Razor is a 4* Electro Claymore DPS capable of dealing devastating amounts of Physical DMG as well as debuffing enemies and keeping his Energy reserves up without much support.
In other words, he’s one of very few self-sufficient DPS characters in the entire game. While his DMG potential falls off when compared to S-Tier DPS units, he’s still more than capable of holding his own in a DPS race against many A-Tier DPS units, even 5* ones.
This places him in a weird spot. As a 4* DPS, he will naturally be replaced on more accounts as the players get lucky and manage to pull someone like Eula, Xiao, or Ayaka. But at the same time, he is arguably one of the best characters you could be using as a main DPS until you get the previously mentioned characters. And even then, he’s still nice to have as a secondary DPS for the Spiral Abyss.
In other words, while it is his destiny to be supplanted, Razor is a DPS unit that will pay dividends on most new player accounts.
If you’re a new player and you pulled Razor, here’s everything you need to know about building him for maximum effect—talent priority, constellation power level, weapons, artifacts, and team compositions included.
Table of ContentsShow
Razor’s Talent Priority
| Talent | Description | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Attack (Steel Fang) | Normal Attack Perform up to 4 consecutive strikes. Charged Attack Drains Stamina over time to perform continuous spinning attacks against all nearby opponents. At the end of the sequence, perform a more powerful slash. Plunging Attack Plunges from mid-air to strike the ground below, damaging opponents along the path and dealing AoE DMG upon impact. | The multipliers on Razor’s Normal Attacks are nothing short of extraordinary. Many 5* characters don’t get nearly as much mileage out of every sword swing they make. For that reason, this is Razor’s first priority talent. |
| Elemental Skill (Claw and Thunder) | Hunts his prey using the techniques taught to him by his master and his lupical. Press Swings the Thunder Wolf Claw, dealing Electro DMG to opponents in front of Razor. Upon striking an opponent, Razor will gain an Electro Sigil, which increases his Energy Recharge rate. Razor can have up to 3 Electro Sigils simultaneously, and gaining a new Electro Sigil refreshes their duration. Hold Gathers Electro energy to unleash a lightning storm over a small AoE, causing massive Electro DMG, and clears all of Razor’s Electro Sigils. Each Electro Sigil cleared in this manner will be converted into Energy for Razor. | Razor’s Elemental Skill features okay DMG, but nothing out of the ordinary. It’s used more for its Energy restoration utility and Reaction proccing Elemental DMG than it is for raw DMG. That being said, every bit of DMG is welcome when you’re the main DPS. This is to say, we recommend you level up this skill as much as possible, but make sure to do so after leveling up all other talents first, as this is still his least important talent. |
| Elemental Burst (Lightning Fang) | Summons the Wolf Within, which deals Electro DMG to all nearby opponents. This clears all of Razor’s Electro Sigils, which will be converted into Elemental Energy for him. The Wolf Within will fight alongside Razor for the skill’s duration. The Wolf Within • Strikes alongside Razor’s normal attacks, dealing Electro DMG. • Raises Razor’s ATK SPD and Electro RES. • Causes Razor to be immune to DMG inflicted by the Electro-Charged status. • Disables Razor’s Charged Attacks. • Increases Razor’s resistance to interruption. These effects end when Razor leaves the battlefield. When Razor leaves the field, a maximum of 10 Energy will be returned to him based off the duration remaining on this skill. | Activating this Elemental Burst greatly increases Razor’s attack speed, which is a DPS increase in its own right. In addition to this, it adds a bit of Electro DMG to every swing and makes him harder to stagger. All things considered, this is Razor’s second priority talent, and a close second at that. |
Razor’s Passive Talents
| Talent Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Wolvensprint | Decreases sprinting Stamina consumption of your characters in the party by 20%. Not stackable with Passive Talents that provide the exact same effects. | This is arguably the best passive talent in the entire game. Reducing stamina consumption while dodging stands head and shoulders above passive talents that have a chance of doubling the logs obtained from hitting trees or fishes caught while fishing—it actually has a huge impact on combat. |
| Awakening | Decreases Claw and Thunder’s CD by 18%. Using Lightning Fang resets the CD of Claw and Thunder. | This isn’t only a DPS increase, as it also inadvertently ends up generating more Energy for Razor. Again, this is one of the better passive talents out there. |
| Hunger | When Razor’s Energy is below 50%, increases Energy Recharge by 30%. | It may seem like Razor has too many abilities that make it easier for him to generate Energy, but none of them are overkill as his Burst costs a total of 80 Energy. This doesn’t feel as impactful as Awakening, but it helps ensure Razor can function as a self-sustaining DPS that doesn’t need to rely on Supports for Energy generation. |
Razor is an extremely straightforward playstyle—he just hits things, but he sure hits them hard.
His entire kit is built around enabling him to hit enemies even harder—from Normal Attacks that feature multipliers not unlike those on 5* characters, to the ability to increase his attack speed with his Burst, and even several ways to ensure he can cast this Burst as often as possible.
