Genshin Impact’s first exclusive five-star Dendro Sword character arrived in the Version 3.4 update on Jan. 18, 2023. This character is Alhaitham and he is a brutal damage dealer who will help Travelers claim victory in any battle as long as he has the best artifacts possible.
Ahead of Alhaitham’s release, many players had been eagerly anticipating his debut for a long time since the Dendro character frequently appeared in the main storyline for a while before he actually became recruitable. The roster of playable Dendro characters was also quite slim before he released and Dendro as a playable element was still a new concept to the world of Teyvat.
Players first came to know of Alhaitham when the Dendro character was uncovered by the Genshin leak community alongside a whole cast of other Sumeru characters in July 2022 quite some time before Sumeru was actually released. He was a fan favorite immediately due to his unique appearance and how he reminded many players of a beloved character named Su from another miHoYo game called Honkai Impact 3rd, so his debut was certainly a popular one within the community.
Alhaitham was also instantly beloved due to him being another male character since Genshin‘s roster of playable characters is severely unbalanced. As of June 2023, the current ratio of playable female to playable male characters is almost double with 41 playable female characters compared to only 24 playable male characters. For all these reasons plus his incredible skillset, Alhaitham has quickly become quite a beloved recruit within the Genshin community.
While obtaining a new character is always an exciting accomplishment, there is quite a bit of work that players have to do to see that character actually perform well in battle. One of the most important build aspects is artifacts and Alhaitham has very specific artifact needs to truly help him shine in battle.
Alhaitham is recruitable for his second-ever banner run for the entire second half of the Version 3.7 update. Travelers who wish on him will want to ensure that they are ready to build him to the best of his potential. This includes ensuring that Alhaitham has the best weapon possible, a team composition that suits his skill set, and the right artifacts equipped for him.
What are the best artifacts for Alhaitham in Genshin Impact?
Alhaitham is a character that is designed specifically for one role, which is the primary damage dealer on any Genshin team. This means players will want to build for his skillset and choose his artifacts based on factors that will bolster his damage output, such as:
- Critical rate
- Critical damage
- Elemental mastery
- Energy recharge
- Dendro damage bonus
- Attack
Generally, the highest priority statistics for Alhaitham are critical damage and critical rate. The next priority after these two is elemental mastery and energy recharge. Lastly, players can look to build Dendro damage and attack.
The overall focus with any artifacts that players choose to equip the Sumeru character with should be bolstering his damage output and increasing his effectiveness as a primary damage-dealing force.
Deepwood Memories
The Dendro-centric Deepwood Memories set is one of the strongest artifact options for Alhaitham. Equipping the two-piece set grants a 15 percent Dendro damage increase.
The full four-piece version of this set decreases an opponent’s Dendro resistance by 30 percent for eight seconds after an elemental skill or an elemental burst has hit them. This effect can be activated regardless of whether the character that it is equipped with is active on the battlefield.
Related: Genshin Impact tier list: Best and worst characters ranked
Equipping the four-piece set can be a powerful option, but players will generally find better success equipping the two-piece version of this artifact set alongside a different two-piece artifact set.
Players can obtain this set from the Spire of Solitary Enlightenment Domain in Avidya Forest, Sumeru.
Gilded Dreams
The two-piece Gilded Dreams artifact set grants a powerful elemental mastery increase of 80. The four-piece set focuses on elemental reactions and grants buffs depending on the element type of Alhaitham’s teammates.
Within eight seconds of an elemental reaction being activated, the following buffs will be granted.
- Attack will be increased by 14 percent for every party member that is the same element type as the character this set is equipped to. For Alhaitham, this is Dendro.
- Elemental Mastery is increased by 50 for every party member that is a different elemental type from the character that this artifact set is equipped to. For Alhaitham, this means any element other than Dendro.
These buffs can be counted on up to three characters. The effects of this set may be activated once every eight seconds and can be triggered regardless of whether the character this set is equipped to be on the battlefield.
The full four-piece set can be a very powerful option but does require players to think about who they place on a team with Alhaitham carefully. Players can also choose to equip the two-piece Gilded Dreams set alongside another two-piece artifact set for powerful results.
This artifact set can be obtained from the Spire of Solitary Enlightenment Domain in Avidya Forest, Sumeru.
Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
The two-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence set grants an 18 percent attack increase. Because Alhaitham is meant to function as a primary damage dealer, this bonus is a simple but powerful option for increasing his damage output.
Equipping the four-piece set causes the character that this set is equipped on to consume 15 energy and increase their normal, charged, and plunging attack damage by 50 percent for 10 seconds. This effect will only occur when the character has 15 or more energy and uses an elemental skill.
Once the effects of this artifact set have been activated they cannot be activated again until the first activation has come to an end after 10 seconds.
Players can obtain the Shimenawa’s Reminiscence artifact set from the Momiji-Dyed Court Domain in Yashiori Island, Inazuma.
Emblem of Severed Fate
Players can increase how often Alhaitham is able to cast his powerful elemental burst with the two-piece Emblem of Severed Fate set that grants a 20 percent increase to energy recharge. The four-piece set increases the damage dealt by Alhaitham’s elemental burst by 25 percent of energy recharge. Up to 75 percent additional damage can be gained through this effect.
The Emblem of Severed Fate set can be obtained from the Momiji-Dyed Court Domain in Yashiori Island, Inazuma.
Gladiator’s Finale
Equipping the two-piece version of this artifact set grants the same two-piece bonus as Shimenawa’s Reminiscence and gives an attack increase of 18 percent. The four-piece set increases normal attack damage by 35 percent when the character that this set is equipped to wields a sword, a claymore, or a polearm.
Players can obtain the Gladiator’s Finale set by defeating weekly bosses, vanquishing normal bosses, or obtaining the Domain Reliquary: Tier II reward from the Spiral Abyss. Travelers can also convert other artifacts into the Gladiator’s Finale set at any crafting station.
The best artifact set for Alhaitham will always depend entirely on how players build all other aspects of the Dendro character. However, the general best artifact set should be focused on his primary damage-dealing abilities and is either the Deepwood Memories set if he is the only Dendro character present on a team, or the Gilded Dreams set if there is one other Dendro character.
While players can choose to use any of the previously listed full four-piece artifact sets, another great option for Alhaitham is mixing and matching between two sets. Some of the best artifact combinations that players can equip on the Dendro character are:
- Two-piece Deepwood Memories and two-piece Gladiator’s Finale
- Two-piece Deepwood Memories and two-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
- Two-piece Gilded Dreams and two-piece Deepwood Memories
- Two-piece Gilded Dreams and two-piece Gladiator’s Finale
- Two-piece Gilded Dreams and two-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence
Players can obtain Genshin‘s very first Dendro Sword character from June 13 to July 4 as he receives the second run of his “Caution in Confidence” banner. Alhaitham will be available alongside Kazuha with an increased drop rate for around three weeks before he will then become unattainable until miHoYo decides to give him another rerun.
Since Alhaitham’s first rerun is occurring alongside another rerun for Kazuha, players may be struggling with the tough choice of which character they should pull for. Both Alhaitham and Kazuha are powerful assets sure to help amplify any team they join, so players cannot go wrong with either recruit but will want to consider which one fits better with the other characters they already have.
We gathered this information by playing Genshin Impact Version 3.7 “Duel! The Summoners’ Summit!” on PC.
