Best Shenhe Genshin Impact build: Artifacts, weapons, more

The best Shenhe build utilizes a number of Genshin Impact’s meta Artifacts and weapons, which help maximize the 5-star Cryo character’s utility.

Shenhe is one of the best support characters for Cryo units in Genshin Impact. Ever since her release, Shenhe has been a staple for units like Ayaka, Ganyu, and even Wriothesley.

Shenhe is expected to receive a rerun in version 4.8. If you are interested in the unit, then you must pre-farm for her beforehand and get her ready right on release.  

When Shenhe is equipped with the best Artifacts and weapons, she’ll be able to melt through the game’s toughest enemies. Keep reading for which artifacts and weapons will maximize her potential. 

---

Shenhe abilities in Genshin Impact

• Normal Attack: Shenhe performs up to five rapid polearm strikes.
• Charged Attack: Shenhe consumes a portion of stamina and lunges forward with her polearm, striking all nearby enemies.
• Plunging Attack: Shenhe plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact.

Shenhe Elemental Skill: Spring Spirit Summoning

Shenhe grants all nearby allies the Icy Quill effect and deals Cryo damage. When normal, charged, plunging, Element Skills, and Element Bursts deal Cryo damage to enemies, the damage dealt is increased based on Shenhe’s current attack. 

The Icy Quill will be cleared once its duration end or after a certain amount of stacks are consumed. 

Shenhe Elemental Burst: Divine Maiden’s Deliverance 

Shenhe unleashed the power of the Talisman Spirit, allowing it to roam free, dealing AoE Cryo damage to all nearby enemies. The Talisman Spirit then creates a field that decreases the Cryo resistance of opponents, enabling Shenhe to deal even more damage with her abilities. 

Shenhe Constellations

If you’re lucky enough to unlock multiple copies of Shenhe, then you’ll have access to some of her fantastic constellation buffs.

• Level 1 – Clarity of Heart: Spring Spirit Summoning can be used one more time. 
• Level 2 – Centered Spirit: Divine Maiden’s Deliverance lasts for six seconds longer. Active characters within the skill’s field deal 15% increased Cryo crit damage. 
• Level 3 – Seclusion: Increases the level of Spring Spirit Summoning by three. Maximum upgrade level is five. 
• Level 4 – Insight: When characters under the effect of Icy Quill trigger its damage bonus effects, Shenhe will gain a Skyfrost Mantra stack. When Shene uses Spring Spirit Summoning, she will consume all stacks of Skyfrost Mantra, increasing the damage by 5% for each stack consumed. Maximum of 50 stacks. Stacks last for 60 seconds. 
• Level 5 – Divine Attainment: Increases the level of Divine Maiden’s Deliverance by three. Maximum upgraded level is 15.
• Level 6 – Mystical Abandon: When characters trigger Icy Quill’s effects using normal and charged attacks, no Icy Quill stacks will be used. 

Best Shenhe Artifacts in Genshin Impact

The best Shenhe build makes use of the Blizzard Strayer set, which increases the polearm user’s crit rate when an opponent is affected by Cryo. To make matters even better, if Shenhe’s enemies are Frozen, her CRIT rate is increased even further. 

As Shenhe’s abilities are all tailored around dealing huge amounts of damage, having a set that directly boosts CRIT DMG, CRIT Rate, ATK%, and Cryo DMG is a must for any traveler who wants to maximize her DPS. 

You could also use the 2-piece Gladiator’s Finale and the 2-piece Shimenawa’s Reminiscence to buff Cryo DMG.

Best Shenhe weapon in Genshin Impact

The best Shenhe polearm is the Calamity Queller. This 5-star weapon provides a 12% Elemental DMG bonus and an ATK boost after using an Elemental Skill. 

Another option is Raiden Shogun’s signature Engulfing Lightning, which increases ATK by 28% of Energy Recharge and provides a 30% Energy Recharge boost for 12 seconds after using an Elemental Burst. If you don’t have access to either, you can use the 4-star weapon Favonius Lance, which focuses on regenerating energy. 

Shenhe Talent Level-Up and Ascension materials

Shenhe Talent and Ascension materials can be found in Mondstadt, Inazuma, and Liyue. In order to level up and ascend Shenhe, you’ll need to fight the Bathysmal Vishaps – a boss that can be found in Enkanomiya. 

