Updated for Version 3.0
Table of Contents
Preface
Glossary
| Area of Effect (AoE) | Range. |
| Buff | To increase a stat (usually character ATK, DMG Bonus, etc.) |
| Crowd control (CC) | Ability to keep enemies in place. |
| Debuff | To decrease a stat (usually enemy resistance, defense, etc.) |
| Energy | Resource needed to cast Elemental Bursts. |
| Energy Recharge (ER) | Stat that increases the amount of Energy gained from Elemental Particles. |
| Flat Energy | Set amount of Energy that goes into a Burst, not affected by Energy Recharge. |
| Interruption Resistance | Vulnerability to being staggered, when a character or enemy is staggered they can’t perform any actions. |
| Meteorite | Geo Traveler’s Elemental Skill, also known as the “rock” or “boulder”. |
| Off-field DPS | Character that deals damage with Skills and/or Bursts even when they are swapped off. |
| On-field DPS | Character that deals damage with Normal, Charged, and/or Plunging Attacks; and spends more time on-field than the rest of the team. |
| Quickswap DPS | Character that deals damage by swapping in only to use Skill and Burst off cooldown. |
| RES Shred | Debuff that decreases resistance. |
| Snapshot | To keep the character’s stats at the time of casting when using an ability that does multiple instances of damage. |
For a long time Geo was the most popular Element for the Traveler compared to their Anemo and Electro counterparts, and for good reason. Even with the release of Dendro Traveler, they are still a very strong free character with high flexibility and utility that allows them to contribute in the Spiral Abyss and Overworld alike—whether it comes from their team-wide buffs, strong personal damage, or long-lasting Geo Constructs.
Pros
- High damage multipliers on both the Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst
- Doesn’t require a lot of field time
- Can battery other Geo characters very well
- Geo Constructs can block attacks and prevent enemies from moving too far away
- The Geo Constructs created by their Elemental Burst can resonate with Zhongli’s pillar while not counting towards the 3 Geo Construct limit
- Provides Interruption Resistance and CRIT Rate with 100% uptime
- Generally needs very little ER
Cons
- Using the Elemental Skill properly requires practice
- The Geo Constructs can be rather anti-productive in certain teams
- The CRIT Rate buff from C1 doesn’t apply to the Elemental Burst that triggers it
- Relatively low base stats
- The Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst can push enemies away
- Reliance on Geo Resonance to reach their full damage potential
Character Breakdown
Art credit: 夕槻 on pixiv [original post]
Every Element of the Traveler is like a different character, with Talents that are leveled up separately using different materials, as well as Constellations that are obtained in different ways.
Talents
Talent Priority
Elemental Skill ≥ Elemental Burst > Normal Attack
Normal Attack | Foreign Rockblade
Talent Description
Normal Attack
Performs up to 5 rapid strikes.
Charged Attack
Consumes a certain amount of Stamina to unleash 2 rapid sword strikes.
Plunging Attack
Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact.
The Normal and Charged Attacks are usually not worth using, due to the Traveler’s low Talent multipliers as well as low base stats. In most teams, this Talent can be left unleveled; however, when using Geo Traveler as an on-field DPS that uses Normal or Charged Attacks, this should be leveled up to maximize their damage, as it also helps to gain certain weapon stacks.
Elemental Skill | Starfell Sword
Talent Description
You disgorge a meteorite from the depths of the earth, dealing AoE Geo DMG. The meteorite is considered a Geo Construct, and can be climbed or used to block attacks.
Hold
This skill’s positioning may be adjusted.
Pressing this Skill takes some time to cast due to the long animation, so it’s better to either hold or animation cancel by jumping or dashing. This is a very important part of Geo Traveler’s kit; the meteorite lasts up to 40s and only has a 6s CD (with the 1st Ascension Passive). It generates 3.33 Elemental Particles on average, which allows them to battery other Geo characters. The meteorite inherits Geo Traveler’s Max HP and can be destroyed by large attacks from enemies. It’s a lot stronger than most shields but it can’t move with the active character, so it should only be used as a shield in emergencies (see below in the Shielding section). There are an unlimited number of ways to use the meteorit: from blocking projectile attacks, to crowd control, to helping with Overworld exploration, and so on.
There is a limit of 3 Geo Constructs, meaning when there are already 3 meteorites and/or Geo Constructs and you place down another meteorite, the first one that was placed down will explode. This Skill snapshots Geo Traveler’s stats on cast, meaning that whenever the meteorite explodes, it will do the same amount of damage as when it was placed with C2, even when buffs such as the ATK from Bennett’s Burst run out.
One more thing to note is that it can deal damage without actually placing the meteorite, this is useful when you don’t want to cause any existing Geo Constructs to break. A few ways to do this are by aiming it on top of the Elemental Burst, on another Geo Construct, and on a flying enemy. Keep in mind that it doesn’t work on Hydro Mimic Raptors, also known as Oceanid birds.
Meteorite Placement
From left to right: press, hold, jump, and dash.
The actual meteorite formation takes the same amount of time for press, jump, and dash; the difference is in how soon after placing it you can do other things. Jumping keeps the Traveler in place while dashing moves them forward, past the meteorite. Overall, it’s recommended to hold due to how versatile and easy to control it is, since it’s the only way to aim it and decide where to place it instead of placing it right in front of you.
The key to mastering the Geo Traveler is getting the hang of placing the meteorite. In some cases you may not want to break other important Geo Constructs (e.g. Albedo’s flower) by placing another meteorite. Since placing the meteorite on top of enemies will usually lift them up out of reach (e.g. ruin guards) or not place the meteorite at all (bosses), the correct placement for such cases would be near the enemies, close enough for them to take the initial damage, but not close enough for the construct to influence or be influenced by their position.
Elemental Burst | Wake of Earth
Talent Description
Energizing the Geo deep underground, you set off expanding shockwaves. Launches surrounding opponents back and deals AoE Geo DMG. A stone wall is erected at the edges of the shockwave. The stone wall is considered a Geo Construct, and may be used to block attacks.
This does 4 instances of Geo DMG called “shockwaves” and leaves behind a circle of walls which you can enter and leave. Although it is technically considered as 4 Geo Constructs, it does not count towards the global limit of having 3 Geo Constructs on the field. This is very useful due to the walls resonating with Zhongli’s pillar and not causing any other Geo Constructs to break due to the limit.
