Gorou is a support character who can attack and increase party damage at the same time. His Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst can provide continuous Geo DMG Bonuses to party members.

This guide is based on the Community Character Builds by the Genshin Helper Team.

Talent Priorities

Elemental Skill > Elemental Burst > Normal Attack

Gorou is a Support character that can give increasing buffs to your party members from his Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst based on the number of Geo characters in your team (capped at 3). Casting his Elemental Skill sets up a banner that gives flat DEF (1 Geo), Interruption Resistance (2 Geo) and Geo DMG% Bonus (3 Geo) for your active character standing inside the banner radius.

Casting his Elemental Burst creates a field following the active character which deals periodic damage and offers the same bonuses given by the Skill, destroying any placed banners in the process, it also pulls in nearby Elemental Shards created by Crystallize reactions. Due to his kit focusing on buffing DEF and Geo DMG, he's a specialized support geared towards Geo DPS that scales with DEF, such as Noelle or Itto. He can see niche use at [C6] with other Geo characters as well.

[C2] extends the duration of Gorou's Elemental Burst from 9 seconds to 12 seconds if you can obtain the required Crystallize shields. This allows his teammates to gain the 3 Geo 15% Geo DMG% bonus for a longer duration, so it's preferable to use Burst as your last ability before swapping into your DPS.

Constellations

Best Constellations: C1, C2 & C6

C1: Rushing Hound: Swift as the Wind
When characters (other than Gorou) within the AoE of Gorou's General's War Banner or General's Glory deal Geo DMG to opponents, the CD of Gorou's Inuzaka All-Round Defense is decreased by 2s. This effect can occur once every 10s.

C2: Sitting Hound: Steady as a Clock
While General's Glory is in effect, its duration is extended by 1s when a nearby active character obtains an Elemental Shard from a Crystallize reaction. This effect can occur once every 0.1s. Max extension is 3s.

C3: Mauling Hound: Fierce as Fire
Increases the Level of Inuzaka All-Round Defense by 3.
Maximum upgrade level is 15.

C4: Lapping Hound: Warm as Water
When General's Glory is in the "Impregnable" or "Crunch" states, it will also heal active characters within its AoE by 50% of Gorou's own DEF every 1.5s.

C5: Striking Hound: Thunderous Force
Increases the Level of Juuga: Forward Unto Victory by 3.
Maximum upgrade level is 15.

C6: Valiant Hound: Mountainous Fealty
For 12s after using Inuzaka All-Round Defense or Juuga: Forward Unto Victory, increases the CRIT DMG of all nearby party members' Geo DMG based on the buff level of the skill's field at the time of use:
"Standing Firm": +10%
"Impregnable": +20%
"Crunch": +40%
This effect cannot stack and will take reference from the last instance of the effect that is triggered.

Recommended Weapons

1. Favonius Warbow (4✩)
2. Sacrificial Bow (4✩)
3. Elegy for the End (5✩)*

1) Favonius Warbow (ATK: 454 • Energy Recharge: 61.3%)

CRIT Hits have a 60/70/80/90/100% chance to generate a small amount of Elemental Particles, which will regenerate 6 Energy for the character. Can only occur once every 12/10.5/9/7.5/6s.

2) Sacrificial Bow (ATK: 565 • Energy Recharge: 30.6)

After damaging an opponent with an Elemental Skill, the skill has a 40/50/60/70/80% chance to end its own CD. Can only occur once every 30/26/22/19/16s.

3) Elegy for the End (ATK: 608 • Energy Recharge: 55.1)

A part of the "Millennial Movement" that wanders amidst the winds. Increases Elemental Mastery by 60/75/90/105/120. When the Elemental Skills or Elemental Bursts of the character wielding this weapon hit opponents, that character gains a Sigil of Remembrance. This effect can be triggered once every 0.2s and can be triggered even if said character is not on the field. When you possess 4 Sigils of Remembrance, all of them will be consumed and all nearby party members will obtain the "Millennial Movement: Farewell Song" effect for 12s. "Millennial Movement: Farewell Song" increases Elemental Mastery by 100/125/150/175/200 and increases ATK by 20/25/30/35/40%. Once this effect is triggered, you will not gain Sigils of Remembrance for 20s. Of the many effects of the "Millennial Movement," buffs of the same type will not stack.
Note: Elegy offers a helpful ER substat alongside an EM and ATK% buff for your teammates. While not directly useful in teams centered around Noelle or Itto, this could possibly be a good choice for future Geo DPS characters, or in a team which utilizes Geo Resonance.

Recommended Artifacts

1. The Exile (4)*
2. Noblesse Oblige (4)*
3. Emblem of Severed Fate (2) +20% ER set (2)

1) The Exile

2-Piece Bonus: Energy Recharge +20%
4-Piece Bonus: Using an Elemental Burst regenerates 2 Energy for all party members (excluding the wearer) every 2s for 6s. This effect cannot stack.
Note: Casting Elemental Burst regenerates a total of 6 Energy for each of your party members. This set reduces your Energy Requirements by a bit for all of your party members, which can be quite beneficial. Do note that this is a 4-star set so you're potentially missing out on 5-star stat scaling, which is a 34% difference in main stat value and 25% difference in individual sub stat value.

2) Noblesse Oblige

2-Piece Bonus: Elemental Burst DMG +20%
4-Piece Bonus: Using an Elemental Burst increases all party members' ATK by 20% for 12s. This effect cannot stack.
Note: The effectiveness of this set increases if you've already met the ER requirement for Gorou. At that point, you'd no longer need to run the recommended ER% sets, which means you can opt for this instead.

3) Emblem of Severed Fate (2) +20% ER set (2)

*DEF% main stats and sub stats (and potentially a Healing Bonus main stat on Circlet) can be considered at [C4] due to being able to heal the active character based on his DEF during Burst. This is useful if you plan to use him as a solo healer.
*Crit Rate circlet and substats can be considered when Gorou is using Favonius Warbow to trigger the passive comfortably.
*ER% sub stats can usually be more important than getting the right main stat, as Gorou's damage contribution to a team is negligible while being able to get Energy for his Burst is a lot more important.

Team Compositions

Mono-Geo Team

Chiori: Off-field DPS
Arataki Itto / Noelle / Ningguang: Main DPS
Gorou: Buffer
Zhongli / Albedo: Shielder / Geo construct ally (For 2 Tamoto dolls) || Bennett: Buffer + Healer (Only 1 Tamoto doll for C0 Chiori)