There's always a right catalyst for every occasion
Catalysts are considered ranged characters. They can attack from afar and some of them can hone on enemies. One major downside is that most of them consume stamina very quickly.
Some of the most reliable DPS characters in the game are catalysts. They have access to a wide variety of weapons that can easily clear game content. For other catalysts, they are useful as a support to buff your main damage dealers.
If you want to find out what weapons you can equip your catalyst characters, don’t look any further. I’m giving you a rundown of the top 10 best catalysts that are powerful. Let’s check them out!
10. Favonius Codex
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Energy Recharge is Mona’s favorite stat
This standard-issue weapon by the Knights of Favonius is one of the best options, especially during the early game. It has a decent stat, substat, and passive effect, making it very worthwhile for your team.
Favonius Codex is good on characters with high elemental burst energy costs. It’s also a great option for characters who scale with their Energy Recharge (ER), like Mona. Here’s why Favonius Codex is powerful:
A decent Base ATK makes it a good enough option for DPS characters. If you have no other weapons, the Favonius Codex can be your best bet for now.
Its Energy Recharge (ER) substat means that you will gain your elemental burst back faster. You wouldn’t need to cast elemental skills as often. Waiting times for your elemental burst will also be reduced.
The passive effect generates a lot of energy particles. This can be given to your main DPS or someone who needs a lot of energy. Though, note that you would need to build a lot of Crit Rate on your character to trigger this effect.
Favonius Codex (4-star) details:
Base ATK: 42 ATK at Level 1 and 510 ATK at Level 90
ER substat: 10% at Level 1 and 45.9% at Level 90
The Favonius Codex is obtainable in all types of banners in Genshin. Check out the game’s wish system here:
9. Sacrificial Fragments
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Reaction-based teams benefit a lot from the Sacrificial Fragments
The reason why Sacrificial Fragments is something you should consider is because of who can benefit from it. Sucrose, one of the game’s Anemo characters, can use this weapon to its max potential.
As an Anemo character, Sucrose has access to the Viridescent Venerer artifact set. This buffs your elemental damage every time you trigger Swirl. Strong supportive capabilities are what make this weapon a great addition to your team.
Despite its relatively low Base ATK, the Sacrificial Fragments compensates with its Elemental Mastery (EM) substat. EM makes elemental reactions stronger.
In a game where Vaporize and Melt reactions significantly increase damage, EM is a must-have. This catalyst will give you high damage boosts that make the mobs look like child’s play.
Other than that, Sacrificial Fragments also allows you to ignore elemental skill cooldowns. Damaging opponents with your elemental skill has a certain chance to reset the skill’s cooldown.
This gives more energy particles to recharge your elemental burst.
Sacrificial Fragments (4-star) details:
Base ATK: 41 ATK at Level 1, up to a relatively low 454 ATK at Level 90
EM substat: Gives 48 EM at Level 1 and caps at 221 EM at Level 90.
This weapon is also obtainable through any of Genshin’s wish banners. Though, you’d have better luck in the gacha when this catalyst is featured.
8. Dodoco Tales
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Since Ningguang canonically loves children, the Dodoco Tales is a good fit for her too
Ridiculously red and a bit cartoonish. But don’t let appearances fool you because this weapon is one of the best four stars in the game. Though it contains children’s stories, it’s not at all weak.
Dodoco Tales is good for your DPS characters because of its effect. The rather mediocre Base ATK can almost be ignored in most cases.
Catalysts rely a lot on their normal and charged attacks. Dodoco Tales does just that. Normal attacks increase your charged attack damage by 16%.
In the same way, doing charged attacks increases your ATK stat by 8% for 6 seconds. A higher ATK stat increases both your normal and charged attack damage.
Although the Base ATK is a bit low, it compensates with its ATK% substat. Plus with its ATK% effect, you shouldn’t worry too much about how much ATK you have.
Characters who benefit from the Dodoco Tales are DPS characters such as Klee, Yanfei, and Ningguang. They constantly use both normal and charged attacks in their rotations.
Dodoco Tales (4-star) details:
Base ATK: Starts at 41 ATK at Level 1 up to 454 ATK at Level 90
ATK% substat: Gives additional 12% ATK at Level 1 and 55.1% ATK at Level 90
The Dodoco Tales is an event-exclusive weapon. It was given to players during the Midsummer Island Adventure event back in Version 1.6. Genshin hasn’t featured event-exclusive weapons again, so sadly there’s no other way for players to get this weapon.
7. Solar Pearl
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Aesthetically speaking, Ningguang and Solar Pearl are a match
Solar Pearl resembles Dodoco Tales in a few ways. DPS characters also benefit from this weapon a lot thanks to its nice effect and amazing substat.
