Dragon's Bane vs. Deathmatch: What is the best 4-star weapon for Hu Tao in Genshin Impact?

Genshin Impact has finally released one of the most awaited 5-star characters, Hu Tao, worldwide. Although some players have started farming the necessary material for her DPS build, players with no 5-star polearms struggle for a suitable weapon for her.

What is the best 4-star weapon for Hu Tao in Genshin Impact?

Hu Tao's DPS-oriented elemental skills and bursts allow her to deal scary damage when built with her signature weapon, "Staff of Homa." That being said, it takes more money and luck to unlock it from the weapons banner, thanks to the terrible gacha odds.

In that case, the best option is to keep using a 4-star weapon until 5-star weapons arrive. The two 4-star polearms that seem insanely beneficial when paired with Hu Tao are Deathmatch and Dragon's Bane.

This articles look at their stats to find out what's the best for Hu Tao as a DPS character in Genshin Impact.

Deathmatch:

Deathmatch polearm in Genshin Impact (Image via Hoyolab)

Rarity: 4-Stars

Base ATK: 41

Base ATK (Lv90): 454

Secondary stat: 8% CRIT Rate

Secondary stat (Lv90): 36.8% CRIT Rate

Deathmatch is obtainable from the battle pass in Genshin Impact. The weapon provides CRIT Rate as its secondary stat, making it a viable weapon for DPS characters.

Although there is higher damage output with the Crit hits, it is not beneficial if players prefer the elemental reaction meta. The damage output obtained over time via this polearm is better than Dragon's Bane as a solo DPS. In contrast, it bottlenecks when built for elemental reactions due to lack of sufficient Elemental Mastery.

Dragon's Bane:

Dragon's Bane polearm in Genshin Impact (Image via Hoyolab)

Rarity: 4-Stars

Base ATK: 41

Base ATK (Lv90): 454

Secondary stat: 48 Elemental Mastery

Secondary stat (Lv90): 221 Elemental Mastery

Dragon's Bane in Genshin Impact cannot draw out the character's true strength by itself, as it requires elemental reactions. Secondary stats providing a massive 221 Elemental Mastery can increase the reaction damage exponentially.

To achieve this, Hu Tao needs a good Hydro-type support character like XIngqiu. While using this polearm, damage against Hydro or Pyro's opponents is increased by 20% at refinement rank 1 and 36% at refinement rank 5.

When paired with support characters such as Xingqiu, this passive adds extra damage to the regular Vaporize reaction, making Hu Tao a massive elemental damage dealer on-field.

The above video by MartinGa1e shows the weapons in action. Although damage outputs may vary from player to player depending upon their artifact stats, it can still help make the right choice for Hu Tao's weapon.

Considering the above factors, it can be concluded that Dragon's Bane provides more damage than Deathmatch. However, it requires players to have a good Hydro support character like Xingqiu.

On the other hand, Deathmatch provides more damage than Dragon's Bane as a standalone character, with consistent damage per strike.