Albedo Guide
In this article, I’ll be going over everything you need to know about Albedo, including his playstyle, best artifacts, weapons, teams, and more.
Albedo is a 5 star Geo damage dealer with a very straightforward off-field playstyle along with passive damage revolving around his Elemental Skill.
Active Talents
Normal Attack – Favonius Bladework – Weiss
Standard 5 hit attack sequence. Nothing to write home about and it’s best to ignore this talent altogether as Albedo is mainly off-field within his teams.
Elemental Skill – Abiogenesis: Solar Isotoma
Upon cast, Albedo creates a Solar Isotoma which deals an initial instance of AoE Geo DMG. This Solar Isotoma is considered a Geo construct and only one of them can exist at a time. Once placed, when an enemies within the Solar Isotoma field take any form of damage from either Albedo or your party, Transient Blossoms will generate on enemies dealing AoE Geo DMG that scales off of Albedo’s DEF.
This talent is the main source of Albedo’s valuable off-field damage. The Solar Isotoma has a very long duration compared to its short cooldown, making uptime on Transient Blossom DMG a non-issue. Keep in mind it can be destroyed by placing it on a much larger enemy so you can hold this skill to aim in order to place it out of the way. It’s worth noting that this skill has a low elemental gauge, which in Albedo’s case basically means that his Geo application generally won’t interfere with your reactions.
Elemental Burst – Rite of Progeniture: Tectonic Tide
When cast, Albedo will deal a burst of AoE Geo DMG in front of him. If Albedo is within a Solar Isotoma field when casting this ability, 7 Fatal Blossoms will be generated near enemies, dealing AoE Geo DMG.
It is worth noting that this burst’s damage scales off of Albedo’s ATK, which interferes with his DEF scaling from his skill. Since his Elemental Skill is much more valued within teams, it is generally not worth stacking ATK over DEF just for this talent.
Character Talent Priority
Here’s a quick talent priority for Albedo.
Elemental Skill > Elemental Burst > Normal Attack
Character Best Combos
Since Albedo is primarily an off-field unit with no Normal Attack usage, he doesn’t have any worthwhile combos. That being said, if you want to maximize damage when casting burst you can cast your skill, then quickly perform 1 normal attack to proc Transient Blossom followed by immediately casting Elemental Burst.
Passive Talents
Ascension Stat
As you ascend Albedo, he will gain Geo DMG Bonus.
1st Ascension: Calcite Might
Transient Blossoms generated by Abiogenesis: Solar Isotoma deal 25% more DMG to opponents whose HP is below 50%.
A decent DMG increase to your Transient Blossoms, but due to the conditions and depending on the content you are facing, don’t expect this increase to be consistently relevant.
4th Ascension: Homuncular Nature
Using Albedo’s Elemental Burst increases the Elemental Mastery of nearby party members by 125 for 10s.
External sources of Elemental Mastery these days are aplenty on top of units who can also share EM, making this passive not as great as it seems. It’s still a nice addition for reaction teams, however it is nothing exceptional.
Utility Passive: Flash of Genius
When Albedo crafts Weapon Ascension Materials, he has a 10% chance to receive double the product.
Constellations
As always for constellations, every 5 star unit is completely functional at c0. Constellations in general and what they offer are far from needed. Albedo’s constellations – along with other 5 stars – usually translate to slight increases in damage/ clear time or quality of life aspects. Do keep in mind constellation value takes into account the value you lose going for another copy of the character rather than a completely different character that could impact your account far more than a constellation would.
- C1: Low Impact
- C2: Medium/ Low Impact
- C3: Medium/ Low Impact
- C4: Low Impact/ Non Existent
- C5: Low Impact
- C6: Low Impact
Constellation 1: Flower of Eden
Transient Blossoms generated by Albedo’s Abiogenesis: Solar Isotoma regenerate 1.2 energy for Albedo.
A quality of life constellation that can help with burst uptime. That being said, his playstyle is far from burst centric, which can make this constellation irrelevant at times.
Constellation 2: Opening of Phanerozoic
Transient Blossoms generated by Albedo’s Elemental Skill grant him a stack of Fatal Reckoning for 30s that can be stacked up to 4 times:
- Unleashing his Elemental Burst consumes all stacks of Fatal Reckoning. Each stack of Fatal Reckoning consumed increases the DMG dealt by his Elemental Burst and Fatal Blossoms by 30% of Albedo’s DEF.
A constellation that is quite tricky to value. On one hand, it nearly solves Albedo’s split scaling, making his burst also scale with DEF which is nice. On the other hand, in comps where you are not bursting in the first place, this constellation might not provide much value.
C1 does help with burst uptime, however there is still some nuance to the overall value of this constellation to the point where going for it just depends on how much you want to maximize Albedo.
