Genshin Impact: Battle Pass Weapons Analysis

Hello Travelers! Today we’ll talk about weapons, a crucial element of your Genshin Impact journey. Picking the right weapon for your characters can completely change them for the better, as they have a significant impact on stats, and their effects can magnify, or even modify, a character’s playstyle.

Specifically, in this article we’ll address Battle Pass weapons, analyzing their strengths and pointing out their synergies with some of the best characters in the game, to give you indications about what’s best to pick if you decide to buy the Gnostic Hymn variant of the Battle Pass.

First of all, let’s look at what all Battle Pass weapons have in common: their Secondary Stat.

In fact, they all buff Crit Rate%, a very important stat for DPS which is also hard to build through Artifacts ( only Circlets can provide a Crit Rate% Main Stats ). In comparison, ATK% Weapons are much more common, especially among 4-star ones, and while that’s also a good stat for DPS, it’s much easier to build through artifacts.

The other notable thing for Battle Pass weapons is how hard it is to Refine them at the moment since you can only claim one through the Gnostic Hymn. For this reason, each weapon’s analysis will consider its effects at R1, however there will be a section at the end regarding how valuable it is to pick Battle Pass weapons’ dupes.

Without further ado, here is the analysis.

The Black Swordis a perfect weapon for characters that have to stay on the field for long since it provides great Healing utility and great Offensive Effects. 

In fact, amplifying both Normal and Charged Attack Damage is quite impactful for Sword wielders, because they can chain lightning-fast combos together.

In particular, Keqing would be the main reason for you to pick this weapon, as she’s the only pure DPS Sword character at the moment. Looking at other 4-stars options, very few compare to The Black Sword in practical effectiveness, especially in tough stages like Abyss floors, where its Healing Effect really comes in handy. If you have Keqing , The Black Sword would be a strong pick even if you already have some good DPS Swords - such as Flute or Lion’s Roar -.

On the other hand, if you lack Keqing, but have more supportive characters like Jean and Qiqi, The Black Sword isn't ideal -  although Jean can also be used as  potentially DPS, in which case it works well on her -. Specifically, the two of them have Healing capabilities that scale off their Attack, so any weapon with ATK% Secondary Stat, or even ATK% related effects is probably a better pick for them.

All in all The Black Sword is a good weapon for general use and fantastic for pure DPS, so it’s a versatile choice that you could definitely find a use for in the future.

Quite literally a double-edged sword. While its Crit Rate% buff and its Damage based effect make it one of the best DPS weapons in the game calculations wise, it’s not always easy to efficiently build up stacks on this weapon, especially if you’re faced with opponents that can apply field effects which inflict Damage over time, or more generally enemies that have annoying AOE Effects.

Also, this weapon’s side effects make it risky to use in high-level Domains and Abyss, as they’re packed with unconventional calamities that can become lethal real quick.

Serpent Spine isn’t a bad weapon, quite the contrary, since its ceiling surpasses most other weapons in the game as stated before, but generally good DPS Claymores with no drawbacks such as Prototype Aminus arguably make a  better choice for characters like Diluc and Razor.

A bland but consistent DPS polearm, since its ATK% related buffs are guaranteed to always stay active. However, there are many good Polearms in the game, so its effects are not very impressive at R1.

Even among 4-star Polearms, there are some with mightier buffs. Such is the case of the Crescent Pike, which has a much higher DPS impact on the only Polearm character currently in the game, Xiangling, because its additional Damage effects fit her fast Normal Attack combo perfectly. 

In any case, constant Crit Rate% and ATK% buffs make Deathmatch a Damage dealing weapon that can fit on anybody, something that comes in handy if you’re targeting Zhong li’s release - For pure DPS, Crescent Pike would be better on him as well, but Deathmatch is a great choice if you want to use him strictly as an Enabler-. 

For Support Builds, the Battle Pass weapon is definitely outmatched by Prototype Grudge and Dragon’s Bane, which are better suited to magnify Elemental Skills and Elemental Reactions.

This weapon has Ningguang and Klee written all over it. Other than the great Crit Rate% buff, Solar Pearl's effect also has a very noticeable offensive impact, especially since both Ningguang and Klee are strong main DPS that thrive through mixing Normal Attacks and Elemental Skills/Bursts.

However, not every Catalyst wielder is a DPS, on the contrary, it’s a rather diverse category of characters with a wide variety of fitting weapons at their disposal. For example, Supports like Sucrose greatly benefit from Mappa Mare’s capability to magnify their Elemental Reactions and continuous Elemental Damage Effects, and Barbara can use the Prototype Malice to perform even better as a Healer.

For DPS, there are many good DPS weapons, like Eye of Perception, Blackcliff Amulet, The Widsith, and Royal Grimoire, but Solar Pearl is a top tier option you should definitely consider picking up.

A DPS Bow with peculiar tactical effects generated by its Cyclone, a vortex that deals good continuous Damage, and also pulls enemies towards its center, creating an opening to strike multiple opponents at once with a strong attack. However, it could feel redundant if you have characters like Sucrose or Venti on your Party, because they can replicate that same type of effect with better results through their Elemental Skills and/or Bursts. If you’re Building a DPS like high Constellation Fischl, weapons like Rust, Compound Bow, Blackcliff Bow, and Royal Bow are also very competitive options. It's also worth noting that this weapon's capability to group opponents fits very well with Childe's AoE Riptide Damage, so if you have him, The Viridescent Hunt  is a top tier option.

Just like the other weapons the Battle Pass offers, this one isn’t ideal for Supports. Some better options would be: Favonius Bow for Venti thanks to its Energy Recharge Secondary Stat; The Stringless on basically anybody thanks to its great Elemental Skill and Burst related effect.

Each Battle Pass weapon has its own category of characters that can wield it, and there are many weapons in the game that are as good or even better than the Gnostic Hymn choices - Although, Crit Rate% is the best  stat to have on a weapon, as it makes building a character as a whole considerably easier-. The only ones that stand out are The Black Sword and Solar Pearl, but what you should pick mostly depends on what are your strongest DPS characters, and whether they lack a good weapon or not.

Since the Battle Pass’ weapons list won’t change for Season 2, is it worth to get a dupe of the weapon you picked during Season 1? It’s a legitimate question.

Since all Battle Pass weapons have at least decent effects at R1, Refining them will always have a noticeable impact. In particular, The Serpent Spine’s case is interesting, since its Refinement, other than improving its positive effects, also decreases its Damage taken Debuff’s %, making it a completely different weapon at R5 if compared to R1.

However, if you have a varied roster of characters, it might be unwise to focus too much on a single Battle Pass weapon, especially as it’s unclear how Mihoyo plans to handle weapons’ powercreep moving forward.

All in all, if you feel like picking a different weapon could improve one of your main Party Builds, that’s the clear best choice. Otherwise, feel free to pick a dupe.

Did this article make your ideas clearer, or did you already have a solid idea about what to pick before reading it?Feel free to comment below, as we’d love to hear what you think about Battle Pass weapons!