Raiden Shogun

Normal Attack: "Performs up to 5 consecutive spear strikes."

There isn’t anything special to talk about Raiden’s normal attacks.

Since this brings nothing to her kit, they can stay at level 1. Although, if you enjoy playing her on-field outside of her burst, then go for it.

"The Raiden Shogun unveils a shard of her Euthymia, dealing Electro DMG to nearby opponents, and granting nearby party members the Eye of Stormy Judgment."

Eye of Stormy Judgement: "When characters with this buff attack and deal DMG to opponents, the Eye will unleash a coordinated attack, dealing AoE Electro DMG at the opponent's position. Characters who gain the Eye of Stormy Judgment will have their Elemental Burst DMG increased based on the Energy Cost of the Elemental Burst during the Eye's duration.

Energy Generation: .5 particles (On Coordinated Attack)

Raiden’s skill lasts for 25 seconds, which makes it an excellent, consistent source of Electro damage and application. While it only procs on one enemy per tick, it has a decent AOE which can hit nearby enemies or trigger bloom cores.

It isn’t as strong as other Electro characters’ off-field skills, but it has 100% uptime, isn’t anchored to an area, or disappears with waves of enemies. This easy-of-use makes it hard to replace.

If Raiden is in your team, she should always have her skill in use. Level it as high as possible. It also gives the team a damage buff to their Bursts, so giving it a crown is worth it.

Energy Cost: 90 "Gathering truths unnumbered and wishes uncounted, the Raiden Shogun unleashes the Musou no Hitotachi and deals AoE Electro DMG, using Musou Isshin in combat for a certain duration afterward. The DMG dealt by Musou no Hitotachi and Musou Isshin's attacks will be increased based on the number of Chakra Desiderata's Resolve stacks consumed when this skill is used."

Musou Isshin: "While in this state, the Raiden Shogun will wield her tachi in battle, while her Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks will be infused with Electro DMG, which cannot be overridden. When such attacks hit opponents, she will regenerate Energy for all nearby party members. Energy can be restored this way once every 1s, and this effect can be triggered 5 times throughout this skill's duration. While in this state, the Raiden Shogun's resistance to interruption is increased, and she is immune to Electro-Charged reaction DMG. While Musou Isshin is active, the Raiden Shogun's Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attack DMG will be considered Elemental Burst DMG."

So much is jam-packed into Musou Shinsetsu. It delivers a powerful burst of damage upon activation, grants all team members a huge amount of energy, and transforms Raiden into a sword character. She deals increased damage through a variety of unique buffs granted by her skill, passive talents, and equipment.

Although it has the highest energy cost at 90, if Raiden is built correctly, she won’t have issues gaining it back. Unsheathe the Musou no Hitotachi frequently and witness why all fear its lightning.

Some interesting facts about Musou Shinsetsu is energy is gained even when no damage is dealt. So against enemies with Abyss Shields or Electro slimes, as long as contact is made, energy will be granted. It also grants the highest level of interruption resistance. She will never stagger or get knocked back while in this form.

Raiden’s burst is the highest priority for any team. It greatly increases the damage dealt and the energy restored to the team.

All-Preserver

All-Preserver is a unique passive that saves Mora. But once you’ve hit a point in the game, Mora will never be in shortage.

Wishes Unnumbered

Wishes Unnumbered helps Raiden gain more stacks of her unique buff, which increases her Burst damage. Although, it doesn’t have that much of an impact most of the time.

Enlightened One

Raiden’s 4th Ascension passive is the neat bow that ties her whole kit together. She revolves around energy: high energy costs grant more damage, recharging energy, and gaining buffs when allies use or gain energy. Enlightened One encourages Raiden to be built with Energy Recharge, which she desperately needs. The more ER, the more extra benefits gained.

"Chakra Desiderata will gather Resolve even faster. When Electro characters use their Elemental Bursts, the Resolve gained is increased by 80%. When characters of other Elemental Types use their Elemental Bursts, the Resolve gained is increased by 20%."

On paper, Ominous Inscription allows Raiden Shogun to run more diverse teams with lower burst energy costs. But at the end of it all, it’s a minor damage increase during her burst.

"While using Musou no Hitotachi and in the Musou Isshin state applied by Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu, the Raiden Shogun's attacks ignore 60% of opponents' DEF."

Steelbreaker turns Raiden into the true omnipotent god she’s portrayed in lore. Ignoring the massive chuck of the enemy’s defense gives her a whopping, on average, 40% damage increase.

"Increases the Level of Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15."

Constellation 3 is the typical Burst level increase.

"When the Musou Isshin state applied by Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu expires, all nearby party members (excluding the Raiden Shogun) gain 30% bonus ATK for 10s."

Pledge of Propriety is nice but after unlocking Constellation 2, Raiden will be on the field much more than any other teammate. This won’t be utilized nearly as much as it might seem.

"Increases the Level of Transcendence: Baleful Omen by 3. Maximum upgrade level is 15."

This increases the skill by 3 levels.

"While in the Musou Isshin state applied by Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu, attacks by the Raiden Shogun that are considered part of her Elemental Burst will decrease all nearby party members' (not including the Raiden Shogun herself) Elemental Burst CD by 1s when they hit opponents. This effect can trigger once every 1s and can trigger a total of 5 times during Musou Isshin's duration."

Wishbearer grants Raiden the only occasion in-game to decrease the cooldown of her allies’ skills. While it seems powerful, it really depends on the specific team and rotation. Some teams just won’t benefit from it at all.

Engulfing Lightning

Engulfing Lightning is Raiden’s signature weapon and synergies perfectly with her kit. It gives her a massive amount of Energy Recharge, boosts her attack based on Energy Recharge, and increases it further while unleashing the Musou no Hitotachi.

