On our latest travels across Sumeru, we’ve crossed paths Genshin Impact’s Alhaitham, a strapping, silver-haired scholar who appears to have a trick or two up his sleeve. Though solid information about him is somewhat scarce at the moment, we’ve done a little detective work to dig up everything we know for now. Of course, we’ll be sure to update this guide if Hoyoverse gives us any more interesting crumbs, but in the meantime, let’s take a look at this tall, broody, and handsome chap.
For more info on the upcoming characters, check out our Genshin Impact Sumeru, Genshin Impact Tighnari, Genshin Impact Collei, and Genshin Impact Dori guides. We’ve also got helpful information on the next and current Genshin Impact banner, as well as a Genshin Impact tier list boasting the best of the best.
When is Genshin Alhaitham’s banner?
Genshin Impact Alhaitham’s debut banner, ‘Caution in Confidence’, will begin on January 18, and be available until February 8. It will run with Genshin Impact Xiao’s rerun banner. Alhaitham’s brand new weapon, Light of Foliar Incision, will be on the weapon at the same time.
You can find out more about the current and next Genshin Impact banners right here on Pocket Tactics.
Who is Genshin Impact’s Alhaitham?
In the third Genshin Impact Sumeru trailer, Hoyoverse revealed an upcoming Dendro character called Alhaitham. We then meet him in Port Ormos, during the Sumeru Archon Quests. But who is the mysterious scholar?
Alhaitham works as a Scribe of the Sumeru Akademiya’s Harvatat – one of the six main schools, which focuses on linguistics. Being a part of Sumeru Akademiya, Alhaitham is familiar with many other characters, including those who studied there like Genshin Impact’s Lisa. Some keen-eyed players also noticed a suspicious note outside the Wangshu Inn in Liyue that suggests Alhaitham and Zhongli share a friendship.
Alhaitham’s name is likely based on Ibn Al-Haytham, an Arab mathematician, astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age. He’s considered to be the ‘father of modern optics’ due to his significant contributions to the study and principles of optics, having been credited as the first person in history to prove that vision occurs in the brain instead of the eyes. This makes sense with Alhaitham being from Sumeru, the nation of scholars, and perhaps gives us further insight into his intellectual prowess.
Alhaitham has grey hair, and his outfit is black, turquoise, gold, and green. Many fans have highlighted the similarities between him and Honkai Impat 3rd’s Su, which wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a Honkai ‘expy’ (or export) appear in Genshin’s roster, with characters like Genshin Impact’s Raiden bearing striking resemblances to previous Honkai characters. Coincidentally, Honkai’s Su is actually a scientist who created the ‘seed of Sumeru’.
What is Genshin Impact Alhaitham’s element?
Alhaitham possesses a Dendro vision, as seen attached to his cape. He will be the fourth Dendro character released into Genshin (not including the Traveler).
What is Alhaitham Genshin Impact’s best role?
Alhaitham fits best in a DPS, or perhaps sub-DPS role. He is not an off-field applicator, and his Chisel Light Mirrors will disappear when he leaves the field. As a Dendro user, he will excel at creating reactions, so it will be best to set up some elements and then unleash his special and burst to deal plenty of damage when they are charged.
What’s the best Genshin Alhaitham build?
Here are our speculative choices for what’s best to equip Alhaitham with. Taking into account what we know about his constellations and talents, buffing his Elemental Mastery is a priority, as it translates to damage on his skill and burst. Thankfully, there are weapons and artifact sets that can help with this.
What are the best Genshin Alhaitham weapons?
Alhaitham is a sword user, along with his Dendro vision. When he is in the game, we will update you with our tried and tested picks. Ahead of his release, we can recommend these weapons for Alhaitham, especially his signature weapon, Light of Foliar Sanction, which will be available on the weapon banner alongside him.
| Weapon |
Rarity |
Stat |
Skill |
How to obtain |
| Light of Foliar Incision |
5-Star |
CRIT damage |
CRIT Rate is increased by 4%. When Normal Attacks deal Elemental DMG, the Foliar Incision effect will be obtained, increasing DMG dealt by Normal Attacks and Elemental Skills by 120% of Elemental Mastery. This effect will disappear after 28 DMG instances or 12s. You can obtain Foliar Incision once every 12s. |
Weapon banner |
| Sapwood Blade |
4-Star |
Energy Recharge |
After triggering Burning, Quicken, Aggravate, Spread, Bloom, Hyperbloom, or Burgeon, a Leaf of Consciousness will be created around the character for a maximum of 10s. When picked up, the Leaf will grant the character 60 Elemental Mastery for 12s. Only 1 Leaf can be generated this way every 20s. This effect can still be triggered if the character is not on the field. The Leaf of Consciousness’ effect cannot stack. |
Crafting |
| Freedom Sworn |
5-Star |
Elemental Mastery |
Increases DMG by 10%. When the character wielding this weapon triggers Elemental Reactions, they gain a Sigil of Rebellion. This effect can be triggered once every 0.5s and can be triggered even if said character is not on the field. When you possess 2 Sigils of Rebellion, all of them will be consumed and all nearby party members will obtain Millennial Movement: Song of Resistance for 12s. Millennial Movement: Song of Resistance increases Normal, Charged and Plunging Attack DMG by 16% and increases ATK by 20%. Once this effect is triggered, you will not gain Sigils of Rebellion for 20s. Of the many effects of the Millennial Movement, buffs of the same type will not stack. |
Gacha |
| Lion’s Roar |
4-Star |
ATK % |
Increases DMG against enemies affected by Pyro or Electro by 20%. |
Gacha |
Other than these specific picks, Primordial Jade Cutter or Mistsplitter Reforged will be good options due to their CRIT rate buffs.
