How Effective Is Razor as a Main DPS in Genshin Impact?
Razor Overview
Razor is a 4-Star Electro Claymore character in Genshin Impact. His role is a Physical DPS who can deal damage with his burst powered Normal Attacks. Strengths include that being an Electro unit, Razor can easily trigger Superconduct, favoring his natural Physical DMG scaling. His Elemental Burst deals decent damage and provides a defense boost to Razor.
DPS Effectiveness
Razor performs well in parties that can help cause Genshin Impact elemental reactions. Cryo, Pyro, and Hydro characters help Razor deal massive amounts of damage. His damaging attack combos make him the ideal candidate as the central DPS role in any party. Razor is highly regarded as one of the best four-star characters in the free PC game, and it’s easy to understand why when you see how much damage he’s capable of dealing.
Though Razor does deal Electro damage, the bulk of his damage comes from regular attacks. Focus on Genshin Impact artifacts that provide boosts to Flat Attack, Physical Damage, and Crit Rate. The best four-star option for Razor is the four-piece Pale Flame set, as it buffs physical damage by 25%. He also gets a 9% extra attack bonus for seven seconds whenever he hits enemies with his elemental skill. You can stack this effect twice, and when you do, the 25% physical damage buff increases to 100%.
To maximize the amount of damage you can get from Razor, it’s important to understand how to use your elemental reactions effectively. Unlike some of the other DPS characters in Genshin Impact, Razor requires you to constantly swap to your different party members because he relies on the extra damage from elemental reactions. Cryo characters like Qiqi and Diona synergize well with Razor as you can consistently land Superconduct while staying protected from attacks.
Razor gets more value if placed in a Dendro Team, as he can build Elemental Mastery and CRIT Stats to trigger Hyperbloom and Aggravate during his Elemental Burst. As such, his Physical DMG would be irrelevant in this team, but the high damage potential from Dendro Reactions compensates this loss.
Gameplay Strategy
Razor’s playstyle utilizes his Normal Attacks during his Elemental Burst, therefore we recommend leveling up those talents respectively. Afterwards, level up your Elemental Skill to deal more overall DMG. Razor’s talents and constellations are centered solely on improving his damage and offer no benefits to him as a sub DPS or Support.
Razor’s Elemental Skill is a spammable ability, so you can always have C4’s DEF reduction on your enemies for the duration of his cooldown. If you decide to build Razor then he will only be effective as the party Main DPS. Yes, he is the best 4-star main DPS character. However, unlike XiangLing, he cannot become a support.
This guide dives into Razor’s talents, gameplay tips, artifact builds, best weapons, and team compositions, ensuring you maximize his DPS potential. Raising Razor to Level 90 is recommended when he is used as an Aggravate or Transformative Reaction DPS to maximize his reaction damage.
Overall, Razor is a very good Physical DPS that only falls off a little in the endgame. He doesn’t need any constellations (duplicates) and can still perform well without them.
Comparing Razor’s DPS Capabilities to Other Characters
Overview of Razor’s DPS Capabilities
Razor is a 4-star Electro character armed with a claymore in Genshin Impact. He primarily deals Physical DMG, supplemented by added Electro DMG through his abilities. While he is a good main DPS, it is essential to build team compositions around him to maximize his damage output.
Strengths
- Can deal powerful Physical DMG.
- Can produce plenty of energy with Elemental Skill.
- Can easily proc Superconduct when paired with a Cryo character during his Burst.
- Electro application is slow enough that it can consistently be used for Burgeon.
- One of the best users of Superconduct, which enhances his damage output with Electro-focused reactions.
Weaknesses
- Weak elemental damage.
- Razor’s damage ceiling is not that high.
- Requires significant investment to keep up with end-game content.
- Limited team compositions due to being a selfish DPS and primarily excelling in Physical DMG.
Gameplay and Abilities
Razor’s Burst is a purely offensive ability that allows him to deal both Electro and Physical damage with every normal attack while active. This ability makes him a strong on-field DPS character whose main strength is his Physical DMG.
His Elemental Skill, Claw and Thunder, can be performed by tapping the key for a simple dash forward with an Electro attack or holding the key down for an AoE slam attack of Electro DMG.
Weapon Choices
Wolf’s Gravestone and Song of Broken Pines are excellent choices for a 5-star weapon for Razor. The Wolf’s Gravestone grants a massive boost in ATK power when striking an enemy with low health (below 30%), but it has a cooldown. The buff lasts for 12 seconds and can only occur once every 30s, resulting in a dead period where no buff is active.
