Whenever a new character is about to launch, the first thing I do is hop on the official Genshin Impact Youtube channel and tune into that character’s demo. I vividly recall hearing a notification on my phone and seeing that Thoma’s character demo was live.
I was completing some challenges in the game and immediately paused it to tune into the premiere. I have a habit of saving my favorite OSTs, and Thoma’s was a perfect addition to my list. I was captivated by the rhythm and watched his demo a few more times.
Thoma was a character I wanted on my account, and I wasn’t alone. All my friends wanted him too. I played him in a couple of trial runs, converted my primogems to fates, and prayed to the Gacha god to show me his splash art.
After a bunch of debate clubs, Thoma flashed on my screen. Thoma was finally home, and I immediately leveled him up.
Thoma occasionally appears on wishing banners with other 4-star characters; chances are, you might get him at some point. Even if you already have Thoma, and a banner features him, it won’t hurt you to get a few constellations. As Thoma’s fandom says, his presence will make you feel secure and protected, and who doesn’t want that?
In this Thoma Genshin Impact guide, I will go over this dazzling character you meet in Inazuma and his exquisite abilities. I will discuss his best teams, weapons, and potent artifacts that will strengthen his shield and protect you from any danger.
Without further ado, let’s get to know this handsome young man whose charm makes every problem go away.
Thoma, a Perfect Man?
Even though you meet Thoma in Inazuma, he’s actually not from the region. Thoma’s from Mondstadt and now works as the housekeeper for the Yashiro Commission’s Kamisato clan. I remember meeting him for the first time when he introduced himself as a “fixer” in Inazuma. Soon enough, I got to know what he meant by that.
People who were scamming the Traveler for an absurd amount of Mora for their services immediately dropped their prices after Thoma’s negotiation. I must say, I was pretty impressed by his hospitality, connections, and charm.
Thoma might not be as influential as Kamisato Ayato, but this doesn’t mean he’s not connected. You need to get things done; Thoma is the one you should seek. He might seem gullible at first, but things get serious when it comes to protecting his friends or the interests of the Yashiro commission.
There aren’t many who can pull the wool over Thoma’s eyes, which is mainly why he’s allowed to deal with special matters of the Yashiro commission. Whether it’s fulfilling Ayaka’s wishes or inquiring about intelligence for a task, Thoma is always up for the task.
Just like me, he loves animals. Whenever Thoma goes out, he tends to feed stray animals and loves to spend time with them. Thoma’s cheerfulness radiates in his actions, and he treats animals as his own. In a way, you can say that Thoma is perfect husband material. Well, some of my friends do say that.
Thoma has quite a fan following in the community. From cooking and sewing, to gardening and socializing, Thoma’s a jack of all trades and, evidently, a master of all.
Thoma’s hangout events were one of the most enjoyable ones I’ve played, and I still keep their photos in my gallery. I know; I just have a habit of collecting things. Thoma’s mother is from Mondstadt, and his father is from Inazuma. Still, he is regarded as an outsider by many.
People do talk ill of him, but Thoma has never paid any heed to their opinions. All that matters to him is his loyalty and best interests for the Yashiro commission.
I was really moved when Thoma sacrificed himself for the sake of the Traveler, and Raiden Shogun was about to take his vision. Luckily, the Traveler and Thoma were able to escape in time.
Ascension and Talent Level Up
Thoma’s ascension state ATK% doesn’t help with his shield and abilities’ damage because most of his kit scales off his maximum health. Still, you should level him up to benefit from a chunky health pool.
Before you start farming the Pyro hypostasis, you need to unlock the Tsurumi island to obtain Fluorescent fungi. You have to use Smoldering pearls and Fungi to ascend him.
You need the following materials to level up Thoma to the maximum level
- Mora x 420,000
- Agnidus agate sliver x 1
- Agnidus agate fragment x 9
- Agnidus agate chunk x 9
- Agnidus agate gemstone x 6
- Treasure hoarder insignia x 18
- Silver raven insignia x 30
- Golden raven insignia x 36
- Smoldering pearl x 46
- Fluorescent fungus x 168
The talent materials to level up a single talent:
- Mora x 1,652,500
- Treasure hoarder insignia x 6
- Silver raven insignia x 22
- Golden raven insignia x 31
- Hellfire butterfly x 6
- Crown of insight x 1
- Teachings of transience x 3
- Guide to transience x 21
- Philosophies of transience x 38
Thoma’s regular attacks aren’t worth investing in unless you want to play him as a Physical damage dealer. That’s not where the majority lies, but it depends on your playstyle. You should invest in his elemental skill and burst for better shields.
