Source: Risuke on YouTube
By ExploreGenshin.gg

Once the undisputed king of crowd control in Genshin Impact, Venti, the first Archon to grace the game, has seen a slow decline in his relevance to the meta. In Risuke’s in-depth retrospective and build guide, we get a full breakdown of how and why Venti has been indirectly nerfed over time — and where he can still thrive today.

🧨 How Venti Was Nerfed — Without a Single Patch Note

Venti’s decline is not the result of balance changes, but rather of game design shifts. In Genshin Impact, buffs and nerfs usually come in the form of new mechanics, enemy types, or content structure. Here’s how Venti suffered across multiple patches:

Version 2.0: Crowd Control Resistance

Enemies in Inazuma and subsequent regions gained resistance or immunity to crowd control, rendering Venti’s iconic burst — Wind’s Grand Ode — less effective.

Version 3.0: Freeze Teams & Shielded Enemies

Freeze teams were hit with a double whammy: more bosses and enemies with elemental shields, both of which are immune or resistant to Freeze, limiting Venti’s synergy with his best archetype.

Version 4.0: Wave-Based Spawns

The Spiral Abyss and newer events introduced wave-based content. Venti’s burst can’t pull in enemies from different waves, heavily diminishing his AoE utility.

Version 5.0+: Single-Target Focus

The Spiral Abyss became more single-target centric, reducing the effectiveness of swirl-based characters like Venti, while punishing his low personal damage.

💬 “Venti keeps collecting nerfs as if there were achievements in a video game.” – Risuke

🔧 The Two Viable Venti Builds in Today’s Meta

1. Support EM Venti (Traditional Build)

Artifacts: 4pc Viridescent Venerer
Stats: Triple EM (Sands, Goblet, Circlet), Energy Recharge
Weapons: Elegy for the End, Stringless, Favonius Warbow
Playstyle: Shred resistance and swirl with high ER to maintain burst uptime

This build excels in multi-target content but struggles in single-target fights, especially against elemental-immune enemies.

⚠️ Swirl damage drops by 33% if you don’t level Venti to 90.

2. DPS Venti (Hybrid Build)

Artifacts: 4pc Viridescent or 2pc EM/2pc ATK
Stats: ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit DMG
Weapons: Aqua Simulacra, Amos’ Bow, Hunter’s Path
Playstyle: Focuses on Venti’s personal damage in single-target fights

This build requires more investment, but helps Venti maintain relevance in single-target or boss-focused content — a growing trend in the Spiral Abyss.

🔍 Where Venti Still Excels

Despite his reduced relevance in modern Abyss floors, Venti remains an exceptional pick in specific scenarios.

1. Swarm & Defense Missions

Venti trivializes wave-based content and defense objectives by grouping enemies and keeping them airborne. His burst excels when there are many lightweight enemies on the field.

2. Immobilized Enemies

Against bosses or mobs that don’t move much, Venti’s burst consistently lands and deals good swirl damage, especially with a DPS build.

3. Imaginarium Theater (Anemo Cycles)

In cycles where Anemo is featured, Venti’s grouping helps carry weaker units through early stages or defense rooms.

💡 Should You Pull for Venti in 2025?

If you’re a new player looking to invest in an Anemo support, Venti can still be a good addition — but he’s no longer the must-have he once was.

In AoE-centric Spiral Abyss rotations, he can still outperform other groupers like Kazuha or Sucrose due to his large burst radius.
For players with stronger accounts, Venti is now more of a luxury pick or a specialist for very specific content.

Key Takeaway:
Unless the Spiral Abyss returns to being AoE-heavy or introduces defense-based floors again, Venti will remain niche, not meta.