The damage from this ability also snapshots, but it snapshots Geo Traveler’s stats sometime between pressing Q and when the first shockwave deals damage. Not only does the Burst do a lot of damage and buff the team with C1, but it can also trap enemies (including the Maguu Kenki), which results in a lot of utility. Like all Elemental Bursts, it has i-frames during which Geo Traveler will be invulnerable to all kinds of damage, it’s fairly short and only lasts for about a second, but can be helpful nonetheless. This also means that Geo Traveler can be swapped out very quickly after casting the Burst.
When casting the Burst, the shockwaves will push small enemies out, then 4 walls will appear, but in total it only covers half of the circle. Most parts of the walls can’t be jumped past, which is good when trying to trap bigger enemies in, but a bad thing when trying to reach smaller enemies.
Ascension 1 Passive | Shattered Darkrock
Talent Description
Reduces Starfell Sword’s CD by 2s.
A useful Passive that decreases the Elemental Skill CD from 8s to 6s. This mainly benefits teams that allow for flexible rotations and teams that use Geo Traveler as the on-field DPS since they allow Geo Traveler to use their Skill more often, fully taking advantage of its high multipliers and Energy generation. In teams that require fixed rotations, such as those with Xiao, Itto, or Hu Tao, this Passive doesn’t change much since Geo Traveler will be limited to a couple Skill casts per rotation regardless.
Ascension 4 Passive | Frenzied Rockslide
Talent Description
The final hit of a Normal Attack combo triggers a collapse, dealing 60% of ATK as AoE Geo DMG.
This adds a no-hitlag Elemental attack to the 5th and last Normal Attack, doing Geo DMG instead of Physical DMG. This is not enough to make it recommended to use Normal Attacks, though players who do use Geo Traveler as an on-field DPS can gain some value from it since it can trigger the Normal Attack stack of Mistsplitter Reforged and be buffed by Yun Jin’s Burst.
Constellations
As with all Traveler Constellations, they are free and can be obtained by progressing through the game. 2 of them are from Chapter I, Act II and Act III of the Archon Quest, while the other 4 can be bought from Xingxi’s Souvenir Shop in Liyue for 225 Geo Sigils each. It’s very important to get all 6 Constellations if you want to use Geo Traveler; each one increases their damage by a significant amount.
Constellation 1 | Invincible Stonewall
Party members within the radius of Wake of Earth have their CRIT Rate increased by 10% and have increased resistance against interruption.
This increases Geo Traveler’s utility as a support by giving 10% CRIT Rate to whichever character that is standing in it. This CRIT Rate buff is only applied to the active character once the walls are formed and can be snapshotted, which means that when a character casts an ability that does multiple instances of damage over time, it will stay for the whole duration. However, do note that the walls themselves also snapshot, meaning that the buff does not apply to the Burst that triggers this Constellation. But it will apply to the following Bursts because of C6.
Constellation 2 | Rockcore Meltdown
When the meteorite created by Starfell Sword is destroyed, it will also explode, dealing additional AoE Geo DMG equal to the amount of damage dealt by Starfell Sword.
This effect can be triggered when meteorites expire naturally, are destroyed by enemies, or are destroyed when the player tries to place a 4th Geo Construct, breaking the Geo Construct limit. The explosion snapshots, so its DMG is based on the Geo Traveler’s stats at the time when they initially placed the meteorite. However, any buffs that depend on the state of enemies (i.e. Lion’s Roar passive, the 4-Piece set bonuses of Lavawalker, Thundersoother, and any RES Shred) are not snapshotted, and while CRIT buffs can be snapshotted, the explosion crits separately from the initial cast. In practice, it’s most effective to manually explode it by placing down a 4th meteorite so the 1st one does the same amount of damage as when it was placed. Players can also lure opponents into breaking meteorites, which is very effective against aggressive or high-damaging opponents such as Ruin Guards, Fatui Agents, and most bosses. When focusing on this Constellation, it will increase Geo Traveler’s damage greatly; having other characters that can place Geo Constructs will help to explode the meteorites.
Constellation 3 | Will of the Rock
Increases the Level of Wake of Earth by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15.
This increases the damage of the Elemental Burst, which is a direct DPS increase.
Constellation 4 | Reaction Force
The shockwave triggered by Wake of Earth regenerates 5 Energy for every opponent hit. A maximum of 25 Energy can be regenerated in this manner at any one time.
While this Constellation doesn’t necessarily increase damage directly, it greatly reduces Geo Traveler’s ER requirement, allowing them to have more offensive stats from their weapon and artifacts.
Constellation 5 | Meteorite Impact
Increases the Level of Starfell Sword by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15.
Similar to C3, but for the Elemental Skill, this Constellation also increases Geo Traveler’s DPS.
Constellation 6 | Everlasting Boulder
The barrier created by Wake of Earth lasts 5s longer. The meteorite created by Starfell Sword lasts 10s longer.
This increases the duration of both the Skill and Burst. Without C6 the Skill already lasts 30s—which is more than enough for most rotations—so it’s mostly useful for Overworld exploration since the meteorite now lasts 40s. The increased duration of the Burst is a lot more useful for combat, because the CRIT Rate and Interruption Resistance buffs now last for the full duration of a 20s rotation, which helps teams with members that have an Elemental Burst CD of 20s. Since Geo Traveler’s Burst snapshots, it will not receive its own CRIT Rate buff; however, C6 allows Traveler to snapshot the CRIT Rate buff from a previous Elemental Burst onto another Elemental Burst so that its CRIT Rate is increased.
Rock Tech
Art credit: KieruArt on Twitter [original post]
There are a lot of interesting ways that the Elemental Skill can be used, and these are some of the different techniques that have been discovered. While it’s not necessary to learn all of them—in fact some of them are not recommended in combat; it definitely makes Geo Traveler less clunky and more fun to play. Note that all of these demos are done slowly so it’s easier to understand what’s going on, and can be done much faster with practice.
Aiming
A very common mistake is pushing enemies up, this can make Geo Traveler feel clunky. There are many ways to play around this. With practice and patience, all the enemies will eventually stay on the ground. The right way to place the meteorite is not too close that you push the enemy up, but not too far that you don’t do damage to it. For reference there are 3 circles that move outwards when aiming, try to place it in a way that the enemy hitbox is between the 2 outer circles.