Team Composition and Artifact Builds
To fully utilize Razor’s abilities, it is crucial to target off-fielders and support characters that provide elemental reactions for his Electro abilities, damage buffers to maintain high DPS, and healers or shielders to ensure his survivability while on the field.
The best artifact set for Razor is undoubtedly a 4-piece Pale Flame, which permanently enhances his Physical DMG output, thus solidifying his role as a damage dealer.
Conclusion
Razor is arguably the best 4-star DPS character in Genshin Impact, capable of competing with 5-star characters. His extremely high attack speed, enabled by his elemental skill, allows him to deliver significant amounts of Physical DMG, making him a formidable DPS choice. This guide dives into Razor’s talents, gameplay tips, artifact builds, best weapons, and team compositions to ensure you maximize his DPS potential. Razor can serve as a Physical DMG carry or as an enabler for Hyperbloom using his Elemental Burst.
Essential Builds: Maximizing Razor’s Performance in Genshin Impact
Razor’s Best Weapons:
- Wolf’s Gravestone
- Beacon of the Reed Sea
- Song of Broken Pines
- Redhorn Stonethresher
- Serpent Spine
Artifact Sets:
- Pale Flame (4-piece)
- Gladiator’s Finale (4-piece)
- Bloodstained Chivalry (2-piece)
- Shimenawa’s Reminiscence (2-piece)
Optimal Stats:
- Sands: ATK%
- Goblet: Physical DMG
- Circlet: CRIT Rate / CRIT DMG
With substats prioritizing: CRIT Rate / CRIT DMG > ATK% > Energy Recharge.
Elemental Skill and Burst:
Razor’s Elemental Skill, ‘Claw and Thunder’, allows him to deal Electro DMG and gain Electro Sigils, enhancing his Energy Recharge rate. His Elemental Burst, ‘Lightning Fang’, summons the Wolf Within, dealing Electro DMG and converting Electro Sigils into elemental energy. Furthermore, it increases Razor’s ATK speed and resistance to interruption.
Passives:
Razor’s passives enhance his capabilities. For instance:
- Ascension 1 ‘Awakening’ reduces ‘Claw and Thunder’s’ cooldown by 18% and resets it upon using ‘Lightning Fang’.
- Ascension 4 ‘Hunger’ boosts Energy Recharge by 30% when his Energy is below 50%, making him more effective in prolonged battles.
Role in Team:
Razor is generally regarded as Electro Main DPS or Sub DPS in Genshin Impact at the moment. His builds serve two main purposes:
- Main DPS Build
- Support Build
Razor’s Elemental Burst contributes to DPS while also benefiting the party. He can decrease opponents’ DEF with constellation 4 and reduce party members’ sprinting Stamina Consumption by 20%. ATK% is the most important stat for Razor, enabling both Sub DPS and Main DPS Builds to flourish.
Elemental Burst Details:
Razor’s Elemental Burst, ‘Lightning Fang’, summons the Wolf Within, dealing Electro DMG to all nearby opponents. It clears all of Razor’s Electro Sigils, converting them into elemental energy. Additionally, the Wolf Within raises Razor’s ATK SPD and Electro RES, granting him immunity to DMG inflicted by the Electro-Charged status.
Recommended Weapon:
The recommended weapon for Razor is ‘Wolf’s Gravestone’, which increases ATK by 20/25/30/35/40%. On hit, attacks against opponents with less than 30% HP increase all party members’ ATK by 40/50/60/70/80% for 12s.
An alternate F2P weapon is ‘Snow-Tombed Starsilver’, which increases CRIT Rate and has a chance of dealing AoE ATK DMG.
Best Artifact Set:
The best artifact set for Razor is Gladiator’s Finale, focusing on substats like ATK%, Physical DMG, and CRIT DMG. Razor is a Main DPS in the team, and his DPS build is widely used alongside Sub DPS characters like Nahida and Keqing, enhancing his overall performance in the game.
Gameplay Strategy:
This build relies on Razor dealing fast Normal Attacks while building up Pale Flame stacks by using his Elemental Skill to gain bonus attack power. As a main DPS, it’s crucial to build as much CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG for Razor. Energy Recharge can also be viable, but it’s on the low end of priorities.
Razor primarily deals Physical DMG with his claymore, adding Electro DMG with both his Elemental Skill and Burst. This added Electro DMG allows Razor to trigger Elemental Reactions with many opponents.
Team Composition:
Razor’s Talents and Constellations are focused solely on improving his damage, offering no benefits as a Sub DPS or Support. The optimal teams can be formed in various ways, including Superconduct, Electro-Charged, and Overload combinations. Players can choose the best team according to their build and character choices.