He does have viable alternatives, but they’re often just worse. Because of this, he’s definitely worth building if you actually use any of those units – otherwise, he’s useless in most teams. Note: This is about meta only. If you like Gorou regardless of his power level, don’t let this stop you from pulling him.
Pros & Cons
Gorou Strengths
Gorou’s kit buffs teammates’ DEF, resistance to interruption, and Geo damage bonus. This makes him a great support for basically any Geo character – especially for that scale from DEF. And with C4, he gains the additional utility of healing. This makes him essentially irreplaceable in teams with DEF-scaling Geo DPS units like Itto, Albedo, and Noelle. Gorou’s playstyle is very straightforward. Just cast his skill and burst then switch out – that’s his entire gameplay. Simply make sure to cast his skill/burst before the abilities of the characters he’s buffing. He doesn’t have any special attack combos at all – so it’s basically impossible to play him ‘wrong’. Gorou’s buffing abilities in his kit rely entirely on his talent levels. This gives you a lot of freedom in his weapon and artifact options. You can easily optimize the stats Gorou needs – like Energy Recharge and CRIT rate – without sacrificing his buffing abilities. For instance, his best-in-slot artifact set is 4pc. Exile – a 4-star artifact set. 4-star artifacts have notably lower scalings, so they’re generally not recommended for most units in late-game. However, this isn’t a problem for Gorou. It can be more difficult to get Energy Recharge stats, but Gorou can easily take full advantage of the 4pc. passive to support his teammates. The lower stat scalings won’t negatively affect his buffing abilities at all.
Gorou Weaknesses
Gorou is great in his niche teams, but he’s useless everywhere else. So he’s an irrelevant unit to any account that doesn’t use DEF-scaling DPS units. Gorou only generates 2 Geo particles per skill cast, and he mostly stays on-field. This means that he catches very minimal energy particles every rotation – thus greatly increasing his Energy Recharge (ER) requirements. His energy requirements greatly depend on multiple factors (like his teammates and opponents), but it can easily reach around 200% ER. However, this can simply be solved by using an ER weapon, sands, and artifacts with ER substats. Gorou’s DEF-buffing ability is only affected by talent levels, so you can easily dedicate his artifact stats to building ER. And more Energy Recharge is always recommended.
Are Gorou’s Constellations Good?
Gorou has great constellations – all of which are very useful. So it’s highly recommended to pull for his constellations if you use him. But if you don’t, then it’s never recommended. No constellation changes his main role and playstyle as a support. In summary, his constellations serve as quality-of-life buffs, increase his buffing abilities, and let him work as a healer. And C6 is his best constellation by far. It provides a massive DPS boost to units like Itto, Noelle, and Albedo. C6 also retroactively makes his C1-C5 better simply because they bring you closer to his C6. Here’s a closer look at all of Gorou’s constellations.
C1: Rushing Hound: Swift as the Wind
When characters (except Gorou) within the AOE of Gorou’s skill or bust deal Geo damage, his skill cooldown decreases by 2s. This can occur once every 10s. Gorou is always slotted into Geo teams, so this effect is basically guaranteed. At C0, Gorou already has 100% uptime in his skill thanks to its 10s duration and cooldown. So C1 is just a way of repositioning Gorou’s skill – which is a nice option to have.
C2: Sitting Hound: Steady as a Clock
During Gorou’s burst, its duration extends by 1s when a nearby active character obtains an elemental shard from a crystallize reaction. This can occur once every 0.1s and can extend its duration for up to 3s. This is an overall decent constellation that’s easy to proc. However, it’s less useful for Itto, Noelle, and Albedo who can snapshot DEF buffs – so they don’t need the extended buff uptime. Still, C2 is nice to have.
C3: Mauling Hound: Fierce as Fire
Increases his elemental skill talent level by 3. This directly increases his buffing multipliers, thus effectively buffing Gorou’s teammates. It’s a good constellation.
C4: Lapping Hound: Warm as Water
When there are 2-3 Geo characters in the team during Gorou’s burst, it will also heal the active characters within its AOE. This regenerates HP equal to 50% of his DEF every 1.5s. C4 is a great constellation that can remove the need for a healer on your team. Its healing is pretty small, but it’s generally enough for Geo teams that very often use a shielder.
C5: Striking Hound: Thunderous Force
Increases his elemental burst talent level by 3. This buffs his burst’s damage multipliers, but it’s generally insignificant. Gorou’s not meant to deal damage. So while it is a damage gain, it’s definitely not a lot.
C6: Valiant Hound: Mountainous Fealty
After casting Gorou’s skill or burst, he increases the CRIT damage of all nearby teammates’ Geo damage for 12s. This buff increases with more Geo units in the team:
1 Geo unit: 10% CRIT damage 2 Geo units: 20% CRIT damage 3 Geo units: 40% CRIT damage
This is Gorou’s best constellation – and it’s very straightforward. It’s also easy to proc and effectively buffs every Geo unit in Gorou’s team.
