Albedo is a Geo off-field DPS support. While he can be used in virtually any team, he is most commonly played in double Geo comps. This is not without reason, as only such a team comp allows him to shine to his fullest.
Unfortunately, he suffers from split scaling. What this means is that not all of his DMG dealing abilities scale off of the same stat. Namely, his Elemental Skill DMG scales off of his DEF, while his Elemental Burst scales off of his ATK. This is an unfortunate circumstance, as it means you can’t build your Albedo to excel at everything he does.
In this Albedo build guide, we’ll mainly focus on his Elemental Skill DMG, as this constitutes his largest and most consistent DMG contribution to any team. In addition to this, we’ll cover his constellations, weapons, artifacts, and teammates that complement his play style, and ultimately decide on whether or not he is a character worth pulling for.
So without any further ado, let’s begin.
Table of ContentsShow
Talent Priority
| Talent | Description | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Attack (Favoinus Bladework – Weiss) | Normal Attack: Perform up to 5 rapid strikes. Charged Attack: Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to unleash 2 rapid sword strikes. Plunging Attack: Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE DMG | The ideal number of weapon attacks you should perform with Albedo is exactly zero. Feel free to ignore this talent entirely. It won’t affect your DMG in the slightest. |
| Elemental Skill (Abiogenesis: Solar Isotoma) | Albedo creates a Solar Isotoma using alchemy, which deals AoE Geo DMG on appearance. Solar Isotoma has the following properties: • When opponents within the Solar Isotoma field take DMG, the Solar Isotoma will generate Transient Blossoms which deal AoE Geo DMG. DMG dealt scales off Albedo’s DEF. • Transient Blossoms can only be generated once every 2s. • When a character is located at the locus of the Solar Isotoma, the Solar Isotoma will accumulate Geo power to form a crystallized platform that lifts the character to a certain height. Only one crystallized platform can exist at a time. • Solar Isotoma is considered a Geo construct. Only one Solar Isotoma created by Albedo himself can exist at a time. Hold to designate the location of the skill. | To put it plainly, Albedo’s Elemental Skill generates a Geo Construct. When a character within the Construct’s range does DMG, an instance of AoE Geo DMG that scales off of Albedo’s DEF will proc. This is where most of Alebdo’s DMG comes from, so we strongly suggest making this his highest priority talent. |
| Elemental Burst (Rite of Progeniture: Tectonic Tide) | Under Albedo’s command, Geo crystals surge and burst forth, dealing AoE Geo DMG in front of him. If a Solar Isotoma created by Albedo himself is on the field, 7 Fatal Blossoms will be generated in the Solar Isotoma field, bursting violently into bloom and dealing AoE Geo DMG. Tectonic Tide DMG and Fatal Blossom DMG will not generate Transient Blossoms. | This skill translates to AoE Geo DMG, and it does more DMG if cast within the field generated by Albedo’s Elemental Skill. The DMG is okay, but since it scales with Albedo’s ATK it’s not that amazing. You shouldn’t ignore it, but this is definitely his second priority talent. |
Passive Talents
| Talent Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Flash of Genius | When Albedo crafts Weapon Ascension Materials, he has a 10% chance to receive double the product. | Like most utility passives of this kind, this is decent. You certainly won’t mind how it effectively gives you extra Resin. |
| Calcite Might | Transient Blossoms generated by Abiogenesis: Solar Isotoma deal 25% more DMG to opponents whose HP is below 50%. | Since Albedo’s off-field DPS capabilities are effectively always on, you shouldn’t ever have to worry about missing out on this DMG. And the buff is far from insignificant. |
| Homuncular Nature | Using Rite of Progeniture: Tectonic Tide increases the Elemental Mastery of nearby party members by 125 for 10s. | This talent does nothing to increase Albedo’s own DMG, but it makes him a more desired support in many reaction-based teams. |
Albedo’s kit is a bit wonky. His Skill scales off his DEF, while his Burst scales off of ATK. Furthermore, he buffs Elemental Mastery, but effectively has no way to utilize this buff himself. While this has prevented him from ever becoming a meta character, many players still swear by him, thanks to how huge the DMG of his Elemental Skill is and how F2P his most optimal build is.
We’ll cover this optimal build—weapons, artifact sets, and teammates included—in this guide, but first, let’s take a look at how good Albedo’s constellations are.