When aiming the meteorite over the head of an enemy, it can be placed behind it. When doing the same against a displaceable enemy, the meteorite will push it towards the player even more, which is very useful as a form of crowd control. This is the easiest when the enemies are at the maximum aiming range of the meteorite, but can be done when they are closer as well.
Sometimes it can be useful to not actually place down the meteorite by canceling it. As long as it hits an enemy it will deal damage and generate Elemental Particles. This can be done by aiming it on the side of an existing meteorite or on a different Geo Construct. It is not recommended to aim on the spikes of the walls from the Burst, since it can completely displace the meteorite due to its unique surface area, causing it to not deal damage or generate Particles.
Shielding
The meteorite can be used as a quick shield to block projectile and laser-based attacks if it’s aimed between the player and the enemy or on top of the player. This can be used to protect Leyline Monoliths as well. It’s also possible to jump straight up when used as a pseudo shield, which is faster than climbing up if you ever need to get up there for whatever reason. However, before jumping up make sure to always take a step forward, if you stay where you are and jump up directly it will take a bit longer due to the climbing animation. Last but not least, possible to switch characters while you are standing inside the meteorite.
Plunging
Rockstep is not a very practical technique since Geo Traveler shouldn’t be focusing on Plunging DMG, it looks cool nonetheless. The idea is to use the press the Skill and jump onto the meteorite during its formation, then jumping again to plunge.
Starstep is when you jump directly onto the meteorite without having to climb it, followed by a plunge in the direction you came from. In a variation of this technique you can also switch to a different character with higher Plunge DMG multipliers right after jumping. Note that you can’t jump to the very top, but you can jump high enough to do a Plunging Attack or walk a bit to get to the top. This completely skips the climbing animation.
More about the meteorite
The meteorite isn’t completely circular and neither is the hitbox, while it is possible to directly jump up from any direction, it’s the most consistent when trying to land either on the blue gap or to the right of it. There are 4 of them, and the meteorite always faces the same way in the Overworld (it varies in Domains). When jumping from the right distance, the character will land somewhere between the green and red lines, allowing them to plunge; you can also keep “walking” up to the top where the surface is flat.
Character Interactions
If there are multiple characters that can place down Geo Constructs, when placing down a 4th one it will not always destroy the 1st one. This is because all other Geo characters have a limit on how many of a specific construct can be on-field at a time.
With correct positioning, all 4 walls plus 2 meteorites can resonate with Zhongli’s Stone Stele, dealing damage in a very large AoE. This interaction is commonly known as “microwave”. Keep in mind that the walls don’t count towards the 3 Geo Construct limit, while the Stone Stele and meteorites do.
Enemy Interactions
Golden Wolflord
This is the fastest way to break the Golden Wolflord’s shield with only Geo Traveler:
- Quckly go around the arena and place down a meteorite in front of the 1st and 2nd skull.
- The Golden Wolflord will do a large AoE attack, causing both meteorites to explode and thus the skulls.
- Place down 1 meteorite in front of the 3rd skull.
- Do 5 Normal Attacks on the 3rd skull to get the Geo attack from A4.
Tip: Stand behind the meteorite and the skull when doing the Normal Attacks, as they can act as a barrier to block some incoming attacks.
The best way to aim the meteorite is in front of the skulls and at the right distance; where placing the meteorite breaks 2/3 of the skull, and C2 finishes off the other 1/3 when the Golden Wolflord deploys an AoE attack that consequently breaks the meteorites. Do note that placing it behind a skull can work but is not as reliable, because the large AoE attack does not hit meteorites behind the skulls. Although after the large AoE attack, there are various smaller AoE attacks that can hit the meteorites but it is highly inconsistent.
Advanced
Elemental application in Genshin Impact is measured in Gauge Units, which is always the same amount for each attack and it is not dependent on damage. Like all Elemental shields and armor, the skulls that form the shield of the Golden Wolflord each need 3U (Units) of Geo to be destroyed. This means that Geo Traveler needs very low investment when used as a solo Geo character to face this boss. Placing the meteorite applies 2U Geo, the explosion from C2 applies 1U Geo, and the Geo attack from A4 also applies 1U Geo. Whether a meteorite is destroyed by the enemy or by placing down a 4th Geo Construct, C2 will always apply 1U Geo. To learn more about Gauge Units, visit the Elemental Gauge Theory page.
Playstyles and Builds
Art credit: Leonie2814 on Twitter [original post]
Quickswap DPS
This is the most popular way to play Geo Traveler and the best way to reach their maximum damage potential. As a quickswap DPS, they are swapped in to use their Elemental Skill and Burst as often as possible; which have high multipliers, short cooldowns, and require very little field time. They can buff the team with CRIT Rate and Interruption Resistance while doing considerable damage themselves when built correctly. Not to mention Geo Traveler only needs ~130% ER to use their Elemental Burst off CD because of C4, which is easily achievable through artifact substats. On the rare occasion that Normal Attacks are used, they are only used for triggering things such as Xingqiu or Beidou’s Elemental Burst, since the damage from the Normal Attacks themselves is negligible and spending the time to do them lowers the overall team damage.
Support
Geo Traveler can also be used completely as a support, providing CRIT Rate, ATK%, Elemental Particles, and Interruption Resistance to the team. In other words, they mainly serve the role of a buffer and a battery. In terms of playstyle, it’s the same as if they were a quickswap DPS, the only difference is in the equipment, which usually focuses on buffing the team further with 4-Piece Noblesse Oblige instead of doing the most amount of personal damage possible; and using Favonius Sword if needed, in order to generate even more Particles.
They will sometimes need more ER since in certain rotations their Skill can only be used once. As a battery, Geo Traveler will most likely need an ER main stat artifact in order to give their Elemental Particles to another character and still use their own Burst off CD. Keep in mind that they get 5-25 Flat Energy depending on the amount of enemies that their Elemental Burst hits and it has a 60 Energy Cost, which can put their ER requirement at up to 200%. Thus the Favonius Sword and/or an ER% Sands would be highly recommended when using Geo Traveler as a Battery. Use the Energy Recharge Calculator to find out exactly how much ER every character on the team needs. However, when Geo Traveler has enough ER you can always start getting better artifacts for them to increase their personal damage in a team.
