Two months ago, fans of Genshin Impact were treated to a brand new region as well as several characters, including the Raiden Shogun. In that patch, she was the Electro Archon of Inazuma, the leader of the Inazuma region.
But, who is the Raiden Shogun and why is she so popular?
Note that there are spoilers below.
The Raiden Shogun
Now, we know what you’re thinking, why is the Raiden Shogun’s backstory so confusing? Is she evil or good? Is she Baal or Beelzebul?
Note: Spoiler Below
To start, the Raiden Shogun exists in 2 forms. One in Raiden Ei, her true identity, and the Shogun, a puppet who was created by Ei to act as the ruler of the Inazuma region. She’s also known as the God of Eternity.
Eventually, we would find out that the Raiden Ei was controlling the Shogun, a puppet while meditating inside the Plane of Euthymia.
The puppet Shogun would also follow a set of instructions that are programmed into her, and it’s extremely difficult to modify, even for Ei. However, the Shogun is known to be cold, calculative and at times, callous.
Her emotions and expressions are limited and at first, not a lot of people really cared for her. She has no likes and dislikes, and worst of all, she has no hobbies. However, the Raiden Shogun would think of herself as Ei’s personal assistant. She does whatever Raiden Ei wants her to do and she can’t function apart from being controlled… not even cooking. Thus, she became the running gag for being a playable character who cannot cook.
Due to her limited protocols, the Raiden Shogun’s puppet can easily be manipulated by outside forces. Like the time Kujou Clan and the Fatui tricked her into initiating the Vision Hunt Decree.
Baal
There’s not much backstory about Baal, the original Electro Archon and Beelzebul, the current Archon.
Both Baal and Beelzebul are twin Gods. Baal, whose real name is Raiden Makoto, was the one of the original Seven who was victorius in the Archon War. Baal was the the first person to establish the Shogunate while Beelzebul became her Kagemusha, or shadow warrior. This meant that for a time, she was Baal’s body double.
Though they don’t share a close relationship, Yae Miko explained that Baal was kind and gentle, who disliked violence.
After her death during the Cataclysm, Beelzebul took over as the Raiden Shogun. However, she’s also referred to as Baal.
Beelzebul
Beelzebul would later create a puppet, who would become the playable Raiden Shogun, as a proof of concept. While the puppet would wander around Inazuma, she was later discovered by Fatui, taking on the name Scaramouche (No, they don’t do the Fandango).
A year prior to the game’s current events, Beelzebul was deceived by the Fatui. She would later reenact both both the Vision Hunt and Sakoku Decree. This made her close her nation from the rest of Teyvat, kinda like how Wakanda is like in the Marvel Universe.
Zhongli explained that the mortal vessel of Morax ordered the Inazuma Bakufu to collect all of the Visions in the country. where they are laid into the statue of a thousand-armed, hundred-eyed god for reasons unknown. No one, including her people, was ever since getting an Electro Vision.
Fast forward to the Vision Hunt Ceremony, the Shogun would then drag the Traveler into the Plane of Euthymia where they meet with Beelzebul. Beelzebul defeats them in this encounter but they’re saved by Thoma. It was later revealed by Yae that the Shogun is a puppet.
Reason Why She’s Popular
The Raiden Shogun’s limited time banner broke the 2-day revenue record with over 9 million in revenue. She’s become one of the most popular banners since the game’s launch.
She is more like a character who has a redemption arc. Plus, it’s not everyday you get a 5-star archon in your band. Plus, there’s another brand new 4-star character, Kujou Sara.
Kujou Sara is the leader of the Tenryou Commission’s forces. She bears the title of “Devotee of the Divine” and has sworn allegiance to the Raiden Shogun.
Guide For Raiden Shogun
The Raiden Shogun is a new 5 star polearm electro character that focuses on supporting your team with off-field damage and charging up their elemental bursts.
