The best Genshin Impact Gorou build

(Image credit: miHoYo)

Let’s take a look at the best Genshin Impact Gorou builds in 2.3. The new four-star General of the Watatsumi Resistance Army is one of the most specialized Genshin Impact characters to date. Of course, that also means that Gorou needs a very specific build and team composition to truly shine.

Here are the best Genshin Impact Gorou build options!

Genshin Impact Gorou weapon, Element, and base stats

Gorou uses a Bow and has Geo Vision. He’s the third four-star Geo character to be added in Genshin Impact, and also the 10th Bow user.

It may seem surprising that the Resistance Army’s General has one of the lowest base Attack stats in the game. His HP and Defense aren’t much higher. However, as you’ll soon find out, this won’t hurt his support abilities.

Genshin Impact Gorou attacks, Elemental Skill, and Elemental Burst

Gorou’s Normal Attack consists of the usual four consecutive shots, and his Charged Attack will fire a more damaging arrow infused with Geo.

The furry General’s Elemental Skill first deals Geo damage, and then plants the ‘General’s War Banner’ on the battlefield. All active characters within its area-of-effect will receive the following bonuses:

One Geo ally on the team: the War Banner grants a Defense bonus.
Two Geo allies: increased resistance to interruption.
Three Geo allies: Geo damage bonus.

Much like the Elemental Skill, Gorou’s Elemental Burst deals Geo damage and then leaves a field of effect behind (same bonus system as the War Banner). However, this ‘General’s Glory’ field will also move together with the active character and deal additional Crystal Collapse Geo damage to a nearby enemy at a fixed interval. Elemental Shards are pulled towards the active character inside the field.

Note that you can only have one of Gorou’s fields active at the same time.

Genshin Impact Gorou’s passive abilities

As you level and ascend Gorou, he will gain the following passive talents:

First Ascension passive: After using the Elemental Burst, nearby party members gain a Defense increase of 25% for 12 seconds.
Second Ascension passive: Gorou receives an Elemental Skill damage bonus based on 156% of his max Defense. He also receives an Elemental Burst an Crystal Collapse damage bonus based on 15.6% of his Defense.
Utility passive: Inazuma-exclusive resources are displayed on the mini map.

How to build Gorou in Genshin Impact 2.3

You should avoid his Normal and Charged Attacks at all cost, but Gorou has amazing support abilities. They only work on Geo characters who rely on Defense though. If you have such characters, Gorou can become your specialized support for them. If not, you can try to focus more on his own Geo damage (from his Burst, mostly). Basically, choose between these builds:

Geo and Defense support. Gorou is fully focused on his support role, meaning that he needs to activate his Burst as often as possible.
Hybrid Geo support and Geo sub-DPS. Especially beginning Genshin Impact players may prefer to focus more on Gorou’s own Geo damage.

The best Genshin Impact Gorou Artifact build

A support-focused Gorou should use Emblem of Severed Fate, unless you already got a very high Energy Recharge rate. Only the two-piece set though, so you can activate the General’s Glory buff as often as possible. Combine this with a two-piece Husk of Opulent Dreams, and you got yourself a great Geo support.

Two-piece Husk of Opulent Dreams: Increases Defense by 30%.
Emblem of Severed Fate: +20% Energy Recharge rate.

If you wish to increase Gorou’s sub-DPS potential, go for the full four-piece Husk of Opulent Dreams instead. As his Burst damage and the Crystal Collapse effect scales with Defense (and Curiosity can be gained passively), this makes Gorou a surprisingly strong damage dealer. If you don’t have enough Husk Artifacts yet, see if you can find a combo with the two-piece Archaic Petra instead.

Four-piece Husk of Opulent Dreams: The wearer gains one Curiosity stack when hitting an opponent with a Geo attack, or every three seconds while the character is off-field. One Curiosity stack grants a 6% Defense and 6% Geo damage bonus (maximum of four stacks).
Two-piece Archaic Petra: Increases Geo damage by 15%.

Best weapon for Gorou in Genshin Impact 2.3

The best weapon for a Gorou support build is the Favonius Warbow. It’s fully focused on recharging Burst Energy, allowing you to activate the General’s Glory effects continuously. The Sacrificial Bow is also useful, as it may allow you to plant another War Banner when the previous one goes in cooldown (before the Burst is ready).

Favonius Warbow. Increases Energy Recharge. Furthermore, critical hits have a chance to generate Elemental Particles, which will restore additional Energy.
Sacrificial Bow. Increases Energy Recharge, and has a chance to end its own cooldown, after dealing damage with the Elemental Skill.

As for those of you who prefer a hybrid support/sub-DPS Gorou, we got some bad news: there’s currently no Bow with Defense as a secondary stat. Best to equip a Bow with a high Critical Rate or Energy Recharge instead. Make sure its passive is focused on Elemental Burst damage rather than Normal and Charged Attacks. Elegy for the End can be a good option:

Elegy for the End. Increases Energy Recharge and Elemental Mastery. When the Elemental Skill or Burst hits an opponent, Gorou gains a ‘Sigil of Remembrance’. You can gain up to four stacks, and this will increase both Attack Power and Elemental Mastery.

Best team composition for Gorou in Genshin Impact 2.3

An important thing to know, is that Gorou himself counts as one of the Geo characters required for the buffs. So you only need two more Geo’s to get the full effects. That said, only Geo characters and Defense-based characters can benefit from the General’s support skills, so it’s still a good option to go for a full-Geo team.

Gorou needs a great main DPS (preferably one who can fully benefit from the buffs) and a shield provider or healer. Shield providers tend to scale more with Defense, so this is usually the better option. Here’s one of the best team compositions for Gorou:

Gorou as Geo and Defense booster for all allies.
Itto as main DPS (uses both Geo and Defense).
Albedo as Geo sub-DPS (uses both Geo and Defense).
Zhongli as shield support (uses Geo) or Noelle (both Geo and Defense).

Good luck on the Artifact hunt. Let’s get a build worthy of the Resistance Army’s furry General!