Scaramouche was one of Genshin Impact’s most anticipated releases since he first appeared in the version 1.1 event Unreconciled Stars. It took us until the end of the Sumeru Archon quests to finally see the Sixth Harbinger in action with the release of Scaramouche’s banner on December 2022 with the version 3.3 update.
Unfortunately for Scaramouche fans, he was neither the first male Catalyst user, an honor that went to Shikanoin Heizou, nor an Electro character. That said, he brought new gimmicks to the table such as his element buffing mechanic and his fun ability to soar over the battlefield — a skill that makes him great for overworld exploration if you’re sick of climbing mountains.
That said, Scaramouche does not synergize easily with other characters nor does his kit have obvious advantages as a DPS, sub-DPS, crowd control, or Swirl provider the way other Anemo characters’ kits (such as Kazuha and Sucrose) do.
If anything, he’s in the same spot as Xiao which, depending on how much damage matters to you, may make him a less desirable option. This isn’t to say he’s bad, but Scaramouche is one of those characters that you either like or don’t like. He’s not going to make or break your account the way characters like Bennet can. That said, let’s jump into it.
Scaramouche 101: An Overview of the Sixth Harbinger, the Balladeer
Scaramouche is an Anemo 5-star character who uses a Catalyst. He was first introduced in Unreconciled Stars and made subsequent reappearances in the Inazuma Archon Quest where he served as an antagonist working under the Fatui as the Sixth Harbinger, the Balladeer. However, after acquiring the Electro Gnosis from Yae Miko, he takes off and starts to make plans on how to become a god — the original purpose that Ei made him for before she created the Raiden Shogun.
If you pull for Scaramouche after completing the Sumeru Archon Quests and his story quest, you’ll be able to rename him to a name of your choosing, making him the only character whose name you can customize. If the story quest is unfinished, he’ll be named the Wanderer, a placeholder name. That said, you cannot give him any of his previous names (i.e. Scaramouche) or the names of other playable characters.
Scaramouche doesn’t have a lot of extra roles to slot into unlike characters like Yanfei and Fischl who can comfortably fit the role of support and DPS. Scaramouche is a greedy on-field DPS that will monopolize your combat time since he can’t deal damage off-field. Most of his damage comes from his wind blades which he throws out at enemies during his Normal Attack sequence.
The fact that he’s Anemo does give him a key advantage however and that’s his ability to trigger the Swirl reaction, allowing you to amplify the damage of other elements and shred enemy resistances.
What Are Scaramouche’s Talents, Priority Talents, and Stat Priorities?
As an on-field DPS, all of the buff mechanics in Scaramouche’s kit serve to increase his personal damage. This makes him effective for relatively new accounts that need a 5-star DPS. However, his purpose can be limited for players with more developed accounts since he can’t serve other roles nor does he provide top-shelf damage the way characters like Hu Tao and Xiangling can.
Scaramouche’s Talent Materials are the Nobushi drops, Praxis books, and Daka’s Bells from the Shouki no Kami weekly boss fight. The exact numbers are as follows:
- Nobushi drops: 6 Old Handguards, 22 Kageuchi Handguards, and 31 Famed Handguards.
- Talent Books: 3 Teachings of Praxis, 21 Guide to Praxis, and 38 Philosophies of Praxis.
- Shouki no Kami Drops: 6 Daka’s Bells.
If you want to crown Scaramouche and max out his talents to Level 10, you will need a Crown of Insight from one of the limited-time events’ shops.
Scaramouche Genshin Impact Active Talents
Scaramouche has three active talents that you can level up to 10. What makes his active talents different from other characters, however, is his Elemental Skill. Hanega: Song of the Wind allows Scaramouche to fly in mid-air and actually stay there, unlike other Anemo characters who are only airborne momentarily. You can use his Windborne state by activating your Elemental Skill and directing him up using the designated buttons on mobile or with your space bar if you’re playing on desktop.
- Yuuban Meigen (Normal Attack): Scaramouche performs up to 3 attacks using wind blades that deal Anemo Damage. His Charged and Plunging Attacks allow him to deal AoE Anemo Damage, however, the Charged Attacks will consume stamina.
- Hanega: Song of the Wind (Elemental Skill): Scaramouche flies into the air and enters the Windfavored state. While in this state, his Normal and Charged Attacks will deal more damage and will not consume stamina points. However, the state comes with its own version of a stamina bar called Kuugoryoku Points which will restrict the amount of time that he can stay in the air.
- Kyogen: Five Ceremonial Plays (Elemental Burst): Scaramouche stomps on the battlefield (literally), dealing AoE Anemo Damage. Note that this burst does not perform crowd control on your enemies so you may want to group them first before activating it.