Combat Talents
Normal Attack: Swiftshatter Spear
Thoma performs up to 4 polearm strikes.
- Charged attack: Thoma deals damage to enemies in a line by lunging forward
- Plunging attack: Thoma dives from mid-air to deal AoE damage on the ground
There is not much to his standard talent unless you want to build him as a Physical damage dealer. The regular attacks are pretty standard.
Elemental Skill: Blazing Blessing
Thoma deals AoE Pyro damage with his kick and summons a shield around him. His elemental skill applies Pyro on him at the time of casting, and the damage absorption of his shield, Blazing Barrier, scales off his maximum health.
The Blazing Barrier has the following characteristics:
- It can absorb Pyro damage with 250 % effectiveness
- The Barrier features a stacking mechanism, and the duration of an existing one refreshes once you obtain a new one.
- The Blazing Barrier’s damage absorption is limited by a certain percentage of Thoma’s maximum HP.
You must invest in his elemental skill to face tank enemies and defeat formidable enemies like Maguu kenki. With this skill, you can generate energy particles and cleanse your character as the skill applies Pyro on Thoma.
The skill doesn’t snapshot and attacks in a cone-shaped area in front of the player. The skill starts from the players’ location and might not reach the enemy if they move away.
Elemental Burst: Crimson Ooyoroi
Thoma deals AoE Pyro damage to nearby enemies, and a Scorching Ooyoroi engulfs him.
The Scorching Ooyoroi has the following effects:
- The active character’s regular attacks will deal AoE Pyro damage in front of them and summon a Blazing Barrier. The cooldown of this effect is 1 second.
- The Barriers will have the same effects as the ones summoned by his elemental skill, Blazing Blessing.
- Once Thoma falls, the effects of the Scorching Ooyoroi will be cleared.
The barriers are similar to the ones created by the elemental skill and synergize with her elemental burst. The burst won’t make a shield on activation, so you have to perform a normal attack. The damage might not be significant on this elemental burst, but it helps in Pyro application.
Passive: Imbricated Armor
An active character’s shield strength increases by 5 % for 6 seconds when the character obtains or refreshes their Blazing Barrier. The effect has a cooldown of 0.3 seconds with 5 maximum stacks.
An excellent passive for Thoma that grants a solid shield to an active character. You can benefit from the stacking mechanism and strengthen your shield.
Passive: Flaming Assault
Crimson Ooyori’s collapse damage increases by 2.2 % of Thoma’s maximum health.
The passive is good as it syncs with health attributes that correlate with his abilities’ damage. However, the damage scaling isn’t that high.
Passive: Snap and Swing
Thoma has a 20 % chance of getting double the fish in Inazuma.
A major caveat about this passive is that it doesn’t contribute to achievements. The bonus fish are kept off the archive record and don’t count. Thoma doesn’t need to be in the party for the passive to take effect.
You can collect fish to exchange for The Catch weapon. That’s an amazing weapon for polearm characters. However, remember that it doesn’t contribute to fishing achievements in the game. So, if you want to earn those achievements, you must collect the fish individually.
Constellations
C1: A Comrade’s Duty
Thoma’s elemental skill and burst cooldown decrease by 3 seconds when a character protected by the Blazing Barrier except Thoma is attacked. The overall effect cooldown is 20 seconds.
A decent constellation that increases his skill and burst’s duration. Quite a decent constellation that improves his abilities. It fits in with an average team rotation; you can use his abilities.
C2: A Subordinate’s Skills
The duration of Thoma’s elemental burst, Crimson Ooyoroi’s, increases by 3 seconds.
Another remarkable constellation that helps to increase the uptime of Thoma’s elemental burst.