This isn’t a playstyle for everyone. Some players prefer to have all of their characters share on-field time and deal comparable DMG. But there is definitely a playerbase happy to have one overpowered character on-field and watch them melt enemies in the simplest way possible—by hitting them on the head with a giant weapon.
So as far as we’re concerned, Razor’s kit is excellent. It focuses on sustained DMG and doesn’t benefit other characters, but that was very much the intention.
Razor’s Constellations
| Constellation Name | Description | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Wolf’s Instinct | Picking up an Elemental Orb or Particle increases Razor’s DMG by 10% for 8s. | With how easily Razor can generate Energy, it’s safe to say that this constellation constitutes a permanent 10% DMG increase. This isn’t a huge amount, but it’s a great start. |
| Suppression | Increases CRIT Rate against opponents with less than 30% HP by 10%. | You can never go wrong with having more CRIT Rate. This ability becomes even better as you venture into the endgame when enemies start to have absurd levels of HP. |
| Soul Companion | Increases the Level of Lightning Fang by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | While the attack speed increase doesn’t scale past level 10, the initial DMG and extra Electro DMG Razor deals per swing do. This is to say, don’t underestimate the added DPS this constellation brings to the table. |
| Bite | When casting Claw and Thunder (Press), opponents hit will have their DEF decreased by 15% for 7s. | Reducing DEF is arguably the best debuff in the entire game. If Razor had any trouble keeping up with lower-tier 5* DPS units like Keqing before, he certainly won’t once we factor in the significant DMG increase this constellation brings. This is easily Razor’s most powerful constellation. |
| Sharpened Claws | Increases the Level of Claw and Thunder by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15. | As mentioned when discussing Razor’s Elemental Skill, every bit of DMG helps. This pales in comparison to all previous constellations, but it still serves the same purpose of making Razor hit harder. |
| Lupus Fulguris | Every 10s, Razor’s sword charges up, causing the next Normal Attack to release lightning that deals 100% of Razor’s ATK as Electro DMG. When Razor is not using Lightning Fang, a lightning strike on an opponent will grant Razor an Electro Sigil for Claw and Thunder. | Razor’s last constellation is more fun than it is powerful. An extra 100% DMG every 10 seconds isn’t that much over the course of a fight. But neither is it to be ignored, especially since C4 makes all buffs more potent. |
On the whole, 4* characters aren’t known for their amazing constellations. Sure, there are exceptions, but generally speaking, most characters have at least some constellations that seem useless.
Razor, on the other hand, is the perfect example of constellations done right on a 4* character. He is a greedy DPS that requires lots of on-field time. This minimizes the contribution other units can make without hampering Razor’s overall DMG potential.
But it’s hard to feel bad about this exchange when every one of Razor’s constellations increases his DMG output in one way or another. While some constellations may seem mediocre at first, they all add up to make Razor a force to be reckoned with. And getting constellations on a 4* character isn’t an unachievable task, even for F2P players.
So if you like Razor and want to keep using him, just invest in getting a couple of duplicates and he’ll effortlessly keep up with all but the most powerful DPS characters.
Best Weapons For Razor
| Weapon Rarity | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Song of Broken Pines 5* | Song of Broken Pines doubles down on Razor’s main theme—hard-hitting and speedy Physical DMG Claymore attacks. Razor is capable of utilizing everything about this weapon to its full potential, from the massive base ATK and Physical DMG substat to the passive. |
| Wolf’s Gravestone 5* | Thematically more appropriate and only slightly less powerful than the Song of Broken Pines, we have Wolf’s Gravestone, another 5* weapon that will propel Razor’s DMG output into the stratosphere. The base ATK and substat are both great, but the passive is much harder to trigger against boss enemies with large health pools. The Unforged is arguably better if you’re using a shielder, but only if you’re using a shielder. |
| Serpent Spine 4* | Serpent Spine is one of the all-time best 4* weapons in the game. Not only does it give decent base ATK and plenty of CRIT Rate, but its passive also increases all DMG by a huge amount. You’ll have to run a shielder to prevent Razor from taking DMG, but this is more than worth it considering how broken this weapon’s passive is. |
| Prototype Archaic 4* | The craftable Prototype Archaic is another amazing weapon for Razor, with a passive fairly similar to Razor’s C6. Every 15 seconds or so, Razor’s attack will deal plenty of extra DMG in an AoE. Over the course of a prolonged fight, the value of this passive diminishes, but the passive is just the cherry on top anyway—the main benefits are the great base ATK and solid substat. |
| Skyrider Greatsword 3* | It’s not often that a 3* weapon makes it into one of these lists, but Skyrider Greatsword is an exception. While its base ATK is certainly low, its substat is amazing on Razor. Moreover, its passive effectively grants another 40% ATK, which serves to make up for the low base ATK. This 3* weapon will outperform many 4* options on Razor, you can be sure of that. |
Best Artifacts For Razor – 4-Pale Flame
The 4-piece Pale Flame set bonus is technically the best artifact set you could give Razor. We say technically because the margin between it and several other options is fairly minimal. In fact, it may be better to run him with a 4-piece Gladiator’s Finale if it features better substats.
