Hu Tao is a 5-star Pyro character in Genshin Impact. Fans were anticipating her release on 1.3, and she was not announced until Keqing's banner almost ended. This move by miHoYo is a pleasant surprise for the fans.

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Hu Tao was previously rumored to be a 4-star character, but became a 5-star due to her popularity. Fans might have heard of her if they had read Qiqi's story, where they discovered that as the Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour, Hu Tao tried to bury Qiqi several times before. Though she's a powerful character, players can still make mistakes while playing Hu Tao. Here are a few examples.

10 Not Playing Her With a Shielder

Hu Tao's elemental skill "Guide to Afterlife" will reduce 30% of her current HP. This skill is her main feature and can be cast again 7 seconds after it ends, making this HP sacrifice a frequent action. This will keep her HP low, and players that forget to keep an eye on her might find her in a critical condition.

To avoid this, a shielder should accompany Hu Tao. It will give her extra protection and reward players with a feeling of safety when they push to attack enemies. In this regard, Hu Tao works well with characters like Zhongli, Diona, and Noelle.

9 Not Playing Her With a Healer

Hu Tao's burst, "Spirit Soother," allows her to heal, but her healing is mostly inadequate. Without a healer, Hu Tao will be stuck at low HP and she'll be on the brink of death most of the time. A shielder can help with this problem, but so far, only Zhongli can provide a shield with 100% uptime.

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Having a healer is crucial for Hu Tao's survivability, allowing players to continuously use her elemental skill without the fear of dying. However, players have to keep in mind that overhealing means Hu Tao can't benefit from her second passive.

8 Playing Her As a Physical DPS

Hu Tao's playstyle is fairly new to Genshin Impact. She's designed with a low base attack to balance her high HP. Her elemental skill allows her to enter the "Paramita Papilio State," which provides her with an attack boost based on the amount of her Max HP. This makes Hu Tao's HP crucial for her damage.

Without this skill, Hu Tao will have very low attack, drastically reducing her effectiveness. Because Paramita Papilio infuses her weapon with Pyro, the only time Hu Tao deals Physical damage is when her skill is inactive. This means she only deals physical damage when her attack is low.

7 Using Bennett to Boost Her Damage

Bennett is one of the best supports in Genshin Impact. His burst offers a massive buff in damage while also healing in the process. While Bennett's healing might not be fully practical, it heals greatly on every tick.

Since Hu Tao gets stronger when her HP is below 50%, Bennett's healing will be an overheal for her, so using Bennett can be tricky if players wish to maximize Hu Tao's potential. Bennett can use attack artifacts instead of HP to lower his healing. This way, players can maintain Hu Tao at lower HP while keeping Bennett's buff and pyro resonance.

6 Spamming Her Charged Attack

Hu Tao's charged attack applies Blood Blossom on her enemies, dealing Pyro damage every 4 seconds. It also has a high multiplier, so some players might think that spamming her charged attack is the most effective way of playing.

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Although her charged attack is powerful, spamming it will quickly drain her stamina. This will cause players to have a harder time dodging, leaving Hu Tao vulnerable with her low HP. It will also be a waste of DPS if players are inept at animation canceling due to the constant need for repositioning. However, this play style is perfectly acceptable if players own a C1 Hu Tao.

5 Using Her Against Pyro Resistant Enemies

As she's reliant on "Guide to Afterlife" for damage, the only time Hu Tao deals massive damage is during the duration of that skill. Since her skill infuses her weapon with Pyro, this makes it less useful against enemies with high Pyro resistance.

For example, the Pyro Whopperflower has a 75% Pyro resistance on its normal form, and 50% Pyro resistance on its stunned form. Fatui Agent also has a 50% Pyro resistance. These resistances reduce Hu Tao's damage drastically and cause a lot of frustration for players. It is better to switch to another character if players are facing these enemies.

4 Building Her With Attack%

Hu Tao will gain more attacks based on her max HP. Building her on HP will allow her to have a higher attack during the duration of her skill and also increase her survivability.

Due to her low base attack, building her on attack means she will gain a lower attack compared to other characters. On the other hand, building her on HP will allow her to massively increase this stat due to her high base stat. Hu Tao has the highest base HP among the current playable characters, even higher than Zhongli.

3 Using Her Burst Incorrectly

Director Hu's burst, "Spirit Soother," needs to be used with caution. The most common mistake players can make is using it without having her skill active. By doing so, Hu Tao will deal an abysmal amount of damage, comparable to her normal attacks.

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Other than that, players will also want to use her burst when her HP is low for extra damage. Her burst is a small AOE, so players should collect enemies around her before casting her burst. Hu Tao is also blessed with Pyro vision, so utilizing the Melt and Vaporize reaction will bring her burst to another level.

2 Focus Too Much on Keeping Her at Low Hp

While it's true that Hu Tao deals better damage at low HP, trying to keep her there all the time can be inefficient. Players will lose focus on their surroundings and be fearful of dying as Hu Tao's HP is glowing red.

Players should play Hu Tao in the area they're comfortable in. If keeping her on the edge of death is not their cup of tea, then they don't have to do so. Hu Tao's playstyle trickiness should be paired with confidence, in order to bring out her full potential.

1 Using Her As The Main DPS

There's no doubt that Hu Tao is one of the best damage dealers in the game, but her whole kit is locked behind a skill that works for nine seconds with sixteen seconds of cooldown. Using her as the only damage dealer in a team will hurt every time her skill is on cooldown, especially when racing against time like in the Spiral Abyss.

To counteract this, players will need a second DPS to fill her role when she's in her downtime. Additionally, players can also use a bunch of supports and rotate among all of them in this seven-second duration.

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