Genshin Impact 4.1 second half: Should you pull for Wriothesley, Venti, and their weapons?

The second half of Genshin Impact version 4.1, featuring the debut of Wriothesley, the imposing Duke of the Fortress of Meropide, and another rerun for Venti, also known as the Anemo Archon Barbatos!

Wriothesley is a 5-star Cryo Catalyst DPS who enforces law and order with a pair of mechanical boxing gloves that let him unleash a flurry of Cryo-infused punches. Meanwhile, Venti is a 5-star bow user who can trap enemies in a vortex of Anemo while buffing the elemental damage of his teammates.

So, if you're still torn on whether you should pull for Wriothesley, Venti, or their signature weapons, read on and we'll help you decide.

Need a fast-hitting Cryo DPS? Get Wriothesley

Wriothesley is looking like another strong addition to Genshin Impact's roster of powerful Cryo DPS character. And much like other Fontaine characters, The Duke of the Fortress of Meropide's kit involves HP manipulation.

Wriothesley's kit is centered around his normal attacks, which let him unleash a flurry of Cryo-infused fisticuffs that can be empowered by his skill at the cost of his health. Wriothesley is also fairly self-sufficient, as one of his ascension passives can counter-act the HP drain from his empowered normal attacks by making his charged attack regenerate a portion of his health.

Meanwhile, his burst unleashes a powerful surge of Cryo that can be useful when finishing off any enemies left standing after a barrage of punches.

Since Wriothesley's kit includes an HP manipulation mechanic, he can make good use of the powerful 4-piece Marechaussee Hunter artifact set, which increases normal attack damage by 15% and gives a stacking 36% Crit Rate bonus whenever its wielder's HP increases or decreases.

Since Wriothesley is also a Cryo character, he can be paired with Hydro characters to take advantage of the Freeze reaction and prevent enemies from being able to fight back. You can also run him in a Melt team for more damage, though you'll be missing the defensive utility that comes from Freezing enemies.

We expect Wriothesley's best team will include Shenhe, Yelan, and Kazuha. Shenhe will greatly buff Wriothesley's Cryo attacks, Yelan's burst will let him Freeze enemies while also adding another damage buff, while Kazuha provides even more elemental damage buffs to the entire team.

A 4-star version of that team can include Layla or Diona as a defense-oriented Cryo support, Xingqiu as an off-field Hydro applicator to trigger Freeze, and Anemo buffers like Sucrose or Lynette.

While Wriothesley is definitely looking strong, he is by no means a game-changer. If you already have other top Cryo DPS characters like Ganyu or Ayaka, then Wriothesley may end up being redundant. However, if you're lacking a Cryo DPS then he'll definitely be worth it, especially during the Fontaine versions where HP manipulation will be favourted by the metagame.

Need crowd control and Anemo buffs? Get Venti

Venti is arguably the most divisive 5-star character in Genshin Impact. In the game's early versions, he was one of the strongest characters — if not the outright strongest — due to his ability to trivialise non-boss combat encounters with his burst that traps enemies in a powerful vortex of Anemo that could also Swirl other elements.

Venti was so strong back then that HoYoverse indirectly nerfed him by making almost every mob-type enemy released since version 2.0 immune to crowd-control. Since then, he was widely considered to be power-crept by Kazuha, with many players even half-jokingly referring to Kazuha as the true Anemo Archon instead of Barbatos himself.

But while Kazuha does have Venti beat when it comes to buffing the elemental damage of other characters, Venti is still hands-down Genshin Impact's best crowd-control character, as long as the enemies you're facing aren't bosses or are immune to his crowd-control abilities.

So, if you're finding yourself overwhelmed by the mobs in endgame content like the Spiral Abyss, then Venti will help you clear that without a sweat and will be well worth the Primogems. But if you can already handle such content, then you're better off saving for other characters.

But if you do want to get Venti, then you'll find that it's very easy to build him up to a level where he can breeze through combat.

While Venti shines the brightest with his signature weapon, he is already very strong with just 4-star weapons, especially with The Stringless. His artifact build-up is very straightforward too, just give him the 4-piece Viridescent Venerer set with Elemental Mastery main stats on the sands, goblet, and circlet.

So, if you're an Archon collector or in need of strong crowd-control, then Venti would be a worthy addition to your account. With that said, we can't really put him in the 'must-pull' tier of characters like the other Archons — namely Zhongli, Raiden Shogun, and Nahida — and Kazuha.

Should you get Wriothesley and Venti's signature weapons?

Unlike the weapon banner for the first half of version 4.1, the one for the second half isn't as enticing.

If you're pulling for Wriothesley and want him to reach his full potential with his signature weapon, the Cashflow Supervision, then losing the 50/50 to Venti's signature, the Elegy for the End, may not be a pleasant experience.

Venti isn't exactly the best teammate for Wriothesley, as enemies sucked into the vortex created by Venti's burst may end up out of reach of Wriothesley's attacks. Other bow-wielding support characters who make good use of the Elegy for the End, like Kujou Sara or Faruzan, don't fit with Wriothesley either.

Unless you really want it, we recommend saving your Primogems for another weapon banner.

Wriothesley has plenty of other Catalysts he can use other than his signature that can still make him very strong. For 5-star alternatives, you can go for the standard 5-star Catalysts like the Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds or the Skyward Atlas, or even the Tulaytullah's Remembrance, Wanderer's signature.

For 4-star options, Wriothesley can use The Widsith, Flowing Purity, or the Solar Pearl.

In Venti's case, he doesn't need to get the Elegy of the End for him to shine. As we said above, The Stringless is more than enough.

Wriothesley and Venti are the featured 5-star characters for the second half of Genshin Impact version 4.1. After version 4.1 comes version 4.2 in early November, which will feature the debuts of Furina, also known as the Hydro Archon Focalors, and the Steambird reporter Charlotte.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

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