Genshin Impact sent the new 4-star character Thoma to the battlefield. How you can perfectly utilize his potential as a Pyro Shielder can be found here in the build on MeinMMO.
How and when do you get Thoma? Thoma is included as a 4-star character in the event banner of Hu Tao from November 2nd to 23rd. Afterward, you can obtain him anytime in the Wanderlust banner or with a low chance in other event banners.
Thoma has been the first new male 4-star character since the release of Genshin Impact and has been receiving a lot of attention since his announcement.
We at MeinMMO show you in these builds how to best equip the Pyro Shielder and which talents and constellations you should particularly pay attention to.
An Overview of Thoma’s Abilities
What attacks and abilities does Thoma have? Thoma deals normal physical damage with your standard attacks, heavy strikes, and falling attacks.
His elemental skill “Flaming Blessing” deals Pyro area damage and creates a shield for the entire team. The shield protects the active character from enemy attacks. Its duration depends on how high Thoma’s maximum hit points (HP) are.
If the shield is not destroyed by attacks, it will dissipate by itself after 8 seconds.
Thoma’s special ability “Red Ooyoroi” deals Pyro area damage to enemies upon activation and envelops the active character with “Burning Ooyoroi”. When using standard attacks, Pyro waves are released that deal Pyro area damage.
Additionally, you receive a small shield with standard attacks that functions just like the one from his elemental skill. This shield can be obtained approximately every 2 seconds. The duration of the shield again depends on Thoma’s maximum HP or lasts 8 seconds if it is not destroyed by enemies.
Heavy strikes and falling attacks do not activate the Pyro waves and the shield.
Thoma’s special ability cannot snapshot. This means he does not retain the damage bonus from effects such as Bennett’s field when he leaves the field or it stops taking effect.
Thoma vs. Zhongli’s shield: Zhongli is currently the best shielder in Genshin Impact, how does Thoma fare in comparison? Looking at both elemental skills at level 6, we get the following comparison:
| Character | Damage Absorption | Shield Duration | Cooldown |
| Thoma | 10.08% of max HP + 1098 | 8 seconds | 15 seconds |
| Zhongli | 17.92% of max HP + 1951 | 20 seconds | 12 seconds |
Thoma does not reach Zhongli’s shield due to the higher cooldown and shield duration, but unlike his rival, he has the ability to create new shields with his special ability. If you synchronize both abilities of Thoma, he can keep his shield up almost constantly.
Thoma’s Passive Talents
What passive talents does Thoma have? Thoma possesses 3 passive abilities, 2 of which enhance his special and elemental abilities.
- “Layered Armor”: Increases shield efficiency for 6 seconds by 5% when a shield from Thoma is refreshed or obtained. You can trigger this effect every 0.3 seconds, stacking up to five times.
- “Flame Attack”: The Pyro waves of the special ability deal 2.2% more damage based on Thoma’s max HP.
- “Fishing Pro”: If you do not yet have the useful spear “The Fang”, Fishing Pro could help you. With a 20% chance, you receive double fish when fishing in Inazuma.
The Most Useful Constellations of the Pyro Fighter
What do the constellations bring? Constellations unlock new abilities and/or stats for characters. This list shows you the most important constellations of Thoma and what bonuses they provide.
- 1st Constellation (C1) “Comrades’ Duty”: When an active character other than Thoma is protected by his shield, it reduces the cooldown of Thoma’s elemental and special abilities by 3 seconds (20 seconds cooldown).
- 2nd Constellation (C2) “Diligent Assistant”: Thoma’s special ability lasts 3 seconds longer.
- 4th Constellation (C4) “Long-Term Planning”: When Thoma has used his special ability, he restores 15 points of elemental energy.
- 6th Constellation (C6) “Burning Heart”: When the shield from the elemental or special ability is obtained or updated, standard attacks, heavy strikes, or falling attacks deal 15% more damage for 6 seconds. This effect applies to all party members.
Thoma’s constellations are useful, but not as overpowered as those of other characters. A C0 Thoma can already provide tremendous support. However, if you have saved enough primogems, the constellations help maintain his shields more consistently.
Moreover, his C6 can boost the damage of the main DPS when you switch to him immediately after using Thoma’s elemental and/or special ability.
Useful Weapons for Thoma
What weapons can bring out the best in Thoma? It all depends on how you want to build Thoma. If you want to play Thoma purely as a shielder support, weapons with HP or recharge rate as the second stat are recommended, as his shields depend on max HP.
Additionally, his special ability has high energy costs of 80, which means you want to provide him with ample recharge rate to have it available again soon.
If you also want to dealsome damage, you can use weapons like the “Homa Spear” or the spear “Wavebreaker Fin”.
Prototype Starglitter 
Black Tassel 
The Fang
There are differing opinions on which weapon is the best for Thoma. This time, especially the Free2Play weapons are recommended. The spear “The Fang” is a great choice for the Pyro fighter.
Not only does it provide a solid recharge rate bonus, but it also increases the damage of his special ability and adds critical hit rate. All you need to do to level up the spear to its max level is to fish. Thoma’s passive ability also makes this even easier.
An alternative to this is the spear “Black Tassel”, which gives you HP as a sub-stat. It is the only spear with this property and increases the damage absorption of Thoma’s shields. Its effect is irrelevant.
If you don’t feel like fishing, you can also go for the “Prototype Starglitter”. It gives you recharge rate and increases the damage of normal and heavy attacks. You can easily craft this spear at the blacksmith.
These Non-Free2Play Alternatives you have: Given the recharge rate as a second stat, Skyward Spine, Grasscutter’s Wave, and the Favonius Lance can be worthwhile. Especially the Favonius Lance can help you create valuable elemental particles, allowing Thoma’s special ability to recharge faster.