It also helps that the Solar Pearl has one of the coolest designs in the game. This enigmatic weapon doesn’t just hit hard, it also looks cool while you’re in battle.
The Solar Pearl is powerful because:
Like Dodoco Tales, normal attacks buff your other damage. In this case, normal attacks buff both elemental skill and elemental burst damage. This buff is a 20% increase in damage.
In the same way, elemental skill and elemental burst damage also buff normal attacks. It’s like a two-way feedback loop that raises your DPS to godly levels. Normal attacks are buffed by 20% too, and this lasts for 6 seconds.
Base ATK is fairly average, but the Solar Pearl’s main selling point is its substat. The Solar Pearl has a Crit Rate substat. It makes building your characters around ATK, Crit Rate, and Crit DMG a lot easier.
Because of its multiple buffs and Crit Rate substat, this weapon is great on DPS characters! These include Yae Miko, Ningguang, and Klee.
Solar Pearl (4-star) details:
Base ATK: Gives 42 ATK at Level 1, up to 510 ATK at Level 90
Crit Rate substat: 6% Crit Rate at Level 1 and 27.6% Crit Rate at Level 90
This weapon isn’t difficult to get. You just need to unlock it by buying the Battle Pass available during every version. If you need to know how the Battle Pass works, check out this guide:
6. The Widsith
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Yanfei is one of the best 4-star DPS in the game
If you want the strongest 4-star in the game, it’s arguably The Widsith. This weapon has a great substat that makes building characters easier. Its effects also play on your catalyst character’s strengths and make gameplay a lot more exciting.
The nuance that The Widsith brings makes it a godsend. It works best on DPS characters. Let’s check it out.
The G in Genshin stands for gacha, and that’s what The Widsith also does. When you switch to a character wielding this weapon, you can gain one of the three effects.
These three effects are called “Recitative,” “Aria,” and “Interlude.” Each of these effects brings an entirely different buff to your catalyst.
Recitative boosts ATK by 60%, Aria increases Elemental DMG by 48%, and Interlude gives 240 EM. For most catalysts, any of the three effects can significantly increase damage output.
The Widsith also has a decent 55.1% Crit DMG. This is almost the same as the max value of a Crit DMG circlet. Because of this, players can have more breathing room when building their characters.
The Widsith (4-star) details:
Base ATK: 42 ATK at Level 1 and 510 ATK at Level 90
Crit DMG substat: Gives 12% Crit DMG, and up to 55.1% Crit DMG at Level 90
The Widsith is available in all wish banners. With enough luck, players can obtain a copy of this weapon.
5. Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers
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Healing and attack buff? Sign Barbara up
Okay, what is a 3-star catalyst doing this high up on the list? If you were like me, I’d ask the same question. But hear me out.
Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers is powerful because it makes your supports a lot more relevant. It’s a ridiculously easy weapon to get but provides so much value. Curious why this weapon is on this list?
On its face, Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers looks ordinary. It’s a 3-star of course, and chances are, you’d trash them. But its use is in buffing your DPS characters.
For catalyst characters you don’t usually use, Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers can make them very useful. That’s because the next character you switch to gains a huge ATK buff.
Let’s say you use Kokomi in a freeze team. You can use her elemental skill and then switch to Ganyu. If Kokomi was holding the Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers, Ganyu would gain an ATK buff.
This ATK buff is 24% for 10 seconds. But since this weapon is easy to get, you can realistically refine it to Refinement 5. At this level, the ATK buff it gives is 48%.
It also provides a way for other catalysts to shine. Examples include Barbara as a healer, Lisa in a Eula team, and Mona in just about any other team.
Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers (3-star) details:
Base ATK: Starts at 39 ATK to 401 ATK at Level 90
HP substat: 7.7% additional HP at Level 1 and caps at 35.2% HP at Level 90
Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers is a very accessible 3-star weapon that you can get in any wish banner.
4. Kagura's Verity
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This innocent-looking weapon is one of the most fatal in the game
Finally, we reach the 5-star weapons. These weapons have high Base ATKs and interesting effects that make them great on any catalysts. This is especially useful for DPS characters.
Let’s begin with Kagura’s Verity. It’s a catalyst that has a unique design because it resembles artifacts used in Japanese shrines. Here’s why Kagura’s Verity is a powerful weapon:
Its effect increases elemental skill damage. This damage increase is at 12%, but it can be spammed up to a max of three times (or 36%). The potential for this weapon just really depends on whether the character using it can reliably cast their elemental skill.
When you have three stacks of the elemental skill damage buff, you get an additional bonus. This bonus is a 12% Elemental DMG increase that also further strengthens your characters.