Constellation 3: Grace of Helios
Increases the level of your Elemental Skill by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15.
A decent constellation improving Albedo’s main source of DMG.
Constellation 4: Descent of Divinity
Active party members within the Solar Isotoma field have their Plunging Attack DMG increased by 30%.
A bad constellation providing no practical use outside of a Xiao team.
Constellation 5: Tide of Hadean
Increases the Level of your Elemental Burst by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15.
Along with your 2nd/3rd constellation improving scaling/DMG, this constellation could provide some benefit. However, it is still not as valuable to his playstyle compared to his skill while being quite a high constellation.
Constellation 6: Dust of Purification
Active party members within the Solar Isotoma field who are protected by a shield created by Crystalize have their DMG increased by 17%
For such a high constellation on top of a condition that involves Crystalize, it is simply not worth it. A sizable DMG increase for your on-field carry nonetheless.
Playstyle
The most effective playstyle for Albedo is primarily being an off-field unit. His very low field time combined with his passive damage means that he is quite the flexible unit that requires very little in order to perform. While he may not be a required unit in most teams, he is a unit that will provide value as a flex unit, if you simply cannot fit anything else.
That being said he is VERY valuable in mono Geo teams/Itto teams to the point where the difference between having him and not is quite significant in terms of damage [about a 20% damage increase with Albedo].
Artifacts
4 piece Husk of Opulent Dreams
Albedo’s best-in-slot artifact set for most, if not all situations. It is by far his best damaging set and gives him the best possible stats while being easily stackable due to his playstyle. Any other set is not even remotely worth it unless you want to sacrifice Albedo’s passive DMG in order to buff your team.
Main Stats
- Circlet: Crit Rate/DMG
- Sands: DEF%
- Goblet: Geo DMG
Sub Stats
Here’s the order of sub stats to prioritize:
- Crit Rate/Crit DMG
- DEF = ER [depending on requirement]
Energy Recharge:
Around 130-140 with Zhongli. Higher requirements with another Geo.
Solo Albedo [not recommended] would need around 160-180 depending on skill uses per burst. Keep in mind, building ER on Albedo will sacrifice a good portion of his DMG, which generally doesn’t make it worth it.
Weapons
5-Star Weapons
Primordial Jade Cutter/ Mistsplitter Reforged
These weapons are grouped together due to their performance being about the same as Harbinger of Dawn, which says a lot about Albedo’s weapon options.
Regarding Mistsplitter’s stacks, it can be quite tricky to max them out and can be even worse assuming sub-optimal play [which is very common]. If you have these weapons you can still use them, however giving them to another character while Albedo performs similarly with a 3 star weapon can be more beneficial.
4/3-Star Weapons
Cinnabar Spindle
Albedo’s signature weapon and best sword in the majority of situations. It even beats out 5 star options due to the high DMG increase it offers. An huge unfortunate downside is that this weapon is event exclusive, meaning if you recently rolled for Albedo, you will not have access to this weapon.
Harbinger of Dawn
If you don’t have Cinnabar Spindle, this is your go-to weapon option and for good reason. A very accessible weapon along with its refinements. The Crit stats that it offers are very valuable for Albedo’s damage with the passive actually being quite relevant and easy to maintain due to Albedo’s playstyle. Just be careful with HP drain mechanics such as Rifthounds.
Teams
Mono Geo
One of Albedo’s best teams where he is highly valued. An Itto team without Albedo is actually quite significant in terms of the difference in damage output as stated earlier. Transient Blossom damage coupled with Gorou buff and Itto damage is quite solid.
Your last slot can either be Zhongli or a flex slot depending on what you need for the content you are facing. Generally, Geo isn’t as effective against certain shields, so a unit that is effective at breaking a specific shield is recommended. Otherwise, Fischl, Mona, Kokomi are other flexible slot-ins here as well.
Double Geo Core
Paired with Zhongli, this team core takes advantage of Geo resonance and passive damage from the two. Your last two slots can be anything you want really. Good examples would be double Geo Xiao or Double Geo Hu Tao. A core that is still an option for non-reactive teams with Hu Tao slightly favoring double Hydro nowadays. Nonetheless still solid as a pair.
Solo Albedo Flex
As previously mentioned, Albedo may not be the best option for most teams but can still be slotted in on a team as a flex unit nonetheless; provided he doesn’t interfere with reactions/ rotations.
With a low elemental gauge on his skill, coupled with his low field time, you can get away with these caveats and can be used if you simply cannot fit anyone else.
Summary
Albedo is one of the better Geo units this game has to offer. A unit with a valuable off-field playstyle and solid passive damage. His value at the moment is stagnant due to new reactions not involving Geo. A very flexible unit nonetheless that performs with minimal downsides other than his element.