Poise is the most invisible system in Genshin and one of the most important for how a character feels. Why does the same unit sometimes get launched by one hit and other times eat a full combo? Why does a shield stop all interruption? This guide covers the poise bar, poise damage, hyperarmor multipliers and break windows.
| Concept | What it does |
|---|---|
| Poise bar length | How much poise damage is needed to break. Elites have far more than grunts. |
| Poise damage | How much each attack drains. Varies per motion — charged attacks, plunges and bursts are usually highest. |
| Incoming multiplier | Reduction applied to poise damage. 0 means total immunity to interruption. |
| Refill rate | Poise regenerates per second while not broken, which is why sustained pressure beats slow poking. |
None of these are published by HoYoverse; all values come from community testing. Once you know them, most "weird feel" complaints explain themselves.
Formula: actual poise damage = attack poise damage x base multiplier x hyperarmor₁ x hyperarmor₂ x ...
Example: Xingqiu's Raincutter has a 0.3 extra multiplier, Hu Tao's Paramita Papilio state has 0.5. Stacked, this is not 0.3 + 0.5 but:
0.3 x 0.5 = 0.15 — you only take 15% of incoming poise damage.
That is why stacking interruption resistance feels absurdly strong, and why adding a second layer to a unit that already has hyperarmor is worth far more than putting one layer on a bare unit. Conversely, if any term is 0 (shield, burst animation), the product is 0 and extra sources do nothing.
| Weapon type | Base poise tier |
|---|---|
| Sword / Claymore / Polearm | High (same tier for all melee) |
| Catalyst / Bow | Low (same tier for all ranged) |
Catalyst and bow users are naturally easier to interrupt — which is the real reason "bow carries need a shield", not just low HP. Melee units start higher but stand in the fight longer, so they still want hyperarmor or a shield in practice.
| Source | Incoming multiplier |
|---|---|
| Casting an Elemental Burst (pre-cast + animation) | 0 (full immunity) |
| Plunging attack (entire sequence) | 0 (full immunity) |
| While any shield is active | 0 (full immunity) |
| Raiden Shogun — Musou Isshin | 0 |
| Eula — while Lightfall Sword is present | 0 |
| Kokomi — Ceremonial Garment | 0.25 |
| Hu Tao — Paramita Papilio | 0.5 |
| Xiao / Cyno — burst state | 0.5 |
| Beidou — Stormbreaker shield | 0.5 |
| Eula — Grimheart | 0.5 |
| Dehya — Fiery Sanctum field | 0.7 |
Two practical takeaways:
While any shield is up, the incoming multiplier is 0 — independent of remaining shield HP or shield strength. A thin Crystallize shield and Zhongli's Jade Shield are identical for interruption purposes; they differ only in absorption and duration.
So a shielder's value splits into three parts:
Conversely, protection vanishes the instant the shield breaks, with no grace period. Refresh early rather than waiting for it to crack.
| Enemy | Poise bar | Refill | Endurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitachurl | 210 | 20 / sec | 1.0 |
| Lawachurl (Geo / Cryo) | 280 | 20 / sec | 0.7 |
| Nobushi | 100 | 5 / sec | 1.0 |
| Abyss Mage | 100 | — | 0.4 hyperarmor while regenerating shield |
Do the math once and it clicks: Chongyun's normal attacks 1-3 deal 105 + 95 + 121 = 321, Bennett's tap skill adds 100 + 100 = 200, for 521 total. Against a Lawachurl:
521 x 0.7 = 364.7 > 280 — broken in a single combo.
This is why you must hit elites continuously: a Lawachurl refills 20 per second, so one hit every three seconds never breaks it. Sustained pressure is mandatory.
| Source | Poise damage | Impulse |
|---|---|---|
| Electro-Charged (per tick) | 130 | Light |
| Swirl (primary target) | 130 | Light |
| Overloaded | 90 | Heavy launch |
| Hyperbloom / Burgeon (vs enemies) | 50 | Light |
| Superconduct | 30 | Heavy |
| Burning | 30 | None |
| Shatter | 30 | Launch |
| Unfreeze | 30 | Light |
| Swirl (AoE) | 30 | Light |
| Bloom (vs enemies / vs characters) | 25 / 5 | Light |
Two conclusions: Electro-Charged is the poise king at 130 per tick, which is why Taser teams feel so suppressive; and Overload's 90 plus heavy knockback interrupts well but scatters the pack.
The reward for breaking poise is not damage — it is a window with no counterattack. The enemy staggers, your long rotation completes, and your casts do not get interrupted. A lesser-known detail: lower poise means higher launch velocity and heavier fall damage (up to 160%). That is why "drain poise, then launch" is the standard Jean and Kazuha technique.
No. Elemental shields (Abyss Mage Cryo shield, Fatui Electro shield, Geo Lawachurl armor) are drained by elemental gauge, so the right element breaks them fast. The poise bar is drained by poise damage and ignores element type entirely. Breaking a Cryo shield with Pyro has nothing to do with poise.
It does not. Poise break only provides control (stagger, launch, interrupt) and adds no damage multiplier. Its value is letting you finish a rotation safely.
Only while the shield exists. The moment it breaks, protection is gone — so refresh timing matters more than shield size, especially during long boss combos.
Different hyperarmor state: they may be inside a burst, a plunge, or a shield (multiplier 0) while you are bare. Level difference also affects the level coefficient applied to poise damage.
Yes, but multiplicatively. Two 0.5 sources give 0.25, not 0. A third layer adds little — bring a shield instead.
It depends on the enemy. Once broken, the bar stops draining, then refills and the stagger ends a few seconds later. That window is your burst phase — put your ultimate there.
Their bars are short enough that one or two normal attacks break them, so they seem to fly on contact. Elites and bosses have far longer bars and require deliberate poise pressure.
Poise comes down to one sentence: poise damage decides how fast you break them, the incoming multiplier decides how fast they break you, and a shield sets that multiplier to zero. Once you know those three, "do I need a shielder" and "should this carry build interruption resistance" stop being guesswork.
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