Sara is an Electro Bow support with an emphasis on ATK buffing.
ATK buffing is arguably the best utility a support can bring to the table in Genshin Impact. This is the main reason Bennett is considered such an outstanding unit. Sure, he also heals and generates a ton of energy, but it’s the ATK buff he can give to other party members that makes him so incredible.
So, if you’re looking for another ATK buffer to take with you into the Spiral Abyss, look no further than Kujou Sara.
Just beware that she is a lot clunkier to use than Bennett, so you’ll need to follow multiple steps to get the most out of her. So if you’re curious how you should build Sara to get maximum value, you’ve come to the right place.
Table of ContentsShow
Talent Priority
| Talent | Description | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Attack (Tengu Bowmanship) | Normal Attack: • Perform up to 5 consecutive shots with a bow. Charged Attack: • Perform a more precise Aimed Shot with increased DMG. While aiming, crackling lightning will accumulate on the arrowhead. An arrow fully charged with the storm’s might will deal Electro DMG. When in the Crowfeather Cover state, a fully-charged arrow will leave a Crowfeather behind after it hits. Plunging Attack: • Fires off a shower of arrows in mid-air before falling and striking the ground, dealing AoE DMG upon impact. | There’s nothing special or unique about Sara’s Normal Attack Talent. If you’re running her as a support you won’t get many chances to right-click with her, making this her least important talent. |
| Elemental Skill (Tengu Stormcall) | Retreats rapidly with the speed of a tengu, summoning the protection of the Crowfeather. Gains Crowfeather Cover for 18s, and when Kujou Sara fires a fully-charged Aimed Shot, Crowfeather Cover will be consumed, and will leave a Crowfeather at the target location. Crowfeathers will trigger Tengu Juurai: Ambush after a short time, dealing Electro DMG and granting the active character within its AoE an ATK Bonus based on Kujou Sara’s Base ATK. The ATK Bonuses from different Tengu Juurai will not stack, and their effects and duration will be determined by the last Tengu Juurai to take effect. | To put it simply, this Elemental Skill teleports you out of harm’s way and speeds up the charge time of your next fully-charged Aimed Shot. The Aimed Shot will leave the so-called Crowfeather at the location where it hits. This Crowfeather will self-detonate, dealing DMG to enemies and buffing the ATK of the active character in its proximity. The simplest way to buff a character’s ATK is to fire off an Aimed Shot at your feet and then switch to your DPS. Convoluted as it may be, this is Kujou Sara’s most important talent. |
| Elemental Burst (Subjugation: Koukou Sendou) | Casts down Tengu Juurai: Titanbreaker, dealing AoE Electro DMG. Afterwards, Tengu Juurai: Titanbreaker spreads out into 4 consecutive bouts of Tengu Juurai: Stormcluster, dealing AoE Electro DMG. Tengu Juurai: Titanbreaker and Tengu Juurai: Stormcluster can provide the active character within their AoE with the same ATK Bonus as given by the Elemental Skill, Tengu Stormcall. The ATK Bonus provided by various kinds of Tengu Juurai will not stack, and their effects and duration will be determined by the last Tengu Juurai to take effect. | This Burst deals massive DMG while letting you buff the ATK of an active character. However, the way it works is tricky as there is some fine print involved. Namely, regardless of whether you buff a character’s ATK using the Skill or the Burst, the buff will always scale with Tengu Stormcall. That’s why Subjugation: Koukou Sendou is Sara’s 2nd priority talent. Ideally, you should level up her Skill and Burst equally, but if you have to prioritize one make it her Skill. |
Passive Talents
| Talent Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Land Survey | When dispatched on an expedition in Inazuma, time consumed is reduced by 25%. | Inazuma is the region with the worst expeditions, rendering this passive entirely inconsequential. |
| Immovable Will | While in the Crowfeather Cover state provided by Tengu Stormcall, Aimed Shot charge times are decreased by 60%. | This passive is mainly there to make using Sara’s Elemental Skill more convenient, but it works on other Bow users as well. Unfortunately, Crowfeather Cover lasts for one Aimed Shot only, so you can’t abuse this passive with Ganyu. |
| Decorum | When Tengu Juurai: Ambush hits opponents, Kujou Sara will restore 1.2 Energy to all party members for every 100% Energy Recharge she has. This effect can be triggered once every 3s. | Since Sara’s ATK buff scales off of her base ATK, you could stack Energy Recharge, but realistically speaking you’re unlikely to get a lot of mileage out of this passive. |
Kujou Sara does two things—buff ATK and deals devastating Burst DMG. It’s unfortunate that the ATK buff she provides only lasts for 6 seconds. You can refresh its duration by using her Elemental Burst, which would allow you to refresh it once more with her Elemental Skill, so there is some kind of rhythm there.
All of this is to say that using her as an ATK buffer will require more effort than using Bennett for that same purpose, but it’s very much doable. You just need to equip her properly. But before we get to her best equipment, let’s see whether it’s worth it to chase her constellations.