This is the best all-around weapon.

Staff of the Scarlet Sands

Staff of Scarlet Sands is an option for those wanting to build Raiden as an Aggravate or Hyperbloom trigger. She’ll need a lot of Elemental Mastery for that playstyle, so this weapon pairs nicely. Although it should be mentioned this weapon is less powerful outside that specific build.

Skyward Spine

Skyward Spine is the more accessible 5* option. It gives Energy Recharge, a little Crit Rate, but increases her ATK SPD. It’s not much, but gives a couple more slashes during her Burst. This makes it easier to gain the maximum amount of energy from her Burst, and it’s kinda fun watching her slash the fabrics of space faster.

"The Catch"

“The Catch” is an excellent, all-rounded 4* option. It gives a chunk of Energy Recharge, increases her Burst damage, and it's free to R5 if you're willing to put in the effor to catch all the fish.

The only downsides are it's an excellent polearm on many characters, Genshin doesn't have the best fishing mini-game, and it's ugly

Favonius Lance

If your team is still lacking Energy despite Raiden’s burst, Favonius Lance can fill that gap. The two downsides to this weapon are the requirements to build high Crit Rate, and it doesn’t improve Raiden’s personal damage.

Many characters love the Favonius series, which makes R5ing them more difficult. Keep this in mind when choosing weapons as they scale much better with refinements more than others.

Kitain Cross Spear

Kitain Cross Spear is a craftable option for the Aggravate/Hyperbloom, high Elemental Mastery build. It gives EM and increases her Skill damage. The Energy it provides won’t have an impact though.

Sands of Eon

Energy Recharge is the best option for the Sands slot. ER is the best stat for Raiden as it gives additional bonuses on top of increasing her energy income. Especially combined with her signature weapon and Emblem of Severed Fate.

But if you are going for a full Elemental Mastery, Aggravate/Hyperbloom build, EM could slot in. Although Energy Recharge is still better.

Goblet of Eonothem

Raiden’s Goblet is very simple. Use an Electro DMG% goblet if going for the traditional build. Use Elemental Mastery if going for an Aggravate/Hyberbloom build. And if you want somewhere in the middle, use whichever has the best sub-stats.

Circlet of Logos

The same goes for the Circlet. Use a Crit Rate% or Crit Dmg% if going for the traditional build. Use Elemental Mastery if going for an Aggravate/Hyberbloom build. And if you want somewhere in the middle, use whichever has the best sub-stats.

If using Favonius Lance, equip a Crit Rate% Circlet.

Sub Stats

Energy Recharge is the first stat to aim for. Shoot for a range of 240-260%, with the maximum being at 300% total.

After that, the sub-stat focus depends on the specific build and playstyle. If going for a traditional on-field playstyle, aim for a good amount of Crit Rate and Crit Dmg%. Throw in some Atk% and Elemental Mastery when able.

If going for an Aggravate/Hyperbloom build, Elemental Mastery should be the primary target with a bit of Crit Rate and Crit Dmg% included.

2-Pieces: " Energy Recharge +20%"
4-Pieces: " Increases Elemental Burst DMG by 25% of Energy Recharge. A maximum of 75% bonus DMG can be obtained in this way."

Emblem of Severed Fate is the best all-around, traditional build artifact set for Raiden. It further increases her ability to convert Energy Recharge into additional buffs.

2-Pieces: " Electro DMG Bonus +15%"
4-Pieces: "Increases DMG caused by Overloaded, Electro-Charged, Superconduct, and Hyperbloom by 40%, and the DMG Bonus conferred by Aggravate is increased by 20%. When Quicken or the aforementioned Elemental Reactions are triggered, Elemental Skill CD is decreased by 1s. Can only occur once every 0.8s."

Hypercarry and Aggravate/Hyperbloom aren’t the only builds for Raiden. Although they aren’t as strong, she can be used in other reaction teams like Overloaded, Electro-Charged, or Superconduct. Thundering Fury is a decent set for these playstyles, but it’s only decent for these playstyles. It’s not great as a generic set.

2-Pieces: "Increases Elemental Mastery by 80."
4-Pieces: "Within 8s of triggering an Elemental Reaction, the character equipping this will obtain buffs based on the Elemental Type of the other party members. ATK is increased by 14% for each party member whose Elemental Type is the same as the equipping character, and Elemental Mastery is increased by 50 for every party member with a different Elemental Type. Each of the aforementioned buffs will count up to 3 characters. This effect can be triggered once every 8s. The character who equips this can still trigger its effects when not on the field."

Gilded Dreams is the set to use for the Elemental Mastery build for Aggravate and Hyperbloom. Although, Gilded Dreams does benefit Aggravate teams more than Hyperbloom teams.

2-Pieces: "Increases Elemental Mastery by 80."
4-Pieces: "The equipping character's Bloom, Hyperbloom, and Burgeon reaction DMG are increased by 40%. Additionally, after the equipping character triggers Bloom, Hyperbloom, or Burgeon, they will gain another 25% bonus to the effect mentioned prior. Each stack of this lasts 10s. Max 4 stacks simultaneously. This effect can only be triggered once per second. The character who equips this can still trigger its effects when not on the field."

Flower of Paradise Lost is the Hyperbloom equivalent of Gilded Dreams.

In recap, if wanting the traditional build, use Emblem of Severed Fate. If wanting an Aggravate build, use Gilded Dreams. If wanting a Hyperbloom build, use Flower of Paradise Lost. And if wanted to experiment with other reaction teams, use Thundering Fury.