Hu Tao

5★

PyroPolearmMain Damage

TL;DR

Hu Tao's Skill takes a bite out of her own health and turns a chunk of her Max HP into Attack for about 9 seconds. In that window her attacks become Pyro and you spend the whole time doing Charged Attacks, which are the big ones. Her Burst heals her back up when she's about to die. She wants to sit below half health, because that's where her damage bonus kicks in.

Rotation

Let your supports go first and set up their buffs.
Skill (E) to enter the state.
Two Normal Attacks then a Charged Attack, over and over, for the full 9 seconds.
Burst (Q) at the end if you need the heal, or bank it for next time.

Abilities

Skill (E)	Costs some health, then for about 9 seconds her attacks turn Pyro and her Attack stat jumps by a chunk of her Max HP. Everything she does happens inside this window.
Charged Attack	Hold the attack button. This is her damage button rather than a special case. It also leaves a mark on the enemy that ticks Pyro damage for a while afterwards.
Burst (Q)	A ring of Pyro damage that heals her based on how many enemies it hits. Hits harder and heals more when she's below half health. Use it to survive, not on cooldown.

The one mechanic to understand

Keep her below half health.

Below 50% HP she gets a flat 33% Pyro damage bonus and it never turns off while she's down there. Her Skill puts her most of the way to that on its own. So she does not want a healer topping her up between rotations. A shield is the opposite: it can't heal her, so it leaves her sitting at the low health she wants and only stops the hit that would have finished her. Keep one up if the content is dangerous and save healing for after a big hit instead of spending it on chip damage. The whole character is being comfortable playing at low health.

What actually matters

Charged Attacks, not Normal Attacks. They hit much harder and they can trigger a reaction on every single swing, which Normal Attacks cannot. Two normals into a Charged Attack is the loop.
Max HP feeds her Attack. Her Skill converts HP into Attack, so HP is a real damage stat on her, not a survival stat. Level her to 90 for the same reason.
Cancel the animation. A Charged Attack has a long tail you can cut short by jumping or dashing straight after it. It's the difference between five swings in her window and eight.
Skip the Burst most rotations. Building enough Energy Recharge to cast it every time costs more damage than the Burst adds. Around 110% and using it every second rotation is the comfortable place.

Gear

Weapon	Crit first, Elemental Mastery second. Dragon's Bane is craftable, has Elemental Mastery as its main stat and adds damage against wet or burning enemies, which is what she is usually fighting.
Artifacts	4-piece Crimson Witch of Flames. Pyro damage bonus and a big boost to the Vaporize reaction she is built around.

Sands	Goblet	Circlet	Substats
HP / EM	Pyro DMG	Crit	Crit / HP

She is one of the few characters that wants an HP sands on a damage build.

Works well with

Hydro

Cryo

Geo

Hydro is the big one, since her Charged Attacks Vaporize off soaked enemies for a much bigger hit. Geo is on the list for the shielders, who let you play at low health without dying to a stray hit.

Don't bother

Keeping her topped up. Healing her out of the low health bonus costs you more than the health is worth.
Attack goblets and sands. HP and Elemental Mastery both beat them on her.
Stacking Energy Recharge for Burst uptime. Cast it when you need the heal.
Long Normal Attack strings. Two swings and then charge, every time.

Want the full deep dive? Read Hu Tao on KeqingMains.

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