This boss drops the Dragonheir’s False Fin and other rare items. Meanwhile, the usual Energy Nectar and Teachings of Prosperity can be found across Liyue. As Shenhe excels as a main damage dealer, you’ll want to max out her normal attack and Elemental Skill to help generate elemental reactions. Once that’s maxed out, simply pump the rest of the levels into her Burst. 

Shenhe Talent Level-Up Materials

Where to farm Shenhe Talent Level-up materials

Teachings of Prosperity and its Upgrades

Teachings of Prosperity and its upgrades can be farmed at the Taishan Mansion in Liyue on Monday, Thursday, and Sunday. It is located in the middle of Jueyun Karst.

Whopperflower Nectar and its upgrades

Whopperflower Nectar can be farmed by defeating Whopperflowers in Genshin Impact. You can locate this enemy from the Adventurer’s Handbook.

All you need to do is open the Adventurer’s Handbook from the main menu, go to the enemy tab, and click on the enemy. The game will automatically Navigate you to the desired location.

Hellfire Butterfly

Hellfire Butterfly is dropped from the La Signora boss fight in Inazuma. You need to unlock this boss as part of Inazuma’s Archon Quest.

Shenhe Ascension Materials

Where to farm Shenhe Ascension materials

Shivada Jade Silver and its upgrades

Shivada Jade Silver and its upgrades can be farmed from the Cryo Hypostasis in Dragonspine. It is located to the South of Wyrmrest Valley.

Dragonheir’s False Fin

Dragonheir’s False Fin is a drop from the boss Bathysmal Vishap Herd. This boss is located in Dainichi Mikoshi in Enkanomiya.

Qingxin Flower

Qingxin Flower is a local specialty of Liyue. It can be found in abundance in The Minlin region, North of Bishui Plane, parts of Chenyu Vale, and The Chasm. The areas have been marked in red in the image above.

Shenhe Genshin Impact trailer

MiHoYo has released Shenhe’s official character trailer, giving travelers a look at her in-game idle animations and abilities.

Shenhe can be seen using her Normal and charged attacks before unleashing her Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst. These AoE abilities quickly freeze surrounding enemies and enable Shenhe to take down even the fiercest of foes with ease. 

Shenhe pros and cons in Genshin Impact

The pros and cons of Shenhe in Genshin Impact are as follows:

Should you pull for Shenhe in Genshin Impact?

The question of whether you should pull Shenhe or not depends on your account. Shenhe is an amazing Cryo support who can buff the damage of any unit in that category.

Characters like Ayaka and Wriothesley are amazing units to pair with Shenhe. Even today, she can make most Cryo DPS units viable in high-end content due to the damage buffs. The problem is she does not work outside of Cryo teams.

Additionally, running Shenhe means you need a powerful healer like Kokomi who can freeze targets. If you lack a Cryo DPS, Shenhe will be a bad pick for you.

Best Shenhe team comp

The best Shenhe team comp utilizes Ganyu, Mona, and Jean. Having another Cryo character like Ganyu will provide a 15% increase to your crit rate against enemies that are Frozen or affected by Cryo. This buff should constantly be in effect, especially since Mona will be able to constantly Freeze any grouped enemies with her Elemental Skill and Burst.

Ganyu’s Elemental Skill will also enable Shenhe to continually attack her targets without the fear of being targeted, while Ganyu’s Elemental Burst provides even more AoE Cryo damage. 

This comp can either use Shenhe as the main DPS or support, which gives you a great deal of flexibility. If you don’t have Ganyu, Ayaka is another great choice that will help maximize this comp’s DPS. 

Obviously, having decent survivability is important to any melee-focused team comp, so we’ve utilized Jean as our final pick. Not only can Jean provide lifesaving heals with her Burst, but the added Swirl effect will also help spread the Cryo damage to nearby enemies. You could also replace Jean with Kazuha. 

Alternatively, you could use Kokomi instead of Mona to freeze enemies alongside Shenhe, Kazuha, and Ayaka.

---

So, there you have it, the best Shenhe build in Genshin Impact. Make sure you check out our other Genshin Impact character guides: 

Best Albedo Build | Best Hu Tao build | Best Childe Build | Best Kokomi build | Best Raiden Shogun build | Best Ayaka build | Best Aloy build | Best Ganyu build | Best Diluc build | Best Yoimiya build | Best Klee build | Best Eula build