What are the best Genshin Alhaitham artifacts?
Like Alhaitham’s weapon choice, you’re going to want to go for Elemental Mastery and Dendro damage buffs with his artifacts. There are a few good sets we can use for this:
| Artifact set |
2-Piece Bonus |
4-Piece Bonus |
| Deepwood Memories |
15% Dendro DMG Bonus |
After Elemental Skills or Bursts hit opponents, the targets’ Dendro RES will be decreased by 30% for 8s. This effect can be triggered even if the equipping character is not on the field. |
| Gilded Dreams |
Increases Elemental Mastery by 80 |
Within 8s of triggering an Elemental Reaction, the character equipping this will obtain buffs based on the Elemental Type of the other party members. ATK is increased by 14% for each member whose Elemental Type is the same as the equipping character, and EM is increased by 50 for every member with a different Elemental Type. Each of the buffs will count up to 3 characters. This effect can be triggered once every 8s and even when not on the field. |
| Wanderer’s Troupe |
Increases Elemental Mastery by 80 |
Not recommended |
| Flower of Paradise Lost |
Increases Elemental Mastery by 80 |
The equipping character’s Bloom, Hyperbloom, and Burgeon reaction DMG are increased by 40%. Additionally, after the equipping character triggers Bloom, Hyperbloom, or Burgeon, they will gain another 25% bonus to the effect mentioned prior. Each stack of this lasts 10s. Max 4 stacks simultaneously. This effect can only be triggered once per second. The character who equips this can still trigger its effects when not on the field. |
For other, not-as-specific choices, the Noblesse Oblige and Gladiator’s Finale sets (especially with the two-piece bonus) are always good choices due to their Elemental Burst and ATK buffs respectively. They are also easier to attain given that they can be crafted at the Alchemy bench, or earned from some bosses as drops.
What are Genshin Impact Alhaitham’s skills?
Note that this information is currently unconfirmed by Hoyoverse, and has been spied in the 3.4 beta. According to Honey Impact, his skills are like this:
- Normal Attack – Up to five rapid strikes
- Charged Attack – Two rapid sword strikes that use an amount of Stamina
- Plunging Attack – When jumping from mid-air, will hit the ground with a small AoE to damage enemies.
Alhaitham’s Elemental Skill, Universality, seems to resemble Genshin Impact Keqing‘s, and sees him perform a rush attack while dealing Dendro damage. By holding the associated button, you can aim where to place the attack, too. This attack forms a ‘Chisel Light Mirror’, which changes his normal attack damage to Dendro, and provides Projection Attacks causing more Dendro damage in a small AoE.
His Elemental Burst, Particular Field, is where the hefty damage comes in. Again, like Keqing’s burst filled with quick strikes, Alhaitham’s burst sets out a ‘Binding Field’ that strikes all opponents in it with Dendro damage. The more Chisel Light Mirrors that exist when you activate this skill, the more damage it deals.
What are Genshin Impact Alhaitham’s Constellations?
Alhaitham’s Constellation appears to be called Falco Caeli, which translates to ‘Falcon (or hawk)’ and ‘sculptors chisel’. It has also been named ‘Vultur Volans’, which is the old name for the constellation Aquila, meaning eagle.
From what we’ve seen, Alhaitham’s Constellations are the following:
- Intuition – Alhaitham’s elemental skill cooldown is reduced by 1 second when a Projection Attack hits an enemy.
- Debate – Each Chisel Light Mirror being created increases Alhaitham’s Elemental Mastery by 40 for 8 seconds.
- Negation – Increases the level of Alhaitham’s elemental skill by three.
- Elucidation – When Alhaitham’s burst is performed, two effects will take place:
- Chisel Light Mirrors will increase EM of all party members for 15 seconds.
- Chisel Light Mirrors will give Alhaitham a 10% Dendro bonus for 15 seconds.
- Sagacity – Increases the level of Alhaitham’s burst by three.
- Validity – Creating more than the maximum Chisel Light Mirrors increases Alhaitham’s Crit rate and Crit damage by 10% and 70% for 6 seconds.
What are Genshin Alhaithams’s ascension and talent materials?
Unfortunately for us Alhaitham wanters, there isn’t much preparation we can do ahead of time, aside from gathering Nagadus Emeralds and the Eremite headband item drops. The local speciality and boss drops that Alhaitham needs to ascend are both being added in 3.4, along with the man himself. We’ll need Psuedo-Stamens from a new Setekh Wenut boss – a big desert snake – and Sand Grease Pupas that we can pick up in the same area. His talent materials can be farmed in advance, however; Alhaitham needs the Ingenuity talent books, and the Mirror of Mushin drops from the Balladeer weekly boss.
That’s everything we know about Genshin Impact’s Alhaitham so far, but we’ll be sure to update you as soon as Hoyoverse confirms anything else. In the meantime, head over to our list of the best games like Genshin Impact to find something fresh to play.
