Genshin Impact: How to Get The Black Sword and Who Is It Good For

Image: miHoYo via HGG / Devin Dornbrock

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Reviewed by Jeffrey Hsu

There are five different types of weapons in Genshin Impact, with more and more of each type coming with every update. Keeping track of all those weapons and how you can obtain them is pretty tough, so we’re here to help! We’re starting off this weapon guide with how to get The Black Sword and who it’s good for in Genshin Impact.

How to Get The Black Sword

Let’s start with the most important part — how to get The Black Sword in Genshin Impact. While you probably haven’t come across it in any weapon banners or in game, it’s actually pretty easy to get if you really want it. It will cost you, though.

Gnostic Hymn

The Black Sword is currently only available through the Battle Pass. By completing objectives in game, you can level up your BP Level and earn rewards. To get The Black Sword, you’ll need to also purchase the Gnostic Hymn. Luckily, there’s no Wishing required at all.

Purchasing the Gnostic Hymn will cost you $10 USD, but will unlock a secondary tier of rewards from the active Battle Pass. While purchasing the Gnostic Hymn does not increase BP Level, it will grant extra rewards for each level unlocked.

At BP Level 30, players can choose one 4-star weapon from the Battle Pass series. This series includes the Serpent Spine claymore, the Solar Pearl catalyst, the Viridescent Hunt bow, the Deathmatch polearm, and The Black Sword.

Unfortunately, none of the weapons in the Battle Pass series can be obtained in game without purchasing the Gnostic Hymn.

On the bright side, purchasing the Gnostic Hymn also comes with the extra rewards we mentioned above. Along with getting to choose a 4-star weapon from the Battle Pass series, players will also receive:

126 Hero’s Wit (4-star character level up material)
288 Mystic Enhancement Ore (3-star weapon level up material)
2,160,000 Mora
680 Primogems
5 Fragile Resin
4 Intertwined Fate
4 Guidance of the Land of Thunder (3-star talent level up material)
3 Guidance of the Land of Verdure (3-star talent level up material)
1 Philosophies of the Land of Thunder (4-star talent level up material)
1 Philosophies of the Land of Verdure (4-star talent level up material)

The rewards without The Black Sword are worth a lot of resin on their own, which almost makes the Gnostic Hymn worth it just for them.

Everything You Need to Know About The Black Sword

Weapon Selection — **Each weapon here was once wielded by a historical figure in Teyvat. |** *Image: miHoYo via HGG / Devin Dornbrock*

Now that you know how to get The Black Sword, let’s go over why you should get it in Genshin Impact.

There are some pros and cons to The Black Sword, of course. It’s a 4-star weapon that you can only get by paying for it. It is nice to not gamble your money on an Epitome Invocation banner, though. With banners, you may or may not even get you your desired 5-star weapon. At least with The Black Sword, you know exactly how to get it and how much it’s going to cost you. No need to stress out over the pity system or losing out by getting the wrong weapon.

Wishing aside, let’s talk about The Black Sword’s combat strengths.

Stats and Abilities

The Black Sword is a pretty standard 4-star weapon in Genshin Impact. Its Base ATK tops out at 510, which is pretty mid compared to other blades. Its secondary stat, though, increases the wielder’s CRIT Rate by 27.6%, which makes it the only 4-star CRIT Rate sword in the game (at least as of Version 3.4).

Having a CRIT Rate increase is pretty handy, especially for DPS characters. In addition to the CRIT Rate increase The Black Sword also has the Justice effect. This passive effect increases DMG dealt by Normal and Charged Attacks by 20%. On top of that, 60% of ATK is regenerated as HP when Normal and Charged Attacks CRIT.

That means on top of increasing the DMG a character deals, it can also heal that character when they deal more DMG, which makes it a pretty good weapon overall.

Ascension Materials

Like any other weapon in Genshin Impact, it’s going to take some resources to fully level and ascend The Black Sword. Luckily, the materials are pretty easy to get, regardless of how far you are into the plot of the game. Even players who recently started playing should be able to get what they need without issue, since everything is available in the first region.