C3: Fortified Resolve
The level of the elemental skill, Blazing Blessing, increases by 3 with a maximum limit of 15.
The constellation increases the level of her elemental skill that strengthens her shield.
C4: Long-Term Planning
15 energy units are restored to Thoma after using the elemental burst, Crimson Ooyoroi.
The constellation reduces Thoma’s energy requirements and lessens the dependency on energy recharge artifacts.
C5: Raging Wildfire
The level of Crimson Ooyoroi increases by 3 with a maximum limit of 15.
The constellation increases elemental bursts’ damage, but not that much.
C6: Burning Heart
All team members’ standard, charged, and plunge attack damage increases by 15 % for 6 seconds once a Blazing barrier is obtained or its duration refreshes.
The constellation is suitable for characters that depend on normal, charged, or plunge attacks for their damage output. Xiao, Hu Tao, Xiao, Eula, or Catalyst users can benefit from this constellation. You can swap in Thoma in the team for the damage bonus.
Artifacts
Instructor
The artifact buffs the character’s elemental mastery and helps increase the reaction damage. You can use this set on Thoma in Burgeon teams.
On top of that, the artifact set boosts the elemental mastery of other party members after using an elemental skill for 8 seconds. An additional 120 units of elemental mastery is decent enough in a team where you depend on reaction damage.
Noblesse Oblige
A default set for supporting characters in the game. The 2-piece combination buffs the burst damage, whereas the complete set buffs the attack percentage of the team’s characters by 20 %. You can use the complete artifact set on Thoma to buff your team’s damage.
Flower of Paradise Lost
A unique artifact set that increases the elemental mastery of equipping character by 80 units. The complete set combination is amazing for Dendro reaction teams, where you benefit from Bloom, Hyperbloom, and Burgeon reactions. Thoma gets an advantage in the Burgeon reaction damage.
It massively improves the reaction damage with a stacking mechanism and is a fantastic choice for Thoma in Burgeon teams. With an initial increase of 40 % Burgeon damage, additional triggers increase the reaction damage by 25 % up to 4 stacks.
Crimson Witch of Flames
The artifact set is a go-to set for most of the Pyro characters in the game. The 2-piece set grants a 15 % Pyro damage bonus, and the complete set increases Overloaded and Burning damage by 40 %. It also increases Vaporize and Melt damage by 15 %.
The set features a stacking mechanism that depends on the use of elemental skill; however, Thoma’s skill cooldown is relatively high to benefit from that. A decent artifact set in teams where you want to trigger these reactions.
Emblem of Severed Fate
Another unique artifact set that fulfills Thoma’s energy recharge requirements and allows players to build energy recharge on him. The 2-piece set increases the energy recharge by 20 %, whereas the complete set buffs the elemental burst damage by 25 % of the total energy recharge.
With a maximum cap of 75 % bonus damage, you can easily equip an energy recharge sands on Thoma’s artifacts.
Tenacity of the Millelith
An incredible artifact set on Thoma that increases his health by 20 % with a 2-piece effect. The complete set increases the attack by 20 % and shield strength by 30 % for 3 seconds. The best thing about the artifact set is its ability to trigger even if the character is not on the field.
Most of the time, you will use Thoma to shield your character by using the elemental skill and popping up the burst to damage characters, making the artifact set a perfect choice for him.
Gilded Dreams
The set increases the elemental mastery of a character by 80 units with a 2-piece effect. The complete set increases the elemental mastery and attack of the equipping character depending on the elemental type of other characters in the team.
The buff counts up to 3 characters and even be triggered when the character is off the field. The artifact set is good on Thoma in Burgeon teams, where you can benefit from extra elemental mastery.
Artifact Attributes
You can use a complete health combination on artifacts for a shield bot. You can equip HP on sands, goblet, and circlet. If you want some off-field damage, you can equip an energy recharge sands, an HP goblet, and a CRIT rate or CRIT damage circlet.
You can go with a complete elemental mastery build if you need to use Thoma in a reaction team. Burgeon damage depends on character level, elemental mastery, and Dendro resistance on enemies. You can level up Thoma and stack more EM on him with artifacts.
