Who is Shenhe Genshin Impact: Shenhe is a 5-star Cryo Polearm unit with a one-of-a-kind kit that bridges the traditional support and sub-DPS roles. She has proven to be a particularly potent unit in a variety of Cryo builds
Shenhe is the the daughter of an unnamed exorcist couple. She was taken in and raised as a disciple by Cloud Retainer following a traumatic incident involving Shenhe’s father during her childhood.
In this article, we will tell you who is Shenhe in Genshin Impact. Additionally, we will also provide all the information you might need on Shenhe’s Personality, Builds, and much more.
Shenhe’s Role in The Team
Shenhe is officially designated as a Cryo-buffing support, but her kit contains elements typically associated with sub-DPS units (such as Albedo or Fischl). Her kit combines powerful damage buffing abilities via DMG% bonus buffs, Cryo RES shred, a unique ability to add flat damage to instances of Cryo damage dealt by teammates (a mechanic thus far only shared with Yunjin). Shenhe has relatively low personal damage in these Cryo compositions. This can be significantly compensated by amplifying the damage dealt by her teammates, while also being able to provide Cryo Resonance, Cryo Particles, and holding artefact sets with buffing capabilities such as 4 pc Noblesse Oblige.
She wields a polearm with which she can launch herself at enemies as a charged attack, which is ideal for closing gaps in the heat of battle. Her elemental skill deals ice damage and grants the buff Icy Quill, which improves normal, charged, and plunging attacks. Shenhe has bursts that deal Cryo damage based on her attack stat, in addition to elemental skills. Her burst attacks a large area, reducing Cryo and physical resistance.
How to Get Shenhe in Genshin Impact
With the release of the 2.4 update, Shenhe’s banner is now live. The Transcendent One Returns is scheduled to run until January 25, giving you a few weeks to wish for her. Yun Jin(opens in new tab), a four-star Cryo character who is also new in 2.4, Ningguang, and Chongyun join her.
Shenhe’s Abilities
Here is a list of all the abilities Shenhe is capable of in Genshin Impact-
Normal Attack: Dawnstar Shooter
Normal Attack: Executes up to 5 spear strikes in a row.
Charged Attack: It takes some stamina to lunge forward, dealing damage to enemies along the way.
Plunging Attack: Plunges from mid-air to the ground below, damaging enemies in its path and dealing AoE DMG.
Elemental Skill: Spring Spirit Summoning
The silvery and dense frosted dew will exorcise all demons.
Gives the Icy Quill effect to all nearby party members and deals Cryo DMG in different ways depending on whether it is pressed or held.
Press: Rushes forward with a Talisman Spirit, dealing Cryo DMG to enemies in its path.
Hold: Talisman Spirit is summoned to deal AoE Cryo DMG.
Icy Quill: When Shenhe’s Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks, Elemental Skills, and Elemental Bursts deal Cryo DMG to opponents, the DMG dealt is multiplied by Shenhe’s current ATK.
The effects of the Icy Quill will be cleared when its duration expires or after a certain number of triggers. The Icy Quill’s effect lasts longer and can be triggered more times when held rather than pressed.
When a single Cryo DMG instance hits multiple opponents, the effect is triggered multiple times based on the number of enemies hit. With the Icy Quill, the number of times the effect is triggered is calculated independently for each party member.
Elemental Burst: Divine Maiden’s Deliverance
Unleashes the Talisman Spirit’s power, allowing it to roam freely in this plane and deal AoE Cryo DMG. The Talisman Spirit then creates a field that reduces opponents’ Cryo RES and Physical RES. It also deals Cryo DMG to all opponents on the field on a regular basis.
Passives
Precise Comings and Goings: When dispatched on a Liyue Expedition that lasts more than 20 hours, you will receive 25% more rewards.
Deific Embrace: An active character within the Divine Maiden’s Deliverance field gains a 10% Cryo DMG Bonus.
Spirit Communion Seal: Shenhe will grant the following effects to all nearby party members after using Spring Spirit Summoning. Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst DMG have been increased by 15% for 10s. Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attack DMG are increased by 15% for 15 seconds. When either effect is active, activating either effect again will refresh the duration of the already-active effect.
Pros of Choosing Shenhe
- Because of the nature of the main stats used, it is relatively cheap to build, and it does not require important Crit Ratios. It primarily necessitates a significant investment in Elemental Burst and Skill talent levels, as well as a Level 90 weapon.
- Can provide up to a 30% total DMG% bonus for a Cryo Elemental Burst (roughly equivalent to a 750 EM Kazuha), while also having built-in Cryo RES Shred Decent weapon access (e.g., Favonius Lance), and working reasonably well with already available 5* options.
- Due to the lack of ending lag in the press Elemental Skill animation, Shenhe now has the option of “Quick Swap.”
- She is universally good with Cryo units, giving her great versatility in teams that deal mostly Cryo damage.
- Quills can be applied to off-field abilities after they have been cast, allowing for greater rotational flexibility.
- Icy Quill damage scales with your team’s level of investment, so Shenhe’s teammates will do more Icy Quill damage as their CRIT ratios, DMG% bonus, and resistance shred increase.
- Allows non-traditional cryo teams, such as Mono Cryo, to compete against bosses that cannot be frozen.
- Physical comps (such as Eula/Keqing) and other non-Cryo comps that can benefit from her A4 buff and off-field Cryo application (Melt Tao).
Cons of Choosing Shenhe
- Due to the high cost of bursts, Shenhe has high ER% requirements in the majority of her teams.
- Her teammates, rather than her own Elemental Skill and Burst damage, account for a significant portion of her damage contribution. Her personal multipliers are modest.
- Icy Quills are treated as single-target damage and consumed as such, so Shenhe’s quills become less effective as the target count increases. This is somewhat offset by her DMG% bonus buffs for teammates’ AoE abilities.
- She can be difficult to fit into established compositions because she is frequently competing for a slot with healers/shields, Anemo units for grouping and VV shred, or Hydro/Pyro enablers for Freeze/Melt teams.
- Lower value in teams that do not have other Cryo or Anemo units that can consume her Quills or benefit from most of her buffs.
- Has adequate energy generation, but if you’re looking for a cryo battery, other options will serve you better.
Best Builds for Shenhe in Genshin Impact
Shenhe’s true strength is rooted in her buffing abilities. They make her ideal for teaming up with other Cryo users like Ayaka, Eula, or Kaeya. If played as a support and enabler, she has the potential to greatly increase the effectiveness of more damage-oriented characters.
Weapon: Calamity Queller
This five-star Polearm will be available alongside Shenhe in the 2.4 update. It increases Elemental Damage after using an Elemental Skill, and, most importantly, it grants all characters stacks of Consummation. When the character is not on the field, each stack increases ATK by 3.2% up to a maximum of six, and the effect is doubled.
The four-star Lithic Spear is an alternative. This also increases attack damage, and while it will not buff other characters, Shenhe will gain an ATK and CRIT buff from other party members who are Liyue natives.
Artifacts: Blizzard Strayer, Noblesse Oblige
The first group is self-explanatory. The Blizzard Strayer two-set increases your Cryo damage by 15%. The four-set could also be used, but combining it with the Noblesse Oblige two-set provides a generous 20% damage boost to your Elemental Burst.
Another option is to combine Blizzard Strayer with Gladiator’s Finale. Shenhe’s Icy Quill is boosted by her attack, and this artifact’s two-piece grants you a respectable 18% attack boost.
Genshin Impact is now available on Android, iOS, PC, PS4, and PS5. A Nintendo Switch version is in development. For more amazing tips and character guides, checkout our website here.