Sethos Guide and Best Builds

Sethos Guide and Best Builds for Genshin Impact

Sethos is a 4-star Electro Bow character in Genshin Impact. Our Sethos guide and build will focus on Sethos's best weapons, best artifacts, skills, constellations and Sethos's best teams.

Last updated on Jun 05, 2024 at 10:00 by Shikhu
B Rating
Electro Element
Bow Weapon
Rarity
Zeno Robinson EN Voice Actor
Chiba Shoya JP Voice Actor
1.

Sethos Introduction

Sethos is a 4-star Electro character released in patch 4.7. Our Sethos guide will cover Ascensions, Talents, Constellations as well as teambuilding advice

2.

Strengths and Weaknesses

V Strengths
  • +Suprisingly not energy hungry even with consuming energy on Charged Attacks.
  • +2 different gameplay styles either focusing on Charged Attacking or his Elemental Burst.
  • +Great Main DPS for Aggravate and Hyperbloom team comps.
X Weaknesses
  • -Energy can be an even more important resource on Sethos to manage due to Charged Attacks consuming it.
  • -Unable to move while Charging so shielding is incredibly important.
3.

Sethos DPS Build

BiS Weapon Hunter's Path
Alternative Weapons
  1. Aqua Simulacra
  2. Slingshot (<0.3s Charge)
  3. Scion of the Blazing Sun (R5)
  4. The First Great Magic
  5. Skyward Harp
  6. Song of Stillness
  7. Cloudforged
  8. Slingshot (>0.3s Charge)
Best Artifacts
  1. Desert Pavilion Chronicle
  2. Wanderer's Troupe
  3. Thundering Fury
  4. Gilded Dreams
Main Stats
  • Sand Stats: Elemental Mastery
  • Goblet Stats: Electro DMG
  • Circlet Stats: CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG
Substat Priority
  1. Energy Recharge to requirements
  2. Elemental Mastery
  3. CRIT Rate / CRIT DMG
  4. ATK %
Talent Priority
  1. Normal Attack
  2. Elemental Burst
  3. Elemental Skill

Sethos has a wide range of potential weapon options with a lot of strong 5-stars being available. Their most interesting weapon is Slingshot which can either be terrible or incredible depending on if you are able to utilise the DMG increasing passive of the weapon. Other good 4-star options include Scion of the Blazing Sun and Cloudforged which is very suited for Sethos's kit.

Wanderer's Troupe is generally Sethos's best general artifact set due to increasing both Elemental Mastery which he scales on and also due to increasing his Charged Attack DMG. Desert Pavilion Chronicle can be his best artifact set however if you plan to focus more on his Elemental Burst instead of Charged Attacks.

With regards to stat priorities, Elemental Mastery and CRIT are both almost equally as important. Sethos wants around 110% Energy Recharge when played with a second Electro character or less if that character is Fischl. If Sethos is not yet C6, add around 30% to those requirements.

4.

Combos and How to Play Sethos

Sethos has 2 main gameplay styles:

  • Charged Attack spamming
  • Normal Attack spamming from his Elemental Burst

Charged Attack spamming is gameplay similar to Ganyu and Tighnari where you utilise his level 2 Charged Attack to deal powerful damage. This charged time is reduced due to Black Kite's Enigma which consumes energy as a cost making it near-instant. This is important because Sethos can not move around while charging.

To manage this, Sethos needs to regularly use Ancient Rite: The Thundering Sands which only has an 8 second cooldown and grants 12 energy + 2 particles.

The other gameplay style is using his Secret Rite: Twilight Shadowpiercer which converts all Normal Attacks into Electro allowing you a gameplay style more similar to Yoimiya.

Because each gameplay style consumes Energy, you can not really use both at the same time. Generally speaking however, Normal Attack spamming tends to be the better option for Sethos's personal damage. The benefit of Charged Attack spamming however is that it is faster, this means that with the right team you can swap to other characters and deal more damage overall.

5.

Sethos Team Comps

Sethos's best teams are very focused on Dendro related reactions such as Quicken, Aggravate and Hyperbloom. This is due to how well he scales based off of Elemental Mastery.

5.1.

Quicken/Aggravate Sethos

Main DPS Sub DPS Sub DPS Support
Sethos Nahida Fischl
Sethos Sucrose Fischl Kirara

Aggravate with Kaedehara Kazuha is Sethos's best team generally by a significant margin but means you have no sustain on the team. For more defensive options however, Zhongli provides great shielding while Baizhu assist with Elemental Reactions.

5.2.

Hyperbloom Sethos

Main DPS Sub DPS Sub DPS Support
Sethos Nahida Xingqiu

Hyperbloom would be played more on a Normal Attack focused playstyle to trigger Xingqiu's rain swords often as well as regularly apply Electro but these Normal Attacks can also trigger any nearby Dendro Cores to facilitate the Hyperbloom reaction.

5.3.

Overload Sethos

Main DPS Sub DPS Support Support
Sethos Xiangling Chevreuse Bennett

As a non-Dendro team composition, Sethos can perform well in Overload teams. There can be the occasional issues with uptime if played focusing on Sethos's Elemental Burst so Charged Attacks are more recommended.

6.

Sethos's Ascensions, Talents and Constellations

Sethos's Ascensions Sethos's Talents Sethos's Constellations
6.1.

Sethos's Ascension Passives and Materials

Unlock Ascension Passive Explanation
With Character Thoth's Revelation Displays the location of nearby resources unique to Sumeru on the mini-map.
1st Ascension Black Kite's Enigma

When Aiming, the charging time is decreased by 0.285s based on each point of Sethos's current Elemental Energy. Charging time can be reduced to a minimum of 0.3s through this method and a maximum of 20 Energy can be tallied. If a Shadowpiercing Shot is fired, consume the tallied amount of Elemental Energy; if it is a Charge Level 1 shot, then consume 50% of the tallied amount of Elemental Energy.