There are many ways to use Geo Traveler as the only Geo character in a team; although this isn’t optimal for their personal damage—since Geo Traveler really wants Geo Resonance—it does mean that they potentially can provide a lot of utility to a team that isn’t necessarily designed for them. Plenty of teams have flexible slots, meaning almost any character can be part of them. One of the ways to use Geo Traveler as a support is to fill the flexible slot when facing certain enemies, such as the Golden Wolflord. See above for tips on how to break the shield efficiently.
On-Field DPS
Although this is generally not the best option for Geo Traveler because the majority of their damage comes from the Skill and Burst, things have slightly changed since the release of Yun Jin. Not only does she provide Geo Resonance, but she also buffs Normal Attacks, allowing Geo Traveler to spend a lot of time on-field and dealing more damage than before. Before 2.4, Charged Attacks were used more often because the multipliers are higher, but they consume Stamina and you need Stamina to dodge; now that Yun Jin has been released, she pairs very well with Geo Traveler as an on-field DPS that does Physical DMG on top of Geo DMG by allowing you to use Normal Attacks instead. When using the Elemental Skill 2-3 times in a rotation Geo Traveler only needs 100%~130% ER, which is easily achievable through artifact substats. At the same investment level, Geo Traveler will do more Geo DMG than Physical DMG; therefore even when they are used as an on-field DPS that uses Normal or Charged Attacks, the focus should be on Geo DMG. Anything that buffs Physical DMG (such as Yun Jin’s Elemental Burst) is only a bonus.
Weapons
Art credit: csyday829 on Twitter [original post]
TL;DR Ranking
Keep in mind that this is calculated with very specific assumptions (read below) and is not the only “correct” weapon ranking there is, hence the detailed ranking is generally more accurate. All the weapons are being compared to Amenoma Kageuchi because it’s the best F2P option.
| Weapon | % Amenoma | Notes |
| Primordial Jade Cutter R1 | 130.64% | |
| Haran Geppaku Futsu R1 | 125.67% | |
| Wolf-Fang R5 | 125.59% | Assumes no Burst hits get CRIT Rate. |
| Mistsplitter Reforged R1 | 123.52% | 1 stack from casting the Burst. |
| Wolf-Fang R1 | 115.57% | Assumes no Burst hits get CRIT Rate. |
| Lion’s Roar R5 | 114.98% | Enemies have to be affected by Pyro/Electro. |
| Aquila Favonia R1 | 109.02% | |
| Alley Flash R5 | 107.33% | |
| Summit Shaper R1 | 107.12% | |
| Lion’s Roar R1 | 106.33% | Enemies have to be affected by Pyro/Electro. |
| The Black Sword | 105.61% | |
| Festering Desire R5 | 105.11% | |
| Harbinger of Dawn R5 | 103.69% | Above 90% Max HP. |
| Skyward Blade R1 | 103.16% | |
| Blackcliff Longsword | 102.54% | |
| Royal Longsword R5 | 101.36% | 1 stack. |
| Finale of the Deep R5 | 100.97% | |
| Alley Flash R1 | 100.91% | No damage taken. |
| Amenoma Kageuchi | 100.00% | |
| Fleuve Cendre Ferryman R5 | 99.94% | 4EoSF 2.2% better than 2GF + 2AP |
| Finale of the Deep R5 | 98.91% | |
| Royal Longsword R1 | 98.44% | 1 stack. |
| Sapwood Blade | 97.28% | |
| The Flute/Lion’s Roar/Kagotsurube Isshin | 95.51% | No passive active. |
| Prototype Rancour | 90.76% | |
| Sacrificial/Favonius Sword | 89.09% | No passive active. |
| Cinnabar Spindle R5 | 85.96% |
Assumptions: Level 90, C6, 9/12/12 Talents, 130% minimum ER; 2-Piece Archaic Petra 2-Piece 18% ATK; ATK%/Geo DMG Bonus/CRIT Rate or DMG main stats, substat distribution following the KQM Calculation Standard; 20% RES Shred and 20% ATK (4-Piece Tenacity of the Milellith) from Zhongli’s Skill, 998 ATK and 20% ATK (4-Piece Noblesse Oblige) from Bennett’s Burst, Geo Resonance with 100% shield uptime; damage is from an EQE rotation.
Detailed Ranking
This subsection is more for understanding how each weapon works instead of ranking them per se, and it takes everything into consideration– Base ATK, substats, passives, refinements, teammates, how easy/hard they are to build around, how to gain stacks effectively, what buffs are good, etc.
