Staff of Homa, Lithic Blade, Lithic Spear: Who should use them

While Zhongli and Xiao mains everywhere have been waiting patiently for the new weapon banner with the Staff of Homa, miHoYo decided to give us an additional treat by dropping the exclusive 4* Lithic weapons alongside the 5* polearm.

The Epitome Invocation, which starts on Tuesday (23 February) until 16 March, also features the Wolf's Gravestone, the Sacrificial Bow, Lion's Roar and The Widsith.

If you've got your primos saved up and are looking to wish on this weapons banner, read on to find out which characters can make the most out of your new shinies.

Staff of Homa

Like the Primordial Jade Cutter in the banner before, the Staff of Homa is a 5* that gives Crit Damage as a substat and additional HP-based attack.

Unlike the Jade Cutter, though, the Staff of Homa gives less attack bonus normally, but increases when the health of the character using it goes below 50 per cent, encouraging some high-risk high-reward gameplay.

While the Staff of Homa is supposed to be Hu Tao's weapon, the yet-to-be-released boss of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor isn't the only polearm user who could benefit from this.

It goes without a doubt that Zhongli, with his own buffs and the 1.3 Geo buffs, can most definitely make use of the Staff of Homa. He already has HP-based damage, so using this weapon would be a no-brainer. You might need to tweak your artifacts a little if you've been stacking Crit Damage and using a Crit Rate weapon like the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear or Deathmatch from the Battlepass, but with Homa's 66.2% Crit Damage at max level, building Crit Rate artifacts will be worth it. The only tricky bit might be the fact that Zhongli, if built for HP, can be pretty hard to get to half health. The Lord of Geo practically facetanks everything with the Jade Shield he gets from Dominus Lapidus, and more if you're rocking the Retracing Bolide two-piece with the 35% bonus shield health.

The next polearm user who could easily use Staff of Homa is the emo adeptus Xiao. Unlike Zhongli, who is basically Tanky McTankface, Xiao is pretty much Anemo's glass canon. Activating his Bane of Evil ultimate will drain the Yaksha's HP, which makes the Staff of Homa a good complement to Xiao's playstyle. Additionally, with Crit Rate also being Xiao's ascension bonus stat, you'll have an easier time getting the most out of the Crit Damage on the Staff of Homa. That being said, you'll need to pay attention to your health and be quick with your heals, as a half HP Xiao is a squishy Xiao. It'll also take more micromanaging if you throw shields into the mix, such as if you want the Elemental resistance reduction from Zhongli's Jade Shield.

By virtue of the fact that she's the only other polearm user, Xiangling, too, can make use of Staff of Homa. However, if your Xiangling is used more as a support to trigger elemental reactions, you might still be better served by one of the 4* polearms whose passives complement your reaction comps.

Lithic Spear

The new Lithic weapons offer you a fairly decent weapon (especially if you get a couple of refinements) for the trade-off of favouring your Liyue characters. Given that all the current polearm users are from Liyue, you're already guaranteed at least one stack of the bonus. However, to make the most of the Lithic weapons, you're definitely going to want to look at your team comps and adjust accordingly. Guess it's back to the bench, Benny!

The passive on the Lithic Spear, together with its attack percentage substat, really only benefits a main DPS. Zhongli and Xiao can easily make use of this if you have the right team comp, and if you get the Lithic Spear to refinement level 5, it's going to give you a nice 28% bonus to your Crit Rate, on top of the 44% Attack increase and the 27.6% Attack substat.

All in all, it makes it a decent 4* to consider if you've not pulled a 5* polearm, although its Liyue bias means you'll need to have the right team to support your DPS. For example, if you're putting it on Zhongli and you want Geo resonance, you'd better make sure you have a Ningguang ready to pair up. You'll also not be able to use some of the more common attack-boosting characters such as Bennett or Mona or Sucrose due to their Mondstat affiliation.

Similar to the Staff of Homa, there are also better weapons to consider if you're thinking about using it for a support Xiangling.

Lithic Blade

Similar to the Lithic Spear, the Lithic Blade is a claymore that increases your Attack and Crit Rate the more Liyue characters you have in your team. While you can stick it on a Mondstat claymore user like Razor or Diluc and pair them with three Liyue characters, it's really best to find an all Liyue team comp to make the most out of the passive.

That leaves your Lithic Blade in the hands of characters like Beidou, Chongyun and Xinyan.

It can definitely make Beidou's full counters even more satisfying, assuming you use her on the field a lot more, and not just to pop her Stormbreaker before swapping to another character. If your Beidou is less Meliodas (from Nanatsu no Taizai, for those who don't get the reference) and more a support DPS, you might find a 4* like the Sacrificial or Favonius Greatsword better suited to your playstyle.

On Xinyan, it might lose out to some of the other 4* claymores, given that Xinyan's attacks are a mix of Physical and Pyro damage. And if you have Xinyan at Constellation 2, her Rift Revolution already has a 100% Crit Rate, which makes the Lithic Blade's passive less impressive.

While Chongyun is not your typical main DPS, he could certainly play the part. Combined with some decent artifacts, such as the Blizzard Strayer four-piece, and you can really start to stack Crit Damage on Chongyun. Toss in a Cryo goblet and his elemental skill, which turns all attacks within its field to Cryo anyway, it would seem like he is the Liyue claymore user who could make the most of the Lithic Blade at the moment.

Wolf's Gravestone

While not getting the same attention as the Staff of Homa this time around, the Wolf's Gravestone is still an all-around great claymore. It works on any of your claymore users that you use as a main DPS, and its passive also means it can work well on your supports, setting up your damage dealer for some big numbers once the enemy's HP has dropped below 30%.

Also, let's be real, it is the only weapon model that goes with Diluc's design nicely.

The Widsith

This catalyst, with its Crit Damage substat, will work for any of your characters that is focused on damage dealing. Klee will be one step closer to her dreams of culling Mondstat's fish population, Mona may finally be able to earn Mora at a decent rate, more people might level Sucrose beyond 60 and Ningguang won't have to chuck her Jade Chamber at the next big bad.

Lion's Roar

Do you have Keqing? Do you have a better 5* weapon? Lion's Roar was a popular choice for Keqing early on, but it's been outclassed by the Battlepass' Black Sword as her 4* weapon of choice. Also, because its passive requires a Pyro or Electro set up, it's harder to pass on to another character if you're lucky enough to get a 5* sword. As for the Pyro sword user Bennett, energy reacharge is a more important substat. That said, the MC hasn't gotten their Electro or Pyro powers just yet.

Sacrificial Bow

The Sacrificial series of weapons has one of the most useful 4* passives, and the Sacrificial Bow can certainly find use at the hands of Diona or Venti, who both rely heavily on their elemental skill and Energy Recharge. For other bow users, however, there might already be better options in the 4* range, such as the Stringless for Fischl and Rust for Tartaglia.

GellyPanda is a casual gamer who occasionally dabbles into gatcha games.

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