Alhaitham is the first sword user who wields a Dendro vision released in Genshin Impact. He's been compared to Keqing because of his quick attacks and Elemental Skill's teleportation ability. He's a strong DPS character and is able to apply Dendro to opponents pretty consistently. Because he scales off of Elemental Mastery, more Dendro application means more potential elemental reactions, which equals big damage.
There are a few swords that can increase his Elemental Mastery even further. But Alhaitham is also easygoing enough that you can equip him with swords that don't have Elemental Mastery as a main stat, and he'll be more than fine.
Updated on August 22, 2023, by Jouanna Bondakji: Genshin Impact continues to grow. With Fontaine now out, there will be even more weapons coming out, whether through events, battle pass, or gacha banners.
Now that Alhaitham has been around for a while, it's generally easier to grasp what he's capable of. He shines most as a DPS, and we've added more weapons that you can equip him with to get the most out of his Dendro capabilities.
10 Harbinger Of Dawn - Three-Star
The Harbinger of Dawn isn't as good as some of the four-star options, but it's the best three-star choice in case you don't have access to anything better. Being a three-star weapon, its base ATK will be lower than those with higher stars, but you can get away with having less ATK on Alhaitham.
Its main stat is Crit DMG, which is always useful and will bump up his elemental damage numbers. The sword gives an extra 10.2 to 46.9 percent Crit DMG, depending on its level. Its passive also increases his Crit Rate by 14 to 28 percent as long as his HP stays above 90 percent. Just include a healer in the team, and you're good to go.
9 Iron Sting - Four-Star
Iron Sting is one of the best options for Alhaitham because of its Elemental Mastery main stat, and the best part is that it's forgeable! It gives a minimum of 36 and maximum of 165 extra points of Elemental Mastery, depending on its level. Alhaitham will be able to benefit from its passive almost constantly as well, thanks to his easy Dendro application.
Depending on its refinement, Iron Sting's passive increases all DMG by six to 12 percent for six seconds every time he deals Dendro DMG. Even if you keep the refinement at rank one, a consistent extra six percent of DMG on top of more Elemental Mastery can make a big difference.
8 Toukabou Shigure - Four-Star
If you lack sword billets for Iron Sting, Toukabou Shigure is a great substitute. It's an event-exclusive sword, but if you got it, it's a free weapon for Alhaitham. It'll give him an extra 36 to 165 points of Elemental Mastery, just like Iron Sting. However, its passive works a little differently.
An attack that hits enemies with this weapon will trigger the Cursed Parasol effect on them for ten seconds. Afterwards, damage dealt by Alhaitham against enemies affected by Cursed Parasol is increased by 16 to 32 percent, depending on refinement rank. Since he's an excellent on-field DPS, Alhaitham can inflict Cursed Parasol and take advantage of the extra damage without a problem.
7 Xiphos' Moonlight - Four-Star
Xiphos' Moonlight has the same main stat advantage as Toukabou Shigure and Iron Sting, giving Alhaitham an extra 36 to 165 points of Elemental Mastery. Where it differs is that it can also help with his Energy Recharge, which is also one of the most important stats to manage.
Its passive gives him 0.036 to 0.072 percent of Energy Recharge for each point of Elemental Mastery he has, which should be many. The other members of the team gain 30 percent of this buff too, which helps a lot for energy-hungry characters like Xingqiu. Basically, Xiphos' Moonlight can help ease your Energy Recharge worries if your artifacts don't have great Energy Recharge substats for Alhaitham.
6 Sapwood Blade - Four-Star
Sapwood Blade is another forgeable weapon, though it helps more with Energy Recharge than Elemental Mastery. It'll give Alhaitham six to 30.6 percent extra Energy Recharge, depending on its level. It's a good option if you're really lacking Energy Recharge, but that's not all it's good for. Its passive does give you the opportunity to gain more Elemental Mastery.
Triggering any Dendro-related elemental reaction drops a Leaf of Consciousness on the ground for ten seconds. Picking it up gives Alhaitham 60 to 120 extra points of Elemental Mastery for 12 seconds, depending on its refinement rank. If your Elemental Mastery is already high enough, you might benefit more from having the Sapwood Blade fill your energy needs and give you some extra Elemental Mastery once in a while.
5 Freedom-Sworn - Five-Star
This is technically Kazuha's signature weapon, but it works very well on Alhaitham too. Its main stat gives him a good 43 to 198 points of Elemental Mastery, and he benefits a lot from its passive. By default, it increases the DMG dealt by ten to 20 percent, depending on its refinement rank.
When he triggers an elemental reaction, he'll get a Sigil of Rebellion. Acquiring two of them will consume both and give him and his teammates a 16 to 32 percent increase in normal, plunging, and charged attacks. It'll also give them a general 20 to 40 percent ATK increase. Since Alhaitham's Elemental Skill works with his normal attacks, you'll be doing them often, allowing you to always take advantage of this passive. Not to mention the huge general damage increase.
4 Primordial Jade Cutter - Five-Star
Rather than being one character's signature weapon, the Primordial Jade Cutter fits many characters. This is because its main stat gives a huge bonus of 9.6 to 44.1 percent CRIT Rate, depending on its level. When fully maxed out, that's a big chunk of CRIT Rate covered without any artifacts.
On top of that, it increases the wielder's Max HP by 20 to 40 percent, and yields an ATK bonus based on 1.2 to 2.4 percent of their HP. Though Alhaitham doesn't scale off of HP, the extra HP the weapon gives will cover some of that. It's especially a good choice if you get unlucky with your artifact rolls and land on too much HP. Plus, the extra CRIT Rate alone makes it worth equipping.
3 Mistsplitter Reforged - Five-Star
Mistsplitter Reforged is another weapon that works well on multiple characters just from the extra 9.6 to 44.1 percent CRIT DMG it provides, but its passive makes it especially good for characters like Alhaitham, who incorporate their respective element into pretty much everything they do. He not only gets a 12 to 24 percent Elemental DMG bonus, but also a Mistsplitter's Emblem, which can stack three times to provide even more bonus Elemental DMG.
The minimum bonus is six percent, while the maximum is 56 percent, depending on the weapon's refinement. Alhaitham gets those stacks if his Normal Attacks deal Elemental DMG, which they do if he uses his Elemental Skill first. He also gets a stack when he uses an Elemental Burst and when his Energy is less than 100 percent. You'll pretty much always have at least one stack with him.
2 Haran Geppaku Futsu - Five-Star
Haran Geppaku Futsu is Kamisato Ayato's signature weapon, but it works with Alhaitham's kit quite well too. He gets an Elemental DMG Bonus that ranges from 12 percent to 24 percent, depending on its refinement. The damage of his Normal Attacks will also go up by 20 to 40 percent. Pair these effects with his Elemental Skill, which infuses his Normal Attacks with Dendro, and he'll be doing some serious Dendro damage all the time.
And, of course, the weapon also gives a 7.2 to 33.1 percent increase in CRIT Rate to ensure that more of his hits pack an even bigger punch.
1 Light Of Foliar Incision - Five-Star
This sword is Alhaitham's signature weapon, so it's his best option if you manage to get it. Its main stat gives him a whopping 19.2 to 88.2 percent extra Crit DMG depending on its level, which is a huge boost to his damage. Its passive also increases his Crit Rate by four to eight percent, depending on its refinement.
Not only that; it increases the damage of his regular attacks and Elemental Skill by 120 to 240 percent of his Elemental Mastery. Even at the first refinement rank, having high Elemental Mastery from artifacts combined with the stats and passive of this weapon makes Alhaitham hit harder than ever.