In Genshin Impact, Zhongli remains one of the most valuable support characters due to his unmatched shielding capabilities. When building Zhongli in 2025, understanding the optimal stats priority for his Tenacity of the Millelith artifact set is crucial for maximizing his potential as the game's premier shielder.

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Why Tenacity of the Millelith is Ideal for Zhongli

The 4-piece Tenacity of the Millelith (TotM) set offers two significant benefits that make it particularly valuable for Zhongli:

  • 2-Piece Bonus: HP increased by 20%

  • 4-Piece Bonus: When an Elemental Skill hits an opponent, the ATK of all nearby party members is increased by 20% and their Shield Strength is increased by 30% for 3s. This effect can be triggered once every 0.5s and even when the character using this set is not on the field.

Since Zhongli's Stone Stele pulses damage at regular intervals, it can maintain the 4-piece bonus effect consistently, providing both offensive and defensive buffs to the entire team.

Optimal Stats Priority for Shield-Focused Zhongli

If you're building Zhongli primarily as a shielder, your stats priority should be:

Main Stats

  1. Sands: HP% - Directly increases shield strength

  2. Goblet: HP% - Maximizes shield durability

  3. Circlet: HP% - Completes the full HP% build for maximum shield strength

Substats Priority

  1. HP% - Primary focus for shield strength

  2. Flat HP - Additional shield durability

  3. CRIT Rate - Only if using Favonius Lance to generate particles

  4. Energy Recharge - If you want to use his burst occasionally

With this build, you're looking at potentially reaching 40,000+ HP, which translates to an extremely durable shield that can absorb significant damage.

Weapon Considerations for Shield Support Zhongli

The weapon choice significantly impacts your Tenacity of the Millelith build:

  1. Black Tassel (3★) - Offers 46.9% HP secondary stat, maximizing shield strength

  2. Favonius Lance (4★) - Generates particles for the team, requires some CRIT Rate

  3. Staff of Homa (5★) - Provides both HP% and damage potential if you want hybrid utility

For pure shielding capability, Black Tassel remains the best free-to-play option in 2025, despite all the new weapons that have been introduced.

Alternative Artifact Combinations

While 4pc Tenacity of the Millelith is generally recommended, these alternatives can also work well:

  1. 2pc Tenacity + 2pc Vourukasha's Glow - For maximum shield strength (40% HP total)

  2. 4pc Archaic Petra - For teams where Zhongli can reliably pick up crystallize shards

  3. 4pc Silken Moon's Serenade - A newer option that works well in teams with Nod-Krai characters

Should You Focus on Zhongli's Burst?

While Zhongli's Planet Befall (Elemental Burst) looks impressive, investing in it comes with tradeoffs:

  • Pros of Burst Focus: Provides CC through petrification, can deal decent damage with proper investment, gives invulnerability frames

  • Cons of Burst Focus: Long animation time often results in DPS loss, requires investment in CRIT stats and ATK%, reduces shield strength if not using HP% artifacts

Most theorycrafters in 2025 agree that for most teams, a pure shield Zhongli with Tenacity of the Millelith provides more overall team DPS than a burst-focused build.

Team Compositions Where Shield Zhongli Excels

Zhongli's shield with Tenacity of the Millelith is particularly valuable in these team compositions:

  1. Hu Tao Vaporize - Provides interruption resistance and RES shred

  2. Xiao Hypercarry - Prevents Xiao from being interrupted during his plunges

  3. Itto/Noelle Geo - Activates Geo Resonance consistently

  4. Yoimiya teams - Enables Yoimiya to complete her normal attack strings

  5. Lyney teams - Provides necessary interruption resistance for charged shots

Practical Rotation Examples

When using Zhongli with Tenacity of the Millelith in a Hu Tao team:


Zhongli Hold E (applies shield and TotM buff) → Xingqiu E Q → Yelan E Q → Hu Tao E (combo) → Repeat

For a Xiao team:


Zhongli Hold E → Bennett Q → Faruzan E Q → Xiao E E Q (plunge combo) → Repeat

Conclusion

In 2025's Genshin Impact meta, a Zhongli built with Tenacity of the Millelith and focused on HP% main stats remains one of the most versatile support options. The priority should be maximizing his shield strength through HP-focused artifacts, which in turn enables your damage dealers to perform optimally without interruption.

While his burst can be impressive, the animation time and investment requirements often make a pure shield build more efficient for overall team performance. With proper investment in the Tenacity of the Millelith set and the right stats priority, your Zhongli will provide unmatched protection and utility to virtually any team composition.