Weapons
You can use polearms on Thoma with ATK %, CRIT rate, or CRIT damage as substats, but they won’t yield good results because Thoma’s damage depends on his maximum health.
Still, even in an offensive build, Thoma’s damage doesn’t contribute enough to the overall team output. It’s better to use weapons with an energy recharge or elemental mastery substat. Let’s discuss a few notable ones that you can use on Thoma.
Engulfing Lightning
Raiden Shogun’s signature weapon can be a good choice on Thoma because of its Energy recharge substat. The weapon’s passive increases the attack of a character. The attack increase is based on the total energy recharge over 100 % and gets an additional energy recharge after using an elemental burst.
The weapon is a decent choice on Thoma with the Emblem of Severed Fate artifact, and you won’t have any energy recharge problems. You can recharge the elemental burst in a short duration and keep a 100 % uptime on it.
Equip this weapon only if you have viable options on Raiden Shogun or Xiangling. The weapon is better on those characters; if you have an extra copy, equip that on Thoma.
The Catch
The Catch is another amazing polearm weapon that features an energy recharge substat. The passive increases the elemental burst damage and boosts the burst’s CRIT rate.
You have to fish in a lot of areas to eventually exchange the weapon and its refinements. If you are interested in the weapon, check our The Catch guide, where we briefly go over the process.
Favonius Lance
The Favonius lance’s energy recharge stat and particle generation passive immensely helps Thoma to get his burst back. With a decent CRIT rate on his artifacts, you can proc the passive to generate energy particles and feed them to him.
Another way would be to funnel the particles to another character to help them meet energy recharge requirements. There are hardly any teams where I don’t use this weapon because of how helpful this is. The whole Favonius weapon series is impressive.
Kitain Cross Spear
The weapon features an elemental mastery substat that’s helpful in reaction teams. You can equip this weapon on Thoma in a Burgeon team. The weapon’s passive compensates for energy in a short duration and can be triggered even if the character is not on the field.
The passive increases the elemental skill damage, which isn’t that great for Thoma. However, energy regeneration is a perk you can’t avoid. It’s better to use his elemental burst before using the skill with this weapon.
Black Tassel ( 3-star )
The polearm has an HP % substat with a passive that increases damage against slimes. The passive isn’t that great, but the substat provides a solid 46.9% HP boost to Thoma at level 90. You can quickly refine the weapon.
There are plenty of Black tassels from wishes, and you can ascend the weapon with minimal resources. Though, you’d have to invest in Thoma’s energy recharge.
Dragon’s Bane
The weapon is an amazing choice in Burgeon teams where you need elemental mastery to proc reactions. On top of that, the passive increases Thoma’s damage against enemies affected by Hydro or Pyro. To compensate for Thoma’s high 80 burst cost, you should invest in his energy recharge on artifacts.
Team Compositions
Vaporize: Thoma, Hydro, Anemo, Flex
A few team suggestions
- Hu Tao, Xingqiu, Thoma, Sucrose
- Yoimiya, Xingqiu, Sucrose, Thoma
- Xiao, Sucrose, Bennett, Thoma
Vaporize team compositions focus on reactions between Pyro and Hydro. You can add an Anemo character to the team to benefit from the Viridescent Venerer artifact set. Shredding the elemental resistance helps to deal more damage; you can swirl multiple elements on enemies.
Pyro characters like Hu Tao, Yoimiya, or Xiangling can help you to maximize the Pyro application. Anemo characters like Sucrose or Kazuha can buff your characters’ elemental and reaction damage with their abilities. As for Hydro characters, you can use Xingqiu, Yelan, Ayato, Kokomi, or Barbara to apply Hydro.
You can use Thoma to apply Pyro, swirl the element to reduce Pyro resistance, and switch to a main DPS character like Hu Tao or Yoimiya. That will help you to avoid using the main DPS’s elemental skill to apply Pyro and then swirl the element.
It’s better to use Thoma’s elemental skill or burst for that. His burst might steal a few vaporize reactions, but it won’t result in a major DPS loss.
Shielder
Thoma is a good shield character whose abilities focus on maximizing shield strength. You can use him in any team and take on formidable enemies. The general team composition will use him as a shielder and apply Pyro to enemies.