Especially if you want to go on the offense, Grasscutter’s Wave can be beneficial with its effect. It increases your attack by 28% of the percentage points over 100% recharge rate.
Furthermore, the “Homa Spear” strengthens your critical damage (CD) and increases your HP by 20% through its effect. This, in turn, benefits the duration of the shields. Additionally, your attack increases based on max HP if your HP is under 50%.
“Wavebreaker Fin” is a new 4-star spear, which you can obtain in the event banner of Patch 2.2. It gives you attack and enhances the damage of special abilities depending on the total energy costs in your team. The higher the energy costs of the party, the greater your damage.
Suitable Artifacts for Thoma
Which artifacts are worthwhile for Thoma? You can successfully play several artifact combinations on Thoma. If you want to boost the special ability of the spear fighter, the artifact set “Emblem of Severed Fate” is recommended.
- 2-Piece Set Bonus: Increases recharge rate by 20%.
- 4-Piece Set Bonus: Increases damage dealt by special abilities based on 25% of recharge rate. A bonus of up to 75% is possible this way.
You can also equip the support set “Old Court Ritual” on Thoma, supporting not only him but also other team members.
- 2-Piece Set Bonus: Increases damage dealt by special abilities by 20%.
- 4-Piece Set Bonus: After using special abilities, the attack of all party members is increased by 20% for 12 seconds. This effect is not stackable.
The artifact set “Tenacity of the Millelith” can also be used in a 2-piece combination with “Emblem of Severed Fate” or “Old Court Ritual”. It increases your HP by 20%.
Together with “Old Court Ritual”, you enhance the shield’s damage absorption and the damage of the Pyro waves. If you combine the Fate set with the Millelith set, you increase the shield’s damage absorption and can recharge the special ability faster.
Emblem of Severed Fate 
Tenacity of the Millelith 
Old Court Ritual
What stats are important to note? Thoma requires around 180% recharge rate due to the 80 points of elemental energy cost for his special ability, so that you can comfortably use it repeatedly without long waiting times.
If you do not want to use a weapon with recharge rate or do not have one, you can use recharge rate as the main stat on the sands. If you have enough recharge rate, you can also opt for an HP or attack sand.
For the goblet, HP or Pyro damage as the main stat is recommended to either bolster the shield or the damage.
The crown can be assigned critical damage (CD), critical hit rate (CH), or HP depending on how you want to play Thoma. Choose CD and CH if you tend toward dealing damage, and HP if you want to increase the shield’s damage absorption.
The sub-stats of the artifacts behave similarly: HP, recharge rate, attack, CD, and CH can be beneficial. However, it is also worthwhile to invest in elemental mastery so that the elemental reactions caused by Thoma deal a bit more damage. However, keep your focus especially on HP and recharge rate.
These artifacts sound tempting, but are rather less worthwhile: The artifact set “Reverse Meteor” sounds appropriate, but its effects only apply to the character who equipped it.
- Increases shield efficiency by 35%.
- Increases damage from normal and heavy attacks while the shield is active by an additional 40%.
Since Thoma only occasionally deals Pyro area damage, it hardly makes sense to use the set “Burning Pyro Witch”, even though it increases Pyro damage by 15% and enhances elemental reactions in the 4-piece set. The Pyro waves from “Red Ooyoroi” are considered special ability damage.
Sets like “Old Court Ritual”, “Tenacity of the Millelith”, or “Emblem of Severed Fate” are therefore more suitable for Thoma than these two.
Thoma as a Team Member
Which teams does Thoma fit into? Thoma fits into teams that can benefit from a shielder. These include main DPS like Hu Tao or Xiao. Additionally, he can trigger useful reactions with his Pyro waves and other elemental characters such as Cryo, Hydro, and Electro.
Hu Tao Team: Hu Tao must consistently stay in the low HP range, which makes playing Thoma with her worthwhile. Additionally, both trigger the Pyro team bonus, which gives you 25% more attack for all characters. The entire team consists of:
- Hu Tao: Main DPS of the team.
- Thoma: Protects the team and especially Hu Tao.
- Xingqiu: Triggers vaporize reactions with his abilities.
- Sucrose: Can trigger swirl reactions while equipped with the artifact set “Viridescent Venerer”, reducing resistance of the swirled element by 40%. She also provides crowd-control.
- You can also replace Sucrose with Venti, Jean, Sayu, or Kazuha.
Xiao Team:
- Xiao: Main DPS of the team. He continuously loses HP during his special ability, so he can benefit from a protective shield.
- Thoma
- Venti: Acts as a battery for Xiao, collecting elemental particles for him, and provides crowd-control. He can also wear the artifact set “Viridescent Venerer” to reduce enemies’ resistance.
- Xiangling: Triggers the Pyro team bonus and can additionally support Xiao with her special ability.
- Venti can be replaced by Sucrose, Kazuha, Jean, or Sayu.
Yoimiya Team:
- Yoimiya: Main DPS of the team. As Yoimiya constantly uses normal attacks, she can optimally utilize Thoma’s special ability. Additionally, as an archer with low defense, she benefits from a protective shield. Together, they trigger the Pyro team bonus.
- Thoma
- Fischl/Beidou: Fischl or Beidou can switch with Yoimiya while her elemental ability is on cooldown. They can also deal off-field damage and trigger useful overloaded reactions.
- Raiden Shogun: Helps regenerate special abilities and deals additional off-field damage.
- You can also replace Raiden with an Anemo character like Sayu, Jean, or Kazuha.
What do you think of these builds for Thoma? Do you have any more suggestions for him and will you use him in your team? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