 | 5★ Primordial Jade Cutter Base ATK: 542 Substat: 44.1% CRIT Rate A stat stick that is overall the best option because of the high CRIT Rate and unconditional ATK that scales off of Geo Traveler’s Max HP. With just a CRIT DMG Circlet it already puts them at a 49:112 Crit Ratio, which makes artifact farming a lot easier. |
 | 5★ Haran Geppaku Futsu Base ATK: 608 Substat: 33.1% CRIT Rate Geo Traveler does not have a lot of ways to get Geo DMG Bonus, therefore those 12% Geo DMG Bonus combined with the CRIT Rate substat and high Base ATK make this a great weapon. However, the second half of the passive does not have any use unless Geo Traveler is an on-field DPS. |
 | 5 ★Mistsplitter Reforged Base ATK: 674 Substat: 44.1% CRIT DMG This passive also gives a 12% Geo DMG Bonus, but Geo Traveler can only have 1 stack consistently when not using Normal Attacks, and when optimizing overall team damage, their Normal Attacks shouldn’t be used. Although the passive can’t be used to its full potential, this is overall still a very good weapon. |
 | 4★ Lion’s Roar Base ATK: 510 Substat: 41.3% ATK The enemies need to be affected by Pyro or Electro in order for this weapon to reach its full potential, which is very easy to do with characters like Xiangling, Raiden, or Fischl. Keep in mind that at lower refinements, it’ll start to fall behind some of the weapons listed below, however at R5 it’s the best 4-Star option, outperforming a few 5-Star weapons. |
 | 5★ Summit Shaper Base ATK: 608 Substat: 49.6% ATK This provides a lot of ATK, which means that it performs better than some of the other weapons when there are no ATK buffs present. However most teams have some kind of ATK buffs, whether it’s from artifacts, Talents, or Elemental Resonances. It’s still a good weapon nonetheless, it’s just hard to take full advantage of the passive, which requires some Normal or Charged Attacks on top of using the Skill and Burst. |
 | 4★ Festering Desire (R5) Base ATK: 510 Substat: 45.9% Energy Recharge A limited event weapon that was only available during Version 1.2 and is no longer obtainable. Although the passive seems good for Geo Traveler, the substat has a lot more ER than needed regardless of their role in the team, it’s better to opt for a weapon with ATK% or CRIT substat when the goal is for them to deal damage. This weapon can work well when using Geo Traveler as a support, but it’s not as good as Sacrificial, Amenoma, or Favonius due to the lack of an Energy-related passive. In other words, it has a little bit of everything—but it’s not the best option for any of the roles that Geo Traveler performs well in. |
 | 5★ Aquila Favonia Base ATK: 674 Substat: 41.3% Physical DMG Bonus A good option as an on-field DPS; not only is the Base ATK very high, but the substat boosts Normal and Charged Attack damage, which are used in-between the Skill and Burst. If using a shielder it’s hard to make use of the other part of the passive that deals damage when Geo Traveler takes damage. As a quickswap DPS or support this weapon is not recommended. |
 | 4★ The Black Sword Base ATK: 510 Substat: 27.6% CRIT Rate The passive does not provide any value to Geo Traveler’s kit as a quickswap DPS or support, but as an on-field DPS it’s a very good option. The CRIT Rate substat makes it easier to farm artifacts, while the passive boosts Normal and Charged Attack damage. It can also heal a bit whenever Geo Traveler crits, but the healing shouldn’t be relied on. |
 | 3★ Harbinger of Dawn (R5) Base ATK: 401 Substat: 46.9% CRIT DMG A weapon that almost everyone has at R5 due to how easy it is to obtain from wishing. This is a very strong weapon when the passive is active, and unlike some weapons it’s not deactivated when you take damage, it’s deactivated when you’re below 90% HP. This means that either a shielder or a healer would make it work, since if you go below 90% HP you can quickly heal back up and get the 28% CRIT Rate. Keep in mind that although Bennett is very good, his healing stops at 70% Max HP, which means that if the last instance of healing happens earlier you will not reach 90%, however if it happens near the 70% limit you will most likely get to 90% and the passive will be activated again. |
 | 4★ Amenoma Kageuchi Base ATK: 454 Substat: 55.1% ATK Another craftable weapon, but this one has a lot of ATK, which isn’t nearly as useful as CRIT when ATK buffs are present. However this weapon has a very useful passive that restores Flat Energy when the Burst is used, allowing Traveler to not need additional ER when using the Skill at least twice in-between Bursts. As an on-field or quickswap DPS that catches their own Elemental Particles, they only need ~110% ER at R1. Refining this weapon will further decrease the amount of ER they need. |
 | 4★ The Alley Flash Base ATK: 620 Substat: 55 Elemental Mastery The substat is useless for any Geo character, as it only increases the strength of Crystallize shields (which are very weak to begin with). The passive is good with refinements and at R5 it can outperform both Harbinger of Dawn and Amenoma Kageuchi when it is active. With a shielder on the team it’s not hard to keep up with the passive, since Corrosion cannot disable it. Overall it can be a good weapon, as long as it’s used correctly; which means either having a strong shield, knowing how to dodge, or using Geo Traveler’s abilities as soon as they are swapped onto the field to take advantage of the passive before they take any damage. |
 | 4★ Prototype Rancour Base ATK: 565 Substat: 34.5% Physical DMG Bonus It’s the 4-Star counterpart of Aquila Favonia that is craftable and thus F2P friendly, but at the same refinement level it is not as good as The Black Sword due to the lack of CRIT Rate. The Physical DMG Bonus might look good for an on-field DPS, but it’s actually calculated the same way as the Normal and Charged Attack DMG Bonus from The Black Sword. As a quickswap DPS it greatly underperforms when compared to the other weapons because the only useful part of it is the Base ATK. |
 | 4★ Favonius Sword Base ATK: 454 Substat: 61.3% Energy Recharge Commonly used by characters that battery other characters as it generates 3 Clear Particles every time the wielder crits. These Particles will turn into 6 Energy when the character receiving the Particles has 100% ER, 12 Energy when they have 200% ER, and so on. This is the best option when using Geo Traveler as a battery and the focus isn’t on their personal damage. While Sacrificial Sword allows Geo Traveler to generate slightly more Energy for Geo characters, Favonius Sword allows them to be swapped in only once in a rotation to funnel the Geo and Clear Particles. |
 | 4★ Sacrificial Sword (R4+) Base ATK: 454 Substat: 61.3% Energy Recharge The substat provides more ER than what Geo Traveler generally needs, every character has a base 100% ER, and this puts them at 161.3% when the ER requirement is usually ~130%. This means that they will have no Energy issues, can funnel all their Particles to another character, and can focus on getting more offensive substats from artifacts. When the passive is triggered it’ll allow one more Elemental Skill use, which is where roughly half of Geo Traveler’s damage comes from. |
 | 5★ Skyward Blade Base ATK: 608 Substat: 55.1% Energy Recharge The substat is useful for using Geo Traveler as a support, because when using them only for the CRIT Rate, Interruption Resistance, and/or Elemental Particles, their personal damage is not the focus. However, since it has a higher Base ATK, more ER, and some CRIT Rate, it will allow Geo Traveler to deal damage than Favonius Sword or Festering Desire, but not by much. |
Artifacts
Art credit: karu_uto on Instagram [original post]
Main Stat Priority
 | ATK% or Energy Recharge When Geo Traveler is played as a DPS or is in a team with a lot of Geo characters—where Energy is plenty—use an ATK% Sands. On the contrary, if their role is a support (especially a battery), an ER Sands will be necessary due to not catching their own Particles. |
 | Geo DMG Bonus This is fairly straightforward, Geo DMG Bonus will almost always be the best option when it comes to the Goblet. |
 | CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG Always choose CRIT Rate if Geo Traveler is using Favonius Sword, otherwise try to get as close to a 1:2 Crit Ratio as possible. Bear in mind that the 10% CRIT Rate from C1 has full uptime and should be taken into consideration when selecting artifacts. |
Substat Priority
DPS: CRIT ≥ ATK% > ER% > ATK
Support: ER% > CRIT Rate* > ATK% > ATK > CRIT
*CRIT Rate has a higher priority when using the Favonius Sword, otherwise ATK% is generally preferred over CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG.
