Zhongli: The Strongest Shields in Genshin Impact
Zhongli is widely regarded as the premier defensive character in Genshin Impact. His Jade Shield provides unmatched durability, enabling players to ignore incoming damage, avoid interruptions and maintain smooth rotations. Beyond his defensive strengths, Zhongli also offers consistent resistance shredding, valuable crowd control and strong utility that elevates nearly every team composition. His presence transforms gameplay into a safer, more stable and more controlled experience.
The Power of the Jade Shield
Zhongli’s elemental skill generates the Jade Shield—one of the strongest defensive tools in the game. The shield scales directly from Zhongli’s max HP, providing exceptional absorption even at moderate investment. It also offers universal interruption resistance, allowing characters to perform charged attacks and long animations without being pushed back by enemies.
One of the Jade Shield’s most powerful features is its resistance reduction. Enemies affected by the shield’s aura suffer decreased Elemental and Physical RES, increasing team damage across all attack types. This makes Zhongli a valuable support for both reaction-based and raw-damage teams.
Elemental Skill: Stone Stele and Shield Generation
Holding Zhongli’s skill creates a Stone Stele and simultaneously generates the Jade Shield. The Stone Stele pulses Geo damage and resonates with other Geo constructs, dealing additional damage in multi-structure setups. In most teams, however, its main purpose is to activate Geo Resonance and maintain steady shield uptime.
The shield’s cooldown matches its duration, allowing 100% uptime with ease. This consistency makes Zhongli one of the few characters capable of fully protecting the team without rotation constraints.
Elemental Burst: Petrification for Crowd Control
Zhongli’s Elemental Burst, Planet Befall, summons a massive meteor that deals high Geo damage and petrifies enemies. Petrification immobilizes affected targets, leaving them completely unable to act for several seconds. This effect works exceptionally well against mobs, contributing both safety and burst control.
The Burst is flexible: it can be used defensively to stop enemy attacks or offensively during damage windows. Its large radius makes it a reliable tool for resetting enemy behavior in chaotic fights.
Best Builds for Zhongli
Zhongli excels in support and burst roles. The most common build focuses on maximizing HP to strengthen shield durability. Artifacts such as Tenacity of the Millelith provide HP bonuses and team buffs, while Noblesse Oblige enhances Burst damage and group utility.
Stat priority typically follows: HP% for shield strength, ER% if using Burst frequently, and Geo DMG or Crit stats for hybrid builds. Players wanting a more offensive Zhongli can invest in Geo scaling, though most team compositions rely primarily on his shielding.
Best Weapons
Weapons that increase HP or provide supportive effects complement Zhongli’s kit. Staff of Homa remains one of the strongest options, offering high HP and Crit bonuses. Black Tassel is an excellent 3-star alternative for pure shield builds. Favonius Lance improves energy generation, supporting consistent Burst rotations.
Other premium choices such as Vortex Vanquisher or Staff of the Scarlet Sands can be used for hybrid damage-support setups.
Team Roles and Synergies
Zhongli fits effortlessly into almost every team. Reaction teams benefit from his universal resistance shred, while hypercarry teams appreciate the guaranteed interruption resistance from the Jade Shield. Geo Resonance becomes exceptionally strong when paired with another Geo unit, increasing both shield strength and team damage.
Because Zhongli removes the need for a dedicated healer or shielder, he frees up team slots for additional DPS or reaction enablers. His flexibility makes him one of the most valuable supports for both early and late-game rosters.
Strengths and Limitations
Zhongli’s strengths include unmatched shielding, universal team safety, consistent resistance shredding and extra crowd control. His kit is simple, reliable and effective in every type of content, from Abyss floors to exploration.
His limitations mainly appear in high-end speedrun scenarios where shielding may reduce energy funneling or where pure damage supports are preferred. Even so, Zhongli remains a top pick for most practical team compositions.
Conclusion
Zhongli stands as the undisputed king of shields in Genshin Impact. His Jade Shield, resistance shred and reliable crowd control make him one of the most impactful supports in the game. Whether protecting fragile carries, enabling consistent rotations or stabilizing chaotic fights, Zhongli elevates every team with effortless defensive and utility value.
