Zhongli is having his fourth banner rerun in Version 3.0 of Genshin Impact, which also released the element of Dendro and the region of Sumeru. One would assume his rerun is misplaced as Geo has nothing to do with Dendro, and there are elements in Sumeru like the Withering that don’t care about shields like the Withering. With those in mind, is Zhongli still a high-value unit? That is the question we’re here to answer.
Zhongli’s Worth in Genshin Impact 3.0
Ever since the release of Dendro, people have been flocking to Hydro units for their survivability needs- mainly Kokomi and Barbara. Those who are skilled players use Xinqiu instead for interruption resistance, powerful Hydro sub-DPS, and a tad bit of healing from his rain swords.
Pyro shielders like Thoma or Xinyan are only viable in Burgeon teams but only as reaction support. Diona wasn’t initially preferred since Cryo interrupts Dendro reactions but people have been lately coming around to Fridge teams that involve her. Geo on the other hand is the only element not favorable in Dendro comps as they serve no function.
You won’t see Dendro comps with Geo units like Itto, Gorou, Yun Jin, Noelle and so on because Geo brings nothing to the table. Except for Zhongli. Zhongli does serve more function than just being the best shielder in the game. He can be used as decent damage support with his powerful burst which also petrifies opponents. But his main utility other than shielding comes from his shield’s universal resistance shred.
Zhongli benefits Dendro comps in a way no other unit really can- that is by shredding 20% Dendro RES from enemies. This doesn’t necessarily increase your Dendro damage numbers but it does increase your Dendro reaction numbers.
As of now, the Deepwood Memories set is deeply valuable on a Dendro support unit because it can shred 30% Dendro RES on enemies. Paired with Zhongli’s shield you got a whopping total of 50% Dendro RES shred which is phenomenal for your overall team dps and reaction damage scaling. No other unit or passive ability does this so it’s exclusively unique to Zhongli’s shield and the Deepwood artifacts set.
Zhongli’s universal elemental RES shred and his shield’s resistance to interruption also benefit the newly released 5-star Dendro sub-dps Tighnari who’s a bow user. All factors considered- yes, Zhongli is still a high-value unit and will continue to remain so. The only difference is, with the release of Dendro, players are also considering alternatives and not treating Zhongli as a team staple.