Constellations
| Constellation Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Crow’s Eye | When Tengu Juurai grants characters ATK bonuses or hits opponents, the CD of Tengu Stormcall is decreased by 1s. This effect can be triggered once every 3s. | Cooldown reduction is always valuable. This constellation will allow you to achieve better uptime on her ATK buff, although since it’s only a 1s reduction it’s not a game-changer by any means. |
| Dark Wings | Unleashing Tengu Stormcall will leave a weaker Crowfeather at Kujou Sara’s original position that will deal 30% of its original DMG. | C2 is also a quality of life perk, but this one is huge. With it, you won’t have to fire off her Aimed Shots into the ground or chase them around the battlefield. Regardless of wherever your Aimed Shot lands, a Crowfeather will spawn at your feet. |
| The War Within | Increases the Level of Subjugation: Koukou Sendou by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | You would much rather have a buff to Sara’s Elemental Skill at C3, as the ATK buff scales well past level 10. |
| Conclusive Proof | The number of Tengu Juurai: Stormcluster released by Subjugation: Koukou Sendou is increased to 6. | C4 will make it so that Sara’s Burst is more likely to hit more enemies. The more you invest in your Sara, the better this constellation gets. |
| Spellsinger | Increases the Level of Tengu Stormcall by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | This constellation is huge. The DMG increase it provides is largely inconsequential, but the fact that it offers increased scaling on the ATK buff even after level 10 is amazing. |
| Sin of Pride | The Electro DMG of characters who have had their ATK increased by Tengu Juurai has its Crit DMG increased by 60%. | The Electro element is considered a joke by many in the community, but this constellation has the potential to make the element more competitive—one of the better 4* C6s in the entire game. |
Sara’s constellations can be broken down into 3 segments:
- C1 and C2 are just quality of life buffs. With how complicated Sara can be to play they are very welcome, but not essential.
- C3 and C4 buff her Elemental Burst. If you just want your Sara to act as an ATK buffer, these constellations aren’t worth it. If you invest in her enough to make her a beefy Sub-DPS, they’re well worth it.
- C5 and C6 are some of the best support constellations in the entire game.
So whether or not you should chase her constellations depends on how you plan to use her. If you just want to slap any old 4-Piece Noblesse Oblige on her, give her a high Base ATK weapon and call it a day, then it’s not worth it to go beyond C2. Frankly, you can keep her at C0 if this is the case and experience no difference.
But if you’re serious about equipping her with proper artifacts and weapons, then all her constellations are great. In particular, her C6 bears the promise of making Electro great again.
Best Weapon
| Weapon Rarity | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Skyward Harp 5* | Skyward Harp is currently the bow with the highest Base ATK in the game. The higher the Base ATK, the beefier her ATK buff will be, making this weapon Sara’s BiS. The added CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG will also work wonders for her Elemental Burst DMG. Note: Other 5* bows will benefit Sara in terms of their high Base ATK, but she can’t make great use of their substats and passives, which is why the Skyward Harp is the only 5* weapon we highlighted. Check the Weapon Tier List for our general review of the weapons. |
| Sacrificial Bow 4* | Sacrificial Bow is Sara’s BiS 4* option. It has a beefy Base ATK for a 4* weapon and the passive is amazing for extending the uptime on her ATK buff. Not to mention, she needs the Energy Recharge to sustain her 80 Energy Burst. |
| Favonius Warbow 4* | Favonius Warbow is similar to the Sacrificial Bow, but with less upside – the Base ATK is way lower and the passive isn’t as impactful. That said, it is a free weapon that all players get in one of the Mondstadt Archon Quests, so it’s a reliable alternative. |
| Alley Hunter 4* | Few 4* weapons can match the Alley Hunter when it comes to unlocking Sara’s potential as a Sub-DPS. Normally, bow users who deal the majority of their DMG with their Burst go after The Stringless, but Sara doesn’t care for Elemental Mastery. Plus, the Alley Hunter has a very high Base ATK for a 4* weapon, making it the superior option. |
| The Viridescent Hunt 4* | The Viridescent Hunt gets an honorable mention because of its substat. CRIT Rate on a stick is very valuable in this game and the passive can technically proc off of her Aimed Shots, helping set other characters up for huge Bursts. |
Best Artifacts – 4-Noblesse Oblige or 4-Emblem of Severed Fate
Kujou Sara has two best sets—one for a low investment build where she’s strictly there to buff ATK and one for a higher investment build that also focuses on her Sub-DPS capabilities.
In either case, they want the same main stats on her artifacts—Energy Recharge% on the Sands, Electro DMG on the Goblet, and CRIT DMG/CRIT Rate on the Logos. If you’re running her with an Energy Recharge weapon (Sacrificial or Favonius) you can give her an ATK% Sands instead.
In terms of substats, you’d ideally want Energy Recharge, CRIT DMG, CRIT Rate, and ATK%.
Which set bonus you should get will depend on your plans for Sara:
- 4-Piece Noblesse Oblige: This is the best option if Sara’s only there to Buff ATK. It will make her Burst a bit stronger, but more importantly, it will give her another source of ATK buffing, letting you set up your DPS for some screenshot-worthy DMG numbers. So long as she has enough Energy Recharge to use her Burst as soon as it comes off cooldown, it doesn’t really matter what stats you have—this includes both main stats and substats.