Constellations
| Constellation Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Flower of Eden | Transient Blossoms generated by Albedo’s Abiogenesis: Solar Isotoma regenerate 1.2 Energy for Albedo. | With C1, Albedo will quickly generate enough Energy for himself to spam his Burst off-cooldown. Unless you plan on getting C2, the value of this constellation is dubious due to the character’s split scaling. Plus, his Burst has a low enough Energy cost as it is. |
| Opening of Phanerozoic | Transient Blossoms generated by Abiogenesis: Solar Isotoma grant Albedo Fatal Reckoning for 30s: • Unleashing Rite of Progeniture: Tectonic Tide consumes all stacks of Fatal Reckoning. Each stack of Fatal Reckoning consumed increases the DMG dealt by Fatal Blossoms and Rite of Progeniture: Tectonic Tide’s burst DMG by 30% of Albedo’s DEF. • This effect stacks up to 4 times. | In short, C2 adds DEF scaling to Albedo’s Burst. If this sounds incredible, that’s because it is. You can now stack DEF and not have to worry about how this will make you Burst weaker. C2 is a real game-changer for Albedo. Whether it’s worth the price of not one but two other 5* characters is up to you and your budget to decide. |
| Grace of Helios | Increases the Level of Abiogenesis: Solar Isotomaby 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | This is a good DMG spike, but nothing spectacular. |
| Descent of Divinity | Active party members within the Solar Isotoma field have their Plunging Attack DMG increased by 30%. | If you have Xiao, this can be very useful. If you don’t have Xiao, this constellation is utterly worthless. |
| Tide of Hadean | Increases the Level of Rite of Progeniture: Tectonic Tide by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | Not terrible, but not impressive. |
| Dust of Purification | Active party members within the Solar Isotoma field who are protected by a shield created by Crystallize have their DMG increased by 17%. | Crystallize shields are very easy to come by when you have Albedo, so this essentially translates to +17% DMG on your on-field character. That’s a lot of DMG. |
Albedo’s constellations are kind of horrible. His C2 is a game-changer in many ways, but it’s not essential. Yes, it gives extra DMG and extends some of the DEF scaling onto his Burst, but this won’t miraculously turn him into a meta character. Even at C0, Albedo can perform very well. Aside from C2, the only constellation worth much is C6. Our advice is to just ignore his constellations entirely.
Best Weapon
| Weapon Rarity | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Cinnabar Spindle 4* | No, this isn’t an error. The event-exclusive 4* Cinnabar Spindle is genuinely better on Albedo than any 5* sword. Even at r1, it outperforms most 5* weapons on this character, but the refinements are free anyway, so there’s no reason not to use this sword if you have it. But don’t worry if you missed it, since Albedo’s 2nd BiS weapon is actually a 3* weapon. |
| Harbinger of Dawn 3* | Again, we’re assuming an r5 Harbinger of Dawn with the passive up, but neither of these conditions is difficult to meet and maintain. The passive works even while Albedo isn’t the active character. Just make sure he doesn’t suffer from Bleeding or Corrosion, which can damage him off-field. In case you’re wondering, here’s the reason why 3* and 4* weapons can so easily outperform 5* options on Albedo: His Elemental Burst scales exclusively off of his DEF. So the base ATK of the weapon—which gets higher with rarity—doesn’t factor in at all. Meanwhile, the CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG provided by this weapon do factor in, and they’re massive stat bumps. |
| Mistsplitter Reforged 5* | Mistsplitter Reforged buffs all Elemental DMG, including Geo DMG. With how F2P friendly Albedo is, it’s almost a shame to use such a powerful weapon so many main DPS characters crave (and still do less DMG than you would with a Cinnabar Spindle), but that’s not for us to decide. |
| Primordial Jade Cutter 5* | The insane amount of CRIT Rate provided by the Jade Cutter is just too good to pass up. But with so many better options at lower rarity, it feels like a waste giving the Jade Cutter to Albedo. |
| Festering Desire 4* | You’ll have to have been playing the game for a long time to have this patch 1.2 exclusive weapon, but it’s another great option for Albedo, as it noticeably buffs up his Elemental Skill’s DMG and CRIT Rate. It’s not as strong as Harbinger of Dawn, but the higher base ATK and Energy Recharge substat make it better for those who don’t wish to completely neglect his Burst. |
Best Artifacts – 4-Piece Husk of Opulent Dreams
Once you’ve equipped him with the proper weapon, the way to derive the most DMG from Albedo is simple—just give him a DEF Sands, a Geo DMG Goblet, and a CRIT Rate/CRIT DMG Logos.
In terms of substats, all you care about is CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, DEF%, and possibly Energy Recharge. Aim for a 1:2 CRIT Rate to CRIT DMG ratio.