You can use a double resonance setup where you can have two Pyro characters in the team and the remaining characters from the same element. A good team would use Thoma, Xiangling, Kazuha, and Jean.
You can benefit from more elemental damage and swirl Pyro at the same time. Though a team like this would be heavy on energy recharge, you can manage that with ER-sub stat weapons.
Melt: Thoma, Pyro, Anemo, Flex
Melt teams focus on a reaction between Cryo and Pyro. Cryo characters like Kaeya, Rosaria, Diona, Ganyu, or Chongyun can provide a decent Cryo aura for you to apply Pyro on.
Tossing in an Anemo character will further increase the elemental damage, and Sucrose, Kazuha, Heizou, Venti, or Jean are good candidates for such a team. You can also add a Pyro character like Xiangling; you can trigger a melt reaction on enemies.
Melt reactions deal a lot of damage. If you can hit an equilibrium between Pyro and Cryo, you will see massive damage numbers.
Overload: Thoma, Electro, Anemo, Flex
Overload teams aren’t popular choices, but having cleared an abyss floor using one, I can say they still are worth a shot. Though, you would need quite a high investment in your characters and balance energy recharge on your characters.
Electro characters like Fischl, Yae Miko, Raiden Shogun, Kuki Shinobu, and Lisa can help with an off-field Electro application. In contrast, Anemo characters like Sucrose can buff your characters’ elemental mastery.
You can also use Kazuha in this team to buff the elemental damage, and if you are looking to buff the reaction damage, Sucrose should be your choice.
It would be better to use Thoma as an off-field supporting character and have a Catalyst user take the field. Physical damage doesn’t have much damage contribution in elemental or reaction teams.
Burgeon: Thoma, Hydro, Dendro, Flex
With the introduction of Dendro reactions in the game, the meta has pivoted towards the Dendro element. Sure, the original team compositions still stand strong, but Dendro teams have been thrust into the limelight.
You can have a Dendro character like Nahida, Collei, or Dendro Traveler with Deepwood Memories to reduce Dendro resistance from enemies. To summon Bloom seeds, you can use Xingqiu, Kokomi, Ayato, Yelan, or Barbara and apply Pyro on them to trigger a Burgeon reaction.
It’s a must to have better health on Thoma to enforce a solid shield to counter incoming Burgeon damage. The reaction damages the player, which is why you should have a good shielder or healer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Does Thoma’s Burst with Raiden Shogun’s Burst?
Answer: Yes, they do. Thoma’s Barrier’s attacks work while Raiden uses her elemental burst, and you can build him with offensive attributes to benefit from extra off-field damage.
An optimal team would be Raiden Shogun, Thoma, Xingqiu, and Kazuha. You can trigger a lot of reactions in this team and benefit from the elemental damage bonus from Kazuha’s burst.
Question: How Good is Thoma without Extra Constellations?
Answer: Thoma is a decent character at C0. However, the shield might not be strong enough to counter heavy hits. I’d suggest you aim for more constellations, at least C1.
Question: As a Free-to-play Player, which Weapon should I Use on Thoma?
Answer: My favorite pick would be the Favonius lance because of its ability to generate energy particles and an energy recharge substat. Thoma’s high burst cost may sting some players, so it’s better to use a weapon with an energy-recharge substat.
Thoma, the Housemaid
Since the introduction of ferocious opponents like Maguu Kenki and Geovishaps, shield characters have become important in the game. Characters like Thoma, Zhongli, Diona, and Layla are sought after, and players want stronger shields.
Not everyone can get a 5-star character like Zhongli, and that leaves 4-star characters like Thoma a viable option. Indeed, Thoma is an amazing character whose shield strength is close to Zhongli’s.
Suppose you plan to use Thoma in your team. In that case, you need to know about supporting characters who can fulfill team requirements. Damage dealers, healers, and shielders are a few roles that you need in your team.
If you want to know more about characters who fill those roles, Rosaria, Xiangling, Heizou, and Sucrose are a good start.
Besides writing about his favourite games, Himanshu prefers to keep himself up-to-date with the latest happenings in the financial world, watching anime, cooking and listening to music from all around the world.
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