Expected damage is 1 + Crit Rate × Crit DMG — both matter. If your Crit Rate is under 60%, every Crit DMG roll you add is half-wasted on non-crits.
3. Stacking too much ATK%
Once Bennett or Thrilling Tales is in the team, ATK% has steep diminishing returns. At that point an EM sands (for reaction carries) or a DMG goblet is almost always a bigger gain than another ATK% roll — check the in-game stat screen before and after swapping the piece.
4. Forgetting resistance shred
Viridescent Venerer’s 40% RES shred is a ~28% damage increase against most enemies — bigger than almost any artifact upgrade. A reaction team without an Anemo VV holder is leaving a full multiplier on the table, no matter how good the carry’s artifacts are.
5. Building CRIT on a transformative trigger
Hyperbloom, Burgeon and Overload damage ignores ATK and CRIT entirely — it scales only with level and EM. A Hyperbloom trigger built with a Crit circlet does almost no reaction damage. If your team is Bloom-family, the trigger character wants pure EM and level, nothing else.
6. Neglecting talent levels
A talent level is a guaranteed 6-7% multiplier, yet players farm artifacts for weeks instead of spending a few days on talent books. Leveling your main skill from 6 to 10 is a ~35% damage increase with zero RNG — check your talent levels before blaming your artifacts.
7. Leaving reaction carries at level 80
For transformative and Quicken teams, level 80→90 raises reaction damage by roughly 34%. For Hyperbloom and Aggravate carries that is a bigger jump than a full set of better artifacts. If your team relies on reactions, level the trigger character to 90.
8. Ignoring Elemental Mastery on Vaporize/Melt carries
The first 100 EM adds ~18.5% to a Vaporize hit — more than most ATK% rolls. If your Hu Tao, Xiangling or Ganyu is sitting at 0 EM, an EM sands (or EM sub-stats) is likely your biggest single upgrade. Push to 100-200 EM, then stop — the returns flatten fast.
The buffs that make the numbers you see online
Streamer "screenshot" damage always stacks these. Without them your own hit will look much smaller — so before you blame your artifacts, check which of these you are missing.
Bennett’s Fantastic Voyage (Q)
Flat ATK ≈ 900–1,200 + 20% ATK at C1
Single biggest common buff
Scales off his base ATK only — artifacts do not count.
Kazuha (A4 passive + VV)
40% RES shred + ≈4% DMG per 100 EM
≈ +50–60% team damage at 1,000 EM
1000 EM ≈ 40% elemental DMG bonus for the whole team.
Viridescent Venerer (4pc)
Swirl shreds 40% enemy RES
≈ +28% damage vs 10% RES enemies
No artifact roll can match a VV holder — run one in every reaction team.
Furina’s Let the People Rejoice (Q)
Team DMG bonus up to ≈75% at max Fanfare
Highest ceiling team-wide DMG buff
Needs a healer to stack Fanfare fast (or her C2).
Zhongli’s Jade Shield
−20% all enemy RES + strong shield
≈ +10–15% damage + comfort
Also enables interruption-free carries like Hu Tao and Ganyu.
Nahida (A1 passive)
Shares up to 250 EM to the active character
Huge for reaction teams
Scales off the highest-EM teammate.
Noblesse Oblige (4pc)
Party +20% ATK after Burst
Free team-wide ATK
Standard on Bennett, Diona and other Burst supports.
Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers (R5)
+48% ATK to the next character
Free 3-star team buff
A free catalyst that rivals 5-star support weapons.
These buffs stack multiplicatively with your carry’s own stats — which is why a Bennett + Kazuha core turns a 40,000 hit into a 100,000+ hit. Add them to your team in the calculator and the buff breakdown shows exactly how much each one adds.
See the gains in numbers
Add each buffer to your team in the calculator and watch the buff breakdown show what it is worth — then keep the setup that pays for your character.