Is Hu Tao F2P Friendly? Let‘s Break Down the Numbers

As a dedicated Hu Tao main and lover of theorycrafting Genshin Impact‘s combat, I‘m here to give you the real talk on whether our beloved Walnut can deliver as a F2P pyro DPS.

The short answer? ABSOLUTELY.

See, Hu Tao‘s entire kit revolves around stacking as much HP and crit stats as humanly possible. constellations only give minor pyro DMG and duration extensions. Her true power lies in refining gameplay, not just refreshing for consts.

And I should know – I‘ve played her as my main DPS for over a year now with a fully F2P account.

Curious how I‘ve set her up and what she can do? Let‘s get into the nitty gritty!

F2P Weapon Options: Pick Your Poison

You‘ll see tons of Hu Tao showcases flaunting her signature Staff of Homa for that sweet crit DMG substat. But our girl has great 4 and even 3 alternatives that get the job done:

I chose Deathmatch from the Battle Pass since I lacked enough crit rate for a 1:2 ratio with my artifacts. That crit rate substat helps paper over any artifacts that didn‘t roll well into crit.

Paired with a CRIT DMG circlet, my Hu Tao sits pretty at 71.8% CRIT Rate & 186.6% CRIT DMG. Not Staff of Homa level, but solid enough to land her hits!

Artifact Farming Plan: Maximize Your Resin

The key is being resin efficient when artifact farming in domains like Crimson Witch. To save you from repeatedly seeing Lavawalker, here‘s an optimized route to build your 4pc Crimson Witch:

With this plan, you‘ll flesh out a strong 4pc CW more quickly while avoiding the Lavawalker trap. We get decent off-pieces on days Hu Tao isn‘t in focus. Plus, keeping your Sakura tree cultivated speeds up future Inazuma character building down the line!

Maximizing F2P Primos For Your Pulls

Alright, let‘s crunch some numbers on how many pulls you can save up as F2P:

Average Primos Per Update
| Source | Primogems |
|-|-|
| Maintenance | 600 |
| Daily Commissions | 2520 (60 x 42 days) |
| Spiral Abyss Floors 9-12 | 1800 |
| Events | Approximately 2400 |
| Quests | Around 1000 |
| Exploration | Varies |

So if we tally that up removing quest and exploration primogems, you‘re looking at 7,320 primogems or 45 pulls each update. Across 3 banner cycles of 21 weeks, that comes out to 135 wishes saved!

More than enough for a 50/50 shot + guaranteed pity to snag Hu Tao. Not even counting bonuses from bug fixes, promo codes, Stardust shop purchases etc.

F2P Team Comps: Who Are Hu Tao‘s Besties?

While Zhongli‘s shields make him the ideal partner, these 4 stars also enable Hu Tao as a pyro DPS:

Xingqiu – Essential buddy for Vaporize reactions that double Hu Tao‘s damage

Diona – Healer + shielder in one budget package

Sucrose – Crowd control and VV shred to amplify reactions

Thoma – Newer option for shields without stealing vapes

I run Hu Tao / Xingqiu / Diona / Kaeya for melt+vape combos in overworld. Swap Kaeya for Sucrose in Abyss.

Not the fanciest comp, but it covers healing, shielding, reactions, and even 4pc Instructor buffs. Everything our girl wants!

Animation Cancelling: Next Level Hu Tao Play

Here‘s an advanced tip that takes practice, but skyrockets damage ceilings.

By dash or jump cancelling between Hu Tao‘s charged attack combos, you skip recovery frames to chain more CA hits. My combo looks like:

N1 > CA > N1 > CA > N1 > CA > N1 > Dash Cancel > Repeat

Timing your cancels just right lets you spam charged attacks and stamina isn‘t drained by full dash distance! Once mastered, you unleash over double the damage in the 10 second skill window compared to button mashing.

It takes dexterity and commitment, but propels VERY strong DPS that outclasses some C6 5-stars! This high skill expression makes Hu Tao exceptionally F2P friendly.

My Hu Tao Stats: Proof She Slaps Hard on a Budget

Let‘s see the final damage test! With the right rotations and cancels, my talent level 8 Hu Tao vapes for:

• 56,324 damage on her N1 > CA combo
• 26,121 damage on her Blood Blossom skill
• 212,967 damage on her Burst explosion

Add in melts, skill resets, and Abyss buffs? We‘ve hit 300K+ bursts on the regular! All without me dropping a single primogem 🙂

While C2 whales might have me beat by 15-20%, the satisfaction making Hu Tao shine as low spender brings way more joy. I could chase consts, but I‘d rather invite new characters into my teapot home!

Taking the time to build solid artifacts, team comps and master animation cancels pays back exponentially on Hu Tao. She brings one hell of a journey turning your blood, sweat and tears into big PP damage worthy of the Walnut herself!

If you adore her chaotic playstyle too, I definitely recommend pulling our adorable little arsonist. You won‘t regret making this eccentric cutie your F2P main DPS!

Let me know if you have any other questions about gearing up best girl. I could talk Hu Tao theory all day and live to share the wealth of knowledge I‘ve gained pushing her potential to its limits ❤️‍🔥