Genshin Impact Version 3.4 released the much-thirsted-over Alhaitham as a playable unit. Now that players have had time to test him out, the majority consensus is that while he’s a great DPS, he’s not for the simple-minded and requires high skill to master. But most players are ignoring the full picture about Alhaitham and that is what we’re here to tell you: he’s actually great even for F2P simple-minded players.
Why Alhaitham is Actually Perfect in Genshin Impact Version 3.4
Alhaitham had been compared to Keqing due to their similar playstyles before launch. After his release, players realised that he was a much more complex unit- at least where his gameplay is concerned. Keqing was a Standard Banner 5-star who was marketed as an Electro main DPS but she failed to live up to the likes of Diluc who was the only other Standard Banner main DPS.
Alhaitham actually improves on Keqing and shows how much the gameplay or combat design of Genshin Impact has evolved since then. His E skill is more than just a simple way to teleport and infuse your normal and charged attacks with Dendro. There are layers to his kit and while it’s true that to get the best out of him you’ll need to master his kit- it’s wrong to overlook the fact that he’s already good enough when played simply without optimised rotations, attack patterns or sequences.
This is largely due to the element of Dendro as a whole and his own decent scaling. Dendro is currently the best element in the game due to how much value it provides in reaction-based teams. It’s a low investment element as even with trash artifacts and average units, you get high damage results pretty easily. It’s a F2P-friendly element that has helped a lot of casual players take on the Spiral Abyss which is the hardest content in the game and one usually only challenged by seasoned veteran players or whales with hyper-invested characters, weapons and builds.
Alhaitham himself has very good scaling to the point you can still use him at Level 40 with Level 2 Talents and still get decent functional damage out of him. Even when he’s played sub-optimally, he dishes out enough damage to destroy most content in the game pretty easily. He’s thus not only accessible and F2P-friendly but also easy to use unlike what most veterans will have you believe.
While he may not be a “broken” top-tier main DPS like Hu Tao, Ayaka or Ganyu, he’s certainly better than the likes of Ayato or even Yae Miko. And this is actually praise because he feels like a balanced and powerful character who’s not too easy to use nor too complicated to master. And he performs splendidly even when played sub-optimally- unlike Childe who punishes the player for not being able to manage his timings.
Even without the use of his E skill, Alhaitham can gain a mirror from using Charged Attacks which in turn infuses his sword with Dendro. Only Ayaka, as a sword user, has the ability to infuse her attacks with Cryo without using her elemental skill or burst. And though Alhaitham doesn’t quite reach her peaks of DPS, he certainly does compare competitively.
If you were scared off by reviewers calling him a difficult character to master, fear not as he’s great even in a simplistic playstyle. Since Dendro is so strong and since it requires such low investment, Alhaitham will still destroy most in his path easily.