4th Ascension The Sand King's Boon

Sethos gains the "Scorching Sandshade" effect, increasing the DMG dealt by Shadowpiercing Shot by 700% of Sethos's Elemental Mastery. The Scorching Sandshade effect will be cancelled when any of the following conditions are met:

  • 5s after a Shadowpiercing Shot first hits an opponent.
  • After 4 Shadowpiercing Shots strike opponents.

When a Shadowpiercing Shot affected by Scorching Sandshade first hits an opponent, Sethos will regain Scorching Sandshade after 15s.

Sethos requires a range of materials to ascend to the 6th ascension. Starting from the second ascension he gains Elemental Mastery as he levels, giving a total of 96 Bonus Elemental Mastery at the final ascension. The total cost to upgrade all ascensions is:

Source Quantity
Mora 420,000 Mora
Boss Material 46x Cloudseam Scale
Ascension Material
Local Specialty 168x Trishiraite
Enhancement Material
  • 18x Faded Red Satin
  • 30x Trimmed Red Silk
  • 36x Rich Red Brocade
6.2.

Sethos's Talents

Listed below is each talent alongside the talents explanation of how they work.

Type Talent Name Skill Explanation
Normal Normal Attack: Royal Reed Archery

Normal Attack

Performs up to 3 consecutive shots with a bow.

Charged Attack

Performs a more precise Aimed Shot with increased DMG.

While aiming, the power of Electro will accumulate on the arrowhead before the arrow is fired. Has different effects based on how long the energy has been charged:

  • Charge Level 1: Fires off an arrow carrying the power of lightning that deals Electro DMG.
  • Charge Level 2: Fires off a Shadowpiercing Shot which can pierce enemies, dealing Electro DMG to enemies along its path. After the Shadowpiercing Shot is fully charged, Sethos cannot move around.

Plunging Attack

Fires off a shower of arrows in mid-air before falling and striking the ground, dealing AoE DMG upon impact.

Elemental Skill Ancient Rite: The Thundering Sands Gathers the might of thunder, dealing AoE Electro DMG and quickly retreating. If this attack triggers Electro-Charged, Superconduct, Overloaded, Quicken, Aggravate, Hyperbloom, or Electro Swirl reactions, Sethos recovers a certain amount of Elemental Energy.
Elemental Burst Secret Rite: Twilight Shadowpiercer

Perform a secret rite, entering the "Twilight Meditation" state, during which Sethos's Normal Attacks will be converted into enemy-piercing Dusk Bolts: Deal Electro DMG to opponents in its path, with DMG increased based on Sethos's Elemental Mastery.

DMG dealt by Dusk Bolts is considered Charged Attack DMG.

This effect will be cancelled when Sethos leaves the field.

To upgrade Sethos's talents, it costs:

Source One Talent to Lv10 10/10/10
Mora 1,625,500 Mora 4,876,500 Mora
Special Material 1x Crown of Insight 3x Crown of Insight
Boss Material 6x Daka's Bell 18x Daka's Bell
Domain Material
  • 3x Teachings of Praxis
  • 21x Guide to Praxis
  • 38x Philosophies of Praxis
  • 9x Teachings of Praxis
  • 63x Guide to Praxis
  • 114x Philosophies of Praxis
Enhancement Material
  • 6x Faded Red Satin
  • 22x Trimmed Red Silk
  • 31x Rich Red Brocade
  • 18x Faded Red Satin
  • 66x Trimmed Red Silk
  • 93x Rich Red Brocade
6.3.

Sethos's Constellations

Sethos's best Constellations are Papyrus Scripture of Silent Secrets (C2) and Pylon of the Sojourning Sun Temple (C6) which are both significant damage increases to his overall kit.

# Name Explanation
C1 Sealed Shrine's Spiritsong

The CRIT Rate of Shadowpiercing Shot is increased by 15%.

C2 Papyrus Scripture of Silent Secrets

When any of the following conditions are met, Sethos gains a 15% Electro DMG Bonus for 10s that may stack twice, with each stack duration counted independently:

  • Consuming Elemental Energy through Aimed Shots; you must first unlock "Black Kite's Enigma" to trigger this condition.
  • Regaining Elemental Energy by triggering Elemental Reactions using Ancient Rite: The Thundering Sands.
  • Using Secret Rite: Twilight Shadowpiercer.
C3 Ode to the Moonrise Sage
  • Increases the Level of Normal Attack: Royal Reed Archery by 3.
  • Maximum upgrade level is 15.
C4 Beneficent Plumage When Shadowpiercing Shot or Dusk Bolt strike 2 or more opponents, all nearby party members gain 80 Elemental Mastery for 10s.
C5 Record of the Desolate God's Burning Sands
  • Increases the Level of Secret Rite: Twilight Shadowpiercer by 3.
  • Maximum upgrade level is 15.
C6 Pylon of the Sojourning Sun Temple

After Shadowpiercing Shot strikes an opponent, the Elemental Energy consumed by the Passive Talent "Black Kite's Enigma" will be returned. This effect can be triggered up to once every 15s. You must first unlock the Passive Talent "Black Kite's Enigma."

6.4.

Changelog

  • 05 Jun. 2024: Updated for release.
  • 17 May 2024: Beta changes added now that there is more than just text adjustments.
  • 30 Apr. 2024: Tentative Information Added.
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