All about the Staff of Homa, the best weapon in Genshin Impact

Every Genshin Impact player wants Staff of Homa, but is it really worth the effort? The short answer is yes, it is. And we can explain why.

There are only eight polearm users in the entirety of Genshin Impact. Some are supports and others are main DPS, but every single one of them wants the Staff of Homa. This limited five-star weapon has become an icon of Genshin Impact thanks to its massive stats and incredible effect. With two polearm users Shenhe and Yun Jin coming out in update 2.4, here’s a quick refresher course on Staff of Homa, the best weapon in all of Genshin Impact.

Is Staff of Homa good?

Staff of Homa is generally considered one of the best weapons, if not the very best weapon, in Genshin Impact. 

Staff of Homa is amazing in nearly every way. The most powerful part of the weapon is its bonus effect. Equipping Homa immediately grants a 20% boost to max HP. It then grants an attack boost of .8% of the wielder’s max health. That doesn’t sound like much, but max-level characters’ HP pools can go into the tens of thousands. If that wasn’t enough, the boost is further increased by 1% when the wielder is under 50% HP. Even on a relatively low health character, this can boost attack by several hundred. On a character with 30,000 HP, this equals a 540 attack boost on top of whatever other buffs they have.

The second best part about the weapon is its primary and secondary stats. Staff of Homa’s base attack at level 90 is 608, which is high even for a five-star weapon. That’s the same base attack as Wolf’s Gravestone on a polearm. On top of all that, the staff boosts crit damage as its secondary ability. Staff of Homa is one of only two polearms with inherent crit damage. Blackcliff Pole grants 55.1% at max level. Homa has a much higher 66.2%.

How to get Staff of Homa in Genshin Impact

Staff of Homa is only available through a limited-time weapon banner.

Staff of Homa has had two rerun banners both coinciding with Hu Tao. The staff is officially her signature weapon. It has always run alongside another five-star weapon. The first banner was with standard five-star claymore Wolf’s Gravestone and the second featured Elegy of the End, Venti’s signature five-star. Considering its recent rerun in update 2.2, it will probably be several months before it appears again.

There is no way to get Staff of Homa for free or through the limited character banner. You must wish on the weapon banner in order to get it. The materials needed to ascend Staff of Homa are all available in-game for original resin. These include Aerosiderite from Hidden Palace of Lianshan Formula, ley line materials from abyss mages, and slime drops.

Who is Staff of Homa good on?

With the notable exception of Raiden Shogun, Staff of Homa is a best-in-slot weapon on every polearm damage dealer in Genshin Impact.

Hu Tao is the most obvious Staff of Homa wielder. With the right set of artifacts, her HP pool can reach 35,000 and beyond. Her elemental skill Guide to Afterlife already grants an attack boost based on her HP pool, so Homa’s 20% bonus is already great. She also prefers to be at low HP anyway to activate her Sanguine Rouge talent, which boosts her pyro damage by 33%. With Staff of Homa, Hu Tao’s attack stat can reach beyond 4,000. With her signature five-star weapon, Hu Tao is easily among the best main DPS characters in Genshin Impact.

Xiao’s signature weapon Primordial Jade Winged-Spear can be better, but the inherent crit damage and insane attack on Homa make it the better choice most of the time. The HP boost helps mitigate Xiao’s fragility, and the low-health damage boost works perfectly with his role as a selfish DPS character. You can’t switch out anyway, so the boost comes in handy. The crit damage synergizes with his inherent crit rate, which massively increases his potential damage.

Zhongli is far from a main DPS character, but he still makes great use of Staff of Homa. The Jade Shield scales off max HP, so the 20% boost immediately improves his shield. Even Zhongli’s signature Vortex Vanquisher has a hard time measuring up. Even without Staff of Homa, Zhongli is still a top-tier support on our Genshin Impact support tier list.

Is Staff of Homa worth refining?

Generally speaking, it’s better to keep and upgrade two Staffs of Homa rather than refining one.

Since Staff of Homa is the best weapon in all of Genshin Impact, it makes sense that refinement five would be even better. At its max refinement level, Staff of Homa grants a 40% HP boost and nearly double the low-health damage boost at 3.4% of max HP. For characters like Hu Tao and Zhongli, that’s an absolutely insane stat line.

But the sheer cost of refining five Staffs of Homa probably outweighs the benefits. Assuming zero pity and a generous rate of 180 pulls per, you’re looking at around $1,782 for a maxed-out Homa. Even if you get lucky and only pull Staff of Homa every 70 pulls, it would cost at least $693.

If you do manage to get extremely lucky and pull two Staffs of Homa, it’s better to keep and upgrade them both. Homa is an incredible weapon for nearly every polearm wielder, so you can put one on Hu Tao and another on Zhongli, Xiao, or Xiangling.

Staff of Homa alternatives

If you’re not willing to spend hundreds of dollars, there are several alternatives to the Staff of Homa that also work well in Genshin Impact. 

Standard banner five-star polearms are another way to outfit your spear-users. Skyward Spine increases crit rate, energy recharge, and attack speed. That makes it great for DPS polearm users like Xiao and Xiangling. Primordial Jade-Winged Spear is also available from the standard banner. It’s inherent crit rate and stacking attack buff make it the second-best polearm in the game after Staff of Homa.

There are also several budget Homa alternatives if you’re willing to grind it out.

If you’re specifically looking for a Hu Tao weapon, Deathmatch from the battle pass, Dragon’s Bane from the standard banner, and Blackcliff Pole from Paimon’s Bargains are the obvious choices. Prototype Starglittter grants a similar effect to the Shimenawa’s Reminiscence artifact set, boosting normal and charged attacks after using an elemental skill. Prototype Starglitter is craftable at any smith in a main city. “The Catch” is also a solid pick for characters that rely on their elemental burst. This polearm is available from the Inazuma fishing guide near Inazuma city.