Light of Foliar Incision is a 5-star Weapon introduced in Genshin Impact version 3.4 “The Exquisite Night Chimes”, serving as the signature weapon for Alhaitham. It’s the sword of the Sumeru Forest Series of 5-star weapons alongside Nahida’s and Tighnari’s signatures and tells lore correlated to those.
Although it has an unusually low base for 5-star weapons, it makes up for it with a huge bonus for Critical Damage, the biggest of all Swords to date. Along with its good passive, it easily becomes a great weapon choice for a lot of characters. We’ll talk about its uses and who’s better with this sword below.
Light of Foliar Incision Weapon Overview
| Base ATK | 44 (at Lvl 1), 542 (at Lvl 90) |
| Substat | Critical Damage |
| Base C.DMG | 19,2% (at Lvl 1), 88,2% (at Lvl 90) |
| Passive Description | CRIT Rate is increased by 4 ~8 %. After Normal Attacks deal Elemental DMG, the Foliar Incision effect will be obtained, increasing DMG dealt by Normal Attacks and Elemental Skills by 120 ~ 240% of Elemental Mastery. This effect will disappear after 28 DMG instances or 12s. You can obtain Foliar Incision once every 12s. |
The passive effect benefits characters who can stack huge loads of Elemental Mastery as well as giving them a few extra points of Critical Rate. Weapons with Critical substats are always useful, so there’s a lot of value to gain from this sword even if you cannot make full use of its passive.
Related: Genshin Impact 3.4 Patch Notes and Maintenance Schedule
Best Characters for Light of Foliar Incision in Genshin Impact
Here you’ll find the best characters you can give this sword to. The options are probably just what you were expecting, though.
1 – Alhaitham
The obvious choice ‘cause the weapon was, like, literally made for him. He scales directly with EM, so using Elemental Mastery sands over the usual ATK is highly recommended, especially if you get your hands on this sword. His fast attacks are great for making maximum usage of the passive. Just throw it at him at any chance you get.
2 – Keqing
With the arrival of Dendro, running Keqing with a few extra EM points is not so bad anymore thanks to her synergy with Quicken. The weapon’s a great stat stick even without those, and she also hits fast enough to get some advantage from the passive.
3 – Kamisato Ayaka
Running Ayaka with Elemental Mastery is not very common, but it could be viable if you’re planning to use her on a Melt comp. If you’re still going for regular Freeze with no EM, its raw stats justify using the weapon.
4 – Kamisato Ayato
Same case as his sister. EM Ayato is not something you see very often, but the sword offers the Critical stats Ayato likes.
5- Kazuha (if C6)
He’s technically the second-best option, but due to only having access to infusion on C6, which is something 90% of the player base will never have access to, it’s such a rare case that it’s even hard to account for. Stick to the usual EM/ER% weapons for him unless you’re whaling hard.
Honorable Mentions
If your main DPS sword users already have weapons more suited for them (Mistsplitter Reforged, Primordial Jade Cutter), Xingqiu, Kaeya, Traveler, or any other off-field character will be happy to hold onto this weapon solely due to its great stats.
Nilou also has natural element infusion without constellations, but she’s usually better played as a Bloom support. Bennett could be built around as a DPS using his C6, but some still prefer not to activate it, and this would also require insane stats on artifacts.
All Ascension Materials for Light of Foliar Incision
5-star weapons require an extra amount of effort to maximize them. To get it to its final ascension, you’ll need in total:
x5 Copper Talisman of the Forest Dew
x14 Iron Talisman of the Forest Dew
x14 Silver Talisman of the Forest Dew
x6 Golden Talisman of the Forest Dew
x15 Faded Red Satin
x23 Trimmed Red Silk
x27 Rich Red Brochade
x23 Desiccated Shell
x27 Sturdy Shell
x41 Marked Shell
And aside from all of that, you also need a little bit over 1,500,000 Mora in total for ascension and leveling. Yikes.
Talisman of the Forest Dew Ascension Material
You can get those in Sumeru’s Weapon Domain, the Tower of Abject Pride in the Apam Woods. Go with the highest difficulty for maximum drops and remember to bring a few Dendro and Electro characters as their reactions can reduce the enemies’ Elemental Resistances.
Where to Get Red Satin Materials
Those headbands and their upgraded forms are obtained by defeating the Eremites around Sumeru. If you don’t have enough already from exploring the areas, you can take a look here at our guide to find where those enemies are hiding. The new Desert areas also have a lot of them, so use your Adventurer Handbook to mark their position to make it easier.
Related: All Materials Required for Ascending Alhaitham in Genshin Impact
Alternatively, you can buy them from Paimon’s Bargains in Stardust Exchange. Just keep enough of them for buying the free rolls in the next month.
Where to Get Shells Materials
Shells are obtained from the new Consacrated Beasts enemies in the Desert of Hadramaveth area. They’re still fairly new, so you’ll have to spend a few hours farming them using either an Interactive Map or the Adventurer Handbook. They can also be bought from Paimon’s store, but it will not be enough for fully upgrading a weapon, so have fun slaying those beasts!
