Intro:
Aiya, finally, after almost 5 months of waiting, SHE’S FINALLY HERE.
What’s in this analysis?
- Comparison between 6 different artifact builds:
- 4-Lavawalker
- 4-Crimson Witch
- 2-Gladiator + 2-Crimson Witch
- 4-Gladiator’s Finale
- 2-Crimson Witch + 2-Noblesse Oblige
- 4-Retracting Bolide
And 4 main stat set:
- Attack/Pyro/Crit
- HP/Pyro/Crit
- Attack/Attack/Crit
- HP/HP/Crit
P.S. 4-Thundering Fury coming soon!
Assumptions:
The calculations below will follow the following assumptions:
- Hu Tao is lv90.
- The enemy is one lv80 hilichurl.
- Talent lv6, C0.
- All hits crit.
- Attack sequence would be: 5-hit + charged attack.
- On pyro-infused calculations, it will be assumed 3 sequences is done, and 2 sequences will be done during skill cooldown.
- Pyro is always present on the enemy for Lavawalker to proc.
- Artifact test will be done on 2 weapons: Staff of Homa and Deathmatch.
- Her HP will be assumed to always be above 50%.
Results:
Stat overview:

Damage overview:








Simulation Result:








Note:
Attack = (1-hit to 5-hit + Charged) x 3
Attack (No infusion) = (1-hit to 5-hit + Charged) x 2
Skill = Skill x 4
Total = Attack + Attack (No infusion) + Skill + Burst
Total DPS = (Attack / 9) + (Attack (No infusion) / 7) + (Skill / 16) + (Burst / 40)
Switch Total = Attack + Skill + Burst
Switch DPS = (Attack / 9) + (Skill / 16) + (Burst / 40)
On all cases, “Total DPS” is the best on Attack/Pyro Crit, and “Switch DPS” is better on HP/Pyro/Crit.

I also collect the “Burst” damage for Burst DPS build:

Hu Tao is a pyro unit, so naturally, she can deal amazing damage on Vaporize and Melt. This is the damage on Melt:

(Lavawalker is not considered in elemental reaction due to the 4-set effect)
And this is for burst with melt:

Some corrections are made on Gladiator calculation. Thank you to Jackleberry for pointing it out!
Conclusion:
- Lavawalker is the best for non-reaction game play, while Crimson Witch out-damage all the other sets on melt comp.
Best Artifact for Hu Tao:
No reaction:
- 4-Lavawalker.
- 4-Retracting Bolide.
- 4-Gladiator’s Finale.
- 4-Crimson Witch.
- 2-Gladiator + 2-Crimson Witch.
- 2-Crimson Witch + 2-Noblesse Oblige.
With Reaction:
- 4-Crimson Witch.
- 4-Retracting Bolide.
- 4-Gladiator’s Finale.
- 2-Gladiator + 2-Crimson Witch.
- 2-Crimson Witch + 2-Noblesse Oblige.
Burst DPS:
- 4-Crimson Witch.
- 2-Crimson Witch + 2-Noblesse Oblige.
- 2-Gladiator + 2-Crimson Witch.
- Attack/Pyro/Crit is better if there’s no switch during skill cooldown.
- HP/Pyro/Crit is better if there’s switch during cooldown.
- Burst DPS is better with HP/Pyro/Crit (Don’t forget to use skill before using burst!).
Personal Opinion:
Based on the result, I won’t recommend using Lavawalker on her. Bolide and Gladiator are better if you don’t want to play with Crimson Witch.
I would also recommend HP over Attack, because her hit is gonna be weak without her pyro infusion, so it’s better to switch during the 7 seconds window.
Author: Nable
Source: miHoYo Tavern
Continue to Part 2