- 4-Piece Emblem of Severed Fate: This is the best option for a Sub-DPS Sara, as most of her DMG potential is hidden behind her Elemental Burst. Unlike the Noblesse build, this build will require you to have good substats on your artifacts.
Normally we’d recommend some 2-Piece set bonus combinations as well, but since the quality of the artifacts does not matter at all for the 4-Piece Noblesse build, it’d be a bit redundant here.
Elemental Synergies
Electro isn’t an element known for its synergy with other elements. That said, some are simply better than others. The noteworthy elements to pair with Sara are:
- Anemo: Any Element aside from Geo can be Swirled, but there’s more upside to using it with Electro since Pyro, Hydro, and Cryo can be used for way better Elemental Reactions. Besides, Anemo characters can use the Viridescent Venerer set to boost Sara’s Burst DMG.
- Cryo: Superconduct is the reaction at the heart of each and every team composition that revolves around Physical DMG.
- Pyro: Pyro and Electro generally don’t work together at all, but not so with Sara—she just doesn’t apply Electro to enemies frequently enough for this to be a problem for melee characters. And if she’s paired with a ranged Pyro character it’s all upside.
Surprisingly enough, there aren’t any Elements that Kujou Sara specifically minds having on the team. Nevertheless, there’s less upside to using these Elements:
- Hydro: Hydro and Electro can work exceedingly well together. Unfortunately, Kujou Sara isn’t a character who excels alongside Hydro.
- Geo: In most cases, Crystallize is horrible with bow users, but Sara (before C2) needs to be very close to her enemies if she intends to both do DMG and buff ATK with her Elemental Skills. So she will very much appreciate having a bit of extra shielding.
Best Team Composition
Sara is a character that can be slotted into any team whatsoever. Even in a Freeze team, where Electro characters are generally unwelcome, she can buff ATK by shooting the ground rather than enemies. So really, you can’t go wrong whoever you team her up with.
But, some notably synergistic teams include:
Free-to-Play
- Sara
- Razor
- Diona
- Sucrose
Razor is the Physical DPS for the team, but he also serves as a reliable battery for Sara thanks to his low cooldown Elemental Skill. If you don’t have Razor, you can replace him with another 4* Physical DPS (Rosaria, Kaeya, Xiangling), but this may lead to some energy issues. If you’ve got a C6 Sara then no 4* can top Razor.
Diona is one of the most versatile supports in the game—she shields, heals, and in this case, procs Superconduct to make your Physical DPS hit harder. Shields are essential to maximizing the DMG output of your Physical DPS. If you don’t have Diona, consider running a Xinyan or Noelle. Both of them can also function as a main DPS with constellations.
Sucrose offers great crowd control and can increase Electro Burst DMG of both Sara and Razor thanks to the 4-Piece Viridescent Venerer set. Most players who have Sara are likely to have Sucrose as well, but any Anemo character can fulfill this role. Alternatively, you can use this last slot to add anything that’s missing to your team. For example, if you don’t have Diona, you may add Sayu or Barbara for healing.
For Whales
- Sara
- Raiden Shogun
- Eula
- Zhongli
Slotting 4* characters who aren’t Bennett or Xingqiu into Whale team compositions is no easy task, as whales would likely have other 5* characters who can take their place and do their job even better. That said, this is one whale team where Sara fits in nicely. She’s not irreplaceable, but she pulls her own weight.
Raiden Shogun deals immense Electro DMG and acts as a battery for Sara (and the whole team). In case your Sara is C6 this is even better.
Eula does Physical DMG while Raiden Shogun’s Burst is on cooldown. Thanks to Baal and Sara, she will always enjoy the benefits of Superconduct.
Zhongli shreds Resistances and keeps the rest of the team safe, allowing them to focus all effort on dealing as much DMG as humanly possible. With the 4-Piece Tenacity of the Millelith set, he can also act as the second source of ATK buff for the team.
Is Sara Worth It?
Sara is only the 2nd character in the game with the ability to buff up the ATK of her teammates. The 1st one is Bennett, who’s been sitting comfortably in the S-Tier on our Character Tier List since the game was launched. This led many to speculate that Sara will be the new Bennett.
Sara isn’t the new Bennett. She’s not even close.
It looks like miHoYo really didn’t want that to happen, so they made her ATK buffing not only inferior but also much more complicated. On top of that, it only lasts for 6 seconds. And if that wasn’t enough, they made it so that she offers next to no DMG outside her Burst.
And you know what?
Sara is still worth it!
That’s just how valuable ATK buffers are. Sure, she isn’t nearly as good as Bennett, but you can only have one Bennett. And you need two teams to tackle the Abyss.
So if you need a character to buff the ATK of the DPS in your other team, you can’t go wrong with Sara. As we’ve said, she can slot into any team. You’ll need to invest a lot into her if you want to see big numbers from her Burst, but you can just give her a high Base ATK weapon and any 4-Piece Noblesse set and she will outperform most other supports in the game.