Always make sure to get enough ER% before trying to get other substats since using the Burst as soon as the cooldown ends is essential. Geo Traveler generally needs ~100% ER as an on-field DPS, ~130% ER as a quickswap DPS, and ~200% as a support.
Sets
TL;DR
These are again calculated with very specific assumptions (read below), but the overall best options are very similar to other assumptions as well. All the artifact sets are being compared to 2pc Archaic Petra (AP) + 2pc 18% ATK.
| Artifact Set(s) | % 2pc AP 2pc 18% ATK | Notes |
| 4pc Lavawalker/Thundersoother | 107.36% | Situational best option. |
| 2pc Archaic Petra + 2pc Noblesse Oblige | 102.29% | Great when ATK buffs are present. |
| 4pc Husk of Opulent Dreams | 101.35% | Not worth farming just for the Traveler. |
| 2pc Archaic Petra + 2pc 18% ATK | 100.00% | – |
| 4pc Emblem of Severed Fate | 97.83% | Overall one of the best options. |
| 2pc Noblesse Oblige + 2pc 18% ATK | 97.57% | Overall one of the best options. |
| 2pc 18% ATK + 2pc 18% ATK | 94.77% | Doesn’t need to be farmed end-game. |
| 2pc Emblem of Severed Fate + 2pc 18% ATK | 91.51% | Not great but very resin efficient. |
Explanation
Choosing Artifacts
Geo Traveler doesn’t have a dedicated artifact set, therefore the artifact stats matter a lot more. Overall, use whichever set combination that results in the best performance for your Traveler, with the notable exceptions being 4-Piece Thundersoother/Lavawalker and 4-Piece Noblesse Oblige. Thundersoother and Lavawalker only work in very specific teams due to the 4-Piece set bonuses being tricky to manage, since you need to keep the desired aura on the enemies at all times. Meanwhile Noblesse Oblige is more on the supportive side and does not optimize Geo Traveler’s personal damage. If Traveler is used in a flex spot or as a support that you haven’t fully invested in, it is totally fine to have no set bonuses as long as you obtain enough ER. To find out which of your artifacts are the best, use the Genshin Optimizer, set a minimum stat requirement for ER and select Skill DMG or Burst DMG as the optimization target, then the first result will be the optimal combination for your specific account. Generally, any combination of 2-Piece Archaic Petra, 2-Piece 18% ATK, 2-Piece Noblesse Oblige, or 2-Piece Emblem of Severed Fate works well.
Farming Artifacts
Previously, Geo Traveler’s strongest generalist sets were not recommended to farm due to requiring Archaic Petra from the notoriously Resin-inefficient Domain of Guyun. However, as of Version 3.0 Archaic Petra artifacts can be crafted through the Artifact Strongbox, allowing players to obtain this set without needing to spend extra Resin. Farming for whatever artifacts your other team members need and using the leftover artifacts to craft Archaic Petra pieces is an efficient way to obtain a strong set of artifacts for Geo Traveler. However, if you already have strong artifacts from the Noblesse Oblige set or any of the sets offering 18% ATK, it is not necessary to craft Archaic Petra; the difference between 2-Piece combinations with and without Archaic Petra is within a few substats of each other.
With 4 different sets of 18% ATK artifacts now in the game, it is definitely the most Resin-efficient to use 2x 18% ATK. Most end-game players should have some 18% ATK with very good substats due to how easy they are to get. Gladiator’s Finale can be obatined from bosses and the Artifact Strongbox, Shimenawa’s Reminiscence is from the same domain as the widely used Emblem of Severed Fate, Echoes of an Offering and Vermillion Hereafter can be obtained through Spiral Abyss rewards.
 | 18% ATK (Gladiator’s Finale, Shimenawa’s Reminiscence, Echoes of an Offering, or Vermillion Hereafter) 2-Piece: Assuming the substats are the same, using 2-Piece Archaic Petra + 2-Piece 18% ATK is going to be better than 2x 2-Piece 18% ATK. As mentioned above, these artifacts are obtainable from many sources, so it’s very Resin-efficient to use these 2-Piece options. 4-Piece: It’s not recommended to use any of them because of Geo Traveler’s low Normal and Charged Attack multipliers. But for anyone that wants to use them as an on-field DPS, they are all viable except for Vermillion Hereafter. |
 | Archaic Petra 2-Piece: This is the standard 2-Piece artifact set with 15% Elemental DMG Bonus, in this case Geo DMG Bonus. The other 2-Piece can be 18% ATK or Noblesse Oblige. These all perform similarly, hence it’s all about the substats. 4-Piece This can provide a boost to the team’s Pyro, Hydro, Electro, or Cryo DMG, which is useful when the primary damage dealer in the team uses one of these Elements. Xiangling and Raiden are strong candidates for this position. This set does however require you to be more deliberate about when to Crystallize with Geo Traveler, especially when there are multiple Elements in the team that can be Crystallized. The need to Crystallize in order to take advantage of this set can also cause issues. Geo Traveler’s Skill and Burst both have strong Geo applications that will remove a weak aura when Crystallizing. This means that you will not be able to use the aura that you are Crystallizing for other things, such as shredding RES with Viridescent Venerer, unless you make sure that the aura is strong enough to withstand Geo Traveler’s Geo application. |
 | Thundersoother (TS)/Lavawalker (LW) 2-Piece: Adds no value to Geo Traveler’s kit in terms of damage, it only makes them a bit tankier like the Interruption Resistance from C1. 4-Piece: Unlike Lion’s Roar, which can be used when the enemies are affected by Electro or Pyro, the artifact sets are separate. Thundersoother only works when the enemies are affected by Electro, likewise Lavawalker only works when the enemies are affected by Pyro. If the set bonus can be kept active, this is usually the best option for Geo Traveler because the 35% DMG Bonus applying to all of their attacks. |
 | Husk of Opulent Dreams 2-Piece: Similar to TS/LW, the DEF adds no value to Geo Traveler’s kit. 4-Piece: The 24% Geo DMG Bonus at 4 stacks can be good. Geo Traveler can easily keep the stacks up as a quickswap DPS or support. Overall this is not as good as Thundersoother/Lavawalker simply because 35% > 24%, however in teams without an Electro/Pyro character the other set isn’t viable, so this is a good option. It’s not recommended to farm this set just for Geo Traveler, but if for some reason you have a 4-Piece with good substats laying around, it’s a good set. |
