Baizhu’s Catalyst May be the Worst Five-Star Weapon in Genshin Impact

Let’s make one thing clear, Baizhu’s weapon absolutely sucks. Genshin Impact has been revealing more about 3.6’s next banner along with what will be Baizhu’s Signature weapon, and while it will indeed be good for him, is it even really necessary? You could easily replace it with just about any other Five-Star weapon such as Nahida’s or Kokomi’s and you wouldn’t need to waste your primogems.

Related: Baizhu Will Be Playable in Genshin Impact And It Only Took 2 Years

Baizhu’s Weapon Passive Ability and Why it’s Poor in its Niche

Baizhu’s weapon will buff the wielder’s ability to collect Energy and will boost Elemental Damage based on how much Max HP the character has (while maxing out at 12 percent). As a healer and a shield, this does little for Baizhu’s kit, just enabling him to get his Energy back quickly for his Elemental Burst while doing a smidgen of more damage. Why should you even bother with this weapon when you can get better effects from Refined One Widsith? Depending on which way the weapon rolls, you can have your Elemental Mastery, Attack, or Elemental Damage boosted. All of which have stats that start at Refined One as equivalent to that of Jadefall’s Splendor. 

While it is based on HP Percentage and that’s fine, the issue is that with its Passive, it renders it completely useless to every other unit in Genshin Impact. There isn’t a single character that would be able to benefit from gaining this weapon other than Baizhu, and even Baizhu has better options than his Signature Weapon. It’s almost Zhongli all over again, where his Signature Weapon isn’t even the best one to give him, despite it being a Five-Star. The only other characters that benefit from HP Percentage are Kokomi and Barbara, but using their Bursts is not dependent on Elemental Damage, and Kokomi cannot summon a shield. Yanfei as a catalyst can summon a shield, and does Ninguang technically count?? Either way, neither Liyue female would benefit from the major HP Percentage boost. 

But hey, that’s how it goes – and you’ll hear me be bitter about it for a long time coming. Want to know who would have benefited from such a weird piece of equipment instead? Layla. If Layla had been our first Cryo Catalyst, she would have been able to use all of the benefits that come from this Five-Star weapon.

Related: Why Layla Should Have Been Our First Cryo Catalyst in Genshin Impact

As one of the newest weapons to be introduced to the Jade line-up, this Catalyst is the worst thus far to exist in Genshin Impact. It’s not here yet, but this is going to be my boldest statement!

The only way I can think that it can be improved is if it added another effect of boosting Elemental Mastery while also buffing the shield strength of the wielder. The buffs that are present currently are just not enough to quantify it as a Five-Star Weapon, and if it requires a R5 weapon to be good, then you can very well save your wishes and find another weapon that both suits Baizhu’s aesthetics and provides him better buffs to his kit.