Mihoyo just announced some exciting changes coming to Genshin Impact Version 1.3. Once the update is rolled out, the 5-star character Zhongli will receive some pretty significant buffs. The Geo element will also see some notable changes that will provide much more utility.
First, let’s talk about the (tentative) buffs to Zhongli. One of the most significant changes lies in his passive talent, Dominance of Earth. Currently, this talent only increases the damage of his Elemental Burst (Planet Befall), but once Version 1.3 is here, the damage of his normal attacks and Elemental Skill (Dominus Lapidis) will also be increased based on his max HP.
Aside from that, Zhongli’s Dominus Lapidis Elemental Skill will be reworked too. Right now, holding the skill will only create a shield, but the new version will also summon a Stone Stele. On top of that, the interruption resistance of the skill in holding mode will be significantly increased too; Zhongli can even tank a hit from a Mitachurl’s shield attack thanks to this.
The Geo element will also be reworked in Version 1.3 of Genshin Impact. A Geo shield, for one, will be able to absorb 150% physical and elemental damage (instead of only 250% Geo damage) in the future update, making it much more effective at blocking different sources of damage. This effect applies to Geo shields created by Zhongli, Noelle, and even Geo crystals dropped by Geovishap Hatchlings.
Oh, the Geo Resonance “Enduring Rock” effect will be changed too in Version 1.3. Not only will it increase shield strength by 15%, characters protected by a shield will also deal 15% more damage. To make things even better, the Geo resistance of attacked enemies will also be lowered by 20% for 15 seconds.
Evidently, these tentative changes to Version 1.3 of Genshin Impact are meant to make Zhongli and a Geo-based team much more viable. But Mihoyo mentioned that these changes are not final, and more testing will be done in the 1.3 beta test server first before these reworks make it into the official game.
Of course, no word yet on exactly when the Genshin Impact 1.3 update will be released. But given that Version 1.2 will go live next week on 23 December – about 40 days after Version 1.1 was introduced – we expect the 1.3 update to arrive sometime in February 2021.
Now that Zhongli is set to be buffed, there’s extra incentive to roll for him – his current banner (Gentry of Hermitage) will be ending this Tuesday on 22 December.