As far as set bonuses go, nothing even comes close to the 4-Piece Husk of Opulent Dreams with max stacks. And considering you can build stacks while off-field, this shouldn’t ever be a problem.
A close second is a combination of 2-Piece Husk of Opulent Dreams and 2-Piece Archaic Petra. This will get you a baseline DMG that’s slightly higher than the 4-Piece Husk without any stacks.
Another option is the 4-Piece Archaic Petra set bonus. This will significantly reduce Albedo’s own DMG potential, but it will more than make up for it by buffing the DMG of your main Elemental DPS character.
Elemental Synergies
Unless you’ve got a C6 Albedo or are running a 4-piece Archaic Petra set, you don’t need to worry about Elemental synergies. None of them are good, and none of them are bad. Whatever you use will effectively work the same.
In fact, the only Element we suggest running alongside Albedo is another instance of Geo.
- Geo Resonance (obtained by having at least 2 Geo characters in your party of four) significantly boosts Geo DMG. This is also one of the few ways you have of boosting Geo DMG, so if you want to see big DMG numbers, running another Geo character alongside Albedo is the way to go.
Best Team Composition
Free-to-Play
- Albedo
- Ningguang
- Bennett
- Xiangling
Since Geo doesn’t have any meaningful Elemental Reactions, and the crux of this team is the double Geo line-up of Albedo and Ningguang, the best thing you can do is passively increase their DMG by teaming them up with two Pyro characters for that delicious Pyro Resonance.
Ningguang is used as the active DPS character in this team. So long as you complement her Geo-centric playstyle (raw stats over Elemental Reactions) you’ll be able to do some incredible DMG with her. Ningguang is one of the best 4* main DPS characters in the game, and she only gets better with constellations. A C6 Ningguang’s Burst DMG Potential can easily outscale that of some 5* characters. If you have to replace her with anyone, Noelle seems like the best bet. Noelle is also a beast at C6, but the only issue is that she’s kind of mediocre until she gets to that point. Nevertheless, she is serviceable.
Bennett and Xiangling are a powerful dynamic due that can carry many teams into the highest floors of the Spiral Abyss. That said, if you don’t have them, literally any other characters will do. It’s best if they have strong off-field potential—like Fisckl or Xingqiu—to allow Ningguang the highest active uptime, but this isn’t a requirement. Even the second Geo isn’t a necessity. You can slot Albedo into any team and he’ll do great. This is just our recommendation for a seriously powerful F2P team.
For Whales
- Albedo
- Zhongli
- Xiao
- Mona
The Albedo and Zhongli double Geo support pairing is strong enough to support any line-up. However, it works best with teams that don’t mind the effectively inert nature of Geo as an Element, which is exactly what you get when you add in Xiao and Jean.
Zhongli applies Resistance shred, enables the Geo Resonance, shields the active character—the standard Zhongli stuff. In this case, he also enables the Geo Resonance, boosting the entire team’s DMG even further.
Xiao does insane DMG. If you have a C4 Albedo, he does even more DMG, but this isn’t a requirement; it’s more of a cherry on top.
Jean provides healing, some crowd control, and also unlocks the Anemo Resonance, which grants various perks, including a reduction in Elemental Skill Cooldown. If you’re using Harbinger of Dawn on Albedo, it’s essential that you get a healer who can heal off-field characters, such as Jean.
Is Albedo Worth It?
Albedo is a solid character, but he kind of has a low impact. Sure, we put him in A-Tier on our Character Tier List, and we stand by this placement—he’s strong, but he’s just not game-changing. If you’ve got Zhongli, then you can pair the two to make any hypercarry’s life easier. Without Zhongli, though, his value deflates a bit.
This doesn’t mean he’s not worth pulling for, due to one reason, and that’s his incredibly F2P-friendly build. Most other characters need not only a 5* weapon to do their best, but their very own limited weapon banner 5* weapon. Take Ayaka, for example. Without Mistsplitter Reforged, she’ll still be good, but she won’t be anywhere near as powerful as she would be with this weapon.
With Albedo, on the other hand, you know that you’re not losing out on any DMG by refusing to fall for the scam that is the limited weapon banner. Just give him his desired 4* or even a 3* weapon and he’ll operate at 100%. This isn’t something you can say for most other characters.
In the end, it all comes down to preference. If you like his playstyle, F2P friendly build, or just his character in general, know that you won’t regret pulling for Albedo, as you’ll always be able to find a home for him in any team. But if none of this strikes your fancy, there’s no need to fear that you’ll be missing out on anything if you don’t pull for him.