Scaramouche Genshin Impact Passive Talents
Scaramouche’s passive talents interact with his active skills to add more damage to his kit. They mostly capitalize on his ability to Swirl elements as an Anemo character, however, one allows you to save on Mora when crafting Catalyst weapons.
- Jade-Claimed Flower: If Scaramouche picks up Hydro, Pyro, Cryo, or Electro during the duration of his Elemental Skill, he will obtain a buff. Hydro increases his Kuugoryoku point cap by 20, Pyro buffs his attack by 30%, Cryo increases his Crit Rate by 20%, and Electro restores a portion of his Energy whenever his Normal and Charged Attacks hit an enemy. Unfortunately, only two Jade-Claimed Flower buffs can be active at a time.
- Gales of Reverie: The wording on this skill inside the game is long and convoluted, but basically if you hit enemies while in the Windborne state, you get a chance to stay in mid-air for longer and deal more damage to enemies.
- Strum of the Swirling Winds: You get a 50% Mora discount when making Catalysts and Bows.
Scaramouche Genshin Impact Talent Priority and Stat Priority
Since he mainly draws his damage from his Normal Attacks, it’s best to level up Yuuban Meigen first followed by his Elemental Skill Hanega: Song of the Wind as it buffs his Normal Attack damage. Last comes the burst, Kyogen: Five Ceremonial Plays, as it is underwhelming compared to the rest of his kit.
What Weapons Should Scaramouche Have?
When picking out weapons for Scaramouche, keep in mind that he mostly gets his damage from Normal Attacks and he stands to gain a lot from Attack and Crit stats. This means that you can use pretty much the same Catalysts that you would normally use on other Catalyst DPS characters such as Klee and Ningguang.
- Tulaytullah’s Remembrance: Increases Normal Attack speed as well as Normal Attack damage provided that an Elemental Skill is used first.
- Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds: This 5-star weapon has a Crit Rate substat and increases movement speed. It also buffs Elemental Damage as long as your wielding character stays on the field.
- Skyward Atlas: Another 5-star Catalyst but with Attack as its substat, Skyward Atlas increases Elemental Damage bonus and has a chance of dealing a percentage of your attack when your Normal Attack hits opponents.
- Kagura’s Verity: A Crit Damage substat 5-star weapon. Kagura’s Verity provides an Elemental Mastery stat increase and Elemental Skill damage buffs.
- The Widsith: One of the best 4-star options for any Catalyst character, The Widsith buffs damage and has a Crit Damage substat.
- Solar Pearl: This 4-star Catalyst has a Crit Rate substat and increases Elemental Skill and Burst damage based on whether your Normal Attacks hit and vice versa.
- Dodoco Tales: A limited event 4-star Catalyst with an Attack substat. This weapon increases Normal Attack and Charged Attack damage.
What Artifacts Should I Use for Scaramouche?
Scaramouche is a classic DPS in the sense that he relies on Attack, Crit Rate, Crit Damage, and Elemental Damage bonus stats instead of having stat conversion gimmicks like the kind we see on Itto, who gets more powerful with Defense. Because of this, you can go with the usual Attack Sands > Crit Rate Hat > Elemental Goblet build on him.
- Echoes of an Offering: The 2-piece set offers an 18% Attack increase while the 4-piece set buffs Normal Attack damage.
- Viridescent Venerer: The 2-piece set provides a 15% Anemo Damage bonus and the 4-piece set increases Swirl damage while lowering the opponent’s resistance to the element being Swirled.
- Desert Pavillion Chronicle: The 2-piece set increases Anemo Damage by 15% while the 4-piece set increases Normal Attack speed and damage whenever a Charged Attack hits an opponent.
- Shimenawa’s Resistance: Shimenawa’s Resistance’s 2-piece set adds 18% Attack while the 4-piece set converts Energy to Normal Attack Damage when you use an Elemental Skill.
If you don’t want to farm new artifacts, you can also pair 2-piece sets that provide Anemo Damage Bonus and Attack stat increases or just stack two Attack increase sets together.
Team Compositions for Scaramouche: Elements, Roles, and More
Faruzan, a 4-star Anemo bow character released alongside Scaramouche, is practically designed to buff his kit, making her the best teammate for him out of the box. Not to mention, her Elemental Burst groups enemies together which compliments Scaramouche’s higher damage burst that lacks crowd control.
Because Scaramouche is a Catalyst, he can be a little squishy and his Windborne state doesn’t help. It’s harder to dodge attacks when you’re up in the air, surprisingly enough, so a shielder like Zhongli could come in handy. A better pick, however, may be Yun Jin who can buff Normal Attack damage.
Just as with any other Anemo character, Scaramouche does great if you pair him with characters who can provide off-field Elemental application so characters such as Fischl, Kokomi, Xiangling, Xingqiu, Bennett, and Mona are all viable teammates.