In essence, you can use any combination of 2-piece sets that grant either +25% Physical DMG or +18% ATK. But in a vacuum, if all of your artifact pieces had identical substats, the 4-piece Pale Flame set would be the best, as Razor doesn’t have any trouble maintaining uptime on its set bonus.
It’s much more important to make sure your artifacts have the right main stat and, ideally, the best substats.
For main stats, Razor is interested in ATK% on the Sands, Physical DMG on the Goblet, and CRIT Rate/CRIT DMG on the Logos.
As far as substats are concerned, you’d ideally want CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, Energy Recharge, and ATK%.
If your instinct is to focus on buffing Razor’s Electro DMG, try and fight that instinct. While he does do some Electro DMG, he deals way more Physical DMG. Focusing on the former over the latter will end up causing more harm than good.
Best Team Composition For Razor
F2P Razor Team
- Razor
- Fischl
- Rosaria
- Diona
Razor is the on-field DPS for this team.
Fischl provides some extra off-field Electro DMG. While Razor is perfectly capable of generating Energy for himself, a bit of extra help Energy can’t hurt. If you don’t have Fischl, consider running Lisa. Lisa’s Burst reduces the enemies’ DEF, which we’ve already mentioned is arguably the best debuff in the entire game. So while Lisa won’t provide as much DMG as Fischl, she will enable Razor to hit that much harder.
Rosaria is the off-field Cryo DPS. Not only does she help Razor proc Superconduct, she also increases Razor’s CRIT Rate and—with enough constellations—his Physical DMG. Kaeya is a great alternative to Rosaria. Rosaria is preferable because of the extra CRIT Rate buffing, but, aside from that, Kaeya can do everything else that Rosaria can.
Diona is here to round out the team with some healing and shielding.
Whale Razor Team
The so-called whale team composition is a segment where we look at how the ideal team for the character featured in the guide would look if one were to have access to all units in the game.
With Razor, this loses its meaning, as the presence of many 5* units in one’s account invalidates the need to use Razor as a DPS. But that’s not going to stop us from recommending this super-fun team:
- Razor
- Zhongli
- Albedo
- Qiqi
Zhongli provides a shield so powerful it enables Razor to face tank all incoming DMG. What’s more, the shield has an aura that reduces all enemy Resistances, making both Razor’s Physical and Electro DMG more potent.
Albedo provides plenty of off-field Geo DPS. More importantly, as the second Geo unit, he unlocks the Geo Resonance, which will not only buff Zhongli and Albedo’s DMG but also all of Razor’s DMG.
Qiqi is the team’s healer and Cryo applicator. We suggest running her with a Sacrificial Sword and the 4-piece Ocean-Hued Clam artifact set, so she can maintain better uptime on her Elemental Skill and provide some off-field Physical DMG on top of that.
Teambuilding Tips For Razor
In a gacha game like Genshin Impact, there is no baseline for which characters F2P players will have.
So, just in case you can’t run the team composition outlined above—or want to try something else—here are some important teambuilding tips you should keep in mind in order to maximize Razor’s effectiveness.
Run a Cryo applicator.
To maximize Razor’s Physical DMG, it’s important that someone in your party can DMG enemies with Cryo since Superconduct—the Elemental Reaction caused by combining Electro and Cryo—lowers the enemies’ Physical Resistance.
Any Cryo unit will do, so long as they are capable of dealing Cryo DMG on a relatively short cooldown.
Don’t use Pyro teammates.
Overload—the Elemental Reaction caused by combining Electro and Pyro—creates a small explosion that deals DMG and knocks back smaller enemies. The extra DMG and great, but knocking enemies back is the last thing you want to do as a melee character. This only makes you waste time and stamina sprinting after then after each consecutive hit.
Pyro Supports that barely deal any Pyro DMG—like Bennett, Razor’s in-game bestie—can work, but Xiangling, Thoma, and Amber will cause more harm than good.
Is Razor Worth It?
So, with all of the above in mind, do we think Razor is worth it?
Sure, many 5* DPS characters overshadow him—but Genshin Impact is a gacha game that makes it incredibly difficult to obtain these characters. And Razor is a hard-hitting DPS unit that generates Energy for himself and reduces sprinting stamina costs for the whole team.
So the answer to the previous question depends solely on how far along you’ve come in your character collecting journey.
If you’ve just started playing the game and you don’t have any 5* DPS characters, he’s definitely worth it. He’ll even be worth it after you get that first 5* DPS character since you’ll need a DPS for the second team in Spiral Abyss.
But if you’ve already got enough DPS characters to fill out at least two complete parties for tackling the Spiral Abyss, then Razor will most likely only end up collecting dust in the character selection menu.