To fully ascend The Black Sword, players will need:

150k Mora
3 Boreal Wolf’s Milk Tooth (2-star weapon ascension material)
9 Boreal Wolf’s Cracked Tooth (3-star weapon ascension material)
9 Boreal Wolf’s Broken Fang (4-star weapon ascension material)
4 Boreal Wolf’s Nostalgia (5-star weapon ascension material)
15 Dead Ley Line Branch (2-star enemy drop)
18 Dead Ley Line Leaves (3-star enemy drop)
27 Ley Line Sprout (4-star enemy drop)
10 Slime Condensate (1-star enemy drop)
15 Slime Secretions (2-star enemy drop)
18 Slime Concentrate (3-star enemy drop)

Who The Black Sword Is Good For

While The Black Sword is a pretty good weapon, it’s not going to be good for each and every character in Genshin Impact. Depending on their Talents and the way you build a character, it could be incredibly useful or it could be worthless.

So before you go equipping The Black Sword to the first Sword-wielding character in your party, let’s talk about what kinds of characters will make the most out of it.

DPS Builds

As a weapon, The Black Sword is best for DPS characters. Especially DPS characters who don’t have a healer on the team. Sub-DPS and Support characters don’t see much use of their Normal and Charged Attacks, which would make The Black Sword’s effect moot.

Even when just considering The Black Sword’s stats rather than its effect, it isn’t of much use for Sub-DPS and Support characters. CRIT Rate is typically a less important stat for non-DPS characters, since they’ll primarily be used for their Elemental Burst and Elemental Skills. Both can benefit from increased CRIT Rate, but benefit more from Energy Recharge or Elemental Mastery (depending on the character).

If you really want to give The Black Sword to a non-DPS character, we suggest a Sub-DPS character. That way, they will at least have the increased CRIT Rate apply to their Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst. Support characters don’t usually have as much need for a high CRIT Rate since they aren’t focused on dealing damage.

Top 5 Characters The Black Sword Is Good For

Let’s get into who The Black Sword is good for in Genshin Impact! If you don’t see your main DPS on this list, it doesn’t necessarily mean The Black Sword isn’t a good fit, they just may not be the ideal fit. Also this list is in no particular order.

The best way to tell if a character will work well with The Black Sword is to take a look at their Passive Talents. In general, as long as you’re using their Normal and Charged Attacks regularly, this weapon won’t be a bad option for them.

Kaeya

Every Genshin Impact player will have the Cavalry Captain, and he’s honestly a pretty good character to have, especially early game. He may not be as flashy as his brother, Diluc, but his Elemental Burst is very handy for clearing out enemy mobs. Glacial Waltz summons three icicles that circle the active character and deal Cryo DMG to all enemies in their path.

Powerful Elemental Burst aside, Kaeya is most players’ first DPS character. He also has a minor healing ability that helps compensate for the lack of healers in the earliest parts of the game. Thanks to his Passive Talent, Cold-Blooded Strike, Kaeya regenerates 15% of his ATK with every hit of his Elemental Skill.

When paired with the regenerative abilities of The Black Sword, Kaeya becomes much more self-reliant. He will be able to deal more DMG thanks to the increased CRIT Rate, which will compensate for his Elemental Skill’s cooldown time. He’ll also be able to heal more.

This is especially good for new players. They won’t need to rely on food quite as much before they can get a good Support character on their team. Even for veteran players, it’s not a bad idea to have a DPS who can heal themselves on demand.

Kamisato Ayato

The most important part of Ayato’s kit as far as The Black Sword is concerned is his Elemental Skill. Kamisato Art: Kyouka creates a watery illusion of Ayato while he enters a Takimeguri Kanka state.

While in this Takimeguri Kanka state, Ayato can make faster than usual Normal Attacks, which deal AOE Hydro DMG. Ayato’s DMG also increases based on his Max HP, and his resistance to interruption is increased.

What’s most important, though, is that his Elemental Skill basically increases the attack speed and damage of his Normal Attacks. The Black Sword’s effect will further increase Ayato’s Normal Attack DMG while also making it easy to rapidly regain some HP while in his Takimeguri Kanka state.