 | Noblesse Oblige 2-Piece: This provides 20% Elemental Burst DMG Bonus, which is quite helpful due to roughly half of Geo Traveler’s damage coming from their Elemental Burst. 4-Piece: Only use it on Geo Traveler if no other character on the team, since the 20% ATK buff cannot stack when more than one character is using it. |
 | The Exile/Instructor 2-Piece: Although the 20% ER can help Geo Traveler reach their ER requirement, it’s not recommended to use 4-Star artifacts due to the level and substat limitations. 4-Piece: This is only viable under the following circumstances: 1. For players that haven’t reached Adventure Rank 45 and cannot farm 5-Star artifacts yet. 2. When using Geo Traveler purely as a support to buff an on-field DPS that deals a large amount of Reaction DMG (such as Hu Tao). The reason being these only buff other characters and don’t contribute to Geo Traveler’s personal damage whatsoever. Instructor provides EM for other team members while The Exile provides Flat Energy. |
Teams and Synergies
Art credit: CatCrossingArt on Twitter [original post]
Synergies
Geo Traveler is very flexible and can fit into a lot of teams, but they perform the best when there is at least one other Geo character on the team due to how Geo Resonance works. When shielded (either by picking up Crystallize shields or using shields from Talents), the on-field character gets 15% shield strength, 15% DMG Bonus, and enemies will have 20% less Geo RES. Characters that can place down other Geo Constructs are great with Geo Traveler because they will help you take full advantage of C2 and have all the meteorites do double the damage. This section will explain how every Geo character works with Geo Traveler, so hopefully you can pick the best one for your team.
Zhongli
Zhongli is the best teammate that Geo Traveler can have, because he boosts their personal damage significantly. His Jade Shield provides 20% Universal RES Shred in addition to 20% Geo RES Shred from Geo Resonance, the 40% total RES Shred results in roughly 28% damage increase for any Geo character on the team against the usual opponent with a base 10% Geo RES. The most notable interaction between Zhongli and Geo Traveler is Zhongli’s Stone Stele, which causes nearby Geo Constructs to periodically deal Geo DMG to nearby opponents. Since Geo Traveler can create multiple Geo Constructs at a time using their Skill, in addition to 4 Geo Constructs that do not count towards the 3 Geo Construct limit with Burst, they are uniquely able to bring out the full potential of Zhongli’s Stone Stele. If Zhongli is built for shielding instead of DMG, this interaction can still help him trigger the 4-Piece Tenacity of the Millelith set bonus more consistently. Together, Zhongli and Geo Traveler provide Universal RES Shred, shielding, Interruption Resistance, Elemental Particles, CRIT Rate, and ATK buffs, making them a strong choice to pair with any DPS character that isn’t particularly dependent on more than 1 teammate, e.g. Xiao and his battery, Hu Tao and Xingqiu.
Albedo
While Albedo can’t buff Geo Traveler like Zhongli does, he is great for quickswap teams. Geo Traveler’s Skill is on a 6s CD while Albedo’s is on a 4s CD, meaning both can be used frequently to not only do damage on cast, but also cause the meteorites to explode and deal even more damage. As explained in the meteorite interactions section, Albedo cannot force a meteorite to explode if a Solar Isotoma is on-field; he will break his own Solar Isotoma instead. He doesn’t provide a shield but he can do a lot more off-field damage in comparison to Zhongli (who is usually built for his shield strength). If the other 2 characters on the team are not Geo, Anemo, or Dendro and can apply their Elements frequently, it’s possible to rely on Crystallize shields to take advantage of Geo Resonance. Keep in mind that the shields from the crystals are very weak.
Gorou
In teams with 3 or 4 Geo characters—whether it’s quickswap or has an on-field DPS such as Noelle or Itto—Gorou and Geo Traveler work very well together. Geo Traveler is ideally built as a quickswap DPS while Gorou is built as a support. Even at a low investment level, Gorou can provide the team with Clear Particles on top of Geo Particles when using Favonius Warbow, DEF, Geo DMG Bonus, ATK when using 4-Piece Noblesse Oblige, and Interruption Resistance. Furthermore, Geo Traveler can provide the team with CRIT Rate, Geo Particles, and even more Interruption Resistance, while dealing large amounts of personal damage. Gorou performs best in Mono Geo teams because his Elemental Skill provides the maximum amount of buffs when there are 3 or more Geo characters in the team.
Noelle
Since Noelle is heavily dependent on her Burst and does not generate any Energy with her Skill, Geo Traveler’s strong Energy generation (currently the strongest among all Geo characters) is very helpful for her. Noelle also reduces some of the clunk that comes with playing Geo Traveler since her large AoE can reach opponents behind Geo Constructs.
Itto
Geo Traveler’s strong Energy generation is helpful for Itto, who depends very heavily upon maximizing his Elemental Burst uptime; the Geo Resonance and CRIT Rate buffs are also very much appreciated. Unfortunately, Itto is not the best character to enable Geo Traveler’s personal DMG, as he requires at least 11 seconds on-field and often more due to hitlag, during which Geo Traveler cannot swap in to cast their Skill or Burst without interrupting Itto’s Burst.
Ningguang
Playing Ningguang with Geo Traveler can be somewhat difficult, as their Geo Constructs can prevent Ningguang from placing her Jade Screen. The meteorites and walls can also block Ningguang’s Charged Attacks and her Burst. However, Geo Traveler provides Ningguang with the key benefits of quickswap DMG, Geo Resonance, and CRIT Rate; and their AoE can help cover one of Ningguang’s main weaknesses, which is that her damage is mostly single-target. Geo Traveler also gains 12% Geo DMG Bonus from Ningguang’s Jade Screen.