Not only does she excel well as a super battery for her team but also provides a good chunk of damage as the role of a sub DPS. (It’s important to note that you can’t use chain lightning on enemies around you when you’re using Raiden Shogun’s burst with Beidou’s. It’s currently unconfirmed if it’s a bug or a fix.)
If you want to get the Raiden Shogun Ascended to a level 80 and above, here’s the guide:
Ascension 1- Lv 20
- 1 Vajrada Amethyst Sliver
- 3 Amakumo Fruit
- 3 Old Handguard
- 20,000 Mora
Ascension 2- Lv 40
- 3 Vajrada Amethyst Fragment
- 2 Storm Beads
- 10 Amakumo Fruit
- 15 Old Handguard
- 40,000 Mora
Ascension 3- Lv 50
- 6 Vajrada Amethyst Fragment
- 4 Storm Beads
- 20 Amakumo Fruit
- 12 Kageuchi Handguard
- 60,000 Mora
Ascension 4- Lv 60
- 3 Vajrada Amethyst Chunk
- 8 Storm Beads
- 30 Amakumo Fruit
- 18 Kageuchi Handguard
- 80,000 Mora
Ascension 5- Lv 70
- 6 Vajrada Amethyst Chunk
- 12 Storm Beads
- 45 Amakumo Fruit
- 12 Famed Handguard
- 100,000 Mora
Ascension 6- Lv 80
- 6 Vajrada Amethyst Gemstone
- 20 Storm Beads
- 60 Amakumo Fruit
- 24 Famed Handguard
- 120,000 Mora
Apart from that, if you’d like to upgrade the Raiden Shogun’s weapons here’s what you need to work on:
| Name | Base Damage | Secondary Attack | Passive Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engulfing Lightning | 46 | +12% Energy Recharge | Raiden Shogun gets a 28% attack increase of 100% energy recharge. Raiden Shogun can have an 80% boost maximum and gains a 30% energy recharge after using her burst for twelve seconds. |
| Primordial Jade Winged-Spear | 48 | +4.8% Crit | When Raiden Shogun hits an enemy, her attack increases between 3.2% to 6% for six seconds for up to seven stacks. |
| The Catch | 42 | +10% Energy Recharge | Raiden Shogun’s elemental burst damage gets a 16% increase, and her crit rate is increased by 6%. |
Elemental Skill
The Eye can initiate one coordinated attack every .9s per party. Coordinated attacks generated by characters not controlled by you ( Co-op) deal 20% if the normal DMG. ( Co-op)
What this means is that whenever you pop your elemental skill, any member of your party that does any form of damage to opponents on the field, will proc the electro DMG
This does not necessarily mean that the damaging character needs to be on the field. So, Fishcl’s bird, Venti’s ult, Ganyu’s ult, Ayaka’s ult, can proc Raiden Shogun’s skill.
The damage from the elemental skill proc is also scaled from talent level as well as Raiden’s Shogun’s electro damage bonus.
When your team uses their elemental burst, they will generate resolve stacks for the Raiden Shogun. The amount of resolve stacks is determined by how much the energy cost is used for that particular burst. Moreover, the high energy cost would mean more stack and can have a maximum amount of 60 resolve stacks at a time.
When Raiden Shogun uses her burst, she’ll consume all resolve stacks, pull out a sword to deal massive initial damage, and enter a buffed state for 7.0 seconds. During the buff state, all damage that Raiden Shogun deals is based on the Elemental Burst DMG.
During the Raiden Shogun’s Elemental Burst, she gains resistance to interruptions and is immune to electro- charged reaction DMG.
Since the attacks are infused in electro, other element infused buffs would not affect her, much like Chong Yun’s E and Bennett’s ult.
It’s important to note that the Elemental bursts like Xing Qiu’s rain swords and Beidou’s Stormbreaker can still be triggered when attacking with Secret Art : Musou Shinsetsu.
What do you think of the Raiden Shogun? Share your thoughts with us.
Info via Fandom, miHoYo/ Genshin Impact