Being able to regain HP while using his Elemental Skill is also helpful, since Ayato can be left vulnerable to taking DMG. While in his Takimeguri Kanka state, Ayato tends to be locked into attacking, which makes it hard to dodge incoming enemies.

Overall, this is one of the best 4-star weapons for Ayato. The Black Sword’s compatibility with his Talents is hard to beat without going into 5-star weapon territory. Especially since there are so few HP weapons out there that directly increase the Elemental Skill DMG Bonus Ayato gets.

Kamisato Ayaka

Whether you have Kamisato Ayato or Kamisato Ayaka, The Black Sword is a pretty good fit for either sibling.

Thanks to her Passive Talent, Amatsumi Kunitsumi Sanctification, Ayaka’s Normal and Charged Attacks deal 30% more damage for 6 seconds after using her Elemental Skill. This Talent encourages players to use her Normal and Charged Attacks more often, which is exactly what The Black Sword wants.

Another perk of Ayaka’s Talents is her Alternate Sprint. Kamisato Art: Senho infuses her attacks with Cryo for a short period after exiting her sprint. It can take some getting used to, but is incredibly helpful for controlling the field during combat. Especially when up against Hydro enemies.

Once players can find a good rhythm between Ayaka’s Elemental Skill, Normal/Charged Attacks, and her Alternate Sprint, she will be a near unstoppable force in combat. She’ll be dealing higher DMG, healing herself, and also applying Cryo to enemies left and right.

Granted, there are some other weapon options out there for Ayaka. The Black Sword, however, works very well to compliment her Talents and increase her damage output in between her Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst Cooldowns.

Jean

While The Black Sword is meant for DPS roles, that doesn’t mean it isn’t compatible with healers as well. Jean, for example, can make very good use of this weapon.

While we don’t recommend it for Support builds, The Black Sword is a great fit for teams where Jean is both healer and DPS. It helps keep her on the field longer while dealing more DMG with her Normal and Charged Attacks. It also works with her Passive Talent, Wild Companion, which gives her Normal Attacks a 50% chance to regenerate HP.

Between the HP regenerated by CRITs and her Passive Talent, Jean will almost constantly be healing herself. It won’t be huge amounts, of course, but it’s better than nothing, especially if Jean is spending a lot of time on the field.

Equipping Jean with The Black Sword also allows players to build her more for DMG over healing in general, since she’ll still be able to heal some anyway. This means that, as a DPS, Jean will still be able to heal herself even if you don’t prioritize healing in her build.

If Jean isn’t as active on the field or is in more of a Support role, though, we suggest equipping her with a different weapon. For specific recommendations, check out our guide on the best weapons for Jean here.

Keqing

When it comes to compatibility with The Black Sword, Keqing isn’t the highest on our list. It does still work well enough with her thanks to her Passive Talent Aristocratic Dignity, though. This Talent increases Keqing’s CRIT Rate and Energy Recharge by 15% for 8 seconds after using her Elemental Burst.

For 8 seconds after using Keqing’s Elemental Burst, she’ll be able to take greater advantage of The Black Sword’s healing ability. She won’t gain any HP during her Elemental Burst, but will be able to reliably regain some afterward, which is almost as good. As long as you can take advantage of the invincible frames granted by her Elemental Burst animation, Keqing should be able to withstand most attacks and begin healing immediately after.

Of course, with the right artifacts, Keqing can have a normally high CRIT Rate and not need to rely on the post-Elemental Burst bonus for healing. She’ll just be able to do it consistently in combat without needing to worry about it.

Smart Keqing builds will have high CRIT Rate to compliment her base CRIT DMG anyway, which means equipping her with The Black Sword just makes sense. Especially on more offensive teams that don’t have a healer.

Join the High Ground

There you have it! Now you know how to get The Black Sword and who it’s good for in Genshin Impact. Who would you equip with this powerful weapon? Let us know in the comments below! You can also let us know of any other weapon guides you’re dying to see.

In the meantime, you can brush up on some of our other weapon guides. We have one on the best weapons for Kaedehara Kazuha here. Make sure to subscribe for more guides on Genshin Impact!

Until next time, ad astra abyssosque and happy gaming!

Genshin Impact: How to Get The Black Sword and Who Is It Good For