In the days leading up to Alhaitham’s playable debut in Genshin Impact, claims that he was a Dendro version of Keqing flew around the internet. Even after his official release, the slander did not stop. However, if one spends time building and playing it, it’s clear that Alhaitham’s similarities to Keqing begin and end with their animations. He really is his own character. Yes, it’s a bit ironic considering his heavy reliance on match compensation to maximize his potential.
Calling Alhaitham “Dendro Keqing” is like calling Xiangling “Pyro Fischl”, simply because his skills are turrets. Alhaitham is a fantastic feedback-based DPS. Agree, it can be difficult to collect it at the door. His damage really depends on whether or not you can set up a Deepwood Memories bot for him. It is not necessary, but there is an obvious difference in their number. The spin you run it with also matters. Resource management with his mirrors, meat, and bread as DPS is also vital, especially given the horribly long cooldown of his elemental ability. Alhaitham is incredibly powerful once you get the hang of it, but until then it can be disappointing.
What makes Alhaitham great is that you don’t really need constellations. You also don’t need to level up his Burst Talent! His burst is a quick way to get mirrors instead of a real source of damage. So you can save your resources for other talents or characters until you get bored. Plus, its excellent Dendro app makes it ideal for Spread or Bloom/Hyperbloom teams. I have the worst luck in the world when it comes to artifacts. But even with my terrible Alhaitham, his powerful Dendro reactions could clear the lower floors of the Abyss. However, it’s more thanks to my Xingqiu and Kazuha than anything else.
Determining a rotation for Alhaitham is probably the hardest part of using it. Unlike characters like Xiao or Ganyu, who can literally get away with anyone, Alhaitham’s potential is heavily dependent on his teammates. I lead a motley team of propagation and hyperbloom reactions. But choosing a reaction and focusing on it is much better. Alhaitham also has no interrupt resistance, so a protector like Zhongli or Xingqiu (who can coincidentally help a Bloom or Hyperbloom team) is ideal. Honestly, for how important your team composition is to maintaining Alhaitham, he has tons of support or sub-DPS options.
Now, some people may not care about “meta” in a PvE game. It’s quite fair. So what does Alhaitham look like as a character from the lens of a Impacto Genshin player? Well mate, I have great news: it’s still fantastic. Alhaitham is fun to use, as well as fun to watch. His Elemental Skill CD is a bit of a pain if you want to use it to explore. But on the other hand, his normal attack animations are very sexy. Also, unlike Zhongli, Alhaitham’s role as a DPS means you’ll see these animations a group. I play with Japanese audio, so I listen to Yuichiro Umehara every time Alhaitham comes out. This man could insult me and I would appreciate it. So whether you’re casual or hardcore, Alhaitham has it all. Now stop calling him Dendro Keqing.
Genshin Impact is available for PS4, PS5, Windows PC and mobile devices. Alhaitham is a limited character in Impacto Genshinand you can only draw from it during the Attention character event with confidence.