Hu Tao: Skill, Then Charge Under Half Health
Cast Hu Tao's skill, then normal-attack once and charged-attack. Stay under half HP. Do not open her burst just because it is ready if the heal will end the buff.
Paramita and the burst you might skip
Guide to Afterlife consumes a chunk of her HP and, while it lasts, infuses her attacks with Pyro and adds attack based on her max HP. The bonus is larger while she is at or below half health. This is the state you want for every charged attack. When the skill ends, the infusion ends. Refresh it when the animation is available, not by standing in a corner charging with a white weapon.
Spirit Soother, the burst, deals Pyro in a line and heals her based on how many enemies it hit, more if her HP is low. Use it to iframe a hit you cannot dodge, or to heal when the next skill would kill her. Using it in the middle of a good charge window heals her over half and turns the rest of the skill into the weaker bonus. The burst is a tool. It is not the end of every combo.
The charged combo with Xingqiu
Xingqiu's burst has to be up. Zhongli's shield too, if you have him, so the charge is not knocked out. Hu Tao skill. One normal attack, so Xingqiu's rain swords apply Hydro. Then the charged attack, which Vaporizes. Jump or dash to cancel the recovery and repeat until the skill is about to end. If the enemy is no longer wet, you skipped the normal attack. Put it back in.
Bennett's circle heals her and applies Pyro to her. Both fight the kit. The heal pushes her over half health. The Pyro on her body is not the aura the enemy needed. Leave Bennett for Xiangling's team. Hu Tao's healer, if she needs one, is someone who does not force her to full HP in the middle of the skill.
HP, EM, and the spear
She wants HP, Elemental Mastery for the Vaporize, and crit. Four-piece Crimson Witch of Flames, or Shimenawa's Reminiscence if you accept that the set spends energy and you will cast the burst less often. HP or EM sands, Pyro goblet, crit circlet. Dragon's Bane is the four-star that gives mastery and a damage bonus against enemies affected by Hydro, which is the enemy Xingqiu just wet. Staff of Homa is the upgrade because it pays her for being at low HP. Level the skill first, then the normal attack, because the charged attack lives there. The burst is third.
Do not level her to a point where her skill's HP cost is a surprise. The first cast in a chamber can take her from full to the damage window on purpose. Eat a heal before the chamber if she walked in already critical, then let the skill do the cutting.
Skills
| Button | Use |
|---|---|
| Skill | Spends HP, Pyro infusion, stronger at half HP or below |
| Normal then charge | Normal calls Xingqiu's rain; the charge Vaporizes |
| Burst | Line of Pyro and a heal; can end the low-HP window |