Apart from this, Kagura’s Verity is a huge stat stick. Its substat is 66.2% Crit DMG, making characters hit harder. Character builds also become a lot easier.
Yae Miko and Lisa are some of the catalysts who can use this weapon most effectively.
Kagura’s Verity (5-star) details:
Base ATK: 46 ATK at Level 1 and caps at 608 ATK at Level 90
Crit DMG substat: 14.4% Crit DMG at Level 1 and 66.2% Crit DMG at Level 90
Kagura’s Verity is a limited-time weapon. Players should wait until it’s featured again to obtain this weapon.
3. Memory of Dust
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This weapon’s lore is enough to make players cry
Memory of Dust is one of Liyue’s weapons. This 5-star catalyst doesn’t just look cool, it also hits pretty hard. Its potential is only limited by your ability to shield characters.
When used properly, this weapon is great on DPS characters. It also ensures your survivability because it gets stronger when you have a shield. Memory of Dust is a solid choice for your catalyst because:
It provides a lot of ATK. From its high Base ATK to its ATK% substat and its passive effect. This helps your catalyst deal higher damage as ATK stat directly contributes to output damage.
The passive effect is really easy to trigger. Hitting opponents gives you an additional 4% ATK buff. This stacks up to 5 times, or up to 20% ATK bonus.
When you have a shield, the ATK bonus is doubled. This means that at 5 stacks, a shielded catalyst gains a 40% ATK bonus. Memory of Dust also makes your shield more durable so you can last more attacks.
Memory of Dust (5-star) details:
Base ATK: 46 ATK at Level 1, and up to 608 ATK at Level 90
ATK% substat: Gives an additional 10.8% ATK at Level 1. This caps at 49.6% ATK at Level 90.
Memory of Dust is also a limited-time weapon. You can obtain it the next time it’s featured.
2. Skyward Atlas
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This permanently available weapon is a major DPS boost
ATK is an important stat in the game, sometimes even more than Crit Rate and Crit DMG. A high ATK makes sure that your characters are dealing a high enough amount of damage. This is what makes the Skyward Atlas a great contender on this list.
DPS characters gain a lot from this weapon. If you have it, you should definitely give it to one of your catalyst DPS.
Skyward Atlas has the highest Base ATK among all catalysts. At a ridiculous 674 ATK at Level 90, this weapon reduces your need for ATK from other sources. It also has an ATK% substat that further ups your ATK stat.
Another reason why Skyward Atlas is powerful is because of its passive. Its passive gives a 12% Elemental DMG bonus to your character. Catalysts all have elemental attacks, that’s why this passive is a powerful addition.
Additionally, the Skyward Atlas also has a 50% chance to trigger another attack. This attack deals 160% of your ATK as damage and it can occur every 15 seconds.
Skyward Atlas (5-star) details:
Base ATK: Starts at 48 ATK and caps at 674 ATK at Level 90
ATK% substat: Adds 7.2% ATK at Level 1 and 33.1% ATK at Level 90
Skyward Atlas is available on the permanent/standard wish banner. With enough luck, players can obtain this weapon.
1. Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds
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How much damage do you want? Yes
And finally, we reach the most powerful catalyst in the game. That goes to none other than the Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds. For purely DPS characters, this is their best choice.
Not only does it have a valuable substat, it also has a great effect. This effect becomes all the more useful the longer your character is on the field.
Here’s why Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds is our most powerful catalyst:
Its substat is Crit Rate. This stat is important because it increases the chance that your character will deal additional damage. And with this weapon, Crit Rate will not be your problem.
This weapon incentivizes longer field time, making it ideal for DPS characters. Why? Because the longer the character is on the field, the stronger they get.
Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds gives an 8% Elemental DMG bonus to your character every 4 seconds. This effect stacks up to 4 times, and you can get a 32% Elemental DMG bonus after 16 seconds.
This effect disappears when your character is switched out, so take note. The weapon is great on Ningguang, Klee, and Yanfei, but other catalysts can also benefit from its substat and passive.
Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds (5-star) details:
Base ATK: Gives 46 ATK at Level 1 and caps to 608 ATK at Level 90
Crit Rate substat: Starts at 7.2% Crit Rate (Level 1) and 33.1% Crit Rate at its maximum (Level 90)
Like the Skyward Atlas, the Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds is also available on the permanent/standard wish system.
Conclusion
The flexibility that catalyst characters offer is extended by the right catalyst weapon. It’s a great thing that many catalyst weapons are available depending on the kind of role your characters play. Which of these weapons did you find the most interesting?
The sun uncovers secrets, the moon lights up paths not yet known. Armed with a pen and paper, I'm always chasing the mysteries of far-off wonderlands, wherever they may go.