Yun Jin
As a character that buffs Normal Attacks, Yun Jin doesn’t usually synergize particularly well with Geo Traveler, who deals most of their DMG from their Skill and Burst. She will however be the best teammate for an on-field DPS Geo Traveler, but this is generally not the most effective use of Geo Traveler. The two can still coexist on teams normally thanks to shared synergies with certain characters, such as Noelle.
Team Examples
All images are generated with Genshin Portraits by muakasan#2792 and edited with permission to include Aether and Lumine.
Traveler, Zhongli, Xiangling, Bennett
This is a quickswap team, with none of its members needing to be on-field for extended periods of time. Bennett providing healing allows Zhongli to run a damage-oriented build, so this team composition is one of the “microwave” variations, in which Zhongli’s Stone Stele is contributing an appreciable amount of DMG. Since Pyro will be the only Element applied to enemies, this is one of the use cases for 4-Piece Lavawalker or Archaic Petra and Lion’s Roar on Geo Traveler. This is currently the strongest team for Geo Traveler’s personal DMG thanks to the plethora of buffs active, not only from the characters, but also from Geo and Pyro Resonance (their own 10% CRIT Rate, 40% Geo RES shred, 15% DMG Bonus, 25% ATK, Bennett’s Burst, Xiangling’s Ascension 4 Passive, and 4-Piece Noblesse Oblige on Bennett).
Traveler, Zhongli, Albedo, Gorou
Another quickswap team, but since it’s Mono Geo, there are almost no Elemental Reactions except for when enemies do Elemental Attacks, which doesn’t affect anything. With Zhongli’s shield having 100% uptime, healing isn’t needed unless there is Corrosion, in which case C4 Gorou would be helpful. This is a rare team where both Zhongli and Albedo’s Bursts are used due to not having a specific on-field DPS character. Ideally, every character uses their Elemental Skill and Elemental Burst as often as possible, the only character that needs some ER is Gorou because his Burst requires 80 Energy.
Noelle, Traveler, Flex, Flex
Geo Traveler can serve as a battery and buffer for Noelle, who heavily relies on maintaining Burst uptime. The Geo core provides team healing and is relatively self-sufficient, so the flexible slots can be any off-field DPS characters or buffers due to Noelle needing to be on-field for an extended period of time during her Burst; including other Geo characters, Fischl, Xingqiu, Rosaria, and Kaeya. See the Noelle Guide for more information.
Itto, Traveler, Bennett, Geo
Itto also relies on his Burst to deal the majority of his damage, and as an on-field DPS he prefers more offensive stats (such as CRIT) instead of ER. Geo Traveler can help to battery his Burst, as well as buff him with CRIT Rate. Bennett is the healer and ATK buffer in this team and every character benefits from him. The last character can be Zhongli or Gorou for even more buffs, or Albedo for off-field damage. See the Itto Guide for more information.
Xiao, Sucrose/Jean, Traveler, Zhongli
Geo Traveler is an excellent teammate for Xiao thanks to their shared synergy with Zhongli and their ability to contain opponents within the walls from the Burst. Since Xiao’s plunges knocking away opponents can be frustrating to deal with, the soft crowd control provided by Geo Traveler’s constructs is a lot more valuable than usual here. The normal benefits of Geo Resonance, CRIT Rate, and more Stone Stele pulses are all still useful here. Geo Traveler can be run with low investment for this role because of all the utility they provide, but still stands to contribute a lot of DMG if invested. See the Xiao Guide for more information.
Hu Tao, Xingqiu, Traveler, Zhongli
Hu Tao is another character who pairs well with Zhongli and only relies heavily on one teammate (Xingqiu), so Geo Traveler can be added here as well for Geo Resonance. They will expand the area covered by Zhongli’s Stone Stele pulses, which increases overall team DPS. Without C6 Xingqiu, Hu Tao may lose 1-2 Reverse Vaporizes every rotation due to the pulses from Zhongli’s Stone Stele, which resonates with all of Geo Traveler’s Geo Constructs as well. It’s recommended to have C6 Xingqiu in order to reach this team’s maximum damage potential.
Raiden, Anemo, Bennett, Traveler
While Geo Traveler is generally used with other Geo characters for Geo Resonance, they can also be used without other Geo characters in teams where they are primarily valued for their support capabilities. Raiden teams are an example because she appreciates having a buff that lasts her entire rotation, Geo Traveler’s Burst helps keep opponents contained, and their Burst is powerful enough and costs enough Energy to work well with Raiden’s Skill while not requiring too much Energy Recharge from Geo Traveler. Bennett can also be replaced by a TTDS user or a C6 Sara that uses 4-Piece Noblesse Oblige.
Resources
Art credit: starocean01 on Reddit [original post]
Weapon calcs (with Bennett) Weapon calcs (without Bennett) Artifact calcs
Talent and Constellation images
Mistsplitter Reforged bug
Credits
In nothing other than alphabetical order:
3b00d_09#2235
Λeoпdгew#5220
Ai#7362
Charisma#5567
Cuzimori#1535
daibangden2460#8410
Fluffy#5580
Longing#8998
pai#3602
Prévisible#7440
Rathalos#2875
Tithus#9995
Changelog
May. 1st, 2021: Published the first version by Fluffy#5580.
Jan. 31st, 2022: Created the updated version by pai#3602.
Feb. 23rd, 2022: Published the updated version.
Mar. 3rd, 2022: Added The Exile and Instructor.
Mar. 6th, 2022: Separated the “Interactions” subsection under Rock Tech into Character and Enemy Interactions, and added a step-by-step guide on how to break the Golden Wolflord’s shield.
Mar. 30th, 2022: Added Haran Geppaku Futsu and changed “2-Piece Gladiator’s Finale/Shimenawa’s Reminiscence” to “2-Piece 18% ATK”.
Apr. 9th, 2022: Reworked the artifact section to include both 2-Piece and 4-Piece set bonuses for each set.
Aug. 25th, 2022: Updated the artifact section to refelct the changes to the Artifact Strongbox in Version 3.0; added Kagotsurube Isshin and Sapwood Blade.
Aug. 27th, 2022: Added the glossary.